SUPER-K

The Semester In A Nut Shell

2009-04-26T20:21:00.010-05:00

I know that the blog posts have been sparse this semester, but this post is my attempt to fill all 3.7 of my readers in on the happenings of the past 4 months. I'll try to start from the beginning.

January rolled around and the semester began. I had my birthday in January. I am now 20 years old in case you are behind the times. I also started my new job in the Financial Aid office. That is going well. I don't really do much because this is a recently created position and they haven't worked out my responsibilities yet, but in the mean time I'm getting paid to do my homework.

In January I found out about the potential for me to go on a missions trip this summer, and by the time February arrived it was official. I've spent much of this semester trying to prepare and plan for that. Planning ranges from support raising, to thank you note writing, to doctor's appointments and vaccinations, to weekly team meetings. The culmination of all of this preparation is nearly upon me. I am leaving in only 9 days! I am a little bit apprehensive but overall super excited. I can't wait to see why God opened this door for me to go on this trip. Someone had to not be able to go on this trip so that I could. I think that is a pretty big deal. It doesn't quite seem real that I'm leaving for the Amazon Rainforest in 8 days and I will live there for 5 weeks! But whether it sinks in during the next 8 days or not, Amazon...... here I come!

I can't remember if the process started in February or March, but I applied to be a Resident Assistant (RA) for next year. I had thought about it during the Fall semester, but by the time Spring semester rolled around I had determined that I probably wasn't RA material, so I wouldn't apply. Then, a few of days before the RA informational meeting a couple of people asked me if I was going to apply and encouraged me to do so. I figured that it wouldn't hurt anything to just go to the meeting. So I went and figured that I would apply and see what happens. I didn't expect to here anything back, but I carefully and thoughtfully filled out the application. I go to a christian school so I had to answer "spiritual" questions and I wanted to be genuine in my application whether or not this whole RA thing ever amounted to anything. So, I got my application filled out with my 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice dorms and made sure that my recommendation letters were turned in. Like I said before, I didn't expect to hear anything back from the applications, but about a week and a half later I found out that I had interviews with my 1st and 2nd choice dorms. About 2 weeks after my interviews were through I was hired by my first choice. So I will be an RA next year in Willetts Hall to about 24 girls! I am super excited about it! And to think that I wasn't going to apply.

April is now here and I have scheduled classes for next year. I am taking 19 credit hours. My classes are Political Communication, Political Speech Writing, Argumentation & Debate, Persuasive Theory, Public Administration, Old Testament, Golf. This week is finals week so I'm trying to prepare for that. I also have to pack up my room. I've got to pack everything, bring it home and then re-pack for the Amazon. I can't believe that the year is over already. I'm just a week away from being a JUNIOR in college. That seems really old to me. Year 2 of college is nearly complete. I feel quite accomplished.

I'll end this post with an array of pictures illustrating some of the fun that I've had this semester in no particular order:

Brother/Sister Picnic

Elliv Awards Show

Open Dorms

Bible Study Sleep Over

(we dropped her)

Group Shots

Drum Roll Please

2009-01-26T19:07:00.006-05:00

In my last post I mentioned the possibility of going on a missions trip this summer, and the final answer is in. I will be spending one month this summer in: badadadadadadadada (drum roll)

THE AMAZON

Are you surprised? I sure am. The opportunity presented itself, and within about a weeks time it became official. It's funny because I wasn't looking for an opportunity to go on a missions trip this summer, but the opportunity unexpectedly found me. At the beginning of last semester they did presentations in Chapel about the different missions opportunities that the school provided and gave information for applying. None of the trips really seemed to call my name and I figured that I really need to work this summer and save some money so I didn't even seriously consider applying for any of the trips. I guess somewhere around 90 people filled out applications for the Amazon trip, 20 people got interviews, and then 12 were chosen (6 girls and 6 guys).

I was getting coffee with a friend, who happens to be on the Amazon team, on a Friday night about a week and a half ago and somehow the Amazon trip came up in our conversation, and she told me that a girl had to drop out and they had an open spot. All of a sudden the Amazon trip sounded interesting so I told her to give the team leader my information. She did on a Saturday. I met with the leader that Monday and I had an interview. He had me fill out an application. I turned it in on Wednesday, and at our meeting yesterday (Sunday) I found out that I was on. My references still have to clear (References, you know who you are. Don't let me down :) ), but once they do I can start on support letters and getting my passport and the proper shots, etc.

So I will be spending May 6-June 10 this summer on the Amazon river, living on a houseboat with a missionary couple and pretty much doing whatever they need us to do. I know we will be ministering in churches along the river and doing VBS type activities for the kids, but other than that I guess I'll be doing whatever is asked of me. I'm not so excited to meet some of the wildlife, like alligators and piranhas, but otherwise I'm pretty pumped. It's going to be an awesome experience and it's just been really cool to see it all fall together so quickly.

*On a side note, here are some pictures from this weekend: We tried to go to the Cheesecake Factory, but to get a table for 14 meant waiting 3-4 hours so we had to settle on T G I Fridays. It was still fun though. They didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few.

(Don't ask about my face. I don't really know what I'm doing other than that I'm weird)

Much Ado About Nothing

2009-01-22T21:25:00.010-05:00

No, wait...... that's Shakespeare. Rather, if the play were about me it would be called "Much Ado About Much". Many things have happened since my last post. I didn't realize that Thanksgiving break was the last time I had updated. Since then I've had Christmas break, a new year has begun, I started a new semester of school (after this one I'll be half way done!), I am now a sassy, sophisticated 20 year (adios teenage years), I've gotten a new job, and the list could go on and on.

Let's start with the new semester. I had this thought in my mind when I started the semester that I could pick one day a week and make that my "Blog Update" day, that way I would be updating at least once a week. However, I'm am nearly done with week three and and I must apologize to my faithful 3.7 readers. I'm sure that you have been hanging on the final words of my last post for over a month longing for an update. Ok, that may be a little dramatic, but the point is that I had good intentions about updating, I just didn't get to carry them through.

To label this semester as "busy", would be a gross understatement. Just look at this picture if you don't believe me. This is a picture of my daily planner for this week alone. It's a little full wouldn't you say. [Here is where you nod your head in the affirmative so that I know you understand and I don't have to feel badly about not updating. Thank you. You may stop nodding now]
I've been busy since day one of the semester. The first week was...... overwhelming at best. I think first weeks always are. You have to stabilize yourself after suffering syllabus shock long enough to run around trying to buy the books that you need to do the homework assignment that you just received on the first day of class and it's due later this week. You also have to take a large step back into reality after spending 3 glorious weeks on vacation from anything school related. First weeks are definitely the hardest.

