For Those Who Care...

It's official. I almost definitely have to take an extra semester of school, which is both slightly disappointing (mostly for financial reasons) and good (mostly because I no longer have to take X-treme week, overload next semester, OR take May term, and still have two fairly slow semesters). I WISH SO MUCH that I would be done with school so I can get on with my life and figure out what I'm going to do with it, but I'm at peace with having to stay a lot more than I expected to be. God has been so good to me already, and I'm more than a little excited to see how I change over the course of the semester. I wish I could describe how I feel right now...but I can't. Nate, if you actually read this, I have people looking forward to meeting you should you decide to visit. LOL! :) And Rachel, EVERYONE here has asked me about you and say hi. :) Don't worry--it's not too much of a nuisance. I love you all! God bless, and please remember me in your prayers. If anyone has anything you want me to pray for, my roomy and I will take care of it! Write me an email if you'd like...though I must warn you right now I can only get online when the computer lab is open. Bye!

Heading Out

Yup, that's right, I'm going back for my last year of college. I'm gonna miss a lot of you, but I'll see the rest of you at school! I don't know when I'll be able to get online, but later!

WOW!

Okay, so yesterday (Thursday) I went to Great America for the first time and rode on my first rollercoaster. Talk about AWESOME! I can't believe it took me that long to finally get to go!!! I went on everything that was open except for the Whizzer because we wanted to be able to buy some souveniers before they closed in less then an hour. I sat in the first row for every coaster except for American Eagle, which I went on backwards, so it really didn't matter if I was in front or not, so I sat in the second row. It was GREAT! I think my favorite one was Dejavu. Imagine, if you haven't been on it, being pulled backwards up a 90 degree angle with your face (being in the front seat) hanging 177 feet above the ground, then being dropped into what feels like a free-fall for that 177 feet until the track turns, then going around a loop-de-loop on the outside with your feet dangling in the air (Superman was awesome, too, btw), then going around a boomarang turn and getting dropped back and pulled up an identical 177 foot spike on the other end, only this time you're facing up instead of down, then getting realeased back to do the whole thing backwards and ending up having your momentum jerked to a stop when the coaster gets most of the way up the first spike again. That was so scary it was awesome! Then I went on Giant Drop, which I have to say was only actually fun when it was over, but it was worth the adrenaline rush. :) There you have it! I think I went on 9 or 10 rides, and all but one of those was in the front row. It was great. Now I have a LOT to do before I leave for school in two days, and I have a wedding tomorrow, so I need to get it done today. Have a good one!

What Am I Going To Do?

It's the question most people have been asking me when they find out that this is my last year of college. What am I going to do when I'm done with school? What am I going to do with the rest of my life? The answer is simple: I I don't know anything other than to follow where God leads me. I tend to take things one step at a time, taking each step in faith without having to know where my destination lies. I just trust in my Maker to finish what He started.

I've had a few thoughts on what I'm going to do immediately after college, though nothing is definite by any means, and some thoughts are just beginning to get in the works. I basically have three viable options as of right now: I could stay around Seymour and just minister to the people around me, maybe picking up a position at the community church, maybe not; I could move to a larger city (one such as Minneapolis) and work in a youth center, church related or not; or I could seriously consider joining the armed forces.

I've always had the desire to at least be in the National Guard or Army Reserve, but I'm thinking something along the lines of the Marines. I signed up for information on it today, and mom and I talked about it quite a bit. I'd love it. It wouldn't be easy, but I'd love it. If I did decide to do that, I would enlist for an officer position, maybe even become a chaplain, which if you ask anyone at college, they've ALL heard me say how much I have thought about becoming a chaplain. I've had off-and-on plans all my life to join the armed forces, so maybe it's part of a calling. Either way, it would help me in more ways than I could imagine, and I would be able to reach places and people that I never would otherwise. I guess if you want to pray for me for something, that would be a good place to start.

I leave for college again on Sunday and classes start on Wednesday. If I didn't spend a whole lot of time with you this summer, I'm sorry I was so busy all the time. If I did spend time with you, thank you for being there for me when I needed someone to lean on. You can email me if you want my addy at school, or just keep in touch with me via email. I'm horrible at keeping in touch with people, but when I'm at school I do my best to respond to every email someone sends me. I covet your prayers! My goal this year is to make it on the Dean's List at least one semester. I love you all, and God be with you, even when I can't!

It's a Good Day!

