Friday, May 31, 2013

Major Updates, Summer Schedules, and My Hallmates

Wow. What is this? A blog? What's that? What do you mean it's mine? I didn't know I had such a thing...

LOL just kidding. Yeah, I know, it's been a while. That's what summer does to ya...it takes your orderly self that you were during the school year and relax you to the point that you barely do anything. Sad, I know.

But let me update you on what's happened since the last time I've blogged.

My sister graduated. I am now in California.

There. You've now been updated. 

I can't tell you how hard it is for me during the summer time to create schedules. But I'll try anyway. I travel to so many places during the summer that I constantly have to change up my schedule whenever I enter a different place.

For example:

Savannah Schedule
  1. Wake up. 
  2. Work out. 
  3. Take a shower. 
  4. Eat. 
  5. Check Pinterest, Facebook, and Blogger.1
  6. Watch KPOP MVs.1
  7. Practice guitar.1
  8. Stay in room after guitar practice to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender
  9. Eat dinner.
  10. Hole self in room, continuing to watch Avatar2, check Facebook, update blog (hahahaha), and pin things on Pinterest.
  11. Go to bed at 2am, after saying at 11pm, "At midnight, I'm going to bed."
1 These things can be replaced by other events, such as lunch with an middle school classmate, a sleepover at Bria's, going to dinner and the movies with high school classmates, etc.

2 By the way, I did finish the Avatar series! It was great! I then began watching Flashpoint, but didn't really get far before I had to leave for California.

See? My schedule was so great. Sure, it took me a few days (maybe even a week) to get into the groove of things. But as soon as I was getting used to my Savannah schedule, it was time to pack my things up and fly out to California with my sister, dad, and Honey. 

After being jet lagged for 3 or 4 days after we landed (that's the longest I've ever been jet lagged!), I've begun to make a steady schedule for California. It looks something like this...

California Schedule:
  1. Wake up at 9-9:15am.
  2. Start workout boot camp in Nana's backyard with Kae'sha by 9:30am.
  3. Eat breakfast right after workout.
  4. Take a shower.
  5. Check Facebook, Pinterest, blog (teehee).
  6. Read Pride and Prejudice.
  7. Come up with project ideas (thank you, Pinterest.)
  8. Eat.
  9. Read the Proverb of the day with Daddy, Honey, and Kae'sha. Discuss it sometime before we go to bed.
  10. Watch TV or a movie or hang around the house or get ready to go somewhere to do something...
Yeah, this schedule is still kind of rocky. But it's getting there!

The thing is this though: as soon as I'm used to this schedule, it'll be time for Kae and I to fly back to Chattanooga and I'm going to have to come up with a brand new schedule.

"Why can't you just use the same schedule for all the places you go to?" you may ask. And that's a good question.

I can't use the same schedule because when I go somewhere different, everything changes: the people, the place (well, duh), the objects, everything.

I can't practice guitar in Cali because I couldn't bring it with me, but I was able to in Savannah and I'll be able to in Chattanooga. Obviously, I'll still be waking up, eating, taking a shower, sleeping, checking Facebook, Pinterest, and hopefully my blog. But because the place changes, I may have more or less things to do. 

In Cali, I have places to go to like my aunt's shop, JJ's Fish and Chicken, Solano Mall, San Francisco, the church, church members' homes, etc. In Savannah, I sometimes went to school or the store or church, but I mostly stayed home unless I was going to go see Victoria or Bria or other friends from high school. In Chatt, I'm hoping to see a lot of my friends I go to Covenant with and hang out with them.

Things just change. And they change fast too. Before I know it, I'll be moving back into my room at Covenant. Speaking of Covenant...

I found out today that my sister will be living in the same building as me! Two Blasians living in Founders, whoo-hoo! :) I also found out who her roommates were gonna be. Thankfully, we know one of them. She's like a childhood friend of ours. The other one we don't know, but we'll soon find out who she is!