The second week was better. I had my books and my schedule figured out, and while I was busy with homework, I at least had it under control. I found out that I got my new job in this second week. I haven't actually started yet, but I expect to very soon. I am moving up from my job at the snack shop to an office-y type job in the Financial Aid Department! I'm trading in my hat and apron for a computer and a rolley chair and I couldn't be more excited about it. I look ridiculous in hats and I wish the food service industry would realize that and make an exception for me. I guess I'm just not destined to work in the food service industry. I also had a birthday. I am now 20 years old, and no longer a teenager. This is the first birthday where I actually feel older. 20 seems so much older than 19. It's like I actually have to act like an adult now, whatever that means. :) My birthday was good. I got phone messages and facebook messages. I played wally ball for the first time (that's just volleyball in a raquetball court and you play off the walls). It was a long day, Tuesdays and Thursdays are my really busy and super long days, but it was still good. Then on Friday my unit and our brother unit celebrated January birthdays so I got cupcakes! It doesn't get much better than that on a college student's budget.

That weekend I made a surprise visit home and it was good to be home for a little bit. It was kind of a boost that I needed after 2 busy, stressful weeks, but when I got back sunday night I realized how much homework I had to catch up on after not doing any. I've been playing catch up all week and I feel like I'm at the point where my head is above water. I plan on spending a good amount of this weekend in the library so I'll be good to go by the start of next week.

This week has been busy trying to catch up with homework, but it's also been busy for another reason. I will wait until I have a definitive answer before I give specifics (that will be for another post) but I have been busy interviewing and applying for a missions trip this summer. So if all 3.7 of you wanted to be praying about that, you could be. I plan on hearing an answer within the next week or so, but when I know, you will know..........eventually. :)

Aside from homework this weekend I will be going to the Cheesecake Factory! It is my RA's birthday pretty soon so we are surprising her by taking her out Saturday night. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures taken so I just might put a couple on here. You'll probably be able to see them on Facebook sooner than on here, but that's the way it goes.

So, like I said, "busy" doesn't really begin to describe it, but I'd rather be busy than bored; therefore, I cannot complain. Lots of exciting things are happening and life seems pretty good right now. I am one happy blogger. :)

Thanksgiving Break

2008-12-03T18:25:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving Break was this past week. I enjoyed the break from school work and had a lot of fun. Now there are only 9 days left in the semester. Finals are next week, and then I'll be done and home on Friday. It seems weird that the semester is almost over. It went by quickly. This semester was good in many ways, but it was hard in others, and so I am glad to see the semester come to a close. I look forward to starting over next semester with a new schedule, new classes, and hopefully a renewed focus.

This weekend is Campus Christmas and so everyone's buzzing about preparing for Christmas Open Dorms, which I mentioned in my last post. My unit's theme is Home for the Holidays. Each one of the 8 rooms will be decorated in a way to represent 8 different states that are represented by people living in my unit. Because there are quite a few of us from Ohio, a few of us had to join other states. My roommate and I have been split up because we are both from Ohio. I will be in another room adopting Virginia as my "home state" while my room becomes transformed into New Hampshire. Aside from the rooms, the bathroom will be decorated like a Roadside Diner, and the two lounges will be a travel agency and a rest stop. It should turn out really well. I'm excited about it. Hopefully I will have pictures to put on here after this weekend so you can see how everything turned out. Until then, I will leave you with these pictures.

These are pictures from a Wal-Mart adventure that took place Sunday afternoon. Dylan and I were trying to convince Tammy that she absolutely needed to buy this 2-disc christmas cd that came with a dvd of a fire in a fireplace. I know, it sounds lame, and it kind of is, but it was fun at the time. The only way she would agree to buy it was if I went out to Wal-Mart dressed in the silly clothes that I had been wearing, and the only way I would agree to do that was if Dylan dressed like it too. So here you go. Pictures of our crazy outfits, and then wearing those outfits to Taco Bell, because we also convinced Tammy that she needed to buy lunch. What can I say? When you're good, you're good.

Dan saw how cool we looked and decided to join in. Actually he probably just wanted free Taco Bell

Everybody's Doing It.

2008-11-08T10:20:00.002-05:00

The reason I started a blog was because "everybody else was doing it", so now that everyone has decided to update their looks and change their blog backgrounds I figured, why fight the tide?

This week has been super busy with homework and exams and papers that need to be written. My goal for the weekend is to write 2 papers and I did one yesterday so technically I'm halfway there. Granted I wrote the 4-5 page paper yesterday and today calls for an 8-10 page paper, *note that I have done zero preparation for this paper, but I plan to just sit down and write start to finish. We'll see how that goes.

Nothing super exciting is going on. Thursday night I went to a birthday party. (and let that be a friendly reminder that my own birthday is merely two months away and you should start preparations.......now. Cash, Checks and All Major DEBIT Cards are accepted. ;) ) Last night I watched the movie Disturbia. I knew it was going to be suspenseful, but I think I would rate it as scary. Overall it was a decent movie, but I don't want to watch it again. Tonight my unit and our brother unit will be going out to eat and then shopping at Wal-Mart because we are putting shoeboxes together for Operation Christmas Child. And then on Wednesday I will be shopping again because my biblestudy smallgroup leader decided that our group should put together a shoebox too. Then next weekend is parents weekend, and that should be fun.

Other than that it's mostly just work, homework and studying trying to get everything done before Thanksgiving break because after that I only have one week of classes and then finals week. I did find out a cool tradition that Cedarville does for Christmas that weekend before finals week. It's called Christmas Open Dorms, where all of the units/halls come up with a theme to decorate their hall and then judges go through and choose a winner, and after your time is over to present your hall then you get to walk around to other dorms to see what everyone else came up with. My unit has a pretty good idea in the works, but I'll say more about that once it is finalized and closer to the time.

New Roommates

2008-10-26T13:07:00.003-05:00

I now have 2 fish that reside in my room. One is mine and one is my roommate's. They live in the same bowl and so far they haven't tried to eat each other so that is pretty exciting. The picture isn't so great, but then again I haven't met too many fish that are photogenic. They are both in the top corner. Mine is yellow, its name is Sushi, and hers is red, its name is Caviar. Clever, right? Yes that is a debit card inside the fish bowl. The bowl was looking empty and my roommate had an old debit card so I stuck it in there, and the rest is history. Well ....... yeah ..... that's the story of my new fish. Sorry, I'm not feeling very wordy today, but hey, at least I posted, right?

Pick-A-Date

2008-10-07T16:25:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday night my unit participated in Pick-A-Date. Pick-A-Date is where roommates pick out dates for each other and then all of the girls in the unit and their dates go out for a big group date/activity. The catch is that you keep the person's date a secret so that you don't find out who you are going with until you meet them that night. For my roommate Melissa's date I chose a guy that she knew from studying in Oxford over the summer. She is an Athletic training major and her date, Brandon, plays baseball so I knew that they still has some contact with each other. I wanted to be sure to pick someone she would have a good time with because I guess she didn't have the best time when she went on a Pick-A-Date last year. Much to my relief she did end up having a good time. While her date was someone she knew, my date was someone I had never met. For my date, she picked some guy that she had met maybe once or twice last year. His name was Brad and he was a very nice guy. It actually wasn't as awkward as I imagined it would be and we all seemed to have a fun time.

