Eating some humble pie, gawking at the 85 f/1.2 that D is lending me for graduation week (…….), thankful but bittersweet that sophomore year is officially over, ready to finish watching The Sea In Between, remaking some vows for next year. God, thank you for the chance to really learn what it means to play background. Your kingdom come, your will be done.

Amen.

Is it over? It’s over. I thought it was over and then another event needing music came up…but I think we’re pretty done now. So: it’s over!

Wow.

God has been so good, to condense my experiences this week into five short words. I am constantly in awe. It’s amazing to think that these freshmen are where I was exactly a year ago. It’s only been a year. I can’t believe it. And I can’t believe I’m being given the responsibility to reach out, that I’m allowed to serve in the avenues and ways that have been opened to me this week. It’s really, really, incredible.

And man, praise night. What a perfect end to a week of crazy chaos, though I guess technically there are still two more days…maybe calling it a perfect end to summer is more fitting? Also can’t grasp the fact that school starts tomorrow. And that I have an opening work shift (my first!) in which I have to wake up at 6:45AM. Aaaah.

But even now; greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done… :)

Hello, sophomore year. I’m scared to death of you, I’ve been anxious for months about you, I still can’t believe you’re actually here; I know you’ll be hard, full of confrontations and hard truths and necessary obstacles…but I know you will be one of the most life-changing twelve months I will ever go through. I’m not ready. But God is faithful and this week has been more than I can ask for; if all else fails and the next few months are cruddy and nothing goes right, I will be able to look back at these days and be so clearly reminded that he is working, he is good, he is good, he is good.

DT and then bed time. One day at a time. God, I commit tomorrow to you.

Thank you.

One of my favorite functions on the iPhone/smartphones in general, I guess, is being able to access texts from pretty much the beginning of time. Especially concerning my college relationships. It’s really neat to see how much my friendships have evolved…we’re all in such different places now, in the span of less than a year, but I’m very grateful.

And tonight was Klesis’ welcome night: our second one ever and the first one we’ve hosted on our own. There’s always too much to say, I realize, but I’ve been very blessed. It’s interesting to be on the other side of welcome week this year, and seeing how much the group has grown in size and character and ability. But of course all glory to God…only he knows what’s truly going on and what is to come.

Really thankful. You stay the same through the ages :).

Blessed and learning so much. Finally seeing my class come together as a family. Growing ridiculously just from these past four days. Prayers answered, doors opened. Challenge accepted.

Day one of welcome week events and I am already: a) exhausted, b) loving every moment, c) feeling like I’m truly a Cal student for the first time, d) having my faith stretched and grown, e) all of the above.

Thinking about Philippians 3-4 and 1 Corinthians 13: I’m going to embrace a life of love—loving others.

I’m not the greatest cook nor all that funny, I am drained around large groups of people and can’t relate to the large majority of these mostly Californian grown-and-bred students, I came in as a French major for goodness sakes and I am beyond awkward, not to mention barely older in age—even younger than some of these freshmen I’m supposed to be an example to…but that’s okay. Somehow God makes all this work out for his glory, somehow my incompetence is always just enough in the end, somehow he takes this train wreck of a person and makes something beautiful out of it.

It’s a process. Yet I’m convinced this is the most fulfilling life. Convinced.

Up early again for a full, jam-packed day tomorrow…part two commences! :)

My second day in a row waking up at (what I claim to be) an ungodly hour—did not know I still had the ability to respond to 6AM alarms. In which case…I really must cherish my 9AM classes this semester; even if I think they’re death, they’re nothing compared to the working, commuting world and high school life that only ended a mere year ago, blah.

But anyway: finally home in Berkeley as of 20 minutes ago! As much as I love Alameda and always appreciate my time away spent there, the half-hour distance definitely does separate two different worlds.

And now that my mini-vaca is over…time to brace myself for Welcome Week. Excited for tonight’s all-college rally, and for two of the roomies to come back, and of course for the other two to come back this weekend, and for filming the welcome video and hopefully learning more about the production and editing process; napping in my own bed in about two minutes, not to mention our internet works again (whoohoo, automatic bill pay kicking in…) and getting back into the busyness of college life.

Sophomore year. Wow.

Anonymous asked: hi can you recommend any cameras under $400?

I just realized now that I never answered this—sorry, friend!

It’s difficult to move past the point-and-shoot category at that price range, but it’s possible to find significant deals through websites like Like-a-coupon, if you’re looking for a DSLR. Otherwise, if you can be more specific about what you’d like, I can give some tips on what to keep an eye out for on Craigslist!

If you’re looking to buy something new for that price, though, the only thing I can really think of is the S95 by Canon…he’s a really beautiful, sleek compact camera who is pretty impressive for his size. Really good in low light settings (part of the reason why he’s so expensive) and if you want to get into post-processing, he has RAW capabilities which gives you a lot more flexibility with editing.

If you’re willing to spend another $100, I’d look at Canon’s G series…they’re a lot of professional photographers’ go-to cameras when they’re not lugging around DSLRs (and that would be my next camera purchase, if I had the money). You can also find some of Canon’s older DSLRs for that price, but I would personally go for the G12, as it it smaller and proves itself to be brilliant…you get video with it too!

Anyway best of luck and let me know if you want to be more specific :).