God seriously blessed me today.

Not only did I spend the afternoon with Leah picking up my maid-of-honor dress/shoes for her wedding, but I also got to talk to three of my leaders in Church from back home. It was just really encouraging to talk to them about everything God is doing in their lives and how he is using them. Plus, it was just nice to talk to people that I hold very dear in my heart.

I am so grateful that the Lord surrounds me with people who really love me. I am just overjoyed with the deep and meaningful relationships that I have with my mentors, my friends, and my family. It is a priceless gift.

When things get tough...

When things get tough and everything feels like its caving in, all I can do is endure and trust in the Lord. These past three weeks have challenged my strength and commitment to the Lord more than anything else in my life. It's easy to trust and remain steadfast in faith when things are good. But, it's a whole other matter to remain steadfast when your heart is breaking as you make the decision to endure.

Endurance in Christ is probably the most challenging thing every believer faces. Every voice that speaks into our ears, let alone our own selfish will, cries out and demands that we take the road of least resistance. "Remain comfortable" becomes the slogan of the highly traveled road. But, comfort leads to stagnation and ruin. Nothing worthwhile results from ease. Endurance, persistence  and perseverance result in victory. Distraction, comfort, and the need for immediate satisfaction merely lead you in a perverse and self-destructive circle.

This is know for sure: nothing is worth pursuing if the Lord is not behind it. If you will it to be, you will not get the result you expected--and, you will hurt the people closest to you in the process. Life is not all about me. My decisions don't solely effect me. My decisions create a ripple effect that merge out of my sphere and cause side-effects in the lives of those I most care about.

This is why I must endure. This is why I have to remain steadfast in following the voice of the Lord. He is crafting me, molding me, into the individual who can withstand hardship with a joyful heart full of thanksgiving and praise for the Lord's goodness.

I will praise the Lord God simply because of his glorious attributes, His loving-kindness, His mercy, His justice, His righteousness, and His ever-present guidance. My lips will never cease praising my Heavenly Father. Without Him, I would not prevail. Without Him, I would not have the patience to wait for anything higher than second-best. But with Him, my life will follow the most wonderful path that He has ordained for med. Although there will be trials, they build character. Although my dependence on the Lord may cause other's to judge and turn away from me, the Lord will bring joy to my soul. Thus, I will continue to follow His voice and wait upon His direction.

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation. Because He is my Lord, I have nothing to fear but displeasing Him through my own disobedience. Therefore, I long to please Him in all that I do. I long to be like Christ Jesus-- only doing and saying what The Father tells me to do and say. Only then, will I have true freedom and joy.


I love you, Lord, with all my heart, soul, and mind. I will forever praise You!

So today I talked to Jane. It was very nice. I have missed her considerably since leaving Argentina. One of these day I'm just going to have to fly to California to visit her.

 Ok, so I keep trying to upload these two videos that show my house on the inside and outside. And, an "error" message keeps popping up. So...sorry. I will continue to try in the future.

Now, I'm going to return to reading supreme court cases and briefing them. Thennnn, I'm going to study for my LSAT that I'm taking on October 6th. Please pray for me!

...I seemed to have retained a bad habit from Buenos Aires--eating late at night. Sigh.

Although I still eat dinner at about 5pm, just like before I left fro Argentina, my body gets hungry around 9:30 or 10pm. So, I avoid eating anything by drinking hot beverages. Tea, for instance, is my biggest ally. Nevertheless, I get to this point in the wee hours of the morning where I just have this intense desire to shove food in my face.

For example, at 12:30am today I ate two slices of banana toast with honey and cinnamon--which really wasn't that bad. But, then, five minutes ago, I shoved a bunch of Snyder's seasoned pretzel bites in my mouth.

And, now? I'm sitting here whining because I half feel sick because of the junk food that I just consumed. I need to get back on my healthy kick. Next week my cooking will resume and I am going to be suppppper health. Win.

Ok, well, I have a few more things to post from Argentina. I will get to that asap--especially the video tour of my house and school. They just take FOREVER to upload. And, right now, my time is being used to write a paper for my internship that helped meet the need for my Argentina trip. So yeah, that takes precedent at the moment.

Also, my RA training is finally over. Now the job begins, haha. But that's fine. I really like it so far. I enjoy being in a position that allows me to be creative, plan fun events, bond with my fellow RA's, and yet still have a measure of authority. I have learned that I tend to enjoy being in authority positions. To be sure, they are always more work and much less glamorous than everyone assumes. But, I enjoy them nonetheless. They are always rewarding in the end when you look back and examine all the things that you have done.

Well, enough chattering about responsibility. Now I have to live what I preach...I'm going to return back to work now. Huzzah.

Ok, so I missed like a week and a half of posts. I cannot tell you dates that I did things, BUT I will sum everything up as best as I can.

Last night, I bought the most amazing cake and something nice to drink with Victoria and Jane. The cake consisted of (from bottom to top) crust, dolce de leche, meringue, vanilla cream with walnuts dispersed throughout, meringue, dulce de leche, crust, and powdered super. So,  it was the most delicious thing in the world. Then, I just spent the evening packing and have a deep conversation with Jane about love and life and the future.

The night before that (which was Milton and Jussier's last night), we had a pre-pre party at my place with my roommates and the boys. Then, we went to my old roommate's new apartment, then we went to this hip hop club near my house. We all got into the VIP  section of the club simply because the bouncers let us in. Win. Then, in the morning, we met up at school and took pictures together with our graduation certificates. Then, I went to class and said goodbye to my favorite professor, Nadia. She was just the most wonderful thing ever. We got along really well and were interested in the same things, namely philosophy and international law. Plus, she helped me find sources for my senior thesis. Actually, she spent like 3 hours explaining different things and providing sources. She is just so great.

The night before that, the whole gang (Jane, myself, Anne (roommate from Holland), Victoria (roommate from Germany), Ali (really cool guy from the states who is down here interning with National Geographic), Milton and Jussier) went to this club in Puerto Madero and we all got in free...because Anne has the most amazing connections in the world. It was called Asia de Cuba and it was the coolest place we had gone out to. The music was a mix between of party music with jazz and current pop/rap hits (like stuff from Beyonce, for example). Then, there was this outside patio that we were all hanging out in because we could talk and tell stories and just generally laugh together. Then, Jussier was talking to this guy who was out of the club and wanted to get in so he could be with his girlfriend inside the club. So, Jussier told him to hop the fence. But, the security guard freaked out and grabbed the guy and shoved him outside of the club. Jane, trying to help, said that she was his girlfriend and asked the bouncer to let him back in. What did the bouncer do, you may ask??? Well, he grabbed Jane's arm in an iron fist and drug her outside of the club. So, we all joked that Jane was the real VIP. Laughing at the absurdity of the situation, we all just left and walked across the Puente de la Mujer (which is designed to symbolize the extended leg of a woman who is dancing the tango). And, let me tell you, it was just beautiful at night, simply stunning. The bridge was white and the lights made it seem rather enchanting. Then, the girls caught a taxi home and arrived. And, the boys walked to their house because they were crazy. It was probably over 30 or 40 blocks to their house. But, whatever, they had a great time and bonded and whatnot. Considering that I got home at 5:30am by taxi, I don't even want to know at what time the boys arrived home.