Sweet relief

I did it. I survived an entire semester of commuting to Chico AND having Redding classes AND having online classes. I'm confident to say that this was the hardest semester of my college career. However, with the annoyance of commuting, I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I am more dedicated to my education than I realized. I learned that I love pod casts. I learned that people at Chico really ARE nice. I will never again take for granted the fact that I only have to drive down the street to get to school. The Spring semester is the last semester of my undergrad classes. I'm not sure what's in store for me next. Maybe credentialing, maybe not. Maybe a year off, maybe not. A lot can change in one semester... I'm proud of myself for sticking out such a tough few months. Even with a rather catastrophic ending, I think I finished the semester off with pretty good grades. I'm excited for the next few weeks of catching up on sleep, organizing my life (you should SEE my crazy mess of a room), and re-entering the social life I've put on hold for 3 months. Graduation is just around the corner, and I can't hardly wait!

'Tis the season...

The holiday season is in full swing, and I must tell you all that I'm excited. About many things. Here are just a few of them:
-School being over (4 more days!!)
-School starting (last semester of undergrad!!)
-Going home for Christmas (I get to see my best friend of almost 20 years AND I get to see my amazing family!)
-January 11 (Heading to Utah to see another of my very best friends!)
-December 24 (my 25th birthday!)
-January 1 (the beginning of a whole new year!!)

I realize that most people dread their birthday coming, but for some reason I've ALWAYS loved celebrating my birthday! I love looking back on the previous year and seeing all the growth. I love recognizing God's work in my life. This year has been the best of my 24 years so far. I truly blessed, and can't wait to celebrate that on December 24th! What's even better is I get to celebrate it with Annette, my best friend since Kindergarten and my family. Although I can't always explain EXACTLY what it is that God's doing in my life to my family, I know they can see a change in me. A change in my attitude, in my behavior, in my LIFE. And I know this change is because of God... they may not know the Lord, but they know me, and HOPEFULLY they see Him through the changes in my life.

Along with the many things I'm excited about, there are a few things I'm NOT so excited about. Although this list is MUCH shorter, it exists none the less.
-My 5 finals (boooooooo)
-Driving 299 to the coast during the snowy-est time of the year
-Saying goodbye to some of my favorite buddies from English class

I'm now off to study my life away for my 5 finals. Hopefully the next time I blog I will be done with at least one of these dreaded finals!!

Adventures in Chico

What a fiasco today has been already. Every Thursday, I rise at the crack of dawn and drag myself to Chico for a full day of academics. I have three classes that span from 9:30 am until 4:00 pm. I usually try to leave the house by 7:30 to ensure I get a parking spot in Chico. Today, I hit the snooze a few too many times. By the time I was ready and out the door it was close to 8:00! In a panic, I jumped in my car and hit the road. Right outside of Anderson, I noticed I had just hardly a quarter of a tank of gas left. My plan was to stop in Corning and grab coffee (much needed) and fill up the tank. As I got off the freeway at Corning, I began digging around my purse for my wallet. After a good 5 minutes of searching the contents of my purse close to a MILLION times, I came to the conclusion I had left my wallet at home. At first, I was super bummed I couldn't get my latte.... but soon the reality of the matter set in: without my wallet, I was without any money. Without any money, I was without any gas. Without any gas, there was NO WAY I was going to make it to Chico and back. So, I got back on the freeway and zoomed home on fumes. Just my luck!

It's late...

I've decided I need to blog more. I've decided I have something to say. Not one thing, necessarily, but MANY things. Maybe my thoughts aren't as articulated as some, but I've got something to say!

It's late, and I can't share much tonight, however, here are some of the current things on my mind
- The alarm clock will be going off at 5:00 am tomorrow. Why am I still awake??
- My life group is incredible. Seriously.
- I am blessed beyond measure.
- I bought a new day planner today. It was on sale. I've been eyeing it for over a month now. I'm glad I was patient.
- God's been teaching me a TON about patience lately. It's frustrating and hard to deal with at times, but through my commute (yes Dan, you were right on the money) I've been FORCED to learn patience. Through my job, I've also been forced to learn patience. I'm impatience so much, and get so discouraged because of this.
- It's been well over a year since my back surgery. It feels like a life time ago, but at the same time it almost feels like yesterday I was holed up on my couch, flat on my back because of the crazy amount of pain I was in. It was a rough time in my life, but I'm blessed (see bullet number 3) beyond measure.

