Hard to Believe

These past two weeks have been the most busy weeks of my college career up until this point. I never thought it was possible to do that many presentations, papers, and projects! But by the help of the Lord I finished them. All that stands between me and summertime is a week of final exams. My professors have been kind to us (for the most part) and given us finals that won't cause me to die of stress. Some big news is that MONDAY I will be buying my plane tickets to Dominica, and MONDAY I find out the logistics of the Scotland trip as well. It's going to be a big day!

God really and truly does answer prayers. I have been praying about this summer since last summer, and God gave me the chance to go to these countries outside the USA. It's been a blessing to be here at Harding this school year. He gave me a great group of friends and time to get to know them. I enjoyed everything I've done, and I've loved having my own space here as well. I believe that's what really helped me enjoy living on campus. I branched out of my comfort zone and tried new things. Overall, I'm just blessed. I hope you have been as well! Have a wonderful summer! I may be making a new blog OR using this one as my travel blog. I'm not sure yet, but I know I need to document this summer somehow. I'll probably just keep most of it in my writer's notebook, though.

May God bless you as much as He has blessed me!!

We All Love Chi Kappa Rho!

If you haven't figured out from the title, I'm writing about my new favorite thing ever: my social club. See, I pledged as a Junior -- Crazy, I know. But I'm so glad I did! I met so many sweet and wonderful girls who have quickly become my good friends. The reason I decided to pledge was because I felt that I needed a way to be connected on campus better. My top priorities are school, boyfriend, sleep, but social falls to the wayside most times because those top three are so time-consuming in general. This last fall I didn't even go to the first round mixer, but XKP invited me to their third round and then visitation!

I'm a Spanish major and one of my best friends - Caitlin - was my "big sister," and she's also a Spanish major :)

I went through pledge week and loved the getting to know everyone. It has been one of my best years here at Harding! I made the most of my college career. And yes, school and boyfriend and sleep are still my top 3 priorities, but I've made room for relationships here now. I can't believe I will be done with this year and moving on to my final year at Harding. I'll be a REAL senior and not just the classification-by-hours-senior. I'll finish this blog by adding some of my favorite pictures from all the events we've had: pledge week, Christmas function, Spring Formal...Awesome :)

My sweet pledge class! Love these girls. They have helped me grow in so many ways :)

SPANISH MAJOR FRIENDS! Mandy, Lucinda, Me, and Caitlin

My future roommate Amy :) She's awesome, by the way.

Tiqua - My lovely "big sister" who is graduating!

Kelsey! My fun "date" to the Spring Formal!

I guess to really end this blog, I want to add one quote that really sums up my year. It's by Dr. Seuss - shocking that an Elementary Education major would quote him (not) - and it really gave me a different perspective on how to go about this year. My 3rd year here has been great because I made it great with the help of my Lord. He has allowed me to grow spiritually and given me so many chances to influence others. Without Him, I would be lost!

Can't Wait for Summer 2011!

I know it's so soon to be writing about this. I mean, it's only March. And summer starts in MAY! Some huge plans are in the process right now, and my life is going to be crazy pretty soon. This next weekend is my boyfriend's birthday, so that's what's been on my mind lately. But I want to let you in on some really really REALLY big events this summer in my life.

SCOTLAND:

In May, I will be traveling with a small group from the College of Education to Scotland to complete our Pre-Student Teaching. We have been having classes together for the semester and getting to know each other much better. We will be there for a good while, and I'm really looking forward to it! While over in Europe, we all will be going also to Ireland and England - mainly London. I can't wait to see what it's like on that side of the ocean! I especially want to go see what Harrod's looks like in person. (For those of you that are confused, it's a giant department store, really. But monstrously huge.) It's going to be such an amazing experience!

After Scotland I'll come home for a short time, and then get on board another plane. This time I'll be going to my most favorite country (other than the USA, of course) in the whole world.

DOMINICA:

This little island in the Caribbean has been my summer location for the past 3 summers. I started traveling there in 2008 and have gone every summer since then. People there have touched my life in such a meaningful way, and my boyfriend is a native Dominican. I'm very excited to go back again to enjoy the food, clean air, and beautiful beaches once more. I'm sure people are sick of me talking about Dominica, but I can't even explain how much it has influenced me and touched my soul. If you ever want to go to the Caribbean, try to go to Dominica. You won't regret it. Oh, and bring me along with you. I can be your tour guide!

