Tons

Oh boy, tons of life has been going on recently. I've been back to school for a week, and it honestly feels like a month. Today someone mentioned a meeting I had on Monday, and I thought it had been two weeks ago. Such is the way things are going.

What has happened in the last while?
Finals finished out well, and I passed all my classes. As my dad said, "I guess they'll let you come back now." I was confident enough in my work that I upped my courseload this term from 46 to 50 units. I'm not yet sure if this was wise planning or really foolhardy. We'll see.

I spent an awesome Christmas break with my family. It was very refreshing to be home. and cold. There were a few days in a row it didn't get above -5 degrees, day or night; and was down to the -20's. I went skiing and also tried out snowboarding for the first time. Adam and I rented equipment at Big Sky and learned together. By the end of the day we could do the blues pretty well, and I only had one bad fall.
Also, I got a really cool ipod touch for Christmas, and a homemade quilt. Both are really useful.

When I got back to caltech I was so comfortable with my work I decided I wasn't working hard enough, so I decided to do another sport, diving. At the beginning of the year I had thought about it, but I made the mistake of not actually going and talking to the coach. I met her this week and she invited my to practice with the team. I did for a couple days and progressed rapidly, so I decided to invest more energy into it. There's a lot of carry-over from gymnastics, so I should do pretty well in a short amount of time. This does mean I'm on both the ultimate frisbee team and the diving team.

I learned guitar over Christmas break, and have been progressing even while I'm here. This week I played for the first time while other people sang. Next week, I am going to play with another guitarist for the Christian large group. I am really looking forward to helping lead worship. Plus, playing guitar is a lot of fun.

My brother David is down here visiting me. It's been a lot of fun. I showed him the campus and tried to give him a feel for college life. He goes back to Bozeman to start his own new term at MSU, but I think he got a good taste of the workload and lifestyle here. He even rode my longboard over four miles while geocaching. Is there a better way to combine california and geekdom?

Menawhile, I'm still trying to decide on a major. I am plowing through the core classes OK, but I haven't found anything I would really like to do; and spend the rest of my life doing. I'm hoping I get an epiphany soon. Still, I'm pretty sure that this is where God wants me and that I'll get a top-notch education here, so I'm just enjoying the ride (though sometimes it feels like I'm hurtling through a dark tunnel).

Ruddock House elections are coming up, I'm not sure if I want to run for anything. Student government might be too much on top of an already full schedule. Man, I drive myself hard. Good thing I'm learning how to relax and have fun too. :)