I'm now off to bed. I'll leave you faithful blog readers with a picture of me on Halloween. The Minnie Mouse costume made an appearance for the second time. It's a classic :)

Some things change, some things stay the same

My life seems to be a whirlwind of chaos right now, but somehow I've started to realize that some things change, and some things stay the same.
Things that are changing:
-I've moved into a new house. I seem to do this at LEAST once a year. I guess I like to move (NOT EVEN TRUE!). My new roommate is incredible. Chelsea is possibly one of the most laid back people I've ever met!
-Change is definitely in the air at the Stirring. A new gathering? A new building? Who knows what the future holds, all I know is that things are changing, and I'm loving it.
-Summer is over :( But Fall is right around the corner! I'm ready to break out my scarves and jackets, and store away my shorts and tank tops for the winter!
-Simpson students are back, which means lots of familiar faces are returning to work with the kids again! I love this time of the year when the students come back and are SO refreshed and ready to hang with the kids. It gets me so excited... so so excited!
-I gave up Diet Pepsi. This is a pretty big deal. Months ago, I swore that Diet Pepsi would be the one thing in my life that remained the same... forever! But, as it turns out, Diet soda isn't all that great for you... who knew?! I've officially kicked the bad habit. I'm on to drinking GIANT bottles of water, and the occasional rootbeer.

Things that are staying the same:
-School. 16 units. Yup, my last year at Chico is this year. I'll be graduating in the Spring with my BA... can't wait can't wait! I'm pretty darn ready to be DONE with school. The only thing that's different about this semester is that I'm commuting to Chico two times a week. Good thing I've got some awesome pod casts!
-I'm still working toward that half marathon. I've regressed a bit... only running 2-3 miles per run max. But hey, I guess you've got to start somewhere, right? 2 miles turns into 12 in no time... ha!
-LIFE GROUPS ARE BACK! I'm leading on this Fall, and I'm pretty darn stoked about it. It's a women's group on Wednesday nights... I'm excited to see who the Lord brings to this group. Something powerful and amazing happens when groups of women get together... Wednesday nights are going to be epic!
-The Stirring will be starting another Under the Chuppah series in a few weeks. Imagine that, the Stirring talking about sex... ha! That's definitely something that will always stay the same :)
-God has been continuing to give me crazy dreams and visions for the children in our community. My heart burns for children. I take it with me everywhere I go. Every child I meet, every conversation I have, I feel like God's heart for His children is at the forefront of my brain.

There's a sneak peek at what's been going on in the world of Emily. There's so much more, but if I ever want to blog again, I'd better save some of it, huh? Here are a few pictures from the INCREDIBLE staff retreat we went on in August. We had a blast out on a houseboat... dreaming and laughing together. I'd say it was up there on my "highlights of summer" list.

ohmyhair!

There's just something about getting a haircut... it makes all of your troubles disappear. I went to visit my lovely Amy today, and left with a fresh, new, AMAZING haircut. She sure works some magic on my crazy hair. After it grows for about 3 weeks, my hair takes on a mind of it's own. This is EXTREMELY frustrating when it comes to trying to style my untamed tresses. If you've seen me in the last 3 days, you'll have noticed I've been wearing a hat... it's the only thing that can hide the wildness! So, the highlight of the day today: my fantastic haircut.

Summer Bummer

I went to Marketfest tonight for the first time this year. Such a hugely horrible idea. First of all, I grew up in Arcata. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the weather in Arcata, but I'll let you in on a little secret; the all time high over there is in the 70's. It's never hot there. There is fog. All the time. Thick fog in the morning which burns off into thinner fog in the afternoon. Until the evening fog rolls back in. Fog usually keeps the temperature right around 60 degrees. This is the weather I grew up in for 18 years of my life. 60 degrees all year round. Lots of rain, even more fog, and the occasional burst of sunlight for a total of 20 minutes a week. Now, compare this weather to the ghastly weather here in Redding. It was pretty darn close to 100 degrees today. I've lived in Redding for 6 summers now, and I promise you, I'll never get used to this heat. You know what I'm talking about... the kind of heat that makes you think your skin is literally melting off of your body... the kind of heat that makes your brain physically shut down... I become the most unpleasant person known to man kind when I get hot. I'm not even kidding. I turn into a disgruntled, grouchy, whiny, short-tempered, sweaty, sassy person when I'm hot. What's worse is mixing the heat with large groups of people. That just makes me anxious and unpleasant... not a good combo. For those of you who have ventured out to experience Marketfest, you know that there are always a million people milling around Library Park, trying to find the spot where the giant misters hit you just right. So huge group of crazy people paired with unbearable heat equals a pretty unhappy and grouchy Emily... Next time I'm thinking about going to Marketfest, will somebody PLEASE talk me out of it??