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!