The Little Things, Number One.

There are so many little things that occur over the course of a day that I enjoy. I'm starting a list. Ready, go.

1. Fall. The trees are full of red, yellow, orange and green. Their dark knobby branches are beginning to show more and more. My favorite part.

2. Chai Tea. I drink Chai with Lyss on the balcony of our hall every Sunday night. It didn't used to be every Sunday, but this has quickly become a tradition that I cherish.

3. Catch-up Coffee Conversations. I had one with EmJ today. We sat outside of the Starbucks on the mountain and drank fall-ish drinks while the wind blew and the leaves swirled around us.

4. Rain. I love rain more than sunshine, and I always have. Living on this mountain, the weather has a mind of its own. I appreciate its mind. Especially on days like today, when it decided to be cloudy in the morning, pour in the afternoon, only to be followed with sunshine, and then rain to finish off the day.

5. Virginia Elder. We ate lunch together today, and I thoroughly enjoy her company. All the time.

6. Advising Meetings. Today I met with my advisor about classes. I only have 29 credit hours left until I complete my college degree. I'm not even twenty-one, and will register as a senior this Thursday morning. Oh. My. Gosh.

7. Watches. I've been in the market for a watch for months now. I wanted one that would be remotely durable and water proof. I finally found one that I love. It's purple. And is lighted with a blue light. How perfect.

8. Journals. I have finally started to journal. This takes place throughout the day in my tiny green moleskine journal, which has no lines on its pages and can fit into the pocket of my book bag just perfectly.

There will be more of these.

Fall Break.

Fall break was October 16-20. I took full advantage of those few days and packed as much into my break as possible.

To start off, I made my break a day longer and skipped classes on Friday. (I don't suggest class-skipping, but it was necessary.) I left on Thursday afternoon with a car full of people and drove to Chicago. We made some pit stops, listened to the Age of Adz, and read Harry Potter. Out loud. It was a fantastic car ride, even though it took 12 hours.

We arrived at the home of a family whose daughter lives on my hall (she's wonderful) to find mattresses set out and a plate of chocolate chip bars ready for us to eat. On Friday, we slept late, ate breakfast, took our time getting ready, grabbed coffee, and headed into the city. By the time we found the train and got into Chicago, it was 4:00-ish. We went to Millennium Park and saw The Bean, then to Giordano's (best pizza EVER) for dinner.

Me and The Bean.

Reflection shot. Totally necessary.

With full bellies, we walked over to the Chicago Theater. (Work off the pizza? I think yes.) It was only a matter of minutes until we experienced the reason for our entire trip...

Sufjan Stevens.

Words cannot express how phenomenal this concert was. All I could think the entire time he was on stage was that this man is a musical genius. Seriously. He played the majority of The Age of Adz, including I Walked, Vesuvius, and Impossible Soul. He ended with Chicago, saying that Chicago is his dream city, and he used to escape there when he was younger. He said he still escapes, it just involves a tour bus and hotel room now.

He came back for an encore, and played some of his songs off of Illinoise. Decatur, Casimir Pulaski Day, and John Wayne Gacy, Jr. were among these. It was a fantastic experience, and I would gladly drive 12 hours to see him live again.

Saturday, we woke up early for an awesome pancake breakfast with the family we were staying with and to spend more time in the city.

Carl Sandburg on the train in.

The city view from Millennium Park

We did lots of walking, ate lunch at Max's Hot Dogs, and payed a visit to the American Girl Place!

Ok so this is not a great picture. I was overly excited and on the phone with Mommom. She took me on a trip to Chicago to go to the American Girl Place when I was ten, so I had to call her. I feel like it's only appropriate to be talking on the phone.

Sarah's is cuter for sure.

Saturday night I went to DeMotte, Indiana and hung out with Jess and Josh. THey grilled out, I ate their food, and we had a bon fire. It was really fun. Went to church with them the next morning, and then home!

This is the only picture I got. At the gas station being dropped off. Haha.

I spent Sunday night, all Monday, and Monday night at Mom and Dad's. Everyone was off of work and school, and we had lots of fun family time. No, really. It was fun. It included long chats and Harry Potter reading/watching. We had butter (root) beer and chocolate frogs (pumpkins) to go along with the movie. It was really fun. Tuesday included spending a few hours at the Greco's with Lauren, Andrew, and Kate and eating cookies. I went to dinner with David, and then we drove around and went to our old houses and then sat in our elementary school parking lot and talked. I went to Melissa's after that, and made puppy chow and hollowed out pumpkins. Then to Athens to spend the night with Katie! Wednesday I saw Mommom and Aunt K, then picked Virginia up from the airport and Asia up from her house and then back to school! Then went to the Chatt airport to get Lyss.

Basically, it was a fantastic break. I came back to school with a very full heart. Weary as it may have been from being so busy, it was very encouraged and overjoyed.

10.10.10

Cool. 10.10.10.

Here's some photos of lately. I didn't take any of them. Mindy and Aubree and Sarah did. But they are of people I love. So here you go.

KevHart and SarBar. They are cute. And taller than me. And SarBar is my roommate.

Anna Clare. She's my other roommate. And has pretty eyes.

Rachel. She's my breakfast buddy, prayer buddy, Castle watching buddy. Her roommate Lianne watches too. It's a party.

This photo is just absurd. (Side note: Absurd is a word I've been using lately.)

This was at Rock City on Day of Prayer after sunrise prayer and praise.

I look like a turtle.

Absurd.

This weekend was great. Lots of family, lots of friends. The Homecoming soccer game. Church. Tea for a sore throat. Soon to be reading and studying. The end.

Oh, and the dilemma from my 8.9.10 blog solved. I will be seeing Sufjan Stevens in Chicago this Friday night. And participating in the entire missions conference. More about both of those later!