Ready for break.

This week has been crazy so far. Classes got really busy all of a sudden now that break is coming up, but break is now only 2 days away. Sooooooo ready for it.

Well, this was a short read for once, just wanted to say something.

Love you all!

~RLF

Halloween!

Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays. I know some people think it's all about satanic worship and child sacrifices and whatnot, but really, when was the last time you saw a child sacrifice on Halloween? I think dressing up and getting candy is fairly harmless, and even fun, as long as nobody poisons the candy.

Well, for the joint hall meeting this past week, I dressed up as a pirate. Of course someone had to dress up as Jack Sparrow, or Halloween would not have been complete. We took pictures of me slapping him, and he let me borrow one of his bottles of "rum" aka IBC cream soda. He then asked to borrow my corset to let his girlfriend wear to a party at VT. I don't loan my corsets to strangers, so I said no...

Anyway, last night I went to volunteer to help set up and decorate for a kid's carnival. When I got there, they asked me to have a seat and wait to be paired with a child, stating that the children would be there in an hour. This was a decent shock to me, since the sheet I was given had said the carnival was today and only set up was yesterday, but I didn't mind. Then, another lady comes and tells us that she had heard we didn't all know that the children were autistic. So I went from decorating for a Halloween party to playing with, watching out for, and feeding autistic children. The boy I was paired with, named Will, was dressed as Thomas the train and was very cute. We ended up crashing Hot Wheels into each other most of the night and shooting Nerf guns. Overall, it was a lot of fun, and when his older siblings, Steven and Lilly, who had been partnered with other Liberty students, were picked up, their mom asked if we were going to be back for Christmas, so maybe I will be. They were so cute! I wish I had pictures.

Also, last night after the carnival, I went out to Amherst County High School to help a church called Oasis with an outreach event that they were hosting. They had an amazing dunk team, which I didn't know existed, but they did all kinds of crazy stunts involving slam dunking basketballs. They gave away tons of free pizza, had a drawing for a Wii, and had an unplanned dance party in the parking lot. It was interesting standing in the area between the gym and the parking lot giving away pizza, since I could see and hear what was going on in both places. In the gym, one of the guys gave their testimony and they prayed and things like that, and on the other everyone was dancing like crazy. By the way, did you know that there is a dance to the song Jump Around? Well, I do. I looked out when that song was playing, and everyone was doing the electric slide to that song. What a concept. But it was interesting to witness these two contrasting events simultaneously. I think big things may be getting ready to happen in Amhurst. I may be getting more involved with this church in the near future.

As for today, Halloween, I am going to be working at the theater from 5:30-11:30, which is sad because we're going to be slammed since we have Saw VI and Halloween 2, and maybe even Nightmare Before Christmas 3D, and also because I'd rather be doing other things. But, I can't complain a whole lot, since I was partly expecting to be fired after what happened recently. I may go to Wal-mart tonight and get some discounted Halloween candy to make myself feel better.

Anyway, I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween! I may possibly be back home for Thanksgiving break, so if you want to see me then, let me know!

Love and lots of candy,

~RLF

If you want to pray for me....

I know some of you reading this are not Christians, and that's ok. However, some of you are, and I know how some of us love prayer requests. So, if you'd like to pray for me, here are some things you can pray for:

-me figuring out if I'm going to stay a biology major or switch to psychology, and how to use my major in the future

-relationships with others Nothing terrible has happened, I just get short tempered with people sometimes, and that's not fair to them.

-summer plans- I'm considering joining staff for Lift Student Ministries for the summer, and/or going to Costa Rica as a small group leader through Liberty.

-finances!! -Finding money to take some tests so I can test out of a few courses, cutting down the amount of time I actually have to stay in college, and pay for it. Also, for me to get the scholarships I need to stay in school!

Thank you for your prayers! Let me know if there's anything I can do for any of you.

Much love and thanks,

~RLF

Halfway through the semester...

Well, things are going reasonably decent still. Ironically, I've had a problem making it to church since I've been here, but that is improving. Today's sermon was pretty good. We just had mid-terms this past week, which were alright. It's hard to believe the semester's half gone already, but that's alright I guess.

In other news, my job has been going well, except this past week. At the beginning of each week, I call to get my work schedule. At the beginning of last week, I was told by one of my co-workers that I was not on the schedule, which upset me, but I was alright with that since it gave me more time to study for my exams. However, I called today to get my schedule, and my manager answered. She informed me that I was supposed to have been there yesterday and today, but that she got someone to cover for me. As you can imagine, I was not happy about that. I basically was lied to and had someone else take 14 hours, my average work week, away from me, along with about $100 out of my paycheck. It might not be to you, but to me, $100 is a lot of money. Lesson: go in to check the schedule

On the bright side, the weather is perfect, 70s and sunny, and the trees changing color all over the mountains is beautiful. In about an hour, I leave to go up to Snowflex, where I will be an extra in a movie being shot up there today, called The Potential Inside. I'm not sure exactly what the movie is about, but I know it involves bike racing and they need spectators, so I'm going to go and spectate.