For our date we went to an outdoor mall, called The Greene, and did a photo scavenger hunt. You would have to go to different stores and take a picture doing different poses that related to the store, and the number of people required to be in the picture was dependent on what the pose was. Unfortunately there was no point system, and therefore no real competition, but in my humble opinion, our group was definitely the winner. After the scavenger hunt we came back to campus and had ice cream and played games. Overall, the night was really fun, and because we did a PHOTO scavenger hunt, I have pictures! Some of them are blurry, but you can make most of them out pretty well. My "date" Brad and I are both wearing orange (no it wasn't planned) and then my roommate and her "date" Brandon are the ones not in orange.

Being Flamingos by the fountain

"Bathing" at Bath & Body Works

"Awkward Couple Pose" on a bench

Parking at the parking meter

"Singing in the Rain" pose

"Lofting" outside of some store called Loft

Crossing the finish line at Finish Line sporting goods store

Outside of Victoria's Secret

Showing off our nails at the nail salon

We are so buff (way off in the distance is an Urban Active store)

Fish pose outside of a seafood restaurant

Outside of Caribou Coffee

Printy Wars!

2008-09-19T14:50:00.004-05:00

This past Tuesday night was the annual Printy Wars. Printy is the name of my dorm, and I've probably explained this before, but Printy is set up as a unit-style dorm with 4 rooms in a unit connected to its co-unit by the bathroom. So all of the units and their co-unit are a team competing against all of the other units in various silly, fun games. Each unit is supposed to come up with a theme to dress up. Some units just wear matching t-shirts and other do themes. My unit decided to be gansters, eh hem, excuse me...... ganstas. I'm a pretty lame gansta but some of the girls could really pull it off. We played a bunch of different crazy games, from human musical chairs to 2-liter chugging contests and stuff like that. It was really fun, although my unit didn't win any of the games. We did get really close though. (And I did manage to contain my competitiveness so as not to scare anyone away) I've included some pictures for your viewing pleasure. However, my roommate refused to participate in Printy Wars because she didn't want to make a fool of herself so she's not in any of these pictures, so you don't have to ask which one she is.

The whole crew, gang, posse, whatever

This is a picture of one of the games where you had to eat the food on the plate as fast as you could. There was gross stuff like cold refried beans, jalapenos, etc. As you can see I wasn't one of the partakers, just a spectator.

These next few are examples of what happens when gangstas try to dance. It's not pretty.

This is a game where you had to pop 4 balloons filled with flour using only your stomach. We didn't actually break any of them, but it's harder than it looks.

And here is proof that we don't dress up like gangstas all of the time.

And there you have it. My short lived experience as a gansta. This is actually the second time I've had to dress up for an event. Earlier in the year we played in a beachball volleyball tournament where we all dressed in black & white and painted our faces. It makes me wonder what other crazy costumes I'm going to have to come up with before the year is over.

*Sorry the pictures are so dark, but it was around 11 o'clock when were taking them.

The Light are On and The Wheels are Turning

2008-09-16T11:07:00.013-05:00

The electricity is back on! It came on around 11pm last night so we had classes today. Many people were disappointed to have the power on because that meant we would have class, but I was more than ready to be able to turn the lights on again and have the air conditioning work because it was pretty warm in the dorms with all of those people and not much ventilation. Yesterday evening was pretty good though. I ended up going to Olive Garden with a big group of people. I must have a smaller budget than most people if they can afford to pay $15 a plate. I got soup. Only $4.95, you can't beat that. Although, I must confess that I had to get dessert because they had their seasonal Pumpkin Cheesecake available and it's probably the best I've had. I had it once before around this time last year after I won a gift card to Olive Garden at one of the silly programs they had at Akron. Then after dinner I watched a movie with a couple of people. We watched "You've Got Mail". I think that movie is growing on me. It reminds me of being home (in Norwalk), I guess because I've heard it quoted so much. After that I was glad to go to bed, and so happy that my fan was working so that I could actually sleep. So now things are pretty much back to a normal schedule.

~Warning: I'm about to transition into deep stuff and let you know the things that have been going on in my head lately. Again, you have been forewarned. Continue at your own risk.~

Well, you see, the end of one life can easily lead to the examination of your own life, so I've been thinking about my own life: what I'm doing with it, what could I be doing that I'm not, what does God really want me to do, etc. You get the picture. A couple of things have been rolling around in my head as I consider these questions about my life, and they are that quote that I can only roughly paraphrase because I don't exactly remember it, but it says how "out of pain, purpose is revealed" or something like that, and Ecclesiastes 7:3 which says "Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us".

Purpose and refining are the two concepts that have consumed much of my thought life. I've never considered sadness to be refining before I read this verse, but it immediately makes sense.... to me anyways. My attitude towards God throughout dealing with this situation of Daniel's death has been "Ok God, if I am going to have to walk through this circumstance, then you are going to have to teach me something, and I need it to be something deeper than the obvious lesson about the "frailty of life" ". I really want to come away from this situation with an increase in wisdom, in strength and in trust of God, so I've been constantly asking him to teach me and to speak to me.

In doing some reflection I was reminded of a line in one of the verses of a song that I wrote about a year ago. The line says "I can't remember life ever being as hard as it is right now". As you all remember, I had started my first year of college then and I was having a hard time trying to trust God through my struggling. So when I wrote that verse at that time in my life it was true. At that point in my life I was going through the hardest time in my life that I could remember. However, that verse is even more true for right now. Right now is the hardest time in my life, and in comparison it makes last year's "test" seem slightly insignificant, even easy. I have learned a lot from last year's experience, but it seems interesting that what was so hard last year, is so much less in comparison to what is hard this year. It kind of compells me to think of life as a series of tests; however, I'm not necessarily saying that is a bad thing. If passing one test provides me with the necessary skills to move on to the next test, and if through these series of tests I continually grow in strength, and wisdom and the trust in God that leads me down the road to fulfilling my destiny, then it's almost as if my heart cry has become "God, if this is what it takes, then bring on the testing". And in my head I can't believe that I would say that to God because this sitution has been hard and it hurts, but despite all of that my heart is still so committed to God that I can't help myself from asking for the tests because it's through the testing and the struggles that I will be refined, and my purpose will be revealed.

So I guess so far what I've gained from this is just a reminder of my own committment to God and to accomlishing his will. I've found myself lately just reminding God, not that he really needs it, that I'm not going anywhere, I'm totally committed to him, and that whatever his purposes for me are and wherever that takes me I'm going there and I'm doing it. I'm still expecting to learn much more, but this is a good start.

There you have it. Insight into the deep sea of my mind. Hopefully it all made sense. It's kind of a jumbled mess, but it's the best I could do for now. If you actually made it this far, I'm impressed. This is a long post. I'll shorten it up for next time.

