Making Some Changes!

Well, there is some stuff going on in my life! The first thing is that I've started Zumba. I love it! My church started offering a class, and I'm definitely going to enroll in another one when I get back home. It's so much fun, and you don't even notice that you're working out until your sides start hurting haha.

Also, I'm starting Weight Watchers this Saturday. I'm nervous. I mean, I'm 19 and I'm starting Weight Watchers? That just doesn't sound right. I'm also really intimidated, because I've been crunching some numbers lately. In order to get to a healthy BMI, I need to lose about 25% of my current body weight. That seems huge. And scary. And very hard. But I really want to do this. I want to look good, and more importantly, I want to feel good and treat my body well.

I've also started reading a really good book. It's called "Captivating." I can't remember who it's by, though...Ask me if you're interested and I'll get the author's names to you! It's really been wrecking me (don't worry, that's a good thing) and giving me a new perspective on things. Loving it!

I am SO Blessed.

Let me repeat that... I am so incredibly blessed beyond belief. Just during this past week, I've been reminded of the awesome Christian women in my life. I have such great role models and people to guide me when I don't know where to turn or how to ask for help.

I have Marcia, who writes me letters every week. I look up to her a lot. Since she's my boyfriend's mom, she's sort of the closest thing I have to a Christian mother.

And I have Sara, who has just been so sweet to me. She's brought me into her home for dinner, and has always made herself available to me whether I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to encourage me.

There's Kara, who has been in my life since June 2008. I never realized how blessed I was to have her until just recently. How could I have been so blind?

Then of course, there are the girls who are my peers. Even though we're around the same age, I know I can still go to them for guidance and they'll do their best to guide me from where we're all at.

I don't know why I am blessed with so many encouragers, but please, just don't let me take them for granted!

Where has the time gone?

Second semester is almost over? Really? It seems like time has just flown. This semester has brought both trials and rejoicing. We'll start with the bad news just to get it over with quickly. Like a Band-Aid.

My back is still giving me trouble in regards to playing violin. So, I've resumed the search for a neurologist on my insurance who can hopefully tell me what is going on (and fix the problem). It's been hard, because it seems like nobody in Springfield accepts my health insurance! So now I need to start looking for one back home, I guess. It's really frustrating.

Along the same lines, this summer is going to have to be the summer that I get answers. This summer, I need to find out if playing the violin will continue to be painful for the rest of my life. I'm really afraid that I'll have to give up violin...but at the same time, I sort of want to give up now just so that I can get out ahead. It would hurt so much to have a doctor tell me that I need to give up violin...I almost feel like it wouldn't hurt as bad if it were completely my choice.

I'm really afraid that I don't have the kind of "Sun Stand Still" faith that I need to get through this. I'm so scared that God won't keep me holding on. I'm absolutely terrified that He'll let the sun go down on my music. Did I mention that I'm scared?


On a more positive note, I think I'm finally building some great friendships! I'm really getting involved in my church, and I love it. Especially volunteering at the elementary school! :) I miss my home church, though. But I am really thankful for the college ministry here, it's really fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better one.

I'll try to be better about posting on here in the future!


Additional thoughts: I've been doing a lot of reading on forgiveness and God's love lately. Really excited to see what He shows me.

Fantastic Weekend-to-Be

So, this is going to be a great weekend. Correction: this is going to be an EPIC weekend. My boyfriend and my cousin are here to see me, and I am still so excited. They're taking a nap right now (it really is a long drive), so I'm just doing some "internet-ing". Tomorrow, we're going shooting, going to dinner with some of our friends, and possibly hitting up the Landing. Once again, I am SO stinkin' excited!

Snowmegeddon!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, I'm definitely not the most consistent blogger. Well, I'm not a very good blogger. Not a very regular one, anyway. This semester feels like it's been extremely long already. So far I've rushed Sigma Kappa (didn't get the bid-trying again in the fall), started teaching for String Project again, rearranged my dorm room, reconnected with some people, went to the MMEA conference at Tan-Tar-A, and now I have two snow days in a row!

It kind of feels like I don't even have time to breathe, but I'm getting used to it. I am pretty excited for a few things that are happening this semester, though. Some of the girls from High Street are doing a freshman girls Bible study, and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm also looking forward to hopefully getting a full semester of violin in. And even better, Mitch and I have worked something out to where we see each other twice a month. I'll be coming home once a month, and he'll be coming down here once a month. He came down to the lake this past weekend so we could see each other, and then he'll be coming down for Valentine's weekend (aka the weekend before. Who's idea was is to put it on a Monday?). I'm really excited to be seeing him more often. Here's a picture from when I was home last month: 

We went ice skating, had a fun dinner at a Hibachi restaurant in St. Peters, and just had a good time overall. Did I mention that we went ice skating? (It's one of my favorite winter-time activities.)

I'm also excited for the next time I'll be home, because that's the Daytona party! It'll be my second one, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Watching the race, spending time with the Satterfields, just hanging out-what could be better than that?

I'm also pretty happy, because I got to Skype with one of my best friends (Kaitlyn) two weeks ago. Definitely a high point for me. She is so beautiful, and I miss her oh-so-much.

