Kentucky--Spring Break 2009

I am happy to report that I am typing this from Julia Philips' couch in Richmond, Kentucky about 20 minutes outside of Lexington! After the longest 8 hour drive in the history of the world, I am so excited to finally be here. I've heard so much about Richmond and EKU and Bernam Dorm and all that that it's great to be here and see it for myself. The black and red theme of JAB's house, the FRIEND wall in Ra and Trash's dorm, Whit's beads, meeting David, Becca, Ashley, Emily Hayden, Mckenzie and all of these other people that I hear stories about and see pictures and videos of are finally in the same room with me. Maybe I'm just weird like that but this is a big deal.
---
I saved that as a draft and now I am coming back later to finish up about my adventures around EKU.
Wednesday was my traveling day. Driving eight hours straight from Raleigh, North Carolina to Richmond, Kentucky was crazy. Through Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky was my route. Apparently it's the long way. Oh well, I'll know better next time. I arrived at Julia's house just before 7:00 pm and hung out with her and David for a bit. Then we ventured over to Bernam Dorm to see my girls :D Them and their crazy noise complaints. Haha. Whit and Laura had to go to Bible Study with Julia so I got some JBo time. Jordan and I were in the same Bible Study this summer and therefore know everything about one another. It was so encouraging to have some catch up time with her and be an encouragment to one another and just hang out. Due to my extensive traveling that day, I was exhausted so I decided a nap was needed with Blankie. Ashley soon came and jumped on me because she was done with her workout but I've never been happier to wake up and see her beautiful face before me. About an hour later and after some catch up time with ARiggs, Bible Study was over and it was time for me to hit the sack back at Julia's place.
Thursday: I slept in (which felt amazing) and then hung out at the house all day. Being lazy and watching a movie felt great. Julia, David and I then went to WalMart to have my FLAT TIRE (boooo) looked at. That was a fun hour and a half in WalMart...or not. But it's all good because it's over. No biggie. Then Julia and I went out to dinner with the Bible Study that she's in and I got to meet all of her girls. They were so warm and welcoming. I loved meeting them and being part of her world. That was one of the biggest things for me this week is just really diving into my friends worlds and seeing what their lives are like when I'm not there. I like knowing that they are all taken care of and that they are happy, and this road trip solidified that for me.
Anyways, after dinner at Applebee's we headed to CRU. EKU's Crusade is so small. But it felt like a family. That's one of the things that I think that NCSU misses out on because of our size is that intimate brotherhood within believers. Yes, we do strive for it through Bible Studies and going to conferences and meeting new people, but still, when all is said and done, we're still a group of 1200 people. At Crusade, I once again was emerced into a group of people that I've Facebook stalked and heard stories about and seen pictures of but all of the sudden, they became a reality as we're eating ice cream in Downstairs Powell and talking about hanging out at formal. Oh how I love my life. It was then back to Julia's house and we all hung out and played card games and enjoyed life.
Friday: Once again, I slept late (Julia Philips has the most comfortable bed everrr) and did nothing all day. However, I was so excited about the rest of CBSP's arrival that night. Little by little we trickled in and partied like we do. The Ale81's were opened and the laughter was unending. I love my family. The one that I was most excited about was seeing my sister, Hannah. I hadn't seen her since Labor Day weekend in Knoxville. We've done decently well keeping up over Facebook and the phone, but there's nothing like a hug from your sister. I love her so much. It felt right staying up until 3 am talking about crazy things and just hanging out. I can be myself with these people and never feel unloved or unwelcome. I am completely secure in my relationships with these people. The love that we have is unlike any other love that I know back in Raleigh or even in some relationships in Wendell.
Saturday: After staying up til 3 with Hannah, we slept until noon. Whoops. All of Project watched Diary of a Mad Black Woman and we laughed at hard as we could and just enjoyed being together. I love how easily content we are with one another and can just be together and be satisfied.
