Bike Riding

One thing I absolutely LOVE is bike riding. Yes, I have loved it since I was little and when I lived overseas and since we didn't have a car, we used our bikes like them. I rediscovered this love over spring break and have been excited ever since! Over Easter it was not exactly successful ride in the mountains of PA with my asthma and lack of inhaler, but it's still just as fun! I have discovered a greenway that was just completed only 2 miles from my house that is perfect get away from the busy life and just immersion in nature feeling free on a bike! It's 6 miles one-way, so a 12 mile ride. A great work out and so much fun! I am excited to embrace this over the summer with friends and do something I love!

Summa Time!

It has been almost a week since leaving Liberty and I have been quite busy since returning home! I like to keep myself busy because I thrive off of it, but at the same time my entire days are not jammed packed. Just more of the nights or the mornings or vis-versa. I was able to unpack all of my things which was awesome and reorganize and rearrange my room. It was my first time actually living in my room in the new house. I've been home, but not for enough time to really get settled. I put up the Transform3rs wall in my room. It looks pretty awesome to say the least. Part of the reason I put it up was because it's sweet and makes for a good room decoration, but the other half is to ensure that I remember how good God has been this past year. The main lesson God has been teaching me is to not forget. By having it in my room it's a constant reminder for my short term memory loss.
On Saturday I went to Charelston, SC for the day. That was quite a fun trip for sure! I loved being at the beach and enjoying the summer sun. The beach is just the best place on earth to say the least. I arrived back home around 1:30 AM and then proceeded to wake up at 5 AM to go to the NRA prayer breakfast in downtown Charlotte featuring Joy Lippard, the Children of the World, Jonathan Falwell, and Charles Billinglsey. It was a unique morning for sure because it will probably be the only morning I can actually say I had the Liberty church experience and my home church experience in the same day. I guess it was a good way to ease back into life back at home and it was awesome to see Joy! I loved seeing all my friends and familiar faces back at church as well. It's been such a long time and I am looking forward to this summer to reconnect with the College Ministry. That night I hung out with my best friends from high school and we cooked a meal together and caught up on life. I look forward to many more nights with them this summer! I value their friendship so much!! But I have to admit as well, hanging out with close friends at home also makes me miss my Liberty friends :)
On Monday I woke up at 12:51 pm. I guess all of the lack of sleep caught up to me! I loved sleeping in. It gave me an opportunity to rest and also have some weird dreams. I dream a lot more at home. That night I cooked with my family, played basketball with my dad, and then hung out with my best friend at my house, Jo. We had such a good time catching up despite our difficulty understanding each other's sarcasm. It's sad really but makes for a good laugh when we realize that the other person is being sarcastic.
Tonight I went to the Bible Study with the College Ministry in this amazing house (every house in Charlotte is new, gorgeous, has a billion living rooms and finished basements, but this one had all that and a governors driveway..haha) and there were about 20 college students. It was so nice to meet with them all. I know that I am beyond blessed to be at Liberty where I can meet often and fellowship with my friends but it was so cool to be able to do that with my home church. I think being at school I forgot how involved and connected I was in my church and how much I missed being with them. However, college was a much needed change, but it will be nice to have the summer to rekindle friendships. I ended the night salsa dancing. I had some pretty fun dance partners despite my two left feet. Such interesting stories from salsa dancing to say the least!! Tomorrow's agenda will be getting Lorraine (my car) on the road and working at Chick-Fil-A. O summer time, it's been fun so far :)

Packing the Boxes

I wrote this right before I left for college last year and it's pretty cool how it is constantly applying to life. The first part of it will apply to leaving school while the second applies to my returning back at home. Enjoy!



I’m a pro at packing up the boxes, but the good-byes never get easier.

If you allow yourself to get close to someone, it makes it even harder to leave. But in all honesty, if it wasn’t hard to say goodbye then something was missing from the friendship. It’s hard to say goodbye, but what I love about goodbyes, is that it allows an opportunity to experience something apart from that person who has carried you for so long. It doesn’t mean that you are saying goodbye forever or will never connect or see that person ever again, or that they won’t be there for you. It’s a chance to see who you are and how much that person means to you when they aren’t there for every moment. As many goodbyes that I have said in my short 18 years, I don’t regret the sadness and recollection of memories as I say my farewell. It’s the process of packing the boxes and starting over again. It’s inevitable. And with the numerous goodbyes that I have spoken, I would do it over again despite the immense feelings and desire to not leave. Because in that moment I know that in time everything will work out. I know that the friendship that I have with the other person can, and will, pass the distance and the act of saying goodbye. I know that distance, although a major factor, is only an excuse if I make it one. I know that a phone call, email, text, or letter is available to reconnect with the other person. I know that both people will have to make the effort to keep the friendship. But I also know that both people are going to change a great deal while being apart. I won’t stay the same, and neither will you. Both of us will change. That is also inevitable. But the beauty of friendship is that despite the distance, the changing, the birth of new friendships, and making new memories; our friendship will always be because of the memories, the trust, and the ability to be vulnerable with one another.