Happy Valentine's Day!!
Yes, that was a few days ago. Sorry... I was going to write this all up then, but didn't quite get to it.
I mentioned in my last post (which was about a week ago) that the upcoming week was going to be pretty tough. It certainly was.
Monday morning I woke up with a cold, which certainly complicated the rest of the day. I was feeling pretty awful all that day, even though I needed all that time to catch up on homework since I spent the majority of the weekend getting caught up all for one class.
Tuesday I was up very late at night finishing a Sociology paper. I finished the first draft around 3 in the morning and stopped there.
One of the best parts of Tuesday though was a nice long conversation I had with my mom. I was feeling really tired, pretty sick, and really worried about my paper, so I called her and said "Mom, I need a pep talk." She's really good at those, and talking to her certainly perked me up :). The other awesome thing that happened on Tuesday was Mark Study! I'm really enjoying going through the book of Mark like this. This time, we were discussing a particular passage that mentioned "the secret of the Kingdom of Heaven," but Brian (our leader) left us for a bit to discuss it on our own. By the time the large group of us came up with an answer, he told us we were "so close" but it was about 10pm and time for us to go... unless we were all willing to stay for 10 minutes or so later in order to work through it. Nobody left, and he led us through. We got the answer and it was totally worth it!! Plus, we got cookies for being willing to stay later, and I got to make some new friends.
Wednesday was a race to finish the paper from the night before. It was far too long, so I had to work hard to edit it and make it more concise and shorter. I finished just in time, with about 20 minutes to spare so I could run to my dorm and get my music binder for my voice lesson later.
I really need to be practicing my singing more. I apologize in advance to anyone in the dorms who may be forced to overhear this in the future.
Wednesday night I had another entire paper to write, this time for my theater history class.... ugh. I found a little bit of enjoyment out of it since I felt oddly energized for a lot of time time I was writing it. I thought I was going to end up pulling an all-nighter, since I had Writing homework to finish too, but around 3am, my brain was not working anymore. I slept until about 5:30, then got up and finished the paper at around 8:30 in the morning. Poor Jinny was up pretty late too. She also slept about 2 hours, except she went to bed at 6 and got up around 8:30 or so. It was a rough night for both of us.
Thursday, we were both understandably exhausted. I didn't end up finishing my Writing homework, but I made it through the day somehow. I rewarded myself with a nap after my theater history class, planning on getting up just in time for the 3:30 discussion session that I hate.
I got up at 3:45 and decided it wasn't worth it. Chalk that up for my first college class I've skipped on purpose because I didn't feel like going. I was told later I didn't miss anything, so oh well!!
That night I spent packing, and I got to go to InterVarsity to make caregiver kits for people in Africa that take care of people with HIV and AIDS. I had an awesome time. It feels so good to do something for people in need, even if it's really small and across the country!!
Phew. Friday was quite a hectic morning though. I was planning on getting up early so I'd time to actually get ready and pull my stuff together before class at 9, but got up late at 8:30! Yikes!!! I barely got to class on time, and actually didn't, and then didn't do well on the quiz at all since I didn't read the play I was supposed to this week... papers! Sorry!!! Nevertheless, it was a nice discussion session where we got to talk about how we felt about the class and the play as well.
Then it was a rush back to my dorm room and to get all my bags together and to the airport!
I came home for the weekend!!!
Getting to the plane was a bit stressful. I was moving basically nonstop from the moment I woke up this morning all the way until I sat down on the plane... but it was a nice ride, and Grandpa picked me up so I got to see him, and then I was home...
You know the feeling of going 1000 miles per hour and then all of a sudden slamming on the brakes? That's what being home all of a sudden felt like. As if this entire past month has just been a whirlwind of a dream but now I was back in reality... It feels so nice.
So my Valentine's day this year was about family love, and I was completely enveloped in it. These past few days, I've been surrounded and comforted and encouraged over and over again by my siblings and parents. I needed this trip home so much. I've gotten to sleep, eat much better food (my family's been eating really healthy since I've been gone!), and talk to my parents. They give me so much of their encouragement and wisdom. I appreciate it so much. I know that Mom's been going out of her way to make me feel a lot better since I've been back too, and I can tell. I'm so grateful. I have the best family in the world. Thanks guys. And especially thanks to you, Mom and Dad!!! I love you!!!
I got to go to my old church today too, which was even more of that encouragement. I love our pastor there. He too has a lot of wisdom that he got to share with me. God's been totally speaking through all these people in my life the past few days. My goal these next few months or so is going to be to take all of it to heart and act on it. I need to be taking better care of myself.
I can't say enough how much I love being home. Every time I come back, I never want to go back to school. That goes for tonight too. I fly back tomorrow, and I know that it's inevitable and that it will turn out to be ok, but for the time being I wish I could stay at home forever. No wonder some people camp out in their parents' basement and try...
I won't. I'll go back. But I'm going to miss home a whole lot when I do. I love it here.
So yeah... It's been a really nice escape to somewhere loving after a week that felt pretty awful. This upcoming week is looking to be easier on schoolwork, but more theater stuff is starting up. Rehearsals begin when I get back for Fortinbras, plus I'm working backstage on a show again these next few weekends. Life never fails to stay interesting. Let's just hope I'm more ready for it after this break.
Fight on, friends.
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