looking back.

As I reflect back on 2010, I cannot even believe everything that has happened. Many memories flood my mind, and I realize how much I've changed as well. I graduated high school in 2010, which was pretty crazy. I got one of the main roles acting in the youth show, which I had so much fun with, and I absolutely loved the message of the show, and the fact that I could relate. Then taking that show on tour was just so exciting to me. We had a really fun beach week for the most part, and stayed up way too late. I got to go to Brazil yet again, and I felt at peace and just so happy. I am so blessed to get that opportunity to go twice and impact so many lives. I had the best/most fun summers of my life, and got to spend it with the best people in the world. I started college, which was insane. I am completely my own person and have all the independence in the world. I've made some of the best friends and I absolutely love it there. It is like two different worlds when I come home and when I'm there. I am so thankful that I love them both. I also look back at realize that I am such a different person than I was when I started the year. I am so much stronger than I ever would have even imagined. God has put me through some of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with in my life, but I look back at it now and realize just how strong I am. Also, I feel like I've become more compassionate towards others, or at least I try to. Once college started, I've tried my hardest to not judge others and love and accept them just the way they are. I love college because it really does give you every opportunity to be whoever you want to be. This year has been one of the greatest years of my life, but at the same time it's been one of the hardest. God has shown me that I have to be thankful and happy with the good things in my life, and not reflect so much on the bad. I hope to continue to do this in 2011. 2011, I hope you're more than I could imagine! :)

happy girl.

Oh today was so pleasant. Well, my friends, I finally have a Canon Rebel! I got a lot of money and gift cards for presents for Christmas, so I decided I was finally going to get this camera...I've wanted it for four years but it always made me sick to my stomach to even think about spending hundreds of dollars on it. But, I finally did it...and I cannot be happier! I LOVE this thing! I've been playing around with it all day! I am also really, really blessed to be able to have it and be able to afford it. Tonight was fabulous because I got to hang out with my best friend, Kim. We watched He's Just Not That in to You, which was really good. Then we basically talked forever and everything under the sun and ate some yummy food. I miss hanging out and doing nothing but having long, good talks. But, it makes me even more thankful for them when they do happen! I just love her! :)

I just finished watching Letters to Juliet and I love movies like this and hate them at the same time. I love them because I am a helpless romantic...in all seriousness. I know I don't seem like one ever, because I never share that. But I imagine everything under the sun. And I believe in fairytales, whether I should or not. I hate them because I can't help but wonder where is that guy. Now I'm not trying to sound dramatic like I have to have one in my life or I'm going to die or anything, because it's not like that. I just wonder when I watch these movies where is he. I wish life was like the movies and I would magically have a guy and we fall in love and live happily ever after. But this is not my life. I was telling someone this the other night, and it is my greatest fear. I am afraid that I am never going to get married...it literally terrifies me. No, I'm not afraid of getting shot or killed or drowning or anything like that. Just that I will be alone. If you're reading this I am not looking for pity or for you to tell me that there are guys that like me and so on, because it is not that at all. I am simply expressing my greatest fear, and I am not fishing for compliments. It just scares me. I'm afraid that I won't find anyone or no one will want to marry me. I know this may sound silly, but that honestly is my one greatest fear. And these movies make me wish for something that I'm afraid will never be...

christmas eve!

Oh goodness, it's Christmas Eve! How lovely! I spent the night last night at my grandparent's house and we celebrated Christmas today with them and my mom's side of the family. We opened gifts, and I got a lot of gift cards and some money! No longer a broke college kid...that is unless I buy something that I've wanted for years now...a Canon Rebel camera! They are SO expensive though. I've wanted one for soooo long and I would love to take millions of pictures and become a better photographer. But, I will be broke once again. So, do I buy this camera and be really really broke, or do I keep all this money and make life a little bit easier on me when I go back to school?! This, I do not know. I just got really sidetracked. Oh well. It was nice to be with the family and enjoy some time together. My mom and I are back at home now though. Elsbeth came over to get her gift, and so that she could give me mine. The little owl is presh! :) I was supposed to go meet Chandler so he could give me his present to me, but my mom wouldn't let me out. So, instead he sent me a picture of it. It's a photoshopped picture of me, him, and Jesse from Brazil and I love it! I love pictures in general. Now I believe I am going to watch Charlie St. Cloud and stay quarnentined in my room because Santa is tired and wants to go to sleep, and I'm not allowed out. Tehehe. Merry Christmas Eve lovelies! :D

break!

