hello NY!

"back at the yack" was the most common facebook status this past week as we all moved back into the dorms...so now here we are, second day of classes over and it's the weekend! halleluiah because I am sick and I just need to sleep.

This semester I am taking nutrition, anatomy and physiology, new testament, global literature, and human growth and development. Sixteen credits in all, more than last semester but I think that since I am used to the process now it'll be a little easier to stay on top of things.

other than already being sick of cafeteria food and knowing I should be doing homework right now...not much to report. for now!

crunch time [finals + sickness + caffeine]

It's too late for me to even try to post about everything that has happened in the last few weeks! I went to Colorado for Thanksgiving, but only my parents knew, so my sister was very surprised! She saw me sitting there, dropped her stuff, stared at me, and fell into my arms, bawling. It was a precious moment to say the least. :) I am excited to go back in 2 weeks!

oh my goodness! 2 weeks to get all of this work done...it seems impossible. And I am getting sick on top of it all. Tonight I am going to bed to get some rest before the looooong weekend ahead.

TREE!!!! shout out to my RA, Tree! Best RA ever, fyi folks. Our floor theme is Enchanted, which is one of my fave movies of the year! She is literally the cutest, most hilarious person I've ever met. With GREAT fashion sense.

And I told her months ago I was going to dedicate a post to her and all about her, my roommate Ellary! Which I will! just wait for it :D

nothing like a cold bagel with frozen cream cheese!

to start off, I want to say something: this is not a complaint! I am surrounded by people who are complaining about our situation, but in all honesty it's not that bad, especially when you think about situations that other people live in.

The east coast--especially New England area--got bombarded with a one-night blizzard that took out power in multiple towns across Connecticut (my location when the storm hit) and additionally half of the buildings on Nyack Campus. I was at my roommate's house over the weekend and on Saturday night, probably around 5 in the evening, we lost power. It was a crazy night...there was a small fire, lots of smoke, two fire trucks came, I was sick, it was cold, there was no hot food...a night to remember for sure!

We got back to campus last night to find that tree limbs were down, power lines are hanging low to the ground, and one of the girl's dorms has no power while ours has only half power. Thankfully Ellary's and my room has power but no one has heating or hot water. I don't mind the hot water part, it just means I have an excuse to wear the same sweats until everything gets fixed!

There are still classes today, even though some teachers are cancelling anyways. I have a feeling none of my classes will be cancelled, though. And since I believe that, off I go to study...

why is it so hot in September??

sorry it's so big! I didn't know how to shrink it any further...well I do but I'm too lazy :P

so yes, it is like 70 degrees everyday here. I am wearing shorts and a tshirt this morning. I can't wait for the snow to come!

In the picture above is my and my roomie! We stayed up last night until 2:30 am talking about everything under the sun...I am exhausted now but it was such a blessing of a conversation. I see so clearly that God has put us together to learn from each other and help one another grow...this is such an answer to prayer and my heart is overflowing with gratitude!

On my prayer list is my microbiology class. Not only is the topic really hard, but we have a huge workload and I have a difficult time learning the concepts because most of it we are expected to learn from reading the textbook and I don't really learn well from reading. So not only am I working hard in that class (even still falling behind) but that prevents me from putting 100% into my other classes. So I am praying for time management skills, hardcore concentration ability, and a little bit of supernatural understanding from up above. :)

I want to share a verse that we learned for one of our classes:
Ephesians 4:1-3
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

lazy day + rain

I woke up this morning half an hour before I had to go take a writing test so I scrambled to get ready, ran out the door to see that it was raining. But I was too in a rush to go back for my umbrella so I just got a little wet. Turns out after the test it went from raining to pouring so I got even wetter, but it was ok because I had to shower anyways.

So now I am in my room, all warm with my snuggly blanket, watching The Office and chilling on my last day with nothing to do. They say that the worst thing to do at college is stay in your dorm room but I recharge when I'm alone and I definitely need some alone time.

I brought three bottles of bubbles with me, which I knew was a good idea. A big blue bottle that blows lots of them, a little bottle for my purse, and one that is shaped like a popsicle and smells like chocolate. My roomie thinks I'm crazy but they make me happy!

I'm all settled in now, packing and unpacking-wise. Our room is very spacious and cozy and there aren't a ton of girls on our floor so I don't think showering will be too much of an issue.

I have met a few people already who went to Gabon, more of them to meet, so I am excited. PLUS, I am pretty sure it's set in stone, but I will be seeing some awesome Gabon people in NJ this fall, too!

All in all, it's still the first week and it usually takes me a while to settle in, but i know that God is faithful and I am not doubting that He has me here for a reason. I just want to be His vessel.

I haven't taken any pictures (yet)

People keep telling me they want pictures of college life, and I PROMISE you will see some. At some point. Here's the thing you need to know about me, though. It's really weird, I don't know why I'm like this or how to overcome it, but I don't really put myself out there in social situations or make instant friends very easily. So yeah, I've met some awesome people and I'm excited to live with them in community for 4 years, but it's gonna take me a few weeks to get to know them and see them as a family. So until then I am just gonna chill and let things take their natural course.