Power Outage

2008-09-15T13:26:00.003-05:00

The power has been out on campus since 1:30pm. It was super windy yesterday. Part of the roof of the chapel blew off as well as some shingles off of the dorms, not to mention several tree limbs....... and corn stalks. They waited until 10:00pm to announce that classes were canceled for today. All of the girls in my unit and I went to Wendy's to celebrate last night after we heard that classes were canceled, but it was a short trip because everything is about a 20min. drive from cedarville and we have a 12am curfew on Sundays, although I'm not sure how they could enforce it. Then we played ninja capture the flag. It's a mix of capture the flag and hide-n-seek in the dark. The power is still off and I've heard that it MIGHT be back on some time tonight. I went with some of the unit girls to one of their Aunt's house that was only about 30min. away and has power and wireless internet. Hence the update inspite of the power outage. I'm definitely bored with this power outage and I hope that the power gets turned back on soon. Other than that, everything with me is fine. I'll end this update with some pictures of my dorm since no has seen it. I meant to put these pictures up a couple of weeks ago, but I never got around to it.

1 Week Down....... Several More to Go

2008-08-23T08:19:00.002-05:00

I've now finished my first week of college here at Cedarville. Overall, I would have to say that things went well. All my classes seem like they will be pretty interesting, although lots of reading seems to be inevitable. I also got a job already. I'm working at "The Hive". It's a little snack shop in the student center. It seems pretty similar to what I did last year at The Trackside Grille so it should be easy and hopefully fun. My first day of working was last night. I was excited to start working but also a little bit disappointed because all the girls in my unit (dorm) and co-unit (the dorm connect to mine by the bathroom) were going out for ice cream and then to Target. I had to miss that, but they did bring me back some ice cream and I watched the second half of Evan Almighty with them when I got back, so I guess things worked out pretty well. Today our units are competing in a Beachball Volleyball tournament so that should be good for a few laughs, if nothing else, but I have to leave that early too so that I can go to work.

Add some homework and a drawing I have to do for my Drawing 1 class into the mix and that's what I'll be doing this weekend. I'm not sure about what I'll be doing for church tomorrow, but I guess I'll figure that out soon enough. I'm pretty much just trying to get adjusted to my new surroundings and back into the swing of college life. After being home for 3 months I kind of forgot what it felt like to be away. I miss everybody at home, but overall I would say I am doing well.

Wrapping Up the Semester

2008-05-03T08:50:00.009-05:00

I only have 5 days left of the semester before I come home for the summer. This semester went by so much faster than the last one. It's hard to believe that I am finishing my first year of college, but it's so exciting too. My blog posts have been .......... sporadic at best, but I'll attempt to quickly fill in the blanks for all 3.8 of my dedicated readers.

Classes have been fine. I'm hoping for all A's, but it's possible that a B might slip in there. We'll have to see. Work has been going equally well. So well in fact that they gave me a bonus. That's about all that is new with work and classes since March, which was the last time I posted.

Now for the fun stuff. I've been keeping busy with service projects, late night trips to restaurants, attending a baseball game, a zoo trip, and a surprise party............. Surprise! It was a party for me! And because no blog post is complete without pictures, I've included these images for your viewing pleasure.

These are pictures from the service project. In the morning we volunteered at a homeless shelter called Haven of Rest (1st picture). I believe it's claim to fame is that LeBron James volunteered there before. woo hoo? Then in the afternoon we went to the Salvation Army and painted a hallway for them. That would be the hallway in the second picture. Looks like I'm doing a great job supervising.

Late that night a couple of us went to Steak n Shake. Apparently they will give those ridiculous hats to anyone who asks for one so hey, why not? The white paint on my shirt matches nicely with the white hat.

I went to a Kent v. Akron baseball game that was held downtown at the Akron Aeros Stadium (minor league team). We lost by 1 and I almost got hit by a foul ball while trying to give DA & Belle directions over the phone, but it was a good time.

Here we are at the Cleveland Zoo. That was as fun as it could possibly be for me, but my feelings for the zoo haven't changed. We literally were there from opening to closing. By the the end of the day when we were getting ready to go to the rain forest one of the girls in our group had lost her ticket and the ticket booths were closed. I "selflessly" offered my ticket to her and I stayed outside. She thought I was being so nice, but really I just could not take any more of the zoo!

After the zoo was the surprise party. I was completely unsuspecting. It was a going away party for me because I'm transferring schools next semester. They made awesome desserts for me and made this big E and they signed it for me. If you don't know the story behind "Big E" I'm not going to write it here because it's not a very exciting story, but if you really want to know I will be home soon and you can ask me then.

Overall, this semester has been a great time and a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it being over and summer being here, but it's also a little bit sad. But I'm excited to be moving on to what's next for me. So there you go, the second part of my semester in a nutshell.

So.....I guess I'll Update Now

2008-03-10T21:42:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been thinking about blogging for awhile & it's the thought that counts right? Right!...... or not. Anyways, overall things have been going well. I've been working often so I should have enough money to buy a car after the semester is over. I actually got interviewed by ZTV (the college sponsored television station) while I was at work today because of the new ice cream part of the restaurant that we opened up. So I'll be on tv, but I'm pretty sure nobody actually watches ZTV.

Classes are fine. I had a midterm exam last week in Political Research and I'm pretty sure I did awesome so I better be looking at an "A" in that class. I've got a spanish test tomorrow and then a HUGE test in Campaign finances on Thursday. Campaign Finances is one of those wonderful classes where your grade consists of 2 tests and a final paper so this is our first grade. I started studying today so I should be good by Thursday. I've gotten "A's" on both of my speeches so far. I guess I'm a natural. I should probably start working on my papers soon though. By this time last semester I probably would've had at least one of them written by now. oh well.

Student government is going equally well. I've been attending the meetings and helping out with programs. I also use the required office hour that I have to work to do homework. It doesn't get much better than that.

I've also done some fun things. A couple of weeks ago when school was canceled on a Tuesday I went sledding with a group of friends. They are now convinced that I am the champ at sledding. I'm not exactly sure what skills are required to be a champion sledder, but apparently I have them, and I like that title so I'll take it. I was supposed to go sledding again this past weekend but the roads were too bad to go on Saturday and I had to work during the day yesterday so I missed it. How dumb is it when it snows so much that you can't even go sledding. Needless to say Saturday was the most boring day of my life. Sunday was better though. I got to work some extra hours because people called off, so that's more money to add to the car fund, then after work I went to Apple Bee's with a couple of my friends, Katie & Megan. We were meeting up at Apple Bee's with 4 guys from Saudi Arabia that Megan knows from working with the international group on campus. Did you read that Shagga? Saudi Arabia. Now I have friends around the nations too. :) They were a fun group so I had a good time.

Now I'm just looking forward to the end of this week so I can be on Spring Break! So I'll see you all 3.7 of my dedicated readers very soon!

Ahmed, Megan & Abdullah / Amr, Katie & Myself

It's Party Time!

