This is Where I'm Meant to Be

I have been having second doubts about working at camp for the past few months. The time at home with my family is very brief and filled with way too many things to do, and not nearly enough time. I thought about different ways that I could be spending my summer, and was unsure if going back to camp was the right choice.

Today, I had the opportunity to work a retreat back at camp. I worked on the ropes course for 2 hours, and lifeguarded for another 4 hours.

As I was driving away from Livingston today, I realized that camp is exactly where I am meant to be.

I loved being wrapped in the arms of some of the leadership team, and being surrounded by the love that fills camp. I was reminded of the sweet memories that Cho holds for me, and how my life has been radically changed every summer I have returned. I felt consumed by Our Amazing Lord, in a way that comes so naturally and readily at camp.

I know that I am meant to be at camp. God has planned for me to spend my entire summer loving on His sweet creations and sharing His Word with them. To spend countless hours lifeguarding, and running around playing games. To share precious fellowship with others who are striving to fall more in love with a Lord who has an abundance of love constantly pouring out on us.

As much as I wish I had more time to spend with my family, more time to be lazy at home, more time to sleep in and be silly, more time to enjoy with my friends -- that is not God's plan for me this summer.

I am so thankful that all my doubts about this summer have been removed. Now to make the most and treasure these few remaining moments that I have with family and friends, before I go off and see just what the Lord has in store for me this summer! He has rocked my world through camp the past five summers, and I know that Summer 2012 will be no different!

Home!

After somehow managing to stay in a restaurant from 6-10:15 last night with Jana, Jen and Katie, I ended up staying in CS last night with Jana instead of driving back to Houston super late. So this morning I drove back home and now I'm HERREEEE!!!

I actually (to my family's disbelief) got almost everything unpacked today! I went up to Falls and said hi to some of my favorite teachers from last year, and picked Kole up from school. I enjoyed my first home cooked meal in WAY too long, watched NCIS with Dad and Kole, and chit-chatted with my mom. I snuggled with KJ and enjoyed a not-long-enough walk with her while talking to Grandpa.

It was so relaxing, although I'm quickly realizing how different both of my world's are. Maybe I will switch over to my family's time schedule here soon -- hopefully! It's nice to be home, but I feel like I am missing something... oh yeah, the friends that I'm constantly surrounded with back at school! I'm spending all of tomorrow at the elementary hanging out in kindergarten, and then hoping to run by the pool to see Dennis and Kris. I'm not used to not being busy! I have to find ways to keep my self occupied :)

OH! And exciting news! I PASSED CHEMISTRY!! And not only passed, managed to pull out a B! Take that chemistry! As of right now I have also secured a B in geography and chem lab, as well as A's in English and Multicultural Education! The only class I'm waiting on is math, and then all my grades will be finalized! Freshman year is officially OVER! HELLO SUMMER!!! :)

LAST post from College Station -- goodbye Spring Semester!

It's official. I turned in my English paper this afternoon, and I am done! Hello sophomore year A-A-A-A-AAAAA!! (Had to... sorry bout it!)

My room is completely cleared out, I'm waiting until 4:00 when my RA can check me out of my dorm, then hanging out until 5. Picking Katie up from work, hanging out with her until dinner at 6 at Grub Burger Bar with Jana, Jen and Katie. Then - CYPRESS BOUND!

24 Hours till Cypress-bound

I cannot believe that in 24 hours I will be back in Cypress. I have never had more mixed emotions in my entire laugh.

Excitement: I’m SO ready to be home in Cypress and be able to spend time with my family and just relax. I have seriously missed just being with them-whether that means sitting and talking with my mom, beating my dad at darts game after game, or watching NCIS with Kole and Dad. I have missed snuggling with my puppy, I have missed my mothers cooking (even possibly her new meals). I am more than ready to be back in my own bed and have my own space for a bit. I’m excited to just be home.

