Making the most of the last day in October

Some people love Halloween and some people hate it. I think that no matter what clothes you chose to wear or what costume you chose today, it is the person inside that matters most.

The car ride up to Carmel with Mark and Tony was awesome. They never fail to make me laugh. I loved that the three of us sat in the front, just like in That 70s Show, 

except we had so much more fun.

I loved putting on outfits of whatever we could find in the back of Mark's car just so we could get $2 burritos at Chipotle. Even though we didn't end up getting burritos, I'm glad I got to see Mark in his yellow Telly Tubby costume.

I loved meeting up with Megan, enjoying a warm drink at Starbucks and talking about life. Sometimes pausing to write down encouraging verses can be so uplifting. 

I liked laughing over the fact that Megan's squiggly lines look like somebody's heart rate.

The car ride back to Butler was a blast with John and Christina! I'm glad John has his special mannerisms, like saying "Boom" at the end of his sentences. They're so contagious. I love hearing all the hilarious stories Christina has as a student aid in the life skills class. 

 

It's so sad that today is the last day of Fall flavors at Starbucks. But I loved getting my last Venti Salted Carmel Mocha with Amanda. She's such an awesome girl. Even on rough days, she still has the most beautiful smile! Not even a costume could hide that :)

The best surprise was bumping into Catie! We were lane buddies on swim team last year and I miss seeing her every day. I loved hearing the latest news on everything that's going on in her life. She gave me such a great Catie pep talk about how I should keep working hard. Even though we have a lot to complain about, I liked that our conversation was filled with so much joy. 

Staff Meeting was so exciting today! Hope, our boss or coordinator, was dressed up as Cindy Lou Who and I loved that Halloween gave us a reason to have be silly!

 

I loved meeting up with these girls to encourage one another and challenge one another to love God more! I loved sharing the poops and the praises of our week. I just know that Olive, Caroline and Sherry are gonna do such great things and influence so many lives and I'm glad I get to be a part of that. :) 

 

My day would not have been complete without seeing Sherry in her mustache and Eskimo hat! I love our real conversations and looking forward to seeing each other in person soon! I like that we have similar personalities and are going through similar challenges. I'm so grateful that she's in my life to encourage me in so many ways. Her passion for dance and people never ceases to inspire me.

Costume or no costume, I'm glad that people's personalities 

matter so much more than what they wear.

"Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way!"

On days when the weather is so cold and windy, when I wake up with a headache and have lots to do, I'm so grateful for the little things that motivate and cheer me up throughout the day. 

I absolutely love seeing Laura every Tuesday. Even when I am discouraged or sick, she manages to find some way to cheer me up and lift my heavy heart! I really loved starting my day laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Her love for honey just cracks me up. She rocks my socks. :)

My new body wash, scented pomegranate mango, definitely cheered me up! 

The smell is just so sweet and wonderful.

Eating lunch with Jasmine and Cassie was a blast!

 I loved making cheesy Ketchup jokes about catching up on life with one another---get it?? :)

I loved laughing with Jasmine about how funny parents can be sometimes.

I just love how excited we are to see one another.

Annie is such a sweet and talented girl. She is one of the girls in my unit and I have enjoyed getting to know her so much. Today, when no one else could come to the program I had planned, she was awesome enough to be the only one to go with me! I enjoyed hearing about when she was in high school and about her family. I love that we both like Asian Zing at Buffalo Wild Wings. I also loved that we were both wearing vests today :)

I'm so excited for her cause she's gonna be the best fitness instructor ever!

LJ shared his inspiring life with us. I liked that he referred to his alarm clock as his "opportunity clock." He does so much for student affairs and publicity at Butler. His smile and positivity is always so contagious. While he is so big and important around campus, I'm so glad he is willing to set aside the time to talk to us and share his life with us. 

These two girls made my day today! I got back to the hall and they surprised me with a clean hallway. The Halloween decorations were starting to fall down and since they knew I wasn't feeling my best today, they were sweet enough to clean it up for me! I am SO thankful for them!

I loved the unexpected email I received! Normally, emails mean business. But this one was such a surprise! I couldn't believe I had been chosen to receive the Theresa Weinberg Scholarship! 

I was SO shocked and honored! 

I loved that Hope, Olivia, Caroline, and Matty celebrated with me when they found out! 

Who would have thought? I would have never expected this and it is all by grace. Nothing that I deserve but all a gift, encouragement and motivation.

 I loved finding Rachael reading in the hallway...very creatively, I must say. She makes me laugh :)

By the end of the day, the last thing on my mind was the cold weather, my sickness, and how much I had to do. :) I love the little bits of sugar that made my bitter day SO much better!

"I like conversations where I don't have to think about what to say, it just comes naturally."

So many times, I go through my day without appreciating the people in my life that make my day so much better. I am so grateful to be surrounded with people who make me laugh, comfort me, listen to my stories, challenge me, inspire me, and encourage me.

I loved seeing Mark and Tony at Starbucks
I loved walking to class with Matty and Emily

I loved being able to Skype Julie! Even though her life is hectic and busy, I'm so grateful that we can talk. I love that it's always so hard to say goodbye because it means we love each other a lot. She is such a beautiful woman inside and out. Her joy is so contagious. I love this girl so much and I'm so thankful that she's in my life!