2008-02-24T19:29:00.004-05:00

This past Friday I went with a group of friends to go "lunar" bowling. It sounds cheesy I know, but what can you do? We all met at my friend Megan's house and had dinner. Then at 10pm we set out to go lunar bowling. Then after bowling some of the girls (including myself) stayed the night and we made pancakes and donuts for breakfast in the morning. I had a fun time and have included a pictorial overview of the night. However, there are no pictures of me bowling because at this bowling alley you had to show your ID in order to get in after 9:30pm and I didn't know so I had to run (drive) back to the house with my friend Lauren to get my ID so I missed out on those kodak moments

UPDATE

2008-02-12T13:33:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday my dorm had flyers all over saying hat there were positions open on the Residence Hall Council (RHC). At first I just ignored them because that is what I tried to get into last semester when I lived in the Honors Complex, but I didn't get elected. Then by Thursday I was sort of considering it because people in this dorm are "slightly" less motivated than those over in the Honors Complex and I figured if nobody but myself responded to the flyers then I would be in for sure. So Thursday night I sent an email asking to be added to the ballot, which would be voted on the next day (Friday). Talk about short notice, but my plan must have worked because I was elected to be an RHC Representative. I have to go to meetings on Mondays & Tuesdays and work 1 hour a week in the office and I'll get to help plan some of the activities that will be going on around campus. I went to the first meeting yesterday which I would say went well. I'm assuming that tonight's meeting is canceled because the University closed at 12:30 so I get to skip 2 classes! Yeah! Other than that things are going along as normal. I'll leave you with some pictures from that Saturday night outing that I had a couple of weekends ago. We're planning to go out again for cosmic bowling on Friday the 22nd so I'll have to remember to get my camera when I come home this weekend so I can put pictures up soon after rather than waiting to get them from someone else.

I Couldn't Resist!

2008-02-11T14:37:00.000-05:00

If candidates were dogs: John McCain - Pug
This is about all that John McCain has going for him!

Saturday Night Fun

2008-02-03T13:06:00.000-05:00

I was invited Wednesday night to go to a dance club on Saturday night with a group of friends. I was hesitant at first because dance clubs aren't really my scene but I eventually caved in and said that I would go. The plan was to meet at 9:30 on Saturday and we would all drive over together.

When I met up with the group of people I was going with last night they said they had changed plans because a lot of us were unsure about going to a dance club. I was relieved to say the least. Instead we decided we would go out to a restaurant for dessert and to hang out, which was way more up my alley. I'll take dessert over dancing anytime. For our first attempt at getting dessert we went to a cool little restaurant downtown called Crave, but when we got their they said they didn't have room for all of us. (We were a group of 14 people) We decided to call another restaurant of a similar style called Bricco's and make a reservation. We made the reservation, drove over there and checked out the menu only to find that they didn't have desserts. SO, by then it was almost 11:00pm. We figured Applebee's would still be open and have enough room. We drove over there really quickly and were told we would have to wait 45 minutes. At this disappointing news and the time growing later, we all decided that Eat N' Park would work. Finally after all of that adventure we got to eat and hangout. It was really fun and I was much more comfortable than I probably would have been if we had gone to the dance club. It was also fun because the girl who I rode with drives like I do. I think you all know what that means. I'll just say it was ...... exciting. I didn't get back to my dorm until 1:30am and I had to get up early for work today, but other than that it was a really fun time.

On a side note: Today is my 1st blogiversary! Yeah Me!

Marshmallows Anyone?

2008-01-21T16:26:00.001-05:00

This is crazy.......and pretty hilarious.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2008-01-15T08:21:00.000-05:00

First Day On The Job

2008-01-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

I awoke early this morning and was greeted by snow as I started on my 20 minute walk to the Trackside Grill. I arrived and was given a tour and my uniform which consists of a t-shirt and a ridiculous looking hat. In case you didn't catch on from the name "track side" is in reference to train tracks, so our hats look like conductor hats. Other than being forced to wear a ridiculous hat things went very well. I learned how to use the register, I filled drink orders and I learned how to make milkshakes. I got to eat the milkshake that I made as practice and I get one free meal whenever I work so it's a pretty nice deal. I took a picture of my hat to prove just how ridiculous it looks but my computer won't read the memory card from my phone so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Here's What's New & Exciting

2008-01-10T21:33:00.000-05:00

My Christmas break is about to come to a close which means my blogging hiatus must also come to an end. I mean, I wouldn't want to disappoint my faithful readers (all 3.7 of them). Anyways, I will be heading back to campus this Sunday to start the Spring semester. I am half way done with my freshman year of college and I find that to be very exciting. I've got 4 new classes this semester: Intro. to Public Speaking, Intro.to Political Research, Campaign Finances, and Spanish. Last semester went well grade wise. I got 2 A's and 3 B's which was good enough to land me a spot on the Dean's list for the Fall semester. I am shooting for all A's this semester so I'm pretty excited to get classes started again.

I also have a new job this semester. I will be working at the Track Side Grill, a restaurant fairly close to campus. I'm pretty sure that I'll be a cashier, but I'll let you know for sure after I start on Monday. It looks like I'll be working from 7am-2pm Monday Wednesday Friday & Saturday. With this new job AND classes I expect to be pretty busy, which is what I prefer. With the job and the plasma donation I'm hoping to make enough money to buy a car at the beginning of the summer.

Well, that's what is new and exciting on my end. I'm looking forward to this semester and all that it holds. So stay tuned here to find out all the details of my OH SO EXCITING college life.

Movin’ On Out

2007-11-29T21:00:00.000-05:00

Today I moved from my nice, big, cushy, one person room in the honors complex all the way across campus to a small little dorm where I now have a roommate. I also have to share a bathroom with 6 other girls instead of just 1. SO, I guess you could say I have some adjusting to do. When I requested to move dorms I was expecting to be able to stay where I was until the end of the semester, that way I could just pop up when everyone else came back from Christmas break. However, I was told on Tuesday that a room had opened up and if I wanted it I needed to be in it by Friday. So here I am. In my much smaller room that smells funny. I still haven't decided what that scent could be. This is definitely going to be an experience.

But......I suppose.......in time.........I will adjust.

