I'll be home for Christmas...

“There's such a lot of different [Charlottes] in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one [Charlotte] it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.” ~ Anne of Green Gables [edited]

Biola explores the theme of rest in the Bible quite a bit, since so
 many college students are overworked, stressed, and exhausted.

The last weeks of November overflowed with the theme of rest. Bits of home permeated the overwhelmingly busy college schedule and my anxieties were replaced with peace and contentment as God answered my prayers and showed up in very real ways. In my Torrey sessions we began studying the Bible, specifically the Pentateuch, which was a refreshing change after Sophocles and Plato, and it's been wonderful discovering the truths that God revealed to Israel and reveals to us. To top it off, the Biola apartments hosted a free evening focused on rest--I made s'mores at the fireplace pavilion, listened to an RC read Winnie the Pooh in a Swedish accent, started a 500-piece puzzle, colored with crayons, & listened to live music! 

Kathryn and I, dressed at Secret Agents for Cosmic Bowling!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I ended up going on a spontaneous GYRAD (Get Your Roommate A Date) with my friend Ike--we went cosmic bowling and then got dinner at In-and-Out! The funny thing is, I don't seem to have a picture of Ike and me, but I do have one of Kathryn and me at the GYRAD...but I guess that's ironically a bit more appropriate since Kathryn and I spent most of the time at the bowling alley together :) Love this girl!

Enter: THANKSGIVING!

How to do the Gobble.

Lauren and I!

For Thanksgiving break, I traveled 3 hours to Bakersfield to stay for 5 days with my friend Lauren and her family at her grandparent' s house. I met her wonderful family--her younger sister Lani and her parents, and we had a lovely time! We watched a few movies--my favorite was the new Disney princess movie Frozen! I highly recommend it, since it has none of the "believe in your heart" "follow your dreams" "true love's kiss" jargon that Disney princess movies usually have. Instead, it values truly sacrificial love, and is a beautiful example of John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." The picture on the left shows all the wonderful food we had for Thanksgiving dinner! A highlight for me was being able to pick an orange off their orange tree and eating a freshly picked orange! That's a first! Featured below is a Salted Pecan Pie that I made!

Enter: CHRISTMAS!

My floor, Legacy, at the Hope dorm Christmas Party with Santa! 

My dear friend and budding photographer Brook decided to do a photo shoot with all the beautiful Christmas decorations in our dorm lobby, and we had a total blast! She is so talented at lighting and angles--and she didn't even edit any of the photos.

JOY

LOVE

PEACE

HOPE

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

~Isaiah 9:6-7

It's the most wonderful time of the year!
  

With the photographer herself: the beautiful Brook Rulison, my wonderful, spontaneous, joyous friend!

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of what I've been up to! Besides all the exciting moments I've shared, college life still consists of the usual: Chorale rehearsals and concerts, CSP meetings with the high schoolers I'm mentoring, Torrey lectures and finalizing my term paper, lovely chapels, and quiet evenings in my dorm doing homework with friends.

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing the actor Tony Lawton perform an 80 minute solo performance of C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. Of the many lines that touched my heart and  resonated in my soul, this quote sums up that call that I have been hearing from Christ these past few months: 

"Will you come with me to the mountains? It will hurt at first, until your feet are hardened. Reality is harsh to the feet of shadows. But will you come?"

God has been teaching me, growing me, challenging me, and pouring His love and grace on me so that I may pour it out on others--I pray that He is doing the same to you!

I'll see many of you soon! I can't wait!

Blessings,

Charlotte

Friends and Blessings

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.  It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” 

~ Anne of Green Gables

I just wanted to take a minute to share with you how much God has been blessing me through other people this week!

Wednesday, I spent a wonderful afternoon with my friend Emily--we just sat in my "living room," listening to music and coloring. We didn't even need to talk, and it was lovely just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. An hour ago she sent me a lovely message on Facebook, just to say that she was thinking about me and missed seeing me today.

Friday, I checked my mailbox to discover a letter from Theresa Lewis at Cedarville! We were able to skype on Sunday, and it was such a blessing to catch up and hear how God is working in her life in Ohio!

Saturday evening I had a lovely time with my friend Kathryn in her dorm room--it was so nice to get away from all the big groups and just have some one-on-one time! We talked, watched a scary movie, drank tea, and shared life together. The next night, she and Lauren and I got dinner at Panera, and had a wonderful time, as we always do!

Flowers from Brook, in my dorm room

On Sunday night I was feeling rather homesick and overwhelmed with college life, and my friend Brook gave me a lovely note and graham crackers and listened to me when i just needed someone to talk to.  The next day she presented me with a bouquet of fresh flowers in a vase for my dorm room! She lives down the hall and is in my Torrey group, and she never ceases to encourage me and put a smile on my face!


