A Week in the Life.

...of your average college kid.

Friday:

Borrow an extremely kind friend's car for the afternoon and go shopping, job hunting, and Frozen Yogurt eating.

Afterward, go back to my dorm and bake for hours like the little Martha Stewart wannabe I really am. I made banana cookies, those oreo cupcakes I was telling you about, and peanutbutter cookies for Matt (they're his favorite.)

What did I learn from my baking experiences? I have a lot of work to do to become a Martha Stewart.

Saturday:

Set my alarm for 7 am so I can get a good chunk of studying in before the tailgating party. Turn my alarm off and sleep till ten. Wake up and kind of study, but mostly just raid Pinterest.

Go to the tailgate party! Have a blast and eat too much. Lose every game of Bocci Ball I play, meet Jerry Falwell, and co-win the dessert competition.

Go to the Liberty vs JMU football game--front row!

After Matt and I went to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse!

Sunday:

Slept in until 11! Studied all day. Stressed about a needing a car.

Overreacted over the stress and had a good cry.

Monday:

Went to classes and studied.

Oh and went to the gym.

That's all.

Tuesday:

Woke up sick... AGAIN.

Had two finals before noon.

ROCKED THEM.. kinda.

Slept for an hour.

Studied more.

Went to Hall Meeting at 10.

Studied more.

Slept.

Wednesday:

Woke up still sick.

Anatomy Lab Practical at 8 am (THAT'S JUST WRONG)

Convocation at 10. At Convo, we had Gracia Burnham speak. She was so inspirational and it really made you take a step back and reexamine what is important to your life!

Took my last final in GNED and relaxed for the rest of the day! Thankful to be done with exams.

I got a care package from Matt's mom!

Chruch that night, Clayton King continued on in his relationship series and it was so good!

Afterward Matt and I went to talk to him about how much we appreciate his sermon series and Matt wanted to invite him to ride quads soon!

Thursday:

Sick as a dog still.

In my first class, my least favorite teacher on campus subbed in for my teacher--great start to a day.

Finished through the school day--took a nap.

Read some wedding magazines, since I got 5 in the mail this week! Thanks to Wendy and Cindi!

I wrote some reply letters to the seven people who wrote me this week!

I watched Water for Elephants and part of Soul Surfer.

Then I went to the gym to end the night.

Friday:

Went to Ministry Chapel in the pouring down rain.

Went to GNED in the pouring down rain.

Went to Evan in the pouring down rain.

Went to Health class in the pouring down rain.

Came back to my dorm and changed into the warmest clothes I have!

So needless to say, I've had better weeks.

I'm so ready to not be sick anymore! I feel horrible.

But it was a learning week.

Like I learned that my roomates like to make fun of me for singing in the shower... not cool. ;]

And I learned that I really really really like mail.

And I learned that I think I am going to buy a wedding dress back home.

And I learned about missions and martyrdom since this week is "Mission's Week" at Liberty.

And I am continually learning about myself at my worst, and why I need God's help.

I learned how well Matt handles things when I am in a bad mood.

I learned how much working out makes things better!

Life at Liberty is going well, guys.

I miss home but it is worth it.

Thank you for the letters and the care packages, I love them so much!

Keep praying I could get a job!

Exciting news:

1. Amy Ihde is having her baby today, maybe even has already had him. His name is Isaiah. And I cannot wait to meet him.
2. Free Anberlin concert tonight!

Miss you all!

Chao,


xo/Austin

Mental Health Day.

School has been CRAZY.

I am 98% sure every teacher on campus decided that they were all going to plan their first tests to be in the same week so that I and every other student is stressed out of their minds!

Next week I have 5 tests and 2 quizzes!

Kill me now.

Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays my classes after 11 are easy and relaxed. So today I took it upon myself to take  mental health day. Basically I went back to my dorm and slept for 4 hours.

I don't regret it nor feel bad about it because i needed it! Lack of sleep does not do me any good.

Besides that, we have a football game this Saturday!! I am pumped to go and tailgate before! My dorm is having a bake-off and I plan on making these little guys... (Thanks to Pinterest for finding me that)

And I plan on destroying the competition.

Who doesn't like cupcakes? And who doesn't like oreos? No way to go wrong.

