Autumn is finally here!

Fall break was wonderful. Visiting family was wonderful. The only non-wonderful thing about Fall break was that it was over too soon.

This past weekend I got a new jacket, and I'm oh-so-happy, because I've gotten to wear it for the past three days. It's actually been cool enough to wear a jacket! Autumn is finally here! (You know...I think that Autumn is a much prettier word to describe this time of year than Fall. Why don't we use the prettier word more often?) I love experiencing all of the different seasons. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...they're all great, and they all provide us with a change in scenery so that we don't get too bored (that is, unless you live in Florida, or some other state that is season deprived).

Hit the road, Jack

This break has proven itself to be very wonderful. Mostly because I've had the chance to spend good, quality time with those I love.

Last night was date night for Jonathan and I. We went to this wonderful pizzeria in downtown Chattanooga called Lupi's. Oh wow...I'm pretty sure that was the best pizza that I have ever tasted! It really was amazing. Really really amazing. I just love finding new restaurants to go to. The kind of places that aren't chains, but unique to a certain city. After our delicious pizza we then spent an hour or so walking around downtown Chattanooga. We had fun. :) I love that city.

In a few hours, Jonathan and I are
going to be hitting the road (whenever I say that, I get this awesome mental picture of us with sticks giving the road a good beating...ha, I wish I could share with you what that picture looks like, because it's quite humorous) and going to Murfreesboro to visit Jonathan's family (now my family too!). It's been a while since we've gotten to see everyone, so this is going to be a very nice visit.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

A much needed break

Fall Break is finally here, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy for Jonathan and I (for Jonathan especially) as far as school goes. Lots of midterms, projects, and tests. But now, we have a nice long weekend free from homework!

Last night was a good start to our break. We had my family (The Turpin tribe) over for dinner and to watch Heroes. We had so much fun! It was definitely a different experience having my family over to our apartment for dinner. Jonathan and I made dinner for them, and everyone loved it. Then, we all sat down to watch the newest episode of Heroes! (Moriah watched Spiderman: The Animated Series in the other room). I really enjoy spending time with those folks. :) They're favorites.

After the fam left, Jonathan and I tackled the copious amount of dishes left over from dinner (I really admire my mom for being a mother of 5 kids). Then...Jonathan and I went to Bruster's for icecream! Every time I go get icecream, I have to laugh at myself, because I take forever to decide on what flavor I want. We then took our icecream to Lee, and walked around the beautiful, deserted campus. We hadn't done that in quite a while (besides walking to classes). When we were dating, that was a frequent pastime of ours. Walking around and sitting on park benches having good conversation brought back many good memories.

I love breaks.

I love family.

I love having a partner to do dishes with.

I love icecream.

I love park benches.

I love my husband.

Now, on to see what the rest of this break holds for us! :)

Being thankful

So many times I get caught up in the busy, craziness of life, that I forget to thank God for all He's done. Many times I find myself complaining about things that I really should be thankful for (such as my job, and school). God has truly blessed me, and I never want to forget or not acknowledge that. I always want to be positive. Being negative is no fun at all.

I know that Thanksgiving is still a month away...but I think that every day should be a day of giving thanks.

Here are some things I'm thankful for:

• My relationship with God--wow, He sure does put up with a lot. I can be difficult at times, and yet God is always there for me. He's always merciful, and He always loves me. I don't deserve it, but I am so thankful that His love is unconditional.
• Jonathan--I truly have been blessed with an amazing husband. He makes me smile and laugh, he makes me feel so loved, he encourages me, he helps me, he's my best friend and I love him so much.
• Family--I don't think that I have ever been so thankful for my family as I am now. I love going to visit, and getting attacked with hugs from my sisters. I love us sitting down with my parents and having coffee and good conversation. I love getting random voice messages from my brother. I just love them.--I also love the in-law family. We're going to visit them this weekend, and I'm very excited!
• Friends--I love them. :) I love the kind of friends where weeks, months, and even years can pass and you get to see them again...and it seems like nothing has changed at all.
• Graduation in May--I am excited about graduating. School has been great, but I'm ready for life after daily classes.
• Sleep!
• Warm fuzzy blankets.
• Coffee
• Hot chocolate
• Nights with no homework.
• Movie nights--curling up with a warm fuzzy blanket, my husband, hot chocolate, and a good movie.
  
• Going on dates with my husband--we have such a great time together! I'm glad I married that guy! :)
  
• Home cooked meals--cooking is fun, and getting to eat the homemade cooking is even more fun.
  
• Theatre
  
• Hamilton Life Church--I love our church family. The staff and members of our church really add so much to my life. I love having the opportunity to serve in ministry there alongside my husband.
• Art--makes me happy :)

And the list goes on...

What are you thankful for?

Creating art again

High school was different from college in many ways (obviously), but one of those ways was that in high school I was very involved in three areas: theatre, choir, and art. Well, since I've been at Lee I've only been able to focus on one of those interests: theatre (since it's my major). Now, I'm not saying that I miss high school...but I do miss those other interests. Especially art.