And Balcony...sweet Balcony. I obviously have kept the same room with the same roomie (Taylor's the best roomie I'll ever have!). CAYLIN'S COMING BACK!!!!!!! She'll be rooming with a freshman we've had contact with since we were freshman, so that's exciting. Another girl I met on Preview Weekend is living on our hall, so I'm excited to get to know her more. Other than that, the hall hasn't really changed. There are 5 new freshman and two returning students new to the hall...one of them is our RA. 

And our brother hall, Rivendell? Well, it can no longer be our brother hall for it is now a girl's hall. So it seems Balcony is brother hall-less... :( Well, I guess we'll see what happens...

But yeah. I think I've covered everything that's happened since the last time I blogged. I'm seriously gonna try to blog more often. I'll have to put it in my schedule! :P 

LOVE Y'ALL!
*~.Mishy.~* (^^) <3

Thursday, May 16, 2013

"Iron Sharpening Iron" Despite the Distance

Hey y'all!

Yeah, it's been a while since I've blogged. It's really been a rough couple of weeks, actually. Nothing COMPLETELY DEVASTATING...nothing has really destroyed my life or turned my world upside down...

A really good friend of mine Caylin Walsingham came out with her VERY FIRST SINGLE "Guy I Don't Know"! Y'all should check it out! Make sure to like it on Youtube, comment your thoughts, and spread it around as much as you can! (^^) You can check it out HERE.

So, that's been great. I finally got back into working out. I've been using Mom's Total Gym and it actually does make me break a sweat (I no longer fear sweat. As someone on Pinterest said: "SWEAT is FAT CRYING.") I could do better with my cardio. I ran around the park ONCE yesterday and was so exhausted afterwards that I almost felt like I was going to pass out in my car.  (So. Pathetic. I blame the Savannah heat and humidity...)

Lately my days have been filled with several things: texting (I am missing the girls on my hall LIKE CRAZY lately. Not to mention everyone who's home wants to hang. So my thumbs are getting a workout!), watching Netflix (I'm trying to watch all the seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender right now. Go ahead and judge me, call me a nerd or whatever. It's a good cartoon series!), pinning madly on Pinterest (my poor followers. They've been exploded with all my KPOP pins. Their news feeds have probably been covered in Korean guys. Sorry!^^), and guitar playing (getting better every time I practice!)

But there's been something that hasn't been filling my summer days: Bible-reading and praying. I actually do more praying than Bible-reading, but they go hand-in-hand. And as a Christian, I should want to read my Bible.

But...it's summer time. I've gone from a busy, hectic, do-something-every-hour schedule in college to a do-nothing, sleep in, and free-to-do-whatever "schedule" at home. Sure, there are small things like appointments to go to before I head out to California, but that's no big deal. Sadly though, all this not doing stuff is not motivating me to read my Bible. :( 

I was talking to my good friends Caylin and Bria tonight. There's so much going on in our lives still, despite us being out of college. And it seems even tougher since we all haven't been getting our daily encouragement from our Main Enourager, Jesus. 

Caylin and I talked about tons of things going on in her life, and one of the things that came up was how we've been struggling with reading our Bibles. Both of us have barely picked up our Bible since we've been home. Caylin made a good point about how at Covenant, we were surrounded and encouraged daily to have our devotion time and to talk with God. And she's so right; it's harder at home not having those encouragements given daily. It's up to us to set aside time to be in the Word and to pray.

After having a great talk with Caylin, Bria and I were texting and then she called me and was telling me how she also hadn't been reading her Bible or praying. Other people had told me of their struggle to stay in the Word during the summer as well. 

God has blessed me with such amazing friends! It's so refreshing to be able to talk to each other about our struggles and to encourage one another, even if we are miles away from each other. I was telling Caylin how we should all be praying for each other in our spiritual walks since it's a really crucial time for all of us right now with lots of stuff going on. Caylin said it in the great famous way: "iron sharpening iron!"

