In short....

God is good, and has been blessing me immensely.

I know it's been far too long since I've written. I've been meaning to and started a post back in mid-September, but, as you can see, it never got published. Oops. Let me tell you, life has been non-stop CRAZY since I got back to school August 8th. Leaving Colorado began the craziness. There were SO many tears, and I basically cried the entire 3 hour bus ride from Steamboat to Denver. (That was on the 7th). The next morning I left Denver for Louisville, KY around 6 am, where my mom met me with my car full of stuff and we drove on to good ol' Jackson, Mississippi. I was SO thankful that my roomies and I had moved the majority of our stuff to our precious little duplex back in May, but I still felt like I brought tons of crap with me. (I'm trying not to think about moving out in a mere 7 months...). Mom only stayed a day to get me settled in and then headed back to Ohio. It was hard not to be able to my daddy too...the job he has now just takes him ALL over and he doesn't have as much vacation time as he used to. Thank GOODNESS for Skype:)

Since then, school has started and once again, my planner is continually getting filled with more and more stuff. I'm taking Directing, Improv Comedy, Photography, Pilates, Scriptwriting and Worship Team. I feel like it's a healthy (and random) mix of classes and, in short, I love it. Photography is something I've enjoyed for quite awhile, but learning about the workings of a 35mm camera and having to do everything with my hands is amazing, and a beautiful art form different from anything in the theatre. I love that...I love doing things outside my major because I believe it's quite beneficial to be well rounded. I've gotten over my fear of rolling film onto a reel and screwing it up, and now I can process in under an hour. Woohoo! My photography teacher Gretchen has really liked my photos and now it's just a matter of refining my skills in the dark room. My final documentary project is due in less than a month so I need to just start shooting things that interest me and maybe in that a documentary idea will form.

I'm currently on fall break, and I can't even tell you how needed this is. I don't know how I lived without it in High School. I'm starting to feel my annual fall cold coming on, so now is a perfect time to stop rushing about and just REST. And breathe...breathing would be nice. There are many wonderful things to be thankful for: amazing roommates, renewed friendships, NEW friendships, a deeper relationship with Christ, beautiful weather, a wonderful and amazing boyfriend, lovely family...I think I could just go on forever. One of the lessons Christ is trying to teach me is to thank him more. All too often I get caught up in asking and asking and asking him for things, without even a thought directed towards him in thanks. How stupid is that? He's given me everything, and I can't even offer up a simple "thank you", or thank him with my life by spending time with him each day? Amidst this busyness it's been quite the struggle to stop what I'm doing and read his Word. It also frustrates me that I can attempt to memorize Shakespeare all day long but don't take the time to memorize the Bible, which is the defense he's given me against the enemy. Stupid human. Thankfully, his love and mercy are new every morning and I have a chance EVERYDAY to renew my commitment to him. I'm learning!

My attitude towards one particular area of my life hasn't been the best lately, and I'm thinking I need to change that very soon. I'm involved in a show right now that, quite honestly, I hate. I have never been so frustrated with a process as I am with this one. Me and 7 other actors are attempting to do the story of "Romeo and Juliet" and that is proving to be QUITE the task. I play a million different parts and have about a million lines to match that. This last minute rush to memorize lines is basically my fault, because I wasn't really sure if this show would actually come to fruition. We're less than 2 weeks from opening night and it seems to be moving ahead, so I think I should probably start learning my parts. I've been trying to cram as much in my brain the last 2 days and still have 2 more days to do the latter half of the play...it's killing me. I just feel as if I'm getting no direction or help or any encouragement really. It's just frustrating. But I have to buckle down and learn these lines one way or another...

Right now I'm enjoying a wonderful time with friends. I made pumpkin milkshakes...vanilla ice cream, pumpkin pie filling, vanilla extract, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. We couldn't find pumpkin pie ice cream in the store (seasonal FAIL) but this turned out to be really tasty! I think we'll be making these again soon. It's SO nice to be able to cook in my own little kitchen and have a place to rest...away from the craziness of school. I'll have to put up pictures at some point. The decor of our house is very random and eclectic, but I love it. Most of the furniture has been given to us or found by the side of the road. The thrill of finding a large desk and shelf unit can't be compared to many other things...

It's taken me 2 days to publish this post, so I better do it before I lose any more steam. Life is very wonderful (although very odd at times...aka an ex getting engaged) and I'm quite happy with where God has placed me. It's both exciting and frightening, but if there's one thing I've learned from this adventure so far, is that he's got my back and he won't leave me to fend for myself. My heart's dream is to go back to Colorado, but does that line up with what God wants for me?

I can't really say. For now, I'm not going to worry, but instead am going to enjoy everything as it comes, such as delicious decaf coffee with a spot of Creme Brulee creamer and a movie with the room-bug. Oh, and maybe I'll try to enjoy these lines I'm memorizing...