Quick, hurry!

I have five hours to live up to the promise I made in my last journal (over at LJ) about writing my next entry before a month's time has passed. How does this happen? How on earth did time pass me by so quickly. Before I know it, I'm going to be a grandmother. Sheesh.

Anyhow. Here we go!

A lot has happened since I last wrote. In fact, so much has happened that I honestly cannot have retained memory of every little thing. See? There's my motivation to update regularly. This journal isn't just for your benefit, but mine too. I'm going to want to be able to look back and see what was going on with me at different times of my life. So there, Kara, there's your reason. Memory's sake.

Since I can't possibly remember everything, I'll just focus on what has happened within the last week, or two, or three.

I have gotten so involved with the Catholic Church ministry here on campus and I absolutely love every minute of it. I've been part of the church choir since my first Sunday at Virginia Tech and every mass and Thursday night choir practice since then has been so rewarding for me. The people I encounter there are so loving, so full of life and a zeal for God that I can only hope to emulate. Needless to say, I think I'm on my way to finding my niche in this humongous university and I'm undeniably excited about that. In addition to getting involved with the choir, I've been involved just in general, attending talks, dinners, movie nights, and by joining a Freshman Faith-Sharing Group.

My faith sharing group is incredible. I used to not have a determined high point of my week, something I would always look forward to, but now I do. My week begins on Tuesday night at 8pm and the moment it's over, I can't wait for the next Tuesday to roll around. The friends I'm making in that group are hopefully those that God intended for me to foster deep relationships with over the next few years while I'm here. First off, there's Marybeth. She's a bundle of energy, to say the least, but she's incredible. She's so curious and passionate about growing in understanding of the faith we're trying to live and I admire that about her. Secondly, there's Megan. Megan immediately established herself as someone I could identify with--from observing the day of silence for aborted babies to her general outlook on life, enthusiasm, and optimism. Just the other night, even though we haven't known each other long, she felt comfortable enough to hug me when I was feeling more distressed and down than I ever have in my life (maybe more on that later...). I sincerely hope God has a plan for her and I to be friends for life. I already cherish her friendship only four or five weeks into knowing her. There are a lot more of them: Rebecca, Christian, Nick, Sean, Josh, Anneliese, Stephen, Brittany, Kelley. They're all so much fun and so different. I can't wait to get to know all of them even better. =)

On the subject of my recent extreme depression, I won't say much, because it has more or less passed and I don't want to recall how unpleasant it was. Basically, things just got really out of hand and both I and someone else said things we didn't mean and interpreted things one another said in the wrong way, and just pushed things way over the edge. But as with any awful thing, some good things come of them, such as: a fresh perspective, camaraderie with my brother, and the support of new friends. The really good thing is that things have more or less been smoothed out with said person and we're moving on with more respect for one another and each others' opinions.

I've read two incredible books in the last week or so: "Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship" and "Girl Talk," both of which help young Christians (the first, those pursuing marriage) and the second (Christian daughters and mothers) to live a godly life in all that they do. Obviously, for me, this is really exciting because I'd love to find myself at the end of my life and be able to honestly say that I lived for God. "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." -- 1 Corinthians 10:31 -- Good words to live by. =)

The "Girl Talk" book really excites me because it's going to be a foundation for becoming even closer to my mom. Because of everything that happened this week (with the depression and argument, and whatnot) I realized how wrong I was to not include my mother in so much more of my life than I have thus far. I really needed her this week, and in the past, but I had never realized before how much I would have needed her. For that reason, I'm going to share the book with my mom and hopefully have her read it by the time I come back for Thanksgiving Break that way we can discuss the book and really set things in motion. =) I'm so excited! If I make this happen, it'll mean that my little sisters will never have to suffer through the pain I have this week on their own. They'll have my mom on their side before they get in over their heads.

And so, it is now 12:22 at night, and I've said all that I really want to say at the moment, considering I still have some homework to do. And no, it didn't take me six hours to write this; I went to the Hokie Thursday Night Football game with my brother and his friends. So good! We beat UMD 23-13. GO HOKIES!

I love you all! Have an amazing day tomorrow. <3