Wow. So it's officially winter break for me! I don't think I've really wrapped my mind around the fact that I'm going to be home for an entire month. It's kind of crazy...I love it...yet, I already miss LC. Hmph. No matter where I am, I'm always missing people. GRRR! But today was a good last day at school. I packed for an entire month (in which I brought wayyy too much stuff...Taylor tried making me pick between stuff because he said I didn't need it all...but I still ended up taking way too much. Haha.) Then me, Taylor, and Mary went to lunch and shopping at the bookstore. I then departed to come back home. I just hung out for a while when I was home...I missed being at home. Then me, Josh, Julie, and Destry went to Bottoms Up (delish!!) for dinner. Afterwards, we ran around downtown to get to our cars because it was so freezing and then went to Julie's and played lots of water pong. I missed downtown RVA so much...it felt so nice to be back downtown again. Now, this whole thing with this massive amounts of snow...so NOT feeling it. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love snow, but I HATE being snowed in...like if the roads were clear I'd be a happy girl. Look, RVA, I did not come all the way home to be stuck in my house for days on end without seeing my friends or anyone...I would've stayed at LC if that was the case because then I would be snowed in with all my friends. So, I would appreciate if you would keep your snow to yourself because I love my friends and I want to drive around and see them. Thank you. :)

FREE!!!

I AM FREE!!! NO MORE EXAMS! NO MORE STUDYING! IT'S OFFICIALLY CHRISTMAS BREAK!!! Now that I got that out of my system...oh wait. IT'S NOT GONE. I'M SO HAPPY. FINALS, YOU CAN KISS MY ARSE! :) But...besides that. I shall depart from Lynchburg tomorrow around 1. Which means, for all of you that are home. If you would like to grace me with your shining face tomorrow at some point please text me. :) Also, I am excited to come home, but super sad at the same time. I hate that. I honestly love it here. And I see these people every single day for HOURS...like HOURS. I feel like I've known some of my friends here for years because we spend so much time together. And I love my room and that it's the party room and everyone comes over all the freaking time. Oh, and did I mention I freaking love my independence. Why can't everything be in one place? Please? Friends, all live by me...not in different states and hours away. Humph. But still stoked to come home because of my fabulous friends and momma, my bed, having a bathroom to myself, my car, and doing all the crazy things we do together. EEP! :D

life.

Isn't it funny how life always has it's way of working out? I was really stressing out last night about my class schedule because I am now MAJORING in Biology! Pretty glad I've finally picked something! I then plan on going and getting my Doctorate in Physical Therapy...watch out....you'll have to call me Dr. Straw! Haha. But my advisor kept canceling on me, so classes were getting filled up and such. So I took matters into my own hands and made my own schedule that had all requirements of my major...a lot of Gen Eds as well. Haha. I figured it out all on my own, and it was pretty stressful. But hey, people here don't call me sassy for nothin! Haha. Anyways, I tweeted last night how I just wanted to cry because I was so stressed. And I had four friends immediately talk to me about it that night. This, my friends, is love. Even though we are miles away, my good ole friends still got my back and care about me. I'd like to thank you for that, because without yall, I don't know what I would do. Also, I finally decided to just give it up to God, and I was a lot less stressed. And of course everything started to flow together so easily. I wish I would've done it sooner, because in all honesty it's the only thing that works. Now that I've done that, I've got crazy exams coming! Eep! Also, please take in my SCHEDULE OF GLORY...and yes, you are allowed to be jealous. ;)

goodness.

College workload, you are kicking my butt right now. In all honesty, you can suck it. On a happier note, I've been able to skype my friends the past few days and have great conversations! :)

back.

So today was the first official full day back here at Lynchburg College. And can I just say I missed it here and all my friends here a lot. I embraced everyone with a hug when I saw them. It was if everyone hadn't seen each other in a month or something. I think it's because I basically live with most of these people, and I see them 24/7. So to go from that to not seeing them for a week, you really do notice. My heart is always torn when I leave here or leave home. I'm sad to leave all my friends back home because I love them so much, but I'm happy to see all my friends here because I love them as well, and vice versa for the other situation. But, I am happy that I love both places so much. I miss all my friendsies from back home though! Today was a great day. Pretty laid back in my classes. Tonight was La Ca night, which is always fun, and all the waiters love us and talk to us in Spanish and joke around with us. Then we went to Target to get some essentials and some Christmas decorations. Can I just say that I absolutely love my new room because: new roommate, so much more space, it's not crammed, it's cute, we have a tv and a wii, and christmas lights. Basically our room is the party room and people are over all the time. I love it! :) This is my new room! :)

friendsies.