Black Friday Madness

2007-11-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

Most people are familiar with the term "Black Friday" refering to the day after Thanksgiving when large masses of people flock to the stores at ridiculously early hours of the morning. The Big Nerd has been wanting to "camp" outside of Best Buy for a couple of years, so I told him we could do it this year. We went to Best Buy on Thursday night around 11:00pm and took our place in line, which wrapped around to the back of the store. There we waited..........and waited.......... and waited some more. Ok, we only waited about an hour and then I couldn't take it anymore. I was freezing and reminding The Big Nerd just how cold I was about every 5 seconds. Since we weren't waiting for any big ticket items, The Big Nerd finally gave in, and we surrendered our place in line. We then went to Meijers becuase they were one of the few stores open. We bopped around Meijers for about an hour buying long underwear and rolling down the aisles in rolly chairs trying to regain feeling in our frozen body parts. Then we went back to Best Buy and considered getting back in line, but then we realized that we could stay in the car until Best Buy opened at 5am and then just run in the doors. Some may consider this cutting in line, but desperate times call for desperate measures and I was desperate to remain as warm as possible. Eddy is not very warm considering he has no heat, but it was slightly better than being outside. slightly. Our plan worked, and after 6 hours in the cold we ran into Best Buy so The Big Nerd could make his much anticipated purchase of.................................. a flash drive. Doesn't quite seem worth it does it? I don't think so either, but The Big Nerd is thrilled with his purchase so what can I say? Mission Accomplished?

Here are people camped out at 11:00pm on Thursday. I heard that the first person in line had been there since 9pm wednesday night.

This is me frozen on the ground in line at Best Buy. Do I look pathetic or what?

Here is the Big Nerd himself rolling on a rolly chair at Meijers, and no, we did not get caught rolling because we are too good.

Road Trip

2007-11-15T14:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend I will be going to Pittsburgh with a group of about 14 people from school. We are going to be working with an organization called the Pittsburgh Project. I actually have worked with them before. Earlier this year I was obligated to go on a trip to work with them, so I dragged Belle along with me. This time I chose to go so I'm expecting to have a good time. We will doing some "urban development" a.k.a. yard work and gardening. I just hope it's not too cold considering that yard work = working in the yard, and most people keep their yards outside where it is cold. So I'm excited, a little nervous, but for the most part looking forward to the trip, and I'm even more excited that Thanksgiving Break is right around the corner. I must go now to donate plasma again, but I will let you know how the trip goes.

PLASMA

2007-11-13T10:45:00.000-05:00

The rumors are true. I have resorted to selling my body. Well, actually just the liquid portion of my blood, but you get the picture. There is a plasma donation center very close to campus, so yesterday I was finally able to donate plasma. I have tried before, but being the philanthropist that I am, the first time I went was just a couple of days after I had donated blood, and so I had to wait 8 weeks. But yesterday everything worked out and I was able to donate. It was........... an experience.

Things went well for the most part. There was only one minor problem, but I am surviving. After passing the physical examination they hooked me up to the machine that seperates the plasma from the rest of the blood, and things were fine for about the first 20 minutes. Then I noticed that my arm was hurting where the needle was, but I couldn't figure out if it had been hurting the whole time and I just now noticed or if it just started. What happened was that the needle went through my vein, and that's when it started hurting. So, they took the needle out of my arm, and then got another one and stuck me in the other arm. I'm sure you all wanted to know these details. I was then able to finish my plasma donation. I am forming a slightly painful bruise where the needle went through my vein, but otherwise I am fine and $40 richer. Since all went fairly well, I plan on returning again on Thursday so I can do it all over again. Hopefully without the bruising this time though. And just in case you ever wanted to know what plasma looks like, it is about the same color as apple cider, just a little bit lighter.

SNOW!

2007-11-06T15:01:00.000-05:00

It's only November 6th, but it is snowing already. I made the mistake of going outside with just a sweatshirt, and that is when I discovered the snow. It is super cold outside. I don't know how I'm going to survive the winter, but since I have no classes today I plan on staying inside as much as possible. I have plenty of homework to keep busy. It amazes me that even though I have a huge paper due for English class in a couple of weeks, my teacher still feels the need to assign more papers. I wanted to use today to get a head start on my Huge English paper, but as of yesterday I have a paper due Friday and another one on Monday, not to mention that I need to have a rough draft done for tomorrow. So it's freezing and I have a lot of writing to do. I know that's a pretty lame update, but I will have a more interesting update coming later in the week. So stay tuned.

Check That Off The List

2007-10-30T13:34:00.000-05:00

I just finished writing my big paper for government class. Doing no previous work on it before this morning, and working on it straight through until it was finished, I managed to complete it in 4 hours. Now I don't have to think about it again until it is due, which would be November 19th. Now I can focus on reading the book that I have to write an 8 page analysis on. It's so wonderful to be on top of things. You procrastinators of the world should take notes on this accomplishment.

In other news.... They finally turned the heat on in my building! I had heard some girl ask earlier in October about how to turn the heat on and the answer she got was to wait until November. That was a little disheartening. I'm glad they caved in early because I was freezing in my room on Sunday even with a sweatshirt and multiple blankets, but then again I suppose I am an extreme case.

Well that is about the extent of my excitement. It's almost November and Thanksgiving break is coming soon! Woo Hoo!

I Always Knew Crafts Were Evil

2007-10-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

Mama Lily sent me a link to a blog that she was reading because it reminded her of me. I read the blog post myself and must say that it is totally me. I found it quite hilarious. I was reading it in my government class instead of taking notes, and it took some effort to keep from laughing out loud. I hope I haven't built it up too much and you end up disappointed, but click here and see for yourself. The post is a little long, but worth it. You'll have to have known me in my Missionette days to get it, but I really like it. I'll end with my favorite part from the post:

"Do you know where crafts come from? Satan. I’m not making that up. I’m going to quote an actual verse here, from Genesis. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast.” Yep. THAT serpent, the one that tempted Eve. So I feel quite justified in my feelings."

We Make Our Own Fun

2007-10-25T13:05:00.000-05:00

El Nerdo Grande and I went to Wal-Mart this past weekend and decided to have a little fun. Here we are in the produce aisle contemplating what type of havoc we could wreak. ( yes, that's what contemplating chaos looks like, so beware if you see us like this)

After much deliberation and consideration we created Carl. A cabbage with two blueberry eyes and a black raspberry nose. They should write a song about him like they have for Frosty. I can picture it now. A choir of singing chins carrying the melody of Carl the cabbage. Ha Ha. I crack myself up.

After we were done with Carl, we headed over to the little arcade and took over the fire truck.

Shortly after this my Mother had completed her trek through the checkout line, so our craziness was brought to an end. I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes. Yes we did all of this in the mere 3 minutes that my Mother was in the check out line. We're creative and quick.

Just A Little Update

2007-10-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since my last post so I figured I owe my readers an update.

School is busy,but otherwise going well. I spent three hours yesterday morning finishing my Psychology paper. It's not actually due until November, but I can get extra credit if I turn in a rough draft on the 31st. One huge paper down, two more to go.
I scheduled my classes for next semester. I will be taking: Intro. to Public Speaking, Intro. to Political Research, U.S. History since 1877, & Beginning Spanish 102. (Yeah! No Math Classes Ever Again!)
I got my password for my voice mail box from Verizon. I had forgotten it so when I went through and checked all of the messages I had neglected for so long it took me about 10 minutes. There were messages from as far back as April. That's all taken care of now, so if the need arises and you leave me a voicemail I will actually be able to check it.

