Hallelujah!

Done. Done. AND done.

I finished my finals today. Yipeeeee. Granted I know this wans't my strongest semester academically, I am really proud of all I accomplished this semester:

Connor and Maddie came to Columbia to move me in August. So fun.

Recruitment was a huge success and we got amazing girls.

All my classes went well.

I had a good schedule.

I love my roommate!!!!

I loved being in house again.

I loved having Louis live in Columbia. Shout out to Max and Ian for being THE BEST!

I went to Ohio twice, once for KC's birthday and once for Halloween.

I went to ONE spinning class.

I stopped tanning.

I got to celebrate Karly's 21st with her.

I planned initiation, which was so much work, but I'm happy it worked.

I had a great time on Thursdays at Big 12.

Perry came to visit!

And so much more. LIKE SO MUCH! It all went so fast, I almost cannot believe it is over.

Now I must pack up my entire room and head back to St. Louis in the morning! So excited for Christmas time. KC and I have our annual holiday party on Sunday and VP next Tuesday. I cannot believe it has been a year since I walked.

I'm excited to get home, but I am sad because I know that I won't be back until NEXT AUGUST! Granted I am very excited to go to Spain, it is still weird leaving everything here.

Well I must get back to packing and undecking the halls.

God's blessing of the day: surviving finals on hardly any sleep! God really pulled me through this week. I spent like 20 minutes today praying about everything. I knew that it would be one of my last long walks through campus and I feel so blessed! Thank you for this entire semester! It was a dream.

Tis the season

So I should be writing a paper. Instead, I am going to write a post on here!

Last week, we had a our semi-formal and Karly was able to come in for it! YAY! We had a really good time, and we took some fun pictures!

In other news, it is the last week of classes. That means tons of papers, projects, speeches and studying. Usually I go home the weekend before finals and make myself at home at the Wash-U library. Since it is my last weekend in Columbia for hmmm I don't know....8 months....I figured I should stay.

Speaking of, I am getting so excited for Barcelona. I have been looking for apartments....all extremely overpriced, and I've been trying to see how hard it would be to take my dog over there with me. Unfortunately, I have received a lot of negative feedback about that idea, but I still think it would be so fun.

I'm also getting sad about what I am going to miss. It's going to be so weird and so fun. I don't really know what to expect.

Also, I started watching the TV show, The Office. I am officially obsessed. I'm already on the fourth season with no plans of stopping. How convenient to have found a new television addiction right before finals.

Well I really do need to go write this paper.

God's blessing of the day: laying in bed all afternoon, relaxing and watching TV on an icky cold day. I love days like this. Especially knowing the madness I'm about to dive into.

Thanksgiving 2009

I have to admit it...Thanksgiving was just not quite the same this year without her. It was beyond strange. But it also allowed for some great memory sharing and good times.

I had a wonderful time with my family this year! Probably one of the best Thanksgivings ever. I had a great time seeing my friends and family.

One of the biggest highlights of the week was Peter's 21st birthday weekend. It was so much fun! We celebrated at Lumiere in St. Louis. Peter had a VERY lucky 21st birthday...he is very good at playing Craps. I made Peter a really fun cooler. I should start a business where I can decorate things and bake. It'll be cute. But I did want to post a few pictures of the cooler and the weekend!

I also cut off 7 inches of my hair. 3 inches short of Locks of Love, but any shorter and I would have looked like a boy. I have been wanting to cut it for so long, and I impulsively chopped it on Saturday. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but I have received many compliments.

Last night, we had elections. So I am almost done with my position at the sorority. I am so ready to be done, but at the same time, I am extremely sad. It will be weird going from super involved to no involvement next semester.

Tonight, I have a study abroad meeting...which means it is rapidly approaching us! I am still looking for an apartment and trying to figure out how I am going to get all of my stuff over there. I don't know how I am going to do without seeing any of my friends for that long...it's going to be a really big struggle for me.

Now I have to hunker down for the next 2 plus weeks. I gotta finish strong!

God's blessing of the day: my roommate Courtney woke up early to have breakfast with me and drive me to class. What a great friend! So lucky to have her!

(Mike awkwardly in the background, Erin, Aunt Kathy, Me, Mom, and Gma's Uggs)

Right at midnight when Peter turned 21. I love this picture of him and Graham.

Hotel Lumiere where we stayed! So pretty.

Cooler--Monogram and Barcelona FC symbol

Side of the cooler

I never post to this

I never use my blog. It's so sad. It's not that hard to update.

But I really have been busy, but it's whatever.

Anyway, it's the holiday season! And I've discovered my two new favorite holiday items:

1. A candy cane pen and when you write....the ink smells like peppermints. Courtesy of your local walgreens.

2. Snow in a can!! It's amazing. Court and I wrote on our windows, then went outside to see what they look like, and they are AWESOME. I did some in the bathroom on the mirror and someone thought it was shaving cream. Whoops!

