My alma mater

I went to Lynchburg this weekend to visit my brother Kyle and some of my Liberty friends, including De (who just got engaged over break!). Leslie also drove down from Pennsylvania, and we had a nice weekend visiting old friends. We went to a game night at Doug's house, saw a movie, went to Amazement Square, and tried out a new cupcake place that just opened downtown.

It's kind of weird to go back to Liberty though. At one point I felt that I knew the campus like the back of my hand, but every time I go back something's changed. And it's just a weird feeling to go back as an outsider- to look around and not see any familiar faces. There used to be lots of people I knew on campus, and even more people that I at least recognized. But now most of my friends have graduated and gone on to pursue other things. The school I knew isn't the same any more.

It's kind of interesting how that happens in life. You move on, and you might miss something, but when you try to go back to it, it's changed too. You realize you can't go back to a particular moment, or time period, or even a place and have it remain exactly the same while you've been gone. It kind of forces you to keep moving forward, because you can't recapture the past. You can't even stay stuck in the present as long as people around you are changing. So we're constantly moving, and changing, and growing, and learning. Once you've moved out of one phase of life, you can't go back- you've outgrown it anyway. The only wise choice is to keep going, and dreaming, and striving. Not longing for the past, but hoping for the future. Full steam ahead.

The downsides to city livin'

Living in an apartment that's not soundproof definitely has its disadvantages.

Last semester, I wrote a blog post about how I enjoyed hearing the piano music from my upstairs neighbor. It was so nice and peaceful and refreshing to hear such beautiful sounds emanate from my ceiling each afternoon. Well, apparently the piano player has moved out and been replaced by the Deep Sleeper and the Heel Clonker. (They might be one and the same; I haven’t figured that out yet.) Mr. Deep Sleeper has some kind of job where he has to wake up around 5:30 each morning. I know this because I hear his alarm go off each morning. He, however, obviously does not hear it or wake up because his alarm beeps continually for about 20 to 30 minutes. After a while “do-da-do-da-dos” mix in with the “beep-beep-beeps” and that’s when he finally, finally wakes up, turns off his alarm, and lets me get back to sleep.

The Heel Clonker doesn’t realize that she’d save her feet a lot of pain (and her neighbors a lot of irritation) if she just waited to put on her shoes until she’s ready to leave the apartment. You’d think it would be quicker to move around the house in the morning without a pair of heels on. Especially because she seems to need to make a lot of trips across the apartment and back again. She’s either constantly going back and forth from the kitchen to her bedroom or she’s practicing for the runway. Either way, it’s quite annoying for those of us who live one story down.

I wonder if some people complained about the piano player? Maybe he decided to move to a place where he could play his music without disturbing anyone else. If anyone complained about that piano music, I hope they’re happy now. Those beautiful sounds have been replaced by loud obnoxious ones. I guess you never know what you have till it’s gone.

City Life

Now that I’ve lived in Richmond for over 6 months, I can say that I’m really enjoying living in the city. Before this, I’ve lived in: a quiet neighborhood in the suburbs, a college dorm on campus, and a townhouse in a nice community. I can honestly say that for this stage of my life, living in a mid-size city was a good decision.

With my busy grad school schedule, having everything nearby has been a huge blessing. The grocery store is literally 2 minutes away from my house. I can walk there if I want to. There are a million different places to eat and shop. When I want to go somewhere more upscale, Short Pump mall is only 20 minutes away. Best of all, most of my friends in the program live close by, so it’s easy to get together or plan study time.

There’s so much to see and do in the city. Unfortunately, I’m usually so busy with school that I miss out on a lot of it. One of my goals this year is to explore more of Richmond. I want to try more of the restaurants, go to some of the museums, and go to some of the events that occur here all the time. And I’d like to do all of this as cheaply as possible on my grad school budget!

Exercise

It's hard to get back in school mode after being away on break for the past month. As much as I enjoy learning, I don't relish the thought of sitting in a classroom all day. Especially since we're in the basement of the hospital and there are no windows. It feels like a cave sometimes.

This semester I'm taking an exercise physiology class. So far we've just gone over some statistics about the health of the US population and the benefits of exercise. It's nothing I haven't heard before, but an entire hour of listening to the professor talk about about the increasing number of sedentary and obese Americans was kind of sickening. It's really depressing and sad that so many people just throw their health out the window and go for the TV and fast food. It's also convicting and scary, because I like junk food as much as anyone and I don't make it to the gym every day (and often not even the recommended 3 times a week).

This year I'm trying to establish a workout routine that I can maintain for the entire semester, even when schoolwork gets intense. I'm going to work out at the gym Tuesday and Thursday mornings- with friends, so they keep me accountable. Then I'm going to go to some exercise classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon. I already tried a class called "Boot Camp" on Friday, and it was really, really hard. It combined cardio, high intensity training, resistance training, and abs. After about the first 15 minutes of class I was tired, and by the end of class I felt like I was going to pass out. Not a good thing, but it made me realize how out of shape I am. It may sound weird, but I kind of liked a class that challenged me that much. I'm excited to go back and get kicked into shape!

An unexpectedly good weekend

I got back to Richmond on Friday night because I wanted to have time to get ready for the start of the semester. Classes started on Tuesday because of MLK day, so I figured I'd have 3 full days to unpack, run errands, and settle in before school started.

Well, on Saturday I unpacked, rearranged my room, went to the bank and the grocery store, and cleaned my apartment. Then I settled in to watch some tv. But by the end of the evening I was already getting a little bored. Somehow I WAY overestimated how much time I needed to get ready for school.