Anxiety: I still don’t know my chem final grade, and so therefore I still don’t know if I passed that class. Definitely have a bit of anxiety about that realizing that there is absolutely nothing that I could do in order to help my grade at this point.

Upset: I definitely don’t want to leave my friends. This last month has been the best month of college no doubt, and the fact that I’m leaving all of these wonderful people who I won’t see for probably about 3 months is definitely poopy!

There are definitely way more emotions than just those three, but the idea is the same. College Station has become a home, and so I’m leaving one home for another. I’m SO excited to be home, I just wish that I could have both of those worlds combined into one.

So, how am I spending these last 24 (less than that actually) hours? Well… I’m in the library with Jana right now. We study really well together and I needed to edit a paper and she has a final tomorrow, so I am kinda hanging out in the library with her because I have nothing else to do. And it’s hurricaning outside, so I might as well wait the storm out. Plus, Jana found out I had never had a temporary tattoo and so she decided that needed to be changed. So, we are doing that at some point tonight? Tomorrow morning my parents are getting here to help me load up vehicles, luckily all of my stuff is essentially packed up. Then we are walking through the MSC and grabbing lunch there before they head back to Cypress and I go off to turn in my English final paper. I check out of my dorm at 4, and then I’ll probably go watch TV in the commons until dinnertime when Jana, Jen, Katie and I are all going out for dinner. Then the hardest goodbyes of all will occur, and then I’ll be on my way HOME! Tomorrow will definitely be a day of mixed emotions, but I am SO ready!

DONE!!!

Happy Summer to ME! Freshman year is officially over - I just finished my last final, and all I have to do is turn in a paper tomorrow.

Somebody was asking me what my game plan was for this summer, and when I thought about it, I realized just how crazy these next few weeks are going to be!

Today: pack
Tomorrow: move home
Wednesday: sleep
Thursday: work in elementary
Friday: ??
Saturday: BIRTHDAY!
Sunday: Mother's Day

The following week consists of: seeing Carley, packing for camp, creating costumes, finding a dress to wear to Laura's wedding, getting my hair cut, helping in the elementaries possibly, and shopping for a new swim suit all before Thursday. On Thursday my uncles come into town and so I'll be home that day. Friday-Sunday is Laura's bachelorette party. Monday and Tuesday: finish packing for camp. Wednesday: GO TO CAMP!

So... seriously going to be busy. But you know what, that's okay, because it is SUMMER TIME!!!

Cravings!!

Living on campus, my typical food selection consists of Chickfila, sub sandwiches, pizza, pasta, hamburgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, and grilled cheese. In other words, there isn't much diversity!

Therefore, I constantly find myself craving food that I don't get to eat here. The most recent craving, Chicken Noodle Soup in a bread bowl!! I have wanted that for 2 weeks STRAIGHT and have been very disappointed to find that no place in College Station serves it! Sigh.

Other foods that I have weird cravings for? Fruit. Lots and lots of fruit! I can't ever finish an entire cantaloupe or bags of grapes on my own, so I rarely go out and buy them. But fruit always sounds good! I also crave peanut butter, and have actually snuck peanut butter out of the dining hall on north campus before. Rice and cheese always sounds good, as does REAL macaroni and cheese (as opposed to easy mac). Corn on the cob is always a delicious thought, but I think that always sounds good as summer is approaching. I woke up wanting Frito Pie this morning (yes, it's over 90 degrees outside). Crackers with cheese is always a tasty idea.

It's weird. All I know is that in 48 hours I'll be heading to Houston, where I can finally eat non-campus food for an extended period of time. HECK TO THE YES!

And yes, I will be going to Panera by myself for lunch one day, just so that I can have my Chicken Noodle Soup in a bread bowl!

You Can't Crash Yet!!

It seems like now that chemistry is finally over, my body has decided it is time to shut down... I have slept 17 hours since finishing that test, and still am constantly exhausted. I had the world's worst headache last night, and woke up feeling miserable. Not like "sick", just so tired and blah.