My friend Nathan took the time at lunch yesterday to ask me how I was and then prayed for me, and since I wasn't feeling 100% I really appreciated the thoughtfulness.

Last night, my friend Paige randomly gave me a handwritten letter just to express her thankfulness for our friendship and to encourage me with a Bible verse. She is truly so sweet.

To top it off, I had a truly delightful and restorative evening tonight. I went with some of the girls on my floor to a Christmas shoebox stuffing party for Operation Christmas Child put on by the Associated Student Government of Biola. There were about 30 college students, a few families, and some older people from the community. We heard testimonies from two speakers and then enjoyed food, Christmas music, meeting new people, and filling shoeboxes with presents for children! I made seven! It was exactly what I needed, and I stayed 3 and a 1/2 hours!! I had been feeling a little homesick and stir crazy--being stuck with a bunch of 18-22 year-olds gets tiring pretty quickly, and I longed for a little taste of home and community, which I found tonight. No matter how I feel at any given moment, I know that I am truly where God has called me to be, and no matter how much I miss my family and friends from home, He has certainly surrounded me with incredibly caring and nurturing friends. I love Biola!

Love to you all!
Charlotte

November Already!

“But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods…for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them.” ~ Anne of Windy Poplars

October was carried away by the wind with the non-existent Autumn leaves of Southern California, and November has been swept into the state with a chilly fog. Hopefully this post will give you a little taste of what I've been up to during the past month, which was filled with pumpkins, visits from family, music, and late nights of homework!

First, I wanted to let you all know that according to a random internet quiz, California is the state where I belong! I don't usually take those silly quizzes that pop up in posts on Facebook, but my interest was piqued when this one offered to tell me which state my personality belonged in, and to my great surprise, the result was California! Ohhhh the irony.

During the middle of October, I had a wonderful visit with family when my Auntie Carol and cousin Becca came to Biola for a day so that Becca could check out the college! The three of us had a lovely time catching up, and then they took me out to a Mediterranean restaurant in Downtown Disney! It was so nice to see some familiar faces so far from home!

Becca and I,  at the entrance to the enchanting Downtown Disney!

Becca and I, at the Mediterranean restaurant!

October seemed to be a month of family, since Mom and Bethany both arrived the last weekend of October. Mom came out for the Biola Parents Weekend, and it was her first time seeing the campus! Bethany was in SoCal for a business trip, and so I had a wonderful weekend with them showing them my college.

The Parents Weekend began with the official Torrey Honors Institute Convocation Ceremony to induct the incoming class of freshman. I had the honor of being the banner carrier for the Ignatius banner, which contains a badge from each previous Ignatius groups, since the group names are recycled every four years. The convocation ceremony included the official Torrey sword and a candlelight ending.

The second evening of the Biola Weekend, I performed in the Conservatory's concert Prism with the Biola Chorale. The concert was spectacular and included both vocal performances and instrumental pieces. The Chorale sang two songs: a fun folk song called "Cindy," and a beautifully emotional piece based on the story of Ruth, called "Entreat Me Not to Leave You."

 The Biola Chorale, in performance! I'm on the far right, middle row.

My beautiful friend Sarie, who is in chorale with me and lives on my floor! She's such a blessing to have in chorale with me!


On the last day that I had with Mom and Bethany, we took a drive into LA to visit the celebrated Walk of Fame and Beverly Hills! Two places I've always wanted to visit!

If you look very closely, you can see the Hollywood sign
over my right shoulder above the tree!

The star belonging to Stephen Schwartz, creator of three of my favorite musicals--Wicked, Godspell, and Pippin!

For dinner, we went to The Ice Cream Lab in Beverly Hills,
where the add mix-ins and freeze homemade ice cream
with liquid nitrogen! It was delicious!

The whole time we were walking the avenue of the
stars, Mom kept asking where Mickey Mouse's star
was--well, we finally found it! Doesn't she look
like Minnie Mouse?!?

After Mom flew back to Boston and Bethany headed off to work, my next week was one of the craziest and busiest so far! The Red Sox won the World Series (YAY!), I read Plato's Republic, Biola celebrated Halloween, and I submitted the first draft of my Torrey paper, which accounts for a large portion of my grade and is the only major paper I have this semester.

Wednesday of that week, my dorm Hope had its second All-Hall event, to which the entire dorm is invited. It was called Hopetoberfest, and we were told to wear flannel. There was food, hay bales, a photo booth, and live music. Actually, I was a part of the live music! My RA asked me to play some songs on guitar for part of the night, so I was one of the four acts. It was very different from other venues or genres I've performed for, but I had a lot of fun learning some new songs and sharing my music with others.

At the Hopetoberfest with my dear friend Brook, who is a member of Ignatius and lives on my floor.

