New Year Ponderings

Happy New Year! Like everyone else, I can't believe 2008 is going. What will 2009 hold? Well, right now I'm focusing on a few days, weeks, months at a time. Foremost on my mind is my last semester of school.

I am really looking forward to spending this time with my friends and hallmates. I'm also really looking forward to the academics. I love to learn and can't wait for my History of Literary Criticism class. First, the class uses an anthology, which is awesome, and second, I get to read philosophy and become better aquainted with the famed writers of the centuries. Could I ask for better? For most of my studies, I have read the fictional works of authors, not I get to read the philosophy and understand the dynamics behind their works. The class has its downsides as well, considering how many papers I'll have to write.

I'm taking 17 credits, and I recently discovered that 6 of those credits end in mid-march to make room for a teaching field experience that I took last semester. So, for the last 6 weeks of school, I'll be ending with 11 credits. :) I'm lovin' it. As some know, I was originally intending on completing 5 hours of 3-week classes from August to mid-September before I go to Germany, but I've recently decided to fit those in over this semester and the summer so that now I won't be returning to school at all. My reasons for this are that I don't want to move everything back to school and find housing and food for only 3 weeks. Also, those three weeks at home working will provide me with a lot of extra money to be used in Europe or after. And thirdly, I won't have to cram getting ready for Germany in one week, but can work into it over the summer. I'm really glad I've made this decision and can truly say that this semester and May-walking will end my time at CU. Cedarville, I will miss, but I eagerly anticipate what is ahead.

What is ahead? Right now, it's all about Germany. I cannot wait for that experience! I have so many thoughts and ideas, but those I'll share another time. Enjoy your New Year, and God bless!

New Camera

Yes, I am getting very excited about this Christmas for most of the regular reasons plus one or two. First, I love being home. I love my room, I love my bed, I love Missouri water (esp. compared to Ohio), I love my dogs, I love my city, I love my life. In many ways, I'll never be able to revert to the high school ways, but also, I would not want to. No, St. Louis has changed in my eyes as I've changed, but I still love it's new way just as much as the old. This Christmas, I'll be working at Red Robin, and spending time with my family. I got most all of my shopping done and I've really enjoyed recooperating. Every morning I've been getting up at 7 (which means being able to go to bed WHEN I WANT. yay!), doing my devotions for as long as I want, drinking my tea, made on a stove not a microwave, reading my books (currently A Severe Mercy and soon Wuthering Heights.), making quite a bit of money at work, and then baking and doing little odds and ends with my sisters and parents. Ah, home is bliss too often forgotten and too often gone.

But traveling away from my reminiscence, my latest excitement has been the camera I want to get. After some apprehensive searching (apprehensive because of the overwhelmingness of the task), I've decided to purchase the Canon G10 powershot. This seems to be the best of the happy mediums between your compact point-and-shoot and your SLRs. I'm really excited for this! I've often wished to take the aesthetic, creative photographs that I've so often seen online or done by my amateur, friend photographers, but never had a camera that could do it. With this purchase, I will have to really educate myself on how to use the camera and to take such pictures, but I believe my incentive and interest will carry me through the process. Attached are a few pictures of the camera. Later, I will load pictures that I've taken with it, once I get it. :) Until then...