New Town, New "Life"...and a New Look!

Where did the summer go?? I apologize for the long delay in blogging, but today is the first time I have had a few minutes to even sit down at the computer and collect my thoughts as to what all to blog about! SO much in my life has changed over this summer..even the past week...that I don't even know where to begin.

Beginning with how the rest of the summer went....well, it was definitely the most challenging and amazing summer of my life thus far. I learned so many things about being an effective leader, what servant-leadership should look like from watching my amazing "co-workers", and most importantly, i learned a TON about myself. I have so many people to thank for that, and they definitely know exactly who they are. ;). Not only did I learn alot, but I had a TON of fun!! From late night boat rides w/ solid heart-to hearts, cook outs, early morning wakeboarding, laughing so hard that I cried at the extent we could wear out a good joke, painting kids with paint-rocks at the beach, playing football, solid conversations with top staff girls about life, boys, and camp...the good times were a constant. Sure, I had my moments...days when I was worn out by the sun and frustrated with something that happened at the lake and just wanted to give up, but those were the exact moments that God was so powerful in reminding me the purpose of my job at camp and gave me the strength and encouragement to continue. What a wonderful Father we have.

Camp came to an end for me about a week and a half ago. Wow, I cant believe it's only been that long since I left..it feels like forever ago!! I left camp on July 30th and drove back home to get ready for the big move to Virginia. I had a day and a half to unpack everything from camp (which still hasn't really happened...most of it is laying in the floor of my room at my parents house-sorry mom!) and RE-pack my car and my parents Tahoe with everything I would need for the next 3 years of my life. I spent all day the day before we left running around town with my mom...changing phone services and getting a new number (and a new phone...a blackberry curve, my new obsession), going to the dentist, getting my hair cut, going to walmart, etc. Talk about a CRAZY day. We left Starkville bright and early the next morning headed 16 hours to VA. We finally rolled into Va. Beach around 3:00am (we made quite a few stops along the way...wouldn't be a Holland road trip without 'em) and unpacked just enough to have something decent to sleep on that night. We spent the next two days getting everything settled and set up in my new apartment (which looks so cute thanks to my mom's great decorating ability...i posted a picture of the living room area to give you an idea of what it looks like) and began to navigate the booming metropolis that is Virginia Beach. Seriously, the area is HUGE. I get lost at LEAST once a day around here, even with my new GPS on my phone! We went down to the beach, ate at some good restaurants, and even went to The Hillsong church that me and my parents had found when we visited at Easter.

My new "Life" began officially on Monday, when I started Law School at Regent Law. I am in an intensive 2-week program called the "Academic Success Program", which Regent offers to certain students to provide them with tools and help for succeeding in law school by taking the participants through what actual classes, exams, and the general law school schedule will be like. In the past week, we have had to brief cases, take notes and begin to outline those notes as a study tool (apparently the only way you will make it through law school is if you do an outline for all of your notes and briefs), and apply all of that on a final exam. The class I have been in is Civil Procedure, which basically deals with everything you can and cannot do as an attorney under the Federal Rules. It has been fascinating, but an OVERLOAD of information already. I guess I will just have to get used to that. The classes have been hard, but fun at the same time. My civ. pro. professor was hilarious, so of course I loved him. Both of the professors I have had so far in this program went to Harvard Law School, so they are brilliant and have a TON of experience with the law. I have heard that is the case with most professors at Regent...what a blessing! My favorite part of this school is the fact that we have a devotion everyday at the beginning of the class, which the professors lead and discuss with us, and then they always pray for us at the beginning and end of class. It's SO encouraging to know that they have our best interests at heart and TRULY desire for us all to succeed in school here.

Aside from school, I am having a GREAT time so far in my new town. I have met a bunch of cool people in our ASP class, and we have been hanging out a lot this past week. I went to Wave Church Wednesday night and ran into several of my classmates there and I have really enjoyed spending time with so many people that have similar beliefs and goals. It is also very nice to be able to talk to each other about the nervousness and anticipation we are all feeling at this point! We all went out last night to celebrate making it through our first exam in law school...what a fun night! (some of the group is pictured here) So, so far...so good. I will definitely keep you posted as the next few weeks unfold!

By the way, how do you like the new look of the blog? I thought it was about time to change it up alittle and be more "bloggish." I think I like it!