Being Apathetic's a Pathetic Way to Be.

Classes start a week from today. I'm getting ready to go back to school...well, at least mentally and emotionally. I haven't actually started packing or anything, but I'm ready to get back on a schedule, see friends from school, and get into my classes - even though that means homework is going to be a part of my life once again.. This break has been really relaxing, and it's been great spending time with my family and friends at home -- and it's always nice to have a break from responsibility. :)

I always seem to think that something great or exciting will happen over breaks - and usually that never really happens. But what am I anticipating? I came home for Christmas break to spend time with my family and to relax after a busy semester. And that's exactly what I did! Here are some things I accomplished this break:

1. Finished watching the complete series of The Gilmore Girls (for the second time) with Annie.
2. Watched a lot of Freaks and Geeks on youtube.
3. Bought a bookbag...for a quarter! (Yay for Christmas gift cards.)
4. Almost finished a book (it's really long!, and I still might -- I have about 4 days left on break).
5. Got to hang out with my friend, Kate, who has been in Costa Rica since August.
6. Spent a lot of time with my family and a few friends.
7. Made two really great quesadillas.
8. Babysat.
9. Had an awesome Christmas with my family.
10. Finally played drums on Rock Band.

(Yes, I do realize several of those are pathetic, but some of them are pretty cool.)

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May this new year be one of growth, strength, and a deeper knowledge of God's grace, love, and faithfulness for all of us. Please keep me in prayer as I begin a new semester and a new year. Let me know if there is anything specific that I can be praying about for you.

take it all down, Christmas is over; do not despair, but rather be glad.

Christmas was great, even though it took a while for it to feel like Christmas for some reason. There was snow, there were lights...but it wasn't really until the Christmas Eve service at church that it really felt more like Christmas.

I still have one more family party, which was canceled today because of the weather. And I still need to give a few friends their Christmas presents, which should be fun. So, Christmas is not over. Actually, I can celebrate Jesus' birth year-round, which is pretty cool. Sometimes it's hard to remember what Christmas is about, even for a Christian. I find myself making it into a really materialistic holiday. And even good things like spending time with family and being generous to others is not necessarily what Christmas is about. It's supposed to be about celebrating Christ's birth. I'm thankful that we can do that and spend time with loved ones.

I go back to school in about two and a half weeks, which still seems pretty far away but I know it will be here before I know it. I emailed my profs for next semester so I can order my books on ebay or amazon, which should hopefully be cheaper than the bookstore. I'm hoping that this semester will be great. I remember last year, my freshman year... I think I had more fun spring semester, so I'm kind of hoping this semester will be even better than last semester.

I've been watching episodes of Freaks and Geeks on youtube a lot this week. I think it used to be on Fox Family back in 1999. It was an awesome show, and it's been fun watching it again. I wish they would have made more than one season - or at least kept the re-runs on TV.

Anyways, this blog is kind of pointless. I just felt like posting. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

i'll be home for Christmas.

I have one more final tomorrow morning at 10, then I'll (hopefully) be on my way home. This final will probably be my hardest one yet, so I'm kind of dreading it (and also dreading studying for it ;)). The class (Theories of Personality) was pretty interesting, but it was actually fairly similar to The History and Systems of Psychology I took last year. It was still good, though. I just don't want to study 18 chapters for the exam tomorrow. Yuck.

But then I will be on my way home! Hopefully the roads won't be too bad. It's kinda scary driving on ICE. Yikes. Pray for safe travel for all of us kids driving home for the holidays.

I'm looking forward to this time off from school...in some ways. On the one hand, I really can't wait to sleep in and not go to class for four whole weeks (!!!!), and it means I'll get to spend time with my family - plus, Christmastime is just wonderful anyways (yay Jesus!). But break also means that I won't see all of my friends from ONU every day. It's crazy how close we've gotten - especially with my roommates. I feel so blessed to have gotten to know them better this year. Sometimes it feels like home is here at school, too. Which is pretty cool. Even when it doesn't feel like it, things are happening. And God is working in me and growing me. I feel blessed to love being both at home and at school. I have people who love and care about me in both places and vice versa. How cool is that?

Okay, I need to go study. NOW. :)

two and a half weeks to go

until Christmas break!
...but it's kinda nice being back at school. : )
i'm really blessed -- i love being at home & i love being at school.
sometimes i wish i could morph the two "worlds" into one.
when i first left for college, i wanted to take the people from my hometown to school with me;
now it's more of i want my school friends to come with me when i'm home.
i don't know if that makes sense, but that's how it feels sometimes.

