deliciousness, a story, and some thoughts.

I saw this on Pinterest and instantly fell in love with the idea.

As you can probably tell, it's a hollowed out apple with ice cream and homemade carmel sauce.  So simple!  Boyfriend was actually the first person I thought of making this for when I get back home.  He is a fruit fanatic, but mostly an ice cream fanatic.  Hopefully the two mixed together wouldn't freak him out...

I'm so excited to make this when I get back home!  I actually might ask if I can use Rachel's kitchen to do this some blustery fall night.  It looks too good to wait!

(You can find the directions on how to make them right here on this lady's blog.)

This past week has been nuts.  I woke up Sunday morning and was easing into my day when the fire alarm went off.  I thought, "Oh, good.  My first Benson Hall fire drill."  Yeah, it wasn't a fire drill.  Thank goodness I decided to change into normal clothes when I got up ("normal" meaning: work out shorts and a tank top... and my Crocs.) and also that I last minute decided to grab my bag before I went outside for the "fire drill," you know, just in case.  My bag had all my essentials in it: my keys, wallet, Bible, chapstick and a few other miscellaneous things.  After waiting outside the dorm for a while, I decided to go eat- trying to pass the time productively, of course.  When I finished eating, I went to my dorm and everyone was still waiting outside.  Rachel and Caleb got onto campus a little bit later to eat and I went with them thinking that the dorm would for sure be open once we were done eating.  

But it wasn't. 

Rachel, Kait and I had decided to go shopping that day so, in my oh-so-fabulous get up, we trekked to Metro Center to go to H&M and Forever 21, Urban Outfitters and American Apparel.  We got some pretty dang good finds!  (I'll maybe try and post some of the great articles of clothing I found in a different post.)  While we were out shopping, I got a call from my roommate saying that we would be out of the dorms for 3 days to a week.  There was a pipe leak on the 5th floor and it leaked down to the bottom floors.  All the students in Benson Hall were instructed to find a friend they could stay with in another dorm or wait to see if they could get put in the hotel on campus.  We were able to go into our dorms to quickly get some necessities for a few days.  Since I was late in getting the information, I was late in getting a room at the hotel and was put in with 3 other girls that I didn't know- that meant sharing a bed with a stranger.  Woohoo!  Talk about going outside of my comfort zone.  But it worked out great, the girl was understanding and was happy to help me out.

The next day, they said all the Benson Hall students whose rooms were above the 5th floor could move back in, but the students who were on the 5th floor or below had to move all their stuff out of their room and move it to the Benson Hall basement... that meant me.  Fantastic.

I also heard sad news from my roommie that, for personal reasons,
she will be moving back home tomorrow morning for the rest of the term.
  I am much more sad than I thought I would be that she's leaving.
 I had come to really really like that sweet girl. 

Because I came from the other side of the country, I was limited to what I could bring onto the plane, so I really didn't have that much to pack.  I got it all packed and moved to the basement in about an hour.  I stayed at the hotel again that night (my stranger roommates from the night before were able to move back in to the dorm so I had the room to myself), but found out we had to be checked out by 10 a.m. the next day because of a big conference that was taking place at the hotel that day.  Apparently, the students who weren't able to be moved back into the dorm yet were going to be placed randomly in different dorms on campus for the following night and until further notice.  Rachel volunteered to take me in until I could move back into my room (Thank you, Jesus, for that girl!).  Late last night, I found out that I could have moved back into my room all throughout yesterday, but hadn't received an email about it so I was unaware of that fact- not that I would have been able to though.  I was the first person to move all my things to the basement, meaning I would be the last person to take it all out... 

This is all my stuff and this was before everyone moved their things into the basement.
When I went in the basement yesterday, everyone's things were packed all around my tight little corner and higher than that blue cupboard right there- there was no way I could get to my things.

I slept at Rachel's last night and am waiting to see if my things will be reachable by this afternoon.  Otherwise, I'm bunking with Miss Rachel again.

Current status of my things: Unreachable. 

This week happens to be midterms week, too, so all tests, projects and papers due were pushed to next week because of the mishap.  Everyone was pretty bamboozled because of the pipe leak- students, faculty and all.

 

I got a letter from Ky's this afternoon.  

Have I mentioned that I love getting letters in the mail?  

I loved hearing from her so much!  And can't you just tell that she's going to be a great elementary school teacher by the look of her envelope and letter?  I love it!  Thank you so much Ky's!  Your letter truly made my day.

Not gonna lie though, it made me kinda sad that I'm missing this season at home.  Surprising, huh?  

(That does not at all mean I'm not thankful for the season the Lord has brought me into now.)

I'm so excited to get back to my sisters in Monmouth and spend time in fellowship with them- and going with them to Dutch Bros, Goodwill/ValVil, Corvallis, BIBLE STUDY- YES, Dallas, the gym, the living room, the kitchen... oh, can you tell I miss them or something?

Since I mentioned being thankful for this season that I'm in, I'll elaborate a little on what I feel the Lord has been speaking to me.  

I might have mentioned this in an earlier post, but first of all, He told me that I needed to let go of what I consider "home"- aka Oregon, Beaverton, Corvallis, and especially Monmouth.  I was holding onto it so tightly, afraid that if I let it go, I wouldn't miss it anymore- and, really, I like that I miss those places!  But He made it very clear that if I didn't let it go, and actually, embrace where he has me now, He can't move in ways that He wants.  I need to be willing to trust Him and place "home" in His hands and allow Him to move- and He will never, ever force me to do that.  Jeremiah 17: 5-8 has been a particularly helpful verse to recite to myself.  Since I have realized that and have done my best to act on it, my perspective on my time here has been changed.  I feel like the possibilities of things that can happen are endless and I noticed that even my signing skills have improved a little bit.  Although, letting go of "home" is something I am constantly needing to do.

  

Secondly, the Lord seems to be teaching me how to go out into the world, but not be a part of it.  This is something I totally thought I knew how to do- but how could I really have learned that when I was surrounded by so many followers of Christ, literally 24/7?  Not that I wasn't challenged or anything like that, because Lord knows I was (as well as many close friends who stand by me in my trials), but in this specific area of my life- being sent into the world, but not succumbing to the ways of it- I thought I had had the worst of it already, but had conquered it... boy, was I wrong.  I am really learning more fully what the concept of that actually means as a follower of Christ and the responsibility that comes with it.  

On one hand, I am honored that have been entrusted by Jesus with this experience and mission because I am fully confident He sent me here to Gallaudet, but on the other hand, I don't want to mess it up.  That's where His grace comes in, though.

That is the third thing I am learning- grace for myself when I mess up or could have done a "better job"- whatever that actually means.  I am trying to understand that in this life, I am going to mess up.  That's what 1 John 1:8 says- "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."  But the great part is that the Lord already knows that- He made me perfectly, but knows I am going to mess up- and His grace covers me.  There are no surprises with God.

It's a weird concept to grasp.

There is a lot to think about and fumble over in my little noggin these days, so I am thankful I have this blog to write it all out and share with you.

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The weather also looks like it's starting to cool down again here in DC.  Rejoice!  

I'm crossing my fingers it will stay this way this time.

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Thanks for reading my novel of a post.  Those of you who read the whole thing, thanks for being like that- your faithfulness to my blog means a whole lot!

I love you all so so much!