Have You Heard of Abe Parker?

Have you ever had an event in your life occur that seemed completely arbitrary at the time, but in retrospect it's an awesome story? I had that moment of realization last night when I asked my friend Abe to recap the the past 6 months of his life.

I can't remember the first time I met Abe. It was probably sometime freshman year when I met several new people everyday and couldn't keep names with faces. Over the past three years we've become friends and I'm very thankful for that. He's kinda awesome at music and when I say kinda, I mean REALLY awesome. Check out his music HERE.

Back to my awesome story ... Last semester, while on Facebook when I probably should have been doing homework, I discovered a contest that Andy Grammer was hosting. Basically you put a video on a website, people vote, Andy and his crew vote and the video with the most votes wins. Winning meant opening for Andy Grammer at one of his concerts. I sent the link to Abe with a note encouraging him to enter. He took my advice and you can probably guess the outcome. He won.

He and his band packed up their gear, traveled to Vienna, VA and were the opening act for Andy Grammer. Abe was able to meet Andy and make some great connections with his band and tour manager. He was able to travel to several cities with him to play for the crowds as they waited to get into the concerts.

A few weeks ago, Abe traveled to Atlanta to play at Eddie's Attic in their open mic competition. Of course he won. I had no doubt that he would. He's just that great, but don't take my word for it. Check out what another blogger who heard him play at the competition said HERE. He met up with Andy while in Atlanta and spent several hours talking to him about music and songwriting.

I got to hear this whole story from his perspective as he strummed my ukelele on my couch last night. It was funny to think of how me sending him a link to a contest started all of this. Another cool thing, the Vienna metro station is the station I got on every morning to get to my internship in DC.

His enthusiasm for music and passion for songwriting is very evident in his relentless attempt to do what he loves. The best part is he gives all the glory to God. He is so trusting in God's sovereign plan and purpose for his life. Keep your eye on this guy. He'll make it big one day and I can't wait until his does.  

Check out one of my favorite songs of his. He wrote it for his little sister before she went to college. Precious, right?

   

Flashback to Freshmen Year

Remember how I said I was going to participate in a Mud Run? Well ... that didn't happen.

Cassie realized that she had double booked herself and decided that taking the GRE instead of doing a Mud Run was the better choice. I decided to forgive her since it kinda determines the rest of her life, but this did not cause my weekend to be a disappointment. It was like freshman year all over again.

I have so many great memories from freshman year. Always meeting someone new, bonfires, staying out until the last minute before curfew, gen ed classes and figuring out what I wanted my major to be. It seems like it was forever ago.

Saturday, the senior class ushered in the fall season by hosting a bonfire accompanied with volleyball, singing around the fire, s'mores (my favorite) and hotdogs (not my favorite).

After the bonfire, a group of us ran to the upper soccer field to lay on the hill side. Blankets were stretched out with us squishing together to keep warm. We laughed reminiscing about how we all met one another, our first impressions, both good and bad, how excited and eager we were to be in college, the crushes we had that now seem ridiculous and the rookie mistakes we made.

I am so thankful for my past three years at Asbury. I have made a wonderful group of friends and will never say goodbye to them. I'm thankful that we can spend our Saturday nights around a bonfire, under the stars and not out partying or getting drunk. I'm thankful that they've been there to comfort me when I've felt at my lowest and to celebrate with me when I've succeeded. I am so blessed.

Highlights from freshmen year:

First bonfire at the Owens' house

Girls' Night Out where I met some of my best friends

Freshmen Class Cabinet at Freshmen Formal

Freshmen Homecoming Representatives

When Asbury was a college

Is it really senior year already?  

Goodwill Hunting

Fall is fast approaching and I am elated. It is, without a doubt, my favorite season.

Chunky knit sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, the Red River Gorge, my brown leather boots, colorful leaves, campfires, s'mores. Wrap it all up in "brown paper packages tied up with string. These are few of my favorite things."

As part of preparing for fall, I research when Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte is once again released into the world for humanity to enjoy (Sept 6) and bring out my (small) fall wardrobe. I try to add to it every year and this year I had help from my lovely apartmentmates Jane and Sharayah.

After spending some time at my favorite coffee house, we headed to Goodwill to see what we could find. One can ALWAYS find something that is at least intriguing if not purchase worthy at Goodwill.

Like I said, you can at least find something intriguing

 Sharayah is the "Goodwill Goddess." She always finds the best stuff
 

   Jane found an exercise video to go along with her yoga video.

 

I walked out with a gray chunky knit sweater, but was tempted to purchase this. I have no use for it, but it made me think back to my childhood. Do you know what it is?

Sharayah also purchased a DVD of "When in Rome," a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movie. We were all so excited to watch our favorite childhood celebrities.

I couldn't handle it. I made up the excuse that I had to bake. It was SO BAD. The acting, the cheesy lines, the ridiculous romances that 15 year old girls should not be having ... 10 years ago, I couldn't get enough of their movies. My how we've changed.

Then

Now