Catching up...again!

So it's been a little while since I last wrote about what I'm up to. I finished working last week. Whew! After a busy summer it's nice to get a little break. Though to be honest I haven't exactly been spending my "break" resting a lot. I've been up early a lot and going to bed late and staying busy during the day. It's good though.

Today I finally got a chance to visit with Elizabeth before we go back to school. She and I got breakfast and then went bowling. It was a lot of fun. I've decided that I really like bowling! I bowled a 63 and she bowled a 64. Sweet! What's even sweeter is spending time with a christian friend. She's a special girl.

Ick...bowling shoes! We brought socks so we wouldn't have to put our bare feet in those. lol.

I used the pink bowling ball!

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done by next Thursday afternoon. Mom suggested that I write up a To-Do list. I'm not sure if it will help very much but here it is.
Here is the "finish packing" part. I've thrown out a bunch of stuff, given away quite a bit of stuff and still I have all kinds of junk floating around my room. Why? I realize that I'm a bit of a bargain shopping addict and I seem to think that if it's a really good sale I shouldn't pass it up. I plan to break myself of that addiction. All the money I could have saved if I hadn't bought this thing or that thing...even if it was 75% off or whatever. Oh well. What's done is done. No use worrying about it now.

Here's the quilt I've been working on. I had to rip out a bunch of the stitches I did when I was machine quilting it because I messed up the back. I've learned my lesson: Pin, pin, pin, pin, pin. And then pin some more! I'm pleased with the way it's turning out though. It's lined with a really big piece of fleece so it's heavy. It should be nice during the winter.

A little something I put together on Sunday. A fun, quick, easy project. All I'm going to say is I love Michael's craft store! They have the most awesome pendants there.

Various "thank-you" cards for my co-workers. They threw a goodbye party for me and gave me some very sweet gifts.

Okay, so Dr. Hartman started taking pottery lessons awhile ago and I've been asking her about it a lot since then. I wanted to see her work and she said it wasn't very good. Well, last week as part of my going away gift she gave me these 2 pieces of pottery that she made. I love them! I think they're beautiful and I'm so glad that she decided to give me some of her work.

I mean isn't that color beautiful? I've been loving this color lately and now I have handmade pottery in that color! Awesome!

A week before I leave! I'm getting a bit nervous! So much to do, so little time. What if I hate it there? What if I love it there? What if I do badly in my classes? What if I miss all kinds of great things that are going on at home? What if Olive doesn't know who I am when I come home?

There are lots of little things that are stressing me out. At my mom's advice I'm trying not to focus on them. I'm trying to give those worries to God and trust that He will provide for me. I must admit that I am going through a bit of a tough time with trusting God. Just because He loves me doesn't mean that things will be smooth. In fact, it could mean that I'll face lots of obstacles. We've been talking about rejoicing while suffering at Bible study and it makes me realize that I don't want to suffer. That sounds so obvious, but part of being a Christian entails some suffering. Being lonely, being looked down upon. Well, those aren't the most severe forms of suffering. Not like the people in the New Testament and today in other countries who were/are dying for their faith. Sometimes I wonder if I could do that. I want to trust God completely and live my life ready to give it up for Christ because he gave up his life for me. It's interesting though because everything in me balks at the idea of rejoicing through suffering. Everything our society teaches goes against the idea, yet I know that I need to not be afraid to face difficult things for Jesus' sake.

I guess it's something I'm working through.

I'll write again sometime later. It may be after I've settled into school. Oh my gosh, next week at this time will be my last night at home!