I am missing Caylin, Bria, Taylor, and Corinne SO MUCH tonight. I wish we were all crowded in my and Taylor's room, drinking tea, eating chips, and talking about life and the promises that God has given us: that His Will will be done and that He will never leave us; that He knows our hearts and that He loves us and cares for us. 

Tonight, I'm praying for them and for the rest of us who have had a rough time getting back into our Bible reading this summer. Sure, it may seem like a chore now, but after continuously doing it and feeling the assurance and comfort that we gain from reading the promises of God, it will become something we want to do...not what we have to do.

Whatever you are going through, I pray that you will always remember that Your Savior is BIG and that He is by your side through all of the hurt, the confusion, the frustration, and the fear you are going through. 

Remember that God wants to listen to you speak to Him. Lift up a prayer expressing your feelings and thoughts to Him! He is listening!!! 

Remember that His words of comfort are kept away in the Bible. Set aside thirty minutes to an hour and read a chapter of your favorite books in the Old Testament and New Testament! In the Psalms and Proverbs and in the history of the Jews, you can see the faithfulness of God!

And remember that you are not alone in this. Your brothers and sisters in Christ are with you! Grab a small group of close friends and express your feelings, explain what you've read in the Bible, ask for prayer! Keep each other accountable, for "iron sharpens iron"! :)

I hope that your summer/end of the school year is going well! Praying for all of you! 

LOVE YA!
*~.Mishy.~* (^^) <3

Saturday, May 11, 2013

1 Week!

Tonight marks one week of me being back home! And it's been such a great week!

There's been tons of relaxing, but also adventures as well. I already relayed to you my eventful Sunday afternoon with my Pa and sister, Kae'sha. The days that followed consisted of waking up late, starting to watch TV shows from season 1, figuring out how to work out at home (oh, how I've missed the Covenant gym!), picking up my sisters from school, talking to my high school teachers, etc.

Out of all the days, Friday was the most eventful. Mom and I went to Starbucks after dropping my sisters off at school. Mocha cookie crumbles are BACK and I am as excited as ever!!! They're my favorite frappuccinos! 

The GOOD NEWS: I had my 1st mocha cookie crumble frapp and it gave me my 30th star. So, I am now on a GOLD status with Starbucks and my Gold Card should be coming in the mail in 30 days or so. Excited. 

The BAD NEWS: I only have $1.54 left on my card. And I was supposed to have enough for the months of April and May. Oops...looks like it'll be a bit before I get another mocha cookie crumble frapp! (unless someone wants to be generous haha)

After having breakfast at Starbucks, we headed over to Tybee Island for the SCAD Sand Art Festival. It was so nice to be on the beach again after living on a mountain for 9 months. I used to be so annoyed about sand getting all over me and there being WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE IN ONE AREA. But I loved every moment I spent on Tybee beach. Smelling the salty ocean, seeing the people build sand sculptures, walking along the shore with my mom and hearing the *crunch, crunch* of shells underneath our feet as we talked about Flashpoint, and feeling the perfect ocean breeze that cooled us off from the hot sun. Perfect.

After spending a good three or four hours at the beach, Mom and I met Pa at a newly built Chik-fil-A and had lunch. Another great time. It felt different eating with just my mom and Pa. Sure, I'm still their daughter, but I've grown up so much more than from the last time we saw each other. And so, our conversations were different, more mature. They told me more now because I guess they trusted that I could handle it. 

After Chik-Fil-A, Mom and I went to Target and walked around for a bit before we had to pick Annabelle up from school. Kae'sha had gone on a camping trip with her marine biology class, so we wouldn't see her until the next day. We picked Annabelle up and headed home so I could get ready to hangout with a few friends from high school.

