up till 7am! what?

what to do on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in gorgeous Santa Barbara? venture forth into the great unknown. for the first time we all went to the Santa Barbara zoo! it was really fun, but then again, i think we could make anything fun and pretty hilarious. since we had missed the shuttle back to campus (as we often do) we walked along the beach jumping through the waves. such a fun day! we decided to just walk up state street and find a place to eat since it was close to dinner time. we ended up eating at a Vietnamese place...delicious.
when we got back to campus, Clara, Barrett, Leif and I hung out and played apples to apples, then we got Shanan and Brent to join us for movie that we so intelligently started around midnight. so, when it was over (around 2) the three logical individuals (Clara, Shanan and Brent) went to bed. Barrett, Leif and I, at first, didn't really want to move, but then we stared talking and got on some pretty great subjects: our faith, what we wanted to do with our lives, prayer, how and why we think we ended up here, the differences between the way's guys and girls think and operate. pretty great stuff. we didn't realize what time it was until the sun started coming up over the hill. then Leif checked his phone to find that it was 6:30am. we talked for about another half and hour and then decided that it would be best if we all went to bed, since we saw several early-risers heading down to the shuttle stop for church. we seriously stayed up and talked all night. and actually it was one of the best experiences. i think all three of us came away from it with a lot more knowledge and understanding for one another. i know i did. i feel so blessed that God placed these two people in my life. they both bring me so much laughter and support.
Barrett and I decided that staying up all night wasn't enough and that we needed to be up for a bit longer, so we decided to go on a short walk around campus, since the morning was so peaceful. it really was relaxing. i finally fell into bed, exhausted around 7:30am and woke up around 1:00 to Shanan playing his guitar in the courtyard outside. not a bad way to wake up, i guess.
with the rest of the gorgeous Sunday afternoon, Clara, Emilee, Barrett, Brent, Shanan and I went down to the art walk by the beach. it was quite lovely. if you ever get the chance to be in Santa Barbara on a Sunday afternoon, I highly recommend this as an activity.
Monday, we again took advantage of the warm weather and went on a hike up to Tangerine Falls (definitely a favorite spot). a pretty large group of us went, so that was definitely a blast. Monday night was also great, as Emilee, Barrett, Amy, Clara, Allison, Leif and I went back down to the beach. Leif brought a guitar and we were able to have a worship session on the beach, underneath the stars and with the waves crashing on the shore next to us. what an awesome experience!
I feel like a lot of my four day weekend consisted of getting to know the friends I've made here on a deeper level, which is definitely a great thing. Last night we again had a worship session and this time were joined by Shanan. we just went down to the tennis courts and sat under the stars.
I am definitely having a fantastic time and loving life. i dearly hope you all are as well.