I have the best friends in the world. I just love my friends and am so glad they are all in my life.I love that I can come home from college and it's like nothing has changed. We still hangout and act the same as we always did. The distance and time apart hasn't affected our friendship at all, which I am so thankful for. I like being able to catch up on each other's lives. I like being the person to just sit there and listen to all of your struggle and things you're going through in your life and just being there for you. I also like how I become closer to people. I love all the crazy things we do together. And I love coming home and going to the party at David's and people and dancing and hanging out. I love the deep conversations I have with certain people. I love feeling loved. I love staying out into the wee hours of the morning hanging out. And I love how loud we are because we just have so much to talk about and cramming a ton of people in my house. I am so blessed to have all my friends in my life. :)

thanksgiving.

Well, today is Thanksgiving...like you didn't know that already. Haha. I am at my grandparents house in Newport News and will be coming back tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited to eat lots of good food today! I'm looking forward to the cherry pie the most though, not going to lie. Today is the day to talk about what you're thankful for. The one day that you're supposed to be able to relax and think about all the great things in your life...we need to have more days for that. I am thankful first and foremost for a God that loves me and forgives me, because believe me, I screw up A LOT. I am also thankful that I've got a mom that will always be there for me and loves me no matter what. Also, for the family that loves me. I'm also extremely thankful for my friends. My friends have helped me through so much and always have my back. I'm so grateful for being able to go to college, a roof over my head, clothes, and food to make my stomach happy. :) I have also come to be thankful for the challenges in my life, because I continue to grow and learn from them. There is so much more I am thankful for but that would take days to write down everything. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, gain a couple pounds today! ;)

It's not easy having no one there.

Harry Potter. You just rocked my world.

TOMORROW!

So, tomorrow starts a whole new journey for me for college. I'm moving in with my best friend here, Mary! I AM SO EXCITED. My current roommate has been interesting. But hey, I will have a TON of stories! Haha. If you ever want to hear about some of them, just let me know! And in all honesty, this whole experience has taught me a lot about different kinds of people, and that I can handle literally anything now. But Mary and I have the same morals, and are a lot alike. I really hope it all works out. I'm not going to lie, it does make me a little nervous to room together because we are so close, and we do spend a lot of time together. But I do think we hang out with enough different people to the point where we will be fine. I'm praying for it! Our room is now going to be super cute! Cue the Christmas lights around the room, a seating area, and wall decor. Now everyone MUST come visit me! We will have lots of room now! I seriously can't wait until tomorrow! :)

Oh so happy!

Well, this weekend has been so much fun! And this week is going to be so much fun too! And then I'll be home for 9 days for Thanksgiving break! So excited! So this weekend was fun. Friday I just hung out with Kait and Emily and relaxed. Saturday I got to sleep in late, praise! Afterwards, I went to lunch/shopping around with my friend Alissa. Turns out she locked her keys in her car, so we had to wait for someone to come let us back in. It was pretty funny though. Later that night I went to this snowboarding competition at snowflex with Luke, Melisa, and Elizabeth. I love having them so close. :) Today I went to church and got to see people I love. Then I went to brunch with Tony, Megan, and Kelsey. Now I'm hanging out in Kait's room, and later I will be going to La Ca for dinner with Jake and Elizabeth. This week is going to be amazing too. I'm doing so much stuff with so many people! I really love my life right now. And I love all my new friends that I'm going to go do stuff with. :) AND. I'm moving in with my best friend here! New roommate! Somehow everything is falling into place here, and I am SO happy! :) And I get to see all my friends back home in 5 days! :)

so.

Here are a couple updates on my life, because I don't get to blog so frequently being so busy in college and everything:

-El Chaps has been replaced while I'm in Lynchburg with a new crew, and a new place called La Ca (short for La Caretta). And instead of going on Wednesday nights, we go on Monday nights. PS, the waiters already know us, know me as Catalina, and hug us goodbye. This makes me happy.

-I was home for the weekend this weekend and it was so much fun. I got to hang out with all the people I love dearly. It went by way to fast though.

-I'm thinking about being in a sorority. I would have to rush in spring semester, so I still have a little while to figure it out. I'm thinking either Alpha Sigma Alpha or Kappa Delta. Thoughts on joining a sorority?

-I'm applying for next year to either be a Bonner or a CL. A Bonner does 900 hours of community service in 2 years. But, the school pays you for it because they want you to focus on doing that rather than having to do a job also. A CL has a class of new freshman students. They meet once a week and have a class about random stuff, like studying skills and so on. Also, they are here for all of the orientations.

-I am currently going through the training to be a young life leader for next semester! Woop woop!

-I now have a ring in my nose instead of a stud. Not sure how I feel about it yet. Thoughts? People continuously ask me if I just got my nose pierced.

This is all I can think of right now. So now you're updated! Haha.

All Smiles.

