The Status of My Relationship with God, part 1

For the first of my serious posts, I want to walk through the timeline of my relationship with church and with God. I think it will be helpful for readers to understand what got me to where I am now. I am prepared for this post to either be really long, or so long that I need to make it more than one post. This is your warning.

I'm going to begin as close to the beginning as I can. In 1997, my dad attended church with a work friend. My dad and mom grew up in church, but they had moved from Indiana to Louisiana in 1995, and they hadn't found a church in which they felt comfortable. This church was not the first church they'd attended since the move, but it was the place my dad finally felt comfortable. He attended for a while before he brought Mom and us to a service. But once Mom attended, it wasn't long before we were in attendance every week. That was in the summer of 1998. I was almost 6, and Ashley was turning 4.

Book Review! - Paper Towns ✭✭✭☆☆

     I spent my night on Tuesday reading. I haven't read like I read on Tuesday in a very long time, and it felt wonderful!

     I decided to read Paper Towns by John Green because the movie adaptation is coming out, and I wanted to make sure I read the book before I saw the movie. It's almost a requirement for myself. Anyway, I picked the book up off of the pile of books that I've collected in my room (They've been separated from the 100 or so books on the bookshelf in the living room.) around 7 pm. I read the final page at just before midnight. Like I said, I haven't read like that in a long time because school has been in the way, and there's enough to read for that.

     Now, I want to start off by saying that I think this book deserves more from me, and I think that I owe it to the story to read it more deeply than I did this first time around. Because I love literature, I understand that the superficial read that I gave this book does not do this book justice. As I was reading, I noticed that there was so much going on beneath the surface of the story of this boy that was obsessed with the girl that lived next door. But because I had the thirst for superficial consumption, I did not take my time to piece together the story beneath the story. And I want to acknowledge that that will affect my review of the book. However, that does not mean that, if and when I reread this book with the time it deserves, I will necessarily change my review. Hopefully, the summary doesn't contain too much spoilerage...

Some Quick Updates

Since I did abandon this blog for over a year, I figured it was only fair to do an update.

After I graduated from Roosevelt University in May of 2014, I said goodbye to Chicago to move back home to Louisiana. I didn't, and still don't, know how long I would be away from Chicago, but it remains my favorite place I've ever lived. From June until August, I worked as a temporary receptionist. I worked 40 hour weeks, and I learned that that is NOT the kind of job for me. I spent a lot of time during the summer with Rachel Kat* and Heather, especially while Ashley was in Japan for the month of June!

In August, I started graduate school in Monroe. I moved in with my DZ best friend, Jacie. Best roommate situation I've had since I lived with Ashley. And actually, let's be honest, I fight with Jacie far less than I did with Ashley. In October, I got a graduate assistantship at school and began working for two professors. That's were I got to know Rachel Beth. She and I work for the same professors. We had a class together, and I told her that I was going to apply for the open position. She told me that I'd be working with her, so we started hanging out. We were fast friends; close quarters cause you to get to know one another quickly, and luckily, we clicked! Also, in October, a tornado kind of blew through campus while we were in class. So that was fun.

The spring was far less interesting. We did end up with five snow days because of a couple snow and ice storms. There were some unfortunate falling out of friends things that happened, but I believe it's for the best. I, also, got my first B in grad school. I was not pleased. This summer hasn't been super interesting either. I am working two retail jobs until school starts.

Speaking of school, there are 31 days until it starts. I find myself saying I can't wait. I was never cut out for this summer thing. I think I thrive on deadlines and tasks, and summer just isn't productive enough for me. The fall is going to be a crazy time. On top of being a GA and a student, I'll be running an experiment-y thing and applying to PhD programs. So, that ought to prove interesting.

Now, that's out of the way. :)

<3 Amber Marie

* - I, now, have to differentiate between Rachels in my life because apparently I have a messenger bag full of them...don't ask...