Dear body -- you can't crash yet! You have to make it through consistent studying this weekend, and an 8 AM math final Monday morning. Then packing all of Monday, and working on a paper Monday night. Then hanging out with friends/roommate for the last time Monday night. Parents are coming on Tuesday to help take stuff home, then you have to turn in a final and do one last peer/group evaluation Tuesday afternoon. Then checking out of your dorm, grabbing dinner with Jana, Jen and Katie, then homeward bound! Then enjoying your first night home with family, THEN you can crash! Luckily, everybody in your house will go to bed by 9, and then you can sleep as long as you want!!! You just can't crash yet!

In the meantime, the worst part about this year being over is having to slowly say goodbye to all of my friends -- I DON'T LIKE IT!!!

NO MORE CHEMISTRY!!!!

AHHH!!!! NO MORE CHEMISTRY!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

Normally I would apologize for the caps-lock, but it is definitely warranted on this occasion!!

As of this morning, I am DONE with chemistry (assuming that I passed the class which I think I did)!

If this doesn't give you a good idea of why I'm so excited, I don't know what will! This is the amount of time I spent on Chemistry just in this past week....

Sunday: 7 pm - 2 am
Monday: 2 - 6 pm, 8 - 11 pm
Tuesday: 1 - 5 pm, 10 pm - 2 am
Wednesday: 9 - 11 am, 7 pm - 2 am
Thursday: 8 - noon, 5 - 11 pm

Yeah.... all for one final. I know, it's absolutely ridiculous. But when I was able to turn that stinker in today, and feel fairly confident that I got what I needed to keep my B, and pretty positive I atleast passed (which was a major concern about a week ago!), it was SO worth it!

I haven't burned that stupid textbook yet, but there's a good chance it may be happening as soon as I get my grade back ensuring that I never have to take that class again!

And so what did I do as soon as I was done? Well, I went and had my laptop fixed so that I could access all of the A&M software that I wasn't able to the past 24 hours, and then I spent the next 7 hours either sleeping or just laying in bed.. It was MARVELOUS!!! Finally almost all caught up on sleep!

Amazing Race: Sports Club Style!

Thank you to Texas A&M Sports Clubs for providing me a WONDERFUL study break!

Not only was it an amazing chance to do something other than study, but it provided me a chance to see my friends and do something athletic -- brilliant!

We went on a campus-wide scavenger hunt/challenge type thing. We ended up running (and run/walking since we are all SWIMMERS and NOT RUNNERS) approximately 6 miles! We were given clues and eventually went from the Rec Center to the MSC, to Read Building (4th floor!!!)  to the tailgating park, to the golf course, to Evans Library, to the Petroleum Engineering Building, to the Academic Building, to Mt. Aggie, to Penburthy Fields, then back to the Rec. At each spot we had a challenge type thing to do, and then we would race on to the next one. It was SO much fun, even though 3 out of the 5 on my team (including me), absolutely hated running! Once we finished all of the challenges, we were treated to free food -- always a plus for a college kid!

It was so much fun getting to hang out with friends and not study for a bit! I also found new places on campus that I didn't even know existed... haha! Anyways, beautiful study break with absolutely precious friends and one Amazing Race!

Project Life: April

It's May. YAHOO! May brings the end of finals, the beginning of summer, relaxing times at home with my family, hanging out in elementaries (maybe), my birthday, seeing Renee, packing for camp, shopping with Carley, Laura's bachelorette party, and oh yeah... CAMP!

April was full of plenty of memories! Water polo team bonding, late nights, study parties, going out on Northgate for the first time, moments with family, and so much more! April might have been one of my favorite months of my college career so far!

Enjoy the pictures for a snapshot of what April looked like in my life! I went picture happy and had to include an insert in one of the weeks in order to hold some of the extra pictures that I wanted to include, so that is why there are more than 30 pictures!