And it begins again

I've been back at school a little over a week now, so i'm just about settled. I'm loving living in an apartment instead of the dorm, and i'm getting along fairly well with all of my roommates. There are 8 of us total in a 4 bedroom 4 bathroom apartment. We share a common living room and a huge kitchen. I'm glad we decided to live where we are, because it's a workout to get anywhere on campus (that's a good thing :D). All of my classes are going well too, although it is still school! My two favorite classes are Computer Science and Accounting (shocker!).

My friend Jessie and I have started a practice of going over to the apartment of several of our guy friends and playing spoons almost every night after we finish our homework. It's a good way to relieve stress and get a good laugh! The many hours we spend in there make me understand why people love college so much, and also why people usually keep in contact with their friends from college more than those from high school.

Although i'm sad to not be in Cherokee anymore, i'm so happy to be back at school and back into the swing of things. I think it's going to turn out to be a great year!!

The end is so near

Actually it's tomorrow...just over 12 hours from now.

After 12 weeks of being in Cherokee, my time here is coming to an end. I never thought i'd see the day, because three months feels like eternity, but i'm finally done. Today was my last day of work, and my mind still tells me that i'll be in there tomorrow renting tubes and booking tours, when in reality my body will be in the car headed for Greensboro. In retrospect, this summer has flown by, but I promise the weeks got longer the more time I spent on the campground. God has really blessed me with everything that happened this summer, both good and bad. He's taught me a lot about who I am and who He should be in my life. I've met some really amazing people that I hope I will be friends with for a very long time, because they taught me how much God truely cares about me and wants to have a relationship with me. I've been quite blessed to have spent my summer with such amazing people! Although many of them are gone and have been for about a week or so, I can't seem to wrap my mind that it's going to be a long while till I see many of them again. For some reason, I keep expecting them to just walk right in the door and start talking like they were never gone. I'm really ready to go home, but I also wish that this summer hadn't gone by so quickly.

While it's sad to leave, I'm so excited to be going home! There are so many of my friends that I feel like I haven't seen in forever that I will get to see while I'm home, and I'll get to spend a little time with my family before I have to leave again for school. I'm so excited about going back to school, I just saw pictures of what my apartment looks like and I honestly couldn't be happier! It still needs some decorating and a few touches here and there, but i'm so ready to move in!! It's going to be nice having a set schedule that doesn't change from week to week.

It's kinda bitter-sweet, but I guess it had to end sometime...

It's been a while...

Whoops! It's definately picked up around here since the 4th of July, so I haven't had much time to blog. Working at the KOA is still a lot of fun, it's just starting to wear me out. Work is much easier now that i've completely figured out the system, it's just a little more stressful since the campground is almost always busy.

Lately, the computer system keeps going down and we have had to do a lot of our sales by hand. Usually, the people are pretty understanding and don't complain about how long it takes us to fill out everything we need to, but it takes a while to imput everything in when they do come up. For example, yesterday morning we rented tubes to 30 or so different groups of people. The computers came back up at about 1pm and were only up for about 10 mins before they went down again. They came back up later and were up for most of the day before they crashed again at 7, right before closing. It was a little hectic, but it was good math practice!

I can't wait to get home for a week and see my family and friends in Greensboro before heading back to Wingate. The summer has flown by!!

ALL of Me

Last night I finished reading Hadassah: One Night With the King, a fictional book that adds to the Biblical story of Esther. I got to a point in the book where I didn't want to put it down because the story was so interesting. I've always been a fan of the story of Esther, but the book gave a new light to her courage and internal beauty. Although it is fiction and probably not completely accurate, it gave me a lot to think about. I've always wondered what must have been going through her head during everything that she went through and reading the author's opinion made me feel more normal. There are many times that I forget to go to God first with my problems, and the story painted Esther with struggling with that same thing.

So far over the summer I've realized that God is the only one who can give me strength when there are tough customers that i have to deal with. It's taken me a long time to realize that I was still holding on to parts of my life and hadn't given everything completely to God. We had a guest speaker in Bible study a few weeks ago, and he spoke about how if we hold on to just 1% of our lives, that little part means that we really have given nothing to Him. 99% isn't enough to give to God, I need to give Him all of me, because that's all He wants from me. I've had a lot of time to think about what areas of my life I haven't given up completely, and I've slowly been fixing those areas. I'm still far from where I need to be, but I've never felt closer to Him than I have this summer and I absolutely love it!!

What a wonderful birthday!

I had a really good birthday on Monday!!! I slept in a little and when I woke up there were streamers decorating my bunk! I was really suprised, because I usually wake up at the slightest noise and there were several girls that decorated my bed. I was the only one in the cabin, because everyone else had to work. There was a cute little sign on the stairwell with a crown, glasses, a ring and a candy bracelet that I was told to wear. I got ready then walked to the front of the campground because our cabin was a little boring. I didn't wear the crown or sunglasses as I was walking to the front, because I didn't want to get strange looks from all the campers. I was chided for it when everyone saw that I wasn't wearing them, so I put on the crown.


I helped out with the basketball activity and showcased my "awesome" skills. No kids showed up, so it was just several SummerShiners playing knockout and PIG. It was really fun to just hang out and play basketball games.


I had to work at 2, so I left right after basketball was finished. It wasn't too busy of a day, and I was with another girl so it wasn't too lonely either. She got off at 4:30 and I had to work till 6. About 5, a group of people showed up and started unloading a U-Haul with a bunch of sound equipment. It took me a few minutes to remember that there was a sign on the door of the main office that said there would be a choir from Texas performing that night. It was kinda a bummer that we had to miss it, but we were leaving for staff night at 6:30 and we weren't going to make it back in time to see them.


As soon as I got off of work, I started to walk back to the bungalo(our cabin) and it was raining a little. It wasn't bad, because if it hadn't been raining, it would have been really hot. I got back, got ready as quick as I could and then we left a little before 6:30. We went to a Mexican restaurant in Sylva, so it took about 45 mins to get there. The food was really good and the wait wasn't too bad. After dinner, one of the guys got up and told the waiter that it was my birthday. I told him not to, but he did anyway. A few minutes later, a really heavy sombrero was put on my head and the waiters started to sing. A pair of sunglasses were on the table and one of the waiters put them on my face. I was a little confused, then I got a pile of whipped cream and chocolate syrup in my face. I was a little taken abak, but it really wasn't as bad as some people make it out to be. After I had a bunch in my face, they flicked crushed up chips into it as well. I was laughing the whole time, but everyone thought I was crying, because I had my face covered. It took me a few minutes to clean it all off my face, and I was smelling chocolate syrup the rest of the night, but it really wasn't that bad. When we got back to the campground, we sat on the porch and talked until the other car of people got there. It was a little while till they arrived, because they stopped to get cake and icecream. We all ate cake, icecream, and English's apple dip. It was fun to talk to everyone and hang out for a little while. I was up a little late hanging out and playing on the playground, but it was so much fun!

All in all, it was a wonderful day, and i'm really excited to celebrate father's day with my family when they come to visit me this weekend!!

Please Pray for Me

I really love it here as a whole, but I keep having those days where I wonder why I'm here and not at home with my close friends and family. My job is not the hardest, but it is really stressful when I get blamed for stuff that I have no control over. Some of the campers don't realize that the girls who work in the tours office don't make all the rules that we enforce. It's ok every once in a while, because some people do understand and are really sweet to us, but there's always those who are not polite and quite obnoxious. Please pray that I will have patience and be polite to all the customers even when they complain about things I can't control. God has already enabled me to have more patience than I did when I left, but I'm still a work in progress...

