we reach for you/and we stand tall/and in our prayers and dreams we ask you/bless us all

hi there.
so, the rain is officially here, and I really, desperately need rain boots. the only problem is my definite aversion to spending money, especially as my Europe trip gets closer. but.....I'm walking to school and coming home with wet shoes, socks, and feet, which is unacceptable. so I think today I'll buy some rain boots.

life continues to be somewhat crazy. I've decided that I am able to have control over all the facets of my life at a time except one. so when school work are ok, my emotions are completely frazzled. when I get those under control, work stuff seems to go crazy. I focus on work for awhile and then my grades start to suffer. you see what I mean?

and that's about the point that my teachers start talking about group projects and final projects.

thankfully, today was the point when my teachers started talking about days off! no school Wednesday, no lab next Monday, and no school next Thursday. it's only by having one day off per week that I am able to keep the different facets from all exploding simultaneously.

but other than that, things are pretty good. I quit my job at Bath and Body Works, after five months of nothing but scheduling nightmares, and very little work. I'm a little sad that it didn't work out, because I liked the job and I liked the people I worked with. But I was spending more time working out my schedule than I was working, and for a maximum of one shift a week, it wasn't worth it. I just got another shift per week at Menchie's, so I'm really, really happy about that. :) I feel so relieved that have the hassle of three jobs gone now.

school is really rough these days. like I said, my grades are starting to go down a bit, which is a completely new phenomenon for me. I just don't have time to study. I barely have time to get all the homework done, and anything beyond the required homework just doesn't get done. It was going more or less ok until our third botany exam this past weekend, which I did terribly on. today I discovered that the whole class did about the same though (including some pretty smart people), so I didn't feel quite as bad. although I'm still wondering how to find time to do extra credit to bring my grade back up.

every day when I wake up and think about going to school, I want to just quit right now. I'm so sick of it all. it's so hard to balance a complete life, with work and school and family and friends, and all the other little stuff that comes up (I absolutely, positively have to vote today). this has been the worst quarter for me, and even though it's more than halfway over now, I wish it was all the way over - wish I could just stop and have time to read again, or play my piano. the only time I sit down at the piano these days is when I teach, or occasionally for worship practice. It's really sad.

but then I remind myself that after one more quarter I'll have my AA, and then I don't ever have to go to GRCC again, and I'll be off to Europe to pretty much just have fun for four months straight. it's only a few more months away, and I can put up with anything for such a short amount of time. with work and school, the thought of Europe some days is all that keeps me going. that and Christmas! the promise of Christmas will get me through to the end of this quarter.

and........I really should be going now. I'll try and give another update again soon. just - if you guys would keep me and my family in your prayers, that would be awesome. :)
<3