Life Fast Forward

Hi again, folks. I know you must be surprised to hear from me again so soon. I have managed to turn in some pretty hefty assignments in the past few days, so I'm giving myself a tiny break for tonight before the crunch begins again.

A part of me wants this semester to be over now! But then I am reminded of how I love my classmates and life here. Life is also fleeting, and I can't always be wishing toward the future. I want to enjoy here and now, even if it is filled with lots of statistical software and economics case studies that threaten to drive me insane...

Besides, life is also filled with awesome people, an enjoyable job, gorgeous scenery, a great church, and so many other blessings and challenges. Last night I was leaving work at city hall in the dark at 7 p.m. It was snowing beautiful, fluffy snowflakes and had accumulated on the roofs and grass during the day. All of downtown, including city hall, was lit up with white lights and pretty wreaths. I finally had some decent boots on and was feeling rather cute and festive. I've been feeling worn out, but I am glad I can still thank God for little glimpses of heaven... except I probably won't be wearing a winter coat in heaven.

Speaking of winter coats, another thing I'm so thankful for right now is heat inside! I spent the past two, long winters decked out in multiple layers of long underwear and outerwear that I had to wear outside and inside. Remember my stories of getting chillblains on my fingers and having frozen, white toes in China? I want to practically shout for joy every time I go into a warm building here. Maybe I'll forget about that soon, but I'm still counting my blessings! We take so many things for granted here in America.

I'm also thankful for people. I have spent this semester in a small "cohort" of people. We were assigned to the cohort, and have all the same classes together. I've grown quite fond of them, and will be sad to have different classes without them next semester. I've learned a lot from them, and respect them a lot. Our last classes together are next week. The following week we have finals.

And even thought it's been freezing, I've been walking the 40 minute walk home from campus instead of taking the city bus. It has given me a lot of opportunities to clear my mind and freeze my face off. Today I was thinking about some things in American culture that changed since I was away:

What's new and didn't exist before I left for China:
-Twitter
-The recession
-Justin Bieber
-Lady Gaga
-The Obama administration
-The smart phone craze
-Leggings
-Sarah Palin

What's old and doesn't exist anymore:
-The "poof" hairstyle
-The Bush administration
-Mercury, Pontiac, and Saturn cars
-Jobs

What persists and I wish would go away:
-Uggs
-Fake tans
-The U.S. deficit
-Annoying politics
-Aforementioned leggings
-Sarah Palin

Thankfulness

On a crisp autumn afternoon last week, my dearest mother arrived on my doorstep in Bloomington! In between going to classes, Mom and I hung out, went on walks, visited my church, and talked a lot about everything under the sun. Then she and I drove the looooong way to Rochester, NY to visit our dear, dear grandparents! Andrea flew up from Florida, and we had ourselves a very pleasant, blessed Thanksgiving.

I haven't gotten to see my family much over the past few years, so every time I can see them is a time to thank the Father. And even though Andrea and I don't see each other much, we still say the same things and talk like twins. We just don't really look like twins. How can we be related?

Anyway, we got to cook, visit different places in Rochester, enjoy a bit of snow, and loved being with each other. It was also great to love and help serve and pamper our grandparents--especially Grandma, who works so hard!

I don't know what else to say, except it's sort of a let down to be back at school, still failing different quizzes, etc. But I'm trying to look forward to the awesome things and people God's put in my life here, too. I did sort of miss my classmates; they all had crazy Thanksgivings filled with events like getting engaged, going to tropical islands, and even getting into car wrecks... You might not hear much from me over the next 3 weeks with classes, papers, projects, and final exams coming to a climax.

Hope your Thanksgiving caused you to reflect on your many blessings!


Reunited with my baby sister.


Baby Andrea making an amazing apple pie from scratch! She has taken over the apple pie-making business from Grandpa-the best teacher!


Grandpa with chocolate that came all the way from Abilene, Kansas.


Sharing a laugh with the cutest grandma.


Hot chocolate weather.


Mama and Andrea.


An amazing gingerbread house at the Eastman House.