MMXV

It's been quite a year. I did a similar post last year, so I thought I'd do one again. :)

December 2015

Another unplanned blogging hiatus. But it's been a busy month.

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving break feels like a deep breath before the plunge into studying, a calm before the storm of exams.

Typical Monday Thoughts

So last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I was suddenly bombarded with a list of everything due before the end of school scrolling through my brain. I shoved those thoughts aside, tired and eager to just sleep. But even sleep wasn't extraordinarily restful. I literally remembered in a dream that my school is an hour ahead of me and that I would have to leave earlier than planned in order to be on time.

Oh, Mondays.... 

Another Birthday

It's hard to believe that I have officially left my teens behind. Seems like yesterday that I was an awkward thirteen year-old with braces and frizzy hair. Now I'm an awkward twenty year-old with straight teeth and slightly more controlled frizzy hair :)

Last year, I compiled several pictures to show the year in this post, and that was a lot of fun. So I thought I'd do it again this year. I just scrolled through the pictures on my iPhone, so that's why some might be poor quality or weird sizes. Fortunately for me, I'm a bit of a picture hoarder, so I still have pictures from this past year.

Our first finals week! It was long and crazy, full of naps and coffee
and laughter. I'm glad that I had these girls around me to eat pancakes
in the middle of the night and "break" into greenhouses to pet fluffy cats.

Over Christmas break, we got a new puppy :) Molly is Dad's favorite, but she's pretty cute, so she's kinda everyone's
favorite. (Although that first night when she was in a box by my bed and cried all night, sleep was my favorite)

My two sisters and I went ice skating. They both did
wonderfully. I, on the other hand, wobbled around the
entire 90 minutes. In this picture, I'm holding tightly
to their coats so I wouldn't fall :)

Back at college for spring semester! I remember that my suitemate and I had just spent a good hour debating the best food
delivery options when we heard girls on the hall start yelling that it was snowing. So we grabbed coats and boots and ran out in the middle of the night to make snow angels and have a snowball fight.

I met Olan Rogers for the first time! I look chill in this picture, but I was
pretty much shaking with excitement. 

Ah yes, the Great Ice Storm of 2015 that gave me my first snow days!
And I spent all two of them well: sledding on trashcan lids, eating waffles,
and teaching my Southerner friends how to efficiently walk up icy hills. 

After a long, hard process of applications, essays, and even an interview, some of my best friends and I got accepted into the
school's nursing program! We my have done some squealing when we found out :) 

Spring semester was a time of hosting for my roommate and I! These girls stayed with us one weekend for a college tour...

...and one of my roommate's friends came over another weekend for a visit, and we got to meet
Olan Rogers again!

My best friend had a birthday, and we celebrated in our traditional way: we dressed up, went to a favorite Mexican restaurant, and then had our annual photo shoot. 

Last Sunday of the spring semester. We struggled through another finals week and ate lots of junk food together. I had no idea
when this picture was taken that I would be transferring to a new school before our sophomore year started. I was more concerned with my Anatomy & Physiology final, how to pack up all of my stuff, and soaking up the last hours of the semester with my suite. I'm so glad for all the hours that we spent laughing at goats, hanging out in the ENO, and all of those breakfasts when we complained about how sleepy we were and laughed about whatever was on the TVs. 

I took a week off from work to spend with a fabulous group of Bible
quizzers at their national meet. I got to quizmaster, which was great
and all, but we all know that the main event was going to The Parlor
(the best ice cream shop in all the land.) That was a great time.

These were taken on the long ride home from nationals, but they're pretty applicable to any
time my sister and I are together. One of the best parts of this whole commuting-to-a-new-school
is that I get to hang out with her more. We share the same kind of weird, dozens of inside jokes,
and often a bowl of popcorn :)

Late summer and early autumn brought about lots of festivals. My brother
and I went to one celebrating pork, and my sisters and I went to one we go
to yearly. We pretty much just go for the food. 

19 was a great year, and it has so many more memories than what can be included in this post. Over and over, God has provided: jobs, free coffee, a car, acceptance into two good nursing programs, and the strength to make it through even the longest days. It seems like this time of my life is one of many transitions. I went from college to home to college to back home to working an office job to a new school and a new job. As I look ahead to this next year of life, I don't know what it will bring. Life is crazy and busy and full and good.

It's Been A While

Like, nearly two months. Maybe all of two months? I don't know. But here's an update (you're welcome, Mom and sis)

Big Changes

If you haven't heard, this past month has been a month of stress and decisions for me. The end result of all of that is that I will be transferring to a different college this fall. This is kinda out of the blue, so here's the story behind such a huge decision.