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. :)