Lists fill my life of late. Lists and boxes and piles … yes, I’ll take this … no, I won’t need that … of course this book has to go! no, that notebook can stay at home – and sometimes I pause in the crazy mess of it all, soak it in, and let this giddy feeling of joy bubble up within me. Yes, this dream is about to become reality, and soon my room will no longer be in the corner of this house we’ve lived in for the past ten years. It will be tucked away on the 3rd floor on a campus I fell in love with last year. For the next year, that will be my haven, my “home-sweet-home,” my little hidey-hole of rejuvenation in the whirlwind that is college life. I can’t wait to make it cozy with my roommate … to fill it with lights and curtains and black & white with a splash of red and quotes and verses and pictures and books and mugs and games and LIFE oozing with love – a place that’s always welcoming to come into.

A day and a half more and then I’ll know what it’s like – that dream I’ve always had since high school of living on campus and truly having that “real” college experience. I can hardly believe it’s real … that it’s happening after all these years. But more than anything, I’m grateful that it’s happening now. I wouldn’t have been able to do it in 2005 at age 17. I would have had no clue what to do … I didn’t know who I was then. Now I do know who I am and what I want in life. I’m confident in myself, have better tastes (and decorating senses!), and with a few more life experiences under my belt, I think I’ll be able to enjoy this adventure to the fullest.

I couldn’t ask for a better time of my life … I absolutely love being a college student. From backpacks and planners to late night studying with cups of tea, textbooks & RSVP pens … from walking across campus with the crunch of leaves under foot to football games with friends … from note-taking in class to library study dates … from cafeteria food to gym workouts to scantrons and number 2 pencils … this is the most beautiful opportunity and I will be ever so thankful for it.

And the best part is this: every step of the way – in my journey from high school and in my plans to live on campus this fall, He’s been with me. My Father has provided and there’s been peace that this is surely what He wants me to do. Now the question is – how can I make this year all about glorifying Him and not my own self and desires? He has a purpose for me to live on campus, and I pray that I can fully realize it day after day … especially when life will get hard and I’ll be homesick and tired and stressed. I pray that I’ll look back to these days of excited preparation and grasp onto the threads of joy that surrounded the whole journey. May I trust in my Savior and my Savior alone for guidance in this adventure.

3rd Floor Chronicles to be continued …