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! :)

here.

Well, I made it to Lynchburg College ladies and gentleman! My room is all put up pretty much except for my pictures, because I can't find them. :( I will be putting up pictures of my dorm as soon as I do find them though! I want you to see the finished product. Haha. The past two days have been good so far. Yesterday moved everything in. Went to dinner with the one person I do know here, Gillie. I am actually quite thankful for that! Can I just say that the food here is really quite delicious. I had manicotti, salad, and some pears...Oh. And can I just say the have self serve ice cream/fro-yo with some toppings. It's like a mini Sweet Frog! Woot woot! We also hung out and watched Jersey Shore in her room. Today I had orientation all day and met some really cool people that I've already hung out with tonight. Making friends isn't quite as scary as I thought it was going to be! I like most of the people here. Everyone's so friendly! I would write all about today but I don't want this blog to be even longer and bore you! Haha. Tomorrow will be A LOT different because the majority of the freshman are moving in tomorrow. I had to come two days before because I haven't been to orientation yet. So hopefully everything keeps going well! Tomorrow I meet my roommate too. I really, really hope we get along and she's nice! Prayin for it! But, don't fret, I haven't forgot about you guys! I still miss you and love you dearly! :) Tonight my choice of snack is all-natural whole grain chocolate chip bunny grahams! Oh the life of a college kid...and yes, that college kid is actually me! Eep!

gone.

Tomorrow morning I leave to embark on a new chapter in my life. I will be going to Lynchburg College tomorrow at 9:30 AM. I am excited and nervous. I'm excited because it's a new chapter in my life. I'm excited to be around new people and experience different things. I also can't wait to meet new people. I am nervous because it is something so new and I don't know what to expect. I'm nervous about making friends. I'm nervous about living with my roommate. I'm also really, really sad about leaving behind all my friends. I can't believe I won't be seeing them every day. It's so weird to me. I love them all SO much, and we BETTER keep in touch! Tomorrow is the first day of the next chapter in my life. Lynchburg College will be my new home, but RVA will always be in my heart and my real home. :)

college.

Yes, I am leaving in three days for college. That blows my mind. I'm a nervous wreck. But, at the same time I get super excited thinking about it. I've been researching all these different clubs and activities and stuff so hopefully I can make some friends there too! I'm always nervous I won't make friends, but I just have to remember everyone is in the same group as me and we're all starting out fresh! And for goodness sake, this is not high school, praise the Lord! One of the things I've been looking at is this thing called lcf (Lynchburg College Fellowship). It's basically church on Sunday mornings and they have smaller groups at night during the week. It seems like a pretty cool Christian group. Also, I've been looking at Intervarsity, which is basically like the college version of Young Life. I've always wanted to go to Young Life, but it was always on Wednesday's. So this can be a cool thing to go to. There's also this thing called Student Activities Board. They plan all different kinds of events. Some of the stuff they planned last year was a group to go see Taylor Swift in concert, trips to Busch Gardens, and so many other cool things. I think I'd be good at that because I plan a lot of stuff now. Also, I'd get to meet a cool group of people that can think of other stuff to do that's fun besides partying. Haha. There's a club called Love 146 that is basically a group devoted to raising money to assist victims of child sex trafficking. I think that would be such a neat group to be a part of. Another one is International Society which is basically just a club to promote diversity throughout Lynchburg College. I love diversity, so why not? There is also Sierra Student Coalition. Their main goal is to change the College's energy plan to one that is run off renewable resources in the long term. I'm all about saving our earth. Then there's this group called STAND (A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition) which is people trying to bring awareness about and action against modern day genocides and human rights atrocities. Then there's Lynchburg College Pre-Health Club which is more of hands on for people who want to be in health professional fields. Might do that if I'm still thinking about being a physical therapist. I'm also almost tempted to go to the dance dance revolution club...yes, we even have that! Now I know I definatley won't be able to go to all of these, but they all sound really interesting! And I think I'd be able to meet cool people there. These are the kinds of things that make me excited about college! PS-sorry this blog was so long! Haha.

yes.

Perfect picture for how I feel right now.

it's over.

Well, it's the end of the road for youth group. It's been a fun ride. I honestly don't know who I would be today without it. I mean yes, there are definatley things I did not agree with and things that agitated me and still agitate me about it, but I loved it none the less. I have made some of my best friends there. Our class is so tight and the majority of us have been together for so many years. I admit, we probably look pretty scary to an outsider. It's not often you find that big amount of people that genuinely love each other and are really close. We don't mean to be exclusive, and we've gotten better at it as we've grown up. We're all just best friends. It's just how it is. I also learned to branch out in youth group. I am so glad I did, because I have some of the best friends because of it. Yes, it was hard to balance the different friendships, but I made it work. And when I plan things I invite everyone now...it's kind of cool to see everyone mesh together that don't usually hang out. I love each and every one of you. Thank you so much for loving me for me, and for always being there for me. This youth group accepted me for who I am. I never felt like I had to be something I wasn't. I'm just so grateful I had this opportunity to go to this youth group and meet amazing people. I'm also blessed to be able to do the things I've done because of this youth group. I mean, I've been all the way to Brazil because of it! As I go off to college I want to keep in touch with all of you. I really can't imagine not seeing my friends every day...it's going to be so sad! I love all of you! :)

scared.

Okay, I'm not going to lie. I'm scared of going to college. Don't get me wrong, I'm super stoked about all the new beginnings and everything...but I'm also afraid of all the new things. I'm afraid of the things I'm going to have to deal with. What if I don't make good friends? What if I don't like Lynchburg College? What if my friends back home forget about me? And what if I don't get along with my roommate? And all these other things that cross my mind. Sometimes I tend to panic and think about all the bad things that could happen. I never think about all the good things that could happen. I automatically think of all the things that could go wrong. I need to stop worrying. One of my good friends that I don't get to see as often as I should told me recently that he realized I'm a worrier and he doesn't like to see me worry. I can't help it though! I worry about my friends and stuff they do. If they're safe, if they're driving when they shouldn't be, etc. I just don't want anything taken away from me that I love. I also worry about the future and the unknown...aka COLLEGE right now. I just need to think about the good things in life that could happen...then maybe I wouldn't worry so much! Eeep!

prayer.

First before I blog about anything else, please keep my papa in your prayers. He had a heart attack on Friday and will be having surgery tomorrow. I forget what it's called but they will make an incision in his leg and go up into his heart from there to see how much damage there is. Hopefully there is not a lot. If that is the case, the cardiologist will put a trigger in there to take away the clotting. If there is a lot of clotting, they will have do to another surgery this week. That will be open heart surgery. This is a pretty scary thing. He is also terrified. Tomorrow the surgery he is having isn't nearly as risky and is pretty common, but he is so scared like he's going to die. I can't let my mind wander to think the worst because then I will stay up all night worrying about everything. I just have to trust in God that everything will be okay, which is very difficult for me to do now days because of the things that have happened in my life recently. But, I just have to have faith. Just pray for him cause I know this is hard for him. Also, please just pray that everything will go well and he won't have to have open heart surgery. Thanks!

no.

I'm not ready to leave yet. I don't want to leave my friends. I love them too much.