Home for Christmas

Well, it's 4:30 AM and I just finished packing for my flight home tomorrow. The reason it took so long is because I actually switched apartments today. I am now living down the hall with one of my wonderful friends, Erica (you may recall I went to her house for Thanksgiving). We are so excited to be roommates! It's a huge blessing for both of us. So if you send me mail, keep in mind that the apartment number is now 331. So today, I moved, cleaned my old room until you could lick the floor, went Christmas shopping with friends, did 3 loads of laundry, and then unpacked all my stuff and packed some up again for my trip home tomorrow. Ahhh! So much to do. Thankfully, we are only watching Polar Express in my class tomorrow and not having a final. If you read this in time, please pray for good weather. We are expecting lots of snow tomorrow and I don't want to be stuck in an airport. I can't believe I get to go home tomorrow for 2 weeks!

Oh, Sarah!

Well, it's finals week here and my RA posted this on her door :)

This is her list of acceptable interruptions

Snow Snow Snow!!!

The first real snow of the season...

View from my window

Pancake Feast

Last week, Regent had their annual pancake feast in the ordinary (aka cafeteria but fancier). We ate delicious pancakes with all the toppings, sang Christmas carols, colored with crayons, our dean read the Christmas story from Luke, we took silly pictures, and I enjoyed fellowship with Renee and Jillian (my off campus friends). I'll post more pictures of the evening as soon as they are on facebook.

It proved to be another example of God's faithfulness as well. I got an email from my RA Sarah earlier that day that suggested I should enter the cookie baking contest they were having. I really didn't want to set myself up for another loss since I had just found out that day that I had not won the why I believe in Regent video contest. But God kept nudging me and I went to Walmart with some of my girls to get the supplies. We didn't have much time when we returned so I whipped up a batch in about 25 minutes start to finish (which is impressive for me!). I didn't even screw them up! I chose an oat, cranberry, white chocolate recipe and they turned out great.

So, a bunch of us met in the hall and walked over together in our PJs. When they were announcing the winners of the various contests, they said they only had one entry for the cookie contest. Me! All my friends at my table freaked out and started cheering before they even announced my name. The announcer said that I won and I was kinda surprised at how loud the applause were in the ordinary. I didn't realize how popular I was! I won two cookie cutters, an oven mitt, and some apple crisp baking mix that were all neatly packed in a lovely gift set. I just marveled at how God reminds me of His goodness. Yes, I missed out on $1,500, but I enjoyed something much more valuable that day: incredible friends!

Here is the type of cookie I made. Yum!

My Mission Statement

I just finished a paper for one of my classes where we used a book to guide us in the discovery of our mission statement for life. I put a lot of thought and prayer into it and feel like it's spot on. It's intimidating, but with God all things are possible. I thought you might enjoy reading it. Another part of the book told us to use the elements to describe ourselves. It's amazing how these exercises boost your confidence and put your life into a whole new perspective!

My Mission is to:

Love, illuminate, and save

Humanity

Through Movies and Television

~

I am Earth –

I sustain life yet constantly change it. I am Divinely designed to nourish growth.

I am Wind –

I disrupt everyday life by invisibly embracing humanity and calling something greater to mind.

I am Water –

I transform, transport, and give life to everything I touch. I refresh thirsty souls when they absorb my timeless gift.

I am Fire –

I drastically alter what fuels or contacts me with fearsome power. I am unforgettable and intoxicatingly beautiful. I clear the debris to make way for new life.

Lighting Class

Today, me and my partner in crime (Veronica, aka my lighting class teammate and next door neighbor) took some great photos in class. I realized I haven't posted much of the work I've done here at Regent for you all to see, so here are some lighting class experiments. Enjoy!

This is our TA, Dan. He likes to tease me :)

Deck the Halls

For Christmas, my hall decorated our doors last night. It was lovely! We had hot chocolate, ate yummy treats, socialized (something very needed during finals week), listened to Christmas music, and expressed our creativity. It's so fun to walk down the halls now and see a Christmas explosion!

We have a snowflake theme!

Our door!

Christmas Ball

Last night, Regent put on their annual Christmas ball and it was spectacular! I had so much fun and I don't think I've ever danced that much in my life. To start begin the day, a bunch of the girls on my floor got together for a french toast breakfast. Then some headed to the mall for last minute accessories while others tried to get some last minute homework done. At 5, my friend Jillian came over to get ready with me and we helped each other with hair and makeup. We decided to be each other's "date" since both of our men are in different states (hey that rhymes!). Before heading over to the dance, we went to Sammi's room to enjoy dinner with about 10 people. Our fancy meal consisted of mac and cheese (but a legit recipe, not the lame kind from a box with powder cheese), spaghetti, stuffing, and fruit salad. After dinner, we headed over to Robertson Hall and by then it was almost 8 PM.

As Jillian, Steven Gaines, and I walked across campus, I felt something land on my cheek and looked up. Right as I did, Steven said, "Guys, I could be wrong, but I think it's snowing?!" And it totally was! The flakes started coming down and we were so excited that the first snow of the season happened on the night of Christmas ball! So magical...

Let it Snow!

You can't tell, but she is sticking her tongue out :)

We got to the ball early and had a few minutes to look around and take some photos...

Robertson Hall looked amazing!

There were lots of fancy hors d'œuvres!

Me and Jillian

Steven Gaines

There was a live swing band that performed for two hours and I danced the jive with Steven Gaines and Will from my dance class. It was fun to put all those ballroom classes to good use. There are 3 stories in Robertson Hall and Jillian and I ventured up to the third story in search of the yummy desserts we saw people walking around with. We finally found it and indulged in some amazing chocolate cheesecake. We also watched the dance floor from up there and played the "find your favorite dress" game. The Regent ballroom club even performed a holiday dance for us. When the band was done, it was time to bring on the DJ music! My feet hurt so bad by the end of the night and so many of the girls on the dance floor ended up dancing in their bare feet. So worth it though!

So many people on the dance floor!

The ball ended at 12:30 AM and then a bunch of people headed to IHOP. We went for a few minutes just to meet some people and then headed back to the commons and made our own pancakes in Erica's room. I didn't get to bed until 3:30 AM. So awesome! It was such a great night with friends and exactly what we all needed: to dance away the stress of finals.