This weekend was so much fun! I went with lcf on a retreat to Eagle Eyrie. At Eagle Eyrie, there were colleges across Virginia there. UVA, VT, JMU, CNU, Radford, and a bunch of other ones. The worship was amazing, (thank you lcf band ;) and the speakers were as well. I also got to know a lot more people on this trip. I love how that happens on retreats. Especially because this was only a group of about twenty-three people. I've finally hit that point where I know people well enough to be like "Man, I miss retreat and seeing these people 24-7." Haha. It's a very good place to be in. But besides that, I felt such a connection with God this weekend. It was really incredible. This is kind of funny because I don't usually talk too much about God and so on in blogs because of my own opinions on that. But this is something that I want to look back at and remember. I was sad to come home...this is totally off topic but it's so weird that I call this "home." Huh. Haha. I also spent the night at Elizabeth's dorm and got to hang out with her, which was quite fun! This weekend has really been great. :)

Young Life!

So, the other day I was walking to my friends dorm and I saw a flyer in the hall about Young Life. I stopped to check it out and it basically said they want more people to be leaders to middle schoolers or high schoolers and to e-mail someone about more info. I thought it would be kind of cool so I decided to e-mail the person to get some info about it. Unfortunately, the training meetings are on Tuesday's at 7, which is the exact time as my Spanish class! I was really bummed, but the girl who was in charge of it told me she could meet me on Mondays instead as well as another girl who's going to be doing the same thing. She's going to pick me up, and she said there were quite a few people here that are Young Life leaders too. I'm excited to get to know them! I am absolutely ecstatic to go through training to be a leader! I can't wait to hang out with some cool middle school or high school kids and learn about them! I know for me growing up in WEAG it was great to get to know some of the leaders, and they were there for me when I needed them. I can only pray that I will be that to them! I am soooo excited for this! I do have to admit though, it's kind of weird thinking that I'm going to be a leader. I feel like I'm not old enough to be a leader yet when I think back to WEAG and youth group. It's weird to me. But I love it! I'm excited for this new thing in my life, and I ask that yall would please pray for me as I do this! I really want to be the leader like some of the leaders that have affected my life. I can't wait to meet all these crazy kids and hang out with some cool leaders! :)

I kind of love this. :)

friends.

After being home this weekend, I've realized even more that I have the best friends in the entire world. I absolutely love that I can come home and hang out with people and it's as if nothing has changed. Like I'm not two hours or more away from people, and am only home for a few days. It's just like back to normal. I really love that I'm still really close to mostly all of my friends. We still know mostly everything about each other's lives, our burdens, the exciting things, and so on. We are always there for each other no matter what. I can not thank you guys enough for being such good friends. I also love coming home and still being able to go out and do all the crazy things we do together. This weekend was great because I was home for fall break so it was longer than a weekend. As I go back to school I'm sad because I will miss all these amazing people in my life. But, I am happy to go back to see all my friends back at school too. I miss you all already, and I just really love each and every one of you. Thank you so much for staying in contact with me, and still being friends even though were away from each other! Keep doing that! I LOVE YOU ALL! :)

take me.

So, I've always wanted to try this tea. And I don't know how many people have texted me or told me that Peace Tea reminds them of me. It's the drink I need to try. So. If someone really loves me and wants to take me to Goochland or downtown with some Peace Tea this weekend that would be oh so lovely. I like the country, and I like downtown. I like to see things. I think they're both gorgeous. And I like to look at everything, and take lots of pictures. And I like to be there when theres sunsets too. And I think I would like this Peace Tea. So, someone should take me and go do this. :) I'll be home tomorrow night until Sunday afternoon! Yay! :)

fall.

It's October 11, isn't it supposed to be fall? I need fall weather! It's supposed to be 87 freaking degrees here in Lynchburg! What the heck?! I'm wearing a dress and sandals right now. I'm supposed to be wearing a dress, leggings, and boots! I love fall because it's chilly but not too cold. And we have a place that serves Starbucks so it would be nice to drink some hot tea and walk around because this campus is gorgeous! Fall, I would appreciate it if you started acting like it! I'm ready for fall clothes, chilly weather, soccer games that aren't blistering hot, hot tea/chocolate, and crunchy leaves to walk on! Well, this weekend is Fall Break! I will be home Wednesday night. PS. GO TO EL CHAPS AFTER YOUTH GROUP! I can't believe that tradition hasn't been kept up since my class left! Come on yall! It has to live on! Haha. So be there this Wednesday...me and some others will be there. So, you should too! :) Have a fabulous fall day that feels like summer! Haha.

unknown.