This semester I'm taking Scene and Set Design, which has thrown me back into the world of art--and I love it! Apart from doing lots of sketches and draftings for my class, I've started sketching just for fun. It's been such a stress reliever! Drawing really does make me smile. Whoever came up with the idea of art therapy is a genius!

Anyways... about a month ago I purchased a Moleskine sketchbook. I've used it some for class assignments, but I'm just now beginning to use it for daily (or every other daily) journal sketches (basically, drawing what I saw or was thinking of that day). It's fun! It's definitely nothing fancy...but I enjoy the creativity of it.

I want this shirt

I just saw a picture of a friend of mine who lives up in the Maryland/DC area...and she was wearing a shirt similar to this one, and I want it.

"Why?" you ask?

No, I'm not a Maryland fan.

The reason I like this shirt so much is because my nickname with some of my friends around here is "Turtle". This came into being when Jonathan and I first met, and his guy friends were trying to think of a "code" name for me (haha). So their logic in my nickname? My last name was Turpin...which is kinda like Maryland's mascot the Terrapins...which is a species of turtle. So I have been "Turtle" or "The Turtle" ever since. A couple of friends (i.e. Thorne and Russell) only call me this. I'm pretty sure they refuse to call me by my real name. It's awesome.

So, that is why this shirt is so awesome.

The end. :)
-Tiffany

P.S. I just ate my salad with a spoon, because I forgot to pack a fork. I often laugh at Jonathan, because he sometimes eats his icecream with a fork. And now, I give him permission to laugh at me...because I just ate my salad with a spoon. And it was not easy.

Some random thoughts:

My mind is kind of all over the place today, so I'm just going to throw some random thoughts out there in a bulleted-style-post.

• I've discovered that Jonathan makes the best hot wings in the world. Really, they're amazing. And he made them for me the other night when I had a huge drafting project to work on for my Scene and Set Design class. He is sweet.
• Two of my classes were canceled on Friday. Jesus loves me.
• In the past week I have written two songs. One is about meat and the other about veggies. I came up with both of them while cooking (hence the subject matter). Jonathan laughed when I told him I should take a music composition class. I don't know why.
• I think that Heroes is one of the best shows ever made. I'm really excited about this season.
• I watched an episode of Spiderman: The Animated Series. It made me feel like a little kid. I liked it.
• We might go camping with some friends in a couple of weeks. The possibility of that makes me very happy.
• I want to play videogames. More specifically, I want to play the new Team Fortress 2. Jonathan has definitely had a great impact on my life. :)
• I can't wait for my drama ministry books to arrive in the mail. Getting packages is fun!
  
• I'm already excited about Christmas. It's my favorite time of year. I am tempted to start listening to Christmas music right now...but I will refrain, because that would just be crazy. It's October.
• I love Jonathan Zajas.
  

That's all for now. Have a happy day!

-Tiffany

1 year at Hamilton Life Church

This past Sunday we celebrated 1 year of ministry at Hamilton Life Church. In many ways that one year has flown by, but in other ways it seems as though we've all been together for much longer. God really has done a lot in one year, but I'm even more excited to see what He's going to do in the years to come!

For those of you who don't know, Jonathan and I are both ministry volunteers at our church here in Chattanooga. Jonathan is the worship leader and I'm the drama director. It's such a blessing to be able to minister to other people with drama! I love theatre...and I love God...and if I can use my love of theatre to honor God, then that makes me so very happy!

A few days ago I ordered a couple of drama ministry books (one was written by the drama director at Willow Creek in Chicago...their ministry is AMAZING)--the books look like they'll help me a lot. I know quite a bit about theatre and production, because I've been studying it for four years at Lee, but drama ministry is still fairly new to me. I'm wanting to better learn how to develop a drama team (right now it's just me and Jonathan) and to use dramas to enhance services...and I also want to eventually write more short scripts. This is scary to me, because I haven't done much of it, but finding good (a.k.a. non-cheesy) Christian dramas is difficult...so, I feel God pushing me in the direction of writing some of my own.

I can sense that God's going to stretch me more in this area...and although it's scary at times, I'm excited about it! :)

-Tiffany

It's been a while...

Well, it sure has been a while since the last time I've blogged...but recently I've had the desire to pick it back up again. I used to be an avid user of Xanga, but that eventually fizzled out. Now, I've come across BlogSpot which appears to be pretty good, so I thought I'd give it a shot. So...here goes!

A lot has happened during the past few months of my life. The biggest, most exciting thing is that I married my best friend, Jonathan Zajas. We've been married for a little over two months now, and it has been amazing. Marriage really is wonderful. I love getting to share every aspect of my life with him. He really is a blessing to me.

There are lots of other things going on in my life as well...such as school and church, etc. But I'll leave those subjects to be talked about in a later post.

-Tiffany