Well, things have picked up again! School, clubs, fun times, holidays… the list goes on!
CFC has been very encouraging and a great time of fellowship and fun! The first Saturday, we went bowling after a great lesson on using our gifts wisely and trusting in Christ completely. Worship team has also picked up. It’s nice to have vocals instead of trying to sing along with iTunes. I’ve been practicing my harmony and such- good times! The second Saturday, we went to Ritter’s for iced cream after an enlightening message on relationships and purity in honor of Valentine’s Day. I don’t know what was in that custard, but everyone was very goofy. I couldn’t stop laughing over the stupidest things!!
Speaking of eating out, during one of the past weeks, I ate at a restaurant 4 days in a row. The first was the Chinese Buffet after picking up my Daytona 500 schedule. Next, some friends and I went to My Cousin Vinny’s (I had a delicious manicotti!!) after playing tennis (which was my second time ever and I improved a lot). Day three was the CFC Ritter’s trip and day four was going to the Chinese Buffet again after church at Sovereign Grace. It was fun, but I’m glad to get a break from spending money left and right. Don’t worry, I’m still doing great with my budget! 😉
One of the more exciting events of the last two weeks was visiting Gulfstream in Savannah Georgia. If I remember right, it’s like 40-something million dollars for one of their jets. They were gorgeous!! I wouldn’t mind working in the research and design department. If I end up living by one of their plants, I just might give it a try! The funny thing was that I was the only EP honors student to go- everyone else was AE. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but we do have a group one I’ll try to put up.
I also reached a milestone by finishing the first rounds of tests. I generally wasn’t pleased with the scores, but I’ve made some changes with how I study and how much that will hopefully fix the problem. The only class I legitimately feel will be a constant struggle is Calculus 2. I’ve heard it’s the toughest of Calcs, so I’m gonna stick with it! Also, if you turn in all your homework in that class, you can drop the lowest test score! Hooray!
Recently, I found out about Campus Outreach and have gotten more involved. In addition to the Bible studies every two weeks, I also was able to help with their (and Task Force One’s) Super Bowl party. Following that, we had a session about Tom Brady and the reason why he feels like life must be something more even though he has everything material you can get in this life.
I’ve had fun filling out birthday cards and finding gifts since three friends had their birthdays.
SPRL is in transition mode yet again. We’re trying to hire some more people to continue data analysis while us “more experienced” people are learning the ropes of running the lab. I finally met Dr. Azeem and he encouraged me to continue getting good grades. Who knows? If I do well, I might actually go (in his words) to “a cold place”. 🙂 One can hope, right? One of the sites that I’m manager of, Sondestromfjord, has bad data thanks to a radar that keeps interfering. I’m supposed to graph it so Dr. Azeem can tell them to stop, basically.
Valentine’s Day was practically life-changing. I helped Society of Women Engineers sell roses in the morning. I actually did quite well arranging and wrapping them despite just learning that morning. I was having fun matching colors and adding “fernage” (as I like to say) and Baby’s breath. Valentine’s Day also marked the point when I was able to get my own room. I moved into Doolittle first west after talking to the wonderful housing head. She gave me the key and from when I began packing in Wood at 4pm, I was able to finish set-up, rearranging furniture, and decorating by 11pm. Not bad for a complete move! My sweet suitemates and Alex’s boyfriend helped me. We were a hilarious group of suitcase and duffel bag! It only took two trips. I’m so pleased with the open space and being closer to everything. I do have to pay 1.5 housing rate, but it’s worth it! I will definitely miss being able to walk a maximum of 20 feet to see all my Wood friends, but we still have many classes together and there is a such thing as a cell phone!
As you probably know, the Daytona 500 is upon us. It’s going to be a long two nights of helping CFC raise money, but at least I have my own room to get a good ?? day’s ?? sleep! 🙂 I’m not sure how I’m going to transfer back to sleeping at night… I’ll see. Should be very exciting and hopefully not too cold. I’m hoping to get a friend of my dad’s a bandana of his favorite racers. When I was at K-mart they had a ton of stuff, so maybe it all goes on sale when the crazy crowds leave! I’m walking over for my first shift at six tonight!! At least we have Monday off and I’m going to the beach with some CFC friends. Church on Sunday will be interesting, too… hope I can stay focused and alert!
Until next time,
From the home of the Daytona 500,
And now Doolittle,
Natalie Ann