;;;

so my dad got a facebook.

;;;

i kinda wanted to go to the Christmas lighting ceremony-thingy on campus tonight, but my roomies were either busy or didn't feel up to it tonight. and i'm skipping small group. although i should be studying or at least unpacking the rest of my stuff from thanksgiving break.

;;;

so there's a Christmas banquet at school in a couple weekends, but i'm not going. haha. however, i might be going to Chicago with some friends! we will still get all dressed up & i think we might be going to like...a jazz club or something? but yeah, it sounds like fun! i was looking at dresses when i was thinking about going to Banquet, and this is the one that i reeeeally like (but am not getting..hah):

isn't it pretty? it's only $60, too! haha. oh well.

;;;

i'm kind of on a picture frenzy at the moment, so...
i'm saving my money up for this little guy:

it's a Nikon D40...about $500, which is actually pretty cheap for a sweet camera. and if i keep saving (and hopefully get money for Christmas & stuff), HOPEFULLY i'll be able to get it by this summer. :) i'm excited!

so i'm asking for money for Christmas, which is kind of a boring gift - but it'll pay off. no pun intended?
howeverrrr, i told my parents that, instead of $$, i would reallyreallyreally like the complete series of Gilmore Girls (all 7 seasons!). because i love ittttttt.

but if they can't manage that, i'll just take...

haha :)

i know this is only a TV show, but i am starting to like logan even more than jess. i've never been much of a dean fan except at the very beginning. jess has always been my favorite of rory's boyfriends, but now i'm leaning towards logan.

anyway. back to reality.

this was basically just to waste some time/avoid homework & unpacking.
but today was pretty good. it was snowing, which i like. :) and i wore my new boots. aaaaand i was actually pretty friendly and confident today, which was an awesome feeling. i need some more of that.




okay. i'm off like a dirty shirt.

my heart wants more.
my heart wants to truly live.
my heart wants people;
genuine, truth-seeking, fallen people,
who are saved by grace, just as i am.
i don't want to take life and people for granted.
i want to get to know others.
i want to let them get to know me.
i want to be loved.
i want someone to love who i really am.
i want him to love me, my heart, my spirit,
the part of me that will go on forever.
i want to be confident and optimistic and real and unafraid.
i want to display God's faithfulness and beauty and love to everyone.
i want to be more than who i am right now.
but i don't know how.
yet.
i need to be in His Word so much more.
i need to be so much closer to Him.
no wonder i feel like this.
i'm not going to Him for everything.
i think i need this break to find rest in Him
and to surround myself in Him.
as well as with other people who love me.
pray for me? that would be great.

"[your beauty] should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

- 1 Peter 3:4

is it Christmas yet?

only a few more days til i head home for turkey break, which i'm pumped for. not so much even thanksgiving day...more of just getting to be home with family. i'm thankful for them. and my friends. and lots of other cool people. and lots of other stuff.

...:::...

it's not even Thanksgiving yet and i'm in the mood for Christmas and snow and mistletoe.

i'm glad, though, that we can celebrate Jesus year-round. i'm glad that He's with us always, our Emmanuel.

...::...

here's some pictures of what's been going on in my life.... : )

these are some of the coolest girls you'll ever meet (my roommates & me ;))
amy, amy jo, emily & me.

here's half of the kewanee kids that go to olivet... :)
the 6 of us, though, try to get together once a week. it's known as "kewanee dinner" and we're so cool that we have non-kewanites joining us. haha.

went to see my favorite band, Relient K, in Chicago at the House of Blues with some cool kids.

and i voted in the presidential election for the first time in my life!, which was pretty cool, even if mccain/palin didn't get it. ;)

and i turned 20 on november 6th! it was an awesome birthday...my parents & good friend, annie, came to visit me that weekend. and we had lots of cake, presents, and parties!

...:::...

it's been a good semester, but i can't believe it's almost over! time goes so quickly!
(i love college, by the way. :))

Living and active.

today i was printing some stuff out from my parent's computer, and my dad's Bible was sitting there. so i picked it up and decided to look through it a bit. (his is KJV, which i am not extremely familiar with as i typically use NIV.) so, i opened to where the bookmark was keeping place - which was Ephesians - and i got a slight chill when i saw the way he had marked it all up and wrote notes in the margins. my goodness, i thought, this looks just like my Bible! i hadn't really gone through dad's Bible before, but it was super cool to see how similar we are as we study the Word. this simple thing was such a blessing today. my heart has been heavy all break, but this was something i needed to see.

(here are pictures of dad's & my Bible respectively; mine is in Ecclesiastes.)