Connecting the Dots

My mom came up to me yesterday and told me that lots of people have been asking her what I'm doing. "Is she moving to New York?" "Is she going back to live in Europe?" "Nursing? Not nursing?" Apparently my life is confusing to people. If that's the case, read on! I'm going to connect some dots, cross some t's, dot the i's. :)

New York: As most of you probably know, I nanny for a wonderful family in New York from time to time. Since I've been able to go out there so much, I've gotten to know the cities surrounding their town of Mt. Kisco and have totally fallen in love with the whole state. I am seriously considering moving to NY either next Fall or the Fall after. I want to go to Pace University, but am applying to a few other schools around their home in Mt. Kisco as well. The Kleins have graciously offered to let me live with them if need be. (They are incredible.) So, that's New York for ya. Hopefully I'll end up there for at least two years. If I go to New York, I fully and completely plan on moving back here.

Europe: I went backpacking in Europe for a month this past Spring, and discovered that I LOVE European countries and would love to live there for awhile. Right now this isn't really an option, unless I put off school for awhile. (Not going to happen though.) It's a dream. I would love to make cappuccinos, read books, speak Italian and eat fresh pasta and do nothing else for a year. Unfortunately, for many reasons this isn't a real possibility. Boo adulthood.

Why Leave Bellingham?: I'm at Western, but WWU does not have a nursing school- which is d-u-m-b dumb. I'm applying to Whatcom as well as a few other in state schools in order to complete my RN. It's possible that I might stay here, but I'm applying to lots of other places too.

So- that should probably wrap up any confusion about my life. Right now I have three more classes to take before I can enter nursing school. (Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology I and II.) If I can finish these by Summer, that would be sweet and hopefully I can apply to nursing school earlier. WWU doesn't offer A&P II in the Summer though. Whatcom maybe? Once again. We'll see.

Phew. That's a lot of me talking about what could be. For now, I'm trying to ace classes and work so I can make enough money to eventually move to Europe. ;)

Nursing, Nursing, Nursing!

I just registered for the Certified Nursing Assistant program at BTC for Winter quarter. Excuse the short post, but I am so, so, so excited!

New Plans: The College Update

This might not be a super interesting post, but it's all about my newest plans for schooling. As you all (probably) know, I'm going to school for Nursing. I'm not in a nursing program yet, and Western does not offer a program which is a huge bummer. So I've been looking into schools that I can transfer to.

Here is the new and improved list:

West Coast:

University of Washington

Northwest University

Seattle University

Seattle Pacific University

Whatcom Community College (don't really want to go here, but I'm applying anyways)

Biola University

East Coast:

New York University

Pace University

Cochran School of Nursing

Westchester Community College (Also don't want to go here, mainly because I would only receive my Associates degree, and I really want to graduate with a bachelors.)

So. That's the list thus far. Some of these schools are incredibly expensive. NYU? Like 45,000 buckaroos a year. Yeah right. So if I end up deciding to go to some of these schools, I'm hoping for some prayer partners to make it happen.

I have this problem. I don't have a husband or any cute kids to blog about (which really isn't a problem at all, come to think of it...). But this makes me wonder what interesting things I could possibly write about. Most of the blogs I read are either cute little families or amazing superwomen-type folk like the Pioneer Woman. And you know something? I just don't fit into either of these categories. Therefore, it's been two months since I've blogged anything which is just pathetic. So here I am. Back in action.

Today was my first day back at Western. I walked through the Arboretum to get to school, and from my house it only took 12 minutes! This is exciting news. I walked it four times today, and am thankful that I got to enjoy some peace and quiet in between classes. I used my morning walk as a prayer walk, and prayed specifically for my sister and her munchkins. (It's Reese's 3rd birthday tomorrow, so she was on my mind.) I also took time to thank my Jesus for my generous parents who are blessing me with the gift of an education at Western.

...Then I started to think about what I am thankful for. It wasn't hard to make a list...

I am thankful. I am thankful for the beautiful colors of the leaves and trees. I am thankful for the view of the Bay on my walk to class. I am thankful for my friends- faces that I haven't seen in months, lining the fountain in Red Square. I am thankful for freedom. I can make my own decisions. I am thankful for the gift of relationships. I am thankful that I get to serve at my church. And tonight, tonight I am thankful that I have a constant friend in Jesus. I may not get to see Jesus in skin form, but I see him everyday. I saw him at my worship night tonight. Friends gathered in a basement to sing praises to our God; to pray for one another and for our campus. I saw Jesus in Tino. He blesses me everyday and spreads Jesus' love. I heard Jesus in my mom's words today. She looks out for me. She cares for me. She wants me to succeed in all areas of my life. Today, I am thankful. I am thankful that the people around me spread the love of Jesus. These people really are the hands and feet of Jesus.

I just had a little baby Bible study over the phone with T. We read some of what Paul spoke to Timothy. "Flee from all of this, and pursue righteousness, godliness..." So, as I begin my Fall quarter at Western, I plan to pursue righteousness. I plan to pursue godliness, and to live a life of life. A life that is truly life.

