When life hands you lemons....

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind! My freshman year is FINALLY wrapping up, as is my stay in Milledgeville. I'm so grateful for this! I'm slowly but surely getting everything squared away for Athens this fall, and have submitted all my stuff to Gainesville. I'm currently on the front porch, before the sweltering summer heat hits. The roomies are still asleep (thank goodness!), as it was a wild night last night. I'm drinking great Jittery Joe's and listening to Drive- By Truckers (who is thankfully returning to their hometown of Athens this fall!). Life is going so good. God has truly blessed me with the best friends and family on the Earth. My finances have hit rock bottom this semester, but thanks to wonderful people, all is stable again. This weekend will be spent in Griffin (oh joy). Tonight, my great friends Brittany, Sport, Victoria, and Brian graduate from Spalding, tomorrow my great friend from Work Crew at Frontier, Elizabeth Grace, walks the stage, lunch with Valerie and Callie, then Sunday, lunch with the family for my Birthday (I don't feel 19!), then to Athens for dinner with Elizabeth Grace, Meagan, and Logan! So excited! A lesson I've learned this semester, is when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This semester has been a hell. Not to say I haven't done my fair share of raising cain, but I've grown up a lot. I'm thankful for this semester. Please keep the Flukers and my great friend Troy in your prayers as they are at Frontier Ranch for the summer! Also, keep all my friends who just graduated in mind as they have their graduation trips (their first freedom!). I'm off to do laundry and clean, then driving to GTown. Peace.

Rain is a Good Thing

So it's pouring. Not just rain, but a STORM. This is honestly my favorite weather. Last night Molly and I sat on her front porch in Griffin, drank wine, and watched it storm. This is why I love the South. The past few weeks have been crazy. From applying for jobs in Athens, to getting community service done for GMC to studying for classes, I've been swamped. I can't say I haven't had fun though. I got to see my friend Paul's band Death on Two Wheels at a bar in Millyville, then I got to see my good friend Emily Hearn play 2 weeks in a row. I got to celebrate a few birthdays, hop a few bars, and read a great book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Last night, Molly, Bailey, and I watched Oceans 11, 12, and 13 and had a blast.
School isn't fun. I'm so tired of Algebra and English it's not even funny, but hey, at least I'm done for the summer in 3 weeks! Then I'm off to beautiful Monterey, Tennessee for 6 weeks in paradise at Camp Country Lad with great friends.
This past weekend, I got to see my great friend Jennie Brannigan ride at a horse show on the Chattahoochee River, and see her new horse! His name is Indie and he joins Will and Ping to help Jennie B. make it to the next Olympics! Here he is below at Jersey Fresh a few weekends ago! Also, my friend Rebecca Howard got to compete this weekend for the first time since her riding accident back in February. It was great to see Rebec and Rupert back doing well! Hopefully we'll see them on the Canadian team at WEG.

Otherwise, things are just busy. My apartment search has been successful, so I'm busy making arrangements to move to Athens and get furniture. School is wrapping up. I'm planning on rushing in the fall, so that's exciting. Job hunting is still taking time. Overall, things are swell! Ciao for now!

Athens Bound in the Fall!

I've made the hard decision to go ahead and move to Athens in the fall! I think I already hinted at this in my last post a few weeks ago, but the decision is final. I've found an apartment, and hopefully will be signing a lease soon. If this apartment fills, then I've got a few backup plans. Even though I'll be on a stiff budget, I've found that there are small complexes of apartments in Athens for cheaper amounts of money, they may just not be the nicest.
So now, I'm working on getting my application packet complete for Gainesville, so I can take one more step at becoming a Georgia Bulldawg. UGA was supposed to do away with its Consumer Journalism program with all the 2010 budget cuts by the state, however, this program has survived, and has become my backup major if I don't get accepted to the Grady Journalism school.
An update on my life here in Milledgeville, GCSU finishes their finals this week, so most of my friends are heading home. My roommate is moving back to Augusta for the summer, so I'm doing my best to find a place to live. Classes are alright, I'm just craving summer. BADLY. I've been frequenting Athens on the weekends to see my friends, and once again, I'll be headed back this weekend. My buddy Nathan graduates from UGA this weekend, so I'll be there to see him walk the stage. Friday night my friend Paul's band, Death on Two Wheels is playing, so Callie, Valerie, and I will be attending the show and then hitting Clayton St.
My contract for Camp Country Lad has been signed. I leave for my counseling job on June 11. I'll be in beautiful Monterey, TN for 6 and a half weeks, then I'll move to Athens! Much has to be done before I leave for work. I have to have all my school stuff for Gainesville done (acceptance, financial aid, etc), as well as my housing. Hopefully all will go smoothly. I'm rather excited about this educational opportunity, as UGA has the BEST journalism program south of the Mason Dixon line! Georgia also has a pretty legit study abroad program, so ideally, I'll be able to spend a semester or two elsewhere learning the craft of magazine writing!
On a side note, to all my friends competing at Jersey Fresh this weekend, kick on and good luck! To everyone who had good finishes at Rolex Kentucky, CONGRATS!
Until next time, ciao and happy Cinco de Mayo!

Classic City Here I Come!

