Oh By The Way...

Living on campus = filling my gas tank once a month :)

Just thought I would share!

Sunday :)

Sunday...my only day off...

And yet, I still have no time to relax. Tomorrow I start orientation! I feel like I've been here forever and finally I will be able to get into a routine. I think that is what I'm most excited about - gotta love schedules :)

There was so much stuff I wanted to blog about tonight but I didn't get everything I needed done today. I did a ton of shopping for the majority of the rest of the decorations so I thought I would finally be ready to take pictures and let you all see my beautiful apartment. But the stuff I bought was basically all stuff that needs to be hung and I amazingly have concrete walls (slight sarcasm). Any suggestions on how to hang things on a concrete wall...please let me know!!

So hmmm...some updates on life? I'm still really busy with work. Yesterday was returning students check-in so that means another 8am to 5pm day of sitting in the lobby handing out keys. As I'm sitting here thinking about the past week or so it all relates to work haha. Its a good thing that I like my job and the people I work with :)

Oh! Many of you that are reading this are probably my friends on facebook (hi everyone lol) so you know this news. Well I was told a few weeks ago that scholarships for school were given based on GMAT score only. I was 40 points away from a $20,000 scholarship. The minute I found that out, I signed up to take the GMAT for a second time. I procrastinated big time on studying and crammed the last two days. Probably not the smartest thing - and to be honest, I didn't really expect much. I took the test on Thursday. I nearly jumped for joy when my score came up on the screen. I got the score I needed and got the scholarship!! Thanks to everyone who congratulated me :)

I am so excited that I have found a wonderful church. I still miss Genesis so I stay connected by listening to the podcasts (if you have iTunes, you should subscribe to them! Pastor Brian is awesome!) but I wanted to find a place that I feel comfortable at here in Orlando too. I started going to Discovery Church last weekend and I love it. I'm looking forward to continuing my journey there and learning more about myself and the path God wants me on. Thankfully, I have connected with an amazing woman that I know I will learn so much from this year. I'm not sure if she reads this blog, but if you are reading....Your advice is priceless to me. I feel blessed to have you in my life as a mentor because you are such a strong Christian woman that I really look up too.

On a completely different note - I read my horoscope every day. Usually just for fun, but lately the horoscopes seem to be more relevant than usually. One caught my eye so I wanted to share it with all of you:

When you are riding the tides of life today, be very mindful of the
undercurrents - because they are what will actually lead you to your
destination. There's not much you can do to change the direction
you're traveling in, so just relax and enjoy the ride. Its full of
surprises, as well as twists and turns that will leave you feeling
exhilarated, albeit a tad bit confused. But "confused" is just
another word for "excited" if you look at things with a positive
attitude.

The funny thing is two pieces of advice in this horoscope have been given to me before so this really hit home for me. Confusion is an emotion that I have become familiar with lately but after reading this horoscope and reading the advice I had already been told, I am excited about everything now. I am in this exact moment for a reason. I have amazing people in my life and great things are happening to me. I could easily see things in a negative light but I choose to see everything positively. Along with that goes accepting and letting go of past emotions and looking only into the future. I am ready for what He has in store for me.

Well its time to iron my clothes for tomorrow and finally get to bed. Be thinking about me tomorrow on my first day of graduate school!

Quick Morning Thoughts

I thought my time at Rollins would be my chance to grow in a stronger relationship preparing for our lives together while getting my degree. It was an adventure that I was excited about more than anything. I knew it would be hard and it would require a lot of communication and honesty but most importantly love. That dynamic has already shifted. Although I am fully aware now what it means to truly appreciate and love someone with all of my heart, that feeling can't be enjoyed on a one-way street. God has something bigger planned for me. He has revealed to me in the past few days more than I could have ever expected. And I know that my next relationship, no matter when or who it may be with, it will be beyond amazing. I feel in my heart that God is telling me that He knows that this is hard for me but he would never put something in my path that I can't work through and become stronger because of it. He is amazing in the fact that He knows what is truly right for every person and if we aren't strong enough or ready to do what is He knows is right, He will take that on. This is an exciting road that I am on because I am putting all of my trust in Him knowing that no matter what I want, His will for my life will be done.

These were just some thoughts I had this morning so I decided to share them. And like I've said in the past few posts, in time pictures of my apartment will come haha. I'm hoping to finish the decorations before classes start (which is the 27th).

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Ugh...

I hope I will be able to update with pictures soon. I planned on posting some tonight but I just don't have much free time anymore. I'm settling into my apartment at Rollins, training for the Graduate Assistant/Hall Director position, and trying to prepare for school.

The good thing about training is that I have met so many great new friends. I find myself laughing all day long which definitely helps make it easier for me to adapt. And it really seems like everyone will be there to support me since I am new to Residential Life. My apartment is coming together. There is a little more decorating to be done. For a select few, you will have the pleasure of watching my "video diary" of the stages of moving in.

I still have some hesitations about everything I have taken on because I really don't want to fail but I am trying to stay positive. It's overwhelming to go into a completely new situation and new surroundings when I've had such a comfort zone for the past four years.