Luckily, Tristan was in the same boat and decided to come visit me this weekend! We had a great time watching the football game, playing her Glee board game, and looking at the most random stuff online. We went to David's Bridal on Sunday to look at bridesmaids dresses since we're both going to be the maid of honor in our friends' weddings. That night we went to see the movie "Country Strong", which was a lot better than I expected! It has a love story going on, but it's also about how fame can destroy you when you choose it above everything else. Which is sad, but true.

Tristan and I also went to a church on Sunday that I've been wanting to go to for awhile. It's called Grace Community Baptist Church and it's in the West End of Richmond. I really enjoyed the music and the sermon. The pastor gave such a good message that was so applicable (which is the thing I look for most in a church). He talked about extravagant love. He used the passage about Mary pouring expensive perfume on Jesus's feet. Some of the disciples thought it was a waste, but Jesus commended Mary. The pastor challenged us to show extravagant love like that; to go above and beyond what is expected or reasonable. I definitely want to go back next week and see what else the pastor has to say!

As for school, I'm two days in now, and a little apprehensive about what this semester has in store for me. But I'm excited to only have four classes this time instead of six, and the professors all seem nice so far. Right now, I'm hoping that this semester will be easier than the last!

Best children's and teen book series

Here are my top ten children/teen book series. I define a series as at least 4 books (3 is a trilogy, 2 is a sequel). These were my favorite series growing up.

1. Boxcar Children. This was probably the first series I ever read. I think I was in second grade when I read the first one. The books are about 4 siblings who are orphans. They start out living by themselves in an abandoned boxcar, but later get adopted by their grandfather. Throughout the series, they solve mysteries and go on several adventures.

2. Nancy Drew. What little girl doesn't like to read about Nancy Drew solving mysteries? My friends and I all loved these books, and I read all 56 books in the original series. Again, these are for a younger audience, about 2nd-6th grade.

3. Chip Hilton. This series is probably hard to find these days, but well worth the effort. This is a sports series about Chip Hilton, a high school (and later college) athlete who plays baseball, basketball, and football. Of course he is amazing at all 3 sports. The books are well-written and have good morals. Chip is the most humble, honest, self-sacrificing star athlete you'll ever read about in your life.

4. Chronicles of Narnia. I got this series in 3rd grade from a book fair at school and read all 7 books in record time. I absolutely loved the magical fantastical land of Narnia. When I re-read the books a couple years later, I understood more of the allegories and enjoyed the books anew the second time around.

5. Harry Potter. Of course, this is the series that the most people will have read, and everyone will have heard about. I enjoyed reading about the entire wizarding world. From Quidditch to the Sorting Hat, everything was creative and entertaining. It was a sad day when the 7th book came to a close!

6. Anne of Green Gables. This is a classic. I still love to re-read these books today. I love Anne's transformation from a freckly-faced impulsive child to a sophisticated woman. Anne is one of those characters that I aspire to be like. Her quick wit, spontaniety, kind heart, and stubborness make her one of my favorite characters in literature.

7. Christy Miller. I loved reading these books in middle school and high school. Christy is an average teenager trying to make the right decisions and balance everything in her life. I found these books to be far from the typical high school fare. They are insightful and inspiring, and I actually learned a lot about life when reading them.

8. Jennie McGrady. This is a fun Christian series about a teenage girl who solves mysteries. And gets in a lot of sticky situations. And has a lot of hot boyfriends. What more could you ask for?

9. Aloha Cove. This 8-book series is extremely hard to find, but I loved it. It's about a girl named Cass who moves to a small island in the Caribbean after her mom gets remarried. I loved how authentic the characters were, and how the books dealt with real-life problems like bad break-ups, fitting in, and anorexia.

10. Elsie Dinsmore. This series follows a young girl as she grows up, gets married, and has kids of her own. The first few books are my favorite. In the first book, Elsie's father comes back to her aunt's house after being away for many years. He has become a hardened man and it's difficult for him to establish a bond with his little daughter. Throughout the books, you see how the father-daughter bond develops and changes.

Skiing pictures

Me, Emily, Leslie, and Tristan at Sunday River

Me and Leslie at Windblown cross country skiing

Bud skiing at Sunday River in the midst of snowblowers. This was taken by a photographer at the ski resort and ended up on Sunday River's webpage.  

Ringing in the new year

I haven't posted in awhile due to the fact that I've been on vacation in Maine. There's nothing like a week-long ski trip to ring in the new year. Although the conditions weren't great this week, we still had a lot of fun. I went cross country skiing at Windblown in Mass, then to Black Mountain in NH, Saddleback in Maine, and Sunday River in Maine 3 days in a row. Unfortunately there were a few warm days that melted a lot of the snow before we went, which meant it refroze later, making the trails icy. But navigating ice is part of New England skiing, so you kind of get used to it.

Skiing, I think, is one of the closest things to flying I've ever experienced. If you get up to speed, you can just soar down the mountain with the wind whipping your face and plumes of snow flying out behind you. It's one of the most awesome feelings in the world. If you happen to go off a bump, you can catch some decent air. It's both exhilarating and rather scary. You have to hope that when your skis find the ground again you'll still be balanced and you have to be prepared for the impact as you come down on the snow. But those few moments where you're in the air are priceless. People who don't ski don't know what they're missing!

Skiing was especially fun this year because Tristan and Emily got to come up to Maine with us. Leslie, Emily, and I took turns teaching Tristan how to ski, and she picked it up pretty fast. By day 2, she was off the bunny slopes doing some green trails off the chair lift. As for Emily, we introduced her to some double black diamond trails. Not sure if she liked them all that much, but she could get down them without falling, which is pretty good for a skier who's never skied in New England before. All in all, it was a fun trip. I can't wait to ski again next year, hopefully with a little more snow & lots more trails open. PS. Pictures are coming soon!