Jitters

After much anticipation, I have finally started my Grad School application. I though that starting the application would feel overwhelming but it has had quite the opposite effect. I literally have the jitters about it because I am so excited! Yes, it is possible that this could be from the hot mug of coffee I just downed but it is more likely from the excitement of the application. I have 3 of the 4 parts completed but the 3 that remain are the hardest. 

The biggest curiosity I had before starting my application was what the questions for the personal statement would be and I must say that immediately after reading them I had answers and examples come to mind for each one of them!

I feel very encouraged that I am looking to go in the right field for me because all of the prompts are so personal to me. I can't wait to continue working on my application but I am going to have to exercise a bit of self-control and hold off for a while because I have a pretty busy week with a paper due and an exam approaching. I have been spoiled thus far this semester with my lax schedule.

I promised an update on Fall Retreat so I will provide one that is very brief: 
It was a very fun and meaningful weekend. Great memories and friendships were made, prayers answered, and lives were impacted forever. I would post pictures but I forgot to bring my camera along. 

Another fun weekend is approaching to serve as a hiatus from this busy week. My parents are coming to visit me over fall break. I am most looking forward to my mom finally seeing my apartment! I am hoping to somehow find time to finish some decorating touches before they arrive on Friday. 

In joy and excitement, 
Kenz

P.S. How can dying leaves be so beautiful?

Full Weekends

So, I went home this past weekend and came away feeling very inspired and encouraged! It partially felt too soon to be going home but I'm so glad I did.

Here's things I did while home:

• A lovely 7 mile bike ride to a playground
• lunch at a cute independent place called Dillweeds following the bike ride
• Home cooked meal and played games with the parents
• Lovely lunch with Andrew's family
• Celebrating my little cousins birthday, surprise style
• Saw another cousin who was very ill and is doing remarkably better now
• Watched The Hunger Games movie and marveled at how much was left out from the book.
• Got very inspired to go hunting. Awaiting Thanksgiving break for that
• Great time with my oldest brother and his beautiful expecting wife. Can't wait to be an aunt again!
• Church and lunch following with the family

Going home this past weekend was just such a blessing to be. By the time I got back to school, I was feeling very encouraged and rested. 

I love the hometown that God has blessed me with and can't wait to get more involved in the town community there. I often find myself wishing that Bel Air was more like Blacksburg and I am realizing the ways that they are similar.  Yes, Bel Air is populated by way to many successful career people and their preppy little families and it has become much more build up than I would like. 

Despite this, it is still the town I have grown up in and come to love. I am looking forward to discovering the similarities that it has to Blacksburg when I move back home. I want to try all the restaurants on Main Street, attend local music festivals and art shows, grocery shop at the farmer's market every Saturday morning and whatever other quaint happenings the town has to offer. 

Today is InterVarsity's Fall Retreat and I am super excited. Big things are going to happen and I know it's going to be super fun! I'm really looking forward to seeing what Giant Jenga is like. 

Hopefully more updates on this after the weekend.

Until then find rest and joy in the day-to-day.

Love,
Mackenzie

Fish and Chips

My parents have come to visit me this weekend and we have the weekend quite filled up! Today when they got here we went out for lunch at a great local towney sandwich shop and then went to the new Irish Pub for dinner. I had been wanting to try fish and chips for quite some and and they were great! Since my parents have had authentic fish and chips in Ireland, they are able to compare to the real stuff and the southwest Virginia version was up to par. Also, I had been craving some good ol' MD Boardwalk Fries with Old Bay and vinegar and had given up on the fact that I'd be able to find them here. However, our chunky potato wedge "chips" had a bottle of vinegar just waiting to be sprinkled on them. There was no Old Bay but the vinegar was more than satisfactory for now. I am so glad that I am able to appreciate these simple pleasures.

After dinner, we walked around campus for a bit so that we didn't feel like complete fatties and then went to 180, InterVarsity's large group meeting. It was a great night for them to come and visit and they really enjoyed it. It was great for them to see some of the things that God is doing through this ministry and meet some of the people that I have come to love dearly.

I am looking forward to spending tomorrow and Sunday with them as well. We will be doing a service project with some other families tomorrow morning, the Spring Game in the afternoon, and the 1st annual SERVE family banquet in the evening. Tomorrow's a big day!

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;

my hope comes from him. 

Truly he is my rock and my salvation; 

he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 

My salvation and my honor depend on God;

he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Trust in him at all times, you people; 

pour out your hearts to him, 

for God is our refuge. 

-Psalm 62:5-8