College is weird...it hasn't hit me yet that I'm really here for good. I haven't even unpacked or organized stuff, but they've had us running around campus for the past two days so we have no time to do anything personal. I'm dead tired, too, and skipping some meals to sleep. Not that the cafeteria food is something we go flocking to with anticipation.

Trying to remember that God is faithful.

yeah

So here's the thing.

I know myself well enough (in some respects) to know that if I start typing in this blank box anytime within the time frame of August 30 and September 6, I will probably say something I would terribly regret. So...I'm just not going to put myself in that situation.

But here's the thing.

They say there are 3 major life changes (at least, for Westerners, and not all of them at that, but most). 1. Going to college. 2. Getting married. 3. Having children.

Number 1 is right around the corner for me. Literally. Number 2 I don't dream about and therefore have no plans for it anytime in the near future, and number 3...anyways. Point being, I am about to embark on one of my life's most major changes so far (if not ever?).

Packing up my room, the one I've had for 19 years, and probably never seeing some of this stuff again. Leaving the church I grew up in. Saying goodbye to friends that have changed my life in some way, shape, or form. Leaving when it's good.

But then they say that it's better to have it end when it's good and not when it's bad.

Also, it's easy to change from bad to good, but it is hard to change from good to better.

It's hard for a pessimist with a loathing for change who does not have the gift of faith to really take anything beneficial from that last statement, but I'll try.

Did anyone see Toy Story 3? The ending part, with Andy? Do you know what I'm getting at?

Ug. There is light at the end of the tunnel, right?

Yes, I know there is. This...this is yet another chance to put my trust in Him. He is Steadfast. He is my Rock. From Him I draw my strength.

my Bible is a coloring book

So I'm not an artist, but I would classify myself as a wanna-be doodler. And today I took my doodling to a new level--adding colors to the Word of God. Now you have to understand, when I am sitting at the table (waiting for the super slow internet to load one e-mail) and there is a pack of colored pencils right beside me, naturally I want to color. But all there is in paper form within reaching distance is my most beloved Bible. (And of course it is just too hot to exert the energy to get up and find some paper). So I found some of my favorite books and passages and colorified the pages! The rest of the world has color, so why shouldn't there be rainbows inside my most precious book?

I feel like my life is full of color right now. (Yes, I did just start thinking about "Double rainbow!" but that wasn't my original inspiration for this comparison). Colors are so varietous, so amazing, so...spazzy! They are what make life exciting! And life is exciting. Sure it isn't perfect (given duh) but I am just so utterly blessed.

After reading back over my last post, I thought that I should share some wonderful news with my millions of avid readers and fans. My news is: my Father is very rich. He holds the wealth of the world in His hands. And this year He has given me so much of that wealth. Literally, I have received financial blessing after financial blessing in less than six months! First was the settle money from the insurance company from my car accident a previous year. That check happened to pay for my entire trip here to Gabon. And then, just a week ago, I got an e-mail.

The e-mail was from my grandma, short and sweet (my grandma and the e-mail!) telling me that she told one of her old, dear friends about me and my desire to work in ministry. Grandma printed off some of my Africa blog posts for this woman to read so she could see a little bit about what I am doing here. And this woman...well, she is giving me a very large financial gift to help pay for college. She doesn't want me to have to worry about paying off student loans when I am done with school so I can go to the field if the door is opened. Needless to say, I sobbed when I got this news. Because of this amazing woman's generosity, the financial burden of paying for school has been eased greatly.

And then yesterday my counselor sent me a Facebook message with even more amazing news--the school (which is Nyack College, btw) is going to give me more than half of a yearly cost in grants and scholarships. This added with the gift from that amazing woman covers my entire first year of college (which is a private Christian college, so not cheap in the least).

Wow, and I was able to write all of that with no exclamation marks! !!!!! Why is God blessing me so much? Why does He love me so much? PORQUOI God???

I don't know. Je ne sais pas. But I do know...He is amazing.

dans les mains de Dieu

So I am starting to freak out a little bit about this year and everything that it will bring. I'm already living one of the major things--being in Africa for 3 months (it's been great, learning so much, check out the Africa blog!) But I've started to really think about what it's going to be like to leave home and go to college, most likely all the way across the country. I realize how much I miss my family right now, and the thought of leaving home probably for good is heartbreaking. I won't lie, a couple of times I have thought, "I can skip college, right? And a career? I'll just live at home the rest of my life!" But life isn't that easy, and I know that there are lots of fun things waiting for me in my future. Lots of hard experiences, too. I've learned that even in the most ideal of places (like Africa) there is hardship, unrest, worry, frustration...you can't escape life no matter where you go.

Anyways, all that to say...I am confused about college stuff, scared to leave home, worried in general about the future. But I think that God is stripping away my comfort layers and helping me to establish faith in Him. It's hard, so hard, to have peace in my heart and trust Him with the future. But He's proven again and again that His plans are better than ours.