It's been a full week!

I'm almost suprised i've made it! I got here last wednesday night, so i've been working for a full week. (Only 11 more to go!!) As the days go by, I get more comfortable with my surroundings and enjoy the job that I have been given. I work with great people, and usually the customers are nice and pretty polite. I didn't think I would enjoy working in the mountains, but it's just about the perfect temperature all the time. There are times when it is hot, cold, or rainy, but for the most part it's great! I'm getting to know all my fellow staffers better, and many of the staff that work here full time.
I miss my friends at home and at school a lot, but i'm making wonderful new friends that are doing a good job of distracting me! Part of my family is going to try to come visit me next weekend, so i'm really excited about that!

It's a little hectic sometimes...

...but it's amazing so far! I'm still working in the tours office, and it continues to get less stressful every day. I enjoy the people I'm working with in there, and I'm starting to get used to the computer program we have to use. I feel very blessed because my job is not extremely physically demanding. Don't get me wrong, its hard, but in a different way. It's mentally stressful at times and others it's hard to find enough to do that i don't feel like I'm wasting my time and the company's money.

My first two days off were quite fun. On Monday, I didn't do much of anything other than hang out and meet some of the campers. Tuesday, I went swimming in the pool (we have a really cool water slide that is really fun to go down!), washed laundry, and went tubing down the river that flows past the campground. It was a really fun, but I'm still in pain from the all the rocks that poked me as i was floating...

Tuesday night was staff night, so we left the campground and went to a place called the Fun Factory. It was fun, there were lots of arcade games as well as bowling, laser tag, and mini golf. We had a great time just hanging out as a staff and playing games.

Tonight we went to Unto These Hills, the outdoor drama that tells the story of the Indians long journey until now. It was pretty cool to see, and now I will be able to answer many of the questions that the people who come to my office have about it.

God's going to change and grow me greatly this summer, I can already feel it!!

Making Headway

So i've worked two 8 hour shifts, and the campground is starting to fill up for the weekend. The tours office (where i work) was actually almost busy today. We had many people come to rent bikes and several people book either horseback or rafting tours for tomorrow. It was a little stressful, but not near as bad as I thought it would be. It doesn't really feel like 8 hours while I am there, because there is usually someone to talk to and customers to help.
Right now, i'm sitting outside because it was really nice when I walked back from work, but it just started to rain a little bit.
Tonight we are having a movie on a big screen for the campers, so I'm looking forward to going to that and meeting some of the campers.

One day at a time

I arrived on the Cherokee campground today at about 3pm. It was about a 4 hour drive, but it went a lot quicker than I thought it would. I didn't do much but get unloaded and go on a golf cart tour of the campground. It's a lot bigger than I imagined, but I guess that's a good thing, because there is a lot to do. I'll try to take pictures on my first day off, but I don't know when that will be for sure yet. Tomorrow I start work, and I've been told that I should be working in the tour center. It's basically a job where I will sit inside a little hut thing and rent intertubes and book people for tours to different places around Cherokee. It should be fun, but i'm ready to check it out for myself. The cabin that we are staying in is also a little smaller than I figured, but it should be manageable for the summer.
For dinner tonight, we went to the church that our activities director is a youth paster at. We sang a few songs with their congregation, then had a potluck dinner for a man that just returned from jail. It was really cool to get to meet some people from the community, and the food was AMAZING!!!
We walked to the adult center when we got back to the campground and some of the other summershiners are playing risk. Allison and I walked outside and are sitting on the porch with our computers. It's a really nice night, and i'll be really happy if it stays this cool!

It's here...

...and I'm scared out of my mind.
The trip that I will make tomorrow is going to be completely out of my comfort zone, and there is no way that I could do it without God. Tomorrow morning sometime, I will be leaving to spend 12 weeks of this summer in Cherokee, NC. I've talked about it before, but it's finally here. I'm really excited, don't get me wrong, but I have no clue what to expect or even what to pack. My mom is driving up with me, so if i take too much, she can always bring some of it back for me. I'm still really nervous about what will happen tomorrow as i give myself up to God and let Him take control of my summer! I'm sure it's going to be amazing, but i hope my nerves don't get the best of me first.
Please pray that God will use me to impact the lives of many people over this summer, and that I will completely rely on Him for all my needs and worries.

Pura Vida!

Costa Rica is so amazing!!! We've seen most of San Jose because we live here and have had several field triips here, but I feel like there is so much more to see! On our field trips we have gone to several places, including a volcano, the rainforest, the gold museum and the national museum. They have all been pretty cool, but my favorite had to be the volcano. It was really beautiful, and i'll be sure to put up pictures as soon as I get home.
I'm starting to get adjusted to life here. It's still a little weird to be living in someone else's house, but they do kinda feel like my family because they make us feel so welcome. The food here is pretty good. Some of it is a little bland, but its still pretty good.
School has been going well, i feel like I am learning a lot, even though I have only had class for 4 days so far. There are 5 girls in my class including me and our teacher's name is Gustavo. He's a good teacher, and he lets us play lots of games which are pretty fun!
So far, i've been suprised by the american influnce that is found here. Most of the resturants around the school are all american (Subway, Quisnos, Pizza Hut, Wendys, McDonalds, you get the idea). It's kinda a bummer though, because we don't get to taste as much of the typical food.
Tomorrow, we are going to isla tortuga, which is a beach about an hour and a half from San Jose. I'm really excited to see the coast and get some sun!!
I'll try to keep you updated, but i usually only have 15 minutes a day on the internet during the short break we have in class.
Oh, and pura vida means "pure life" it's a popular "tico" phrase.

Costa Rica

We arrived safely, and are having a blast!! I don't have much time, but I just wanted to say hey and hopefull i'll get another chance to fill you in on everything happening here!!

Preparing

It's hard to believe that freshman year is completely done with!! I'm back at home, enjoying a few days of sleeping in and trying to get everything in my room organized again. I miss my school friends, but it's nice not having to worry about classes or homework and being able to just relax.

Tomorrow night I leave for Charlotte, then Saturday morning is my flight for Costa Rica. I'm more excited now than I was, because I've found out more information about where we are going and what we are doing. The language school that we are going to is a lot different than the one we would have gone to in Mexico. It's going to be more hands on (museums and traveling) instead of just classroom time. It should be interesting, and I'm sure I will learn a ton of Spanish. This will probably be my last blog until I get back on the 23th, because I won't have my computer with me. I do plan on keeping a journal while I am there, so I'll have lots to share about the trip. I tried to start packing, but it's more difficult than I thought it would be. It's been over two years since I've been out of the country, and I've never been gone for two weeks. I guess I just don't know what to pack because I'm going to be gone for so long. I'll figure it out sometime before I leave though!

Just a few days after I get back from Costa Rica, I leave for Cherokee, NC. I'm so excited about it, and can't wait to see how God is going to use me and the rest of the staff this summer! I should have my computer there, so I won't be completely out of the loop on everything. It's kinda sad that I don't get to hang out with my friends as much as I did last summer, but many of them will be away as well.

It's going to be an AMAZING summer, I can't wait to get going!!!

Life Gives you Lemons. Make Lemonade.

Due to the swine flu, my Spanish class trip has been moved to Costa Rica!! While I'm sad that we aren't going to Mexico, I'm rather excited about going to Costa Rica. We will be doing the same thing there: staying with host families and going to a language school near by. The excursions that we had planned for the weekend will also change, but I'm completely ok with that if it's going to prevent me from getting the flu. I leave a week from today, and I'm so excited!!!!

