Be Careful Not to Get Amnesia.

It's been a while, I know. Five exams and a lot of studying kind of served as a road block for any blogging in the last week. I do have something I want to talk about though. WARNING: It is serious and is similar to a journal entry of some sort, so if you aren't into that sort of thing, sorry!

I think I'm in the process of learning a big lesson right now. I can't come up with any explanation other than I believe it's God's way of reaching out to me and telling me exactly this:

When I moved to Columbia a little over two months ago, all I could think about was recreating my identity. I took the move as an opportunity to start fresh, make new friends, and basically have a new life. It's not that I was ashamed of the person I had become, but like any normal person, I have made mistakes and I was ready to jump on the opportunity of moving to a large college where no one knew about any of them. No one here could judge me by my past, and my past wouldn't have any effect on my future, so I thought. Here's the problem with that philosophy: If God wanted me to be done with the life I was living, I think He would have taken care of that. I know that seems harsh. Here I have been though, living in my little Mizzou bubble for the most part, when all of a sudden everything seemed to come crashing down on me so suddenly. Everything I have been working to escape has came rushing back into my life and I am reminded of it all. As thoughts of the rough patches flooded my emotions, I vividly remembered my darkest days, my struggles. It was then that I stopped to think that maybe there is a reason for this. Maybe this was God's way of waking me up and reminding me of who and why I am. God has forgiven me for my mistakes, yes, but if they hadn't happened, where would I be today? Not here. If my past wasn't my past, I wouldn't be me, the person I am today growing in my faith and really just in life. Maybe college isn't supposed to be "a fresh start" as so many made me believe it was would be, but simply just the next step on my one, collaborative journey. 

So here is an overview. It has been so easy to get caught up in the newness of things. It is such a great feeling to know that I am making friends that could end up being my best friends for the rest of my life, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. The problem I think I am struggling with, is forgetting my past. A lot of my past has been really good: I have been brought up by the most amazing, supportive parents I could have ever asked for. I was blessed beyond belief in my upbringing and have always had a great support  system. I have friends and family from my past who are still willing to make an effort to come see me, which I think is amazing. And the parts that weren't so good, I think are still worth remembering. My mistakes can serve as lessons to learn from, and grow from. I have to remember that my testimony consists of ALL of my past, good or bad, and that is what has shaped me into Anna. I will never be perfect, nor would I want to. I have flaws and I will make more mistakes in the future, but I will be the best Anna I know how to be. I will live as the Anna today, as shaped by my past.

To lighten the mood of this post, as always, here are some pics from my last couple weeks :)

Two of my favorite Ash Grovians at the
Vanderbilt game!

So blessed to have this group of girls
in my life.

We rearranged the room!

Some of my favorite girls.

Before the torrential downpour at
 the Alabama game!

Better late than never.

I know, I know, this is a little overdue. I have just been so busy changing my major, learning to crochet (see my scarf below), and retreating with the best church family I think I ever could have been blessed with when moving to Columbia. It has been such a good week and a half since I blogged last though, really. I am constantly noticing God working in my life lately. While I know he has always been there, I think I have began to let him in and notice him working in my life a lot more. That is a good feeling, a really good feeling.

So yes, my major is OFFICIALLY changed. The paperwork is filled out and I am well on my way to becoming the best Social Worker, well that has ever been born to my parents anyways ;). I will be the best one I am capable of being! I am so excited about this decision that I have made, because I think it is really what I am supposed to do and I feeI like I am truly where I am supposed to be.

Secondly, I did take up the art of crochet. Brooke and I, on her birthday (see that picture below also) decided to teach ourselves, with the help of Pinterest and Youtube. We both wanted to make scarves really bad, so we did! We are going to make really great grandmas someday, eh? Haha, we laugh as we spend our nights crocheting instead of doing whatever normal 18 and 19 year old girls are supposed to be doing. Oh well, we love it ;)

Lastly, THE FALL RETREAT! Wow. What an awesome weekend. I am constantly reminded how blessed I am. As if I didn't realize it before, this weekend has really confirmed that I am where I was meant to be. I am so lucky to be surrounded with such deep, amazing, inspiring people. I am incredibly thankful for the friends I have made here. That includes the upperclassmen who have helped me and the other freshmen feel so at home and so loved, and my fellow freshmen, who I am so excited to journey with throughout these next 4+ years. I love you all.

Happy Sunday everyone :). Now for some pictures...

Here's my scarf :)

Brooke's birthday:

And the only picture I got from The Fall Retreat:

My girl Jordan :)

 P.S. This album came out this week. You should listen to it.

This one didn't come out this week, but it did come out this month, and you should listen to it too!

A Mix of the Past and the Future.

