This post is for my dear roommate. She is absolutely the best.

This week for me is pretty long...well, extremely long. I've got about a bajillion things going on, about a gazillion things to worry about (or so my mind tells me). Caitlin is the best encourager. She quietly listens and explains my situation to me in simple terms, focusing on the now- not on the frightfully unknown future, which is what I tend to think about. She's so zen and I'm so...not. I freak, I panic, I'm flighty and anxious. I think we are a good balance for each other...this year couldn't have worked out better! I only hope to encourage her as much as she has me, even in my own sprightly way.

Daylight at Midnight (or shortly after)

I'm about to leave for donuts.

Going to donuts at 1 am is a tradition here at my school among a good number of students. Daylight Donuts opens at 1:00 in the morning on Thursdays and the weekend. This is the absolute best time to go! The donuts are fresh out of the oven or wherever they're made...still warm, sometimes with dripping glaze, and always completely delicious.

Even though 8 o'clock class comes mighty early, a late night donut sometimes just hits the spot. =]

Silly Kady with her unbaked cookie! (BTW: There is no such thing as a no-bake cookie!)

You know it.

I shouldn't be taking a break from practicing my manuscript and cursive, but that's what I'm doing. I had a thought.

Have you ever been struck with how much you know? Not in a haughty know-it-all way, but just generally. I was just thinking back to being a little kid, where nearly the whole world was a still a mystery. I thought about all the things I know about now- I know what scholarships are, I know how to drive a car, I can name a couple different kinds of apples. I know what a paisley print looks like, what jojoba oil is, that I like to eat espresso beans. There are so many things that bewildered me as a kid that I know now! It's kind of refreshing to think about all the things I do know for a fact, since most everything else in this stage is life is so up in the air. I feel so back and forth some days...but that just means I'm learning.

Learning is a continual back and forth between equilibrium and disequilibrium. 

I heard this quote in one of my classes last year, and it hasn't left my memory. It explains why learning and growing up is so uncomfortable sometimes...it's like you are on a teeter totter, not knowing whether you will be balanced or unbalanced on any given day. 

This is why it's good to think of things you know for certain! 

Being in college is like being in the womb. No really, it is. When you are in school, you are safe and you know what is going on. You know what is expected of you...go to class, learn, do well. I happen to like the comfort in that. Just like time in the womb is a time to grow and prepare yourself for the real world, time in college is a time for preparation and growing. Once that time is up, you are expelled from your nice little cocoon into the big, scary world. A baby cries after it's born...the world is bright and cold and foreign and just downright frightening. I know I will experience the same emotions once I graduate...my safe, familiar world will be gone and I will be forced to experience the newness of the strictly "grown-up" world.

Some days I anticipate this greatly, but some days I am just terrified. There are just so many options, and so many situations that require trust. It's a good thing I know the God of the universe...otherwise it could be too much to handle.

Little University on the Prairie

I live here for roughly 224 days of the year. I am in class for approximately 480 hours...the other hours are spent being a typical college student, e.g., watching Disney movies, complaining about the campus dining services, staying up waaaay too late. Where is this, you may ask? It really could be called the little University on the prairie- UNK.

In case you have never heard of it, UNK stands for the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The city of Kearney itself is pretty cool- Kearney, NE is located exactly 1733 miles from Boston and 1733 miles from San Francisco.

UNK is located on the prairie...although it's not too far west from my home town, I notice many differences. It is incredibly WINDY! And very, very flat. There are also fewer trees.

UNK is the smallest of the Nebraska state universities...obviously most people know about the Huskers, and maybe the Mavericks, but UNK tends to get forgotten. :(

UNK started out as a teacher's college way back when (1905). Today it is still known for being tops in education colleges in Nebraska...a big reason why I chose to come here :)

(This picture below is of the building I spent most of my time in- the College of Ed.)

The stadium and field where I marched many times the past couple years. Go Lopers!

This is my roommate and me with our stuffed animals...we are having way too much fun being together this year!

I've decided I need more Carter moments in my life.

Carter moments? No, not Jimmy Carter. Baby Carter...he was one of the 1-year-olds I took care of at the daycare this summer. And I miss him a lot.