That's about all for now, but never fear for I shall return again soon.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-10-10T07:39:00.000-05:00

I Survived Another Weekend

2007-10-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

I made through another weekend. Yeah Me. Ok, it really wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound. On saturday night my parents picked me up and we went out to eat with some of my other family in celebration of my aunt's birthday. It was nice to actually get away from campus for once. I really miss having a car.

I spent most of the day on Sunday studying for tests that I had today. I had my first real government test. I was actually kind of excited to take it when the time came today. I know, I'm weird. I also had my first official spanish test and I had a psychology test. School work has really seemed to pick up all of a sudden. Oh well. I get to schedule my classes for next semester in a couple of weeks. That's exciting

After studying all day, I got a call from Belle around 8:30.
Since I have been at college Belle was forced to enter the 21st century and get an e-mail address, but She said she didn't feel like typing last night so she called instead. If you know anything about Belle then you probably know that calling people on the phone is out of the ordinary for her, so I was pleasantly surprised. We ended up talking for over 2 1/2 hours. That's a record in my book. I guess since we've practically broken all of the records as far as staying up super late together that the phone must be the next thing to conquer. I remember one time I stayed up with her until about 6am, and we were awake the whole time mind you. Then I had to work that mornig at 9am. That was fun, and I of course did not take a nap that day as I am incapable. But hey isn't that what summer vaction is for?

I also got a little paper in my mailbox this weekend saying that I had a package I needed to pick up. I picked it up today and it was a package from my cousin. She sent some snacky type foods. It was a beautiful site let me tell you. The m&m's are my favorite part. I have been deprived.

So that was my weekend. I'll see all you guys this weekend.

I Got an A!

2007-10-06T14:00:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! I got an A on my first real english paper. My english class is all about argumentation and arguing effectively through writing. The assignment was to write about any topic concerning families or realtioniships pertaining to the series of articles we had read. I decided that I would write about how the leaglization of same-sex marriage would be harmful to society and the traditional family. I turned it in last week and have been waiting all week to see my grade. I was very pleased with my grade. Now I'll have to come up with something just as good for this weeks assignment.

I copied my paper into this post if you want to read it, but it is about a 3 1/2 page paper so if you really don't care then you can feel free to stop here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family values, the definition of family and the homosexual agenda are some of the most prevalent issues concerning our society today. Political debates and judicial hearings dealing with these issues have become the common interest pieces of the modern media. Such a controversial issue has resulted in many arguments and opinions formed on whether or not the implementation of legalizing same-sex marriage would be beneficial or detrimental to society and the traditional American family. Advocates of same-sex marriage pose the question to opponents of how legalizing same-sex marriages could possibly be harmful to society. However, there are many problems that would arise from lawmakers compromising on this issue, and these problems could destroy the traditional American family as we know it.
If someone were asked to define what the term “traditional family” meant, every explanation would include a marriage relationship between one man and one woman, and then continue on with addition of children and so forth. Unfortunately, over the past few decades this definition has been challenged with increasing severity. Proponents of the homosexual life style in America have increasingly been working to force their agenda upon lawmakers as well as the American society as a whole. The judicial system has never been more saturated with cases dealing with the issue of same sex civil unions than it is right now. Homosexuals are rising up in an effort to redefine marriage and this puts the existence of traditional families in jeopardy.
Homosexuals try to justify their cause by claiming that the denial of a legal marriage is an infringement on their civil rights and liberties. However, if lawmakers choose to compromise on this issue and legalize same-sex marriage, where then is the line drawn in terms of what is considered legal for a marriage relationship? If same-sex marriages are legal should polygamy become legal? If two men or two women are legally recognized as a married couple, then why not two men and one woman? Or who is to say that a marriage between a father and his daughter should not also become legalized? To deny marriage to any of these extreme relationships, from the standpoint of homosexuals, would be an infringement upon their civil rights. Redefining marriage in this way could result in the existence of any of these seemingly radical relationships, and that could result in permanently altering, or even destroying the American family.
The redefinition of marriage would not just affect adults, but every member of the family, namely children. According to findings reported by Dr. James Dobson of Focus On The Family, a non-profit organization committed to protecting family values, many homosexual relationships are actually polygamous. That leaves children whose parents are involved in these types of relationships being tossed around from relationship to relationship. A child could end up with four or six moms rather than the traditional one, or two moms in the case of step-parents. This system is very hard for children to adjust to, and the effects could be severely detrimental. A quote from Dr. D. Merilee Clunis, author of “The Lesbian Parenting Book”, provides evidence that homosexuals do not have a problem using their children as a sort of test subject to gain information on how same-sex marriages affect the development of children. Dr. Clunis writes, “It will be interesting to see overtime whether or not lesbian sons have an easier or harder time developing their gender identity than do boys with live-in fathers” (243). The phrase “it will be interesting to see” is quite disturbing. It shows just how willing homosexuals are to view and treat their children as a social-experiment.
Many professionals who support the homosexual lifestyle will be quick to report that the homosexual lifestyle is no less healthy than participating in heterosexual relationships. Homosexual couples are eager to claim that it is their fundamental human right to be married and that heterosexuals will not even be affected by it. They also argue that there is scientific evidence that suggests there are no significant differences in children raised in heterosexual or homosexual families. However, these statements are false for a number of reasons.
First of all, the same-sex family experiment is just beginning and there have not been significant populations of such families for scientists to observe over a long enough period of time to announce that there is no developmental differences between children raised in a homosexual environment compared to a heterosexual environment. Secondly, in regard to the health issue of homosexual relationships, studies performed by the Family Research Institute indicate that homosexual activities can shorten a person’s life span up to thirty years. This is because leading a homosexual lifestyle makes a person more prone to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Finally, the argument that homosexual relationships will not affect anyone but themselves seems naïve. Homosexuality has already infected our culture to an unimaginable degree, so how could the legalization of homosexual marriage not affect every single person? Any change in the supreme legislation of a country, like a constitutional amendment, is going to have some effect on all of the country’s citizens.
Legally recognizing homosexual partners as a married couple would be insulting to the entire institution of marriage. As mentioned before, many homosexual relationships are polygamous, so their efforts to be legally married are not being performed out of a desire to take part in such a special relationship as marriage, which is a sign of a life time commitment to one person. This raises the question of why are homosexuals fighting so hard to gain this title of marriage? Homosexual couples have already succeeded in being granted the legal ability to be joined in civil unions, yet they continue to be unsatisfied. If they simply wanted to be recognized as a couple, then the disputes would have ended when they gained the right in several states to be joined in civil unions, yet they continue to press the issue. The only legal difference between a marriage and a civil union is that a civil union is considered a partial marriage arrangement, and therefore the spouses do not receive any of the federal benefits obtained through marriage. This seems to provide the answer to why homosexuals are fighting so hard to be legally married. They want the legal benefits. To allow marriage to be demoralized like this and used simply as a tool to get all you can from the government would have negative repercussions for generations to come. The marriage relationship is the core foundation of the family unit, and to allow that foundation to crumble because of actions taken by homosexuals would result in the destruction of the family.
The family unit is becoming a precious commodity that needs to be preserved and protected for the sake of our nation. Our nation was founded on the principles of traditional family values. It has been the unwavering commitment to maintain these values as the reputation of the true face of America that has caused the nation to prosper and flourish to the degree that it has. The precedent was set early in our nation’s development and settling for anything less than upholding those standards will only bring about the country’s ruin. Action needs to be taken now to ensure that the traditional American family continues to exist for generations to come, and that means preventing homosexual activists from gaining any more ground as far as legally redefining marriage and families.

