A Year In Review

Well who knew that it would happen? That I would survive my first year of college living 2,000 miles away from home in a state I didn't know, without anyone I know. I know there were some who doubted - myself included sometimes - but I made it through the year. 

I made it through meeting my first set of college roommates. Both were terrified to meet me because at the time I had a cat in my profile picture. Meaghan also swears that I was going to be amish or something because when she came to move her things in, she looked at my clothes and could not find any pants, only dresses and skirts. Not to worry, Meaghan, they were just still packed. I do, in fact, own several pairs of pants. 

I made it through my first set of college classes which ranged from snoozing in my health class to almost crying in my Christian Life, Faith and Ministry class to killing my Intro to Journalism exam. I made it through one set of college finals, finishing one only two hours before I hopped on a plane for home for Christmas break. My next set are this upcoming week, so keep those fingers crossed!

I made it through living on a hall with almost 50 girls and all the fun-filled, excess hair-filled, noise-filled, friend-filled experiences that come with it. 

I made it through my first college leadership role as LAC from the first event running for days to win a stupid surprise scavenger hunt (Thanks Shayna) to pouring out my heart and telling my life story to a group of people who became my family. 

I made it through my first (and only) year as a college cheerleader even though my cheeks hurt from smiling by the end of the season like Barbie from Toy Story 2. 

I made it through my first vacation on my own with my future roommate, Ellen Emery. We cooked our own meals without even burning anything to the ground, so I'd like to call that successful (even though my skin fried that week). 

I made it through being sick as a dog on my own for the first time. Even though my roommates were there to help, they unfortunately couldn't understand anything I was saying because my strep throat was so bad. And I made it through not smacking the lady at the student health center when she said, "Wow. This really is the worst case of strep I've ever seen." 

I made it through not eating Noodles and Company on a regular basis. I made it without my pets. 

I made it. 

Thanks to all of you that helped me make it this year. Thanks for making it hard for me to leave APU for four months. 

Thanks for making me love it here. 

Love you all.

Glad you made it too. 

Prayers For Boston

Today, our country witnessed yet another incredible tragedy. When runners were greeted with bombs instead of celebration at the end of their marathon journey, a little part of humanity fell to hatred and to fear tactics. It is so incredibly sorrowful that this is what our reality is. I cannot get over the imagery that the participants of the marathon literally ran into the chaos. 

At this time, so many people question this world we are living in and consequently question the God we serve; however, in this time is when we need to cling to Him the most. 

Immediately upon hearing the news, my brain locked in on a reading I had to do for my Christian Life, Faith and Ministry class last week by Kathleen Norris entitled "Good and Evil." There are just a few pieces that I wanted to share to gain some perspective on such a horrific event. 

"I feel that it is my business, when I read the news account of some horrible crime not to regard my 'good' self as completely separate from the 'bad' people depicted in the story but to search my own heart for a connection. I try to see if I can understand how it is these people have done what they have done. Not to excuse them, but to draw them closer in order to pray for them and also to pray over what it means to be linked with them in common humanity. And sometimes murderers do help me recognize that my own anger feels like murder; I can comprehend all too well how my rage, left unchecked, might translate into a careless or even truly terrible acts meant to destroy another." 

It's so easy these days to post a Facebook status or a tweet about praying for the victims of such a tragedy. Just today I posted a tweet that said: "Sprinkle love generously. Pray as long as the sun circles the Earth. Cling to a faith that is bigger than yourself. #prayersforboston" Unfortunately, as Christians that's not the only thing we are called to do. We are specifically called to love our neighbors. Our neighbors, whether we like it or not, are our enemies. Of course we are called to love the victims, but we are called to love the people who committed this crime as well. 

How does that sit in your stomach? It doesn't sit well with me and human nature says that's ok. As Christians, however, we are called to something higher than our own feelings, higher than hating who humanity is choosing to hate right now. We are called because despite the fact that we say we are "good" people, to our core we are just as filthy and unworthy as the bombers today. We all are on the same playing field, we are all human and we are all in need of Christ. In his book "Wishful Thinking," Fredrick Buechner writes that "A Christian isn't necessarily any nicer than anybody else. Just better informed." 

