these days

Finding my place. I'm finally into an entire schedule of classes only for my major! Marketing, management, product development, visual merchandising, and buying. Every day it is a constant battle to remember my place in this industry. You can only imagine how catty, materialistic, and sometimes snooty this "fashion world" can be. I know why God has me here! I've known it for a long time. But being surrounded by all of this worldliness and people without my same perspective can certainly be draining! Remembering why I'm here is a daily battle, and one that has me turning to Him every day to remind myself why He wants me doing what I do, and bringing Him glory though the midst of it.

Accepting "no's". Some of you may know already, but I applied for a new job last week. It was all sort of a spur of the moment deal. I mean, working with this company has always been a dream of mine, and God opened up a door I thought would be the one I'd be stepping through this year. Everything lined up so perfectly, it seemed, with the way the job opening came about to me. I killed the interview, worked up a fantastic resume, then was quickly turned down because of scheduling conflicts. Fortunately, the girl hiring said she really wants me on the team and would save my resume until Spring when new positions come available. Still, anything other than a "you got the job!" is disappointing, but I was quickly reminded that my plans are not His. He does what's right in His own time, despite how perfect everything seems in my eyes. And most importantly, He's promised to take care of my every need, so why make a fuss?

Business. Business. Business. Odelma is still on a roll! So many opportunities have opened up in the past month. I have major inventory sitting in my closet that just needs to be photographed and listed, so I don't have to worry with shopping all of the time to catch up inventory. The only down side is that I sometimes just can't keep up. There just literally isn't enough hours in the day. Fortunately for me, Odelma is a hobby and will stay a hobby until God throws something else my way that changes directions.  When I don't have the energy to sweat bullets in the sun, trying to get the perfect photograph with natural lighting, well... I just don't do it. When I'd rather go to bed instead of spending 30 minutes listing an item, I go to bed! This little shop is tons of fun, and I want it to stay that way!

Boyfriend. Luke is finally at LSU! We carpool on most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It's a whole lot easier to remember that school isn't #1 in my life when I have friends and Luke there with me at school to remind me. I'm pretty much loving this semester!

Sharing. I've been practicing the act of sharing. Sounds so elementary doesn't it? Well, you're right... it is elementary. I have had a problem with sharing things (music, stores, websites, etc.) for such a long time, and it's an ugly, nasty, prideful habit that needs to be cut out of my life. And I'm getting better!! To work on this habit, I've been passing along awesome sites to people I know would enjoy them, blogging about cool online stores, and forwarding along any awesome bands that come my way. I know this all sounds silly, but believe me, it's a problem! And God is making me fix it.

So that's what's been going on.

In honor of sharing, and waving goodbye to summer, I put together a few songs that I couldn't stop playing this summer. Some old, some new, some weird.

Enjoy. :)

{p.s. If you ever wondered where the name "Mother Sea" came from on my blog, it's in the Bat's Mouth song. I just randomly picked it when I started this blog and never took it down. Also, download Cosmic Love and listen to it in your car really really loud.}

{google readers, pop out.}