Man, the last three days have been whacked. :) I babysat all day on Wednesday, spent all day Thursday with my niece, and today I spent time with my niece and nephew for about 5 hours. I'm going kid crazy! But it's mostly all good. :) Last night my friend Adam and I played games on Yahoo from like 12:30-3:30 and then just talked for another hour after that. It was great! Now I'm tired, but that's normal, and I'm hopefully gonna get out tonight to spend some time with a few more friends. I also have to get the X games off my DVR that I recorded and send them to a video tape so I can watch those with whoever else wants to watch them. That oughta be fun, though I think I'll get sick of them and just be selective with which hours upon hours I watch. ;) Other than that, I go back to classes on the 31st! Wish me luck!

Lack of Time...

Man, this summer is nearly over and I still haven't had much free time. *Sigh*. Not that I really need it, but I've been such a jerk because I don't talk to ANYONE. And that sucks. But hey--that's why I go online at 2, 3, or 4am when I can't sleep--I don't have time to otherwise. I've also decided it absolutely sucks not having a phone. There are a couple people I'd REALLY like to be able to call and just can't. Bleh. But hey--Rachel and I had an excellent night out tonight, just the two of us, and I'm actually looking forward to going back to school. I miss the people there. Well, maybe just one or two of them, but I miss them horribly. Well, one of them anyways. *Sigh* again. Soon!!!

Strange Things Happen at 4:10 AM

Well, they don't really, except that I've been up at this time every night for the last 5 nights just trying to fall asleep, so tonight I decided I don't care to try very hard. :) Nothing's been on my mind specifically, but I have been rather--up and down emotionally for various reasons. Right now I'm about to stay the night at my pastor's house to see if sleeping somewhere other than home for a night helps at all...we'll see.

So tonight I went for a really good walk with a close friend of mine that I didn't expect to go on a walk with. He's easily one of my best friends, but I didn't know how open we had become. It's been a good night largely because of that, and I also realized that I can talk to another friend of mine about anything--as well I should considering how much I trust him. So maybe I'll do that--maybe not. We'll see, I guess. :) I also have had a fairly good weekend with new people. A friend of mine had some friends visiting for the weekend, and I had only ever met one of them before. That one was one of my closer friends for a while, though that faded a while back, but the other two were phenomenally fun women to spend time with. I must say it was great getting dirt on the other two of the group. ;)

I miss the people in the Tetons, but no more than I would if they were here and I just had to spend a few days without getting to hang out. The only thing that kinda sucks about it is that I leave for school three weeks from today. But hey--I think that'll be a really good thing!

Anywho, I wanted to post a link to my friend Mark's blog because I finally started reading it again, and it's still just as inspirational to me as ever. http://www.digitalbranch.net There you go! Enjoy! I'd post Jake's on here, too, but I have the addy saved on the other computer I've been using this summer, and I don't have it memorized. That'll do for today, I suppose. Later!

Here's to You!

This post is dedicated to those of you out there who read my blog. I'd like to extend a warm thank you and welcome for showing your interest and appreciation. I'd like to thank my parents for having me--you know, the whole pregnancy thing may not have been worth all that effort ;). And thank you to my good friends. Of course, that's most likely a double thanks to you because if you're reading this, I probably consider you a good friend! :)

Enough of my Oscar speech. Last night I was officially half-invited to go to the Tetons with my friends. I can't go, since my summer is so incredibly busy for what's left of it, but it's the thought that counts! :) I know Nate doesn't read this, but thanks anyways to him. I was so excited to simply have the chance to go on the one trip I'd die if I could go on (hopefully not literally), and even though I can't go, it was worth the excitement. :)

I also start school again at the end of the month. It's officially August now, and I'm pretty sure I'm uber excited for college to start again, even though I MAY not be able to finish until June--oh well. :) I can't wait to see my friends there and to be able to spend time talking with them, which hasn't happened much at ALL this summer. I'll also have a lot more fun when I come home. I'm going by myself, so when I DO get to come home, it'll be even more special for people to see me because Rachel's staying here! I'm excited about that, too. I think it'll be good for our friendship.

And last, I'd like to say these last few days have been AWESOME. I have been nearly stress-free and haven't had a whole lot of down-time moodwise. It's a great peace that I feel right now, which is abnormal for my summer so far. :) Jake, I miss you--I know you won't likely read this either, but I do. Cody--you'll read this, and you're just wonderful! :) Martin, Megan, and the few others of you out there--I love ya. :) AND HI RACHEL!!! Oh, and Aaron! How could I leave you out? I'll see you at the end of the month!!!! :) Bye!