thunderstorm

today's weather was so nice, but this afternoon a thunderstorm blew in. the sky turned black and the wind began to howl. i took a picture of the sky before the rain started. i just wish i had been able to get a picture of the lightning! it was incredible.

end note: i wish a had a front porch swing to sit on and listen to the rain tonight!

we are family

today my family came up to visit for my birthday. they got to chapel hill in time to come to church at summit. then after church, they took my friends and me to chili's. afterwards, we had a nice little time back on campus eating cake in the courtyard behind my dorm. before they had to leave, sarah was nice enough to take some pictures!

end note: i love my family.

20th birthday!

today has been the best birthday so far! i know that every year i probably say that, but i mean it forreals this year. this morning, sallie, madi, and i went up to umstead state park and went on a 6 mile hike. it was soooo beautiful. we got lunch after the hike and then headed back to campus. erin asked me a few days ago to go on a picture date, so went to do that around 4. eventually we made our way to the arboretum. when we got there, a bunch of my friends were waiting with a surprise sweet tea party! it was the best ever. i have some of the world's greatest friends! after our tea party accompanied by cake, we went to bali hai in durham for dinner. one of our friends, drew, had a show at casbah, so we went and saw him play afterwards. needless to say, today has been delightful!

end note: here's to a new decade. yay 20!

bowling & stargazing

today has been dandy. adpi had a cocktail - rock stars and groupies. graham and i went to dinner with everyone, but left afterwards with sarah and sallie to go bowling - best decision ever made! we had unlimited games for 2 hours. afterwards, we climbed onto the top of kenan stadium to star gaze, one of my favorite pastimes...

end note: we saw 2 other groups of friends from unc while bowling. who knew it was so popular among college students?

yl banquet

today was the young life banquet for durham-chapel hill(sborough). there was an awesome turn out, and it went superbly. sadly, i only got one picture - a picture of some DAT ladies...

end note: i said smile for a picture and this is what i got...

flower power

today my sweet friend ellen gave me a pretty flower. inspired by this flower, i decided to take a picture of the flowers made from aluminum cans that are currently in adpi's kitchen. i thought they were really cute.

end note: i want to make some of these fake flowers for my room. craft night anyone?

wanted: distractions

today i have spent most of my time studying for my international relations/world politics exam that i have tomorrow. i've welcomed any distractions to this studying with open arms. the topics on the tomorrow's test have been less than captivating. so in attempts to delay studying, i went on a walk. i had never gone to the football practice fields that are near my dorm, so i took a stroll there to explore - with my camera in hand...

end note: i wish exams didn't count so much in college.

adpi waffle night

today we had our 2nd philanthropy event of the year at adpi: waffle night. we made waffles and invited everyone in the community to come and eat for a good cause: the ronald mcdonald house. the weather was perfect, so people we able to eat on the porch and on the front lawn as well as in the kitchen. there was a great turnout.

end note: 2 benefit dinners in 2 days. if you're gonna eat, why not eat for a good cause!

spaghetti dinner

today chapel hill high school young life had a dinner to raise money for camp this summer. my friend jen leads there, so we went to show our support and to eat yummy food. they made spaghetti, garlic bread, cupcakes, and lemonade. it was quite tasty and good company.

end note: yay young life! yay spaghetti!

simply splendid saturday

today unc played boston college in basketball. i went with my friend graham, his little brother, and his brother's friend. we expected the game to be a blowout, but it was extremely close - too close if you ask me. unc won by only two points. after the game, we went to dinner and then met up with some more people to go to frankie's fun park. we rode go carts, played laser tag, hit in the batting cages, and played arcade games. it was really great. oh - and the best part of tonight: i found out i do get to go see taylor swift in concert after all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

end note: sydney is the greatest for helping to fulfill (in june!!) my dream of seeing and meeting tswift in person! greensboro here we come!

lake trip & other adventures

today has been quite the day. after classes ended i headed to the lake with about 10 friends. we laid out, threw the football, attempted to do some reading for classes and mainly just relaxed. tonight another group of friends played volleyball for a bit and then we headed to chi psi for a bonfire. apparently fires are illegal in chapel hill, so our dear old friends - the police - came... reluctantly, we put out the fire and proceeded to waffle house. needless to say, it has been quite the day.

end note: if friday has been this great, this weekend is going to be stellar.

faith journey

today one of unc's professors and a local greek orthodox priest held a lecture here on campus. they both attended wheaton college, yet their paths since college have differed. bart ehrman obtained a masters and doctorate of divinity from princeton, pastored a church, and then became an agnostic. fr. james berends got a masters of divinity and leads a local church. both presented their journeys of faith. some adpis met to get dinner prior to the event, and then we walked over together. so, before dinner, i had to take a few pictures.

end note: i thought dr. ehrman's definition of fundamentalists was hilarious: no fun, too much damn, mental, and too many lists of do's and don'ts.