PACKING!!!!

People,

I am leaving in 6 days!
I can't believe it!

I've started legitimately packing my clothes and essentials today.

Wow, I have alot of STUFF.

See my 2 siblings before me have gone to colleges close by.
My college is 7 hours away.
I can't do what they did, which is swing by home and pick up stuff if they need it.
So I have to prepare myself for the colder months while not bringing every article of clothing I own.
This is alot harder than it sounds.

Does anybody have any college packing tips?

I'm trying not to overdo it.  It's not exactly working.  Oh well!

TTFN!

The Ups and Downs

WELLLL

I have some news.

As I'm sitting here, figuring out how to say this, I look down at my last post about the beach.  One sentence sticks out to me - "I'm enjoying this season of my life."

If you knew about recent events, you would look at my life now and think to yourself, "That statement does not portray how she feels now."

And a couple of days ago I would have agreed.

However, I've had a little time to think, pray, prepare and I know now.

My soccer dreams have not been in vain.  Sure I have a Jones Fracture in my 5th metatarsal base.   But if I want to succeed in life than I have to take any and every experience as a growing experience.

I feel like my world has been turned upside down and I have learned alot about myself.  This is just the beginning of what's to come and I'm not worried.

A part of that comfort and confidence comes from me saying good-bye to control.  I have a very extroverted personality and I'm a bit of a control freak.  I have a choleric temperament that I get from my mother (go figure).  This fracture is not something I can control so I need to stop blaming myself and start working on other stuff.  Dwelling on myself being injured is pretty depressing and I'm not the kind of person who wants to be depressed for even a second.

This summer I spent a good amount of time working on my fitness and it's hard to not see that time as being a waste now.  One thing I've learned is that my time is not God's time.  And I know there is such wisdom in His planning.  Do I like being humbled? No, but I really appreciate it later.

Maybe this is His way of saying slow down.  I want you to enjoy the relationships you are fostering now.  I want you to lean on me at this time because I am carrying you.

Maybe I don't have to know what I'm supposed to learn from this.

It's OK for me to suffer a bit.  It's OK to sacrifice my physicality especially because I've been so blessed.

I've seen friends and family send out their love and support.  They have been my crutch for the past week.  It fills my heart with such bliss to know how strongly they care for me.

Maybe it's enough to know that I've gotten to where I am and who I am today because of love.

XOXO,
Robyn

BEACH

Hey There!

Update on my life:
Well, I went to the beach last week for the Fourth of July.  It was fun/incredible/awesome and totally worth the car ride with no air conditioning.

I know, how did we survive that?
Seriously, it wasn't that bad because we would go in the morning, but it still was a little uncomfortable. Like I said though, totally worth it.

Since I'd never driven myself to a vacation before I decided that I wanted some company.  And what better way to spend a week at the beach than to go with friends. I ended up choosing 2 of my good homeschool friends and it was hard because I really didn't want to hurt feelings.  I know how that feels and it stinks.  But in this scenario, I hope that I handled it well and didn't come across as a brat.  I really was just trying to do what was best and to pick friends who I knew would get along with family.

Beach life is SO my life.  It was wonderful to be by the water, just relaxing and getting pampered by my aunt and her family.  My cousins went out of their way to accommodate us, which was very nice.  We all had loads of fun and I enjoyed seeing everyone get along.  

I also got home just in time to see my Great Grandma stop by our house on her way to my Nana's.  Every time I see my 95 year old Great Grandma I am filled with this incredible assurance.  It's almost like I get this feeling that by the time I am her age my life right now, that I make SUCH a big deal of, will be of little to no consequence.  That test I didn't do so great in? That summer of stressing and organizing before leaving for college? My summer jam? My new clothes? How many push ups or pull ups I did? How many miles I ran?  They won't make a difference in the world when I reach my 90's.  If I reach them!

