Head out on the highway

October 7-11:
So one of the good things about fall semester here is that we get a fall break in the middle of October. My dad thinks it's because of Columbus Day, however, I have yet to get the feeling that Duke pays any respect to any holiday. So I just think that it's a nice little break in the middle of the semester.
This year Jennifer and I decided to take the long weekend and go drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. For those that don't know what this is- it is a road that takes you through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina that is about 460 miles long. It is supposed to be a relaxing drive with a speed limit of 45 mph. There are stops along the route to go hiking, see waterfalls, pinic spots and historic sites. It starts around Roanoke, VA and ends in Cherokee, NC. It was a beautiful drive the way down. We even got to drive through some clouds when we got to the highest elevation of the parkway and it got pretty chilly.
After the parkway we made a stop at Biltmore to see if they had it decorated for the fall. They didn't really but they did have an exhibit of Tiffany glass lamps that were pretty cool. Couldn't take any pictures of them though. It wasn't until we got to Biltmore that it started raining.
Here are a couple of pictures of what we saw along the drive with all the leaves changing over to the fall colors. And who can resist throwing a pile of leaves up in the air?!

Locals:

Crunchy leaves- perfect to walk in!

Pumpkin patch-

Christmas tree farm-

Driving through clouds, misty rain and cold-

Me, the Florida girl, at the highest elevation of the parkway in misty cold rain wearing capris and flip flops-

God blessed Texas with His own hand

August 17-23:
I had the great pleasure of leaving the state of North Carolina for a week back in August to see a wonderful family. Last year when I left Utah I knew that Sam and Charlie would be the 2 people that I would miss the most. Sitting here remembering that day it still makes me teary eyed. But then I think back to August 17 and seeing Sam get out of the car and hug me makes me smile. I got to see 2 of my best friends that day for the first time in a year.
It was a quick visit but we got to do some very fun things!! I helped Sam rearrange her room, set up bookcases, see the media room, help move wood off a trailer, go swimming, go out to lunch and dinner at the famous mexican places, spend quality family time with the McClellan family, had game night, midnight runs, gossip and "Remember when...", Garen's reception, helping set up Randi's classroom, museums and the water wall.
I know I probably missed some things in there. But the most important thing that I was able to do is spend time with both Sam and Charlie, together and apart.
I don't know about them but for me the time flew. I know that I will be back there in only a matter of time. The trip there may have gotten me to think about moving there. Not sure yet.
But in all seriousness... thank you Sam, Charlie, Randi, Chris, Bro. and Sis. McClellan for the love that I felt in your home and the love that you showed to me.
Here's my favorite picture from the trip.

Ball dropped

So it's been awhile since I've posted. Thankfully not much has happened since the last blog but a catch up blog will be written soon.

Dreams

If there would be one thing that I really wish that I could understand it would be the content of dreams. I usually don't have dreams that I can remember once I wake up. Occasionally I have those that I can remember. Very rarely can I remember the entire content of the dream and still recall the dream from start to finish hours and hours afterwards. This particular dream had me smiling in my sleep (I felt myself do it) and I could feel the person's arm on mine- even after I woke up. I love dreams like that. It might be because it doesn't happen very often. It made me feel loved, watched over and wanted.
I know this post probably sounds so weird but it was a good dream. I just wish that I knew if there was some deeper meaning to dreams especially ones like that where I remember them hours later.
Dreams and sleep make me happy especially after a very long and tiring week of school.

Cuckoo's Nest

So today we were supposed to go do a low ropes course for our Leadership class. However, with high temperatures and a chance of rain it was postponed. So instead our professors decided that we needed to watch a movie that was about leadership. That movie was "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". I don't know how it's related to leadership. Little did I know what it was rated. A couple of minutes into it there was a bit of language and so I decided to look it up. Yeah. It's rated R. Professors didn't say anything about it before we started watching it. We have a paper on it so I need to know something about it. Good thing there are cliff notes for it I guess.
How different this is from BYU! Professors there wouldn't even dream to bring in such a movie but here it's no problem and they don't even consider who might not even want to watch it.
I don't think I have never heard so many F words in my life.

August vacation

So while I lived in Utah I had 2 of the most amazing roommates who were sisters. They happened to be from Texas and had a lot of Texas pride, but not too much. They never rubbed it your face. They also had another sister and a brother-in-law that lived in the area that took me in and treated me like I was part of their family while we were in school. Now, 3 out of the 4 of them are back in Texas and the other will soon join them. (Classes will soon be over!!) I could not be more grateful for all of them. I am so glad that my schedule has time off that I can use to see them again for the first time in almost a year.
By the time I get out there it will have been a year since I said my tearful good-byes to my awesome roommates as I left to start over in North Carolina. I, for one, cannot wait for our reunion. It has been too long. I miss them more than they know or can probably comprehend.
Texas and all the great Tex-Mex restaurants that I've been hearing of for the past 2 years- watch out. August 2011, Magnolia, TX is the time and place of the Charlie, Sam and Jannette reunion. It's offical! I CANNOT wait!!!


Now I just have to book my flight...


Edit... I now have a flight. Texas vacay from August 17-23!!!!!

Sometimes it's the little things in life

So the other day I was thinking to myself that I could not remember the last time I saw a rainbow.
There has been some interesting weather here on the East Coast lately and North Carolina has gotten its fair share. This past week it had been raining on and off. Not very conducive to the amount of studying that I had to do to ready myself for finals.
So there I was on Friday, feeling extremely tired from the long week of finals and what felt like non-stop studying, when I looked out of my window and saw the perfectly shaped and bright double rainbow that seemed to be over our apartment complex. It was just a little thing. But I felt in some wierd way that Heavenly Father had been listening to my random ramblings. I felt like He wanted to show to me that He was there, especially through this extremely stressful time in my life and that is what I needed to see on Friday.
By Friday I had taken 2 out of my 3 finals. With my 3rd being the next morning at 9a. Yes. On a Saturday. I had already found out how well I did on my first one- and I say well because the grade that I got on that final was better than I had received all semester in any of my classes. However, I did not feel confident after my final on Wednesday and almost felt exhausted from it to the point that I did not want to study another set of powerpoints but knew that I had my most important final still to come.
I'm usually not such a baby when it comes to finals. But I can say that I have never had 3 comprehensive finals that were at least 20% of my grade in the same semester, let alone in the same week. So it kind of hit me hard.
So the rainbow on Friday afternoon felt like an answer to a prayer. Even if it was just a small one.
I need to look more for these little things in my life because I know that they are there and that they have a purpose.