"And I lift my hands and pray... to be only yours, I pray..."

Hello again, world! :) It's March!! I'm just flabbergasted how fast this year has gone. It seems like a long time - 8 more weeks until summer, but at the same time, 8 weeks is nothing! Home right now for Spring Break, it's great. Enjoying some serious down time, and got to spend a couple days in Seattle with some really good friends, which was very much needed.

I know I'll blink and it will be May, and I'll be taking finals again. I'm amazed at my own improvement in time management skills -- I was worried that this semester I'd taken on too much and would have to drop a class. Good news is, I won't have to drop anything! Did I take on too much? Probably. I'm recognizing that I overcommit myself as a way to prove myself. Next semester, the goal is to back off in that regard. I need time to invest more in my relationships, and maybe maintain a part-time job. We'll see -- it's still going to be challenging to make myself do that.

I'm going to be living in a suite next year! Honors 435D. It's going to be so great to share 2 showers with only 5 other people, instead of 4 showers with 50 people. We also have a mini-living room and a "kitchenette" which is basically a microwave, prep sink, mini fridge, and a big countertop/built in cupboards. But I can't wait! I'm not going to have a meal plan, so I'll be cooking for myself most of the time. I figured that saving over $1000 per semester is going to be worth the extra time it will take me to experiment and plan meals. I've been letting someone cook my meals for 20 years now, it's probably time to grow up and do it myself. ;) I'll have my same roommate for my bedroom/study space, but we'll share the rest of the suite with 4 other girls. And no, we don't know who they are. I like the mystery of it!

What else has happened... Hm... I guess I can give an update on the mission trip! I got my passport in the mail this week! The United States government has officially given me permission to flee the country. Lol. Which I plan on doing in.... wow, less than 2 months. Preparations for the trip to Haiti are going really well. I've been overwhelmed and blessed by God's provision in the fundraising department -- that was my biggest worry, and so far I am about 80% of the way there! We have our flight itinerary and packing list and everything, just need to get all of my skirts and sandals gathered up! Haha. And buy a one piece swimsuit. :P   Blech...I hate suit shopping.

It's been about 2 weeks now, but I actually got to host Longview friends in Pullman! :D I was so happy to have Brady, Josh, Catherine and Sean over for the long weekend. Like, I've never had anyone but family visit me before, since Pullman is definitely NOT on the way to anywhere. They came over for the last bball game of the season, and then we just did the rest of the college life thing. Idk if they had as good of a time as I did, but it was so fun! I think it's because it's like both of my "lives" meeting in the space-time continuum, you know? This weird place where the past and present meet, and you can imagine what it would be like if they were both in the same place all the time. Yeah... twas awesome. And completely worth the craziness before and after.

The "gang" at the  basketball game

Went to The Vine tonight for the first time since the summer. I've been home on Tuesday nights over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, but for some reason other things had come up that weren't skippable. It was good to see that the group was doing really well. We did a small group style discussion tonight instead of a sermon, and talked partly about sin vs backsliding/relationship vs legalism and then vision from God (as in, the "Go to Africa" type callings). Really interesting discussion, and gave me plenty to think about. I really enjoyed the passage from Oswald Chambers that we read and talked about. It was similar to another passage I've got on my wall that talks about how God calls and convicts us each individually about different things, and we can't expect everyone to share the same calling and convictions that we have. Good stuff.

Worshipping crowds at the
Rock and Worship Roadshow

I don't know if I can think of anything else super exciting to blog about right now. I'm cuddled under a nice, heavy blanket on the couch, and everyone else has gone to bed. Pandora is playing worship music, and I'm having a really good conversation with a good friend. I'm pretty happy with where everything is at.

*Only Hope, Switchfoot