Everything is still changing.

Good evening.

evening in the best city in the world, courtesy of Tumblr.

    Public Service Announcement: starting next week, we are shifting posting order forward one day. So, I will be posting on Tuesday, Mercy on Wednesday, and so on. This is because I have no free time on Mondays to make a positive contribution to OTAS. My fellow bloggers are sweet enough to accommodate for me not being superwoman.
    I know I didn't post last week, so I would like as best as possible redeem myself today. I had a
biochem quiz last Tuesday so I spent six hours in the library Monday night, cramming and eventually getting frustrated at myself and trying not to sob too loudly over my work. Eventually Joe came and found me, and I planned on being mad at him for disturbing my mental breakdown, but he let me cry into his shoulder and reassured me with kind words and even got me to laugh by being his goofy self, so I ended up not taking out my anger on him (and getting a really good grade on my quiz, praise the Lord). By the time I thought about posting it was 11:30 and I was exhausted and my computer was dead, so I risked punishment by saving my grade in nursing and spending a few golden moments with my wonderful goon of a boyfriend (who has apparently turned me into a sap, excuse me while I throw up at my own frivolity along with everyone reading this).
    Essentially, everything Mercy said about me in my punishment post was correct.
    I like The Foursome, because we all know each other so well that we can basically predict our individual behavior. It's cute and creepy at the same time. I believe the best friendships consist of a unique balance of cuteness and creepiness.

photographic evidence of the cute creepiness of The Foursome. Also throwback to Mercy's epic birthday weekend last year! #MondayMemories #CHARYL #bobsledding #whyamIhashtagging #sounnecessary

    I adored all of your posts from last week. They were all -particularly Gracie's- reminiscent of springtime past and hopeful about the coming warmer weather.
    I am such a lover of the in-between seasons. Fall and spring make me stop and catch my breath as I gaze upon the beauty of nature. I get that sad nostalgic feeling, thinking back on seasons past and realizing how quickly time passes. And changes. Times are still changing. I thought after high school, after Graduation and The Big Change known as College, that all the change that makes my stomach drop and my eyes fill with wistful tears would be over and done with.
    But I was wrong, as per usual. Everything is still changing. My body is changing, my thoughts are changing, my faith is changing. And the only reason I'm ever sad is because I'm not who I thought I would be.
    And thank God I'm not! I'm so much more than the Average Nursing Major I thought I would be, this time last year. I am a Nursing Major, but I'm also the joyful singer whose voice and love of music has grown by leaps and bounds, all because I got thrown into the choir program at Sacred Heart. Next fall, I will hopefully be minoring in Global Studies with a concentration in healthcare, in the hopes of fulfilling God's call for me in the area of multicultural medicine. I am much more positive; the deep pits of anxiety and depression that used to twist my stomach in knots and rob me of my appetite are mere flashbacks. I have seen God's love more prominently displayed in this world than I ever thought possible, making it impossible for me to ever deny His existence.
    I am still the lover of long runs and black coffee, rainy days at home and Jane Austen, Harry Potter and laughter that gives your abs a workout. But, I am everchanging like the seasons- aren't we all? Thankfully I have matured past those awkward, hormonal days of bad haircuts and hand-me-down sweaters (Present Day Laura apologizes to Baby Foursome countless times for Past Laura. She was so emo and frustrated).
    I will continue to change- I will graduate from SHU and see the world (hopefully making it a better place) and marry some cute nerd and put on weight after having kids who look just like me. The great thing is, we get to make memories while we grow. It is those experiences that help us grow, in fact.
    And so we are all becoming different like the seasons- changing and bursting into colors in these exciting times of our lives, each season more beautiful than the last. "He has made everything beautiful in His time," that wondrously profound book of Ecclesiastes says. And so we are all becoming beautiful, finding who God made us to be with many challenges and much laughter along the way.

    Keep changing, girlies. Don't be afraid of abandoning the closed facets of your mind and developing great and wonderful thoughts and opinions. Let life change you, but stick to your guns. Be the butt-kicking woman of God that you were designed to be since before your birth. God loves you and has a plan. Don't ever lose sight of that, and any changes that occur in your life will be a part of your fate.
    Mercy, I'll hear from your face tomorrow.
--Laura :)