Matt and I got off campus this weekend and went to his family friend's house. It was just nice to get out of our dorms for a night and get away. After too long, college starts to seem kinda like a summer camp. I just don't feel like anyone is supposed to be in such a small place for so long! Even an awesome place like Liberty.

Which is why we are prayin' hard about our car situation. Or lack there of. To bring Tyrone (my car), get a new one, or sell Tyrone so we can buy a nicer car for here? We will see.

On the brighter side, my loved ones have been keeping their promises and keeping up on sending me snail mail! I so love receiving letters and care packages! Keep them comin' people! And I will gladly send responses.

This week started Matt and my official workout routine! Gettin' nice and in shape for a wedding next summer! I'll let you know how long this lasts and just how effective it is.

Tonight our campus pastor Clayton King started the semester series on relationships! Tonight was a great start and I am excited and ready to get into the tough details of marraige! Let's do it!

I'm still missing home, but every day is a little better!

Keep me in your prayers, school is kickin' my butt right now! I will be sure to update more frequently once I get a better routine going!

Question of the Day: What are your recipes that you pull out for every special event to wow people?
loves.

xo/Austin

ENGAGED!

Matt and I are ENGAGED!!

And I could not be any more excited.

How did it happen?

[Matt told me he wanted to take me to a nice dinner before we go to school. So we both got dressed up and went to Issaquah for dinner at the Flat Iron Grill. Dinner was so good! We shared a dish that had steak, jumbo prawns, chorizo, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. During dinner, I kept mentioning how I thought we should get one of the amazing homemade desserts from The Flat Iron Grill. But Matt just kept saying "No we have ice cream at home." So finally after he convinced me that ice cream would be the best, we left the restaraunt and walked back to the car. We had a nice walk back to the car by the train tracks in town and gardens and pretty little shops. When we got back to the car, we headed home.]

Now just imagine how I'm feeling.. The entire time at dinner and in Issaquah I have a little hope that he's gonna ask. Then nothing.

[On our way home Matt was flying! So we finally get back to the house and nothing. No extra cars there. No one is waiting. No extra lights on in the house. Nothing. So we get out of the car and are about to walk inside.. Then Matt goes "wait, I wanna show you something." So we walk around the side of the house and there is a path lit with tiki torches going down the hill onto the patio. On the patio, there is tulle hung from the sides so there was a wall to walk through. Inside, there were candles, and lights strung from the celing, and chandeliers, and rose petals on the ground, and an electric fire pit, and music playing, and picture frames hung from the celing with pictures of us, and a table set up with a picture of us, and a letter framed to me from Matt, and chilled sparkling cider, and champagne glasses, and flowers, and chandeliers hung over it.]

It was pretty much the most perfect and beautiful thing I've ever seen.

 

[So we walked over toward the table, and Matt got down on one knee, and held out the ring to me, and asked me to marry him. I said "Yes, yes, yes" and we put the ring on my finger! We hugged and we heard "I think she said no..." And Matt, my ever so subtle fiance, yelled "SHE SAID YES!" And then about 20 of our closest friends and family came out of the woods cheering and yelling! It was so great! I loved having all of our amazing friends and family there to celebrate with. It was such a joyful night. We all hugged and laughed and cheered with bubbly and ate ice cream!]

Matt did such an amazing job, and I am loving being his fiance, and cant wait to be his wife! He's such an incredible man, and so caring. I love calling him my fiance and love telling people about how blessed I am to have such a great guy. He is more than I could have ever imagined and more than I deserve. He is such a strong man of God! He loves people so much better than I do and has already taught me how to love like Jesus. I love the conversations we have. About everything. I feel like I can talk to him about anything. He is truely my best friend. And I really cant believe I get to spend the rest of my life with him!

This year is about to be crazy! New school, new home across the USA, and planning for a wedding. So many joyful things about to happen! I feel so incredibly blessed, and I am just so thankful.

To My Love

To spend the rest of your life with someone

Is knowing that they love you for you

They trust you with all their heart

You love the little things they do for you

That always make you smile

You are willing to listen when they need someone

And be by their side when life is hard

Being 3000 miles away doesn't change the way you

feel about them

But makes your feelings stronger

You know they are the one because they value your

relationship with Jesus most

And you look forwad to growing with them

While enjoying every moment of the present

To spend the rest of your life with someone

Is the biggest decision of your life,

And I've made that choice

I am forever yours

by Matt Huston

Expect many wedding updates.

xo/Austin Jean