I'm inspired by the Word of God, and I'm ready to fight the good fight of the faith on my campus.

Jesus, Jesus, How I Love Thee

I love Jesus. Gosh.... Yes. I love him. Every Wednesday I go to a worship night at some friends' house. Anywhere between 15 and 35 of us head into the basement where mismatched carpets line the floor, tea lights flicker (to create ambiance, of course), and a single strand of blue Christmas lights stretch across the ceiling. It's perfect. What I love about it is that there aren't any frills. It's just a dark freezing cold room filled with passionate students ready to worship our creator. A couple friends play guitar and we have an overhead projector so we can all follow along. Are you picturing it? Tonight was a great night. It was a good worship set, which always help, and I could just feel the passion. We sang Amazing Grace, a different version than what most are used to, but I absolutely love it. It is such a powerful song, even though I've heard it about a million times before.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me.
Once was lost but now I'm found,
Once was blind but now I see

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

So powerful. What a blessing it is to be able to serve a God who loves us- a God who wants to save us, and wants us to be free. Free from bondage. Free from slavery. Free from being silenced by fear or anything else.

How sweet it is to be in the presence of a God who is compassionate, strong, courageous, gentle, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Be blessed, my friends, and know that wherever you and whatever your story- there is a God who loves you with a love deeper and more unconditional than your mind can even fathom. As I once read, he loves us to the very core of our beings- and that is something I am dwelling on tonight.

No Place Like Home

After two quarters in the dorm, I moved out. I'm back home with my parents. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I'm not going to Western next quarter. I will be going back in the Fall, but for now, I'm taking online classes and will be working as much as I can to continue saving up money for Europe. I head out to New York on May 11th to work out there for a week and a half or so. It will be great to see the Kleins again, I've missed them! (You can see some pictures of the kiddos in my last photography post- Isabelle and Jordan.) Anyways, currently I'm in my nice cozy bed with my little pup laying next to me. The last few days have consisted of me throwing stuff out, gathering clothes to ship off to consignment stores and Goodwill, and also nailing up pictures. Here is the final product of one corner of my room. It's my favorite bit of the room for sure.
Currently I'm listening to Brandi Carlile. If you don't know who she is... Please do yourself a favor and click here. She's just fabulous. Downpour, My Song and Turpentine are some of my favorites. Definitely give her a go. I doubt you'll regret it.

Finals and Friends

This is my roommate Rachel and I at the CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship) Christmas party. She is from the Kent/Renton area and is such a great girl! We get along really well.

Today I had my first final for my spanish class. I woke up at 6:45 and walked into class an hour later with three sharpened pencils. :) I think it went well, but, as I told my mom this morning, I learned seven new tenses this quarter. So basically, its very possible that I mixed some of them up. Who knows. I wont know my grade for awhile.

I'm giving myself an hour long break before I start preparing for the long day ahead of me. I'm going to take a half hour nap and I figured I'd write a blog post in the meantime. I have my Chem final at 8 tomorrow and then my psych final at 3:30.

Enough with the finals, though. On Saturday night, I packed five of my friends into the back of Big Blue and we drove around town, stopping at some of my favorite places in Bellingham. We ended the night with spaghetti and fresh salad at my parents' house. Then we watched Elf and just relaxed for the night. We had a great day and it was so good to be able to fully relax for a full day.
The picture to the right shows all of us, from left to right, Mikaela, Carly, Me, Noah, Chris and Becca. They are great people and we had the best time hanging out together!

Time for my nap- I'm heading out!

Life as a college student

Hey there! So this is my blog. I created this in hopes of being able to stay connected with people. It's hard to find time to update everyone on my life, so hopefully this helps!

Just so everyone is on the same page, although I am still in Bellingham attending Western Washington University, I am actually living in the dorms. What a good decision! I have met so many great people, and I'm having such a fun time. I live in Mathes Hall, which is one of the dorms that looks out over the bay. I'm on the 8th floor which means I have a great view of the bay, downtown Bellingham and the Canadian mountains. I love going to bed at night being able to look at the city all lit up. Its gorgeous! Here's a picture of the view out of my window.

So, while a lot of my time is spent goofing around with friends, I'm studying my tail off in hopes of getting some decent grades this quarter. I'm in a Chemistry class, a 200 level Spanish class, and I'm taking the Psychology of Happiness. (No, thats not a joke!) The first two courses listed have proven to be pretty tough, but I love my psych class and am actually learning a lot of practical ways to increase my happiness!

Currently I am surviving Dead Week. Phew... Glad it's almost over! I have three finals Monday and Tuesday, and then I'm done for a whole month! Carly, one of my best friends at Western, has offered to take me to Whistler with her family for a week over the break.
Should be fun! Wish me luck as I enter into my first finals week as a Viking. I'll need it!

I'll attach some pictures of my new friends, too. Here is me and Carly. The second picture is a group of us with our paintings. We watched an episode of "The Joy of Painting" with Bob Ross last night and finger-painted along with him. Too fun! Well, have a great day and I'll be back soon with updates on how my finals went.