this week:

+i reorganized most
of my room and got it looking the way i want it.  when i moved down
here a little over 2 years ago, i never really unpacked a lot of
stuff or decorated anything or tried to make anything pretty because
i felt like living in that house would be temporary and i didn't want
to get too attached.  lo and behold, two years have passed, and up
until a week ago, i was still storing my underwear and jeans in totes
inside my closet.  but after i put up my fall decorations, i realized
that i really am ready for a change.  i've gotten rid of my totes and
put a table and shelves inside my closet for my shoes and my jeans. 
it's not the classiest thing i've ever seen, but i like it more than
i had before.  i also organized my books and stacks and stacks of
movies that are sitting on the top shelf in my closet.  my beauty
space in front of the mirror on my floor is still pretty much the
same, just more organized.

for the most part,
i'm happy with it.   it's not my dream room by any means, but it
feels more like MY room.

+i had 3 really
amazing conversations with my siblings on the phone.  my little
sister, Amberly, and i spent most of our time on the phone catching
up on things like friends and boys and jobs and talked about the
tattoos we want to get and the things we want to do to our hair.  
regular old girl talk:)

one of my brothers,
Kyle, and i had a really great conversation about God, mostly led by
him.  this is very un-Kyle-like.  most of our conversations are spent
catching up on each other's life and then quoting lines from It's
Always Sunny and cracking ourselves up.  this time, Kyle wanted to
talk about church.  he recently started going to a youth group on his
own time (also, very un-Kyle-like) and meeting with the pastor for
coffee once a week.   and he started sharing with me about how the
church tells people they need to be real, but yet, they don't talk
about real-life stuff. instead, they frown upon. "i cuss
sometimes," he told me. "i mean, i spend 40 hours a week
in a shop with guys who cuss.   so yeah, i cuss.  i do my best to
watch my tongue when i'm around other people, but sometimes it slips
out.   and i'm not going to apologize when they get offended because
that's just real.   it's just real life."

we went on to talk
about a variety of topics--drug use, going to parties, struggling to
stay pure in a romantic relationship.  and why can't we talk about
those things in church?  why can't we be honest about what we did
last weekend?  why can't we say that we're stuck in darkness? 
churches often act as if it's an open-and-shut case.  like, those of
us who are struggling with different things are just going to stop
because the sermon tells us we should?

it was a really
great conversation with my brother.  and i basically said nothing.  i
agreed with him and encouraged him to keep going.  i've never heard
him talk that like before, but i was so impressed.  probably prouder
of him than i've ever been.

then, yesterday
afternoon, i had the sweetest conversation with my brother, brett. 
we were talking about God and faith (guess there's a common theme in
our family:)) and brett told me that he wishes he could have a
"prophetic mind" like i do, that he wishes he knew the
Bible like i do, and that he really looks up to me.  it was unbelievably sweet
and humbling.  i feel like i am always talking about God with my
family and i never realized that anyone was really taking what i say
to heart.  i told brett that i don't feel like i know much about the
Bible at all.  a lot of the things i have learned have been from
talking about God with other people, particularly my mom. ever since
i can remember, i would come home from church, share with my mom what
was taught, and get her feedback. i encouraged brett to start
talking to people about God, especially when he has questions or is
curious about something.  i also told him that i look up to HIM when
it comes to faith, because he has this rare, deep faith.  one that
seems to be untainted by the world or any other preconceived notions about
God.  he has the heart of someone who truly wants to know God.  even
in our conversation, he told me he prays that God would open his eyes
every time he reads the Bible.  seriously?  i don't think i've ever
done that.

it was a really
sweet, honest conversation.   brett is the quietest out of all the
siblings, so the fact that he would open up to me about this stuff
made me feel like i'm doing something right in this life.  i really
try to make myself present in his life and this reinforced this
desire to a greater degree.   right before we hung up, he said, "i
had an amazing time talking with you today, char." <3 soo
sweet.  it melted my heart.

i also had a really
good talk with my mom one evening, as well.  as far as my
family goes, i never forget to remember how blessed i am to have
them<3 i never want us to be apart.

+i did a lot of
research on a major in geography.

when i typed in "geography" on Pinterest, this is what came up. <3

 i am discovering that i am in love with it. the topics of earth science geography, climatology, and social geography are of particular interest to me.  it almost feels wrong because it is something i never expected. 
so now, i am feeling torn between pursuing a degree in geography and
still getting a degree in psychology because i DO hope to work with
children one day.  at this point, i am considering a double major. 
we'll see how long this lasts. :P

+i made nutella hot
chocolate. and now i can't stop thinking about it.  for the last couple nights, this
has been my special treat.   and now, after all my little nutella
projects, i am out. literally scraped the container clean last
night.

but i will be going
to the grocery store right after work today.  right after work:)

so, that was my
week.  the next month of weekends for me is already booked up, which
hasn't happened to me in a long time.   this weekend, we're helping
Ethan's sister move.  the following, my best friend will be down. 
the weekend after that, i'm hoping to have a celebration for Ethan's
birthday.  and the weekend after that, my mom will be coming down:)
i'm also hoping that, somewhere in there, Ethan and i can take a trip
up to Julian and go apple-picking and little fall craft fairs and be
all cute and stuff:) it's going to be a busy month, my friends!  so
much to look forward to.

happy friday!

 

;)