The past few days have been remarkably warm and comfortable 1 layer weather. Bloomington has been looking pretty beautiful in the midst of the many colors of fall. I love how it feels right now to walk around here.
I am 30-45 seconds walking distance away from the Optometry school, which fortunately means I have a conveniently nearby location to use "on campus" wireless internet when I need or feel like it. Sure, it's not as comfortable as having it in my bedroom, but it certainly saves me some money from having to make that utility investment. The couple of photos up top here are taken from inside and outside the Opt school.
The past couple of weeks and weekends especially have been wickedly busy. It's amazing how much music I'm surrounded by all the time, whether it's from rehearsals, listening to recordings for classes, playing for ballet, practicing, or listening to concerts. The level of performance in all of the arts here is really admirable. This past weekend, I saw a ballet production that was very enjoyable and high level--at least to my untrained eye. The accompaniment consists of a live orchestra, and one of the piano professors performed some difficult Chopin pieces one after the other. The weekend before I watched an opera here, which had a ridiculously amazing and complex set. Also, listening to audience members talk about what's going on give me the sense that the arts is taken very seriously and is very appreciated here.
I just watched a really inspiring artist diploma piano recital (or rather half of one). It's amazing to hear such imaginative, controlled, emotionally colorful playing from such a relatively young performer. I have a lot to learn for sure. It does make me question what the heck I am doing and scares me, but in a good way. I hope. We'll see where God leads me. 
In a couple of weeks I will have to perform in studio class. It's kind of scary since I pretty much just started both of the pieces a month ago and am still trying to memorize Bach and the other piece is Liszt... but I am looking forward to the challenge. I have heard some strong performances in my studio. Everyone is really serious but nice, fortunately. I've really enjoyed being around some serious practicers. It's funny how few distractions I run into here compared to JMU. No offense to JMU, but it's neat to be in a place where people are very, very focused on their craft.
I find that in order to survive here, I have to adjust in a lot of ways. I often feel like a misfit here, but I think it may just be a matter of growth. I think the changes will be mostly good, but sometimes I wonder if I need to be careful about not losing my soul to the culture. Still, I wonder what parts of me will die to change without my knowing, and what parts already have.
Today's sermon talked about the importance of discipling others. If the church doesn't disciple people, then the culture will. Hmmm.
A teacher from my undergrad once talked about how in grad school he got so busy that he would feel guilty for getting more than 4 hours of sleep in a night. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I have often felt like I've been going on a lot of momentum and sometimes cannot stop, which I think has had an effect on my spiritual life. At the same time, however, I have definitely felt like there have been days this past week where I would not have been able to make it through without acknowledging the need for God's strength and wisdom to intercede in my life. 
I've been encountering a lot of challenging questions to my faith as well. It's amazing how easy it is to fabricate your own beliefs without your knowing it--a sign that I really need to study Scripture more and seek out answers. I need to be careful. 
This is a frog.
As I have met more people, life here has gotten better. I think it took unto now to feel a little more emotionally settled. I have people to look forward to seeing and things to look forward to outside of school. For that, I am blessed, and as for other issues and questions of faith and future, I can only wait for God to reveal and trust in his faithfulness.
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