After that, I'm going to go to work and talk to my manager about this scheduling issue, make sure I'm not in danger of getting fired, and possibly get put on the schedule for this week.

In addition, for our weekly hall meeting, we will be having a joint-hall meeting with our brother and sister dorms for Halloween. We get to dress up, and I'm sure whatever we end up doing will be interesting because it always is when all of us get together....And we'll be in costumes, so that makes things open to a lot more possibilities.

Alright, well I will update again fairly soon.

Much love,

~ RLF

Carmike Cinema and a Funny Flash Video

Before you read this, if you are interested in what Liberty university is all about, watch this video (LU students and alumni will get a kick out of this):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ffJK9GhZ40


Hello everyone, here's another update.

I started my job at a local theater this past Friday. Today was my second day, but the manager said I'm doing really well, and it doesn't seem too complicated or stressful. So far I'm not working a lot of days, but I get 7 hour shifts, which I think I like better than working 2 or 4 hour shifts almost every day. That way I'm still working, but I still have time to focus on my school work.

Went to Nelson Co. to pick apples and pumpkins with my hall and our brother and sister dorms. I had the most amazing Fuji apple and apple cider ever. No lie, the apple was bigger than my fist. The orchard was on the side of the mountain, so it was really nice up there, and the weather was perfect. Not too hot or cold or sunny or cloudy, just perfect. Got back in time for the second half of the Liberty vs. West Virginia Wesleyan game, which we won 45-7. After that, there was a Leeland and Brandon Heath concert with Francesca Battistelli as a guest performer. I volunteered for Food for the Hungry which is a child sponsorship program that I support and helped 50 kids get sponsored. for more information on Food for the Hungry, you can visit their website at http://www.fh.org/ . I sound like a commercial now...Haha. Well I really love what they do, so I can't help it. It's not just another one of those programs. They don't just give the kids and their families stuff. They provide the means for the entire village to support itself.

Classes are going decently well. Mid-terms are coming up, so that's exciting...

Seriously, I'm excited about the prospect of doing a psychology lab though. I think I may let them hook their machines up to me just because I think that would be really interesting.

Alright, might possibly see you guys soon for fall break if I'm off at all this weekend!

Love you all!

~RLF

P.S. I haven't gotten any care packages in a while..... ;-D

Getting Established

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since I posted here last. Sorry about that. Basic breakdown of the last few weeks:

In the last few weeks I guess I have been learning about my professors' expectations. My grades are not where I'd like them to be, but that will get better now that I know what they are looking for and have figured out what I need to do to make that happen. So far my favorite classes are still psychology and contemporary issues because of the course content and the instructor's teaching styles that require you to develop your own opinions on things and to challenge theirs.

I know a lot of people have been wondering about my employment status. I got called today by the movie theater I applied to and they want me to come in and fill out my legal paperwork tomorrow. The owner of a local coffeehouse, The Drowsy Poet, owned by a Jamaican that goes by Smiley who sells awesome coffee and Jamaican food, that I have decided I really like asked me to fill out a paper with my hours of availability and phone number, but I'm not sure that I would want to work there because then it would lose its specialness to me. I'm not sure when I'll be starting at the theater, but it should be soon.

I also went back home the weekend of September 12th/13th to help out with an event called Code:Honor that my church hosted to honor first responders and servicemen/women (firefighters, policemen, etc.). I ended up sharing my testimony with probably around 30 teens in the auditorium for the youth portion of the event, and was also involved with a short drama that we did to the song Savin' Me by Nickelback. Not my favorite, but oh well, life continues.

This past weekend, our hall went out with our brother dorm for dessert and then we came back and played the game Battle of the Sexes, which was pretty hilarious. I also found out that I guess I'm pretty good at the games Catcphrase and Mad Gab. Saturday, my roommate Jen and I wandered around downtown Lynchburg in search of the local market, which we found to be closed and failed at finding the riverfront. We did find a lot of shady alleys and abandoned buildings. My other roommate Hayley was out with her sister most of the day. That night, Jen and I went to see the Liberty men's hockey team play an awesome game against Davenport which we won 7-3. Sunday, one of my best friends from Fairfax that now goes to school in Roanoke came to visit and Jen, Hayley, and I gave her a tour of the campus and went to The Drowsy Poet for lunch. It was a good day.

