Finals

I have my first of four finals at 8am this morning. So in “honor” of finals week I wanted to give you a glimpse into what this time looks like at my apartment… :)

Late nights and make-up free faces.

Study breaks to take goofy pictures with the roomie. (Hi Becky!)

Late dinner breaks at 9pm to go get Mexican food. Yum!

Excessive amounts of snapchats  with my other roomie.

Hope your Thursday is filled with joy!

What My Loved Ones Say About Me

Good morning, friends! Over the past few days I’ve seen other bloggers have their loved ones write a few facts about them. I loved the idea because it may give you a different perspective of me than how I would describe myself. I recruited my mom and one of best friends to join in the fun and share a little of their perspectives of me…I added my comments in italics. The original link up for this blog can be found at From Mrs. to Mama…

First up is my mom:

-She has boxes and boxes of children's books that she's bought for her (one day) classroom.

-She laughs out loud when watching funny movies or TV shows.

-Turtles give her the heebie-jeebies. Complete truth right there.

-She spontaneously starts dancing in grocery store aisles.

-Her personality is a harmonious balance of "roots" and "wings."

Now my best friend:

-She has the best laugh. It's one of those laughs that makes you laugh, even if you didn't hear the joke.

-Samantha is super organized. I am not. I admire her for that.

-She has 200+ children's books. They're organized by category and size.

-She's a primper. Before getting out of the car, she brushes her hair and touches up her lipstick. It's why she always looks so good.

-I used to call her "Sam" but then she decided she liked "Samantha" better. I’ve always gone by Samantha…she called me Sam for a short time right after we met.

-She loves her school. She even did a dance about it one time. I don’t remember this dance, but I bet it was funny!

-She is basically the most feminine person I know.

-She has a "big band" station on her XM radio (for fun summer days).

-She is one of the Godliest women I've ever met. She encouraged me to seek our Father more, and I could not thank her enough for that.

-She is one of those friends that will never leave your life. Though we are in different states, our kindred hearts have not drawn apart.

-She recently discovered Snapchat, and I recently discovered how big her repertoire of silly faces is.

These make my heart happy. I encourage you to have your loved ones write about you too…so fun to see what they come up with!

As the sun goes down…

Oh, this weekend. I’m so thankful for this past weekend. It held moments of sweetness as I spent time with even sweeter friends. There were frozen yogurt and ice cream dates. A dinner date with a soul sister. Target adventures. Bathing suit shopping. Sleeping in. Studying at the park.

But one of my favorite things to do as the sun starts to go down is to roll the windows down in the car and sing loudly to the radio with one of my roomies. So much fun to have a jam session while our hair whips back and forth!

These moments are the best as I start to prepare for finals that start this week. My other favorite thing to do as the sun starts to go down is run around campus and the nearby neighborhoods.

I’m ready for a new week, friends! Hope you have lots of sunshine this week. :)

Dear…

Dear Vanessa (one of my best friends),

I’m incredibly thankful for our friendship and how you constantly encourage me to pursue Christ and His calling on my life. You know me so well because you sent me this yesterday and I couldn’t love it more! It’s so so true. And I think my future hubby needs this shirt… :)

Dear snapchat,

How was I missing out on you until this past week?! You’re too much fun.

Dear roomies,

You make studying and everything else much better. You make me laugh every single night. You’re the best!

Late night study break to take pictures. Oh! The boy doesn’t live with us if you were wondering…he’s one of my roomie’s boyfriend.

Dear preschoolers,

Let’s tackle this Friday head on without any meltdowns or tantrums, okay? You’ve thrown me through a loop this week and I’m constantly learning from you. Even though this semester has been tough, I’m so thankful for the opportunity to work with you.

Some funny moments and sayings from this week…

One of my girls looked up at me and whispered, “Miss Samantha, you’re just the sweetest!”

If you’re a teacher, you’ll know that kids LOVE to bring you flowers (a.k.a weeds) that they pick specially for you on the playground. I have a handful of “flowers” by the time we go inside everyday…I kind of love it.

Another one of my girls will start to break dance if you provide a beat or song for her. Too funny!

I tell my kids that they make my heart grow when they share (a HUGE issue for 3 year olds!) and they love it! Whenever they share they turn to me and say, “MISS SAMANTHA WE MADE YOUR HEART GROW!”

Dear snail mail,

You’re my favorite. I love checking my campus box to find sweet surprises and I’m pretty sure handwritten letters/cards are one of the ways to my heart.

Dear windows-open weather,

I can’t get enough of you! Being able to open the windows in my apartment and getting to roll the windows down in the car makes me one happy girl. Can you see the sunshine streaming through the window below? Happiness.