Obviously, Bria was gonna be there and my Korean "brother" Daniel and McKall would be joining us! I was so excited! It'd been so long since we'd seen each other. And we all had such a great time together! We ate dinner at Masato's (Daniel knows the owner), had froyo at Lovin' Spoons, and went to see The Great Gatsby at the Regal. The Great Gatsby was such a GREAT MOVIE! GO SEE IT! GO SEE IT! Today it took every fiber in my being to not call everyone "Ole Sport." (Oh, Leo DiCaprio, you've cast your charming spell on me LOL) ;D

Daniel, being the generous person he is, paid for dinner and froyo for everyone. That saved all of us a lot of money! So nice of Daniel to treat the poor college kids LOL! :D

The movie ended at like 12:30am, and Daniel still had to drop all of us off. So, I didn't get home until 1:30am, and didn't get to bed until 2am. Needless to say, I slept in this morning and it felt GREAT! :) Then I really didn't do anything today.

So, I've been blessed with a great first week back home! It's crazy to think that I only have 2 more weeks here. In those two weeks, Kae'sha will have finals, I'll be going to some appointments (I need new glasses!!), Kae'sha will graduate (my sister is coming to college with me! AAHH!), and then we'll be packing our bags to head out to Cali! Exciting!!!!

I hope you all are doing well! Those who are done with school, I hope you're having a fun and relaxing summer! Those still in school, don't worry! You're so, so close to finishing! Keep up the good work! Finish strong! You can do it!

Oh, and DO. NOT. FORGET...

Tomorrow's MOTHER'S DAY!!! Make a card, get some flowers, treat your moms to something special!! :)

LOVE Y'ALL!
*~.Mishy.~* (^^) <3

Monday, May 6, 2013

Savannah, Summer in the South: 1st Full Day Back

Sipping the sweetest of teas. Sitting in rooms painted purple and blue and covered in posters that express different personalities. Not wearing flip flops in the shower. Wearing pants to bed and remembering how humid my room above the garage gets in the summertime (changing into shorts). Doing my laundry without having to wait for a washer or dryer.

Well, I started today in kind of a scramble. Mom wasn't feeling to well, so I wasn't sure if we were still going to church. Turns out we were, so I got ready in ten minutes tops, my sister got ready and I drove us to church just in time for me to get behind the Manna Cafe counter to volunteer handing out pastries and coffee to my fellow churchgoers. It was nice to listen to the sermon on marriage and family as I stood behind the counter, drinking my free cookies and cream iced coffee and eating a double chocolate chip muffin. 

Afterwards, I came home to a lunch of spam, white rice, green beans, and cream of chicken soup. (I don't care what you say. Spam is delicious.) And then we all kind of hung out in the house. I showed my family Balcony's music video and Suburbs "Dominasian" movie (Mom LOVED it! :) ) and we all kind of did our own things for a bit.

Then I mentioned that Starbucks has a Frappucino Happy Hour from 3-5pm and Pa and Kae'sha wanted to go. The day changed from a cloudy, drizzly day to a blue sky and sunny day, so I changed into some shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops, grabbed my sunglasses and my Chinese bag (that I got from one of the free piles at Covenant. I'm telling you, those things are the jam!) and we headed downtown to get half-off frapps in Pa's red convertible. The wind in my hair couldn't have felt better!

We sat in Starbucks for a while and talked for a while. Then we walked around downtown seeing some awesome sights and also just talking about insecurities and life and such. It was so great. 

Then we ended our adventure at Waffle House with bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches, burgers, and hashbrowns. So yummy! It was such a great first day back in Savannah!


Tomorrow the girls have to go to school and since Mom isn't feeling so well, I'm going to go with her to take them to school and to pick them up. I have so much to do while I'm at home. 

Sweet summertime! Nothing to do but have fun and catch up with people from back home! Enjoy your week! 

LOVE Y'ALL!
*~.Mishy.~* (^^) <3

Friday, May 3, 2013

The End of Freshman Year & the Beginnings of SUMMER!!!

It's official: my freshman year of college is OVER!

