Abundant Sunshine.

The forecast today called for "abundant sunshine."

I concur. 

Note the beginnings of the leaves changing on the left hand side.  (Yes, I take pictures while I'm driving, and I know it's dangerous, but when I see beauty...I want to capture it.)  The leaves are changing, the sky is blue and the clouds are a perfect, puffy white accentuated by abundant sunshine.

I love where I live, I love the new friends I'm making and I love who I live with.

I feel abundant sunshine everywhere.

Sometimes I wonder, if I never tried to make a plan...if I just let everything go and allowed life to happen, would I get to experience this sunshine all the time?  Do I try to manipulate the course of my life too much?

I took a drive up Lookout Mountain today to encounter the abundant sunshine the forecast called for.  I just drove.  I took roads I'd never been on not knowing where they would lead.  I was probably lost, but I didn't care.

Eventually I wasn't.

I love my life.  I really and truly love it.  No, it's not always perfect.  Some days are better than others.  All in all, though, I love it.  I'm becoming a person I like.  I'm the same, but different.  In four months, I'll be 25 years old, and though to some people, I'm not where I should be, I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be.

"I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently."

-Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

Peace and love,

Amelia

P.S.  It's candy season!!  :-)

My story.

"We get one story, you and I, and one story alone."

Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts

The days are passing me by quickly as I begin this chapter of my life in Chattanooga.  I work.  I sleep.  I work some more...and hopefully I get to catch the sunset once a week or so down by the Tennessee River.

I'm busy.

I love it.

I'm exhausted 93.8% of the time.

I don't love that.

I've started settling into a routine now that school has started for the majority of my friends.  Their schedules are now filled with classes and homework, so their visits to see me in the Scenic City have slowly tapered off.  It's been a little lonely, but I'm cool with it.  I know that this is a challenge for me to step outside of my comfort zone, make new friends and have some adventures.

Today, for instance, I decided that instead of sitting in the apartment on my day off, I should venture out into the St. Elmo district of Chattanooga and try out another coffee shop I've been hearing so much about, Pasha.  In the past three hours, I've made new friends, heard some awesome stories and found a great place to do my work for The Dirty Guv'nahs.  

I'm ready for this challenge...but last night, I wasn't so sure.  

I was having doubts thinking, "What if I shouldn't have moved here?  I need community and deep friendships...is that going to happen for me here?"

It will.

It's going to take time, all good things usually do, but I'm going to be alright.

I've been reading a lot of Donald Miller lately.  I started with Blue Like Jazz, fell in love with his writing style and upon finishing it, immediately drove to McKay's Used Books to purchase another of his gorgeous works.  Though I want to read everything he's written, I decided to go with Through Painted Deserts next.  I took the quote at the top of this post from this book, and I've recently made it my mantra.

This life I'm living is my story.  I only get to live it once, and it's my duty to do the best I can with what God's given me and with the opportunities that I create for myself.  If I'm sitting in a rocking chair fifty years from now on my front porch full of regrets, I don't think I could bear it.

We only get one story.

I want my story to be filled with love, life, adventure, fun, excitement, warmth, and maybe a little sadness...just to make sure I know how to be thankful when there isn't sadness.

I hope all of you are well.  I love you all!

Peace and love,

Amelia

P.S.  Here are some pics of what I get to see on a pretty regular basis.  Man, I'm blessed.  :-)

 A view of the sunset from the banks of the Tennessee River.

The scenic lookout right off TN-111/US-27.

Alive.

A year ago, I was struggling. It had been 6 months since I'd graduated college, I didn't have a job, I had no clue what I was doing...I was depressed. I remember writing a blog post about July 4th expressing my joy and love of fireworks and how they made me feel alive.

I've come a long way.

For July 4th this year, a few friends and I went to a Chattanooga Lookouts game. (I love baseball!!) What could be more patriotic than attending a baseball game on July 4th, eating peanuts and Cracker Jacks? After the game was over, we enjoyed the fireworks show while sitting in right field on the grass. :-)

As I watched the fireworks exploding in the sky this year, I began to contemplate my current state in life. I've started a new job that I love, I'm living in an awesome city, my friends and family are amazing, wonderful and supportive...I am blessed.

The fireworks didn't make me feel alive this year. They were an outward expression of the life I feel sparking inside of me. I looked into the sky as I celebrated our country's birthday and felt like the luckiest gal on the planet.

I love feeling alive. :-) From depressed to blessed in one year...I was blessed all along, but it took me a year to see it.

Thank you to everyone that helped me get here. I love all of you!

Love and peace,

Amelia

P.S. Congrats to my dear friend Amy and her new husband Tyler! I was so honored to be in your wedding this past weekend, and I wish you all the best in your new life together! :-)

A Suitcase and a Job.

It's been a crazy month...my apologies for neglecting Carpe amorem.

I watched a few of my best friends graduate from TTU and bid farewell to my wonderful community in Cookeville as it was.

I resigned as a tutor for Migrant Education in Tennessee, a bittersweet feeling. It was heartbreaking to say good-bye to those kids. I'll never forget how excited they were to see me every week and how sad they were when I told them I wouldn't be coming back.

I received a phone call for a second interview at a neat little coffee shop called Rembrandt's in the Bluffview Art District in Chattanooga and was asked to come for orientation the next day. I started working the day after that...with only one suitcase of clothing. So, I moved to Chattanooga with one suitcase and a job.

Four days later, I headed to Edisto Beach, S.C. for family vacation. A peaceful little beach town catered to families and those in search of a few days of experiencing life a little slower than usual, it was definitely soothing to my soul and a much needed reprieve from the hectic life I've been leading.

We also went to Charleston, S.C. for a couple of days to do some sightseeing. Such a beautiful coastal city!

I love the plantation homes and history that the South has to offer, and I love being Southern.

:-)

It's been craziness. I don't think I've ever been pulled in so many directions with so many things to think about and so many details needing my attention. I think the craziest part, though, is that I'm okay with it. For those of you who know me best, you know that I'm prone to brief, freak-out moments whenever change starts coming...well, things are changing, and I'm not freaking.

I feel strangely at peace with everything going down in my life right now.

I'm officially living in Chattanooga.

I have a job, and my suitcase is unpacked...plus a few more.

Life is good.

Love and peace,

Amelia

P.S. I love Snow Cones. The ice cream truck traveling around Edisto Beach sold these. :-)