I write this post not to dwell on the fact that we are all awful human beings, but rather to encourage. Because we know this about ourselves, do something simple. Do something unusual. Do something we are called to do. Pray for the victims of this tragedy, but pray for the people responsible as well. There is clearly something deep and dark that we may never understand going on in their hearts and minds and they need prayer just as much as the victims do. 

I encourage you to embrace who you say you are as a Christian and to do what we are called to do: love your neighbors. Pray for Boston. Pray for humanity. 

Now on Polyvore!

Well this is something new. I knew that this site, Polyvore, existed, but I didn't know if I should look into it. I've created two different "sets" now and I really love this website! I might be posting some of my ideas for you all on here! The first is an outfit that I basically have, but have never put together to wear!

Top That by hunterfoote featuring pink gold jewelry

On Polyvore, you can enter contests as well. This one was to put together an outfit for a white on white ensemble. 

Void of Color, Not Class by hunterfoote featuring mid-rise jeans

Grow Daily

There's been a countdown for awhile now, but Bee Happy, Live Simply has finally hit a big mark: 10,000 page views. That's not very many in the whole scheme of things, but it's encouraging because people are in fact reading my blog. Thank you so much for all of you that keep tuned in on my life and who are so encouraging. I'll continue writing, you keep reading! 

Nostalgia and Homesickness

Above: These are my biological brothers (Hayden, Jack and Nate), but I have a lot of boys that I call my "brothers" even when there is no DNA involved. Below: These are just a handful of women that mean the world to me (Paige, Laura, Emily, Morgan and Ali). 

One of the things that I pride myself on a lot is my lack of attachment. That sounds strict, awful, cold and many other things, but it's not. All it means is that I don't get homesick very easily. During my experience at the Island School, I like to say that it "beat" the homesickness out of me. We had no Internet, no cell phones, virtually no contact with the outside world save for one 20-minute phone call a week. 

During my phone call, my friends would go to my house and everyone would sit around the kitchen table while I was on speakerphone. The 20 minutes were never long enough, but never short enough either. It was the perfect amount of time to get homesick enough that you wish you hadn't called or that you could simply transport yourself through the receiver of the phone. It was an incredibly hard process for 14 weeks and I never failed to cry my eyes out afterward. 

This tough love in the form of distance was good for me, however. It taught me how to be on my own and how not to rely on my family as much as I had. So, when everyone else around me thought the idea of moving from Michigan to California was going to be so crazy and lonely, I simply brushed it off. 

Being away from my family did not have a profound effect on me at all last semester, as I predicted. But this semester is way harder. With only five weeks left, I'm anxious to get back to my home state and to be with my family. I have three little brothers who are all growing so fast, which seems impossible that they would grow while I'm away. My mom and dad are the people I love most in this world. I simply have an incredible family. Being so close to see them, but still having to wait is killing me. 

Not only that, but I miss my friends back home in Michigan. I have nine girls and a couple guy friends whose friendship is hard to explain, but irreplaceable. I've grown up with all of them. Those girls know who I am to my core probably more than anyone else in this world, and my guy friends are just additional brothers I count as family. I have a staff at the camp I work at that build me up in ways that I can never explain. There's something so powerful in serving with others. I can't wait to spend the summer with them again. 

I miss the changes of the seasons in Michigan - there isn't much of that here. I miss Yesterdog, my favorite hot dog place. I miss being just a short seven-minute car ride away from Noodles and Company, here I have to drive two hours to San Diego to get to one. I miss my cats and my dogs. I miss the woods surrounding my house. I miss driving down my long, winding driveway past the fields and seeing my neighbors' cows. 

It's incredibly hard for me right now 1.) to be away, and 2.) to even admit that it's hard. Prayers and words of encouragement would be invaluable right now. I only have five more weeks, but it's going to be a long five weeks. 

PS - Tell your friends and family you miss them today. You probably take for granted every day what it's like to have a structured group of people around you. 