Here’s to a productive weekend before finals start next week! Much love to you, today.

The Girl Behind the Blog: Passions

Good morning, friends! I’m linking up Ashley from Written On Her Heart (formerly 5oh Wifey) and Mackenzie from Life of a Pint Sized Mama to talk about passions today…

Be sure to join in the fun too by making your own vlog! Details below.

The Girl Behind The Blog- Your Non-Blogging Passion

What topic could get you talking for hours, if someone asked you to share?

What are your hobbies and passions that you might not talk about often on your blog?

Is there a reason you shy away from sharing this passion on your blog?

I apologize in advance for the way that my video just ends. Somebody knocked on my door so I had to go answer…luckily I had just finished the last question. Enjoy!

P.S. I recently did a guest over at Always Ashley…go check it out here. :)

Weekend Recap {Conference}

Happy Monday, friends! This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Kentucky to attend an educational leadership conference with three fellow education students. We had the best time! We left Friday afternoon and drove through Tennessee and most of Kentucky and one thing is certain…I LOVE the mountains. There were mountains all around and tons of rolling hills once we reached Kentucky. I can’t get enough of the beauty of this region. Anyway, we arrived Friday evening and rushed right over to the university. We had dinner and then enjoyed a traditional bluegrass concert All so fun!

We woke up early Saturday morning to head back to the university for a full day of sessions. I’m so thankful I get opportunities to grow as a future teacher and be surrounded by other college students who share my passion for being in the classroom. I definitely learned a few new tools I can implement in my future classroom by being at this conference. I was just so “in my element” this weekend and it reminded me again that I’m passionate about pursuing this calling to teach.

Here are a few photos from this weekend…

Arriving at the hotel…I was just a little bit excited to start learning. :)

Even though it’s out of focus we were excited to begin the day!

I was anxious to start the first session. Wahoo!

We were a little tired by mid-afternoon if you can’t tell from my lifeless smile.

No worries though…I quickly perked back up. Ha!

And one thing I’ve learned is that teaching conferences will always have drawing at some point without fail. Always.

Hope your week starts out with a bang! I only have two weeks left until summer. Yay!

These spring days.

Sometimes you just need to take your work outside. My apartment is right across the street from one of the parks on campus so I’ve been taking full advantage of that on these spring afternoons. And I’m not the only one…there are so many other students doing the same thing. These days around campus I can spot dozens of picnic blankets and hammocks scattered about. It makes my heart extra happy.

I’m thankful for windy spring afternoons spent outside while listening to Ben Howard.

You should know by now that Ben Howard is one of my absolute favorites…

Wishing you a lovely spring day, friend!

Two years in…

Working at the booth of the education club I’m involved in…trying to catch those future teachers as they walked by .

This weekend my school, Lee University, put on the biggest recruiting event of the school year for prospective students. As high school seniors flooded the campus with their parents, it brought a smile to my face. I’ve come so far since the first time I stepped on campus two years ago. I left my hometown of Tallahassee, Florida to move to a small town in southeast Tennessee where I didn’t know a soul. There were abundance of unknowns. There were many new faces I had yet to meet and many adventures yet to be taken. I was excited. Nervous. Anxious. Curious. Receptive.

Now, I’m almost half-way through college. I have sweet friendships that I cherish. I have a job that stretches and grows me daily. I’m pursuing what I’m passionate about. I have the sweetest intimacy with my Savior.

I couldn’t have imagined all that was to come when I was a prospective student just like the ones I watched explore campus today. This season that I’m in right now is one that I’ll never get back and I want to live it with purpose. With the busyness that comes with being a student, I can easily forget how special this time is. The exams, quizzes, group projects, presentations, and papers pile up and suddenly my thankfulness becomes swallowed up by stress. But even in the midst of that I’m so privileged to be able to pursue an education.  I’m thankful for where I am today.

Dear…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I have to miss work at least I get to spend my afternoon with Tom Hanks and Matthew Macfayden. No complaints on this end.

Dear pink eye,

Please hurry up and clear up. I’ve missed two days of classes and work because of you. Bleh.

Dear spring weather,

I’m so excited that you’re finally making your way to Tennessee. I see lots of afternoons spent outside and driving with the windows down in the near future.

Dear encouraging professors,

I’m so thankful for you. I’m so blessed that I get to pursue my education at this school.

Dear prospective students,

You’ve overtaken campus this weekend and it’s so fun to see you walking around with your parents. It’s hard to believe that I’m almost to the half-way point of college when I feel like I was just in your place.

Dear mail,

You were so good to me today when I opened up my campus mailbox! I squealed when I saw a letter from one of my forever sisters. You made my morning!

Have a weekend filled to the brim with JOY!