Exams have been going on since Wednesday, and people leave when they are done. Most of my friends won't be done till Monday (I'm here till Tuesday...), but one of my friends finishes today and is going to pack up and go home when he finishes his test. It's kinda sad that all of my friends will be in different places and we really won't see much of each other over the summer. I'm very glad to be going to Cherokee, but it's going to be really hard at first.

I've taken 2 of my exams, so now I just have a Calculus exam and a project to do for my Spanish class left. It seems like freshman year has just flown by... I was worried about my first 2 exams, but now that they are over with, I just have to wait till I can pack up and leave on Tuesday.

I'm so grateful for the friendships that I made and the times that we have had. It's been a great freshman year, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Endings and New Beginnings

I had a GREAT weekend, and it's actually been a while since I've had so much fun at school! Friday I saw 17 again which was really a pretty good movie. I went to the theater with 4 of my friends, but 3 of them decided (at the ticket booth) to go see Crank instead. My friend Kayla and I were not as easily swayed. We had planned to go see it together last weekend, but I wasn't able to go because of SummerShine orientation. It was a good thing we didn't go watch it with them though, because it turned out to be quite explicit and not that great of a movie. Since our movie started earlier, Kayla and I sat outside to wait for the other movie to finish. We weren't out there for long before Jessie joined us. She didn't like the movie at all, and didn't want to be in there for a minute longer, so she came to talk with us. After a few minutes of talking, we all realized how hungry we were and walked across the extremely sketch parking lot to Applebees. We were afraid that it would be closed considering it was almost 12pm, but they were open and we were seated. Right after we ordered we got a call from the 2 guys Jessie had left in the theater, because their movie had ended and they didn't see us and were worried about us. Sweet aren't they! We told them to just come in and sit with us. After we ate our food and had many laughs, we headed back to school to watch another movie. We started The Pacifier, but didn't get very far before curfew. We headed to our respective floors, but I wasn't really that tired, and neither was Jessie so she came to my room and we just talked for a while until we were both about ready to fall over.

On Saturday, I got up a little earlier than usual so that I could go to lunch with my older brother. He had driven to Charlotte from UNCW on Friday afternoon for the Dave Matthew Band concert and the 21st birthday of one of his best friends from high school. Since my school is right on the way, and we hadn't seen each other since Christmas, he stopped in to say hey. It was good to catch up with him, since he's staying at the beach for the summer, and I'm going to the mountains...

Wingate's "Spring Fling" was on Sunday. I'm not sure if they do something similar every year, but pretty much it was a day full of live bands and pool games. As the finale, Sister Hazel played live. They were a lot better than I was expecting, and actually sounded better live than they do on their Cd's. It was a lot of fun, even if there were a ton of drunk people all over the place... It actually made me feel like I go to a reasonably sized college. I'm not sure where all the people came from, but it was cool to see so many people in a relatively small space, since that doesn't happen very often.

Today I went to my absolute last class of freshman year. It's kinda weird to think about it...as long as I pass all my finals (hopefully that will happen...) I'm no longer a freshman, wow that sounds weird. After classes and dinner, I drove home. I needed to bring a bunch of stuff home so that I would have room in my car at the end of the semester, and my first exam isn't till Friday morning.

Oh, we found out today that we might not be able to go to Mexico because of the swine flu. It's still up in the air, but if it doesn't start to get better, chances are we aren't going to be able to go. I'd actually started getting excited about it too!

Ahh!! 1 month from today I'll be in Cherokee! I can't wait to be a SummerShine Staffer!!

I will go, I will go, I will go, Lord send me...

I was going to go to bed early tonight, but seeing as a fire alarm kept my whole building outside for at least 30 minutes, I'm wide awake now...

I was quite scared about this weekend, and I probably prayed at least half way there. God does answer prayers, and He worked quickly for me this weekend! I don't know what I was so worried about. I got there and felt a little out of place at the beginning, because everyone was talking with their groups for the summer, and people kept asking me where I was going to be working. Even though I was meeting people left and right and I was in a room completely full of people, I felt alone. Someone encouraged me a little when they said that because I was there, I had a better chance of getting a spot than someone who didn't show up. That made me feel a little more confidant that I was actually there for a reason, but it didn't completely calm my nerves.

We listened to several encouraging speakers, and about 9 people started heading off to stay with the families that had given up space in their homes. I was talking to some people that I had met from State, but they left not long after the first few people went. I started talking to a girl that had flown from California to come for training, and she completely eased all my stress. She was telling me all about SummerShine and how much fun it is. I talked to her about most of the stuff I was worried about, and she explained how she got involved last year.

I was placed with a high school girl that was assigned to work at the Cherokee KOA this summer and we were assigned to stay with a really sweet couple who promised to come visit both of us. We stayed up till almost midnight talking to them and hearing the really cute story of how they met. The next morning they had breakfast all set up for us and we got a chance to talk to them some more while we were eating.

We got back to the church around 9:30 and had several more speakers before lunch. The director told a story about how a bird tried to fly in his glass door at home, but ran into it instead. He said we should make sure we fly through the doors that God opens for us, instead of those which we want to enter, because it won't work unless the door has already been opened. When lunch was ready, the director said he needed to talk to a few people and named off a few names. My name was one of them and my stomach literally flipped. Everyone was dismissed by where they were going, so that they could eat and get to know the people they were going to be working with over the summer. I was left in the room with a couple of other girls that didn't know where they were going to be either. The director's daughter came and talked to us about how we might be subs, because there were just so many girls that wanted to work and not enough places to put them. I started to panic, because I didn't know why they had called my name and figured the worst. After she was done talking, I went to go talk to her dad in the other room and he handed me an envelope. He said they had a spot open at Cherokee and wanted me to join the team there! I was quite ecstatic, because I had pretty much figured that I wasn't going to have a spot.

The weekend only got better from there! I got to meet the other people that I will be working with, and had many questions answered that have really put me to ease about this summer. I truly feel a peace about it, and can't wait for it to actually start! I'm definitely going to miss my friends and family, and probably my phone and Internet access, but I know I'm going to grow as a person and as a Christian. It's a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to make the most of it!

The title of this is from a song by Starfield that we sang at church on Sunday morning. It's been stuck in my head all day, and I absolutely love it!

And it begins...

This weekend marks the beginning of a giant leap outside my comfort zone, and i'm scared out of my mind :/

Its time for SummerShine orientation, and the only thing I know is where I am supposed to go. I don't really like going somewhere that I am not completely prepared for. I like to know what I will be doing, and who will be there. Unfortunately, I don't know either. I'm headed to a Methodist church in Clemmons, and I don't know a soul that will be there. I don't even know which campground I will be working at yet. I'm going to a new place and hopefully going to meet some new people...

I'm so glad my Heavenly Father will be with me, because this so isn't me...

Good News

I was home for Easter break Thursday through Monday. It was great to be home with my family, and good to see many of my friends. Unfortunately, I had food poisoning all day Friday, so I didn't get to see several of my friends and had to stay home.

Nothing really exciting happened while I was home. I spent a lot of time with my family, and got a lot of sleep! :) My mom did loose our Easter candy and she spent several hours looking all over the house for it, only to find it around 4 o'clock in one of her regular hiding spots in the kitchen.

