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!