So stop worrying! I'm enjoying this season in my life.  That in-between awkward age where you are exercising more independence and yet a part of you is still clinging for the comfort and ease of home.  Let go and let live.

"I am not afraid, I was born to do this." - Joan of Arc.  

Please keep my Great Grandma in you prayers.  She has shingles and although she is doing much better, she still has pains.  She has been very calm and strong throughout the storms in her life recently.  It's really been a blessing to watch her live her life and to see all the love she has poured into her family.

Another joy of this summer has been planning and preparing for the birth of my goddaughter and baby sister! I'm SO EXCITED! Do you know how good it is to see a pink blanket after 10 years of seeing blue ones?

TTFN!  

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you to all the mums out there!

My mommy is my role model and inspiration.  I don't know where I would be without her!

“When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.” 
― Fulton J. Sheen, Life is Worth Living

What's Happening?

Update on me: my life hasn't been terribly interesting lately.  My schedule is literally family, faith, hw, soccer, and babysitting.  I had a spa night with girlfriends last weekend and went to a swing dance.  Both of which were incredibly fun!

The other day I wrote my favorite things about being homeschooled that I thought I'd just copy and paste :)

I've been homeschooled all my life and so has everyone in my family. My parents believe that they are primarily responsible for the education of their children and for us that means being well formed in our rich Catholic faith. We didn't have the money for private education so my parents took on the responsibility of homeschooling. Like any other schooling, you have to work hard so it's not always "fun". But I can say that without a doubt, homeschooling has formed me into the person that I am today. Homeschooling enables me to become very close with the people I will always have a relationship with for the rest of my life, my family. And I'm not just saying this. My best friend is my older sister and that relationship would not nearly be as close as it is now without homeschooling. Even with my extremely close friends, although I ignore it most of the time, there is always this tiny seed that I might be judged for what I say or do. And let's face it, some friends come into our lives and leave with no explanation. With my family, I am always free to express myself. I can always trust them. In highschool, there were some ups and downs in my family, especially ailments and family trials.  If needed, we took a break from school to sort out the medical needs of the family. As a family unit, we've learned how to get through the good and bad times. Homeschooling allows for flexibility, but it also teaches the student to be responsible for his own work. I'm enrolled in a curriculum, which means that I have to send my work in regularly to an accredited program to receive an official transcript. I'm also heavily involved in classes outside of my house or online classes. I have homework deadlines. I gained work experience through refereeing, babysitting, and nannying. I am a captain on both of the soccer teams that I'm on now (highschool and travel) so I understand what it takes to be a leader for homeschoolers and public schoolers. I didn't get brilliant scores on my SAT's, but they weren't bad. My GPA isn't above a 4.0, but I still got into the Honor's program at Belmont Abbey  I'm very extroverted, social, and I'm definitely not sheltered. I'm your average teenage girl who thinks one direction is the cutest thing and loves to go shopping and have spa nights with my girls. I think my parents protected me in a good way, but they never withheld information from me. Most importantly, my faith has been allowed to blossom through being homeschooled and it has definitely been challenged by peers and adults. I am confident in my faith and am able to have charitable discussions with those I do not agree with. I LOVE that I have grown up with going to daily mass, holy hours, and confession on a regular basis. For me, homeschooling has been the greatest platform for me to be able to grown within myself and develop my talents.

Yuck

Guys,

Today I have to dissect a Frog.  Do you know how gross that is?

Sincerely,
Me

Prom Dress!

I found my prom dress yesterday!

Nothing could have made me happier.

OK, that's not entirely true.  

But I was super happy that I found my dress at a thrift store for such a great price that I bought 2.  Only I would buy more than one dress for prom.  hehe.  The only problem is that they both need straps to meet the modesty requirements for our homeschool prom.  But I hope that can be fixed easily.

 Whoops that's not a prom dress! But he's still cute so I think I'll keep him.

Now here's the prom dress!

 And here is the extra one!

I'm off to do homework now!