Muy felize is me

Three exams down, two more to go! Can't believe it's already the last week of school. Can't wait for summer!

Anyway, I'm especially, super excited for the end of the week cause Friday Angie and Steven fly in!  Yea I'm pretty excited (as you can tell). Angie is one of my very best friends from New Zealand and she's freaking awesome! So anyway, her and her brother are coming to town for a fun filled week of whatever the heck we want! basically I can't wait.

Hopefully I'll take pictures. I probably will.
Oh and did I mention I only have two more finals left?

Yeah, I'm excited.

Just when I'm doin' ok...

It seems just when I'm doing okay with being here: with school, life, home, Chicago. Just when I'm finally fine...

I get bit by that awful bug, and I just wanna leave and go anywhere. I read a blog, see a picture, watch a movie, and I get those butterflies that come with the adrenaline rush of adventure, followed by a pit in my stomach.... and then I listen to some sad music and feel almost better because I can vicariously live my life through a song:

To skip or not to skip....

Just so you know... I should be in class right now 

Ramen Noodles!

Everyone knows that Ramen Noodles are a college student's staple. But by Junior/Senior year, they're gettin' a bit old. Here's some ways to Spice um up!

Happy day after Valentine's Day

 Just sitting in my living room enjoying a cup of hot chocolate studying away. 

Hope ur Valentine's Day was filled with love!

xoxo

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with his Love

he will exult over you with loud Singing .

Zephaniah 3:17 

One year 2 months....

Till I graduate! It may be a little soon to think about that, but sometimes my imagination gets the best of me and I find myself planning my life after graduation, like how I want to decorate my first apartment.
I want it too look a lot like this:

It's Milly's apartment from the movie

 'Because I Said So' 

Curled up and cozy

Here I am, computer in hand curled up in a blanket, sipping tea and grooveshark serenading me with all the songs I love. Sigh, only two more weeks till Christmas break and my concentration has taken a turn for the worse. My 'to do' list continues to grow, and my resolve continues to fade just a little bit.... sigh. I can make it I know I can! One more semester down, three more to go!

In the scheme of things that is not really so much time at all, but when you're in the middle of it, it seems like an eternity.

This afternoon I have a campus ministry meeting then meeting heather for our weekly bdubs night complimented by a bit of shopping and 'Grey's Anatomy'. It's tomorrow I'm dreading. Class and Work. Ah to be as free as a bird!

"Looking to the things that are ahead, forgetting the things which lie behind, I press towards the mark....."

Off to be productive!
<3 Me

ok, (yeah i know I start out 95% of my post the same way...) so here I am once again overwhelmed by the amount of  things I have to do and the amount of time that I have to do them in. I have clinicals tomorrow which require me to finish my care map and drug cards and head to the hospital with in the next 1/2 hour to find out my pt for tomorrow. *sigh* I always freak out on Tuesdays. Next week I'm going to have everything done ahead of time! Oh wait! next week is thanksgiving! oh the joys oh the joys! CAN'T FREAKING WAIT!

My stress level lately has topped my previous high score. Whenever my stomach hurts I'm afraid it's an ulcer. i need to start slowing down and planning things better! I used to think blogging was just a waste of time, then I realized how glad I'm going to be to have it later down the road when I want to remember all these fun little tid bids about my life that I can't remember.

Ok... so now the really exciting news.. I'm going to Ecuador! i know, I can't believe it either! and to top it off, I'm going to the same Indian tribe that Jim Elliot was killed by and Elizabeth Elliot was a missionary to after her husband died! I watch end of the spear just a bit again and I bawled like a baby! oh my word, it's amazing and so powerful the story of these men's lives. It's unbelievable that these things happen. I thought of my Aunt Barb and her being kidnapped in Guatemala and tears just ran down my face because for some reason giving it all for Christ never seemed more real. Can i do that? Will I do that? Do I care enough that people are going to hell that I would risk my life to go and show them somthing greater? I thought about how we raise money for missions trips and spend thousands on plan tickets and costs to go to other countries,  are we being wise stewards of what is being entrusted to us! It's not a game, it's not for social reasons that we go on these trips it's not for fun, there's a serious call. If you decided to go, then you had better be ready to sacrifice, be ready to give it all.  Don't waste the money that others have sacrificed to help send you on these trips. Make it worth it.

That is all.

Anticipation of summer

The semester is coming to an end, and with the anticipation of summer come exams, projects and papers. The result is little sleep, crazy behaviors and basic insanity. (off to take an exam)....

Okay, I'm back! whew, glad that's over! On my way back I grabbed some lunch to go and rushed back to my dorm where I currently sit enjoying a relaxing hour before stats and theo. Then, this afternoon I have a SI session for Chem ( plus hours of studying ahead of me) a class preparatory writing for phil. and bible study (come by the way, tib 27 8:00pm)

22 days to go!

The countdown continues

Spring Break x2

YES I love Easter! and not just because of the yummy cholocate eggs and the fact that it's probably the most significant Christian holiday besides Christmas, but for more shallow reasons.  I HAVE A 5 DAY WEEKEND! I'm so very excited! Even though i have a stack of homework to accomplish and a "to do" list the length of well.. a really long thing.

So yeah,
Off to the races!

Statistically (absent)minded

    So I'm studying for a statistics exam and as usual I'm taking time out to write down all the thoughts that i'm thinking that are TOTALLY unrelated to any form of math.