On Monday, I was all packed and ready to head back to school at about 2:30, but my mom had the van so I couldn't leave. She called me at about 3 and said that she was washing the windshield and realized that I was well past the inspection date and she volunteered to take it in right then. While she was busy with that, I took her car and went to visit my dad at work. I'm ashamed to say that I probably haven't been to his office in a while, because there were many things that looked new and his office was not where I remembered it being (he told me he switched offices about a year ago! whoops). I was talking to him about several different things, and my summer plans came up. I still hadn't heard from SummerShine at the time, so he got on their website and called the contact number that was there. The woman that answered the phone said that I was on the waiting list and she would call me in the next few days when she found out whether she had a spot for me or not. My dad told me to start looking for other places to work, because he figured that I wasn't the only one on the waiting list. I prayed for knowledge and guidance as to what I should do this summer, since the job I had been eagerly anticipating seemed to be falling through.

Well, my prayers were answered when the lady that my dad talked to called me today during my Spanish class... I called her back and she said she would probably have a spot for me (if I was still interested), but she didn't know where yet because she needed to get in contact with the people that she hadn't heard a definite yes from. She told me to keep my schedule free for this weekend so that I can attend the orientation in Winston Salem. It's in God's hands now, and if it isn't the right opportunity for me, He will close the door. It will be hard if I end up not having the job, but He will help me through!

A Whirlwind Week

Boy am I glad that last week is over and done with!

I was home for a little less than 24 hours on Wednesday/Thursday and didn't see any of my family members in the flesh, but talked to them all over the phone. It was good to see many of my friends from home, but I wish it had been under different circumstances...

I got back on Thursday afternoon and really didn't feel like doing anything. I was in a daze during my classes, and very glad I didn't have tests in either one of them. I was planning on getting dinner from the Klondike then hiding in my room to collect all the thoughts that were running through my head. Little did I know, God had other plans for me! I got a text message from a friend, and he asked me if I was interested in going to the Chris Tomlin concert. He said the people he was going with won tickets on the radio (so they were free) and that they had an extra. About 10 minutes after I said I would go, we were getting in the car and headed for Charlotte. The concert was absolutely AMAZING, and I needed so badly to hear so many of the words that Chris Tomlin sang. It really pulled me out of my icky mood and showed me that I need to trust God with ALL things.

Two of my classes were cancelled on Friday, so I started reading Redeeming Love. I got it while I was in Greensboro, and little did I know that again, it was exactly what I needed. But I'm not saying anything about it, because it's one of those books that you just have to read for yourself... Thankfully I finished it yesterday, because it would have definitely distracted me from the homework that I really should be doing now... Oh well!

On Sunday, I decided to go to the church where my Uncle is the pastor. It's not too far away from school, and one of the people that I went to the Chris Tomlin concert with goes there regularly, so I figured I would give it a chance since I'd never been. I got to see my Uncle and his family, which was really nice because I hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving. It was a really good service, and (again) just the encouragement that I needed!

UNC won last night! The week keeps getting better and better!

Today was the day. A few weeks ago, we had to turn in our housing forms for next year, and decide who we wanted to live in the apartments with. The housing department notified us on Friday that we could pick out the exact apartment that we wanted today at 2:30. It turned out that my group was the first on the list, and we had any pick that we wanted from the 2 available apartment buildings. We knew exactly the one that we wanted, and because we were first, we got it!!! They are still being built, so we'll be the first to live in it!!
I signed up for classes last week, so next semester feels like it's so close!!

Thursday will hopefully be our first intramural softball game. I got coaxed into being on a coed team a few weeks ago, and our first game was supposed to be last week, but it got cancelled because of the rain. I have to stay and go home a little later than I would if we didn't have the game, but it's all right.

Oh, and this week is a short week! We get Friday and Monday off for Easter! I'm so ready to be home and see my family and friends!!

I still haven't heard anything about either summer position that I applied for, but God is teaching me patience, which I don't have a very good track record with!

It doesn't always have to make sense at the moment...

It's amazing how God seems to prepare us for things that are about to come.

That walk I spoke of last post, brought me a lot closer to an extremely godly girl that I was able to run to when I needed someone to talk to. She knew exactaly what to say to make me feel better, and gave me a list of verses to help me further.

Psalm 34:18
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are curshed in spirit."

That verse was in my Bible study homework at the beginning of the week, and it really didn't hit me till now. I was reading through Psalms looking for something that would somehow make me feel better, and by the grace of God stumbled across Psalm 62:

"1My soul finds rest in God alone...5Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him."

Thank goodness for iTunes. I set it to shuffle through my Christian music, and it was also exactally what I needed, right when I needed it:
You are my Joy -David Crowder Band
Fill My Cup -Paul Colman
Landslide of Love -Newsboys
Remember Me -Mark Schultz
Name Above All Names -Newsboys
All I Can Do -Jump5
Camouflage -Plus One
Cloud of Witnesses -Mark Schultz
Irene -TobyMac
I Have Been There -Mark Schultz
O.O. Baby -Stacie Orrico
The Orphan -Newsboys
When You Go Home -Mark Schultz
Who You Are -Caedmon's Call

It had the right amount of upbeat songs, and songs that really give me a new perspective on the whole situation.

When I returned a call just a little while ago, I could never guess what I was about to be informed. God had been preparing me for it. He's looking out for me, and is the only one that can truely take care of me.

He may not be there when I go over to her house any more, but he's in a much better place with the Father. He has no pain and God is taking complete care of him. God took him, because it was his time, and when better than doing what he loved while with his friends.

What God decides doesn't always make sense at the time, but it's all for a reason. It's going to be rough for all that knew him, but something good will come out of the situation.

He's in a better place, but we'll miss him here.

*M.O.* See you in heaven!!

Footsteps in the right direction

It's amazing how being obedient in one little thing can completely change your mood. Call me crazy, but ever since I hit the "send" button on my SummerShine application, my days have gotten considerably better. It wasn't really an immediate weight lifted off my shoulders, but it's slowly eased its way down. As I sit by my computer waiting to hear back from either the Elks or from SummerShine, I've done a lot of thinking. Would God have put me here if He didn't have a good reason? Who am I to question what He's got planned? Why do I worry so much? Good grief I have so many questions...

Oddly enough, I can't get "You are my joy, You are my joy, You are my JOY" out of my head. It's a great song, and I kept singing it over and over again while I was in the shower today. Maybe it's God's way of showing me that I can be happy, and that I don't have to constantly question Him. I'm working on that still...

In the brief moments of beautiful weather we had at the beginning of the week, my friend and I decided to take a walk. It started out as just a way to get a little exercise without having to actually go to the gym. We ended up walking on the roads that go around the school for over an hour and a half. I learned a lot about her, and feel a lot closer to her now. As I was thinking about it, I realized God's showing Himself there too. I had been feeling like most of my good friends are at home, and then He points out that I have really great friends here too. I just love HIM!!! He can make a good day even better, and pull me out of the deepest wells of self pity. He is AMAZING!

I do still miss being home, but I'm not really dreading this weekend as much as I thought I would be. It's only 2 days away, and I haven't really considered going home. God's really given me a peace about staying on campus, which I didn't think would happen at all. I'm actually thinking that I will be able to survive the last 22 days of class. (Crazy huh? The year seems to have flown by!) I'm not really off the hook for learning till May 24th when I get back from Mexico, but the more I learn about what exactly we will be doing there, the more it becomes the beast that I will tackle when it arrives at my doorstep. I am excited about it, but it's definitely going to be different than I originally thought... Oh well, God will help me through it all! Thank goodness God can handle everything in the way that is best!