I have decided to retake the GMAT which has opened up a new can of stress. I found out that if I raise my score slightly (only by 40 points) I can receive a minimum of $20,000 in scholarships! How crazy is that?! I would have been so upset if I found out too late. I wish I knew in the beginning of the summer that way I could have studied a lot more. But I can't complain because at least I have the chance and I can't regret not trying. Wish me luck!

I'm sorry for not being witty or funny in this post. I promise I will be back to my old self soon once I get my routine in place. If you know me, you know I like having a routine and a schedule. Thank you to everyone that has been there for me to keep me sane :)

Until next time...

Don't Mess With Me!

This 5 second video has cracked me up every time I've seen it. Trust me - I know how stupid it is but you have to admit, it's pretty funny :)



Don't forget to scroll down and read my "Just Checking In" entry!

Just Checking In

I know that my entries during the summer have been few and far between but I promise I haven't forgotten about this lovely blog. My days have included exploring and enjoying North Carolina, hanging out with Mom and Sam, and of course watching my favorite summer shows (Big Brother 8 and So You Think You Can Dance!). I've had a lot of time to discover things about myself - about what is important to me, about what I want out of my life, and about certain things that I need to change in order to make what I want happen. That's all I really want to say about that - I just want everyone to know that I've used my alone time for good :)

So I will be leaving North Carolina on Sunday and that comes with a lot of emotion. I'm anxious because I've gotten used to my lazy, relaxed way of life for the past couple of months and everything will change when I get back to Florida. I will be living on my own and I have to get ready to go back to school. It will be close to 9 months since I've been in school. I know that is not that long but I think it will take a bit of time to get back in my routine of studying and homework and blah blah blah. I'm excited because I will finally be in the same town as Eric - we've been waiting over 2 years for this. That will definitely be different - hopefully we don't kill each other ;) j/k! I'm sad because it is nice having my Mom so close when I need her. When I decided on Rollins I thought I would be moving to a place closer to my family. I will miss them more than I can explain. I'm scared because I'm still not convinced that I have chosen the right path to go to graduate school. I know it will be something that will only benefit me but I don't want to fail and I don't want to find out I made a mistake. I don't want to fail in the MBA program and I don't want to fail in my job. I know I will have a lot of responsibility which is something that I have always said that I want out of a job so I guess this is my time to prove to myself that I have what it takes to be successful. I've never been a quitter and don't plan on starting to be one now. Just pray for me that things will go smoothly - although, I have come to realize in life, nothing can go exactly the way that you want it to but in those situations are where a person grows and becomes stronger.

When the semester starts I plan on blogging more frequently and I know you all are waiting by your computers in anticipation for the next entry. Until then I will leave you with a few pictures from my adventures with my Mom, Eric and Sam in North Carolina.


He is such a character!


Beautiful North Carolina Sunset!


Kayaking on Lake Mackintosh


My view from the kayak :)


Stopped at a viewing area on the side of the highway - Do you see the mountain?! :) I was excited! lol


See? Excited! haha!


We saw that the state line was only 10 miles away so we just kept driving!


We stopped at Pilot Mountain on the way back (the mountain in the picture with my Mom) - gorgeous!


Eric tried to be an artistic photographer. I must say, I kinda like this picture :)


He is the King of the Mountain! :) He just liked scaring me by getting as close to the edge as possible.

OH! And the bugs are definitely interesting around here. Well interesting may not be the right word...but they are different. I have a Black Widow living outside of my window with an egg ready to hatch in a week or so. And to my surprise I woke up a couple days ago and realized she decided to lay another egg! Geez! She has been busy ;) Here she is with her first egg. And yes - she is as big as she looks...gross...



And here is a short video of a bug I have never encountered before. I think he was doing some kind of tail wagging mating call to the same kind of bug that was a little higher on my window :) Oh bug love - how cute haha. (Just disregard the TV commercial noise in the background lol)



Thats just a peek into my hiatus from blog writing. Talk to you soon!!

Coincidence

I'm sitting at Panera Bread because that is about the only place that I will get internet for a while. So forgive me if it takes me awhile to get back to you. I'm finally in Burlington and getting settled into my new house. I have made a friend which makes it not so boring. I've also been trying to find a new church to attend will I am up here. I went to a place called Integrity Church this past weekend. It was nice, nothing wrong with it at all, it just didn't fit with what I wanted.

So my mom gave me a newspaper article on a church called Pine Ridge Church. By the looks of the article, it seems like it will be a lot like Genesis Church which obviously makes me want to check it out. The church is so new that they are only having preview services right now. So I will only be able to go to one before I head back to Florida.

So anyways, the article gave a website so I had it down on my "things to look up" when I finally got internet again. So I'm in Panera (Like 20 minutes ago) and I remember to look up this church. I looked on the website and was just clicking around when a guy walked up to my table and says "I don't mean to look at your computer and what you are looking at, but that is my church - I am the lead pastor" I was shocked! So of course I shake his hand, introduce myself and tell him I'll be there on the 22nd for their next preview service.

Their leadership team was having their meeting at Panera at the same time I am there - coincidence? Maybe, but still pretty cool!!

Anyways, thats the most excited thing that has happened since I've been here - thought I would share :)