Never a Dull Moment

The last few days have been jam-packed with excitement! To start out, Thursday was my friend Steve's birthday (he turned 19) and when Sammi and I found out that no one had made him a birthday cake yet, we knew we had to fix that. We threw some extra-festive brownies together and Steve was so appreciative (so much so, that he took a picture of them and made them his facebook profile photo!). Then that night, there was a surprise party for him on the 4th floor. We crammed so many people into the living room, and it was so funny when guests kept showing up as we waited in the darkness for Steve. Lots of false alarms. Steve was SO surprised and his reaction was priceless! Then we enjoyed many many cakes that people baked.

Friday marked the first ever Regent Regatta where teams made their own innovative boats and sailed them across the pond in front of the commons. It was hilarious! Some of the boat designs were very creative. The race ended at the bridge and the boys of the first floor claimed the victory. There was also free BBQ which made the day even better!

Here's my friend Renee. We're waiting for the action to start!

Here's the boys with their Titanic inspiration. Ha ha!

The girls on my floor had great spirit in their boat "The Pink Pearl"

Yesterday, I had ballroom dance class and we polished our cha-cha, merengue, and learned the samba. Lots of fun! Afterwards, Abby, Juana, and I headed to the beach to check out the Neptune Festival. Basically, it is the national championships of sandcastle building. It was amazing! They use a mixture of water and elmer's glue so they can go crazy. It's hardcore. The winner got $53,000! Here are some photos...

There were about 20 sculptures along the
beach made by people from all over the world

This was our favorite one (flamenco dancers)

Girl's Night Out!

So, on Tuesday, the girls in my hall ventured out for a night on the town! We dressed up, put on some makeup (wow, I hadn't done that since I've been here!), grabbed our cameras, and headed to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and girl talk. I carpooled with Rachel (one of our life group leaders), Meg, and Tiffany. On the drive we talked about the crazy boys on the floor above us that like to play instruments and "move furniture" at 2 AM! All us girls sat in one section of the restaurant in booths and enjoyed each others' company. I got to meet some new friends who I hadn't had the opportunity to talk to much. For dinner, I had a Caesar salad and a chicken focaccia sandwich. It was delicious and wonderful not to cook for a change. After that, we strolled outside and took pictures by a fountain and some of us headed to Coldstone for dessert. I got strawberry banana rendevous, my favorite! It was lovely.

Meet my friend Sammi

Community

I've been blown away by the community I've experienced here. When I left Camp after summer, I thought that sense of support and Godly love was not possible to duplicate. But I live and interact with other Christian women who want to use their lives to serve God through their careers. The Lord has truly blessed me with people here in Virginia and I will be part of that loving community for 2 years instead of 2 months! Every Tuesday night my hall has a life group where we meet to worship, pray, discuss scripture, and just share how our lives are going. So great. We also have the opportunity to attend chapel every week (there is a formal and more informal version) and hear encouragement from the Regent staff who support us in our high calling in a myriad of ways. God has placed me in an environment where I can be vulnerable and seek Him as I grow. It's beautiful!

Below is a photo of my new friend Ruth. God is blessing me with many beautiful friendships.

Hurricane Earl

For those of you keeping up with the East Coast weather, don't worry about me. Hurricane Earl (seriously, who comes up with these ridiculous names?) is not a huge threat to Virginia Beach. We've gotten lots of rain and wind, but it's no more than a storm. We also have people watching out for us at the school who will call on-campus students if we need to evacuate. But prayers for continued safety wouldn't hurt :)

Matt Maher Concert

Matt Maher actually performed on campus last night! It was amazing. Okay, so I didn't really know who he was until yesterday, but he wrote one of the best worship songs there is: Your Grace is Enough. Such a beautiful time of worship and a chance to listen to what God wanted to share with us. There was one song called "Garden" that was quite thought provoking. Matt talked about the two gardens of the Bible: Eden and Gethsemane. One is easy to be in and one is not. The song talks about making our heart a garden, and it was beautiful. How cool is it to have a well-known Christian artist perform at your school?!

Great Day

Praise God for a fabulous day! So many good things happened. Here's what I did...
• Woke up and spent time with God
• Exercised with Sammi (an awesome girl who lives down the hall from me)
• Used my magic bullet for the first time and made the best fruit smoothie ever
• Saw an episode of Psych on TV
• Went to chapel
• Megan, one of the amazing student leaders, took me grocery shopping and then we went to Starbucks for a lovely chat
• Read 90 pages of one of my textbooks in one evening...and loved it!
• Talked to Steve
• Ate a delicious dinner and relaxed (I need to practice cooking baked potatoes because I seem to screw it up every time I try)

God is so good, and I am 100% sure He led me here for a great purpose...to become a Christian leader to change the world!