Today my soccer team had a game at 5pm, but neither team had enough people, so we didn't play, but we still won because we had 6 players to their 1. Our next game is Wednesday at 10pm, and then Thursday at 7pm. This coming weekend, I plan to go back home and go to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It should be pretty fun. I also plan to hang out with my friend Michelle K that I miss very much after spending pretty much all summer with her. :-(

For right now, I'm going to keep applying for scholarships, study some, and keep listening to Weird Al. :-)

weekend randomness

Well I went home this weekend but was occupied pretty much the entire time except when I was sleeping. We had drama practice on Saturday, which I was almost late for because I slept in for once, then today was the Mountain View baptism service. Basically, everyone getting baptized goes up in front of everyone and tells a little about themselves and why they are getting baptized, we eat a lot of good food, and then we go down to the lake for everyone to get dunked. After that, we all hang out at the lake and do stuff for the rest of the day. You can swim, go out in a paddle boat or canoe, swim out to the giant water trampoline, or go fishing, which is probably what I would have done if I had stayed after the baptisms. Catch and release of course. ;-) Yes I know, traumatize the poor fish...Anyway...Also went to see a friend and her three day old baby, who was very adorable.

Apparently I missed out on a heck of a 5 minute mashed potato war between dorms. They say our team had the most people and mashed potatos. That makes me happy, even though I would have liked to be there for it, but ended up not getting back in time.

Tomorrow:
-only two classes, plus some online review for psychology, which is technically considered a hybrid online/lecture class, meaning Mondays I do stuff on the computer, Wednesdays and Fridays I actually go to class. On Friday we went over the central nervous system. The prof asked if anyone knew how Christopher Reeves got injured was impressed that I knew he had a horse riding accident in Culpeper, lol.

-I am going to call the movie theater I applied to to see if they decided to hire me or not, and if not keep looking for places to apply.

-My hall's intramural soccer team is having their first pre-season soccer game tomorrow. I hope we do well, but I personally haven't played in at least 3 years, so that should be fun and fun to watch.

This week I am going to try to establish some type of regular sleep schedule. I barely have any school work so far and for some reason I'm still not able to fall asleep before 2 or 3 in the morning. Once I do fall asleep, I tend to wake up at least twice in the middle of the night. Wish me luck with that, I know I'll need it, haha.

Speaking of which, it's getting late so I should try to sleep now.

Thanks for reading all of this rambling.


Love you all!

~RLF

First full weekend here

Well, I'm pretty sure I said I was going to post pictures of the campus sometime, but honestly I haven't taken any yet, but I will, lol. Most likely tomorrow. Famous last words of a procrastinator, but oh well.

This week has been alright. We've already had our second torrential downpour. We're talking five minutes of rain and standing water. It seems to be a Saturday thing, and only when I'm in the Target parking lot. Classes are still decent I guess. We had a power outage in the main campus building where I have chemistry, and for whatever reason the prof decided to go ahead and have class despite the lights being out, the air conditioning not working, and no microphone or screens or projector. So our class of however many hundred students crammed in the first few rows of seats and the rest sat up front on the floor so we could see the little whiteboard she was using. Nevermind that even when yelling her voice probably has the volume of an average person speaking. Situations like that make you really appreciate technology.

Positive events of the week:

Wednesday I went to campus church for the first time. It was pretty interesting I guess. I didn't know any songs that the band played, but whatever I guess it's okay. They have an electric violinist, so that might make up for it. The pastor is preaching a series he came up with about Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so that's pretty sweet. He calls it "Holy Hand Grenades". I'll be honest, I was doing more thinking than listening, so I really don't remember what he was talking about, but I know it was interesting. He's a Muslim convert, and he wore a shirt during church that said Infidel in both English and Arabic. He definitely has an interesting sense of humor. Tomorrow I guess is the second time I will have been there, but I don't know if it's going to be the same thing as Wednesday night church or not.

Today was a pretty eventful day. One of my roommates and i went to a local coffee shop called The Drowsy Poet. When I first heard of this place I thought it would be like one of those places with an open mic and poetry readings by people that write nothing but bland, lifeless, depressing poems, but it's nothing like that. It's owned by a Jamaican guy that goes by Smiley. The signature of theirs is the Milton Milkshake. I have no idea what all is in it since it's a secret recipe, but it's amazing. I know it's got vanilla ice cream, coffee, and cinnamon and a few others things. Apparently you haven't really been to Lynchburg until you've had one, so I guess I've officially been to Lynchburg now, lol. This place also has bands that play on Friday nights so I'll probably be back often.

