The Studly Group

The cables were definitely scary

Too bad Wes isn't in the picture, it would have made a perfect Christmas Card!

Half Dome

What an adventure I had this weekend! My parents and I, along with 4 of my friends drove up to Yosemite on Friday night. We planned the trip around the full moon because we had decided to hike it at night! Some road work delayed us by a few hours so it was 1am when we got on the trail. Hiking at night is my new favorite thing. It was the perfect temperature and something about the dark just helped me keep chugging along. A five-hour energy may have contributed too, hehe. We reached the bottom of the cables at 5:30am, just as light was creeping over the mountains. The cables loomed before us, inducing a small panic attack because they looked vertical. But we soon found out that was an optical illusion. Somehow we survived the 70 degree angle climb to the summit.

The view from the top was spectacular. Every few minutes the light would change and illuminate a new section of the valley. Watching the sun rise was really special. I felt like a conquerer. We spent about an hour on top and then headed down the cables. The hike down was hot and hard. Hundreds of people were hiking up the trail by the early afternoon. I felt like I was in China or something. So many tourists! Because we had hiked up in the dark, I didn't recognize many parts of the trail and kept thinking we were almost back-but of course we weren't! It was such a relief to finally reach the car.

Though I had been awake for 38 hours and had been hiking for 14 I still somehow had energy. It was crazy! Usually I get sick, or feel awful when I am sleep deprived but God granted me some kind of supernatural wakefulness over the weekend :)

Tonight I went to Campus Crusade. As we were worshipping all I could think of was the view from Half Dome. God is so evident in His creation! Sometimes I wish I could just live in the mountains for a while, constantly surrounded by God's beautiful nature. Yosemite is AMAZING but SLO is pretty awesome too.

Too much to think about

Aaaaa! I have so many thoughts swimming around in my mind but I don't want to overwhelm you all. I'll try to make this as organized as possible...
Today I went to my only Monday class-creative writing. We had a guest speaker who is a poet from Boston. His name was Fred, he looked exactly like Bilbo Baggins, and seemed to be the sweetest old man. It was really encouraging and strangely soothing to listen to his advice for young writers. All of a sudden I started tearing up in the middle of class. I found myself wishing I had a grandfather like him. My mom's dad died of lung cancer when I was two and my dad's dad is off in Nevada at a retirement home living in dementia ridden, "fake married" bliss. Long story. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to have a grandpa who actually poured himself into my life, giving me wisdom, hugs and all that mushy stuff. But oh well. I know my dad will be the greatest grandpa someday and hopefully my future husband will be too :)
I also spent a large portion of my day discovering the beaty of Etsy.com. My cousin Mindy and her friend just opened their own shop. It is super cute! I actually bought two items to give to my friend for her Birthday! You should definitely check it out. They go by the name "Two little doves" and "Lost in the Attic" on Etsy.com. There is a link to their site under my blogs. After surfing the cyber world all day I started wondering if I should try to sell my cards on Etsy. Then my mom got me thinking that I could make custom charcoal drawings of people's 3D ultrasound pictures. I've done one for my Grandma's hair dresser and it turned out super awesome. But no one can ever tell what it is. My mom is convinced that moms would love that sort of thing. What do you think? Maybe someday I'll get around to making that happen. Hahah.
The other night I had a mini breakdown about college. It seems like such an imporant choice! I still don't know where I want to go and what I want to major in. And I need to start applying! Prayer that I would trust in the Lord's plan and see choosing a college and major as an adventure would be greatly appreciated :) I just get so conflicted when it comes to career choice. Some people say not to turn your passion into a job because then it will be "work". Others say that you have to be passionate about your job or you will be miserable at work. Which is it????? For some reason I can't find a major that just jumps out as the perfect major for me. I'm considering majoring in something fun like art and then applying to P.A or medical school later. But I want to be able to graduate college with a marketable skill-especially in this sucky economy. It's all just incredibly overwhelming. But I know God has it under control somehow!
Ok I think I've overwhelmed you with enough for tonight.
xoxoxo Evie

Things are looking up...

This has been a good week. On tuesday night Sarah Phillips (we are official Cuesta homies now) and I went to a Campus Crusade bonfire at Port San Luis. We sang worship songs under the milky way and met a bunch of people. On Wednesday Sarah and I had lunch with a bunch of friends from SLO High. It's so nice seeing people I know that are actually my age around Cuesta these days. That night we went to our first college bible study led by Annie Berg (who Sarah went to the Czech Republic with) and Lauren Buzzeti. They are really nice girls. We met 3 new people and had an awesome time of sharing. I can tell this is going to be a really tight knit group of girls to grow with all year. I'm excited for God has in store for us!

So today my phone literally BLEW UP with calls from people asking me to babysit. 6 people, I repeat 6 people asked me to babysit on various upcoming dates. Unfortunately I had to turn a few down because I am catering TWICE this weekend. Not to mention I will be frantically studying for my physiology test on Tuesday, gulp. Lately I have been feeling lame/guilty for not having a job. It seems that almost everyone I know going to Cuesta has a job except me. Today I feel like God was reassuring me that babysitting and catering are legitimate jobs. People I don't even know are calling me to babysit constantly and this weekend I should make some serious bank catering. I love how God knows exactly how I am feeling and how to fix it without me even telling Him.