I'm finally my happy self again :)

Looking for answers, but they seem to keep changing

I have recently noticed that I second guess myself a lot. It's not just with questions on tests, I do that too, but it's more than that. School is starting to really stress me out, and I keep thinking that maybe this isn't the right place for me right now. I don't know what put that idea in my head, because I started out loving it here. It was wonderful, I loved my friends, my classes were bearable, and being here was actually fun. Recently though, I've realized how much my friends and friendships with people have changed, my classes still are tolerable, but I find myself aching to go home. It's possible that I've been home too recently, I was home three weekends in a row because of watching my siblings while my parents were in D.C. and spring break. I stayed this weekend because I had a busy day yesterday. It wasn't really a bad weekend, because a few of my friends stayed, it was just extremely boring. When I'm bored, I think, listen to music, or watch tv. All three are dangerous. I think about stuff like where my life is headed, what God wants to do with me, and what i'm doing at a small school majoring in accounting of all things. I think about how different this summer will be like since I won't be swimming, which has been part of my summers since I was 4. I don't think I realized how much I would miss it. I also think about how I don't yet know what I'm going to be doing this summer. My SummerShine application stares at me every time I turn on my computer, but for some reason I can't finish filling it out. Every time I open it up to finish, I find myself distracted, or I can't find the words that I want to say. I should have already sent it in, but I can only wonder whether it's the right choice for me this summer. When I listen to music, I almost always come across a song that reminds me of my wonderful friends at home, and it makes me want to cry, because I miss them so much. When I watch tv, I always seem to stumble across stressful wedding shows like Suprise Wedding, that make it hard to sleep (You can't fully understand why unless you've seen it). I miss my friends and my family, and I'm considering going home next weekend, even though I know that it will only make it worse. I'm so ready for summer...but then again I'm not, because it's just not going to be the same.

SB '09

Sadly, my spring break is almost over. It's a good thing I guess, because that means summer is almost here!! It's been great so far, the DCB concert was amazing, hanging out with many of my favorite people, and getting some much needed sleep have also been wonderful!

I'll start with the DCB concert. It was so much fun! I sat with several of my friends, and as soon as the concert started, we all rushed up to the stage. We were all about 5 feet from the stage, and we had a really good view (some had a good view of other things as well....Linds :]) It was really cool to get to see them in concert and sing the songs that I have so often heard on the radio.

After the concert, we headed over to a friends house and hung out. I met a few of my friends college friends, and we all played a rousing game of Catch Phrase. At about 12, his friends left and I got to spend some quality time with the people I hung out with all summer and Christmas break. We had lots to catch up on, and we did just that. I won't soon forget about cleaning egg off a car at 3 in the morning or the many things we talked about!

I've done a lot of catching up on sleep this week, which really drives my parents crazy. I just needed some sleep, because I don't get much at school. I'm going to have to start getting up early again though, because school does start back Monday morning at 9...

Oh goodness, I almost forgot! It snowed! Yeah, I'm on spring break and there is snow on the ground! I guess that's what you get for having spring break the first week in March, but it was nice because some of my friends got off school and we got to hang out! We got about 4 inches, and it's the 3rd snow I've witnessed this year. This is a little statue thing from my backyard with a snow hat:

It's been a good break so far, and I'm going to enjoy every last minute that I have left!

Decisions

Life is full of decisions, and I really wish it wasn't. One of my major dilemmas is what to do with my summer. I've already applied for a swim coaching job at the pool I've been swimming at since I was in 5th grade. I initially thought that was the best decision for me, because it's decent pay, and it means I would get to stay at home and only have to work till mid-July. I haven't been hired yet, so there's a possibility I would have to look for some other sort of work if I decide to stay home for the summer. Last week, I heard about a program called SummerShine. It sounded really cool, but it involves working all summer at a family campground and being away from home and all my friends. I love camping, and it seems like it would be a really good opportunity for me to not only make some money in this economic downtime, but to grow closer to God alongside other Christian college students. I don't know what I am going to do yet, but I'm going to continue praying until God leads me to the right decision.

Things I've Done...

This is supposed to be a facebook note thing, but those bug me so I am putting it here...
Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not.

Things i've have done during my lifetime:

() Gone on a blind date
() Donated Blood
(X) Skipped school
() Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
() Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
() Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
() Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(X) Gone to Washington, DC
() Hugged a homeless person
(X) Swam in the ocean
() Swam with Stingrays
() Been sailing in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
() Recently colored with crayons
() Ran a marathon
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Volunteered at a soup kitchen
() Paid for a meal with coins only
(X) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
() Seen the Northern Lights
() Been Para sailing
(X) Been on TV
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
() Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
() Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
() Fed an elephant
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Fired a gun
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Been to the Opera
() Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Serenaded someone
() Seen a U.S.President in person
() Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
() Driven a race car
(X) Been to a National Museum
(X) Been to a Wax Museum
() Eaten caviar
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
() Been deep sea fishing
() Driven across the United States
(X) Been in a hot air balloon
() Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
() Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X) Seen the Grand Canyon
(X) Seen the Statue of Liberty
() Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(X) Been on a cruise
() Traveled by train
() Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
() Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
(X) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(X) Been in a rain forest
() Seen whales in the ocean
(X) Been to Niagara Falls
() Ridden on an camel
() Swam with dolphins
() Been to the Olympics
() Walked on the Great Wall of China
() Saw and heard a glacier calf
() Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
(X) Been snow-skiing
() Been to Westminster Abbey
() Been to the Louvre
() Swam in the Mediterranean
() Been to a Major League Baseball game
() Been to a National Football League game
() Swam with sharks
(X) Been White Water Rafting
() Written a book or screen play
() Been to Saudi Arabia

Searching

I came to college looking for a place where I could escape all the drama of high school. On my graduation day, all I could think of was how happy I was that I wouldn't have to deal with many of the people that annoyed me most. Well guess what? College has just as much drama, and at some times, more. Maybe it's because I chose to come to a small school, or maybe it's just because I did everything to avoid what little bit I could in high school. It's little things, maybe it's because we are all in close proximity on our hallway. Too many girls sharing a space can get old rather quick. I've realized that drama is always going to be a part of life, but it's the way that we deal with it that defines who we are. I constantly pray that God will help me react in a way that is pleasing to Him and glorifies His name for all to see. I'm in no way perfect, and i've frequently reacted in ways that i regret, but i'm working on it.

I've talked about it before, but I really do love my Bible study! My brother and I have always had little verbal fights back and forth. He knows exactally what to say to really make me mad, and he uses it to his advantage. I have been praying about for quite some time, and something that Beth Moore wrote into the study made me feel a lot better. We have been studying Jesus's upbringing, and Beth wrote that she wonders what kind of sibling rivalries Jesus had with His many siblings. Just reading that made me feel immensely better. While my brother and I are still probably going to fight, those words encouraged me to continue to reach out to my brother and not react when he makes me angry.

On a much lighter note... The bathroom in my dorm is frequently out of something (soap, paper towels, toilet paper) and it's even more common for us to run out on the weekends. One weekend, we ran out of paper towels, another we were out of soap,. I guess it's just something we get used to. Almost every weekend, the first stall runs out of tp, and we just use the other two till Monday mornings when the cleaning lady comes to replace it. This weekend, the first stall was out by Friday night, and by Saturday afternoon the second stall was out. By mid-day Sunday, we were competely out of tp, and we had to have one of the guys from downstairs bring us up some from his bathroom. I'm not saying that we use the bathroom or not, there are 16 of us and the cleaning lady has a bad habit of only putting one half-roll into each of the stalls. I got a slight chuckle out of it, but I knew it was coming and I wasn't one of the poor souls that found out the hard way...

