Snow day!

Today was obviously spent doing snow-like things: sledding, snowball fights, and eating snow. But remember "Don't eat snow where the huskeys go!"

Martha and Anna

Stephen and Martha--the epitome of their relationship

SNOW!

It snowed! Nashville actually got snow. No, I am not kidding. There's about two inches on the ground! People were going nuts and Belmont immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Some classes were cancelled and the only important thing was to live like a kid. Sure we're supposed to be adults but Joker had it right when he asked "Why so serious?" We shouldn't be so serious all the time. Let loose, live life, be happy!

However, while Nashville hasn't gotten snow like this since the dinosaurs roamed the earth it seems, there were about 130 accidents in Nashville alone. I75 there were about 19 accidents, maybe even more. Pray for those people. Lots of cars, lots of people.

My friends and I are going to play in the snow after lunch. Expect pictures, people!

Articles

Oh, the art of penning one's thoughts on a blank page. It's fulfilling and gratifying when you see your name in print ;)

Take a gander at my articles as of late.

An article about chapel at Belmont:

http://belmontvision.com/2010/01/27/optional-chapel-fridays-at-10/

An article about Belmont vegetarians:

http://belmontvision.com/2010/01/27/veggie-options/  (Maybe it's just my computer, but some of the beginning is missing. It should read like this: "Approximately 0.5 percent of Americans classified themselves as vegans in 2008...")

My review of 'The Tempest':

http://belmontvision.com/2010/01/21/the-tempest-impresses-in-troutt-theater/


As far as reviews go, if you want ALL of the reviews around Belmont, then visit my other blog: http://www.amandastrav180.blogspot.com/

Enjoy your weekend and if you're in the Nashville area, enjoy the snow!

The fire

There's been a week-long convocation event called Sex & the Soul. It's basically a week where we explore sexuality and spirituality. The speakers are awesome and the worship afterwards...

All last semester I felt--empty. Truly empty and dry and just struggling with my relationship with the Lord. I got pounded hard and was bombarded with so much stuff. I was getting out of line, falling back into old habits that I despised, ones I didn't want to revisit. While I was struggling, not once did the Lord leave my side. He instilled in me the motivation to pick up my Bible and read His word, even when I just wanted to crawl into bed and forget about all the stuff that I did that day, the Holy Spirit worked in my heart and would not let me sleep unless I opened the Word and got fed.

I've been in valleys before, dry spells, and it's just really difficult. You begin to question things you know are solid and are backed up with the Word. I began to wonder if I really was a Christian. Was it all a facade? Was it all just a game? Something that gets us through day after day? Maybe if we had a hope, it would make days seem "easier"? I didn't have questions about whether Jesus was real. I knew He was real. But the whole Christian walk was difficult for me to walk those few months. I wanted to give up. I wanted to cash my coins in. I thought I was defeated.

Jesus thought otherwise. And I give Him all the praise for answering those questions and putting peace in my heart. I was running and got winded; I got a spiritual cramp. A cramp so bad I was on my knees and trying to throw in the towel. But the Lord in all His goodness, was on the sidelines, cheering me on. He was begging for me to get up and shake the cramp out. He encouraged me and told me better things were in store if I would only GET UP.

This week has been the stretch for my cramp. I've lifted my arms and stretched my hands to Him. He lifted me up and struck the match again. The fire is burning bright again! I feel rejuvinated and revived! I feel like myself again, praise the LORD!!!!

Now onto my next two topics: just a little update...

Ireland. I am not going. Scholarships are minimum and without them, I couldn't go. Even with the scholarships, I would be $759 short and that doesn't factor in the "personal expenses" of $600 they claim I need for two weeks (say what?!.) Yea I know. Talked to my mom about it and she said it was a very mature decision for me to make. I said I would save my money and every paycheck I got from here on out, a little would be put aside for Europe in general. She made me feel better (like always) because it was looming over my head and it was just one of those decisions I had to share with her. Even when I was praying for the trip, that God would provide, there was something telling me I wasn't going. In my stubbornness I didn't possibly think God could say no to such a great opportunity. His thoughts and ways are higher, yes? Yes. I could pray all I want but deep down I knew He didn't want me to go. Well, not that He didn't want me to go but that it wasn't His time for me to enjoy the beauty that is Ireland. And let's face it, I don't want to go if He's not there. He's everywhere, I know. But, it's different when it's His ultimate will. I know what that feels like, to be in the center of His will because I was in it over the summer. Was it easy? Heck no. But it was what He wanted me to do and that's what ultimately kept me going. It was because He knew the lives He would be able to touch through me and it worked out!

