Facing Fears

So as I have said before I live in the Midwest. With this piece of information we all know that there is snow where I live and we get quite a bit in the months between November and March. Well the snow began for the year on Friday to Saturday night. This is the first snow that we have gotten this year that has stuck and accumulated on the ground. While I love snow and am devastated if I think there will not be a white Christmas I have one major fear that comes with snow. DRIVING!!!

I do not like driving in the snow. It makes me nervous. I am not exactly sure where this fear has come from. I am fine if other people are driving in the snow, I just get scared if I have to drive. Also if the snow is already on the ground I am fine, I just do not like driving while it is snowing. I get scared because you could be doing everything correct and lose control of the car and other people are sometimes crazy drivers in the snow.

Of course, it would happen that during this first snow I have to drive an hour to babysit for a family. I was freaking out a little bit. I woke up that morning and spent time praying for calmness and safety. I left to be on my way and spent the time in the car praying. Thankfully, I was safe on my drive and had a great time babysitting.

It is important to remember that God is bigger than all of your fears. He is protecting you all the time and keeps you in His arms. God provided me with a sense of calmness and strength. I am not saying my fear of driving in the snow had been cured, but I now know with God I can handle it and stay calm.

Perfect Fall Day

Today, has been the perfect fall day. I got up and got ready for my day. Put in a load of laundry. Then I went to church and brunch. Then I came back and cleaned a little and now I am watching football and working on some homework things. Most of the time I try to be very productive on Saturday so my Sunday can be a little more relaxed. I think Sundays are the day where I feel the most rejuvenated. I try to spend time every Sunday relaxing and doing things that I enjoy. Sundays set up your week so take the time for your Sunday to be relaxing and prepare you for your week.

In the rest of my Sunday, I plan and watching more football, getting a little homework done, giving myself a face mask, and watching a movie. It should be an amazing day!

50 days Left

There are fifty days left in this semester (or so  I have been told). Which to me is unbelievably exciting and scary. I am at the point in the semester where all I want to do it lay in bed, watch movies, and sleep. That being said I am also in the point of the semester where I have five billion things to do. So those things sadly do not go together. But I just ask that you pray for me and I will try to get on a schedule for posting soon. I have a few posts to do I just have to take the time to sit down and write them. Which is something I am very short on right now.

A Place I Belong

Do you ever feel like you have not found the place you belong in life? I know that I belong in my family and this is not where the problem is. My problem has always been finding the place I belong when it comes to friendships. I have always felt a disconnect in a lot of these relationships. Now do not feel horrible for me, I have always had friends that I can hang out with sometimes I wish there was just a little more.

In grade school I knew that I did not fit in with the people I was "friends" with. Due to the fact that I went to a really small school I did not have much of a choice in people to hang out with.

In high school I had friends and was friends with most people. I considered myself the floater friend. I could get along with most of the groups in my class. This also meant that I was not close enough with anyone to really be considered part of a group. Which means that now in my life when I go home I hang out with my family which I love. But I do not have friends who want to see me when I am home for breaks or friends who want to visit me at college.

In college I have found a group of friends, but I do not know if it is because of the friendships that I have had in the past but I do not feel like I fit quite right some of the time. I feel like everyone else's relationship is stronger.

I do not know, I may completely be the problem. I am not going to lie I am jealous of the people who have had a life long best friend that has been there for every part of the journey. I am jealous of the people who have friends that want to see them when they go home. Maybe it is just my own insecurity that is causing the problem now. I just know sometimes I wonder if I will always just kind of be alone.

Please do not freak out if you read this. I was starting to think about this tonight and decided to write out my feelings. I promise I am fine, sometimes for me it is better if I have somewhere to express myself rather than just bottling things up.

