does this make sense??

i am cuddled up on the couch. t-shirt, basketball shorts, blanket, shakespeare in love.

there is too much that has gone on and not enough words to find that seem important enough to mention.

i've had an insatiable desire lately to watch harry potter, lord of the rings, and the chronicles of narnia.

i want fall. the air gets so cold here at night so much that it reminds me of the real nearness of autumn. i can't even wait. so many good things come with fall. many good things that have happened in my life have happened in the fall.

i digress.

i've been working a lot lately at gladiola girls. it's becoming more of a joy for me to be there and to work hard. it's been a little over six months, and i can't imagine myself stopping anytime soon. the work is work. but being there, working hard... there's some kind of joy that comes with that.

the guys in this movie.... well, there are lots of bubble-hem skirts.

[everything i want out of life, all the richness, love, adventure...
i'll get it.]


my class line-up for this fall:
-modern dance
-recording administration
-advanced poetry
-spanish
-jazz vocal ensemble
-treble choir
-magic, witchcraft, and religion

i am very thankful to finally be here. i write pantoums and learn about tribal belief systems for a grade! and sing jazz songs! awesome.


i am very broke.

a particularly hopeful buzzing in my head

maybe it was the columbian coffee i went out on a limb for today. espresso news in my newest vice in this little town.

everyone is moving back in this week and it is so refreshing to see familiar faces again. making plans, scrambling around to staples and wal*mart and grocery stores, getting ready for schedules again...

for fall again.

books. sweaters. leaves. coffee. library. football games. the fair. that great firewood smell.

but this morning the air is still welcoming and warm, and i'm wearing summer colors on my dress. elizabeth started moving in her new room stuff last night and it has finally hit me that fall classes are really starting next week, that nancy is married and is not my roommate anymore, that elizabeth and i are going to be a roomie duo. it's all new, and new is always exciting.

i feel like i was just getting excited about starting my summer in boone. getting through summer seems to be about as easy as tubing down a lazy river. you know, it's just a matter of time and it's done. sometimes you wish the current would pick up a little, but as soon as the ride is almost done you wish you could somehow do it again. that's how my summer has been.



last weekend, my wonderful friends from nashville made a spontaneous trip to visit me here. i had a blast. i've never been kayaking before, but it was a quick love affair. i do live in the blue ridge mountains... i need to take more advantage of it!



i can't believe how long ago it was that i started college at belmont. i'm so happy to have made lifetime friends.

the [really] calm before the storm

i remember sitting here on this couch spring and summer of last year, watching reba re-runs with my mom and dad and counting down the days until i'd be headed off to my appalachian experience.

tonight i sit and i am worn out. i feel like all my energy has been sapped out of me, and i'm about to start year two of appalachian. i am excited. i've never looked forward to summer being over until now. i'm just... ready. i can see the light at the end of the college tunnel, but i still have enough time to plan out things like internships and summer study abroad trips.

sometimes i forget that i am still so young. i've been feeling a little of the "quarter-life crisis" lately. my friends have careers and husbands and internships and degrees and plans and opportunities. i can't help but feel a little behind.


maybe i just need to take the last week before classes start and do a little sam retreat.
-buy school supplies
-re-work the budget system (that i've been slacking on BIG time)
-write down a list of goals for this semester
-start planning internships and study abroad
-vocal warm-ups
-take charge of my body, because a refreshed body gives way to a refreshed spirit (for me, anyway)
-read a feel-good fiction novel
-finish my p.o.t.p. (painting on the parkway)

tiger lily is sitting on my lap as i type. holy cuteness.

on a less vague note...

i'm in raleigh with my little firecracker of a kitten, tiger lily, biting my arm as i type.


i've only got a few moments before i leave to get my hair cut with rachel at salon blu. it's not even so much about the cut when i know that glorious wash/ scalp massage is coming....

oooh yeah!

this morning: my neice anna's 3rd birthday party at jumpin' beans
note to self: invest in a moon bounce, it is worth it

this afternoon:
paint nails
john's birthday cookout at the park
sisterhood of the traveling pants 2!!! friends, popcorn, twizzlers, spending way too much money for refreshments, and tears, i'm sure.
and a little covert operation.

love to you, and peace today
sam

p.s. photos of the teejmeister to come