219 Miles: coffee and new beginnings.

Quote Love: "Hug the snow for me...yes I said hug."

-My friend, Emily, who loves the snow, but is currently in Israel so she cannot hug it herself. :]

Listening to: "Everything's Right" by Matt Wertz

Happy New Year! Yes, I am fully aware that I am about a week late on getting this post written, but my Astronomy class has kind of eaten my life. I wish I could say that I understand everything I am supposed to be learning in this class, but unfortunately, I'm not understanding much. This is probably because I am focusing on the mathematical problems and I have no ideas how to do any of those.

Anyways, I am quite happy it is Friday! Class from 1-3:20 pm and Lab from 3:30-5:20 pm today, and then I'm done with my first week.

Speaking of Astronomy though, I was going to watch the Meteor shower the other night (yes at 3 am) but the cloud cover was too great and it would have been pointless to freeze out in the cold and not be able to see anything. I wish I had been able to see the shower though. The actual observation part of this class intrigues me. I cannot wait to spend time outside looking up at the stars at night, because I have to. Sometimes I forget how amazing the night sky is. God created more than just the galaxy I live in. He created thousands!

Each one of those bright spots is not a single star, but a galaxy! God created each of them uniquely. Just as He made us uniquely to proclaim His glory.

Now, my year in review.

I never realized how many good things happened within the bad in 2011. I have met some amazing people throughout the year of 2011 and I have found some pretty great friends.

I went to Haiti. I met the child I now sponsor in Haiti long before I even thought of sponsoring a child. It is a complete God thing that I am sponsoring her because I did not even request to sponsor her.

I just got this letter from her this week! :] She is absolutely precious!

I was able to go home with my roommate for Fall Break. And we brought along our wonderful "third roommate" with us (who wrote the wonderful quote from the beginning of this post).

I somehow conquered my fear of Ferris wheels... But only for the amount of time I was on it. I don't think I could ever go on one again.

I am beyond blessed for the amazing people God has placed in my life this past year. Without any of them, I have no idea where I would be.

And now on to the other topic of this post: coffee.

I absolutely love coffee. I am not addicted though, because I can drink it everyday, or not without having to worry about getting withdrawal headaches.

I love Caribou Coffee. I brew it myself & go to the closest shop to me when I am home for breaks. Unfortunately, the closest Caribou to me here at school is 60 miles away on IU's campus. That is an hour away! So while I am at school, I am stuck with Starbucks. Unfortunately, I am a coffee snob and I don't like Starbucks. I will drink their froufrou drinks, but I am not a fan of their drip brew. I will drink Caribou Coffee all day. I am in love with Mahogany, one of their dark roasts. For being a dark roast, it does not have a bitter aftertaste and it is smooth. I am in love with it. Unfortunately, when I go home now, my favorite barista is no longer working at the shop by me.

When I go to Starbucks here at school, I usually get a Caramel Macchiato, and then I wonder why I wasted my money on the drink. So much money for such a small amount of happiness in my life. Oh well...