The weather was beautiful this weekend, and I actually did my homework outside at the campus lake. It was peacefull without the ducks that will soon be there again. My friend Brian took this picture of us studying/napping. The beautiful blue sky really made up for the dead grass :)

Blessed a little every day

It's been quite an interesting week. I'll spare you of the details, because they are rather trivial. Basically, it's been filled with a new drama that I can't seem to escape. I am stuck in the middle of it and just want to be freed from all of it. I have never been so ready to get off campus and go home! I hopefully will be able to make it till the 20th when Becka is coming home to help me babysit!!! I'm quite excited about it, because i get to see my baby sister and hang out with Becka outside of school! And just one week after that, spring break starts!!!

Oh, so the weatherman called for about half an inch of snow flurries last night, but we ended up with probably about an inch of accumulation. The 4 inches of snow didn't really affect classes a few weeks ago, because the school was able to put down salt on the sidewalks. They must not have gotten around to it this morning, because I got a wonderful wake up call at 6:30 this morning telling me that I could turn off my alarm clock and sleep through what would normally be my 9am Calculus class. Even though I was woken up a little early, it was worth it to be able to go back to sleep till lunch time.


Here's the quad at 2 in the morning with some of the snow that accumulated over the night. It snowed a little after I took this picture from my window.

Today in Spanish we talked about our trip to Mexico, and I am so excited about it! It should be a fun trip, even if I am completely out of my element! We found out we might get to go to Mexican cooking classes, and/or salsa lessons! Hopefully I'll know a lot of Spanish before I get there, because we won't be able to speak any English.

I absolutely love my new Bible study. It's a Beth Moore study, and I'm enjoying getting to know the girls in the study, and grow closer to God by digging in His word.

I guess that's all for now...

Catching Up on Life Here

It's been quite a week since my last post. Friday was girl's night, so we ate a bunch of junk food and watched a chick flick. It was fun to be able to hang out just girls for a little while. It didn't last all night, because the boys came up to apologize for some fairly harmless pranking. Then, they helped clean Callie's room, because it was a little dusty. They were up here a little late, because there was a considerable amount of cleaning that needed to be done...
I slept in a little on Saturday, because I knew I would be up late that night. At 2 on Saturday, I left for the school's ski trip. We went to Appalachian Ski Mountain and did the night skiing there! It was so much fun to be able to ski again, because it's been a year or so since I last went with my family. Brian had a few run ins with inanimate objects....like a tree and a snow blower....but we all greatly enjoyed ourselves!
Sunday was pretty normal. I woke up at 10 and got a text from Callie, because she wanted to dry her hair in my room so she wouldn't wake up her roommate. She came in and told me that her boyfriend had surprised her and was in her room at that time. He had gotten up really early and drove to school so that he could go to church with us. We all went to Elevation as usual and went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant on the way home. After that, I came back to school and was going to start on my homework, but i got distracted (as usual) and didn't get around to it till about 11. Jessie came to my room sometime in the early afternoon and said that she was going to go to a Bible study that night, and had heard that it was going to be good. I told her that I would go with her, and found out that it was Beth Moore study when I got there! I was so excited because my mom raves about how wonderful her studies are. It has been really good so far, and I've been able to keep up with the homework for each day. I think it has already brought new life to my walk, and I can't wait to continue in the study!
Monday definitely felt like a Monday. I woke up a little late and almost was late to my first test of the semester, which would have been really bad! It was a calculus test and i wasn't nervous about it going in, but i was a little worried after i started taking it. I finished a little early and took a nap before lunch. The rest of my day was fairly normal, until our hall meeting that night. Apparently, the people that live in my building are held responsible for anything that goes wrong anywhere in the building, including the lobby and offices. They didn't blame anyone on my hall, they just told us that they wanted us to let them know if we knew any information regarding the vandalism that had happened the week before. After that, I pretty much stayed in my room and did most of the homework that I should have done over the weekend.
Tuesday was fairly busy, I worked on my homework some more, because I didn't have any classes till 1:30. We had a quiz in Spanish, but the professor looked them over and decided that she would let us do corrections on them before grading them. After dinner, I had to go to a film for my history class. It showed some graphic scenes including an Aztec sacrifice that I found particularly disgusting. Eventually, I'll have to write a paper on it, we'll see how that turns out... Not long after the movie, I had a FLY meeting. We didn't do much, just were given a few announcements and then we played some games from our childhood like Hungry Hungry Hippos, Chutes and Ladders, Ants in the Pants, and others. It was a little bit of a flashback, but a lot of fun.
Today (Wednesday) was a pretty good day. I got my Calculus test back and I had gotten an A! I was kinda surprised because i was unsure with several of my answers. I had a Psychology test after lunch, so i had a little while to do some studying for that. It was multiple choice, so hopefully I did ok. I fixed my Spanish quiz as much as i could, and the professor actually took them up today. After Spanish, i was in the mood to work out, and i had enough time before dinner to go, so Jessie and i went to go relieve a little bit of stress. We had an all girls dinner, which was nice. After dinner, I went to a Lyceum. It was a motivational speaker named Sean Stephenson who spoke about getting off our "buts" and stop giving excuses. it was a really good presentation, and the hour I spent listening to him flew by. After it was over, I went and helped Brian with some of his homework, and went to Breathe to hear one of my friends speak. He did a really good job, and I am really glad that I heard what he had to say.
Tomorrow should be interesting. I have class from 1:30 to 4 and a Spanish review after that. I'm not sure why the teacher feels like we can't review in class, but she decided that we needed an extra hour to review for our test Friday. After that, I have another Lyceum to go to that I get extra credit for. It will most likely be boring compared to the one tonight, but I can't complain about getting extra points in two of my classes! On to tomorrow...

New Favorite

I must say, I absolutely love being able to turn on my itunes on shuffle and listen to it while I sit at my computer. Today I was in the mood for some Shane & Shane, so I switched it on. Not only did it remind me of the many times that I sang that particular song over Christmas break with my friends, but i truly love the song. Not just the words, but their voices, the way it makes me feel, and especially when they beat on their guitars. I just love the song! Here it is:


Name Sake

I come to seek Your face
Holy Spirit won't You fall on us
Speak wisdom to Your people, Your saints
Fill us with the knowledge of You
Fill us with the knowledge of You

Overwhelm our hearts
Overwhelm this place
With the passion for Your name
I need Your tender mercies
Holy Spirit won't you make a change
For Your name's sake

I just love whole song, look it up, because plain lyrics don't do it justice!

Yay!

So it started snowing at 12:30am last night. It was dumping out of the sky and quite exciting! I only had 15 minutes of my history class, and my spanish class was canceled! It was quite a good day, and i got to play in the snow! :)

Me and my roomie:

Let it Snow...PLEASE

Today has felt like an extremely long day. I woke up at about 9, got ready, and went shopping with my mom for a ski jacket. It's green and black and I love it! After that, I visited my work then went home and finished packing everything up. I left around 1 and didn't get back till school till about 3. I unpacked everything, met Becka's boyfriend, and just hung out till it was time for dinner. There was a little bit of pranking in there, nothing i had any part of...but it was sure funny to watch! It seems like dinner was forever ago, but it's only been a few hours. That's really been the long part of the day, not that it's been boring, because it certainly hasn't been, maybe it's because I just want it to start snowing and it seems like 3am will never come... It's not that i want to get out of class, its just a perk. I really just want it to snow because it's been so cold here the past few weeks and cold is supposed to equal snow! Whether it snows tonight or not, it should be a interesting day!

