My, Oh My

It's August 15th. 

Summer is over. 

My, oh my, where'd the months go?

My younger sister started her dual enrollment at the local technical college this morning. My younger brother starts his freshman year at the Citadel this weekend. I start my senior year next week. 

My, oh my, where'd the years go? 

I guess all we can do is honor God with our hours, and trust Him in the moments, because He sees the years behind us and the years before us. 

Those years are made of months, weeks, days, hours, and moments. 

Live them well.

Senioritis

This is a Public Service Announcement.

Many college students suffer from senioritis.

This debilitating illness has many symptoms, but the most common are fidgeting in class, daydreaming while having purposed to finish homework, boredom, and itchy, watery eyes that mimic the symptoms of spring fever. 

Senioritis doesn't only affect those in their fourth year of college: it can affect those as fresh and new as those in their first year.

But this doesn't have to be your reality.

To counteract the symptoms, pop in a classic Disney movie. 

Take them bowling.

Feed them.

Offer any and all distractions.

They'll know instinctively when it is time to return to the grind.

Senioritis is real.

Don't let it be you. 

Good things happen at school?

Indeed they do.
Whilst wandering around "town" today, and decided to drop by my college campus.
I was curious to see if they were building a new parking lot, because the parking situation is - in a word - deplorable. 
They were so excited about the number of freshman coming in when I was a freshman. Parking then was okay. Not great, but okay.
The next fall, me and a classmate walked into the cafeteria and were like "Whoa, where'd all these people come from?!" They must've all been freshmen, and that's when I noticed the parking lots became a bit more . . . "cozy".
This year, if they have as many freshman as they think they will, the parking is going to be an absolute headache.
I mean, I've had morning classes the past two years, so it's not that bad, but God forbid you go off campus for lunch . . . something I'm not apt to do this semester as "lunch" will be non-existent for me on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but that's for another post.
Anyhoo, I go by there, and they are building a parking lot . . . right where the soccer field used to be.
Not sure where my friends are going to practice now, but I suppose they've got that figured out.
So while I'm there, I see my friend's car. I pull up beside it to take a picture of it and play stalker with her, but she's in it. 
Bother.
So we chat for a while, and end up going to Old Navy and being weird and getting stalked by one of the employees. Okay, we weren't really being stalked, but he was behind us a lot.
So yes, long story short, good things do happen at school.

Looking Back . . .

It's hard to believe that about a year ago today I graduated from high school. I went to my friends' graduation today, and every time one of them stood to speak, I could remember - in startling clarity - what it was like to do the same.
The life-lessons I've learned this past year have been somewhat few, I suppose, but by no means insignificant.
The most important thing I've learned is to really take hold of God's promises. He didn't just say nice things to give us stuff to say to each other when we're going through a tough time; He said them so that we could run to Him for comfort.
1 Peter 5:7 says: "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you".
This has never been more real to me than through the past year. There were times - and there will be times - when I would cry myself to sleep, wondering how the heck I was going to pass a test, a paper, or merely survive the week. I realized that He was just waiting for me to give him my burdens, and then let them be - - at least for the night. [Obviously, I understand that I have to put in some time and effort, too.]
I just can't explain the peace that I would feel. I'm not a touchy-feely kind of person, and I'm not (generally speaking) subject to much emotion, but this was real. The peace of God really does "transcend all understanding".
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: it's been one heckuva long year, but it's really been worth it. I would not trade anything for the closeness that's been brought to my relationship with Jesus because of this year.
To those who are facing freshman year - tackle it head on! And congratulations to the CBCCA Class of 2011!

Spring Break

>Sigh.<

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

Oh, well. Life goes on. >Sniffle.<

Spring. Break. Was. An. Epic. Win.

I drove four hours north (all by me onesie!) to visit my best friend at her university. It was a BLAST! I stayed in the dorm with her and her two roommates (who rock!) and it was just great. However, my bestie neglected to inform me that the weekend I was coming was the weekend they had to clean . . . everything. Haha, it was hilarious, watching them run around like that, but I must say, they inspired me to clean. So, I cleaned out the only thing I had brought with me: my purse. Yeah. It was pretty bad.

But the stay was awesome!

But now, Spring Break is over. I have literally 24 hours left before I return to the halls of . . . >cue dramatic music< SCHOOL. (Or, as Megamind would say it, "shuul".)

But I shall persevere!

My freshman year is almost OVER!

(Thank GOD for that!)

So, I shall end with a quote from one of my new favorite movies:

"See this face? It's a happy gnome face."

^-^