NEXT SEMESTER UPDATE!

hello everyone!!

i hope you all have been doing well. i've missed blogging thoughts and updates and distractions lately, but i decided to take a blog hiatus to make sure i got all of my school work done, and done well.

right now i am surrounded with some of my favorite things:
-Real Simple Magazine (december's issue)
-chips and dip (ruffles reduced fat sea salted chips and pet french onion dip!)
-cranberry ginger ale
-a decorated christmas tree :)
-a good movie on the tv
-whitney, being sleepy on the couch
-my missed blog

i am indulging because... DRUM ROLL PLEASE......
i, sam crowder, am going to graduate on Sunday:)

and with that said, i know an update on what i am doing next semester is long overdue.

SO HERE IT IS!

step one:
i'm moving back to raleigh!!

i'm going to be living with my sweet sister keeton and her husband rob in their town home in north raleigh. i am so excited about that. they have an extra bedroom and bathroom that they are generously letting me stay in while i ....

step two:
work in an internship with LIFTED EVENTS.

my internship will last the semester, from january to may, with the amazing founder catherine walker. LIFTED is in partnership with Remember Nhu, a non-profit based out of Ohio that serves to save children out of sex slavery, particularly through their orphanages in southeast asia.

so, in short (if you didn't click the links) LIFTED puts on benefit concerts in the states to raise awareness about human trafficking and funds for Remember Nhu.

catherine and i will be traveling to the R.Nhu orphanages in january for two weeks.
i'm scared.
i'm ill-equipped.
it's okay.
it's going to be incredible.

i'll be helping LIFTED book shows and bands for the events. i'll be the other go-to girl with catherine isn't available. i'll do field work and observations in asia, and use that information to improve the information we provide here in the states about the issue. to connect the dots a little more clearly. i may even by able to speak at some events and play my music...

step three:
make so much music!!!!!!

i can't wait to take the time and energy to compile an EP and go after this dream.
go confidently in the way of your dreams, i think Thoreau said.
so, here i go!

if you'd like to keep up more with my music projects, i have a special blog for that!
samantha sound

and, of course, i have to give myself a prospective date of EP arrival so... watch out for april.

step four:
save money. keep dreaming big. enjoy life to fully... "suck all the marrow out of life."
pray over the following summer and fall, where i will be, why i will be there. nashville?
lots of praying.
go to coffee shops. use up their free wifi.
i really want to get better at my domestic skills.
spend time with family and friends.
connect.

i am so excited, and i can finally LET myself indulge in the excitement!

p.s. i am going to miss the mountains.