According to the weather today, it is fall, and that makes me so extremely happy. This sort of weather brings back a lot of memories. It makes me think of high school football, softball tournaments, the weather when I would get off the bus for volleyball games, a lot of specific things like that. I hadn't really thought about these things too much, as I was trying to avoid it, until I went home for homecoming last Friday. Seeing all my friends from high school was so special. Even though there were a few who couldn't make it, it felt so good to have most of the gang back together again. Saturday afternoon I stopped by the volleyball tournament though, and that's when it hit me. Seeing my team playing without me really struck my emotions, hard. I couldn't stay, which was probably good, because I went home for the first time realizing that I will never get those Saturday tournaments back. I will never get back those practices that I despised so much, I will never again experience that feeling that I used to get every time we would get off the softball or volleyball bus at another school. That uneasy feeling of excitement, but still somewhere deep inside, nervousness. All that is left of that chapter of my life are memories, because I will never again be able to relive those moments. Sure, I knew this already, I realized I would not be going back to that place, but in that moment when it registered with me, I truly felt the urge to be back at that school, back in those shoes.

On that note, I will move forward to a more positive subject. That subject is that I may be changing my major... Again, already. Within the last week or so I have been continuing to think about how I want to spend the rest of my life, in what career. I thought I had decided on Counseling Psychology a few weeks ago because of my interest in it, and my passion for helping people. I've always been interested in psychology. I think I could use that toward making people's lives better. Not to say that I am some kind of miracle worker, because I am not. But if something I did or said could influence someone in a positive way, if I could use my knowledge and personal experiences to relate to someone and help them out, I would want to do that. That is the bottom line. I feel like I am being called to do something which I am passionate about, and something I think I could be good at. So, psychology seems like a good fit, right? Yes, but... Within the last week, something else has jumped out and grabbed my attention. This is something that I could use this same passion toward. I feel however, like it may be more fitting. And this career path is... Social Work. I haven't officially changed over yet, in fact, according to the University of Missouri, I'm technically still Pre-Comm. I want to make sure that I am positive in my decision before I switch (hopefully permanently). I am going to continue thinking on this subject, and praying about it. God will let me know what I need to do.

That's about it for my thoughts at the moment. I might edit this later if I think of something else. Don't forget to smile today :). The End.

In honor of the first "fall" day, according to me at least,
I am sporting my dad's flannel. :)

Scatterbrained.

Brooke and I decided to try something this week. We are both big tea drinkers, and we read about something on Pinterest that told us how good Dandelion Root tea is for you! So, we went to Hy-vee and bought what we needed to try this out. I've been excited because I love finding new natural, healthy things. Last night we made a big pitcher of this Dandelion tea and decided to start drinking it today. Heres a picture of me showing how cute the little box is!

And here's one after actually drinking the tea:

It's awful. I really don't suggest it.

We made a garland of paper leaves for our room Saturday at Craft Sabbath!

I realize this is the most random post in the world, even more random than the last one. I think I might start making them more like this though. It's kind of fun! I have three exams this week, so things have been pretty stressful. I'm excited to come home Friday night and get a little break. It will be so nice to see everyone! I will be back in CoMo for the football game Saturday. Hopefully it goes better than last week against Georgia! I will say though, it was pretty fun just to be there for the first SEC game, regardless of the outcome. Okay, well I better get back to studying! Have a fabulous week, and if you don't know much about the Lumineers, I highly recommend checking out this song down below. I love them.

So. Good.

P.S. And most importantly, God bless everyone serving this country, and everyone with a loved one who was lost on this day eleven years ago. May they never be forgotten <3

Random, Unimportant Post. (But look what I did!)

Since I've been in Columbia I have been dying to do something rebellious. I didn't want to do anything to get me in trouble of course. If you know me, you know that I tend to avoid controversy at all cost. I don't really party, I'm scared of many adventurous things because of my fear of heights, I don't like things that cost me too much money, etc, etc. Basically, I'm a crazy boring person. Okay, I don't actually think that, but I definitely made it sound like it. So anyways, I came up with the perfect thing that says, "I am an adult, and I make my own decisions, BAM." I got my ear pierced. Twice. I know, I'm a rebel right? :) 

Here is a picture for everyone to see: 

(Big thanks to Brooke and Morgan for their moral support!)

Before I go, I also wanted to mention that I had such a fantastic weekend. After the rainy football game Saturday night, which we killed in by the way, I went home for Labor Day weekend. It was so nice seeing all of the family and friends that I did. It was a great time. I feel so blessed to have such awesome people in my life. And to those of you friends who I didn't see while I was home, I really hope to see everyone at homecoming next Friday night! I'll be there as soon as I can, hopefully around 8, and be staying the night in the good ol' AG. I can't wait to see everyone in their pretty dresses, and for the second year in a row I won't be giving the crown away! Hooray! Have a good week everyone! :)

Joe and Brock came for the game!

P.S. Who are the homecoming candidates? If any of you know, will you tell me? I'm curious!