The Love of God

Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made. Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. :)

Just a quick reminder of how great His love for us truly is.

Oh The Life of a Walker

I'm pretty sure I've covered at least 10 miles in the last 14 hours. And I'm not exaggerating. (It is an estimation though. I need to get one of those things to attach to my Nikes and see how far I've walked/ran.) But honestly, the campus is huge and I've walked around it, through it, under tunnels, over hills, left, right, and center. Again, I stop to state how amazingly fast time flies and tonight marks my fourth night in North Carolina and my third on campus.

Let's start where we left off. The last you've heard of me on this pretty badly updated blog I was in beautiful Maine visiting the Way Way Store. Well I concluded my time in Maine riding ponies, visiting the beach, swimming in the pool, playing bubbles with Ian, eating s'mores by the campfire, playing hide-and-seek with Ian and his walkie-talkies, sleeping over at Becca's, going shopping, and the list continues.

Ian and his amazingly cool bubble-blowing device

which he also got for free at Andy's Agway.

Gotta love that place - he keeps getting free stuff there!

Eating a s'more while making another.

Gotta learn how to multitask in this century.

(Sorry to point out, but my sister is a terrible photographer.

I mean seriously, she has no sense of focal point.)

If I'm not mistaken, that's Stoney and Ginger in the pasture.

Taking pictures of the P's driveway for a little graphic designing

project Mrs P gave me. I was pretty happy with the end result.

Me, Jackie, and Becca at Old Orchard Beach. That place

has changed so much. Busy busy.

On Sunday the 14th, I flew down to Charlotte on a very manageable journey that only lasted about 5 hours. No bumps whatsoever, and I arrived in one piece with all my expensive baggage in three pieces. (Because there were three bags, not because it broke into three.) Got to the hotel in Charlotte and spent an enjoyable time talking to many nationalities and the friendly INTAPP people. Went to downtown Charlotte and spent a boring time exploring the streets. Literally. Came across this sign that I just couldn't resist taking a picture of:

First thought: Sarah Ti

Arrived at Appalachian State University on Monday and there began the week-long of orientations that still isn't over. They've given me a tour of the campus two times already, and I'm probably taking another tour tomorrow. I think I'm gonna be losing weight instead of gaining any. Everyone here is so fit and active because of all the walking around campus and the many outdoor activities. The food is amazing though so I'm trying to eat more than I walk. It's pretty expensive but currently I have free meals as an international so I'm taking full advantage of that!

Gabriela from Brazil. Such a sweet girl. :)

Ruby from Malaysia as well, in front of
I-forgot-his-name bear in the Belk Library.

Tonight in particular, I had an amazing experience out on the Duck Pond field Contra Dancing (which is kinda like country folk dancing, I think) as well as juggling a soccer ball around with some of the guys. That proved interesting because I played barefooted and all the rest had sneakers on.. and I kept up. :)

This talented band led us through some really fun and

exhausting dances. I couldn't even pause for a moment.

It's 11:30pm and I am dead from all the walking, dancing, kicking, etc. I have freshman orientation all day long tomorrow, so I'm hitting the sack. I'll keep you wonderful friends in Malaysia updated as often as I can, and I would love to skype with y'all whenever I have the free time.

This Could Really Be the Good Life

#o1, I have enough plane rides to last for a lifetime. Now, here's what I've discovered, flying by yourself is a lot (did I say A LOT) different than flying with another person. Reasons being: one, you don't have to lug heavy luggage that actually has a label that contains a picture of a stick figure hurting his back. two, you don't have to be so attentive about where are you heading. Just follow the person ahead. and three, there's someone to talk to. When I finally arrived in Boston, my voice sounded so coarse. Simply because I hadn't talked in such a long time.

#o2, a thirty-six hour long journey traveling across the world (the long way through the Pacific, mind you) is just toooo long to remain sane all the way through. Plus a two hour transit in LA where you're rushing to get through immigration and customs; the word 'hectic' couldn't be described better. I literally got at my gate just when the plane was scheduled to take-off. I am not exaggerating.

#o3, never sleep for 16 hours straight. Which is precisely what I did, from 12am all the way till 4pm. But that's how advice works, doesn't it? We humans advice other humans not to do things that we ourselves just did.

#o4, so the adventure begins, and we travel down the memory lane. First stop, the old house. They tore down that hideous looking, black barn and although I only once walked inside that building, I was still pretty attached to it. Other than that, same old house. With the grass overgrown.

#o5, second stop, The Way Way Store. Went there twice actually, once without my sister and the other, with my sister. Not that I minded going to the shop twice in a matter of three days. You can never get too much candy. Still getting a kick out of that red and white brick wall. :)

#o6, third stop, bodies of water. Yes, I phrased it in that odd way because I went to the beach one day, and the pool the other day. The former was too freezing cold to stay in there for too long, but the later was really enjoyable with plenty of water toys to play with. Lots of dunking involved too, with the culprit being mainly me because, even though there's a 10-year-old in our midst, I am still the smallest and the shortest making me the easiest to dunk as well.

#o7, my camera has the coolest feature ever created at the time being. It's called a smart shutter and first of all, it detects the face (like most cameras can do) and then, when the person of that face makes his or her face to smile, the camera automatically snaps a photo. I know, how cool is that. 8D

#o8. So yes, as you can see from the number seven up there, it's new gadgets for me. Spanking new MacBook Pro, Canon Powershot digital camera, and a new phone. :) It's been like, 3 days since I've gotten my new phone, and I've texted 82 times. Gosh, you have to love unlimited texting.

#o9. Ian has a new pet hamster (that looks just like my old class pet Brownie) and his name is Harold. We're actually not sure if he's a 'he', but we're guessing so. I mean, his name is Harold for a reason. So this is the story: Harold was picked up while we were getting grain at Andy's Agway in Dayton with a very convincing sign that read, "Hamsters needing a loving home." Plus, it was free, and who can resist free, cuddly, and cute little rodents. Certainly not me, and definitely not Ian either.

#o10. Last and certainly least (because I'm just trying to get this to an even number, and ten is a good spot to stop), I was actually going to join Lyds at summer camp but her foot (the one that was recently broken) is bothering her and she needs to go for physical therapy, so we cancelled those plans. Not that I mind, I'm just loving Maine so it doesn't matter if I'm out canoeing or sitting in bed rotting in front of the TV, it's still  a well spent summer. :)