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5 products I love to use

Welcome to this new thing I'm starting: products I love! I always enjoy seeing different things people value or use every day or find extremely useful. So, when I think I have something worthwhile to share, I'll post it and tell you what I like about it! 

1. Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship ($6) and Dove Intensive Repair ($5) conditioners - I actually use the two of these together. After I grew my hair out over the past two years, I had a hard time finding a single conditioner that would do the job of keeping my long, blonde hair manageable and tangle-free. I have used Dove for as long as I could remember and swear by it, but saw the Herbal Essences in the store and decided to get it and try it out. Neither did the job on their own, but when I use both in tandem, my hair smells delicious and is way easier to brush out. 
2. Moleskin notebooks - I absolutely adore using these notebooks. I first started using them at Island School as a journal, and now have gone through at least five since my junior year. The one I use have no lines so serve as a perfect free-flow brainstorming/journaling/listmaking idea book. You can almost always find them in a Barnes and Noble. 
3. Amazon Kindle - I use this thing almost every day. It connects to your Amazon account and downloads purchases almost immediately. The bonus for the cost of the reader - the prices of the books are cheaper. I have an older version, but I know a lot of people who like the newer ones because they connect to Netflix and can play video. If you're strictly a reader, go for an older version. It's completely worth it if you enjoy reading, travels and packs easily and keeps battery life for a long time. 
4. Vera Bradley - This one is for my friends on the west coast. Based in the midwest, Vera is pretty popular in the mitten; however, a lot of my friends at college don't know what Vera Bradley is! They offer every kind of bag you could ever need in really beautiful paisley-esque prints and patterns. I use them for everything and they are incredibly durable so will keep for years. 
5. Keurig coffee brewer - I have recently realized just how valuable this little guy is. I have a tiny one that has lived in my dorm with me and now is on vacation with me. So convenient to only brew a cup of coffee for one - Ellen isn't a big coffee drinker. Simple product, but one I use every day and is the soul provider of my energy in the morning. 

My First Vacation

Weekend/Life Update: Currently in Corona Del Mar, resting and relaxing with my good friend Ellen (Check out her blog, A Thousand Gifts) on spring break. 

There are a couple incredible things about this experience

1. We are staying at my friend Madi's house. She lives in Arizona and is currently home with her family on spring break. The Masons have been so hospitable in offering up their beach house for us to lay low in for the week. Otherwise, this girl would be trapped in the dorms. Yikes. Thanks so much to the Masons for their incredible gift and for providing us with a safe, beautiful place to stay. PS - I can see the ocean from the front door. Dope. 
2. I get to spend a whole week with my friend Ellen. She is going to be one of my roommates next year (along with Sarah Smith who you'll find out about later) and it is fun to be able to do this "trial run" with her and be able to live, cook, do laundry, etc together for the next few days.
3. This is my first vacation on my own. That is taking a little bit of time to sink in. Any vacation I have ever taken has been with at least one member of my family. So this whole being on my own thing is something that I'm getting used to. I guess more than anything, it solidifies the fact that I am really on my own out here. I am 2,000 miles away and I am an adult and have the ability to be on my own. Ellen and I cooked a full meal tonight, we are making decisions on how we will spend our time and are even having "company" over for the day to cook them dinner and fellowship with each other. 

I feel silly in saying this is a big thing in my life, but almost every other experience I've had on my own has been structured and monitored, not me on my own. I'm surrounded by stand-in parents at the camp I work at, Island School was incredibly structured and I had faculty watching out for and providing for me, and at college I'm on my own, but in a dorm and monitored by an RA. Here in this house this week, I am the authority of what I do, when I do it and how I do it. If I want to sleep in, I can totally do so. If I want to sit on the couch, blog and watch "She's The Man" (which is what we are currently doing), I can! This week I'm looking forward to some free time of lounging about and some time to learn how to cook, studying the Word (for my self and for my Luke/Acts test when I get back to school) and figuring out what's important in my day.

If you could! Pray for sunshine! It's a little chilly and cloudy and Ellen and I would love to get out to the beach this week!