Sudah.

So now it is Thursday afternoon. This morning I took my final final and this afternoon I handed in my final essay. It is an amazing feeling of relief...possibly so much that I don't know what to do with myself...oh yeah! pack of course because I am leaving the country on Saturday morning at 6am! This afternoon one of my friends was finished for the day and she got bored in about 15 minutes. It's funny how we complain and whine about having so much and get completely stressed out but then when we have some spare time we complain because there is nothing to do...I have been guilty of this many times. However, today I am just relieved that I survived my first semester of college without locking myself in my room or going insane. I have made wonderful friends (as I have said many times), I passed all my classes (I even did really well on my Old Testament final), I didn't get sick off of cafeteria food, and I had an amazing semester of learning from and growing in God.

This past weekend my friend Rachel came from Orlando and that was encouraging to have her here and fun to see her once more before return to Bandung. She finised school last week so she got to come up and hang out with me and all my friends as we freaked out over having so much to do...poor Rachel...I'm glad she came though :) We also had a hall party this weekend which was amazingly fun. We played White Elephant (and yes I do mean played), there was this fun way of playing where you roll dice and practically attack each other while fighting over gifts...I'm sure it would have been quite entertaining to watch.

Tonight my grandparents are coming to help me finish packing up and to see me before I go. There are so many people to say good bye too and it's sad. It's scary leaving but also exciting because I know it is in God's will and that He will take care of me. I'm just so thankful for the amazing semester that I have had and for all of the encouragement and times of stretching that I have had over this year.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season and don't forget the most important part is praising our Savior.

Rebekah looking cute as ever at the Pointe...I think she's excited about the sunset.

The sun setting on the way to the Pointe.

A view of the prison from the Pointe.

Rachel and me on the swing at the Pointe. It was a chilly day but pictures were a necessity.

The breath taking sunset at the Pointe.

This is our room now with the bookshelves as a divider and Beth's side on the left and mine on the right. And it's not because we hate each other...it's because our room is more homey this way (says everyone).

My own little corner :)

This is me and my cousin Sheri on Thanksgiving night right before being brave and leaving the house to enter the freezing outside snowy windy cold weather! Thanks for the warm and beautiful scarf Katiebaby!

This is my cousin Jana (who's getting married in October!), me, and my aunt Liz (my mom's baby sister). Notice my blonde hair in this picture...my cousin Sheri (who is a cosmotologist) decided that she wanted to give me "caramel hightlights"...uhuh it sure looks like caramel to me. I liked it and my new haircut (with bangs). - Sheri I'll explain later about the next picture...don't be mad, I still love you!

Rebekah, me, and Darcy. Notice my new auburn hair. My roommate, Beth, dyed it for me because she really wanted to...so that makes 3 hair colors in 10 days!! Oh my what will happen next? a tattoo? a tongue ring? I don't think so! Don't worry dad :)

Darcy and I in my room. Later that night we had PaPa John's pizza and it was SO good!

...the beautiful Christmas season...

For Thanksgiving I went up to Pennsylvania and hung out with my cousins, aunts and uncles, and some friends at my Grandma's restaurant. I enjoyed the freezing cold weather. Thanksgiving day was beautiful it snowed the whole day and was 14F that night. My cousin and I went to see Pride and Prejudice and froze! The next night we went to see Yours, Mine, and Ours, which was really cute. My aunt and I went shopping on Saturday (the day after Black Friday) and it was still crazy with desperate shoppers everywhere. I had a great break and saw lots of family and friends. It was relaxing and fun to be away from school and just enough time to be energized for my last 3 weeks of school.

Now I only have a week and a half of school left. Next week I will have 2 finals and over the next 8 days I have a few assignments due. The good thing about freshman year here is that the semester had a heavy load of assignments due at the beginning so now that it's coming to a close I don't have that much to do. I'm thankful to God for that because I have a lot of packing to do before returning to Indonesia for Christmas. Everyday I go check my mail and every day I get a package of either a dvd, a book, a cd, or various other gifts that I need to pack up and bring back to my family and friends.

It's been a good semester and an elightening experience. I've made some great friends and we have had many fun times together. Now it's fun because there are Christmas decorations everywhere and it's cold outside and everyone is in the Christmas Spirit. In chapel today we had worship through music for the majority of the time. Our band played one song in particular that stuck out to me. The music was loud and fast and it was a good reminder to me of what Christians should look like during this season and throughout every day. Read these lyrics and have a wonderful holiday season in Christ.


We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

By our love, by our love
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

By our love, by our love
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love