Thanksgiving is next week. I can't wait!

God's blessing of the day: I pulled my unplanned presentation off with flair...she gave me a 19/20. Basically I completely forgot about my presentation, winged it in class, and got an A! Thank goodness.

abusive men

So I've come to wonder about men. Why do they abuse? Is that something innate within them, or is it evil overpowering them?

It is such an issue. Even prevalent in my life now, not towards me, but I am surrounded by it. It makes me so sad. Do these men even know that not only are they draggin themselves down, but they are taking others down with them?

Especially when somebody claims to be a Christian, or at least once did, how do you go from one extreme to the next? It makes me wonder how God must feel about it all. I'm sure it saddens Him to no other.

Of course I took to the Internet to see what the Bible says about abusive men, and I found this really great site. http://www.latter-rain.net/articles/healing_relationships.html

It's long, but I found it so interesting...nodding my head constantly as I read.

Here is THE verse:

Psalms 18:47-48

He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me.

God's blessing of the day: my roommate! I'm so lucky to have her. She is the best!

life happens

so i love jennifer aniston and aaron eckhart, and i expected sooo much more out of this movie.

but

the plot line was completely deceiving. given my uneasiness with death, i did not like this movie. eckhart's character was a motivational speaker who helped people move on from the loss of loved ones. of course i cried the entire movie. it's up to the brave to see that one.

anyway,

recently in life, i had a great weekend! dad's weekend was so much fun. did a little roots n blues n bbq, a little comedy show, a little gambling, and a lot of golf. im a little burnt out. i don't know how people play golf all the time. maybe if i were good it would actually be fun.

(dad's weekend 2009)

this week is full of lots of papers, prepping for midterms (next week!) wish me luck! today is rather ordinary.

actually no! it feels like fall! that isn't ordinary. broke out the uggs today, but the sun was shining and it was gorgeous! what else....not much. miss my mommy. that's normal though.

october is happening soon. that's crazy.

oh i've been working on pete's belt a lot! sooo cute! i cant wait till its done.

that's it for today!

God's blessing of the day: the cool crispness of fall! a lovely phone call from my mother. and the building anticipation of going to spain next semester. i also may be in a treat to see peter this weekend, but we'll see!

thank you God for it all. i'm so blessed.

happy september!

so i haven't posted in awhile, but last week was super busy!

i have had tons and tons of school work, and i think i did a great job last week of staying on task with it. then i had this CRAZY idea that i would get work done over the long holiday weekend....my books didn't even come out of my car. oh well.

so parker's birthday was last saturday, which is crazy. he is 17. what happened to the time? where did it go?

peter ended up coming in town for the long weekend and it was exactly what i needed! 

thursday night before i went home the next day, schmee and i went out and had a night on the town. i think we needed it hard core! not sure if i have time for a repeat but roomie bonding over wine and shots was a good time just the two of us! 

friday night, i drove home. made it to dinner at the house with aunt laurie (in town for hs reunion), aunt carrie and baba and dan. we had a good time. peter and i just hung out at the house and i went to bed early.

i woke up on saturday morning and it was GLOOMY. like disgusting outside. mom bribed me not to go to the football game, so we went shopping and had a fantastic time! we always have so much fun. im so lucky to have such an awesome mommy! saturday night, peter and i met up with some friends and then met his parents in clayton. it was a fun night that went too long for me. i am not good at staying up late. buttttttt it was still fun.

sunday was relaxing. connor and mom and i all went out to breakfast. then peter and i hung out all afternoon. that night we saw a movie with peter's dad and sister...extract...i don't really recommend it.

monday was filled with laundry and packing and saying bye to pete. then i left. BUT i left with someone with me....louie! louie is now a resident of columbia. he is staying with the two nicest guys in the world!! i am so lucky to have him here. i cannot believe how sweet those guys are to take in a dog....that's a lot of responsibility, and especially bc they didn't even pick him out. so that is just awesome. i am beyond lucky and blessed!!! 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

now i have just been trying to catch up on work. i am beginning to feel buried in my homework. i'm gonna suffocate soon. i was going to try to make it to ohio this weekend, but at this point, it seems almost impossible. plus its a 7 hour drive. 7 hours on friday, get there by 10, stay there saturday night, leave early sunday morning to make it back to como by 1 or 5, depending on cc. 

anyway, today is off to a good start. had good classes this morning. i plan on doing work until my 1pm, and then i have volunteer tutoring at 3:30. hopefully i can make it over to see lou tonight. busy busy busy.

God's blessing of the day: so far, at 10:12 am, i would have to say, the sole fact that i know louie is in columbia. God gave me a HUGE break by putting those 2 guys in my life to take care of a sweet little dog. that's actually like the blessing of the month! maybe even semester!!