Today was also the grand opening of what they call Snowflex. It's a year-round ski-slope made of an artificial surface called snowflex, hence the name. Supposedly this is the only Snowflex slope in the western hemisphere. The grand opening involved a stuntman with a snowboard jumping from a helicopter, skydiving to the mountain, and snowboarding down. I didn't go because I figured it would be packed and I probably wouldn't have been close enough to see anyway. If there are any videos on youtube or anything, I will post them if I find them. I'm still not really sure what the purpose for building this was, they say it's just another thing to do so that kids will make smart decisions about how to spend their free time. Who knows. I do know that somebody was rich enough to donate the money to build it. Must be nice to be able to give away that kind of money.

Tonight was the annual Liberty Block Party. I think the inflatables and all were kinda lame, like more than the Culpeper fair. A lot more. But there was free kettlecorn which I love, and there were two bands that were pretty cool I guess. I was right up front and center leaning on the stage. It was pouring rain, but it was okay, it was nicer than the heat. The leader singer of the main band spits a lot when he sang, so he spat on me a little, but I guess it makes me cool. Someone in the crowd had a bag of popcorn that they offered him ,and he took it and dumped it on us, and I didn't have any so I ate whatever fell in my mouth. I guess I'm also cool because he dumped popcorn in my mouth. The bands were I guess what you would call Christian alternative? Not like screamo or anything, I don't know, I honestly don't listen to a lot of Christian music, so I don't know how they classify genres. I know the main band was offered a chance to open for The Fray in NYC tonight but they chose to play at Liberty instead. I don't listen to the Fray either, but that might help you figure out what they sound like if you do listen to them. The first band was called Mike's Chair and the second/main band was called The Afters. Overall, I'd say I had a pretty good time even if the music wasn't really my normal scene.

Anyway, sorry this was so crazy long, I just realized how long it really was. Thanks for reading it all if you actually did, lol. Now I guess I should try to go to sleep since it's almost 3:30am...I really need to learn how to get to sleep before 2 or 3. I don't know why I haven't been able to, but oh well. I've been asked to ask our RA (Resident Assistant or Advisor, don't remember which) to tuck me in when she comes to make sure we're in our rooms as a joke. Maybe that will actually work, lol.

Alright, love and miss you guys! As usual, feel free to leave comments or call/text me if you have my number.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Good night!

~RLF

Drama and classes, etc.

Hello!

Well today is my second day of classes and so far it seems like this year is going to be interesting. Not gonna like having chemistry first thing in the morning three days a week, but otherwise I think things are going to be pretty decent. So far the roommates and I are trying to kill each other. Sounds great, huh? So far I think the most interesting classes will be contemporary issues and psychology. I haven't been to psychology yet, but I like that kind of stuff so I think it will be decent. The professors so far are pretty chill too so that makes me happy.

By the way, just kidding about the roommate thing. We get along really well. We're pretty much connected at the hip. The other girls I've met on the hall are pretty cool too. I think we're planning to start our own intramural soccer team, which I am definitely excited about.

Also, I went back home this weekend for a drama with my church. Here's a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq_F5Ua_NGE


Alright, going to class, talk to you all later! Also, feel free to leave comments on any of my posts!

Love,
~RLF

Moved In

Hello!

Been busy the last few days with moving into my dorm, but all is well now. This week is pretty much freshman orientation week so we have 'freshman seminar" classes for 2 1/2 hours today and tomorrow, but we have it from 10-12:30, so we have the rest of the day free. Our dorm has been having meetings at night and playing games and stuff to get to know each other. We played sardines in the main building on campus last night, so that was pretty fun. Basically, for those that don't know, sardines is the opposite of hide-and-seek. We had groups, so one group would hide somewhere in the building, and then if our group found them, we would hide with them. The last group to find everyone hiding hides in the next round. Fun stuff. We're having a big cook-out at the stadium today, so that should be interesting. Overall, things are doing well so far. Met some cool people today and yesterday and everyone is pretty friendly so it makes it easy to get along. Everyone is playing nice so far. =D

Alright, well I'm going to go take a shower in the hall bathroom that all of us share...So that's pretty exciting, LOL. Talk to everyone later!

~RLF

So this is when it hits me....

So about an hour ago my dad came out to bring some furniture and things that I had at his house for me to take to college, and to pick up my dog Boomer because he's going to live with him while I'm at school. So I had to get my last bit of quality time with him before my dad came and I decided to take him for a walk down the country road out here by the house. I started to realize a lot of things. it's funny how going for a walk does that. So i decided to compile a list of things that i'm going to miss in my head:

-Culpeper-We all hate it, we will all miss it if we leave. Can't deny it. It just has something about it that even though there's jack crap to do here, it really isn't such a bad place to live. I think I enjoy it. By the way, we have the only movie theater and Wal-Mart for about a 30 mile radius.