I am now OFFICIALLY going to visit my friend Emily Johnston in Hillsdale, MI and then Shelby Patty in Wheaton, IL. Sarah Phillips is coming with me!!!! I am so stoked for the trip. We bought our plane and train tickets with our fancy-smanshy debit cards and have figured out every detail of the trip without parental aid. Yes we are THAT grown up. Hahahah! Hopefully we won't miss our flight and get lost in the Detroit airport or the Chicago one. Well I'm falling asleep at the keyboard. Ta ta for now,

xoxox Evie

More Peace

Well I'm pleased to announce that school and life are going much better! I was a bit worried for a while about my physiology teacher. She was pretty scary and mean at times. I got snapped at for being a grand total of 1 minute late. I thought that didn't matter in college-pshh. But I've discovered that she is an absolutely amazing lecturer. Her lectures are more like discussions and she is very animated when she speaks. I actually look forward to going to class now. Physiology is quite interesting! I love learning about WHY and HOW things happen. Yesterday we learned the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat. Beware of so called healthy things like fake butter--it's really just un-saturated fat bombarded with hydrogen ions in a chemistry lab. They turn it into trans fat which is worse for you than saturated fat! Ok I'll stop boring you.

I have definitely been depressed lately about my friends leaving for college and the lack of change in my life. I have been at Cuesta for lets see....8 semesters so far. It starts to get old after a while. Most people are experiencing Cuesta for the first time-realizing how much better it is than high school. But for me Cuesta IS high school. I've been praying for peace and contentment with where I'm at. God has come through for sure. I'm feeling much happier and have been focusing more on the positive things instead of the negative. There are so many fun things coming up that I have to look forward too. The Family Campout and hiking Half-dome are going to be awesome! Thanks for reading my ramblings, hope you all are doing well.

xoxoxo Evelyn

Dear Mom & Dad

....It's Wednesday night and I ought to be reading for Sociology or sleeping but here I am writing. You are off in the wilderness hopefully having a blast, out of reach. It's pathetic how much I miss you. It's pathetic that tears are welling up in my eyes as I type this. Maybe it's just the stress of starting school and having to say goodbye to friends that has made this week especially emotional so far. I thought having you gone would help me feel more college-y but it has just made me realize I am going to have a tough time going away to college in the not-so-distant future. Most of my friends are excited to leave for school, to finally have some freedom and be on their own. I'm so happy at home. You guys are the BEST parents ever. Period. Thank you for being so wonderful, but I'm afraid you're gonna have to start doing something to annoy me so I will someday want to leave!

While I was in Tahoe I felt so at peace with life and so happy. But after being thrust back into the real world, life isn't so blissful. I've been looking through photo albums and wishing I was a carefree little kid again. I hate having to think about the future and big decisions. Dad-I know I am supposed to look at college/finding a career as an adventure but it is so hard for me sometimes. I am such a worrywart!

School started on Monday. I was signed up for a softball class but arrived to find it wasn't what I expected. The class is preparation for the season and I would have had to join a weight training class as well. I struggled with the decision of whether to drop the class. I wanted to ask you guys for advice but felt lame that I couldn't just make the decision on my own. I did in the end. I dropped it so I could have more free time, more time to study, to sew, to paint, and to visit friends on the weekends. Hopefully it was the right choice.

I know I will get back into the swing of school eventually. It has been amazing having Gretchen around, she is such a blessing in my life. Thanks for letting her live with us! Grandma is doing well, she told me she loved me tonight :) Well I'll just keep plugging away for now. Hopefully I'll get to the pile of laundry on the back porch soon. Can't wait till Sunday when you get home.

Love,

Evie Lou

p.s Wesley I miss you too!

Bittersweet feelings

Cuesta starts in 16 days. :( :( No me gusta. I really shouldn't complain since I got out in May but this summer has flown by like it does every year. I'm definitely in denial over school starting and a lot of my friends going away to college. I've just been so caught up in trying to hang out with them as much as possible that I don't know if I've had time to process that they're leaving. It will probably hit me hard this fall. That's not going to be fun. God is saving me from total depression by keeping Sarah Phillips and Lauren Page around this year. I'm so thankful for them. There are actually a lot of people from Slo High going to Cuesta so I have a feeling this should be the best semester yet. I will just miss my friends so dearly.

I've had such a great summer so far. Two trips to Mexico, one to L.A, a graduation party, and ample hang out time with friends. But I'm greedy and want more time. This year I have really connected and built some great friendships. Now, as many of them are going off to college I find myself wishing I had met those people sooner. But one year is better than nothing!

I still have one last hurrah before school starts....a senior trip to Lake Tahoe! I'm hoping it will be a great time to relax, recharge, and savor time with friends before school starts. xoxox Evelyn