To put it simply, Carter was amazed by the littlest things in life. I would be playing with him, and I would pick up a little toy to give to him. Most times it was something as simple as a colored block. I would hold it in front of him and he would drop whatever he had been playing with and get such an expression of wonderment. "Whoa", he would softly say...it's really hard for me to describe in words his expression, but know that it was absolutely precious. This child could be so taken with something so ordinary; it amazed me.

And now thinking back to those small moments, being privileged to be with a beautiful child with an appreciation for the things in life, I want to become more like that. It's currently a goal of mine to stop and be amazed by things that aren't spectacular. Or even things that are, but are habitually passed by. Like a sunset, or the crisp, whiteness of a book's pages, or my smartphone. Just a thought, and a memory, and a goal...thank you, Carter.

Goodbye summer, you were wonderful...

Last year I decided to do a write-up of all that I had done over my summer break. I really enjoyed looking back over that and reminiscing, so I think I'll take the time to write out all that I've done this summer, too.

A list of summer accomplishments and activities (in no real order):

1. I worked at a daycare, and with that I learned a lot about babies.

2. I also worked at a pool, which allowed me to get a nice tan!

3. My family and I took a short trip to Minnesota for my uncle's 75th birthday party. It was a good time!

4. Every other week I cleaned house for a neighbor friend of my grandma. I loved that I got paid in dollars and  sometimes also vegetables. :)

5. I was able to go to Worlds of Fun twice...both times with good friends.

6. I also got to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo twice...once with family and once with UNK friends.

7. The Saunders County Fair was not missed! I had fun riding rides (including the Octopus with the unforgettable pink car...ahem) and eating turkey legs and funnel cakes with my cousins!

8. I did some catching up with friends I don't get to see when I'm at school...some of them I only see once a year or so.

9. My grandma, my sister, my friend Kayce, and I all completed the Beloved Disciple bible study by Beth Moore. Definitely one of the highlights of summer!

10. My sister and I got to spend the whole Saturday of Stir-Up Days wandering around Ashland. Included in that day were the parade, cake walk (I won a cake!!), art show (Melo got a blue ribbon!), ice cream social, snow cones, and root beer kegger.

11. The last week before I came back to school my family and I went to the Black Hills. We visited friends and family, as well as our favorite vacation spots. My favorite part was visiting my 3rd cousin Kate and her family on their ranch in Wyoming. We got to ride horses and go 4-wheeling in the dark and have fun exploring the ranch!

12. In July I helped out with VBS at my church. I got to lead four second grade girls...a bunch of fun. :)

13. I was asked to help review writing skills with two boys I used to babysit for. I had a good time helping them write informative, persuasive, and compare/contrast essays and they did an excellent job!

14. Even though I couldn't go to church very often (only Sunday school), I got to play piano for offertory a couple of times this summer. I just love playing on that grand piano!

15. Several times throughout summer my church friends and I went bowling...my skills actually improved, which I once thought was not possible...ha!

16. Lastly, I got quite a bit of reading done, including:

• A Painted House by John Grisham
• The Confession by Beverly Lewis
• Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Stories Not for the Nervous by Alfred Hitchcock
• Life on the Edge by Dr. James Dobson
• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
• The Good Book to Great Health by Arnold Susser
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
• Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
• The Postcard by Beverly Lewis
• The Crossroad by Beverly Lewis
• Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge
• Lyddie by Katherine Paterson

I haven't posted any pictures from our latest trip (to the Black Hills/Wyoming), so I will do that now! Even though this post is becoming very long :)

In Custer State Park...an absolutely perfect time of day to take this picture.

Needles Eye from below

Melo and I went to Storybook Island in Rapid City for a few hours. I added this, or something like it, to my list of things to accomplish in my lifetime. I would LOVE to open up a park like this someday!

Melo in Yogi Bear's pic-a-nic basket

Me in the Hundred Acre Wood

101 Dalmatians :)

This is my cousin Kate and I in our impossibly cool hotel suite. It cost us less than it would to stay at Super 8 and it was full of antiques and was beautifully decorated. The older couple who run it also made us a hot breakfast for free the next morning...I definitely, definitely recommend it if you are ever in Hot Springs. You can choose from the Miner's Suite (the one we got), the Oriental Suite, Cowboy Suite, or Victorian Suite.

Real life Lopers!

Summer never ceases to bring me more memories!