Lessons Learned

This has been quite the year. Only one more week of classes, plus finals week, and I am free (sort of)!!! There have definitely been some downs this year, but it has had its share of ups as well. For instance - I was able to go home last week and celebrate my mom's birthday with her. We spent the majority of her birthday outside at a park, and it was glorious. I'm so glad I was able to be with her. The rest of the weekend was great as well - a lot of family time. Friday was mostly with mom, Saturday night I went out to dinner and to my high school's musical with my parents, and then Sunday night I went to dinner and a movie with my parents and my brother. It was a great weekend and I really needed it. Anyway...

I have definitely learned a lot this year, both in the classroom and especially out of it. One of the things I've realized is that I take many things for granted, and I really want that to change. As the year draws close I hope I'm able to make that change. I'm so excited to get out of here and will be leaving the second my last final is over, but I just hope that I don't take this last week and a half for granted. After I'm home for summer I will write more and devote more time to sharing how I've grown this year, but I just wanted to post something new. I've neglected this thing this year, so thanks to those who still check it! Anywho, I'm on the home stretch...the end is almost here!

T-minus 4 days, and believe me - I'm counting

Friday I went on a walk in the glorious sunshine wearing my flip flops. Saturday I sat at the window and watched the snow start to accumulate. Today I am sitting in the lounge, looking out the window at the snow coated trees, listening to the snow plow. While the snow is beautiful, I won't deny it it's beauty, it makes me angry. Oh the "joys" of the Midwest. But, I just keep telling myself that better now than in 4 days! Yes, in 4 days I get to go home!!!!! I am incredibly excited to be back home. I haven't seen my mom since the 1st of March, my dad since the middle of February, and my brother since the end of January. I miss them more than I can adequately describe. I could go on about how incredible they all are, but I will change the subject so as not to encourage rambling...

A lot has happened since I last posted. It has been quite the roller coaster of a semester with the overwhelming tone being just that - overwhelmed. I will have more time to go in to details when I'm home for Easter, but I just wanted to post something to let you all know I'm still alive! But, even though I'm generally stressed out, God is still providing and is walking me through.

Before I stop avoiding my homework...I will share something that God has been teaching me. Over and over I keep getting the message to just be still and listen. The passage in 1 Kings where God tells Elijah that His presence is going to pass by has really been on my heart. In that passage, God does not appear in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire - but His presence appears in the gentle whisper. God has really been challenging me to just stop and rest and listen for Him in the whispers. I've been so busy this semester, and my life is filled with so much noise, and I feel like I've missed a lot. Last night when it was snowing I decided I didn't want to go to church today. Instead, I listened to a sermon that Tim gave about a month ago. Again, rest and being still came up. The passage about Mary and Martha was referenced, where Martha is constantly going and Mary just sits at Jesus' feet. I am Martha right now and I need to be Mary. I keep telling myself that break is soon and I'll make sure I rest over break, but I need to take time every day to just be in His presence and listen to what He might be trying to say to me. Those are my thoughts. I hope they make sense. More to come soon...

Just say No to Tuesday Classes

I haven't had a snow day since high school...until today. My RA called me yesterday about 2 minutes after I had pulled off the high way because of the snow and wind to tell me that today's classes were cancelled! So, instead of sitting in chapel right now, I'm sitting at home for a few more hours :)

Things have been going well over the past couple of months. I just spent about a month at home for break and that was wonderful. I spent a lot of time with friends, and got to reconnect with some friends that I haven't seen in quite some time. Plus, the Huskers won, Favre got knocked out of the playoffs by the guy he knocked out of New York, and Oklahoma lost. So, even though the Bears didn't make it to the post season, I don't have much to complain about on the football front. Also, a dear friend of mine got married in December, and I was privileged to sing in her wedding and be part of one of the best days of her life.

My first semester at Northwestern went great. I was crazy busy all the time, working almost non-stop for the last 2 months of the semester, but I learned a lot. I definitely made the right decision in coming to Northwestern - the training and preparation I'll receive for Social Work will be superior to that I would receive at Greenville. I don't mean to knock Greenville's program, and I don't want to because I'm sure it would have been great, but accreditation really does make a difference. I really like the school, and I like the people. However, I do miss my roomie and the rest of the people from Greenville.

Even though I'm a big fan of the snow day, I am ready to do productive things again. I'm not necessarily ready to be back at school, but I am ready to do something other than just hang out, even though hanging out with my friends and especially my family was pretty fantastic.

The last month.5

Apologies for the lack of blog action. Things have been great - really busy, but really great. Half a semester down at Northwestern, and I really like it. Everyone is great, the classes are challenging (I finally feel like I'm in college...), there are a lot of opportunities, and I am/will get much better training for Social Work here. I do miss everyone at Greenville (and those who left as well) very much, but I know that leaving for Northwestern was the right decision.

The girls on my wing are wonderful. We have a lot of fun, always. 3 of the girls are from Lincoln or the area right around Lincoln. We watch the Husker games together and get excited/upset together. Its fun to have friends to watch football with who actually enjoy it as much as I do. My roommate's name is Alissa, and she and I get along great. We're having a lot of fun as well. She's very musically inclined and is teaching me guitar!

