seven months of my life :)

In 12 days I will be back at home in Bandung. I’m really looking forward to being home and spending time with my friends and family. Something new about this visit is that I will be bringing my boyfriend, Joel, with me. I’m excited about it because it’s going to be great for Joel to finally meet my family but it’s also going to be cool because Joel has never been overseas.

Here's a little timeline of my life since September...

October – I had the opportunity to visit Chelsea in California during my Fall Break. It was such a fun time seeing where she lives and meeting her friends.
November – Joel and I started dating and I went to his house for Thanksgiving and met his family.
December – Nate and I flew down to North Carolina and attended Stephen Hairgrove’s wedding and we saw a bunch of old friends from Bandung. After the wedding I spent the next few weeks of Christmas break with Katie, visiting her relatives in New York and then going to the Urbana Missions Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
January – I spent the last 10 days of Christmas break with Joel, first at his house, and then visiting my relatives in Western Pennsylvania. After break we headed back to school and started a new semester at LBC.
February – We had 2 SNOW DAYS in a row at LBC. One of them happened to be on Valentine’s Day (which was also me and Joel’s 3 month anniversary) so it was nice to have the day off.
March – Spring Break finally came and I went to Joel’s house and spent time with his family. We babysat his niece and nephew, took a trip to Ocean City, New Jersey, watched a couple movies, and caught up on lots of sleep.
April – Easter Break was a nice time off from school and a good time to reflect on what God has been doing in my life.
May – So far it has been a busy month and it’s only been 3 days.

Tomorrow I hand in the last of my final projects and next week I have final exams. Besides that I have lots of packing and organizing to do before I leave.

It seems like time has gone by so quickly, yet at the same time it seems like it’s been forever since I’ve seen Indonesia and my family.

This summer I will be in Bandung with my family and Joel for 3 weeks and then I will be coming back to the States with everyone for the summer. As a family we will be in Pennsylvania until the end of June, then we will drive down south to visit my grandma in Alabama, and then spend the month of July in Orlando. In August, my family heads back to Bandung and I will return to LBC with Jon, who is planning to join me there. That is a huge blessing from God and I’m really excited to have him at school with me.

Here’s quite a few pictures of the last 7 months of my life. Enjoy!!

Sharing my 20th birthday with friends at the Olive Garden...I love my friends and I love that food...Robert was also there but he was taking the picture

A pretty corn field by my school

Ali and I on a walk to Stoner Park

Gina, Ali, Suzie, Maria, and me watching the homecoming soccer game because LBC doesn't have a football team

Nate and I at homecoming...he had just changed back into his regular clothes

A beautiful sunrise outside my dorm window a little before 7am...I had a class and it was awful to be up that early but at least the view was nice and made me happy

Chels and I at an Indonesian restaurant...yummy...a little taste of home

Jennie, Chels, and me in a corn maze...it was scary later on because monsters jumped out to scare us and we kept screaming

Me and Chels in Sacramento

Me and Nate eating dinner together

Me, Ali, Maria, and Gina hanging out in our dorm

My cousins (Sheri and Claire) and me at my cousin Jana's wedding

My Life Group that meets each week to talk about life and pray together...This was our Halloween party at our leader's house

Jenae, me, and Sarah waiting outside to see Switchfoot

Zack and Nate waiting in line outside the Switchfoot concert

Nate, me, Sarah, and aunt Eileen when she came to visit and catch up on life

Me and Joel after our first date

Joel and I at our Christmas banquet

From the plane, obviously

Jess and I around 2am outside the airport waiting for our dear Zoe to arrive

Jess, Zoe, and me during our little photo shoot during the wedding rehearsal...we were bored

Sheri, me, Jess, and Zoe...I love them!

Me, Laura, and Sarah...what beautiful girls

Nate, me, Sarah, and John...fun times :)

Stephen and Elizabeth...the happy couple

Evan, Katie, Jess, Sheri, and Dan...a class reunion

Katie and Zoe with their ruined gingerbread house...it was their first and probably last attempt...'A' for effort girls :)

Katie and I with our "family group" at the Urbana missions conference in St. Louis

Just a few thousand people at Urbana

The beautiful sky

Joel and I watching an Eagle's game at my aunt's house over Christmas break

Gina, me, and Robert the night before Spring semester started

Gina (my amazing and crazy roommate) and me

My friends Robert and Maria...Robert broke his middle finger while jumping from a dare and Maria was making fun of him.

Joel and I on our first snow day of the year and the first snow day of my life

Me with some snowflakes in my hair

Joel and I standing on one of the many "work-out" stations at Stoner Park

Robert and I in the kid swings at Stoner Park

Joel and I on Valentine's Day...it was a snow day so we were stuck on campus but we still had fun watching a movie and spending time with each other

Joel, his niece Kaia, and me walking down the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