I got sick of messing with the stupid formatting on this blog.

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Another great weekend in Bentonville! My friend Andy came down for a visit, which was a blast. Bentonville had their own version of an Art Walk in the square downtown, which, although it was interesting to see and there were some very talented people present, it was nothing compared to Springfield’s. We went to Kennedy Coffee (which makes that trip #3 for me in one week…can you say addicted?), and then headed down to Fayetteville. We walked around the University of Arkansas campus (which was on my list of things to do while I was here this summer), and that was a blast. Their campus is not only gorgeous, but huge. We stopped and had a play in a fountain, and attempted breaking into their football stadium.

We just so happened to come across an open gate, but then a maintenance guy showed up. Luckily though, Andy sweet-talked him into letting us have a look see. Let me just say…one section of their seating was larger than the entire bleacher set at MSU. They sure do love their Razorbacks! We also found a sweet tree to climb. However, that tree wanted to leave me with a sweet little reminder of the trip, so I currently have the nastiest bruise I’ve ever had in my life on my thigh. No shorts for me for awhile. Great.

We then had a walk around downtown. I freaking love Fayetteville. It’s such a great little college town. As much as I love Springfield, I’m pretty sure the U of A would’ve been a strong contender in my choices for college a few years ago (minus that whole out-of-state-tuition thing). Downtown was adorable. There was this awesome little French antiques store that I will most definitely be revisiting sometime in the next few weeks. I’m sure I won’t be able to afford anything, but it’ll be sweet to look.

On Saturday, I had the huge blessing of making some money. Where I work also serves as a meeting place for events such as weddings, receptions, etc. When we rent out the place, a few of us have to be there to help things run smoothly. And we do it for $20/hour. Considering I have NO form of income this summer, this was a huge blessing. Not to mention, it gave me something to do for 5 hours. It was nice to be active for a few hours, make some money, and chat with one of my coworkers.

Clumsy moment of the weekend #2: I knocked a glass of the counter, and it proceeded to land on my foot/the floor and break. I have a nice little cut on the top of my foot now, along with another bruise. Luckily this one looks a hell of a lot nicer, but it hurts like a mother. In addition to no shorts, I won’t be wearing flip flops for awhile, either.

Saturday night, my roommates were home with a group of other girls from camp. I ended up getting ice cream at Coldstone with my roommate, Robyn, and one of her coworkers. Nothing beats a little girl talk and some ice cream.

This morning was another interesting day, but I think I’m still processing it. Let me just say that, life is really awesome right now, and I love being in Bentonville. However, I’m not sure WHY it’s going so well, so I’m waiting for things to take a turn for the worse, which is ruining how well things are going right now. It’s a vicious cycle, really.

You know you're in Arkansas when..

• When you find yourself picking up that annoying-yet-kinda-cute Southern accent that only some Arkansans have.
• When everyone you pass in the park says hello.
• When you're driving on an empty back, country road, and an old man working on his tractor waves hello.
• When you drive 7 miles on a dirt and gravel "road" to experience the best waterfall ever.
• When you stop at a gas station in the middle of nowhere lost, and not only does the proprietor give you great directions to said waterfall, but also tells you to come back if you can't find it, because he'll drive you out there himself.
• When a group of college kids all run to their cars to grab their shot guns to shoot a snake that is enjoying a late afternoon swim in YOUR swimming hole.
• Also when one said college student flicks (flips!) off the "dead" snake.
• Also when said college students retrieve said "dead" snake, discover it's not quite dead yet, and they all go off in a hunt for large rocks, which, once found, are used to finish the job.
• When someone at church uses the phrase "You'll be up a creek in a chicken wire canoe".
• When you have a conversation with an older man in the Local section at Borders that starts out with a question about whether or not I've seen a book on rivers in Arkansas, and it turns into a 10 minute conversation about weather and where we're both originally from. His name was Gil. We shook hands.
• there are multiple "Wal-Mart Drives".
• You can drive on back country roads for 3 hours and enjoy every last second of it.

Here I am, at my internship, blogging. And this time, it's not about pantyhose. Oops!

(In my defense, my boss isn't here and gave me very little to do to tide me over the couple of days she'd be gone.)

I have finally settled down in good ol' Bentonville, and I kinda like it. The past few days have been rather relaxing, and it takes talent to fill time as creatively as I do. I've been watching entirely too much Friday Night Lights (I say this like that needs to change. Let's get real...I'll keep watching fervently until the Season 5 Finale.), I'm completely unpacked, I journeyed to Wal-Mart (although this one was store #100, not #1...which is most definitely on the list of things to see this summer) and stocked my fridge and pantry, took a rather intense stroll around a local park, Compton Gardens, and ran into a deer friend, and spent some time soaking in my Jacuzzi bathtub (try not to be TOO jealous).

Overall, I do like it here. Granted I've only been here by myself for less than 72 hours, but I genuinely think I will do just fine. I have every intention of finding a church to attend on Sunday mornings, and I'm hoping to meet some people (how lame do I sound right now?! Gosh.).

"Assume that your present circumstance is God's blessing."

I heard this quote in a sermon I listened to the other day, and it really struck me. Before this quote, the guy, Mark Driscoll, was talking about how we interpret situations based on how we think of God. Some recent events, other than moving to Bentonville for the summer, have had me in a tizzy. I was getting extremely worked up and frustrated. Not to mention hurt. Looking back on it, it's ridiculous, if only because I didn't know (and still don't know) the whole story. But I have to trust God that this present circumstance is his blessing to me. If things do turn out the way I originally thought they would (i.e. badly), they will still be God's blessing to me. He very well may be saving me from being hurt further in the future and/or preventing me from wasting my time. And if things turn out the way I'm hoping, then I've learned a valuable lesson (even if it's only that I need to be way less dramatic).

I'm most definitely looking forward to seeing what happens this summer.

P.S. I'll post my own pictures later :)