So last night I was up pretty late thinking "What am I going to do with my life?!" I have no idea. I really have thought about physical therapy for awhile. In any career I have, I want to help people. This job allows me to help people get back to normal again, or help them start a new life by learning how to live normally. Also, I can support myself with the salary. Of course I would love to have a husband, but you never know what can happen in life. What if my husband ends up getting sick or hurt or something? I don't want to rely on someone in life. I am my own person and I am a strong, independent woman. I am in charge of my own life, besides God of course. Haha. I just want to do something that God wants me to do. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but for now I'm going for physical therapy until He tells me differently. And I would of course LOVE to go to Brasil for awhile too. Maybe I could be a missionary physical therapist there. Haha. Any thoughts on what I would be good at? I'm still trying to figure out my life, with the help of God, my family, and my friends. :)

home.

Wow. This weekend was so much fun. I absolutely love seeing my friends back home. I really, really missed them and all the crazy things we did together. And I missed Richmond. Friday I got home and had dinner with my mom. I love her so much, and I miss her already! Shortly after, Carisa, Matt, Julie, Jesse, Destry, and Elsbeth came over. We "watched" Iron Man 2 aka talked the entire time and caught up on each others lives and told random stories. After we all departed, I took Matt home and then I just drove around Richmond for awhile. I missed driving and being around Richmond. I drove with the windows/sunroof down, music blaring, and dancing. It was great. Then I picked up Eric and we attempted to get Elizabeth to come to Waffle House with us...no luck. Then we tried Jake...no luck. Then Ricardo...no luck. So we ended up just going and we had to leave because the wait was so long! We went to IHOP instead, with blueberry pancakes that had cranberries in them?! Haha. Saturday I met Connor, Elsbeth, Colin, Sissy, Jesse, Julie, Alex, and Elizabeth at Chipotle for lunch. HEAVEN. Afterwards we shopped around. Then me and Elizabeth and Alex watched a disgusting movie on fearnet. We then proceeded to pick up Eric to go to Sweet Frog. Afterwards we stopped in Eric's neighborhood to pet the cows! They were cute yet icky. Haha. Later that night Carisa, Luke, Zach, Elsbeth, Lauren, JBlair, Matt, Julie, Destry, Jesse, Andrea and I went to Sweet Frog and then Burger King. It was so fun to all be together and crazy again! Afterwards Julie, Destry, Matt, Jesse, and I went back to Julie's house. We played some poker and had some good convos. The next morning was church where I got to see everyone! I really did miss WEAG and everyone that goes there. Wow I need to stop this blog now. It's way too long. But I had to talk about my fabulous weekend! I love you all sooo much! I'll be home in a week and half for fall break! So get ready for some chillers again! You guys make me SO happy!!! :) I LOVE YALL!

hmm.

Sometimes I wonder if people miss me. Especially the friends that I have to start the conversation with every single time to see what's going on in their lives...

mhm.

I really honestly love my life right now. My classes are all pretty interesting. Yes, some may have a lot of work, but it's not unbearable. I like being my own person and making my own decisions. Yes, I did that at home. But here I am completely independent. It's a whole different world. I love it. Today was a me day. Stepped back from the chaos and being around people 24/7. I hung out in my room and did homework and did stuff for me today. At 5 I met some people for coffee and chatted, which was really nice. Then I had to go to a poetry reading for Composition, which was fine. Then I went to Walmart with Mary, Kelly, and Chesley. Yay getting some more good food! And Chesley got her tragus pierced! It looked SO painful! It made me not want to ever get that pierced. Haha. This weekend is family weekend and I can't wait to see my mom! She's like my best friend, and I know she misses me. She asks me every time I talk to her if I'm homesick, because I think she wants me to be homesick cause she misses me so much. I miss her, but I'm not homesick. Also, I will get to see Elsbeth and Connor this weekend! :) So excited! And next weekend I'm COMING HOME! I'm really, really excited to see everyone! I love you all and please, please keep in contact with me! If I keep having to text/call people first I feel like I'm a nuisance! So text me/call me! :)

retreat!

