Fickle Decorations, Fun Classes, Frazzled Emotions...

So I've been to all of my classes now... except for my lab which doesn't start till next week. So my weeks promise to be full of reading, learning, studying, etc. Supposedly the average high schooler spends 5 hours a week studying (now, I know I spent way more time than that every week). Here, they encourage you to study for at least 20 hours... big change, eh? But, you don't have as much time spent actually at school in class... so I think it will all pan out. I'm taking Psychology, Principles of Art and Design, Professional Perspectives, Exploring Environmental Issues, Prophets and Profits: Profession and Vocation in Victorian Britain (and Today), Introduction to Information Technology and Processing, and Women's Choir. A wide variety most definitely. Plus, we have required Chapel Monday and Wednesday, and Friday for the first 6 weeks. Busy, busy. On Sunday, Mabel and I hung up the paper lanterns... I was near death many times since I was standing on a stack of books and paper on top of the desks that we rigged to get me high enough, or on top of the bookshelf headboard... fortunately we managed to get it done without any injuries. So our room is even closer to being done now... I ordered pictures that should be here in the next couple of days and that should add most of the finishing touches. Monday was full of classes and then rule meetings for our dorm hall. Plus I went to the BSM (Baptist Student Ministries) free cookout and finished reading my book for Honors (the "summer" reading project... hey, Mabel is on page 65 or something now... and we have till tomorrow anyway, but I'm done :) ). Today I had class at 8am.. yuck. But it's all good... ooo, this was weird. In my 8 o'clock class the professor was calling role and he said Joshua Cuyler... I know I like bugged my eyes out... he's like my second or third cousin (second I think). I mean, I knew he was coming to Baylor and stuff... but I haven't seen him in years and I didn't even know what he looked like... but yah, so I "met" him today... he twitched when my name was called too... I went up and "introduced" myself after class.... yah, weird. It started to finally click that I was here for good after classes yesterday... so I cried awhile when I was reading my book last night. I hadn't cried yet. I'm happy to be here, but I do miss you all at home, and I miss those of you who are away from home like me. I hope you know that. It's so good to talk to you guys. Nicole called me yesterday. I love you babe and I miss you... I went to lunch by myself today, how sad is that? I called Kyle yesterday, I hadn't talked to him since I left, and he and my mom were at Wal-Mart. It made me think about how Kyle and I can spend hours in Wal-Mart... cause we just take our time. I love you, kid. I got to talk to James this afternoon and that was encouraging. I love you James! I miss my family. I miss my friends... I've only been gone a week! But, I do love it here... I'm so excited about all the opportunities, experiences, traditions, growth, challenges... It is so good for me to be stretched and encouraged like this all at the same time. I mean, always being challenged to pursue Christ first... that's awesome. Being so far away from home is hard, but it's good. Hahaha... here are a couple funny stories for you guys... Okay, my dentist put me on this fluoride stuff that I'm supposed to swish every night right before I go to bed, right? Well, I've always heard that fluoride can turn your teeth yellow and stuff... but I figured they knew what they were talking about, so I'd obey and use the stuff. I was brushing my teeth a few nights ago and as I stared in the mirror I realized something was a little funky... my brace bands weren't the cute periwinkle blue anymore... they're like this really light key-lime green. Pretty funny... fortunately it's not like bright lime green cause that would be just gross... Oh, and then last night, I woke up in the middle of the night cause Mabel had left a light on. I got up and turned it off and then climbed back in bed... I was starting to doze off when... CRASH! Something fell on my face... what the?? The curtain rod and the curtains fell on top of me... in the dark. It was funny. Only to me though cause Mabel was asleep, though she laughed about it this morning when I told her about it. So yah, I got attacked by the curtains in the middle of the night. They are back in their place now, though... looking beautiful again. Well, I think that covers the highlights of the past few days... tonight there is an ice-cream bash for Campus Crusade... yummy... and the first meeting of the Swing Society (anybody wanna dance?)... I'm not sure if I'm going to that or not because some friends from Welcome Week said there are a ton of people the first couple times and then it dies down... so I might wait. I need to do all my reading for my classes... hahaha. Mabel and I are gonna go buy her books and stuff shortly and I have a few more things I have to buy. So, that should be fun. This one's for all of you...

You're my brother You're my friend
You're my beginning and my end
You're all around me when the world
just turns and walks away
You're my sunshine on a cloudy day
You're the rains that wash my blues away
And I can always count on you
Cause you're my brother (SISTA!)
And you're my friend