Give me, O Lord, a thankful heart

That has been the cry of heart lately. Help me to be more thankful, Lord.

I'm not nearly thankful enough. When I stop to think about it, I am so blessed it's ridiculous. So why is my heart not overflowing with thanksgiving all the time (as it should be)? Why have I caught myself whining more than giving thanks lately?

I am thankful that God has been opening my eyes to my lack of thanksgiving. I'm starting to really hear what I'm saying when I'm whining or complaining--and I don't like it at all.

Instead of being thankful that I am able to go to school--and even able to do it at very little monetary cost with no loans of any kind--I've found myself whining about wanting to be finished, how much I don't want to do my assignments or UT's policies. Instead of being thankful that I have a well-paying job (for a college student) with a flexible schedule, good atmosphere, and a good boss who thinks highly of me-- I whine about the things that don't go right at work. I've whined about the weather, fatigue, etc.

So I'm asking God to help me be more thankful, a prayer he seems all to ready to answer. And he is. Also as my friends, if you notice me whining, don't be afraid to bring it to my attention and gently tell me to stop. I won't mind.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5

Spring fever in full force

Well, it's that time of year. Spring is finally here! But this year, along with the joyous excitement of spring, I just realized I am suffering from an acute case of spring fever. I think it's been years since I've had it this bad (one of the reasons why I haven't blogged in a while--just too darn restless). As I was staring blankly at my computer screen a few minutes ago, the thought finally occurred to me that maybe the restlessness I've been fighting since spring break has a name: spring fever. So being in a bored state of mind, I decided to Google "spring fever" and see what I could find. I found an interesting definition of the malady on Answers.com. It describes me to a T right now, with the exception of the laziness. I'm still getting things done, I'm just really restless and not quite as productive as I usually am. So maybe that makes me a little lazy, but at least I'm not skipping class, ignoring assignments or calling in to work.

I guess I'll just have to keep persevering through the next few weeks and fight my way through this. Summer will be here before I know it...

Spring Break is over

Yesterday marked the return to school after a wonderful Spring Break. *sigh* I had an absolute blast. I didn't travel anywhere and didn't do anything "spectacular," yet this was the greatest spring break ever. So what was so special? I spent lots of time with the greatest friends on the face of the earth. With an extra Friday on break this year, I was able to spend the majority of two weekends, and some time in between, with my closest circle of friends. I savored every minute of it. It felt great to be able to meet a friend for dinner, watch a movie, walk around downtown with a group of friends, and so forth without having to worry about assignments. What a godsend! I really didn't want to come back this week.

Also, it seems that in recent weeks I have grown closer to a few of my friends and felt a stronger connection with them--making the quality time I spent with them over spring break even more precious. That is the primary reason I did not want to return to school. Don't get me wrong--I absolutely love learning. I really do. I always have and I always will. But I'm ready to take it outside the confines of a university and begin real-life learning. I only have one more year of school left and only six more weeks in this semester, but I am so ready for it to be over. I'm ready to take what I've learned in class and actually apply it. But I'm also ready to be able to spend my spare time with my friends and family, not poring over books for class. While doing well in class will help me in my future job, it's not my GPA that will matter at the end of my life. It's my walk with Christ, the relationships I've formed and the people that have been by my side throughout this crazy experience we call life. That's what counts. And that's what I celebrated over break.

Life-saving dolphin aids whales

The dolphin is my favorite animal. A quick little known fact about me: I wanted to be a marine biologist for a couple of years as a preteen. I love the ocean and ocean life, so I thought it would be cool to study it for a living. Those of you who know me can go ahead and laugh. Don't worry, I changed my mind about marine biology. While I like studying marine biology (and general biology as well), I figured if I couldn't stand the thought of being out on the ocean in a small to medium-sized boat then I probably shouldn't major in it.

Crushed career dreams aside, I still think dolphins are amazing creatures. Not only are the cute, funny and intelligent, but occasionally they have been proven to save lives. As I was browsing through MSNBC.com earlier trying to see what was happening around the nation and the world, I stumbled upon this article. Apparently a dolphin in New Zealand helped lead two stranded pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, to safety. How sweet. Dolphins prove their intelligence and compassion once again!

UT Today airing on Saturdays

I have to post a quick little plug for my fellow UT journalism students. For eight consecutive weeks students will be writing, producing, and broadcasting a 30-minute newscast, UT Today, as part of the Electronic News Operations course. The shows will air Saturdays at 1 p.m. on WBIR Channel 10. They began broadcasting last Saturday and will run through April 26. Check it out and see what the journalism students at UT are learning about broadcasting.

Way to go, News-Sentinel!

Way to go, Knoxville News-Sentinel! The newspaper has won two national journalism awards for its coverage of the Knox County Commission's violation of the Open Meetings Act and the subsequent law suit it launched against the commission. And deservedly so. Hats off to the staff at the News-Sentinel for fulfilling their role as a government watchdog and for looking out for the citizens of Knox County and the First Amendment. Also, thanks for being a living example to journalism students like myself of how important that role is and how it works.

Thoughts on Candace Parker leaving the Lady Vols

In my online journalism class, we are currently learning about the basics of shooting and editing video. Last Thursday we divided into groups and went across campus shooting video for a man-on-the-street assignment. My classmates Emily and Todd and I asked the people we interviewed to respond to the question: How do you feel about Candace Parker opting out of her senior year to enter the WNBA draft?

We edited our video in class yesterday and loaded it onto YouTube. Sadly, the quality isn't that great since we used a digital camera (and it was really windy), but hey, it was the first attempt at video for all of us. Here are the results if you would like to check them out. (I shot the video on the first and last clips.)