jenn and i are happily settled into our new apartment, thanks to jenn's hardcore cleaning and organizing skills! feels good to be box free- aside from the rest of ryan's stuff which will go soon too. i didn't realize how far away from campus we were until now - as soon as i get my tires fixed, i plan on riding to campus as often as possible. it's maybe a mile - not bad at all.
last day of steroids was monday...and my body definitely knows it. withdrawal is pretty bad, but it helps knowing or at least hoping that this is the last set of withdrawal symptoms i'll have to go through! I was pretty sick wednesday and not feeling too hot at all today - but i'm hanging in there, anything to avoid the hospital again. i'm not sure what adrenal failure feels like besides extreme fatigue, but i don't think i have it. i mean, i am freaking tired but that's partly because i'm working 8 to 4 and then climbing or swimming for an hour or so afterward. naps have become an irreplaceable part of my day - i hope that i will still have time for them once school starts (aka i won't have time for them but should...) it's probably going to be either climbing/swimming or a nap...and life's too short to sleep. i know i say that now and i'll probably change my mind once the mayhem of the semester begins...
you know you've been around internationals too long when you can't read a book without hearing an accent of it in your head haha. i do love my job, as exhausting as it is, and i will be sad when it's over next thursday. it's a strange phenomenon - when you put a group of people through the same strenuous experience, how close they become. haven't applied for anything else during the fall semester - part of me is not sure i'll be well enough to keep a job, but i guess it wouldn't hurt to look, if for no other reason than to raise my morale haha.
climbing trip is next thursday! i'm most definitely excited. i don't even care if i fall a million times or don't even make it up; the sheer fact that i'll be outside with no contact to the world as i know it will be enough for me. i plan on getting some serious reading/writing done - but i guess we'll see what happens.
finished life of pi and bastard of out carolina this week. both were better than i had thought they would be, but for completely different reasons. i'm one book away from reaching my goal of 25 books for the summer and i only have a couple chapters left of renovation of the heart - go my team :)
kaitlin came up for a day this week. which, coincidentally, was my favorite day this week haha. we went climbing, made brownies, and fell asleep to an old audrey hepburn film. i could do that every day of the week for the rest of my life and be happy. i guess not being able to is what makes it so special though. trying to fit in a trip to omaha to visit kaitlin and krista before school starts.
what climbing has taught me about my faith:
1. inertia - the law applies to both. it is harder to do what you have not done before or have not been doing in a while. the more times you do something, the more natural and easier it becomes. the same goes for a route as for a spiritual discipline (fasting, meditation, worship, acts of service...)
2. you are as capable as you allow yourself to be. attitudes of self-defeat are not only not helpful but actually hinder your ability to accomplish a goal, whether it be spiritual or physical.
3. the best way to improve yourself is to associate yourself with people who have the characteristics that you wish to see in your own life. if i want to be a better climber, i must listen to and hang around good climbers. if i want to be closer to the Lord, I must find and hang out with people who are doing that very thing in their own life.
think that's all for now... not much planned for this weekend (aka it's gonna be a good one) hope to get some reading done, i work sunday, and mikey and courtney are coming up tomorrow for a couple hours! there's a new playground all space age-like beimg built a couple blocks from my house i'd like to explore - let me know if you're game :) i'm sure climbing and swimming and naps and reading will all be in there somewhere too.
good quote of the day regarding the body: "care for it only as it serves god's purposes in your life and the lives of others" - from renovation of the heart. definitely a conviction for me and my vanity... something i'm working on