So this weekend I went on a retreat with lcf (Lynchburg Christian Fellowship). It was totally not what I'm used to. I'm used to WEAG where I know everyone, I have a lot of different friends, and people know me. On this retreat I knew no one. I definitely went out on a limb for this one. I was the new kid that didn't know anyone. I understand now why it's difficult for people to come to church and stuff, because it's kind of hard not knowing anyone. But, I also made a lot of new friends this weekend because luckily everyone in it is super nice! I'm really excited about that. This retreat and WEAGs retreat are so different. There were only about 35 people on this retreat. We stayed at a church called MCC in Mechanicsville, which actually happens to be WEAGs sister church! Small world! We had worship and lessons. The worship was so good, and the lessons were amazing! I actually got a lot out of every one of them! On Saturday we went and did missions work instead of a bunch of activities. We went to a man named Otis' house he has. It's for men who just got out of prison and are trying to get their lives on track again. I ended up painting all day long. Then that evening we handed out hot dogs in Monroe Park to the homeless. It was definitely a really cool experience, and we all bonded together while we were doing work and stuff. Can I also just say that it is SO weird technically being home, but not going to my house and seeing my friends and stuff. I loved being in Richmond again though! I also ran into Eric and Justine while we were there, which was great seeing them! :) We had another lesson that night with worship, which was incredible. I starting to fall in love with God all over again. I've been mad at God for awhile now because of stuff that has gone on in my life in the past year, and I finally let go of being mad at him and blaming him. I pushed him away when I shouldn't have, which has created distance and has strained my walk. I'm so excited that I can finally say I am no longer mad at Him and am falling in love with Him all over again. I think its almost because I'm not at WEAG with everything that's familiar that I could really focus on God, and with different followers. I don't necesarily know why that is, but I'm thankful none the less. I'm so excited for the rest of the year with these rad people I can now call my friends. Yay being brave and doing something out of your comfort zone! I challenge you to do the same, because it could make all the difference in your life. You never know what things could happen! :) Oh, sorry this was super long. I just had a lot to express about this weekend! Haha.

blessed.

What a crazy whirlwind life is. Life is so busy all the time. My mind is constantly racing of things I need to get done for classes, how my friends are doing, what I need to do in general, and so on. And when I haven't been doing that, I've been hanging out with my friends. Lately I have not just sat down and reflected on life. I really need to let myself do that more often. I think all of us get caught up in how busy our lives are, and we don't sit down and really see what's going on. I need to realize how blessed I am to have all these opportunities in my life. The biggest thing I can think of right now is being in college. I mean, not everyone has the opportunity to go to college. We're paying thousands of dollars for me to have this education. Sure, college is fun and an amazing experience, but that doesn't mean I'm going to put my work on the back burner. I did that in high school a lot because quite frankly I didn't really care all that much as long as I had a B average. In college, I am striving to do well, but also have a ton of fun. There are so many people who would die to be in my place right now. I am truly blessed to be here. Even the little things, like sunsets. They are so beautiful, and I should be thankful that God gave me eyes to see it. Even as I lay in the grass and feel the way it moves through my fingers, I should be blessed that I can feel it. When I'm doing my own laundry, buying my own food and necessities, and being responsible for every single thing in my life, I am blessed that I can be independent and do things on my own. I have the opportunity to grow up, discover myself, and go through life as my own independent person. Basically what I'm saying is I am so thankful for everything in my life once I sit down and really think about it. I need to do this more often, because there is so much to be thankful for! :)

update.

Well, I haven't updated in quite awhile. And I really don't feel like doing my homework right now. So, I figured I'd blog a little bit. College is still going well. The homework is definitely starting to pile up more and more though. But it's okay. People here keep me sane. :) I'm also thinking about joining a sorority. I wouldn't be able to rush until second semester, so I have awhile to think about it. I'm surprised I haven't been homesick yet. I thought I would be homesick at least once by now. I guess that's a good thing. I do miss my friends though. It's weird not seeing people for this long. Sometimes I wonder what everyone's doing, what's going on in their lives, and if they miss me at all, because I miss them. Yes, I still talk to people on skype, on the phone, texting, facebook, etc, but it's not the same. But, I'll see everyone the first weekend in October! Yay! Here's something in college that I never even thought about: money. My money at home is fine. Here, it flies out of my pocket! I never realized how much all the little things would add up, and how much random stuff I would need! I know on winter break I need a job. My job that I had before I left is still open for me to come back, but I really don't want to do that. The best thing in the world would be a babysitting job. So, if anyone knows of any babysitting jobs that I could have anywhere between December 17 and January 17, let me know! That would be the best job ever. I really should do my homework. Blah. Update me on your lives! :)

perfect.