Now though, is not the time for me to go. There's something grand planned for summer '10 I know. Whenever He says no to what we want, He was bigger things in store. Amen? Amen.

Onto this...husband business. You know how I was really hesitant about this whole thing? Check out two posts from this one. You'll see what I'm sayin'. Well, I talked to Jesus last night and while I was praying, the guy's face kept getting stronger and stronger and I stopped praying. I said, "Lord, You can't be doing this to me. I just got done liking this other guy. I don't want to like this guy so quickly! You have to stop this." I was pleading and then something told me I was getting out of control. I offered up my hands, took all the thoughts of the guy out of my head and gave him back to God. He's not mine yet and before he's mine, he's firstly and foremost God's. He belongs to God and he's just a gift to me. I needed to realize that last night. Over-thinking took over my head yesterday and that wasn't healthy and I knew it. Therefore, I gave him and the idea of him back to God. The Lord has everything covered. Whatever He deems necessary will happen. His will be done.

Well, I think that's it. A semi-long post but so many wonderful things are happening and I want to keep y'all updated as much as possible. Thanks so much for tapping into my life and reading my daily ramblings and sometimes unorganized and helter-skelter thoughts. It can't be easy, I know.

I love you, readers. Each and every God-given one of ya's.

Education IS innovation!!

I always feel like I have been completely and utterly submersed in new ideas when I walk out of my Business of News class. Dr. Syb is totally out of the norm. She's quirky and never stays on the same idea for more than 30 seconds. The class is totally based on discussion and what the students care about. She doesn't teach out of a textbook. Instead, she gets outside materials and has us read and discuss, opening our eyes through discussion, videos, audio tracks, websites, news sites. She writes our epiphanies on the board and having us delve in that idea deeper and deeper until we leave appreciating being taught how to be mavericks in a society that is wanting and pleading for more and an industry that is stuck in their geezer ways, dumb and stubborn as mules.

We talked about how our industry has become lazy. We listened to some audio of Michael Moore's take on why the newspapers are dying out like the dinosaurs. He compared US papers with those of Europe and Asia. See, Europe and Asia rely on circulation rather than advertisment. In other words, they rely on the readership. You know, the people who actually read the newspaper? Not just the ones who really don't care what's in the pages but just that their name is printed inside those pages? The US is the exact OPPOSITE. We have become lazy and narrow-minded. Our thoughts are "Well, if you can't make money don't do it." That thought is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. My parents say that and it's so sad because it's like, if I'm in an industry that was once considered a public good, what GOOD is it doing if my newspaper isn't being read, isn't being consumed by the public?

It's a public humiliation!

Moore then went political and talked about education, how the majority of Americans read at a 4-5th grade level, comprehension is just as bad. The newspapers endorsed the Republican party who, Moore claims, tries to destroy education. First of all, the newspapers shouldn't be endorsing anyone. Objectivity, anyone? Anyone? So that's their first "uh-duh moment". Second, if newspapers are supposed to be educating, why dumb down the news? Why give just a certain take on the issue? No wonder no one's reading! Also, journalists are being laid off. Therefore, the different beats aren't getting reported. The things the community deems necessary and important aren't being reported. A bunch of monkeys in the works, I swear. So the newspaper stats are as follows:

1) No one is being educated.

2) No one is being catered to.

3) There's no objectivity.

Three strikes and you're OUT, newspapers.

1) Education

I had an idea in class. Instead of dumbing the news down, how about using educated language and in a sidebar, including words people may not know the meanings of and put the meanings. Sort of like a sidebar dictionary for every article. Yea, it may take longer, but then people know how to use the words and they're learning something. They're able to retain the information better because it's right there. A girl in my class said "Or just spell out dictionary" In other words, she said you should tell them to look it up in the dictionary. But see, that's lazy for us as journalists. If we want people to read, we need to give them what they need not just say, "Here, we wrote it. It's your responsibility to look up the words." Give it to them! You're giving them NEWS why not give them EDUCATION? Everyone knows no one sits with a dictionary next to them while reading. It takes too long to look up the word. If the meanings were on the side of the article, they could stop where they were reading, and look to the side for the meaning. It would  be right there, accessible. It's not laziness. We would be educating them and they would feel better about themselves because they're educated. They can use the words in their everyday vocabulary and feel a sense of worth and purpose.

