The Beginnings of Fall!

I've decided that fall is definitely my favorite time of the year, at least until it becomes freezing cold and I can't feel my own face. Not much exciting has happened since I last wrote, which was way too long ago, sorry bloggers! I'll try to update you on what I can though...

Sweden Project Reunion
Back in October I got to go to Black Mountain, NC for Project Reunion. It was an opportunity for all the Midsouth international summer project teams to reconnect and reflect on the amazing weeks we spent in our various countries. It was so amazing to be able to see my project friends and spend time with them. I got to see Emily & Mindy again which was absolutely great! We got to hear from the Traveling Team about what to do next, whether it's return long-term, financially & prayerfully send others, or return short-term. Saturday we had pretty much all day to hang out with the team so most of us went and climbed a mountain. It was beautiful and well worth it to be at the top and I got to take some great pics. Sadly enough, I won't see these amazing people again until Winter Conference.

Last weekend I decided to go to Lexington for the weekend. Alex has this new job where he is traveling Tuesday through Saturday so my original plan was to just stay with his family Friday night and hang out with them on Saturday until Alex got back home. Well Emily, my roommate, invited me to just stay the night with her family and Friday afternoon we could go to Old Salem. I jumped on the idea because I had never been to Old Salem before and it would give me the opportunity to practice taking some pictures and I had a beautiful model for the evening. We took a couple of rolls of film and I got some amazing shots of Emily and Old Salem. She also grabbed a few of me. I had the ever talked about pizza and wings for dinner with her and her parents. The next morning we went to breakfast and I had amazing french toast. Then I headed to Lexington.

When I got to Lexington I spent the afternoon working on some school work and then went to the church that night for Trunk or Treat. Alex's dad picked him up and he met us there. It was so great to spend some great time with him this past weekend. Sunday we went to church and then he had planned a surprise for us for that evening. He told me to wear something comfy and I figured out that he was taking me to the drive-in movie! After he confirmed the plans, I bundled up, grabbed some blankets and we were off to the drive-in. We saw Law Abiding Citizen and Saw 6, both were very good. Monday I got to go hunting with Alex. I have a lot of work to do on my hunting skills. I'm definitely not the quietest hunter in the world, but I'm definitely willing to work out to do something that my boyfriend enjoys!

School has been crazy busy and I'm so ready for Christmas break. I'm looking forward to a break. I'm somewhat excited about the opportunity to student teach in the Spring but I'm definitely nervous about what kind of teacher I'm going to be. I know I just have to continue to trust in the Lord to get me through the next couple of months until I graduate in May!!! I'm super excited about graduation but also somewhat depressed to think about it. More to come on that later...

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall! Tomorrow is homecoming at NCSU and hopefully we can pull out a WIN!!! Next weekend is Crusade's Annual Semi-formal and Alex is coming to Raleigh to take me. I'm super excited and very appreciative. I'm truly blessed to have Alex in my life. I understand the huge sacrifice he's making this weekend by taking me to semi-formal and passing on Opening Day to spend the weekend with me. He truly is amazing.

Barn Party

This morning as I walked outside to head to the Student Health Center to get my TB test for student teaching, the only thing that brought a smile to my face was the BEAUTIFUL weather. I caught a chill when I walked out my door and I was so excited. The weather is cooling off, there's a breeze in the air, leaves are starting to change color and they are continuously falling to the ground. You know what that means, it's finally FALL and with fall comes BARN PARTY!!! This Friday is Campus Crusade's annual Barn Party. I have to tell you I am extremely excited. Not only because this is seriously my favorite event of the year, but my project roomies are coming to visit, and it's been WAY too long since I last saw them.

So what is Barn Party you ask? Barn Party is a huge event at Adcock's (I think this is right) Farm. Hundreds of students come out to enjoy grilled corn on the cob, mini corn dogs, root beer, a *non*mechanical bull, Bob the line dance caller, great music, good friends, and awesome fellowship. It's definitely bitter sweet since it's my last Barn Party, so I plan to make the most of it.

Well I have to head to class, but before I leave I was pretty excited this morning when I was crossing Hillsboro St and a man in a truck stopped to let me cross the street and I smiled and thought of Sweden.

Have a WONDERFUL Fall!!!

Single Babies

Thought this was pretty cute.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Holy Moly

Wow...it's been quite a while since I've blogged. Since I last blogged, I've moved back to Raleigh for my Senior year at NC State. I'm pretty excited about graduating in May, but the school work is intense right now as I'm sure student teaching will be as well. I've moved into my new home in Camden Crossing with Emily, Avis, and Elizabeth. I've loved living in a town house and sharing a room with Avis. I enjoy the fellowship of these Godly women and I'm really going to miss that once I graduate.