Overall, this summer is coming too slowly. Other things that will happen are: two of my good friends are getting married! I only get to go to one of their weddings, but I'm so happy for them! My brother will be turning 17. WEIRD! And I'll be that much closer to my last year here at HU. Can't believe how fast time flies. I remember my first year here thinking it will never end. And now I'm in my third year...Crazy.

Take care!

Dreams...

This weekend I watched Inception for the first time. Needless to say, my mind was blown. I don't want to give away the plot or mystery of it if you haven't seen it, but take it from me, you need to go watch it right now. Okay, so in order for you to understand why I am writing this blog post, you need to understand a small gist of the movie. Inception is about dreaming. The subconscious is powerful, and the movie is about people that can control and enter into a specific person's subconscious in the REM stage - or deep dreaming stage.

This technology and ability obviously does not exist right now. What got me truly thinking was the idea of dreams. Every night I dream, and I know that some people say they "don't dream" when I ask them. The fact is that scientifically, everyone dreams, but most people struggle to remember the dream upon waking and allowing other thoughts to cloud the memory.

Upon waking, my dreams are usually vivid enough in my memory that I can recall the storyline of the dream. I don't usually have to write my dream down because I think about my dreams when I wake and try to put them into actual memory. Ever since I was young I had wild, vivid dreams, and I could always retell them like a story. Some dreams were scary, some happy, and after some I woke up crying. I remember ones from my childhood as well and can still tell the story of the dream. It's strange, but true.

After watching Inception, I searched the internet on a subject that I had heard about in high school: lucid dreaming. It's when a person, mid dream, realizes he/she is in a dream, and changes the story by doing what he/she wants. Have you ever done that? I hope sometime soon I can lucid dream, because skydiving without actually having the risk of dying seems like it would be so much fun.

What would you do if you could decide what happens in your dream? Fly? Travel somewhere special? Let me know in the comments if you have lucid dreamed or if you don't dream at all!

How Awesome His Works

You may be wondering where I got my background for this blog. That's a legitimate question, honestly. At first glance it just looks like an abstract piece of photoshopped artwork. It's not, just to clarify.

When I was deciding on a background I knew I didn't want a pattern that could be found just anywhere. I looked and looked, but nothing stood out to me. Then I remembered how pretty the pictures from the hubble website could be. The stars and universes and nebulae are all amazing and extremely unique. The colors were brilliant. I found the one that suited my color taste (ended up being a nebulus), and got the wallpaper size and set it as the wallpaper.

Isn't God amazing? He created all those beautiful things in space, and yet He took the time to create us and send His son to die for us. God is so great! Whenever I see things such as these I feel so tiny, and yet I know God thinks of me as meaningful and takes the time to listen to my thoughts. The beauty that God created and the majestic things He puts into motion every day should floor us. I hope that these pictures cause you to stop and think about God's power and love like they did for me!

SNOW DAY!

It's a winter wonderland outside today.

What does that mean for me?

1. staring out my window onto the white world
2. eating cocoa puffs!
3. and catching up on homework

It may not sound like fun, but I'm so glad not to go to my classes today! :)

Forgive and Forget?

"The real art of living is beginning where you are."

Forgiveness and reconciliation. Today these two concepts have been fluttering around in my brain. This morning was my Christian Home bible class, just like every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That means that I didn't really want to get up out of bed for the 8am class, but I was interested in what would be taught in class. The professor presented the question: "Why is it so hard to forgive yourself?" Many students agreed that it was because the consequences remain although God forgave.

People spoke in chapel about being reconciled with God and with someone for whom they cared. The story that stuck in my mind was the story of the husband and wife. Although married and living in the same house and sleeping in the same bed, the disconnect grew day after day. Work and life drowned their passion for the marriage, and they stopped working on making it right. One day, the wife made a phone call that changed the course of events for their lives. She gave her husband an ultimatum - work on the relationship or she would leave with their son. Now, they strive to fix their broken marriage.

"The real art of living is beginning where you are."

As I read my book for Christian Home (because of the upcoming quiz), I froze at this quote. I grabbed my hot pink highlighter and drew a thick line over the words. That wasn't enough though; I wanted to share it. Unless we change what is happening right now, life is not being lived. Satan desires for us to hold onto feelings of inadequacy and the belief of being unforgivable. In order to live, we need to start over -- by making difficult changes.

That is one lesson truly needed in my life. I don't let go of the idea that I can't be forgiven. Today, I move forward and won't dwell in my mistakes of the past.

So, what are your thoughts? Why is it so hard to forgive ourselves and others?