So This is What it Feels Like

Well this weekend, for maybe the first time since I've been at school this semester, I felt like a college kid, not just a student. This semester has been ridiculous. Last week I had a test/quiz/paper/lap report or something due every day. And then this past week I had an Organic 2 test on Friday, so allll I've done lately is study. For this whole semester, I have been waking up, going to class, going to lunch, doing homework, working out, doing more homework, going to dinner, doing more homework, and going to bed, just to wake up, go to class, etc. the next day. Day in and day out.
Well, I have nothing due this week.
So this weekend, for the first time since spring break, I think, I took a break. I didn't touch my homework yesterday.
And Friday night, upon Virginia's request for her birthday, we went clubbing. It was fun. And funny.
I slept in Saturday morning, ran, went shopping, watched movies, ate good food, laughed, relaxed.
It was definitely much needed.
I know circumstantial changes don't make things better, so I try not to look forward to certain things (like days off, breaks, the summer, etc.) in hopes that they'll magically make everything better and make me happier, but sometimes it is very nice and needed just to relax and have fun, with nothing to worry about. So thank you, Jesus, for this weekend.

Also, I found a new band on my when I was studying. Discovery. I kind of hated their music when I started listening, but after a few songs, I was like "Okk, yeah. I like this." It's weird, techno-ish music, but it's conducive to my studying, so I like it.

So I'm Absentee

Well I'm in the process of applying for an absentee ballot for the upcoming election in November, and on the application, it says, "Remember to include a copy of your identification such as: (a) driver's license, (b) college or university photo identification card, (c) utility bill of voter with voter's name and address, or (d) valid Alabama fishing license."

The first three are reasonable. But a valid fishing license?
That's why you have to love Alabama.

So One Down

PCAT = done.
I'm still alive. Somehow.


Here's a picture that one of my friend's took at the Gauley. It was one of the biggest, and my favorite rapid.

So These are True

Well, I was thinking. And I have a few confessions. These are in no particular order.

(1) When my to-do list is overwhelming, I write down some really easy things on it, just so I can check at least one thing off and feel a little accomplished.

(2) Whenever I see a really dark piece of hair on my head, I pull it out, because I want blonde hair forever.

(3) Whenever I edit pictures of myself, I fill in my dimple.

(4) I love when people say "You've got to be sh*tting me" or describe something as a "sh*t show," but I'm not brave enough to say it myself.

(5) I don't like when people are everywhere, especially in the caf or at the gym, or when I am shopping.

(6) I've jumped in the fountains at Samford. Multiple times.

(7) Chick-flicks are by far my favorite type of movie.

(8) I pee in the shower every time I take a shower.

(9) I also pee in pools.

(10) I think pets are dumb.

So It's Next Week

Well I found these words the other day:

"Destiny has two ways of crushing us - By refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them. But he who only wills what God wills escapes both catastrophes. All things work together for his good." - Elisabeth Elliot

Suffering in our life "...is neither an accident nor a punishment from God but a means by which Christ is becoming known." -Mary Ann Getty.

----

Also, I am taking the PCAT in 9 days, and so I've been studying so so much. I thought to myself, "Surely it'll be like the ACT, just bio and chem focused." But no. It is so hard. Ridiculous. So this week I've been reading through my PCAT study book. So many words. On Monday, my eyes were bloodshot because they had read so many words. :C


and

not to be confused with:

So Much Zeal

Welll. I was getting out of my car this night, and I decided to grab some things out of my car so it would be clean in the back seat. One of those things that I grabbed was my hammock from Mexico.

Now I have been reading all day. PCAT. Philippians 1:20-30 commentaries. Chemistry. Micro-bio lab. Words. Lots of words. So my brain is berrry tired.

So I saw my hammock in its bag, where it's been sitting for months. Maybe even years. And I said "I need to sit in that." So naturally I looked around my room for a few minutes, then my eyes rested upon my bed. Under my bed. But small problem: a dresser, several boxes, and a tiny bookshelf lived underneath it.

There was not stopping. I couldn't resist. The next thing I knew, my bed was on the other side of my room, and my dresser and desk moved around. All so my hammock could be under my bed and I could lay in it.

Bunk beds.


For the win.

So Ready or Not

Well. I'm sitting in Harry's listening to Matthew Perryman Jones play. So good. Yes, Jeff would consider him another artist who just plays "sad music" (ie: love songs that aren't bluegrass), but his songs are just so soothing. I could fall asleep listening to him, right now.

Oh yeah, speaking of soothing, I have a BP test at 9:15 tomorrow morning, and an Organic 2 test at 10:30, and I am surprisingly calm. I don't know why. I'm not really sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, either. Normally I would be stressing out and/or studying right now. I just can't wait for 11:30 to come tomorrow. I'll be sitting in the caf, done with both tests, and ready for a break from school work. I won't really get a good break, because I'm going to listen to chemistry research lectures tomorrow from 12-4 for extra credit in Org 2 class, and I'm planning on spending Saturday and Sunday studying for the PCAT and working on my 12 page BP textual study, but Friday night is good enough for me. Parrrty time.

I found his picture the other day.



Fall break anyone?

So Good

Well. This weekend was the Gauley.

Every year, Noah's takes a staff trip to the Gauley, in West Virginia. I knew about it since the beginning of the summer, but on Friday, when it was time to go, I wasn't thrilled. I had a ton of homework that I needed to do this weekend and it's a 9 hour drive from Birmingham, and I just didn't really want to go. I was being a party pooper.

But after I woke up on Saturday morning and saw so many good friends, and then we rafted in such big, fun, warm water, and then Amy and I summersaulted/rolled/flipped down a giant hill in our sleeping bags, and then we danced to a bluegrass band after dinner, I was so glad I went. I didn't realize how much of a break I needed. Just to be refreshed. To get away. To calm down some.

This weekend, I realized that I really do love rafting. I still have a healthy fear of the water, but I'm not as terrified as I used to be. And I got in the boat by myself like 10 times this weekend. No big deal.

I also realized that a lot of this summer, and even some of this weekend, I wasn't really being myself. Amy and I were talking Saturday night, and I realized that I lived in this mindset of feeling like I had to prove myself to different people, especially the older guides, including my brother. I felt like I had to prove that I'm tough enough; funny enough; social enough; good enough; cool enough. But that is dumb. So I'll just be tough, funny, social, good, and cool on my own, and who cares what those boys say. Haha. But for real - I think it's the same thing that has made sophomore year better - I already know what's going on at Samford and I don't care what people think, so I just do whatever I want, which has made this year so fun. So hopefully next summer will be like that, where I already know the drill and I don't have anything to prove to those boys, and it'll be even more fun and freeing than this past summer was.

Here's a picture that I found on google images, of the Gauley. This is what it was like. Huge.




After doing not so much homework this week, I've been living in the library. I have a lab report due Thursday, and Organic 2 test and a BP test Friday. So I've spent a lot of time studying this week. And I will spend most of this weekend studying. But that's ok. Soon it'll be over. Just about 2 and 1/2 more months. Haha.