War and Peace: I attempt to conquer a masterpiece

Sometime shortly before last week I began reading Leo Tolstoy's book, War and Peace. I was looking for books to read at the desk this summer while working, and found this title on a summer reading list. I did not know what I was getting myself into. This book is some 1250 pages long, and follows the lives a few young people during the Napoleon era. I am about a fourth of the way through the book, and since I have started it, I wondered if I would give up on attempting to make this book #9 of the summer, but I have decided to stay with it. I got caught up in the story lines of the characters, and am much looking forward to seeing how the rest of the plot turns out.



It's not an "easy read", however, I am finding it easier than people have told me about it, everyone who sees me reading this book thinks I am crazy for picking this book as a summer reading. I am finding that I am a bit confused with the book at some points since Leo Tolstoy calls the same character by like 5 different names, leaving me something like this:

Me when a Count in the book has like 6 names

But I am enjoying reading it and am hoping to finish it my the end of this month. We will see how this goes. I am a person who likes to finish what they start, so I know I will finish War and Peace, if I finish it in the time frame I have given myself is a totally different thing.

Summer Shenanigans

Summer has been pretty uneventful so far. The campus in general is pretty quiet unless there is a big conference, and all of the summer employees have gotten into the regular schedule of things. I work at the library 8am - 5pm with one other person, so I've been getting alot of reading done, and hopefully I will be able to churn out some blog posts on a more regular schedule.

It has been pretty fun to meet some new people and deepen relationships with people on campus for the summer. A few of my international student friends are working on campus as well, so I have been thankful to God that I have friends with me this summer. Otherwise, it would be pretty rough. I'm also getting to know some new people, and I'm excited to see where God leads these new relationships. I get along really well with my coworker, so that's another thing to be thankful for this summer.

In some ways summer has been really awesome, and in others it has been quite a disappointment. While I like living on my own on campus and hanging out with friends, I haven't been able to get to or accomplish some personal goals that I have. I really wanted to work out everyday or at least several times a week, but the gym is only open during meal times, and it is too dark early in the morning to get up and walk. Also, I really wanted to improve my math skills over the summer, but I haven't been able to do that at the desk, and I am really mentally exhausted at the end of the day. However, I have a lot of time to read, and for that I am glad. I'm hopefully going to buy my books for the fall in early July, so I'm excited for that as well. Although it's going to cost me a fortune. (and my firstborn child)

The guy-drama I had early in the year seems to be gone, although the person involved on campus for the summer has moments where he ticks me off. But I'm learning to take that with grace, and get over it.

Overall, the summer has been pretty good, I've been sort of busy and reading alot and spending some quality time with friends. It's day 31, and I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for the rest of the summer.