2) Catering

What up with the big wigs taking away our jobs? I suppose y'all are planning on going and doing some reporting for yourselves for once to make up for the lost jobs? Hello, we're journalists. It's our JOB to go out into the community and report on what is going on. People want that. They want to read things that are relevant to their daily lives. You get rid of those things, you get rid of readership. You get rid of high circulation, you get rid of the newspaper. It's a vicious cycle, one the newspaper industry has willingly thrown itself in. Get your fat rear ends up, give journalists their jobs back, and stop thinking about your pockets and start thinking about the people. If you change your mindset and focus on people, your pockets won't be empty. DUH!

3) Objectivity

This makes me want to scream. There's that mindset of if you watch CNN you're liberal. If you watch Fox News, you're a conservative republican. CNN vs. Fox. Red vs. Blue. What happened to the idea of working together to find common ground and the real truth to the stories? Instead of working against each other, work WITH each other. You'd get way more accomplished and get more viewers because you would be reporting from an unbiased, objective manner. That's how the industry is supposed to be. The opinions are for the people to make not you making the opinions for them.

This class has opened my eyes to some awesome stuff. I could probably write until my fingers fell off. Alas, I have to finish up and start reading for my other classes.

Unsettling...?

Back in August and again in November I think (?) I wrote about my "woman's intuition". It seems as though it's not panning out the way I predicted it to. It's not truly my intuition but it's my heart...either my heart or my head. A few more days and prayers will have to determine where this stuff is coming from.
I say 'stuff' because I really don't know if I should be calling these things feelings or thoughts since I don't know where they're coming from.
Let me explain...

A few nights ago I was praying after my devotions. I always pray before I go to bed. If I don't, I can't sleep until God and I have our conversation. It's just a certain routine we have going on; it works. ANYWAY, the Lord laid it on my heart to begin praying for my future husband. As I was praying for my family, He gave me the thought of praying for him. Hey, why not? In a few years, he WILL be my family, right? So I prayed for him: that God would encourage and strengthen him, that he would be the best Christian man he could be. I also prayed that God would let him know I'm thinking about and praying for him. That I love him.

As I was praying though, someone's face popped into my head and it wasn't the face I was expecting. It was a face from left field! I shrugged the face out of my head. Last night, I prayed a similar prayer for my future hub and the same face came into my mind! I finished my prayer and I was like "Goodness. Where'd he come from?!" It's just completely random. It's a face I know but the personality behind the face is foreign to me. I haven't gotten a chance to know him.

Oh my gosh! And then during the faith and development convo tonight, I was spacing out a bit. I leaned forward in my chair and rested my chin on my hand. Next thing I know, I can't hear the speaker and his face came into my mind and...get this. We were dating! Er...we were at least "together". Though I'm thinking we were dating. That just seems to fit.

But when I think about it, I just don't see us fitting. If there is an...us. I mean, I think he's cute but I would think it's completely and utterly random if we ever got together. It would definitely have to be a God thing. If God is trying to tell me something, I'm sure I'm ready. He wouldn't give me more than I could handle so I'm thinking maybe He knows I'm ready for something like this.

But it's just so RANDOM!

Ooh I caps locked and bold-faced it. SA-NAP!

I believe I'm freaking out. Yea, just a tad. My whole control thing is shattering. I thought the one guy was the one for me. Now this one comes out of nowhere.

Is that how it happens? Love?

If so, this is gonna be a bumpy ride, folks.



Hold on to your hats and I'll hold on to my heart.

Cloudy Sunday

God blessed us with a cool rock show last night. Lightning and thunder rumbled in the night. I was waiting for one of those big ol' cracks of thunder that seem to rumble your insides. I suppose God didn't want to startle us too much ;) I had just finished my prayer and turned my head to the wall to sleep and then a flash of lightning lit my wall. I turned my head to look out the window. I felt so at peace, watching the fog roll in at 2am and little flashes of light. Rain was gently falling and trees were dancing in the wild wind. Sometimes you just have to stop thinking and realize your life is so minute compared to God's magnificence and His amazing plans for our lives.

Worries and the stupid things of life just melted from my mind. As my eyes became heavy, my last sight was the sky, orange from the city lights and the black of the trees. You know how God doesn't speak in the bursts of sounds but the quiet voice? He spoke to me in those moments and said everything was gonna be alright.

Ash and I make our return to the photolab for her shift. We stay there from 5pm-11:30pm. Last week was fun because no one was in there so we could goof and carry on. This week though I'm thinking more students are going to use the lab since the semester is in full swing. Ah well. It was fun while it lasted.

