Visit from a Friend

Above is Liz, Mark, and myself. We were all involved in SIFE last year, but Liz graduated and moved to the DC area. She came up for the weekend to visit with friends - and her and Mark stopped by for lunch with me today! It was great to catch up with her, sharing about what I have been up to and hearing about her life outside Roberts. Her 13 hour bus ride here has been worth it as she has spent time with lots of friends. I'm thankful for the many ways to keep in touch these days, but it's always great to actually spend time with those long distance friends!

Nap Time

It's a great day when there is time for a nap! I took a nice, hour and a half nap today, and it was wonderful! They don't happen often enough, but when they do, I love it!

Maybe I'll start scheduling in a nap every Friday afternoon - wouldn't that be a nice way to always start the weekend?

Learning to Say No

I have slowly been learning an important lesson: how to say "No." I love being active and involved in activities, but it's important to know when there is enough on your plate.

Lately, there have been two instances when I've decided to say "No." to an activity:

1. Bible Study - I go to Bible study with people from my church every Tuesday night. A few weeks ago, I had just come back to Rochester from a trip to Pittsburgh. I had slept in a different bed 5 nights in a row, I had projects and papers to work on, and I was exhausted. I let the leader know I would not be coming, and took the night off to get work done and relax. I am so glad I didn't pretend I was Super Woman by going to Bible study that night as I felt so refreshed the next morning and had a great rest of the week!

2. Buffalo with Friends - I was planning on heading over to Buffalo tonight to go to the Chocolate Bar with two friends from high school. However, while I was at work I just began feeling drained and was dreading the hour drive to Buffalo and the late night home. It was hard, but I called my friend and said I wouldn't be joining them. It's that point in the semester where there is so much work piling up, and I need to be sure to get my rest.

I love spending time with people and taking part in fun activities, but I am beginning to understand what I need and saying "No." when I just need a break to recharge. I almost said "No." to a blog post tonight, but thought it was an important lesson to share!

Game Night

My Wednesdays typically consist of a movie night, coffee with a friend, or a game night. Tonight was a game night, and we played Hoopla - one of my favorites!

Everyone works as a team to guess the Who, What, or Where on players' cards. There are four ways players can get others to guess their card:

1. Soundstage: Acting without using words, only outrageous sound effects are allowed.

2. Cloodle: Just like pictionary!

3. Tongue-Tied: Choose a single letter and all the clues given must start with that letter. Example: Ice, Igloos, and Iditarod for Alaska.

4. Tweener: Fill in the blanks, "It's bigger than _________ but smaller than __________." Example: "It's bigger than a bracelet, but smaller than jail." for Handcuffs.

I had a fun time spending time with friends playing Hoopla tonight!

Counting Down

There a quite a few things to look forward to in the months to come! Here are 5 events that are quickly approaching:

16 Days until Thanksgiving - Classes end Tuesday, but I am staying in Rochester until Thursday morning for the Webster Turkey Trot. After the race I will have Thanksgiving Dinner with family. Then Friday morning some friends from home are getting together to make breakfast. It's back to Rochester on Saturday for my friend, Jillian's, bachlorette party!

38 Days until my 22nd Birthday - This is also the last day of the semester - what a nice present!

46 Days until Christmas - I have already sent out my Christmas List, and I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends.

70 Days until I start my Internship - I will be spending 10 hours a week at Heritage Christian Services doing fundraising and grant writing. I am looking forward to this learning experience!

179 Days until Graduation - After that, who knows what my life will look like! One thing's for sure - no more homework!

Strong Enough

I blogged about Matthew West's new CD, The Story of Your Life, recently and wanted to share another song from it. Each song is based on a story submitted by common people. Strong Enough was submitted by a single mom whose 19 year old daughter, Haleigh, was in a car accident. 11 surgeries and 3 years later, she is still recovering. Haleigh's mom said to her one day, "Haleigh, God won't let you go through anything you're not strong enough to handle." Haleigh's response was, "Well, He must think I'm pretty freakin' strong!" Matthew West ties Philippians 4:13 into the song as he reminds us that no life circumstance is too much for us to handle when our strength comes from God.

Click here for the full story of the song, read some of the lyrics below, and check out a video of the song here.

You must
You must think I'm strong
To give me what I'm going through

I know I'm not strong enough to be
everything that I'm supposed to be
I give up
I'm not strong enough
Hands of mercy won't you cover me
Lord right now I'm asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enough
For the both of us

I can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength
And I don't have to be
Strong enough

Scraping the Windows

I had to scrape my windows this morning - probably the first of many mornings to come! I'm not sure what the temperature was, but there was a nice layer of frost on my car before heading to church. Scraping the car made me think of winter coats, gloves, scarves, hats, and warm socks - all of which I already have with me here at school. I am ready for the long, cold winter in Rochester!