Christmas Blogging

Another Christmas is over. It was a normal Christmas for my family, filled with everything that entails. I got home from school about a week ago. One of my friends and I drove up together. It was my first long drive without my family, but I had a wonderful time with one of my best friends. I think we actually managed to talk for the entire seventeen hour trip. It was so nice to finally catch up with her about our lives at college, especially since we hadn't seen each other for almost four months.

My semester ended well. It was crazy busy, but very fun. As always, it seems like life is complicated, but I suppose there is no real way around that. It was a relief to finish up a couple of my classes. My physical chemistry class is the hardest class in my major and it was so satisfying to finally finish it. I was also very excited to finish my third semester of calculus. It is the last real math class I have to take, and even though I like math, I am done with it!

This semester I have been enjoying getting to know people at school better. Due to circumstances beyond my control last year, I didn't get a chance to make that many friends, and so it has been wonderful this year to finally have some really close friends at school. I've had the opportunity to get out of my shell a little more at school and get to know people on a deeper level.

This last week that I have been home has been really great. I have already gotten to spend some time with friends and also relax and sleep a little. I'm looking forward to getting some more rest before I head back to school for another long semester. Even on break life has a way of being busy. I need to start working on my personal statement for med. school applications, and spend some quality talking time with a couple of friends. The next time I will be back in Oregon will be in May so I'm trying to make sure I see everyone at least for a little while.

Blessings and Merry Christmas to you all!

Laura

For Friends

[Random update paragraph] School is going great. I only have one week left of the semester, a few days of exams, and then I'm home for Christmas. It really is crazy how fast this year is flying by. I have tons of things to be doing this week, but that's ok. I was telling my roommate this afternoon that I'm a mid-semester stresser. I tend to get all freaked out about half way through the semester about all the things I have to do, but then after that minor break down, I'm good and get on with the rest of my work, much less stressed, but still getting everything done.

[So these are some thoughts that came out of a conversation I had last night with some friends]

1) I would not consider myself a people person. I'm too introverted and reserved, plus at times I feel like I dislike more people than I actually like. That said, I'm realizing that though the list of people I don't like is large, I do love my friends and family. I love them to the point that I will do anything for them. Maybe that's why I don't make friends very easily, because I don't take friendships lightly. Once I have decided to be friends with someone, in my mind, there is no turning back. Its like some reversed and warped imprinting (like baby birds do). If I imprint on someone they can't really get out of it, they are just stuck with me. In other words, if I call someone a friend I mean it, and they need to realize the extent of my commitment to that friendship.

2) Caring to much is a huge blessing, but its also incredibly painful. This partially comes back to how I view friendships, but I have a tendency to try and take the burdens of those I care about on myself. In many circumstances I don't care if I get hurt, but if someone wants to see me truly mad* try and pull something on one of my friends. I'm not sure if this is caring to much, but it is how God created me. Sure, I get myself into the middle of things a lot. I can't say 'no' when someone I care about asks me for help. And when one of my friends is hurting, regardless if I had anything to do with it, I feel like my heart has been ripped apart. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm learning how much of who I am is rapped into caring so deeply: my desire to go into medicine, my stubbornness, and my heart for mission work (I'm still figuring out where God will lead me on this front). As an interesting side note: apparently people like this tend to be friends with others that are similar.

Cheers!

Laura

*For some reason people at school joke around that they don't want to get me mad. I'm not sure how this started, but I think its funny because I don't really get mad, unless its about a friend/family member, and then you REALLY don't want to get me mad.