This weekend I got to visit my friends at JMU! That was so much fun! I just really love all of them and I'm so glad I got to see them so soon! I thought I wasn't going to see them for awhile after we all said our goodbyes. Little did I know, my friend was coming up to JMU and I got a ride and ended up hanging out with Kim, Carleigh, Carisa, Whitney, Conner, Josh, and Luke all weekend! I do love them. :) And I saw Stephanie for about twenty minutes. Haha. We all went to lunch and dinner, made some trips to Target and got lost, tailgated, hung out in dorm rooms, walked miles on campus (really, that place is HUGE!), and partook in random crazy activities. It just felt like we were all hanging out somewhere different, not like college. It was weird. But, I totally loved seeing all of them! Made my weekend. The thing I love about us is that it doesn't matter what we do, as long as we're together, we're having a blast. Going to JMU this weekend also opened up my eyes. I now know that Lynchburg College is exactly where I was supposed to go. I found myself at times missing it when I was at JMU. I like my small campus, and I could never handle that big of a campus. Haha. I love the atmosphere here where everyone smiles at each other, people hold the doors for people, people recognize each other, and everyone's super nice. I like how it was pretty easy to make friends here because we all only knew one or two people that went here. I love the church here. I actually missed the bathrooms here when I was at JMU, as crazy as that sounds. I am so thankful to have air conditioning, and I love it. I like the caf, and the food is pretty good when you figure out what to get. I love the random shenanigans me and my friends get ourselves into. I love that we have so many things planned out for us to do if we want to, like putt-putting, trips to local baseball games, tie dying, music shows outside, and cookouts. I love that people here seemed to miss me this weekend when I was gone more than people have at home. I love that today we had hippie vendors on campus. I really was in love, and I got a hippie bag. I love everything about this place. It's already starting to become my new home away from home, and I miss it when I'm away. :)

laughing.

Today was yet another magnificent day at Lynchburg College. I woke up at headed off to my acting class at 11 (which by the way is my earliest class :). That is my favorite class. After, I ate lunch at Westover, which is restaurant style, with Amanda and Kait. Once we were done, I pulled out my purple blanket and laid outside under a tree and did homework. I like doing homework outside for many reasons. I love the outdoors. People come up and talk to me when I'm out there. It's pretty funny. I swear I'm going to be known as "that girl who's always outside on the purple blanket." I went to my Communications class, which seems to go by pretty quickly. Afterwards I skyped with Josh for awhile and talked about college life and really funny things. Then I once again did my homework outside and was accompanied by Chris and later on Emily. For dinner I got off campus and went to Panera with Emily, Kait, Chris, and Jake. Yes Panera! Favorite quote from dinner; Chris: "Kathryn stop laughing! STOP! People are going to think you're drunk!" Haha. When we got back from Panera I went to this thing called journey/home groups with lcf (the church group here). It was kind of like bible study but not really. I don't know how to explain it. We start off the first hour with everyone and then the second hour split off into small groups with just girls. It was a ton of fun. It was really cool to have a group of Christians there, and to do all the stuff we did. I can't wait to get to know everyone better! After that I went and hung out in Mary's room with Mary, Paige, Bryce, Alec, and Darren. That was hysterical. They think I'm crazy though because I laugh so much. I probably should've gone back earlier than 1 am. Oh well. Also, I'm going to JMU this weekend! I'm super stoked! I'm rooming with my best friend in the whole world and her roommates going to be gone so it will be just like old times! And I can't wait to hang out with everyone else there! Oh, sorry these blogs keep getting longer. It's hard to post a lot of what I want to say about each day here! Love you guys!

unexpected.

This morning I went to the church here on campus. It's called lcf (Lynchburg College Fellowship). I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. But I went and it was really, really good. The people were SO nice and super friendly. The speaker gave a really cool sermon on justice. It's the first time in a long time I've been able to hold my attention to an entire sermon, and I really got a lot out of it. I'm really excited to keep going back there so I can enjoy something different than WEAG. Don't get me wrong, I love WEAG and all, but I am soooo stoked on this church right now. I'm also going to go to these group things that are kind of like bible studies, but cooler. I'm really excited for what this is going to bring me. I'm ready for a different kind of experience. I've been to WEAG all my life, and it basically hasn't changed, so I'm kind of used to it. This is all new people, new worship, new speaker, new style and flow of things. So different. I love it. I also loved doing all my homework outside on my Brasil blanket. Kait sat out there with me for about and hour, but she got distracted too easily and went back inside. I took a nap out there too after she left. Then Alec came and chilled with me for awhile and we talked about lots of things after he did his homework in the library. It was gorgeous outside under a tree today. This will happen again until it's too cold. I also love having someone cook me home cooked meals. :) And singing kareoke with lots of people. And almost getting stuck in elevators because Max wouldn't let me press the button for my floor, so of course I had to tackle him. Thus, the elevator isn't moving and the doors aren't opening so we have panic written all over our faces thinking we're stuck in there...it let us out a few seconds after. Haha. College is amazing. Everyone should come visit here! Two classes tomorrow starting at 11! Woot! Night lovely people. :)

acoustic.

