My doors are open!

Blessed be the Lord God who doesn't change his mind every time the wind blows like us humans...me, in particular. I'm generally too quick and impulsive to wait before I make up my mind. So, after discussing the issue with my parents, I decided that perhaps graduating in the Fall rather than the summer would not after-all be the best choice. However, instead of jumping the gun again, I am going to make my final decision (with no turning back) on March 16th. How I hate to leave you in suspense...but now you will need to return to find out where I'm heading (is this my midlife crisis already??).

Two weekends ago I had a surprise visitor!! It was so last minute that it was a complete surprise...though a very pleasant surprise. Carolynn and Brian, the happy married couple who had a wedding last November, came to Blacksburg. I was apparently the only one of their friends with time to spare that day, so we hung out with bubble tea and yarn. In fact, I look forward to learning how to knit from her. Then maybe I won't ever have to shop for clothes again! :) Dreams...

Grace and I: Fare-well visit...

Last weekend I had a not-so-surprising visitor! Oh, these are the days! I rarely have any visitors and two weekends in a row I was able to play hostess! Well, Carolynn and Brian just came and kidnapped me to have bubble tea, but at least I had the perfect opportunity to play hostess with Grace. She arrived Thursday night and stayed until Saturday morning, whereupon she left early to go to a celebration in North Carolina. She figured she should visit a couple friends before she leaves the country to teach English in India for five months. I was ecstatic to finally have someone to offer my best to while she stayed with me. We had a very enjoyable time. There happened to be an International Spring Social that Friday, which was perfect, because I had to leave in the middle of it to go take a test about spiders and insects. I'll have to write her while she's in India.

Now, some family news again. My cat, Tiger, who has been in the family for around 18 years (his whole life) was getting increasingly sick the last few weeks and finally died this past Saturday night. It will feel so different and weird not having a pet in our house since all our cats have run away or died as of now. Our family may get another cat later on, but not for a little while. His death was sad for everyone except Caleb, who was never much of a cat-person. What Caleb really wants is a dog, but unfortunately we have never owned a dog. My grandma had one once, but a number of years ago he had to be put down since he was getting too old. Since then, we have only been surrounded by cats. That may be why I'm both a cat and dog person, leaning much more on the cat side.

That's all for now! Keep in tune!

Cars...who needs them?

    Well, this week began in the usual way.....went to class, had lunch, went to my job, left my job, discovered my car wouldn't start, called my friend to help me jump-start my car, called triple A when my car still failed to start, and went home to have dinner...oh wait, there's usually a lot more variation (location, for instance). Just kidding, but my friend (roommate as well) had only just said that morning that she was wanting more adventure and excitement in her life. So therefore I simply provided her with some out of the goodness of my heart. I bet most people would not go to such lengths for a friend :)

Oh! The adventure!!

    If only my memory was not quite so bad, I could lead you on the trails my thoughts travel throughout the day. It would be vastly interesting, I'm sure. However, as it is, I can only relay a snip-it of my daily wanderings. Today I had my Philosophy class. This class appears somewhat subjective considering that we are studying ancient philosophers, long since dead, and their writings. I would dearly love to ask some of these philosophers questions, so as to gain a much better understanding of what they truly believe. For the most part, my professor is probably correct in his interpretation from these writings of what their views are, but we have been recently reading a number of Christian (or Judaic) philosophical writings and it's on that subject that my professor doesn't quite seem so adequate. My idea is that to truly understand Christian philosophers you would probably have to understand Christianity......strange, isn't it? And to truly understand Christianity, you would probably have to have a real relationship with Jesus......I know, the crazy ideas I have. The problem is, so many people (true and pretend) misrepresent Christianity and God, as well as the fact that non-Christians have not received help from the Holy Spirit to understand God's Word. Therefore, even though I find my philosophy class extremely interesting, I don't agree with all of my professor's interpretations. I certainly hope this doesn't effect my grade.
    My other classes are moving along, but I still await the day of freedom...maybe with a loving husband and a spoonful of children. Yeah, some would wonder what kind of freedom I'm talking about, but I consider it infinitely superior to that of education. Oh, and I can't forget my pets too, since I am sadly unable to own pets in my current apartment. Speaking of pets, my 18 year old cat is slowly dying. My parents take care of him and leave me updates, but he's not expected to live for more than another week. In fact, we are all now prepared for him to meet his end sometime soon. I will miss him terribly when I visit our home, for he has been with us his whole life.
    Ah!! Now we can talk about Valentine's Day!!! I bought myself a Valentine's Day present....books and movies.....I'm sure my guy would get me the same thing, if he existed......Next, I'll have to give myself chocolate and flowers.
   

New plan... (will it ever end?)

I have some shocking news! I changed my mind again! I think I would be much better off without my mind, since it can never stay in one place for too long... I no longer think finishing up my classes in the summer would be wise, even though it would technically speed up my graduation time. Therefore, as I had originally planned (if only my mind would stopping shifting!), I will try to take my last courses this fall instead. There are a few benefits to this proposal, as I will show you. The one desire of my heart is to be a housewife and mother, so naturally I will be ecstatic for anything that might come close. Last semester I met Xiaorong and her husband, who were about to have their first child. I spent some time with them and gradually it came out that they were going to move to a bigger, two-bedroom, apartment when they have their baby. This was back when I planned to graduate in the fall, so they very kindly said I could live with them for my last semester. About a month ago they had their little baby boy. In fact, when I visited them recently, they let me hold their treasure and I was so excited and, admittedly, rather envious. I would absolutely love to room with them, because then, not only will I get to know this awesome couple better, but I will have many opportunities (I hope) to help watch their kid.

 

However, I do not mean to indicate that I don't love my current roommates! (Juan, you will have to visit me after I graduate!). The other benefits would be time and work related factors. It would probably be a nightmare if I took two classes each summer session. Especially since one of the classes I have to take was only offered once during the summer at only one time (8am everyday). I figure I'm too young to die (especially from work overload). 

I am almost done reading the Hobbit again, although I don't know if I'd be brave enough to watch the movie when the book is fresh in my mind. I would probably as critical as my mom could ever be, which is saying something. However, the main difference is that my memory is deplorable, so I wouldn't stay very critical of a movie if I don't remember all of the book. 

Last year I went to an awesome international Bible Study taught by the sweetest couple, Bob and Sandra. This semester they changed that Bible Study to be focused on helping Christians work on their relationship with God by strengthening their leadership and improving their self-discipline. This is exactly what I have been needing. I feel that my walk with the Lord has weakened recently and I have felt a strong need for restoration. A big part of this is that I have not had very much fellowship with other believers since my first couple years here. Well, what can I say? I'm a work in progress.