Before school started, I was visiting in Lexington with Alex and his family when my mom told me our house at the river had been hit by what they believe was a tornado while they were at dinner one night. They came home and the house was flooded and part of the roof was missing. It's been a blessing that we haven't yet sold our other house so we have somewhere to stay until we can build a new house at the river.

The House after the Storm

Inside of the House after gutting some Walls.

I also got the privilege to visit with my project roommate Emily and hear her speak at her church Fika about Sweden. It's always great to see Project friends and tell others how the Lord is moving in Sweden.

Emily & I at her Church Fika.

Since I've been in Raleigh I've been pretty busy with school, Bible Study, Crusade, and seeing Alex when I get the chance. School is definitely no fun and very busy. I'm taking 17 hours and a couple of my classes require site visits and community service hours outside of the class so it really amounts to about 20 hours each week. Bible Study is going extremely well. LD and I decided to go through the book of James this semester with the girls and so far it has been very rewarding. I'm also trying out D-Groups this year. Providence is inductively going through the Bible in a year. I've only been once and it was intense, but I know it's going to be rewarding as well.

After a very disappointing football game last Thursday against SCU, I headed to Lexington to spend the weekend with Alex and his family for Labor Day. Friday Alex & I went to an outfitters store, God's Country, and looked at kayaks. Alex got a great deal on a kayak and I got a fabulous deal on a pair of Keens and pair of Chacos! I was very excited about my purchase. Later that night we went with his friends James and Lindsey to the Comedy Zone in Winston (I think) to hear some Comedians. It was a lot of fun.

Alex and I in Lexington.

Saturday we took Alex's bike and went to his cousin's house to see their new kayaks and then we just went riding some. Saturday night we went to my first Auction! It was interesting to say the least. It was great to spend time with Alex and his parents.
Sunday we went to church and then to a cook out with his dad's side of the family. His family is so friendly and I enjoyed getting to meet them. We got to shag a little bit after coercing from his mom and dad to show his family our moves.

Alex & his new Kayak.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. Crusade is having our annual fall retreat at Camp Dixie and this year JD Greear is speaking. I'm excited about him delivering the Word and being rejuvenated for the upcoming year.

This is the Rocking Horse that stopped to rest in front of out house the first week of school.

Summertime

Second Summer Session is wrapping up in the next week, thank goodness! I'm taking Cultural Anthropology (3 papers and 3 tests) and History (2 tests and 2 papers), so needless to say, it has been a busy summer school wise. I'm so ready to be done with these classes that require so much reading, I'm so thankful that I am a math major, words and me just don't mix.

It's actually 2:00 am and I just finished studying for an anthropology test that I have tomorrow at 11 am, followed by writing an ethnic food paper for the same class...boo. I'm so thankful that in December I will be done with classes, since I'm student teaching in the Spring and graduating in May!

Sorry this is a short post, but I realized I haven't posted in a while. Hopefully I can update some more this week, but we shall see. I have a dialectic essay to write for history and take my final, plus a marriage assignment and study for my last anthropology test this week...yay...busy busy. Oh and did I mention I'm also moving this week and trying to help move Alex home...so I'm trying to do all this work before Thursday...we shall see!

Goodnight!

Life back in the States!

So it's almost been a month since I have been back in the States and it has been a busy one at that. I've spent a lot of traveling between Chocowinity, Ayden, Raleigh, and Lexington trying to spend time with family, friends, and Alex. I'm actually in Raleigh right now avoiding writing two papers and studying for a test. What better way to procrastinate than to blog about my life.

Since I've been back in the States, my worldview has definitely changed. I've been packing up my apartment getting ready to move and it kind of makes me sick to see how much stuff I have that I don't need, especially after living out of a suitcase for five weeks. Not only do I have a ton of stuff in Raleigh, but I have tons of stuff at home as well. In Sweden, I feel I had the opportunity to enjoy life. We would go for coffee and spend three hours in conversation with our friends (oh how I miss Fikas) or we would go to dinner and not feel rushed to have to get up and leave. At home, I'm constantly rushed and don't enjoy the small things that the Lord reveals to me, most of the time I completely miss the "God winks". There is so much to do in a day and not enough time to do it and I feel as if I'm missing the mark. I'm so busy that the Lord often gets pushed back and I catch myself having the mindset that I'll spend time with him later when I'm more focused on Him. What if God thought the same about me? It's a reminder of how sinful I am and how thankful I am of God's grace and love. I think now is a good time to reprioritize my life.