I have some philosophy to read and my business of news stuff obviously. I'm probably going to start looking for AVP sound effects and such for my audio project. I pray everything goes smoothly. Recording voices won't be too difficult. It's trying to find what I want and need to make it perfect.

Oh! I'm working the desk for United For Change. We're setting up a donations station for Haiti. If you're in Massey for any of your classes, come on over between 1-3pm. Stop by, say hey ;), and DONATE! Together we can mak a difference. Amen? Amen.

Sadly, though, the Haitian gov't decided to stop the search and rescue. I don't understand why they stopped. Just yesterday search and rescue teams dragged a dude out from a toppled store. He survived by crawling under a desk, eating cookies and drinking cola. There are people still out there! I don't understand how they can just give up. It's just heartbreaking. The camps can still use the money. Food, water and medical supplies are in desperate supply. Doctors fear disease will soon consume the camps because there are so many stranded. People have the option of going to more rural areas where there's already extreme poverty. It's very bleak right now for the people. God has everything under control so He will provide. Matthew 6, right?

Continue to pray for Haiti, y'all!

Enjoy your Sunday and the last week of January! (Gee whiz! Where'd the month go?!)

It'll all turn out

Hope for Haiti is on tonight on ABC. Tune in if you have a chance and give whatever you can. It's a great way to help those in need. If we are all united to one cause, just think how many we can save who need desperate medical treatments, food and water supplies. Just because we aren't physically over in Haiti, doesn't mean we can turn a deaf ear to the heart wrenching stories and the destruction that has taken over this country. Let's think if we were in that situation. Would we want the world to aid us? The answer, quite simply, is yes. And it's a yes for me, personally, to help, whether it's through prayer or donations. Donate whatever you can. There's lots of organizations to donate to:

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

American Red Cross

UNICEF

Hope for Haiti Now

Operation USA

Doctors without borders

Oxfam International

This week was a good one over all. Monday was MLK day so obviously we had off, which we were all happy about. I love that extra day after we get back from Christmas break. It's like a little pillow before the big blows come as we trek through this semester.

Classes are going well. I have my first speech for communications Feb 1st so pray for me! I did theater when I was in high school so I shouldn't be too bad. The only problem I have with public speaking is that it's all about me. I can't hide behind a character I'm trying to portray. Speaking is you in the naked form (not literally, of course haha!). Don't worry. The tactics I learned in theater will definitely be helpful: posture, projection, breathing, articulation. It's just the sweaty palms and the somewhat adrenaline rush I get that I cannot stand. The Lord will sustain me. Doesn't He always?

Philosophy is going great! I thought it was going to be so badly boring. But, it's actually a great class. We have in-depth conversations. Sure we ask questions to the point where we come full-circle from where we started, but it's fun! I think I stumped my professor with one of my questions. He contorted his face in such a way to where I thought, "Well, gee winnickers. I stumped my prof! That's awesome!" I love it. The fun thing about philosophy, at least with my prof, is that he doesn't act as if he knows the answers to the questions we ask or that are in our reading material. Instead, he's humble and travels the road of finding out the answers with us. In that way, we all grow. It's like he's on the same level as us. He just has a big ol' degree in the matter.

Now onto the class that's worrying me a bit just because of the slew of information that tags along with it. Intro to AVP. We have our first project due in a few weeks. Am I nervous? Slightly. Just because while there isn't that much that goes into it, I want to prove that I can be good with technology. I don't necessarily want to go into broadcasting, but I still want to prove I can do the work and I have what it takes to do any branch of journalism. Our first project is just an audio track promo for Belmont. Since homecoming is a few weeks away, I decided to do my project on that. I think it'll turn out swell. I'll stay positive at least.

Ireland. That great land mass of beautiful landscapes and the peak. Ah, the peak. I want to go. I desire to go. Money is a very very very very very tight. An extremely rich husband would work well right about now. I've saved practically everything. Now I have to rely on scholarships. God is going to have to come through for me if it's truly in His will for me to go. I just don't think I'd be this hung up on going if there wasn't something in me that said it was His will for me to go. Every time I think I won't be able to go, there's that little voice saying "Stay strong. Have faith. You're going." Reliance on God is a must and, honestly, I wouldn't be able to do anything without Him. My prayer is that He got me this far. He's opened so many doors for me. If this is one of them, I continually pray He will be with me and provide for me to go. Please keep this in your prayers. I have to have all the money in by mid-April, including financial aid I believe or maybe not. Then they said I need aobut $600 for personal needs. I don't know what that means but we'll see. I'm searching online for scholarships so we'll see where that gets me. The departing date is July 27th.