Some of the girls from my floor!

Halloween at Biola! My Torrey group Ignatius decided to dress up for session, and five of us showed up in costume. I was Rapunzel!

Charlotte as Rapunzel, Brook as a Torrey student with a paper due (aka a zombie), and Lauren as Cinderella.

Cinderella, Hudson as Charlie Chaplin, Rapunzel, Sleep-deprived Torrey student, Jonathan as a cowboy, Micah as the flag of Finland.

To celebrate the completion of the first drafts of our Torrey papers, some of the member of Ignatius went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. We decided to dress up and make it classy. Bethany was able to join us and be our lovely photographer, since she had one more day in CA before returning to Orlando.

(L to R) Jonathan, Charlotte, Kathryn, Spencer, Brook, Hudson, Hannah, Lauren, and Josh

Two of my closest friends, Kathryn on the left and Lauren in the middle. We had a sleepover in Kathryn's room on Saturday night and stayed up late watching a chick flick and eating junk food. It was wonderful.

Kathryn and I, matching in red!

Beautiful Bethany! So glad she could visit!


Blast from the past! Just found this picture from the 3rd day of Torrientation--we were all dressed up in blue for Game Night, and I was pretty excited for Ignatius, Torrey, & college; I still am!

I realize that this was a very long post, so in the future I'll try to post shorter but more frequently. I love you all, and hope you're doing splendidly! I'd love to hear from you all, and my week is pretty calm, so give me a call! 

Happy October!

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers..." ~ Anne of Green Gables

Happy Fall from sunny California!! Here's a photo recap of my adventures from the past two months!

First of all, these are some photos of my wonderful Torrey Honors cohort, Ignatius. There are fourteen of us, and these people have truly become my family during theses two months. 

We slowed the exposure time on a camera and used our cell phones to spell out the name of our group while we were at the beach at night this weekend! I'm the second "I." We spent this weekend at Hannah's house for an "Ignatius" retreat, which was so incredibly fun and full of meaningful conversations, bonding, laughter, music, and not very much sleep.

This is the first picture of all of us, and it was taken the third day of Torrientation! We were the blue team, and we got 3rd place at Game Night :)

Some Ignations looking classy at the Academic Commencement Dinner for all freshman!

The second week of school, all the Torrey freshman had a movie night to watch "O Brother Where Art Thou," a George Clooney spoof on Homer's Odyssey. We were told to dress up like old people...Oh, and I'm the one on the right with the beard. 

So here at Biola, we have these things called "GYRADs" (Get Your Roomate A Date),  so I went with Micah's hall and all their dates into LA to the Museum of Jurassic Technology and then to dinner in downtown LA. 

Getting ready to leave for our retreat this past weekend!

We stopped at Chick-fil-A because it's so delicious (get the grilled chicken, bacon, and jack cheese sandwich with honey mustard sauce...mmmmm). Also, Jayden goes to Worldview Academy in Arizona!

At Dana Point with my dear friend Kathryn...she's the Diana to my Anne. 

All of Ignatius at the beach for the retreat, minus Rachel who couldn't come.  

The next photos are from the Chorale retreat from a couple of weeks ago at Idlewild Pines. I am so blessed to be a part of this incredible choir, which has sung in Carnegie Hall and on the Jay Leno show in previous years! We'll be traveling to South Korea for 12 days during spring break, all expenses paid! 

The entire chorale, with our director Dr. Stewart in the middle row, far left!

The sopranos from chorale! 

My two best chorale friends, Sairi (from Japan!) and Sarie.  We were having fun pretending to be models. 

This next photo is from the CSP (California School Project) retreat two weekends ago. This is the ministry that I'm involved in, and I'm so stoked for what God is going to do through it and through me this year! My partner Josh and I will be going to Polytechnic High School every week to mentor the high school leaders of the Bible Club, and to help them plan outreach events and witness to students! 

CSP with our "Outreach Guides"--the book that tells us how to plan rallies and do witnessing the CSP way.

 Finally, these last photos are from my dorm life! I live in Hope, on the 3rd floor south, called Legacy. 

My roommate Josie and I rearranged our room last week and decided to make a living room in one corner!

Gustave and Pascal, my two favorite chameleons. (Gustave is a tape dispenser, Pascal is a stuffed animal from the Disney princess movie Tangled.

Our room, lit up by the Christmas lights.

BBQ with our brother floor! Oh, and that's my roommate Josie on the right :)

California waves! I got a bit thrashed, but it was so worth it.

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I walked to a church on Sunday that's near Biola, and right across from the church were parked three vintage cars! I wanted to get a picture in front of this one, but the owner let me sit in the car for the picture! Ahhhh I love blue cars!

Love to you all! 

~ Charlotte