break. 

four weeks. four wonderful weeks.  it was beautiful. 

here are some of the highlights:

• being with my family
• wearing my pjs all day on christmas
• berkeley!
• good/real food 
• watching the sunset over the bay - i missed that so much
• ice skating for the first time ever in SF with michele
• brian surprising us from china!
• playing cards all morning with brian in our pjs
• sitting in front of the fire
• point loma!
• going to a crab feed and eating my first crab ever
• getting a lecture from lydia about using cursive vs. manuscript
• church
• singing to coldplay with zach, katie, caroline, and trevor
• driving in san diego
• snowboarding!
• eating ice cream from a tub in barnes and noble
• spending an hour and a half reading a name book in barns and noble
• dancing!
• the beach in san diego
• the awesomest friends in the world
• the birth of Christ
• the coming of the new year
• getting a drawing from hudons for christmas
• simply being home....

so, i start a new semester.  im not quite ready yet, but by God's grace i will be all in good time.  it will be a good semester.  ive learned so much from last semester.  this semester will incorporate some changes from things ive learned, but im exciting about all i am going to learn.

2007........here i come. 

Currently Listening Everything All the Time By Band of Horses see related

home.

phew.  its so hard to believe its over.  i have completed my first semester of college.  it has been hard work but extremely rewarding.  i have learned so much my head is still spinning.  i have a lot to process still.  i have learned a great deal...

spiritually:  this has been a hard area.  ive had difficulty establishing my spiritual routine in my new life.  but, God is faithful and has been teaching me even through this.  He has been showing and teaching me many other things as i encounter new ideas and experiences. 

relationally:  i have made truly amazing friends.  i am extremely grateful.  im excited about getting to know them better over the next four years.  on the other hand, this semester has been hard times relationally also.  it can be draining to constantly be with people who you dont know very well.  it was trying on me sometimes and next semester i have made goal to schedule time for myself during the week. 

academically:  wow.  ive learned so much.  all my classes were marvelous.  my professors are incredible.  its hard to believe its only been one semester.  i have another seven more to go!

personally:  i have been learning so much about myself, who i am.  its been so good.  its a definitely a new chapter of my life.

so, its been a high learning curve this semester, but excitement is the best way to describe how i feel right now.  this is an important and thrilling time of my life and im going to seize this time of my life and make the most of it. 

some fun random pictures of me and my friends from the last semester:

its wonderful to be home. its good to rest.  im looking forward to this break.

merry CHRISTmas!

Currently Listening Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State By Sufjan Stevens see related

half way. 

time is such a funny thing.  here in hillsdale it seems to take on a whole other identity all together.  hillsdale time, my friends and i have taken to calling it.  days can seem like an eternity yet go by so fast.  so, here we are at over half way through the semester.  this should be exciting news for all of you since this means that in about a month and half i should be home.  :)

anyway, im falling more and more in love with hillsdale.  i truly love it.  its an amazing thing to be where God wants you to be.  it makes me excited just thinking about it. 

so, ive survived midterms rather well actually.  i felt pretty good about them.  right now we are on fall break which means we have a four day week.  pretty sweet i must say.  i need the break thats for sure.  looking forward to a trip to see the grandparents and a road trip with some friends.  hooray. 

everything is so beautiful right now with all the trees changing color.  however, winter is coming upon us quickly.  we have already had the first snow just this past thursday.  craziness.  it was so much fun though.  i ran outside and twirled around in it.  ::sigh::  i know the snow will probably get to me after awhile, but im looking forward to experiencing yet another aspect of the beauty God has created. 

so...here are some random and fun pictures to give you an idea of my life.  enjoy.  :)

here is my group of friends i usually hang out with.  they are pretty much awesome. 

pretty colors.  actually they are even more changed now...and the ground it covered in leaves.  we played in them last night.  :)

snow!  i still cant believe it...

and the leaves fall softly swirling and hitting the ground....

three of my good friends at the women's volleyball game.  they are 21 - 0! and third in the nation right now.  go chargers!  i took pictures of the game for the school paper.  i got on the front page with one of my volleyball photos.  :)

i couldnt be much happier.  the past holds lovely meomories,  present is filled with happiness, and the future is bright.  all praise and glory to the one true Lord Jesus Christ. 

Currently Listening Eye To The Telescope By KT Tunstall see related

college life.

my apologies for my long absence.  i guess it would be some what obvious to say that ive been a little busy.  : D

so...the main things you need to know are:

1. i LOVE it here.

2. classes are incredible.  i love discussions.  :)

3. the professors are amazing.  nothing like the best.

4. the people are awesome.

5. the weather perfect.  for now at least. 

college life is awesome.  i absolutely love it.  i still stop every once and awhile and pinch myself to make sure its real.  i still cant believe im a college student.  weird. 

ive met a lot of really cool people.  already kinda got a group of people who i hang out with, eat at the cafeteria with (i will refrain from talking about the food), stay at the library until late hours of the morning, and generally really enjoy.  HOWEVER, i miss all my dear friends at home terribly.  hope you are all doing well.  email, call, or snail mail me sometime.  id love to hear from you.  :)

so....here are some much requested pictures of my dorm room.  im not completely done decorating it yet, but i guess it will have to do.  thats my roommate at the bottom, Jennette.  she is great and i enjoy hanging out with her.

please leave lots of comments.  i will try my best to respond.  : D

life. 

sigh.  yes, life has been rather busy.  sometimes its a little much for me, but God is always gracious.  so, i finally got an external hard drive, which means i was able to download all my pictures from the last month or so.  it was so exciting!  almost like getting a new camera. :) 

so, a major highlight from the last couple weeks was getting to work in an art camp for kids.  it was a lot of work but well worth it and very rewarding.  i really do love working with kids.  they are so trusting and accepting.  i love to just watch and see how they react to life, constantly making new discoveries and trying new things.  there is something contagious and refreshing about it.  so, of course my camera was not far with all these adorable little faces around, so here are some of my favorites.  :)

Only eight more days until i leave.  i dont know how im going to survive the next week.  pray for me?  thanks. :)