I think it's interesting that we know the earth revolves around the sun and that we are not the center of the universe, but when we talk about the Winter solstice we mention where the sun is over the earth, not how we've moved and our position puts such and such area directly towards the sun.

Anyway, welcome winter! I'm excited that from here on out the days start getting longer again.

Some things you should know before we begin...

This semester I was asked what quirks I have and I honestly couldn't answer the question. I said to ask Erin or Lindsey because they could probably think of some easier than I could because I just think I'm normal (who am I kidding! I don't really, I know I'm weird). Since then I've thought of a few. This is a list of a few things you should probably know about me. Some are fun, some are serious. All are me.

I can't wear a watch while typing or sleeping. I just can't do it.

I don't eat shrimp. It's a texture thing.

I love music, but I think I experience it in a different way. My favorite songs are ones that have some sort of transition in them. I remember the music, and not necessarily the words. However when (ever) I do remember the words they are usually ones I can relate to or that speak to me.

Some would say that I improperly use the word "whenever". All I have to say about that is I'll use it whenever I want! :)

I do not like feet. But I can appreciate a foot rub if I'm wearing clean socks.

I've become incredibly forgetful and I don't like it.

I like Harry Potter. Actually, I love Harry Potter. I was that college kid who went out with her friends around Halloween dressed up as HP characters.

I get excited when I understand things. I also get excited when I feel like I'm gaining new insight on something and seeing it in a new way.

I become very passionate when thinking about the inequality in our world and how it could be fixed. "Social stratification" is what hits me the hardest. And knowing that I have so much when others have so little. Show me a news story about people who are suffering and are impoverished or are suffering because of a disaster or political unrest and I become so moved I have to fight back tears. I can't help but wonder "What can I do?" and "Since I've been given this passion and these feelings, what am I suppose to be doing with them?"

My faith is a struggle for me everyday. I'm appreciative that it's not come easy and that I have to fight to live for Jesus everyday of my life. "Everyday is a choice" has become my personal motto. I'm glad that I've had to learn my lessons and figure things out for myself because it's made my faith my own and not something that I got caught up in and followed along with. One thing I always knew but heard a wise woman say recently was that God doesn't give us a season in our lives without also giving it a purpose. I consider the past few years of my life a true struggle to make it through.

I often look at people and wonder what they're living for. So many people seem to be living for their jobs and for that next vacation and making enough money to buy expensive things. I wonder if they know that life is about so much more than that. I was in someone’s car this semester and I heard a Caedmon's Call song with the line "This world has nothing for me and this world has everything" and it's so true. Taken in the wrong context it sounds hopeless and depressed. But for me it's a reminder that the material things of this world are not what matter.

I love penguins.

I'm still learning a lot about myself. Thanks to a lady named Beth Moore I've been able to understand some things a bit better, and it's been through a study of the Patriarchs in Genesis. Isn't that strange?

I've had to learn how to be a part of my family. I had to draw something for a class this semester that represented my family and I did something that looked like a richter scale page. The very beginning and the very end had little spikes but the majority of it consisted of big, long spiky peaks in reds and oranges. I got one package from my mom when I was in the dorm when I had her send me a coat. This past week she sent me a package with an ornament and a little decoration thing in it and I just about sat down on the floor and bawled because in my fourth year away from home things are finally settled down enough to where my mom wants to send me something and I appreciate it. I'm almost crying just thinking about it now...

When I do find an artist I like I become committed to their music. I love David Crowder Band and Alli Rogers. Alli knows what's going on in my heart. I'll leave you with a few tidbits from her songs...

"I am afraid of beginning
‘cause I don’t know how to end
But you told me that the mountain before us would become a plain in our eyes
So I won’t despise I won’t despise the day
I won’t despise the day of small things"

"And if I’m brave I will find my place
Maybe courage is not all they say
Cause I have found that the sweetest moment on this road
is moving forward, not knowing where to goAnd you have never left me
I have broken down and danced around your truth
And you have never left"