Friends, I'm back!

My dear mother and grand blogger herself has nominated me for an award. This award has come at time, well, so perfectly timed. I have begun to embrace my blog once more. I have ached for it in the past months, but with the fullness of life it was tucked into a corner untouched.
I am grasping for it once more. I need it. I need to let the words flow once more. I've got ideas... the importance of lemon zest, you deserve someone who calls you beautiful, farmer jane, plus I am including a new addition FOOD.

But back to the point of this post. I've been nominated, in which I am ever grateful. I am choosing to embrace the award, but yet not passing it on. One, I don't follow enough blogs in the blogging world to nominate ten people in return. And two, I want to put my emphasis into writing, not awarding.

Yet, I thought it would be fun to answer the ten questions posed for the nomination. And link you all back to the wonders of the one who nominated me.

One. Favorite Movie?
Currently, I love Julie and Julia.

Two. What are you reading right now?
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Three. Sweet Potatoes or Russet Potatoes?
Sweet Potatoes, yum!

Four. Honey or Sugar?
Honey [my grandpa's to be exact].

Five. Favorite Weekend Activity?
The cliche college student answer of sleeping in, but also to note I love the Saturday morning Farmer's Market.

Six. What decade would you most liked to have lived in?
1920's, The Great Gatsby is my inspiration here.

Seven. Makeup or a la natural?
I love the idea of a la natural, but I have to be honest I wear makeup. The bare minimum though of only foundation and mascara.

Eight. Tea or Coffee?
Now that is a silly question, TEA!

Nine. Sweet or Salty?
I love a combination, but lean towards sweet.

Ten. Thing that you are most proud of accomplishing this year?
Embracing, learning, and perfecting the art of cooking and baking.

I'm a crazy, library loving, college student

Five hours later I find myself slightly ahead on my homework. 

Arriving shortly after two in the afternoon I watched as night fell over the city of Marquette. It brings me to the awareness that I have been sitting in one spot for far too long. It is time to call it a night and bask in the accomplishment of the vast amount of pages read, notes taken, and words typed.

In every corner of our lives

How often do we incorporate God into our lives?

How often?

The other day, in my Creative Writing class, I was in reading a piece by Rick Bass entitled "Fire Season". 

The essay as a whole struck me. The piece begins with him in a huckleberry patch, where he writes of:

"huckleberry jam in the coming year, and pancakes and muffins and milkshakes"

But huckleberries aren't the point. 

This is what struck a cord. 

"and I know more than I have ever known that there is no hand of mankind, no technology or science or knowledge, or management directives, the can influence this breath of living, restless earth: And again I feel tiny, puny, even invisible, and it is exhilarating, and I am reminded intensely of what an astounding privilege it is to be alive"

And there I wrote in my quick scribbled handwriting, God.

In class I wanted to raise my hand and say I know the answer; I know what "influences this breath of living, restless earth". 

Lately I have been caught is this struggle of why college? I am now an Undecided major, which simply means I am confused. So the question arises, why college? And to be fully honest, I still sit here in confusion over that question.

But I know this, God is in my classes. I can still find God. He there, woven into the essays, the story stories, and the history I study. I can't skim over that. I can't turn away from classes simply because I am asking the question why?

He is there. 

You just have to look.

Shifted

One thing I have learned is that I have become quite inadequate at getting things done. I could blame the summer weather, the long days of lounging in the sunshine, or the adventures waiting to be had. But it is time for me to face the fact that I have changed. It isn't the weather or the adventures to be had, it is me.

College is a great shifter. When I entered into college my whole life shifted. I went from the life I have been used to for the past 18 years to a new town with new people nearly 8 hours away from home. But it was the best decision I ever made. Sure it was scary and nerve racking. There were the teary eyes phone calls home asking for my parents to come pick me up. But I won't change a thing. My life shifted, it changed. College was great, and is great. College is filled with the little moments that leave a big impact. Totally worth every tear shed, laugh shared, and penny spent.

No longer are the daily to-do lists filled with this that and another thing. College relaxed me, it allowed me to step back from the lists of life and enjoy each moment as it comes. Yea, there are still the emails needing to be answer, the train ticket waiting to be purchased, the stack of clothes sitting on my desk. Those things haven't gone away. There is still a mental to-do list floating in my mind, it just isn't as present. For there is the sunshine, the adventures, the moments to be cherished.

I guess it comes down to balance. Balancing the mental to-do list with fun lovin' moments of life. For now I will sit back and enjoy the sunshine. There is always later, always tomorrow, but for now I am going to enjoy a cup of tea.

You take what you get

Last week was the return trip home. The trip from one home to the other.
Sitting there in passenger seat I watched Marquette pass by, and I thought back. And there in that moment I pulled out my journal and began writing. Writing down each thought swirling in my mind. Writing on the past eight, nearly nine months of my life.

The tears that fall are tears of joy. The joy of all the good times; the memories made. The late nights filled with midnight snack runs. The wallyball games where laughter caused sides to hurt. The early Saturday morning cycling class with a post workout trip to Smoothie King. The afternoon pool games which I occasionally won. And Monday nights filled with Castle, laughter, and challenging life questions.
The conversations: priceless.
The times of almost falling off the chair. The crazy sayings spoken in the early morning hours by a mind running on low. "You take what get".
And that is it; you take what you get and you run with it. You embrace the time. You live in the moment. That is what college is all about; that is what life is about.
And to all those who helped shape these good times... Goodbyes are hard, but it isn't really goodbye rather see you later. A time will come once again where our lives will intertwine. A time where we create more memories, have more laughs, share more conversations about life. 

Being home everyone has asked me how the first year was. I answer in the simplest way possible: "It was awesome; I loved it up in the UP". Those two things are both true, but to tell someone how my first year truly was would take more time than just one cup of tea. My first year was more than just awesome. It was  a year of growth, learning, discovery. The list could go on. I could talk of times of laughter and tears. Times of fear, trial, and overcoming. In it all one discovery is key: tea. Without tea so much wouldn't be. Tea has become more to me than just a drink for a sore throat. It has become life.
My first year; a cup of tea.