Coming Home

As i was checking e-mail and facebook tonight, I turned the shuffle on my itunes as i usually do. I came across a song that was played at Elevation last Sunday. I got home from church and immediately downloaded it, because it was a song that I had heard before on the radio and it really meant something to me, but i couldn't put my finger on it. As it played tonight, it brought tears to my eyes as i realized what Pastor Steven's message, Shut Up and Come Home, really meant. I'm not sure why it took me so long to understand, but God used that simple secular song to mean something to lil' old me. Something in me has seemed to be a little different since i first moved in to Wingate. I didn't become an extremely bad person or anything, but i kept my faith to myself. I'm not sure whether i was afraid of how other people would view me or i just needed to drift so i could let God come scoop me up. I was basically a lighthouse without a bulb, just standing there and didn't serve any real purpose, just a circular pile of bricks. Well I'm done with all that, I'm COMING HOME and i don't care how people view me. They don't really matter after all, it's more important that i pursue God and his purpose for my life.

Ironically, the song that came next was by The Newsboys and contains what i think is one of my favorite words from the Bible: Selah. It's a word that David frequently used in Psalm at the end of his songs. It means 'pause and reflect,' and reminds me of who i was in high school. At Core we talked about Selah and the meaning behind it, and started the practice of ending all our prayers of it. I had forgotten about it till that song started playing and the word immediately stood out.

None of it really makes sense, and it's rather ironic that God gave me hints when i got to my house in Greensboro, but all that matters is that when i step back on campus on Monday, I'm going to make a point to follow God no matter what people think of me. My Heavenly Father has been waiting, he found me, and I'm finally coming home!

Fun Times in Alumni

Today was a good day. It's actually days like this that make me feel like I made the right choice when i decided to come to Wingate. First off, I had about 10 minutes of homework to do, and that made me extremely happy. Other than that, It was a pretty normal day: went to class, dinner, worked out, watched American Idol, then hung out. The hanging out was where the day got really interesting.

I was helping my friend, Callie, figure out how to go home without using highway 74, and i was having trouble explaining it to her. I finally got it figured out, and my crazy roommate showed up with only leggings and a t-shirt on. She said something about how she was going to work out in leggings and shorts tomorrow and it made me think of an 80s workout video that some friends had filmed about a year and a half ago. I showed it to Callie, and then an Office spin off video that we had also filmed last year.

A few more of our friends started coming in Callie's room and we all sat down on the beds and were just talking. Brian looked up and noticed how dusty the overhead lights were, so he started messing with them and took down the grate that goes over them. After he had it all unattached, he made Callie stand on a chair and put it back up. It took a little while, but she got it, and Brian moved the chair and started to take down the other grate. She promptly pushed him off the chair and got on it herself so that he couldn't take down the light. Callie was facing Brian and the door, so Ryan started shaking the back of her chair and she freaked out. It was rather funny, and most of us got a good laugh out of it.

Brian and Ryan left to go say goodnight Jessie, who was in her bed watching tv. I missed the first part of it, but I went in to see what was going on and they had pulled her mattress almost all the way off of her bed and she promptly jumped off and got on her roommate's bed. A little while later, I was in Callie's room talking to her, and Ryan comes in and says that Brian had disappeared and Jessie couldn't find her phone. Jessie said she wanted to go to bed and that she needed her phone, because it was her alarm clock. Several of us tried calling Brian, but he wouldn't pick up. Ryan called Jessie's phone and left a few random messages while she was standing right there. It had been about 15 minutes at this point, and it was getting a little frustrating. Brian called me from his phone and was whispering saying that he was in the elevator then in the lobby and would come back up. I didn't really believe him, but we had looked almost everywhere on our hall and in his room and hadn't found him yet. He hung up on me before i could figure out where he was, but we realized that several people were in one of the end rooms and that they had stopped talking while Brian was talking to me on the phone. Jessie banged on the door and they let her in. Everyone was doing a pretty good job pretending to not have a clue, except Blair who had a big smile on her face the entire time. You don't have to know Blair very well to know that she isn't a good liar. When Jessie noticed how much she was smiling, she started to look around the room for Brian. It was about a minute till she found him hiding in a wardrobe. He said he didn't have her phone, but followed her back to her room to help her find it. I went back to Callie's room, and a few minutes later, Ryan came in and said that Brian did have it the whole time and hid it when he got back to Jessie's room. It was after curfew, so we all went to our rooms and the boys went downstairs to theirs.

The only negative thing that happened today was finding out that my little sister has taken over my room and doesn't want to give me my big bed back, oh well, i guess she sleeps at home more than i do, and i love her too much to steal it from her! Overall, It's days like this that help me get through hectic weeks! It almost felt like a Sunday night, so i hope that tomorrow doesn't feel like Monday morning! I'm so glad we don't have school next Monday, because I can't wait to go home and see some of my friends! :)

The Little Things

I can already tell it's going to be a long week. It's only Monday, but it feels like it should be Thursday! Today wasn't extremely eventful, i went to class, took a nap, ate lunch, did homework, pretty normal stuff. I did have one thing today that really made me smile. I always go check my mail after lunch, and usually there is nothing there, but today, i found this:



It's quite a sweet gesture, but it's 5 months early! Its highly possible that i put my birthday down wrong when i filled out my visitor information the first day i went. Or, my handwriting was messy because i filled it out quickly. Whatever the reason, i got a birthday wish over 5 months before my birthday, and it was just about the highlight of my day! I miss my church at home, but I've come to the realization that i can't compare it to Elevation, because they are completely different. I don't have my family or the kids in the nursery that i came to know so well now, but the sermons mean so much more to me, and they send out birthday postcards! I started out looking for a church where i felt at home, but there isn't another Westover because it's the people that are missing and Elevation is a wonderful church and i have new people that i go with. I have a new church home, it just didn't come about the way I figured it would. God works in mysterious ways, and I love him all the more for his little surprises!

An unforgetable adventure

Today has definitely been an interesting day! After I got out of Spanish class at 4, I headed to Concord Mills with several of my friends. It should have taken just over 1/2 an hour, but it took us over an hour and a half because we went the absolute wrong direction.

Here's a video of our frustration. It's really dark and turned sideways, but the audio works:


I was just a passenger in this whole thing, and a very hungry one at that! Once we got to the mall, we headed right for the food court and Becka and I enjoyed some delicious Chinese food! We shopped for a little while and had many interesting experiences:

The first of the night was when one of the girls bought a cute little pick bra from Victoria's Secret. She pulled it out of the bag and held it up to show us while we were sitting on a bench outside the store. Right after she held it up, 2 guys walked in full view of her holding up her bra. They smiled and did the little head nod that guys do. She turned bright red and threw it back into the bag completely embarrassed.

The second was while we were in search of Starbucks. Some of us were beginning to get a little tired and needed a coffee pick-me-up. We were just around the corner from it when a lady from one of the little sales islands came up to us and asked us if she could ask us a quick question. She wanted to know if any of us used straighteners. Most of us said no, but one girl said she uses one on occasion. She immediately swooped in and directed her to sit down in front of a mirror and started combing her hair. Then she pulled out a bright orange straightener and started straightening her hair! We were all a little intrigued, especially when she told us to feel her hair. It was so soft and completely frizz free where she had straightened. We kept watching as she flipped out then curled her hair. She must have been able to sense that we were gullible college students who were addicted to our straighteners. Because i have naturally straight hair, i don't use one much, but after she finished with the first girl, she moved on and started straightening strands of everyones hair. She sat me down and proceeded to flip under my hair and show me everything else i could do with it. Oh, and she kept saying how they were on a Christmas sale, and that they were going to go up over a hundred dollars in price the very next day. (i came home and checked their website, and found that they really are about $220, which is what she told us) She then asked us what kind of straighteners we had and one girl said she had a chi. The sales lady pulled out a chi and took a ceramic plate she had sitting on her table. She scratched it, and you could see the metal under the ceramic coating on the chi, then she did the same thing to the one she was trying to sell us, and it didn't scratch. I needed a new straightener, but i wasn't sure i wanted to buy one in the mall. Once she found out what brand i had, she kept pestering me and wouldn't let me stand up from the chair until she had convinced me that i really needed one. I ended up caving, because i really did need one, and i wanted her to leave me alone. It was on sale for $90 which isn't that bad for a good straightener. I love it, and hope that i won't regret it later on. Becka curls her hair fairly often, so she bought one as well.

