New Year's Resolution 2012

I go back to school in 5 days. I'm excited. I'm ready to be back in a normal routine again. I'm really excited about some of the classes I'm going to be taking this semester. I'm not too sure how I feel about this break. I loved seeing one of my best friends, Ilan and spending time with my hostess, Sandra. I did really miss home though. And I'm finding out that I don't make a very good house guest. I still need to figure out why though . . .  All in all though, this break has made me make up my mind to do everything I can to make sure I go home on my next break. Not because being here has been bad, it's actually been really great. But because I've missed home and the people there so much.
I guess this leads to my New Year's resolution, which is to save money. I've resolved to do this in order to help me get into the habit of it, but also so that I'll save with the end to go home this summer and at Christmas this year.

All Things Together

"You work all things together for my good."
That's so true. Not that everything that God does is to make us happy and to make life easy for us, but that He has our best interests at heart. There are so many things that happen that we won't understand until later. Even little things that we don't pay attention to, later we look back and say "wow, it's a good thing that happened the way it did." And it's all God.
Praise the Lord.

The Things I Miss

It's 1 in the morning and I really should be sleeping because I need to get up early tomorrow. Well, earlier than I have been at least. I can't sleep though because the past is on my mind. I keep thinking about past events: school retreats, youth group retreats, Christmas parties, Valentine's Day parties, New Year's Eve parties, BLOOM at Miss McKinney's house, Physics class, drama in 11th grade, all those trips we made to McDonalds, the Ovalo, the timed mile park, Cafe Verde, the times we went to the beach just because, spending the night at people's houses, the random outings we planned for the summer, and so many other things.
Man, I miss the past. I'm really surprised that I'm not crying right now.
I really miss Miss McKinney's old house. I miss Kawai and am still bummed that I didn't go there at all in 2011 after having gone at least once every year since moving to Peru. I miss going to La Casa del Padre for youth group and for church. I miss going to the Larson's house, which was probably my second home all through out High School. I miss ICSL like crazy, the place and the people. I miss my house and my room. I miss the park by my house and trees that were awesome for climbing but have been cut down. I miss Camino de Vida and going to school there too. I miss art class in 10th grade. I miss our volleyball club.
I remember all our youth group and High School retreats from 8th-12th grade. I remember all the plays I was in and the mission trips I went on. All those big events and more are playing like flashbacks in my head. It's like the last episode of a TV series that's showing clips from important parts of past episodes. Like something that's ending. But it ended six months ago, right? Yeah, but not having a lot to do over this break has given me too much time to think.
I'm so glad that I have a place to get all of these thoughts out. Now to write a poem about it all . . .

Some Late-Night Ramblings

Have you ever listened to a song while doing something else and then that song reminded you of what you were doing when you heard it again? That happens to me a lot. For example: I read the Harry Potter books right after getting a CD by the band Alternativa. Whenever I hear any song from that CD, I get this feeling that I can't explain but associate with reading Harry Potter. Certain reggeaton songs remind me of Gone With the Wind because I read it on the bus when Sean Riva had control of the radio.

The list goes on and on. But aside from songs reminding me of things that I did when I listened to them over and over again, sometimes songs remind me of certain things that happened or a certain stage in my life. I put my ipod on shuffle and sometimes a Relient K or Switchfoot song will come on and remind me of 8th grade and starting school at ICSL because, well, that's all I listened to back then. 

Songs from the soundtrack of Walk the Line remind me of the last furlough my family went on. 

On New Year's Eve, the song "Dynamite" came on and it reminded me of my last New Year's Eve when I was still in Peru and the party our youth group held. 

Whenever I sing "None But Jesus" at church or somewhere, I'll sing in Spanish and it takes me back to my graduation and the mix of emotions that that night held. 

During the Convocation before Thanksgiving Break, we found out that a Liberty student had passed away the night before. I remember thinking that all the songs they played were perfect for the situation and those grieving for their friend, whoever they were. Later I found out that I would be grieving. The only song that I remember from that Convo is "How He Loves." I wasn't expecting to sing it the other night but when we did, it made me realize that that's the song that makes me think of Hannah's passing. One of the songs from Just Dance makes me think of our friendship, but this is the one that reminds me of how we've lost her but also of how much God loves us. I know this because of the song, but I also see it through the situation it brings to mind. 

Although hearing some of these songs will bring back hard emotions like nostalgia or grief, they also make me think of the good times I had while listening to them. They remind me of how good God is, sometimes through the lyrics, but most importantly through the memories. 

This is my first post of 2012 and I'm glad that I can say that I can't wait for the songs that will remind me of memories from this year.