    I'm thinking bout a friend that I miss, and wondering why I just can't have all the people that I love around me all the time? I wonder why life can be so difficult and how I try so hard, yet I seem to have so many broken relationships in my life.
    I'm learning though, learning how to confront things instead of just letting them slide under the carpet, hoping that one day they would just disappear. I wan't to be honest about what I'm thinking and feeling. I have a right to express my opinion and thoughts and I have a right to tell people when I've been hurt. Sometimes I just want to yell, scream and get it all out. But that doesn't mean that I don't love the person. Just that I want to be understood, is that wrong?
    I want to be free to be me, all of me, everything that is me. I am still in process, still learning how to breathe in and out some days, but others, I feel like I can fly and I'm so glad that I have a God that never gives up on me, but keeps teaching me and loving me and giving me courage and grace.
     So here I am, looking out the window, knowing that nothing but God's amazingness can be enough. But then, at the same time, realizing that it is enough, It always is enough. and when i choose to know that truly in my heart, that's when I experience true life, when I can give up every selfish desire, plan, and purpose and trade them for a lifetime adventure, even if it is unknown.

Spring Break!

So the saga of my life continues... I made it through mid terms! whew... what a relief! only one more class away from a whole week of almost completely educational freedom. What am I going to do? I have no idea, but some lovely options are (drum-roll please)

- Decorate my room! I'm still finishing it and it's been over a year

- Work! it's a negative option.. but a needful one. I need some moola

- Run! I want to start training for the chicago half marathon ( Can she do it! YES SHE CAN!)

- SLEEP IN! yes, yes yes yes yes! that's totally happening

- Hang out with my two favorite girls Katie Lauren who is in from california, and Karissa Joy

(Monday night -- the girls hit the town!)

- POSSIBLY make a very random roadtrip to a place that is too secret to disclose at this current juncture.

So yea, that's my week. It's gunna be a great one!

oh and I'm going to London....

WHAT!!!!!!!

yes... it's true, after the semester ends I'm taking off to the land of 500 dollar shoes and corner cafe's, beautiful castles, and men with funny, big red hats.

It's offical.

I love my life. (ya know, with the exception of midterms)

It's someone's birthday today! YAY! who's I'm not exactly sure, but i can hear them signing through the walls, lol. Sound travels well through cinder block apparently.

So yea, once again I should be writing an assignment and I could be up till almost 2 getting it done. Psh, life, life, life.

I'm sitting here wondering if I have taken on to much this semester. Then I realized that as long as I stay on top of things and don't go to bed @ 2 -- I should be fine.

Went to canada this weekend to visit annetty!! love her! Miss her. Basically, my life would suck without here.

ok, ok, ok I'm starting my homework.

la de da -- I love you! (yeah I know you feel generalized, but since there are like 2 or 3 people that actually follow this blog -- it's really still speical, and true!! whoo hoo. )

God is amazing,

Life is amazing,

My homework assignment is dumb

Back to the books

It's Wednesday and I'm sitting in my living room staring at my computer knowing that I will spend hours and hours in this exact position for the next 3 months. YES!

I'm actually waiting to leave for the city to see Annie!!! I'm so excited :-)

Then, tomorrow, I start classes.

First semester is coming to a close!

Time is moving right along and now I'm about to finish my first semester at TCC! and as you might assume... i am supposed to be writing a final paper.

I have now gotten over my inner drama of thinking that my life was temporarily meaningless. It's been an interesting semester but it's ending well. I have a super busy weekend planned and I can't wait.

Schedule includes:

- Visiting my adorable niece and in-potting-training nephew ( he pooped in the toilet for the first time today. My sister-in-law cried. )

- Finishing the paper that I'm currently supposed to be writing but I'm not.

- Packing for Thailand (leaving on Wednesday!)

- Leaving for a mini road trip to Indianapolis

- Pulling an all-nighter of fun and random adventures with our nomad friends

- Having Christmas get together with the "other" side of the family

- and yeah...other stuff

Next tues-wed is finals.

Then it's party -- not in the U.S.A :-)

Thats just the way I roll...

WHY AM I SUCH A PROCRASTINATOR!!

Every time that I write in this blog it's because I am avoiding something. Yes, My names is Rachel and I am an avoider. I really should work on that. I just finished a movie, two tv shows, and a box of mac and cheese... basically everything besides my homework. blah. I have a quiz and an exam tomorrow and i keep telling myself it's so easy. ( I'll keep telling myself this until I am up the whole night studying and dragging myself into class the next morning looking like I got ran over by a truck. )

It's official. I have a problem.

Too bad there's not a drug for it. I'm sure they come up with it soon. But in the mean time... off to find something else to feed my avoidance problem.

Cheers!

Midterms!!! Can't believe that Fall is in full swing and giving me tons of reasons to wish that it was summer again... oh me oh my.

I used to think that following my dreams was the most important thing that you could do in life, so I would pursue them with vigor and ease, but now, I'm lost in a cold, dark reality. How am I coping? Lots of TV, Facebook, and late night movies (this basically means I have a chronic headache). According to everyone else, nursing, and TCC is my destiny. If I'm fulfilling my purpose then why do I feel so unfulfilled? It doesn't add up.

I was talking to an old friend yesterday and realized that it's time for some soul searching. What if I'm in the wrong place?

There is a school in California that sounds just perfect for me. I'm thinking about applying next year. I only have one life, i want to live it right. How do i know what's right? I need answers, I need an open door. I want something more than average, more than normal, more than fine.

My life is important, I am not a nobody floating around the world voiceless and aimless. I am who I am for a reason. Is this pride? No! It's the truth, and not just for me but for every person. You are who you are for a reason! Life is not supposed to be waking up each day hoping that tomorrow will be better, or that your big break will come soon. Take your opportunity now! Don't wait for everyone else to change, you change first.

This is my life, it's my choice and my responsibility to make it count.

Now... its back to the books