I loved sitting next to Elisabeth in Anatomy and talking about our weekend!

My sister left me the best voice mail the world, just updating me on her life! I love voice mails! :)

I love small groups during Campaigners with Sam and Megan. They're such amazing girls with so many gifts and talents. It's so awesome how much they're willing to think outside the box to challenge themselves to love others more. I also loved that today was definitely a blue Nike quarter zip day :)

I loved being able to sing songs to praise God together with more than 80 Carmel high school students.

I loved the car ride back from Carmel with Audrey and Laura. I love praying out loud, laughing about crushes, sharing about how small groups were. Real conversations are so precious. They make a 30 minute car ride feel like 3 minutes.

It was so great being able to laugh over how physics just doesn't make sense with Alicia. We think physics is magic and that's a fact.

I loved being able to hear about how Shana is doing. She is such an awesome Wyld life leader, Young Life-er, a friend and a woman of God. Her passion and love for Young Life is contagious to everyone around her. I am so thankful for her and for our conversations. :)

It was so good to be able to talk to Christina Yau :) We were in the same small group at Grace winter conference and it's so good to catch up. I'm so excited for her that she sent in all her college apps today! I liked being silly, talking about our day, how fun it is to Skype, and looking forward to talking again.

 I love that Amanda (aka Candy Mandy) and I bumped into each other in the hallway and got so carried away in conversation that we ended up talking for 2 hours. Talking about anything from boys, PA school, Young Life to life decisions, our weekend, and sororities.

"Where you are is not as important as who you're with."

I loved spending my Saturday morning catching up with Catie. I loved hearing about the exciting new things going on in her life--her new job, her new apartment, living without a roommate. 

I love that we both love Goodwill but decided it was good to just sit and talk. Even though Catie isn't in college anymore, I love how much she still cares when I tell her things going on in my college life. I'm so glad that we're friends. :)

 

I am so grateful that my brother Jireh flew to Indiana from Minnesota this weekend! Although we were only able to spend a little over 24 hours together, it was awesome. My brother is my role model for so many reasons. I love his heart to love others, his boldness to stand for what he believes in, and his hard-working attitude. But one of the biggest reasons is this...

When I asked him what he where he wanted to go and what he wanted to see at Butler, he said it didn't matter. The most important thing was getting to spend time together.

I loved walking by the canal and enjoying the beautiful color of the leaves changing and the reflection on the canal. I love the silliness that goes on when we're together...

Picking a huge pumpkin to carve,

Carrying the pumpkin on our 2.23 mile walk back to campus,

Naming our pumpkin Adriane, 

Trying to "outwalk" one another,

Showing off our best dance moves,

And laughing uncontrollably about my hiccups.

 I love not worrying about having to be somewhere. 

Instead, enjoying catching up with each others' lives.

I love being nothing but ourselves, honest and real.

Of course, good food is a must.

We couldn't have skipped out on the most delicious meal at Yatz!

I loved carving my very first pumpkin with my brother! 

I loved being fascinated with the stringy goop inside of the pumpkin. We made guesses of how many seeds were in the pumpkin. My brother guessed "200" and I guessed "182." 

Guess how many there were?

I loved baking pumpkin seeds for the first time and being so shocked that they actually turned out to be so so good!

After all our cooking and crafting, it was nice to sit and relax a drink from Starbucks. I loved talking about all the houses we've lived in, thinking back about how we used to sit and read together, and laughing at our old, quirky habits.

I love my brother SO much. Whenever we're together, I always learn so much from him.

I'm so grateful for cell phones. They make saying goodbye a little more bearable.

But still, I prefer saying "See ya later."

"Isn't it crazy to think that we learn something new every single day we're alive?"

It blows my mind that I never run out of things to learn. For the 19 years, 4 months, and 17 days I've been alive, I've learned something new probably every single day. Whether it's something big (like how the human heart functions) or small (like how to get somewhere), we're always learning. More often than not, we learn something new because of the awesome people around us.

 Allison is in the first year of Butler's PA program. I love that every time we talk, she tells me something I had no idea of about the PA program--whether it's about classes, time management, hardness of the tests, or so much more! 

 Matty is so awesome to talk to. He's an engineering major and is always willing to help me with physics. Today, however, was a special day.  

He taught me how to say some random German phrases. :)

I had lunch with Sarah, Alicia, and Manuel. Sarah is from Libya, Alicia is from Peru and Manuel is from Guatemala. I love that we're all from different countries. 

Whenever we eat together, we always end up comparing the similarities and differences between the cultures we grew up in. I enjoyed sharing what I know about the different dialects of Chinese. And it's so cool to learn that they eat tortillas at every meal in Guatemala and that tropical fruits are really common in Peru.

I love being able to catch up on life with Sarah Wright. I learned so much from her last year just being in her YL Campaigners small group at Carmel and I miss seeing her every week. 

But I love hearing about all the ways she is serving the Lord at Fishers and continuing to love on the students there! Sarah teaches me so much each time we talk with the ways she uses her gifts and talents to love others so well. I'm so glad she's in my life!

These beautiful girls are so creative. They inspire me in how they allow their creativity to run wild, transforming a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage.

 

I love looking back on all the things that I have learned today and I'm forever thankful for the people around me that teach me so much every day.