At Least I am Sure

If this semester has not taught me anything else it has made me sure that I want to be a teacher. I am sure that next semester will cement this even more. I have a ton of work this semester in my classes and one of my classes is awful. BUT I have never considered that I should not be going for Early Childhood Education. I know that it will be more than worth it when I have my own class of crazy kids around me. A lot of my bigger projects are starting to have some of the pieces come together which is nice. It makes me feel a little better about the work load that I have. I also always feel like I need to be completing homework which sucks. I know that many of my finals this semester are projects and I already know what they are. This makes it feel like I should always be doing some sort of homework. This can make trying to enjoy my free time kind of hard.

If you have anything you would like me to write about please let me know and I will get to it as soon as possible.

My Classes

I am taking seven classes this semester which is pretty crazy. My schedule is a little different than your typical college schedule. As many of you know more of your classes meet Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday. Well I have one class that meets Tuesday/Thursday and the rest of my classes meet once a week for a three hour block (Except for one of my classes that meets four times during the semester for four hours each time). I am taking my Early Childhood classes so that is interesting. It is defineitely a different schedule type to get used to though especially when planning out your homework. But school has been going pretty well. I have only had each class either once or twice so I am not quite ready to tell you how I feel about the classes yet.

College Must Haves

I decided to think of my must haves for college. This includes school stuff, decor, and anything I have used that has made my life easier during college.

1) Laptop- this may seem weird but just covering the basics. Having a laptop makes getting your work done super easy. I actually downsized before I went to college and changed from a 15' to a 13'. I think this was a smart decision while the keyboard is a little more crushed together it is a lot lighter to carry around with me from class to class.

2) USB (Flash) Drive- Last year my computer crashed right in the middle of the semester. I did not have my laptop for about a week. A flash drive allowed me to still have some of my files because I was in the middle of writing a huge paper so thankfully I was using it. It also allowed me to use other computers to do my work on.

3) Mattress Pad- I got a mattress pad to make my bed a little more comfy. It does not have to be a $100 one. I got mine off of Walmart.com for like $30 and it has been comfy and amazing.

4) Throw Blanket- This is nice because the temperatures in dorms can change by the minute it seems like. I have a throw that I can use at night for extra warmth or instead of my comforter. It is also nice to be able to take it to the living room (if you have one) or a friend's room for movie nights to cuddle up with.

5) Storage- It is always nice to have the option of additional storage because dorm rooms can be small. Having stack-able crates or drawers you can put under your bed if you raise it a little can be a life saver and allow you to have those few extra sweatpants and sweatshirts at school with you.

6) Backpack- I know that you think of college and think of totes or just being able to take your laptop to class. In my experience this hasn't been true. Having a super high quality backpack can make life a lot easier. There are times that between class and work I do not go back to my dorm room for close to 12 hours and that is a lot of stuff to carry with you. So I suggest getting a backpack that is comfortable to wear and can hold things.

7) Medicine- The first time you get sick in college you will be wishing your mom was there taking care of you. Make sure you having things like pain killers, cough drops, and cough medicine. It won't be as good as mom taking care of you put at least you won't be as miserable.

8) Planner- College life can get crazy between classes, assignments, tests, papers, oh my. Then you start throwing in your work schedule and sporting events. Then you add in clubs and trying to hang out with your friends it sometimes feels like you have 26 hours of plans in a day. Using a planner allows you to block out time to make sure all the school stuff gets done and figure out how to work in your social life and sleep a little. I would be more than willing to include a post about my planner and how I keep track of every thing. Just leave a comment and let me know.

9) Pictures- No one wants to live in a place for 9 months that is just while walls. Bring something to hand on the walls. Pictures are always nice and they let you remember people that may not be right there with you anymore.

10) Student ID- This is more of a remember to bring it back to college with you. Or if you are a freshman I will explain how important your ID is to your life in college. Think of a card that is how you get places and eat. At my college your ID gets you into building and it is how you pay for food. It is also how you get into your hall, and sometimes you can show it on campus to get free things. You can also show IDs at a lot of places around town to get a discount so try to figure that out.

These are just some of the things you need. I have found these things important, some of them seem obvious but I am just making sure you know that you do need them. A couple may be things you didn't think of. If there is anything for you that is a must have please let me know I am always trying to make my college life easier.