I never thought it would go by so quickly, but it did. I'm done with classes. I checked out of my room yesterday. I slept in a little this morning. And grandma and grandpa's carport room is FILLED TO THE BRIM with my and Bria's stuff. I have nothing to do, except prepare myself to go back home tomorrow. I'm so excited!

It's crazy to think that I will be away from my closest friends for 3 whole months. That's so long! But I know that if 9 months of freshman year went by fast, 3 months will definitely be gone in the blink of an eye. I'm going to miss Caylin and Corinne coming into my room to talk, having Erin and Mwende live next door to me, being able to not know what's going on just because we're freshman. It's been a great year. I'll never forget the great memories and the lessons I learned.

And yet, even with exams being over and not having homework to do, there are still things to worry about: getting summer jobs, scholarships for next year, and the next year in general. I have been so worried about things lately, and summer is HERE. How could I worry? 

Ever since I can remember, I've been a "worry wart." I've always worried about all sorts of things: getting sick, getting bad grades, losing friends, the list goes on. Fear overtook my mindset in elementary school, and I could never go a day without worrying about something. As I grew older and my faith in God grew, I began to learn to let things go. And going through one full year of college has surely grown me into trusting God with things. But even so, when things get tough, my mind immediately goes into panic mode, and I can't handle even focusing on what I'm supposed to be focusing on.

As usual, my friends encouraged me so much, with notes in my mailbox, spoken words, hugs, prayers. Even though it had been rough for me, I really to try to let my worries go and focus on what I needed to do right then and there, which was packing all of my crap and cleaning the room before 4pm Thursday so I could leave campus for good until the fall. But when I don't want to pack, my mind would wander to those worries, and cling to them. Ughughugh!!!

After venting to a friend of mine, he asked me, "Mishy, is there any way you can change things so you don't have to worry about your situation?" When I said no, he asked, "Do you believe that God will provide for you?" I answered yes, and he said, "Then you have nothing to worry about." 

It was just really encouraging to remember that God will provide, and that I continuously need to be, like I said in my last post, holding His hand through this process. There's been so much stress and worry. So much change that is bringing sadness to me and my friends.

But in the end, God is sovereign, and He knows exactly what He's doing. Yes, it's sad to say goodbye, whether it's for 3 months, a semester, or forever. But knowing that God is working in each person's life through different circumstances is encouraging. I'd rather we all be in God's will and apart than against His will and together. Thankfully, there's always phone calls, texting, Skype, Snapchatting, all sorts of ways to communicate. 

So, after being encouraged, I went to work, packing, packing, eating, watching Youtube videos, attempting to pack some more...

And then I went to go check something...and oh my word. Tears sprung to my eyes as I saw my grades for the semester. I had been worried about whether or not my GPA would go up from last semester. I needed a 3.0 to keep a scholarship that I really needed...and my GPA showed as a 3.12 minus my Old Testament grade.

I couldn't believe it. God had completely provided for me, knowing that despite my worries, I trusted Him. Even though one grade was missing from my report, I was confident that God would still provide.

And I just checked my grades, and I got an A- in Old Testament!!!! And my final GPA is 3.17!!!!! \(^^)/

I can now rest in my summer vacation, leaving my freshman year with my head held high.

SUMMER IS HERE!!!! So many adventures ahead for me! 

Here's a sneak peek of what's to come (or, what I think is going to come) for the summer!

May: HOME!!! Which equals sweet tea, hanging with friends, visiting my high school, picking up my sisters from school, etc. 

June: CALIFORNIA!! So much good food, so many movies to watch, ColdStone ice cream, Starbucks, mall and outlet trips, family parties, etc.

July: Back on the mountain! 4th of July festivities, babysitting (hopefully), running around the mountain with Covenant people who stayed for the summer and with neighborhood people, and staying until school starts back up in the fall! Excited, excited!!!


LOVE Y'ALL! HAPPY SUMMERTIME!!!
*~.Mishy.~* (^^) <3