-The country-Ok, so I like being in the middle of nowhere. The air smells better, the neighbors are friendlier (let's face it, animals are usually friendlier than people), the trees are bigger and fuller, there's enough space that nobody will come bother you, and the stars-the stars are just amazing. You don't have to try to see the Milky Way, it's just there, and that is amazing to me. There's so much more out there that you just can't see, even in town. I will miss the stars more than any other non-living thing about this place.

-My room-Privacy, and my own bathroom, and the ability to read, write, do art, or listen to music, without anybody else over my shoulder wondering about what I'm doing. (If my roommates ever read this, no offense, it's just nice to have space, lol.)



-the animals-We have 3 dogs, 5 cats, and a gerbil. One of the dogs (Boomer) and 2 of the cats (Hazel and Felix) are here because of me, as is the gerbil. Now the gerbil kinda minds her own business, but she is cute and I like her. The cats are so sweet. Hazel is probably the sweetest cat you will ever meet. She just loves everybody. The other cats all have their own personalities and are pretty awesome too. The dogs are all very loving and I will miss all of them, but I think I will miss Boomer the most. He's like my baby. He just left with my dad a few minutes ago and I've been a crying mess ever since then, even though I know he will be happy with my dad. It's sucks.



-My friends-There's been some pretty good times. Crazy times, but good times. We all have our inside jokes and whatnot, but I love you guys. I hope you know that!

-My family-We've been through a lot in the last few years, some good, some pretty nasty, but overall I guess it hasn't been too bad. I love you all so much! It's going to be hard to not be able ot be there while Skye grows up and I know I'll miss her a lot, so I want lots of updates, ok? Mom-try not to cry too much when you leave, I'll be back almost every weekend for the next 2 months. Plus, when you cry it makes me cry too, and I don't want to do that! I love you and I will be safe where I'm going, and I'll call, and you have this blog so you can keep updated on the details that i might leave out in conversation. I love you all, you mean the world to me!!

Love,

~RLF

Too many appointments...

So my schedule for today:

8:30- vet appointment-vaccines for my dog Boomer

9:45-chiropractor appointment-deep tissue massage for my thighs to work the knots out so I get better circulation in my legs


12-Appointment with my regular doctor to discuss supposedly routine bloodwork that for whatever reason could not be discussed over the phone. My guess is either I'll have to get my thyroid meds changed, or something else is wrong. I hope it's just the dosage, lol.


5ish-people over for going away party/cook-out for me before I go to college on Tuesday.

Somewhere in there I'm trying to get my dad to come to Culpeper so he can bring me the stuff I have at his house for me to take to college, and then Boomer will be going home with him.



Yesterday was fun. I got to hang out with my bestie Michelle K, and some of our friends that we met at the mall that Michelle has been hanging out with. They're the best. Proof: sometimes it's ok to talk to mall employees and their brothers. Not to mention Claire's employees get the uber cute best friend necklaces, so now me, Michelle, and our friend Gigi have BFF necklaces with elephants. Cute stuff.


Going to my 9:45 appointment now, take care!

Peace,
~RLF

Welcome to my blog!

I decided to start this blog mostly for my family and friends that will have a lot of questions for me as I begin college next week, so that when they ask me how school is, or how a trip was, or how life in general is, I have more to offer than just "Good." Anyone that's following this blog, I hope you find something of value in what I have to say, however lengthy it may get, and thanks for reading!

At this point in time, we have a guest in our house from a group from Brazil that is visiting to do a series of soccer clinics in our area. We are lucky enough to be hosting Mario, one of the main translators, so we don't have to try to learn Portuguese, which we failed at last time we hosted members of this group. It is his last night visiting before returning to Brazil, and we will miss him. It's always great having these guys here. They are so loving and entertaining and REALLY good at soccer, lol. We also enjoy listening to the music that they play at each camp. Even though we don't really understand the words, the songs are still fun and upbeat. Anyway, I'm off to enjoy our last chance to sit and sing in the living before Mario and the others have to leave to go back to Brazil tomorrow.

Good night!

Love,

~RLF


P.S. In case you're wondering, I don't want to post my full name on this blog so that in the event I use it to report on mission trips to areas that would not like what I have to say, their respective governments can't just do a Google search on my name and find me or my team. Yes, I'm serious. No I'm not being paranoid, just safe.