I'm Singing in the Rain

I've been hit.  Time after time this past week I've been thanking God for the AMAZING blessing He has given me with my roommates and dorm parents.  I can't tell you what kind of amazing blessing they have been to me.  After last semester I had determined that I was going to come back for the study of the Word, not for the social aspect of being here.  I came away from the first semester with no really close friends that were going to still be here this next semester.  So I started with the idea of, study all the time, and when you come back in 2 years you can rent an apartment and work all the time.  Oh boy did the Lord ever show me how wrong I could be.

The first bump in the road to that plan was the addition to my dorm.  A charming young lady named Grace Baldwin filled the void spot left by Becca (who graduated) as our RA.  We'd never had an RA in our room, last semester we were connected to the room next to us, sharing their RA.  Confession time, last semester, I had no desire to get to know Graciela at all.  She was this short, adorable gal from sunny CA who could sing amazingly well AND play the guitar.  There were those who last semester decided that they couldn't balance more than one close friendship, and chose her.  I was hurt and decided to take it out by not making the effort to get to know her.  It wasn't until the end of the semester last semester that I swallowed my pride and tried to get to know her at all.  I still held some of that bitterness when we started this semester.  For her to be my RA was almost too much.  This 21 year old was going to be the end of me.  Fortunately, she proved herself to be impossible to ignore.  Too great to overlook.  Very quickly I discovered our uncanny ability to be there for each other when we need it most, and adopted my favorite spot to sit in her room and pour my guts out to her.  We love going to the mall and learned that when we are together all money needs to be left here at the school.  Carrying on one long conversation all week is my favorite.  She rocks my socks!

Grace did more than just open me back up to trying for relationships, but she also opened our whole dorm to becoming a dorm.  I'd never really gotten close to Rachel because she goes home every weekend, but the atmosphere of our dorm room seems to have taken a turn.  We chose to stay in here to hang out and people chose to come in here to hang out.  We started really early on with hanging as a dorm, going to Maggie Moo's on the coldest day of the winter for ice cream.  We then met with our dorm parents and were "officially" adopted.  We go as a dorm to their house all the time, have special days to celebrate our birthdays, and have random sleepovers as a dorm.


Then there is my bum.  Amie Christine Dryer is my next door neighbor, and attached herself to our couch last semester (proclaiming, "we are one" speaking about her and the couch).  I met her in a bored moment during our outing at the beach last semester and she's not been able to get rid of me since.  Amie, Anna Ruiter (my roommate) and I tend to do many things together.  Just the other day we decided to enjoy the weather together and went for a walk with a camera.  But beyond that, I've learned so much more about Amie and from her this semester than I thought I would.  We were doing homework together at Conni's one day and we spent 2 hours just talking about things we are learning in class and how we apply that to our lives.  We are so different and so much alike that we are constantly grating against each other making me think and examine my life and actions.


There are many more in my life, but this is part 1 of this, I have church in the morning that i can't be too tired for.