Definitely the most fun thing I've done this year is something called "Rush." Rush is a student directed/produced/choreographed and performed dance show. The show consisted of all different styles of dance: modern, tap, salsa, colorguard, lyrical, ballet, and hip hop, to name a few. Well. It was so much fun. I was in a hip hop dance, and let me tell you - my choreographer, Tony, is amazing. The dance was ridiculously awesome. We danced to an epic mix of Michael Jackson. We had 32 dancers, and he divided us up in to 5 groups. Each group did a small dance to a different Michael Jackson song, and then we all danced to Smooth Criminal to end the dance. My group had P.Y.T. (worth looking up if you aren't familiar with it). But, it was awesome. I had never danced hip hop before, and it was fun to learn. The whole thing was great - everyone's dance was so different and really cool. I'm glad I did it.

So, I'm currently sitting on my couch, enjoying the last few hours of fall break. Fall break was wonderful, and much needed! It was nice to have a few days at home with the fam. On Saturday my mom and I went up to Omaha for our friend Jamie's wedding. The wedding was wonderful, and it was fun to catch up with friends that we usually only see at camp. Before the wedding we stopped over to see my grandparents, which was great, and we also went to see Kayne and his new baby sister! Both of those children are just gorgeous, and just the best. The rest of break was spent seeing some friends, but mainly spending time with family, which I'm really grateful for.

Most of my wing at Homecoming.

P.Y.T. and the Whole Gang

Fast Forward...

So, in all honesty, I'm too busy to do justice on a review of summer. Or too lazy...you decide. Anywho. Here are some highlights for those interested:

May: was supposed to be the official kick off to summer, but not in my case. I got done with finals, drove home the next day, had Sunday off, and started summer school on the following Monday. Woo hoo! I guess it had its share of graduation parties for some of my favorite people, so that was fun!

June: Well. I don't think anything too exciting happened this month. I was in class for the entirity of June, and I think that's all I did...I don't remember though. I guess one thing is that I helped the youth band lead worship at our church's Worship Night, so that was an incredible opportunity, and so great to worship in that capacity with some of my close friends.

July: I went to Chicago with my mom for a weekend, and that was great! Then, classes finally got over and I had a real summer!!! Royal Family Kids' Camp continued it's presence in my life and is still solidified as my favorite thing ever. I did some more Worship stuff at church, so that was wonderful once again.

August: I went to San Diego with my family, and that was really great. It was nice to get away from Nebraska, and have my family with me. I fell in love...with Michael Phelps :) I went back to Greenville for a weekend for my friends Angela and Josh's wedding!!! I am so happy for them, they are fantastic. I got to spend some time with Kara and Betsye that weekend too, so that was pretty awesome. Before vacation I got this weirdy bump removed from my finger so that I can learn to play guitar...and I bought a guitar! I took my friend Kyle, who is amazing at guitar, with me to pick one out, so once the healing is complete...its time to rock and roll (buh dum, ching!). Umm...I think that's it unitl I left for Northwestern!

I have this feeling that I'm forgetting stuff, but I'm almost positive that I'm not, which makes my summer read kind of lame...I did have some opportunities to spend time with my friends, but save for a couple, I didn't get to see everyone that much. Nonetheless, it was a good summer! I am glad to be at school though and doing productive things. I really like Northwestern so far, its been a really wonderful experience (more to come later). Some pictures for your pleasure? I think that sounds fantastic!

Blogging with 9 fingers

Well...summer is almost over now, and I have left you readers severely uninformed. Unfortunately, I don't think this post will be that satisfying either. You see, I had this weirdy bump on my left middle finger, and I had surgery on Tuesday to get it removed, and now it has left me with only 9 functioning fingers. This makes it hard to type, and it makes it painful to type when I instinctually use the healing finger. That being said...I'm anticipating an end of the summer awesome recap...

So, for the time being, this will be a picture update of the things that have happened since my last posting. Here is a little word snacking to go along with the photos that are to come: This was Taylor's last summer playing in a baseball league, so I have greatly enjoyed going to his games. Mom and I took a weekend break from the whirlwind of life and spent a couple days up in Chicago. It was fantastic. We had a lot of fun and did lots of cool things in Chicago...like go to Wicked! After classes were finally over, I had a week to prepare for Royal Family Kids' Camp - which is easily my favorite thing in the world. Camp was absolutely amazing. Words cannot adequately express how incredible the week was. God was definitely at work and took every opportunity to show that he was present. My good friend Kyle decided to come at the last minute, and he was wonderful out at camp - the kids just loved him. I'll share some pictures from the week, but unfortunately I can't show pictures of the kids - for safety reasons pictures of the children aren't shared outside of the week of camp. Now I'm functioning on pain killers as my finger heals and am getting ready to leave for a family vacation on Saturday! My how time flies...enjoy the pictures!

"Summer"

Here's my life:

Wake-up
Exercise (sometimes plus homework)
Class
Lunch Break
Work
Homework
Go to bed

So...there's really nothing to update on. That's my life, everyday, no room for anything else. It will all be worth it in the end...