Being back at home has been good though. I've really been able to hang out with my friends from home that I rarely see during the school year. I've gone out to the guys' softball games and spent time with the girls as well. I'm definitely not going to want to leave them in the fall, but at the same time I'm so ready for my last year of college. I'm ready to see all my friends from school and really spend time with my Bible Study girls. It's so crazy to think that in (hopefully) ten months I will be a college graduate...scary, but I think I'm ready for that new phase of my life.

Speaking of new phases, I guess I should let the blogging world know about this wonderful guy I met: Alex. We met at the end of March and started hanging out before I left for Sweden. He has been so patient with me and really encouraged me through the support raising process and while I was in Sweden. I'm excited to be spending some time with him this summer before school starts in the fall.

Well I really should get started on all my school work that I haven't been doing!

Home Sweet Home

Wow, blogging really got away from me the last few weeks. Things in Sweden were crazy busy. The students in Uppsala were finishing classes and moving back to their homes for the summer. So we were spending a lot of time meeting with our friends.

I got to meet with Malin quite a bit towards the end of project. I miss her so much already. We met for lunch one day at Cafe Unico and then she when shopping at H&M with me. We met again the last weekend I was there and ate at a Greek Restaurant, I had a Carbonarra pasta and it was so good. She is so sweet. She bought me a pair of earrings and a big flower pin that goes in my hair. I can't wait to see her again!

We had a celebrities party for our Swedish friends to come to at Rififi's (an Italian restaurant). Not many of our friends came, but we had a really good time getting dressed up and dancing the night away. Well until 10 pm when they kicked us out. I'll post some pictures later because I'm not on my computer.

We spent a day in Helsinki, Finland for our mid-project trip. We took a two night cruise there. I didn't have the best Helsinki experience, but the cruise itself was rather interesting. LD, Emily, & I decided we wanted to go to this museum and after walking forever and a half to get there, it was closed. We got to hang around at the street market some though and I got some gifts for some family and friends.

The last weekend in Uppsala, Aaron took some of our team to visit Gamla Uppsala to see the Viking Mounds. The Viking Mounds was once an area of Pagen worship where human sacrifices were made. It was crazy seeing these huge mounds that were filled with bodies and even standing atop some of the mounds. We took some time to pray for Uppsala while we were there.

It was really sad to leave Uppsala, I definitely wasn't prepared to leave. I didn't want to leave my roommates or anyone else on the team. I had gotten used to our small living quarters and enjoyed them. The roommies and I even pushed our beds together one night.

Monday we left for debriefing in Munich, Germany. While in Germany we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp, which was really cool to see and heartbreaking at the same time. We also went to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which is the castle the Sleeping Beauty Castle is based on. I took the tour inside and it was beautiful, but everything inside is copyrighted so I couldn't take pictures.

Thursday was the day to say goodbye to Europe and my team. Before we even left Germany, I had to say goodbye to my rooms, Mindy. That wasn't fun. We also had to tell Emma and Eden bye as well. They were all traveling to various places in Europe before returning to the states. For the nine hour plane ride home I got to sit with my other rooms, Emily. We had a pretty good time. We watched Confessions of a Shopaholic and Slumdog Millionaire together. That was the longest nine hours of my life. It was so boring. We finally arrived in DC and the first thing we all did was pulled out our cell phones and called family and friends. We had a four hour layover in DC, which wasn't too bad once we went through customs and ate dinner. I was so exhausted. We arrived in DC around 6:30 pm, which was really 12:30 am Sweden time and I was pushing to stay awake so I could sleep that night. We didn't leave DC till 10 and arrived in Greensboro at like 10:45 (4:45 am Sweden time). Alex picked me up from the airport. We were excited because we got to meet everyone's friends and family. I got to meet Matt, Emily's boyfriend, and Hope, Emily's new puppy; I had already met both via Skype while on project.

Then I had the hour and a half drive to Raleigh, which was weird since I hadn't been in a car for 5 weeks. Alex had flowers and a build-a-bear waiting for me when I got home :D

Well that sums up project. Sorry for the long delay in blogging, things have been crazy since I got home. I've put some of the pictures from project on facebook, you should check them out.

If you are interested in continuing to support the ministry in Sweden, please let me know and I'll put you in contact with a member of the STINT team.