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statue of John Carroll, Georgetown's founder, this morning November 14, 2015 

Red Square, November 14, 2015

Life is strange sometimes. Last night felt like the entire world was falling apart—Paris under attack, suicide bombs in Beirut and Baghdad, earthquakes in Japan and Mexico, and protests and ambulances on campus. My cell phone, for whatever reason, stopped working last night, but I luckily can receive iMessages on my laptop. Melissa informed me of Paris, and for a long moment of ignorance being bliss, I forgot that my friend Ana is in Paris. Then I remembered, and from that moment to the one in which I got a hold of her, I experienced all-consuming fear.

I'm writing this as the Georgetown pep band performs very loudly outside my window. The sun is shining, the Healy clock tower chimes the quarter of the hour, and the wind sighs heavily. The juxtaposition of terror and beauty are nearly overwhelming, but I'm grateful to be in the beauty now. I'm grateful that there is beauty today to remind the world that hope exists. I'm grateful for the strength of human spirit which allows us to continue even in the most difficult of times.

A week from right now, I will be in Nebraska visiting my extended family. I will have completed 7 major assignments/assessments and, ideally, several interviews for my linguistics final project. I have been anxious and overwhelmed lately. It's often said that Georgetown's midterms start the third week of classes and last until the week before finals; right now I'm inclined to agree with that statement. I have thirteen more days of classes, after which we have reading days and then finals.

My current goals include getting my phone fixed, taking a nap, and surviving the next week of work. I pray for peace in the world, peace in our hearts and home, and peace in my mind.

19

Happy fall from the Hilltop! These pictures are from around Georgetown and around campus, and all but one were taken on my birthday.

Having a birthday somewhere other than Johns Creek, Georgia, was weird, but it was still a really great birthday. I've always loved my birthday because it's the one day a year where everyone tries to tell me how much they love me. Everyone is always really sweet and I'm always very happy. 19 was no exception! I was a little late to my first class since I overslept a little, but classes went fairly well. I went to Good Stuff Eatery for lunch with Isaac, Michael, and Ellen; on your birthday you can get a free milkshake from Good Stuff, and it was a good milkshake.

 After that I dragged Isaac and Michael around M St with me. I got a free cupcake from Sprinkles (the chai latte flavor is pretty dang good), and then I browsed Paper Source since I love stationery shops. Once the boys were about to melt from boredom and I'd had my fill of cute stationery, we went to Baked & Wired where the boys got sweets. We walked down to the waterfront and ate our cupcakes overlooking the Potomac.

Then we went exploring a little bit, and during our adventures I took most of the fall photos at the beginning of this post. Once we got back to campus, there were dogs all over Healy Lawn! I got to pet three of them, and it was a great birthday treat. I love love love animals.

Is this not one of the cutest photos ever? Look at that pug in a costume!

After our explorations, it was "nap time"—I intended to nap but I watched the new episode of How to Get Away With Murder instead. After nap time, most of the gang got together to go to dinner at Mai Thai, a Thai restaurant that is popular around Georgetown. On your birthday you can get a free entree from Mai Thai as long as you have your ID and someone to eat with (it's pretty much a BOGO free deal). It was such a nice meal, and the kids surprised me with mango ice cream at the end.

When we got back to campus, somehow they convinced me to complete the Georgetown tradition of sitting on John Carroll's lap. Right in front of Healy Hall (the big castle building, for anyone who doesn't know) is a large statue of John Carroll, the founder of our fine university. One of the many Georgetown traditions is to get a picture of you sitting on his lap. I discovered that this simple task is much harder than it looks because John is quite tall, at least twice my height. After a few embarrassing attempts, I finally made it.

Michael tried his best to take a good picture in the pitch-dark of 7:30PM in DC fall.

After some more exploring, we finally returned to Isaac's dorm room where we continued the squad movie night tradition. Every week we have squad movie night, meaning our group of friends piles into Isaac's room and someone chooses a movie to share with the group. The general movie theme is each person's favorite movie, but on this night we obviously changed our theme to Halloween movies. We watched Hocus Pocus, one of my favorite movies and one that I watch almost every year on my birthday. We drank apple cider and had a lovely time. Although she couldn't stay for the movie, Ellen made a quick stop in Isaac's room to drop off her gift for me—a bouquet of flowers! The flowers currently sit on my desk in a water bottle since I don't have a vase, and they brighten up my days. I made such good friends here.

Ellen is THE BEST!

I got cards from various people from home, and my roommate got me a Georgetown cupcake (pumpkin cheesecake mmmmmmm). My birthday was absolutely wonderful. I have a good life here, good friends and good people and a good job and good circumstances. I'm always blessed, and I think on my birthday God likes to remind me of that fact a little bit more.