William & Kate

Right now I am sitting in front of the tv with my lovely roommate Audrey, watching William and Kate's royal wedding. 
The best part of the wedding has been the tweets sent in. About 75% talk about how the newly married couple must be bored out of their minds. The other 25% are either a) adorable "ohmygosh you can see the love in their eyes" b) cynical "I wonder if all their kids are gonna be bald like William" or c) stupid "I just KNOW they're gonna get up and start making out".


As I predicted, this week has been challenging! Each exam that I have to take seems to shackle with a ball and chain until I find out my grade. Pathetic right?

On the other hand, cycling this week has been quite the stress reliever.  I managed to keep up with the front group of TNR this week by selecting a tall triathlete to draft behind during the majority of the ride. While many others who are stronger than me struggled in the wind, I hunkered down and enjoyed the free ride up and down hills behind a guy who is twice my size. If I knew who you were, I would thank you. As it turned out, many of the cycling guys were frustrated by the slower pace and the triathletes who wouldn't lead. Me? I was just happy to be hanging on... I kept my eyes glued to the tire in front of me as we raced around the countryside at an average of 24 mph. I can honestly say that it was a rush, both literally and figuratively.
Wednesday consisted of hill repeats with the one and only Matt Johnson. Pain. 

Wednesday night I walked to Wendy's with my dear roommate Courtney to get Frosties! YUM!

The picture below is of Courtney (Court-Snort), Audrey (Princess Audrey), and I (Carrots)... I love them so much!

As we pulled up for prayer group on Wednesday night at Tillman Place, Corey Koon pointed out a 4ft long black snake in the parking lot! We caught it, put it in a Captain Crunch Box, and delivered it to Elise's front door with a note that said, "TO ELISE, YOU ARE HYSSSSTERICAL- anonymous" (Thank you Lauren Fasbender for your stroke of genius). In case you may be wondering, it was payback for the lovely dead squirrel that Elise wrapped and left on my front door with a note that said, "to Molly, I'm NUTS about you- anonymous". Needless to say, it was quite epic. Word on the street is that she took it to class the next morning.

Other minor details of this week include a safety conference call for my internship... about the dangers of walking. I had to spend an HOUR on the phone listening to a lecture about being safe. Of course, given my track record, it was probably necessary. I also had a conference call with the Student Advisory Team about our conference theme.... more brainstorming to do! I caught a baby shrew, drug testing for my internship, made cookies, and saw a cemetery that is named "Little Hope Cemetery" ...made me laugh.

God is so good. He has showed me his love and forgiveness throughout the week. During the stress of exams I am simply horrible about praying and spending time in the Word. Does this affect how much He loves me? Absolutely not! I love that my Savior is bigger than exams, bigger than sin, bigger than religion, and bigger than I can imagine! His love and pursuit of has nothing to do with me and everything to do with his grace and mercy. "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:7b


....wow.

2 weeks before school gets out and NATIONALS!

This week I have a fairly full schedule.. 4 exams, 1 final project, and an essay due! Also, this is the last full week of training that I have before nationals. Time to pack in some good, hard training along with some hyper focused study sessions with friends. Sleep? Pretty unnecessary at this point. This is one of my favorite parts of the season because I have a pretty good idea of what I should be doing and how I should be doing. The challenge is actually doing it.
Tomorrow evening is one of the last TNR rides of this spring. TNR is "Tuesday Night Ride" abbreviated. It is basically a training ride every Tuesday that is treated as a race. All of the fastest cyclist in the community (sometimes on pro teams) come out to Pendleton and ride a 30ish mile route as fast as possible to a planned destination. It is exhilarating and challenging as everyone is trying their best to win. It's during times like these that I feel so alive and free of the worries and distractions of life. It will be a nice break from studying.
Wednesday and Thursday will consist of meetings and Friday I will go to the RUF end of the year party!
My friendships within RUF have challenged me in a lot of different areas this year. I am so thankful for my dear friends who are passionately pursuing the Lord and how he intends for us to live life! Recently a group of 5 or 6 have started praying every week together. It is ASTOUNDING how encouraging this has been to me. His promise is true that when two are more are gathered in His name, He is there! I can feel His presence during these times.

This is a picture of some of the RUF people I am so thankful for!

We're playing Rockband... and rockin it out to T SWIFT!

Science and Faith

So this week I have fallen in love with the band "The Script".  One of their songs titled "Science and Faith" is about being so in love with someone that they become his science, faith, and reality. This is what society tells us that our significant other should be. It embraces the idea that that person can fulfill our deepest needs and provide us with a frame through which to view life. The book, "Twilight" embraces this same idea that the one we love becomes our reality. In the book, love is pictured as permanent and more fate than choice. To fight or resist giving ourselves to that one other person would be denying our very selves and going against the force of nature.

Is this how God intended for us to be? Does this mean that single people are missing out on science, faith, or reality? What truly defines us? How are we to be truly fulfilled in a society that constantly feeds us these lies? 

Life... so good!

First blog post... here goes!

This past weekend was a whirlwind! I flew out on Thursday for Kansas City for my first meeting with the Student Advisory Team.
I met my fellow SAT members that evening and immediately felt at ease among these bright, motivated, and often hilarious people. One thing that I love about Agriculture Future of America is it's ability to unite people across the Nation for agriculture. Sounds silly, but I've learned a lot from my yankee and western friends. As it turns out, sweet tea may not be the main ingredient for making nice people (of course, it does help!).
Saturday night my plane landed at the GSP airport where I was picked up by my sweet friend Alex Kellum. We promptly left for Macon, GA where we would be racing in the South Eastern Conference Championship. We arrived at 1 am (after nearly crashing into a deer that decided that he was just too good for the woods).
The road race Sunday morning was wild... and by wild, I mean that you could literally feel the tight nerves and tension in the air. As soon as the race official said "go" gears began grinding as each competitor began moving in to place. There is no doubt in my mind that everyone was nervous and questioning whether they really had what it takes to do their best.
Not surprisingly, there was an attack early on in the race on the first hill. I stayed with them for a little bit but soon realized that the break away group of five people would not stay together. Two of the girls were pro's and significantly better than the other three. I settled into the race and set up a pace line with Stephanie Bunnett from Mars Hill. We managed to keep a strong, steady pace and before long the slower members of the break away group began to drop back and join us. This placed Stephanie and I in the perfect position to beat them because we hadn't burnt all our matches on the attack.
2/3 into the race we attacked and managed to stayed away from the group. It was exhilarating! I love the rush that comes from breaking away from the group and racing down hills at 40 mph with pack of competitors trying to chase you down!
Although the two girls that I broke away with beat me in the final sprint, I finished the race in sheer exhaustion and with the satisfaction that I had given it my all.
Unfortunately Stephanie got a slow flat tire and was not able to keep up with the break away group. She still finished 7th despite her technical difficulties!

Nationals here I come!