I know this is full of random stuff, but my music box collection is growing! Kaylee and I went to the flea market last week, and I found a bunch of them! Don't worry though, I only bought one. It's so nifty, though! Kind of related to this, I am so thankful for Kaylee. It's nice having someone I know that I can try to do fun stuff with whenever she's in town.

Well, I have a snowball fight to get ready for, but I'll update this again soon!

It's been awhile...

So...I always had a plan and stuck to it no matter what. But recently, the plan changed. At first I was terrified, but now I'm okay with it. But that probably sounds a whole lot more dramatic than it actually is. Originally, I had planned to wait until I had the necessary number of credit hours and rush the professional music fraternity, Mu Phi Epsilon. I had absolutely no plans to have anything to do with social sororities, because I had bought into the stereotypes that all social Greek is bad Greek. Needless to say, I was wrong and my plan has now changed. Immediately after fall rush ended, I was kicking myself for not participating. As the semester went on, I had joined CMENC (Collegiate Music Educators National Conference), because it was something that would benefit me in the long run, and because it seemed like something I should do. As time went by, I was still not enjoying it. It was all band kids, I was the only orchestral ed major. They were all really close and I never felt welcome. Sad thing is, the same people that are in CMENC are in Mu Phi. If I didn't enjoy being around those people in CMENC, what made me think I would enjoy being around them under a different name? Then, there was the meeting time. 7 pm on Sundays. At my Springfield church, small groups are at 6 on Sundays. If I went ahead with rushing Mu Phi, then I wouldn't be able to participate in small group Bible studies...and I was not okay with that. Mu Phi was not looking like the right decision for me anymore. At the same time, though, I was looking into and gathering information on the social sororities that MSU has to offer. I ended up being really interested in Sigma Kappa. I made a friend in my religion class that just joined this fall as a sophomore, and we became pretty good friends. I was even able to ask her all of my stupid questions about sororities and about Sigma Kappa specifically. The more I learned about Sigma Kappa, the more I felt like it would really be a good fit for me. One night after studying, Blaire (the girl I mentioned earlier) and I started talking. She asked me about Mu Phi, and then proceeded to call me out on not sounding like I wanted to really do it. That really made me rethink things. Blaire was right. I wasn't looking forward to rushing Mu Phi. At all. And that scared me. Because up until now, not sticking to the plan had NEVER been an option. And here I am, changing it up. I've decided to not go forth with Mu Phi. Instead, I'm doing spring rush for Sigma Kappa and I think I'll be a lot happier. I'll actually be able to make more friends. And that's really good, because right now I don't have so many in Springfield.


On a not-so-dramatic note, I got good grades! I have an MSU GPA of 3.96 and a cumulative GPA of 3.98. I was so excited! Especially since the professor for my religion class apparently bumped everyone's grade up. I calculated it, and there was no way that I could get above a B, but I ended up with an A! I was ecstatic! I got an A in everything except for my violin lessons (I know, I know, shame on me, should've done better).


And on an exciting note, Mitch and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary this week. I am so lucky to have him. I don't even have words for it. He is really good to me. And even though I don't deserve it, I love it. I only hope that I'm half as good to him as he is to me.


With all of this under my belt, I'm really looking forward to this semester!

A Very Happy Birthday, Indeed

Well, my birthday was this past Friday, and I'm now 19. My parents came down for Friday and Saturday, and we went out to eat a few times and went shopping. I was glad they came down, and I had a lot of fun. And you know what? Mitch ended up coming down here, too! He got here Saturday night, so we spent time together then and also on Sunday. I was so glad he came, because we had originally thought that he wouldn't be able to. Mitch is so good to me. He came down even though I'd just been home the week before and will be home in less than two weeks from now, even though it's expensive for him to come visit me. I was so happy though, I don't think I stopped grinning the entire time :)

In other news, I've almost survived this semester! Last day of class is this Thursday, and my last final is next Thursday. Then, I'll be homeward bound! (anyone remember that movie? sorry, random thought. also, that's a good song. youtube it, but be careful which choir you listen to.)

String Project (the thing I teach for) had it's first concert of the year tonight. I work with the beginners, so this was really their first concert! It went well, and I'm really proud of them and all the hard work that they've done this semester. One thing was really strange though-I was nervous! Isn't that weird? The focus wasn't even on me, but I was so nervous that I was shaking! I guess I was so nervous for the kids, since it was their first concert, and because their performance would be the first reflection of me that a lot of people saw. Does that even make sense? I don't know, but either way, I was nervous!

Back to what I was saying before-Mitch is so good to me. I really am blessed to have him, and I wish I knew how to show it better. This past Sunday marked eleven months of being a couple, and I wouldn't have chosen to spend those eleven months any other way. In a way, it's hard to believe that it's been that long. I suppose it's because I can still remember our first dates clearly. But at the same time, we've come so far, and have grown a lot together. Even though I just saw him yesterday, I can't wait to see him again. This whole long-distance relationship thing is hard, but worth it. Sure, being apart is hard, especially when you're both busy. And yes, it's hard when all you want to do is just be in their arms. Being apart and having to be in different places is hard, and at times frustrating. But that just makes the moments you have together that much sweeter. This may be stupid, but sometimes I feel like it helps me to value Mitch more. Not just Mitch, either-- it also helps me value my friends. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.