Saturday night was when the party broke out! It's a CRU Formal y'all! Yeah! We walk in and brought the party. The whole crew went out to dinner at Gillum's which is a sports lounge in Richmond. The food was great as well as the fellowship. Afterwards we headed to the Ballroom for a wonderful dance party! And guess who else was there....GREG RAY! I love that kid. I'm so thankful that the Lord has placed him in my life. He really is like my brother and I just adore hanging out with him and being an encouragement together. I just love that kid.
After we danced the night away and my feet got really angry for the torchure I had put them through, in true CBSP08 fashion, we headed to Steak and Shake! The party rolled over there and included milkshakes and food (thanks JD for splitting a milkshake with me) and we had a great time. But then it was bedtime.
Sunday: Project kids are such heathens. We all slept in and packed up and then headed to lunch together at Qdoba. After lunch most of us headed out about the same time. My destination: Lexington, Kentucky.
---
Lexington, Kentucky
I met Jill Duckworth, Scarlet Thomas and Sarah Woodall at Common Ground Coffee Shop on High Street in Lexington and we had some great quality time together. We're all involved heavily with Crusade so we swapped encouraging stories and talked about evangelism and following up with girls. We even did some digging into the Word for more encouragement...and to help Jill write her paper. There's nothing Project kids won't do for each other. ;)
I was so encouraged to hear about how the Lord is moving on their campuses and through them. He is so big that we don't even realize it. We'll never come completely to the conclusion of actually how big He is. After some good coffee and fellowship, we said our goodbyes and I headed back to Sarah's apartment with her before I went to her church's evening service with her. I loved the fellowship and the preaching at echo (Sarah's service). It was a great time of conviction for me and a good connect time for me and my Jesus. Afterwards, Sarah and I headed to Fazoli's with her college group for some supper. I got the chance to meet a lady named Yulia who is from Belarus. Seeing the light and hope in her eyes settled something in my soul for my brother Petr. It once again showed me how big my Jesus is. In a place so hopeless and unhappy and dark, Jesus still comes through and His message is spread and people have a new meaning. As far as I know, Petr isn't a Christian and so my prayers are with him that he will one day meet Jesus so we can spend eternity together even though we're so separated now.
After echo and dinner I headed to UK's campus with Sarah to chalk the campus to help advertise for their upcoming Porn Nation event. It was the coldest night Lexington had seen in a while and all I had on was a tshirt, jeans, a pea coat and a scarf. Thankfully, I had decided against the Rainbows since I was driving for a while that day and had on tennis shoes instead, so my toes survived. If that didn't prove to Sweet Sarah how much I love her, I'm not sure what will, haha. Like I said, there's nothing that Project kids won't do for one another. We then headed back to Sarah's house where sleep was sought after quickly as we bundled up under the blankets to try to escape the cold temperatures.
The morning came soon and it was time to move on from my adventures in Kentucky. With a sad smile on my face, I knew that it was going to be all right because I had great things ahead of me despite the amazing things that I was leaving behind.

Hello World

Good afternoon friends.
I'm currently sitting in Talley Student Center attempting to delay homework and other productive things and I decided that I needed a blog. I cannot promise how much I will ever use this thing due to time and privacy, but it couldn't hurt to have it. I wish I had started one during Clearwater to document my life this summer and where my Jesus took me on that journey. Oh well. Coulda, shoulda, woulda right?
This will probably simply be an outlet for me. Somewhere to post what the Lord is teaching me currently, where He is leading me, what I am reflecting on, that kind of thing. I used to journal daily when I was younger and still do every now and again, but typing is faster and I rarely part with my computer, so an online thing seemed appropriate.
All sorts of ideas have popped into my head since I pushed "create" for this thing about what I can say to people that don't have something better to do other than to read my rambles, but my Spanish book seems to be unforgivingly staring me in the face so I think I'll hop on that before I start this adventure here.