Oh my goodness. College is just an amazing experience. I can't get over it. I have seriously met some of the coolest people. Today was my second day of classes. My acting class is so legit. There's only eight of us in there and it's so fun already. I'm stoked to take that class! I hung out with Kait and Amanda for awhile today too...big surprise. Kait is pretty much my college bestie. Love her to death. After that I hung out with Emily for a little bit shopping around the bookstore. Then a bunch of us went to a baseball game that's close to here. It was a lot of fun! Afterwards I hung out in Gillie's dorm with Gillie, Emily, and Jake. I swear Emily and Gillie act like they're drunk when they're exhausted. Haha. After they decided to go to sleep me and Jake talked about our lives for a little while. I love real talk. People don't talk about their lives enough now days. Then after that some of my friends and new people I just met were playing their guitars in the middle of campus and singing songs. I joined them in singing. It was actually a ton of fun. This was late at night. We came back in around 2AM. Something about singing in a fairly big group of people under the stars late at night is so much fun. I'm so glad I've found these people here! It was also pretty funny because all these drunk/high people would walk by and start singing or doing random crazy stuff. Made me laugh...also something that made me laugh. I walked in the bathroom and theres this guy peeing in there. Obviously drunk. I busted out laughing. I couldn't help it. Oh college. How I adore you. :)

reppin dat 804.

So I'm going to blog about yesterday because I got home at 2:30 AM, so I figured I should go to bad considering today was the first day of classes. Whoopsies. Yesterday was so much fun. Probably one of the funnest days here so far. We had all those random seminars and crap like that. But, it was the last of them! Praise! Then me, Gillie, Emily, Kait, and Amanda rode on the city bus once again, and it was much more busier than the other night! We also saw one of the guys that we met the other night...random! We went to the most ghetto hair store ever, not gonna lie. Gillie and Amanda got hair dye to die pieces of their hair blue. Then we found these 804 hats, so the three of us from RVA got them. Haha. Reppin the 804 in Lynchburg! We ate at McDonald's for lunch which was yummy. We came back and had our building and hall meetings which was so boring. So glad all these meetings are over! After our meetings me, Gillie, Walter, Henry, Justin, Jake, Lydia, Kait, and Amanda went out to a mexi restaurant. We enjoyed driving around blasting music and singing and dancing at people in their cars. It made me think of summer. People love us. Haha. Afterwards we all hung out in dorms. We took late night walks around campus and hung out outside by the field. We drove around late and night. We did crazy things last night! It was so much fun. I love college so much. People here are so funny too. Love them. And I still love you all back home and yall that are out and about! LET ME KNOW WHATS GOING IN YOUR LIFE! :)

new adventures.

So today was another day at college...quite fun might I say. We all got stuck in a downpour and ran across campus together to our dorms. That was hysterical. The guys thought it was funny at least...some of the girls were going "oh my gosh my hair!" and so on. Not that type of girl, not gonna lie. I found it funny. There was lots of other stuff from today that I could write...but I won't because then this would be insanely long. But today was filled with adventures. The highlight of the night was getting out of Lynchburg College. We took the city bus around and went to Walmart. We were going to see a movie but that last bus back to our college didn't fit the time we wanted to see a movie. So, we ended up going to Walmart instead. In all honesty we were kind of just riding the bus to ride the bus. Haha. Let me just say that riding the bus is NOT easy. We had to get off of buses to get on new ones to get to our destination. We did in fact get on the wrong bus and ended up hitchhiking...yes. I know that that sounds bad. But we made it there! Plus, it was someone from Liberty cause that's where we ended up! Haha. You also meet lots of different people on these buses. We met some people who were students on the bus too...might I say some of these students were quite attractive and digits were given out. Haha. There were also sketchy people on this bus. Good thing we were all in a group! I also am now going to be muscle woman after this trip. I was carrying drinks up all these hills and stairs like it was my job. Plus I looked like I was carrying lots of alcohol which made me laugh. Can I just say that I am exhausted. I stay out late doing stuff with people, but we have to be up super early. Tonight had to be an early night. So yes, I will be going to bed soon after midnight. Love you all! :)

love it.

I really love college life right now. My roommate seems nice enough, and we can carry on with conversations and all. We aren't going to be best friends I don't think, which actually works out better when rooming in college in my opinion. I have my friends and she has hers. Hopefully it continues like this, or gets better. I love the majority of all the people here. Everyone is so friendly! I've made some great new friends. Some that I think I will have for a long time. I just really like college. I like the independence. I like the food here (Shocker! College food is good!). I like my bed, it's actually quite comfy. I like my friends that I've made and continue to make. I like the events that they have going on. I like that I can go with one of my friends out to coffee then have random people come up and talk to us and make new friends. I like how people start opening up about their lives and it gets deep and you get to know people better. I just really like it here. Maybe I'm getting excited too early about it and all, but as of now I really do love it. Here are a few pictures of my dorm! And a few pictures of some of my new friends! I still miss you/love all my friends back home! Text me, call me, skype me, communicate with me! :)