Our third adventure of the night was the little mall cop. In movies spies and government people are often seen riding little futuristic scooter things. The cop that we saw had one, and it wouldn't have been that funny, but he was only going about 2 miles per hour, and was wearing a HELMET! Why on earth does he need a helmet?! I mean he's not going that fast, and he's only about 3 inches off the ground so if he falls he's NOT going to hurt himself! We were going the same direction as him, so we started pretending like we were on scooters too with our hands in front of us like we were steering it. Right after we returned to our normal behavior, we saw two guys going the opposite direction that did the exact same thing when they passed by him. We had a good laugh and were glad that we weren't the only immature ones there!

Imitating the cop:

Our fourth adventure was really the whole trip back. We had come in two cars, and traveled on the highway. The car i was in decided that we were going to go through the back roads instead of the busier roads. When we got to Albamarle, the girl that was driving said that we could stop and meet one of her friends from church. We were all for it, because it was only about 9:30 and we weren't ready to go back to school. We stopped in and met him and some of his friends. It was kinda awkward, but also fun. Becka did her nerd voice and helped break the ice for the rest of us to talk. While we were on our way there, we had been texting our friend from school who lives in Albamarle to see what he was up to and if he cared if we came and visited. Once he found out we were close, he wanted us to come save him from having to do his homework. So when we left the first house, we went and stopped by his at about 10:15. We didn't leave till an hour later after meeting his parents, getting a tour of the house, and being serenaded.

We finally got back a little after 12 and talked about a number of things. It's been quite a fun Friday night! I'm still not that tired, but we're meeting in the morning to go work out together, so I'm off to get some sleep...

Back into the swing

Classes started back yesterday, so I have been to all my classes. Some are interesting, and some I already know I am going to hate. My Spanish class is from 3-4 every afternoon, and i know its going to be my biggest challenge this semester. It's supposed to be a combination of Spanish 1 and 2, but I feel like we should be in Spanish 4. The very first day of class the teacher spoke a total of about 20 words in English and everything else in Spanish. I guess it's a good thing, because I'm getting better at picking out parts of what she says. Mexico is in the back of my mind every time i walk into that class. At the end of the year, my 13 person class is taking a trip to Mexico for two weeks, and we will be taking classes from Spanish speaking natives. I'm so excited, but it's going to be a long road to get there. My calculus and psychology classes should both be interesting. My psych teacher is one of the oldest teachers at the school, and he was actually a student here. He's a cute little old man and he likes to go off on little tangents. I have the same history teacher as i did last semester, but i actually have a few friends in there this time, so it shouldn't be quite as bad or boring.

Oh goodness, i realized that i didn't miss the cafe food at all! I actually miss my mom's food. I've only eaten like 5 meals in the cafeteria, and i already am tired of it. I do like being able to talk and catch up with my friends while i eat. Oh, so we walked into the cafeteria on Tuesday night, and there was a huge sign that said "DUDE WHERE'S MY TRAY?" and explained why they weren't using trays anymore. Apparently washing a tray wastes a lot of water. It's not that big of a deal to not have trays, I'm just learning how to have better balance when I'm carrying my plate and cup up to the window.

I guess that's all for now, because I've got a class at 9 tomorrow...

Choo Choo

Gee whiz it rained a lot today! I usually don't mind rain, but i hate it when I'm driving. I actually made good time too! It usually takes me about 2.5 hours to get here, but it only took 2 today! Maybe I've finally found a good route! Actually, I don't think I've ever traveled the same route more than once going the same direction. It may seem strange, but there are so many ways to get to a little school in the middle of nowhere!

So I'm finally back at school and unpacked. I haven't decided if I'm quite prepared to start the new semester tomorrow, but it's coming whether I'm ready or not. It's been really good to catch up with many of my friends on the hall and I was very glad to meet our new RA. It was also very good to see Taylor who came back to collect all her things. I held myself together, but I don't think it's really hit me yet. Her room looks really empty and her closet echos, but it still kinda feels like she is coming back.

I've realized that i enjoy my space here. In a way it's almost comforting to be back in my room. The ability to control the temperature (it's freezing in my house, and quite comfortable in my dorm). Not just the temperature, but the sound of the AC. Maybe that's why i had trouble sleeping at home, it was too quiet! Just a few minutes ago, the train went by, and i realized how much i missed that simple sound. It's loud and annoying today, but once i get used to it again it's quite comforting. Choo...Choo...Choo...ahhhh Maybe I'll actually go to bed early tonight :)

Change isn't always bad

So I never really thought that I would find myself writing a blog, but here it goes.

Today has been really busy as I'm packing up and getting ready to return to school. I'm really dreading that 2.5 hour drive that I have to make tomorrow as I leave all my family and friends behind. Don't get me wrong, I love college, but so many things have happened over the past few days that I just wish winter break didn't have to end.

School is going to be different. Good, even great things can come out of it. I'm beginning to try finding the positive side of life instead of dreading the negative. Maturing maybe? Who knows...

It started just over a month ago when one of my greatest friends on campus told me she was thinking about leaving because of issues with her roommate. I was really mad about her deciding to leave, and I couldn't picture school without her. I wanted her to stay, so I did everything I could think of that would make her stay. How selfish am I? She was miserable, and all I could think about was me, but God gave me a second chance. She decided to stay and I was elated! Just the other day, she informed me that she really isn't coming back, but for reasons that were out of her control. Maybe I have matured a little in the last few weeks, or maybe God gave me power from within, but it was a whole lot easier this time. I accepted it, and thought about her for once instead of myself. I'm so glad that I met her, and will never forget her.

Unfortunately, she's not the only one leaving from my hall, several people have decided that WU isn't their perfect fit. It's sad to see them go, and I wish they didn't have to, but my time there isn't up, and I have to continue on no matter how hard it is. It will be strange to not see some familiar faces, and to have to get to know new girls, but God's not leaving and I know he will help me every step of the way. It's not in my control, it's in His, and for that, I am so grateful!

I've loved hanging out with friends almost nonstop and sleeping in. It might sound crazy, but I've loved being able to go to work and almost slip back into the norm of my summer life. It's not summer anymore, and the weather isn't the only thing that proves that. I have new friends that may be far away today, but will live close by tomorrow. Getting texts from them over the break made me kinda miss school. It sounds crazy, but those girls on my hall are almost a new family to me. We fight an awful lot, but we also laugh and learn together. While I'm not ready to leave home, I am in a way ready to go back. I think way to much when I drive, I'm all by myself and my head just fills with all the negatives. It's the transition between two homes, and it gives me way too much to regret about having to leave that I can't even think about all the good things about being back. Sometimes I wish I could just walk out my door at home and immediately be at school. It would make it so much easier. If i can get the drive over with, everything else will fall back into place.