After much deliberation, I've decided to move to Athens, my favorite city in the world, in July for the fall. I was planning on going to GCSU and stay here in Milledgeville, but changes happen. It turns out I don't have enough credit to get into GCSU, so on to Plan B which, turns out to be better! The plan now is to move to Athens and attend Gainesville State in Watkinsville for fall semester, then hopefully have enough credit for UGA! I was born and raised a Dawg courtesy of William G. and Dixie and now I get to go to the school of my dreams! Ideally, I'll have the grades to be eligible for UGA's Grady school of journalism, if not, I'll hopefully major in consumer journalism through the college of Family and Consumer Sciences. I'm going to look at apartments this weekend. I'm a bit nervous to moving to a big town, but I have friends and family there, so I'm excited!

So only 5 weeks until I'm done in Milledgeville, and off to Bonnaroo, then another 2 weeks, and I'm off to Camp Country Lad then I move to the Classic City! I'm pretty excited.

Cold Day in July (well almost!)

Today in Milledgeville, its COLD! It's almost May and its barely 60 degrees! Moving on (I'm in the library because shorts and a tshirt are too cold to be outside in right now), things are truly coming around. I just got back to my favorite college town from Griffin where I spent the night. I got to wrangle at SharpTop this weekend with my friend Lauren (who also lives in Millyvegas!) for a group of families from Atlanta and Athens, and had a blast! Despite my car pitching an absolute temper tantrum on Friday night that ended in me sitting beside I-75 for a while, things were great. I drove back to Griffin yesterday morning, spent the day with friends and my sister, got some Algebra help from Mrs. Dee (my lifesaver for 7 years now. She gets major kudos for putting up with me for this long!) and then ate dinner with my parents. It was great to see my dogs and do some laundry.
Back to school- I've found a place to live, a friend from church has an empty room in his apartment that is already furnished that he is kindly letting me use until my semester is over, then its really party time! I'll head to Atlanta for a Passion Pit concert, then to BONNAROO!!! To cap off my summer, I've agreed to work for Camp Country Lad, in TN, where I attended as a kid as a counselor (I'm psyched!).
So this week will be full of Algebra, English, and Freshman Experience classes, church on Wednesday and Thursday, going to see a buddy's band on Thursday night, and possibly Athens this weekend for a Perpetual Groove concert, Relay for Life, and the Athens Twilight Cycling Race! Cheers!

Homeless and Happy

Being an actual person is wonderful. Taking Back Sunday has a song that says, "what does it feel like to be a ghost." This is how I felt DAILy in Milledgeville wearing that stupid uniform. I've earned a new life, simply by stepping up to the plate and leaving ROTC. I've crashed at 3 different people's apartments on 3 different nights, another tonight, but strangely enough, while most would be freaking out over not having a "permanent residence," I'm thrilled to be able to live again. Being able to be Sam again, not Johnston, not William, not kid, not you, but Sam, makes my day! I leave for another weekend at Sharp Top Cove tomorrow, and I'm very excited to see not only what God does for these kids I'll be serving, but also what he has in store for me! As I sit on the GCSU lawn, listen to Dave Matthews, and soak up some rays and write this random blog, I am for once happy and content. No I may not have tons of money, or a guaranteed bed tonight, but I know God has put me here for a reason, and for that, I can't complain. This morning, after class, was spent job hunting, I've applied 10 places, and have a possible home. For this I'm thankful, and hopeful! I'm reading A River Runs Through It; and in it the Reverend says, "the Lord has blessed us all today... it's just that he has been particularly good to me." I know this is quite selfish, however, I really think God has had a say in my week, and I'm grateful. Please pray for the kids who will be attending STC this weekend, that God will change their lives, just as he has changed mine! Below is a picture of the lawn today, a green wonderland!

The Great Escape- Literallyyy

Today I dropped out of GMC's cadet corps. I am now officially a commuter student! I have dropped down to 12 hours this quarter so I can get a job. I'm currently homeless, but I'll manage, the Lord never puts us in situations we can't handle. I'm going job shopping tomorrow before and after classes, so fingers are crossed. God has put me in Milledgeville for a reason, and I really do hope I can find some way to serve Him. I am attending St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, where they have a college youth group, and have met great people. This group took me in with open arms, and I'm so grateful the Lord put me in this church family. I'm currently being a moocher, sitting at a table with an orange umbrella, drinking free water and using the wireless at Milledgeville's new Jittery Joe's coffee franchise (the BEST coffee from Athens!), I'm praying hard, and doing my best to not get discouraged, or get too sick from the pollen. I know money is going to be extremely tight, but I'm going to grow up fast, and learn how to manage my money. As overwhelming as today has been, I'm still confident that God is pushing me to stay here in Milledgeville for the fall at GCSU, and I'm growing more and more excited about what this new venture has in store!
On a side note, I'm listening to a weird mixture of music, mostly the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers, with a weird mix of new electronica thrown in: Passion Pit, STS9, and Pretty Lights are blowing up my car radio and my headphones! Also, congrats to my old riding instructor, Nick Cwick, who rode my horse Beni at Chattahoochee Hills this past weekend and finished a stunning 3rd place in a field of over 20 horses! Yay Nick and Beni!
So it's now time to go review my Algebra homework (eeeewwwww), and to go drive across town to a prospective job spot. Please keep me in your prayers. I'm living my life to the fullest, and leaning on the Lord. Cheers!