Well, I think I updated you guys of all the 'stuff' in my life. Ash and I went to Starbucks tonight for a weekly coffee run. The caffeine hasn't kicked in and I don't think it will. Maybe it's because I didn't sleep at all last night! Yes, that could be it.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for reading all my Jersey, college-kid banter ;)

Have I told you how much I love y'all? A whole heck of a lot!

The future of my future

Remember when I told y'all I was in a class called "Business of News"?

We talked about something that really struck me. Allow me to enlighten you.

Our whole discussion this semester is going to be about the media. When I talk about the "media", I'm talking about broadcasting and news specifically. As we've studied so far, we've noticed that the media is supposed to be a common good. It was designed specifically to keep the government in check and to alert the public when there was some fishy business going on. Today it seems as though the media works for the government. Sensationalism with a dash of biased opinions makes the recipe for media disaster. However, are the newspaper and broadcast execs doing anything about it? No.

Instead of reducing sensationalism and going back to the roots: you know, unbiased journalism, people would actually read and watch! When we have Fox & Friends and ABC's Today show, we journalists are entertainers, subject to the celebrity status instead of being what we are: truth-driven, objective REPORTERS. I'm sorry but when I signed up for this, I didn't read in the SPJC that we have to be entertainers as well as reporters.

The dollar has been the industry's Moses for quite some time. Because the views have switched from ture reporting to how can we make a quick buck, the quality of work has suffered.

Now, I'm not speaking for all journalists when I talk like this. There are great writers and reporters out there who care about the story and not whether this is going to be their big break in a form of a check. Many green journalists don't have the Benjamins on their minds when they first start out. They want the stories. They want to make contacts and meet people and report the stories some may overlook.

Unfortunately, the former is what stands out and what makes the rest of us suffer. There's a video I'm going to post here that we saw this morning. It's about Edward R. Murrow. He was a breakthrough journalist who flourished in radio and broadcasting. He made a speech in 1958 that struck the hammer right on the head. He made a little prophesy in 1958 that, sadly, has come true.

Take a listen.

Goodnight and Good luck



Well, I think that speaks for all of us.

The different hats I wear

Hey everybody!

I know I haven't updated this bad boy for a few days or so because classes have started so I'm still trying to get into my routine.

MWF:

I have to wake up when the sun is just yawning itself. Speech is the morning class and thank God the teacher is interesting and fun because if she was monotone, God help me. I would not survive. After speech, I get a little break and then at 11am I turn into a political analyst in US & World Affairs. It's a decent class and we'll be exploring the status of the US among the other countries and how we can improve our image. After that class, I hustle over to my 12pm class. My power suit is mentally thrown on as I replace the politic strategist brain with a lawyer's in my communication law class. Stomach rumbling, I then go to the caf and grab food-on-the-go and return to my room, exhausted, famished, but happy I'm done classes at 1pm.

Tues & Thurs:

I don't have to wake up quite as early as I do the other three days of the week. For this, I thank God! Ash has 8am's across the board and if it wasn't for our weekly Starbucks run, I can't figure how she would survive. Business and News is my 9:30am class. I'll be posting about that class on another post. It's so interesting! The books we're reading are amazing and have opened my eyes to the mechanics of my future profession. It's scary but exciting. I have a little break for lunch and then at 2pm, I have to be a geek and go to my AVP class. Technology and I aren't the best of friends. I'm going into print and online freelance once I'm out of college. Taking video and such is not for me. The stuff I'm reading isn't helping. I'm more of a hands-on learner so hopefully there's a lot of that in the class. It's the only way I'll survive =)

After I geek-a-fye myself, it's off to Fidelity for my 3:30pm class. I replace my video camera with a toga, sit and ponder life. What is virtue? What is wisdom? The questions lead to more questions and no sooner do we think we have an answer to one, that another question about the answer pops up. The class will be challenging. The books are okay. I think it'll be frustrating sometimes because I want an answer and there are some questions that have no answer. I go back to my room at 4:15pm and flop.

It's hilarious the many "hats" I have to wear for different classes. Every teacher expects something different and it's the college student's job to please them.

With the tummy tumbling, I think it's high time for lunch. Yes? Yes!

Album: Christmas, New Year's, and things in between

gingerbread house!

24.5'' of snow!

the guys clearing the snow

Merry Christmas!

Aust

Alan

Adam

ME!

Dad

Mom

Happy New Year's!: Katrina and me

The guys toasting the new year

Grandmom Poling's 80th birthday

Some of the Poling family

Homecoming at LCA

Homecoming court