Reflection

2007-09-29T16:39:00.000-05:00

I have officially been in college for over a month now, so I took some time to reflect upon that. It still seems a little surreal to me that I am now in the midst of the thing that I dreaded for so long. It has definitely been a trying time so far, but I have been learning from it.

I was at the youth group meeting that I attend this past Thursday and the pastor was talking about freedom and how we have the freedom to do what we want to do or to follow God. What he said was good and all, and it is probably new for a lot of the people there, but it's not something that I haven't heard before. However, in the middle of his sermon he veered off a little bit and started telling the story of how the Israelites were brought out of slavery into freedom with Moses and the whole red sea deal. He was explaining this story in great detail and I was getting a little impatient because he kept going on and on and I'm thinking "who hasn't heard this story at least 6 1/2 times?", but then he made this one comment about when the Israelites were on that middle ground between leaving Egypt and getting to the promised land. He made the point that when things got a little rough that the Israelites were immediately ready to turn around and go back to Egypt where they had been comfortable. He was basically just reiterating the fact that choosing the path of following God isn't always easy. He then continued on with the rest of what he had to say, but I stayed there.

I began to compare myself and my situation to the Israelites. I started with comparing Norwalk to Egypt, not because I was enslaved in Norwalk, but because I was comfortable there. This transition has been a hard road and there have been times, especially within the first 2 weeks, that I just wanted to throw in the towel and go back to Norwalk where I was comfortable. I knew how the story ended with God being faithful to the Israelites, so I figured that my lesson to learn from this was that God is faithful, and though the road may be long and the journey hard He will bring me through. That is where my thought process ended during the meeting.

After the meeting when I got back to my room I decided to skim over the chapters in Exodus that contain the story just to confirm to myself what I had been thinking. As I was skimming the chapters I found myself getting a little annoyed with the Israelites. They were continually questioning why God had brought them out of Egypt anytime they got a little uncomfortable. They got a little thirsty so they started questioning God's motives, then God provided for them. Then later on they get hungry, again question God's plans, and again God faithfully provides for them. This process happens a few more times and I found myself really getting annoyed and wondering "When are they going to get it? When are they going to realize that God is going to be faithful to keep His promises and meet their needs?". Right after that it sort of hit me in the face. How many times through this journey have I asked God, "why did you bring me here?, why do things have to be so hard?, and when are things going to get easier?". I have been acting just like the Israelites. God has never let me down. He has continually been faithful and whenever things get a little bit hard I immediately start questioning His plans.

The realization of that just totally rocked my world. I can't believe how I've been acting. I immediately felt the need to repent for my actions. God has continued to be faithful; it's me who hasn't held up my end of the bargain and totally trusted Him. This past month has definitely been a process of learning to trust God and be patient waiting on His timing. I am still on that middle ground between Egypt and the promised land where there are struggles and hard circumstances, but I am choosing to no longer act like the Israelites. I don't take my relationship with God for granted, so I will trust God's plans for me without question because I know that His plans for me are great, and better than anything I could ever come up with.

My trip so far has been quite uncomfortable, but if that's what it takes for me to learn this lesson then I am thankful for it. I'm quite sure that my struggles are not ever yet, but in the midst of them I can look forward to the lesson that will be learned from it and God's continued faithfulness.

A Sad Situation

2007-09-26T13:09:00.000-05:00

There was a bomb threat today for the college of arts & sciences building, but that's not the sad part. The sad part is that they closed the building right after my first class, which is in that building so I had to go to it. I got a text message during my second class saying that the building was closed. I was disappointed about not missing my first class, but I have my statistics class in that building later on in the day so I was hoping that I might get out of that. Then in my government class while I was taking notes on my laptop I checked the school website and they said that the building would reopen at 1:10pm. How convienient, my statistics class starts at 1:10. Urgh. I was very sad to have to attend that class. It has got to be the most boring class in the world. When the class started, ny professor asked who was disappointed about having class today and everyone raised their hand. Then she said, "well atleast we got to have class today because there will be times when you want to come to class and you won't be able to". I couldn't help but laugh at her. I don't think that day will ever come when it's statistics class. That is probably the only time all semester that she will be funny. At least she she got one joke in there.

Minesweeper

2007-09-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

Everyone has heard of and probably played the computer game minesweeper. It comes on every computer so it's practically unavoidable. I had played it a couple of times, but I didn't really see the point because I thought it was just a random guessing game and I never won. I certainly was not going to waste my time on a game that I wasn't good at. Then, one life altering day Belle enlightened me with a little piece of information about minesweeper. She tells me that their actually is a strategy. Well, she got it out in between burst of laughter at my naiveness. (that is a real word) Since that day I have been attempting to beat the game, but failing miserably. However, today it finally happened. That's right, after 230 games of minesweeper on the beginner's level I won 1 game. It was a glorious moment in history.

Moral of the story: Perseverance Pays Off

The Easiest $100 I've Ever Made

2007-09-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

My spanish teacher made an announcment in class today that one of the students in our class needs notes to be taken for them for the rest of the semester, and if we were interested to see her after class. I told her I would be willing to do it because during her announcment she said that the office of accessibility will pay you $100 for being a note taker. She gave me this little paper that I took to the office of accessibility, then I filled out a couple of papers, and I got the job. But wait, it gets even better.

We don't actually take notes in spanish class. she gives us worksheets and through out the class period we end up filling them out. So after each class she will just have to make a copy of my worksheet, and then I just have to give it to the student. I'm not doing any more work than I would be regularly. It's like I'm finally getting paid just to show up to class and do what I would normally do anyways. How sweet is that!?! The only downside is that I don't get paid until December. I could definitely use the money now, but it will come in handy in December too.

Quick Update

2007-09-15T13:31:00.001-05:00

I figured I better do some type of update since I haven't blogged since Monday. Classes went well this week. I took my spanish quiz and only missed 1 1/2 points. Of course "el piso" was not on the quiz. Wednesday was Student Appreciation day, so there was a bunch of free stuff. Free stuff is always good. I also gave blood on Wednesday, and I didn't even get a bruise. I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not. It seems like more of a sacrifice when you get a bruise. Maybe that's just me. My blood pressure was really good. Much lower than say about 2 years ago. So that's a good thing.

Wednesday was also the first time that I met with my small group. It is a group of about 10 people and we get together for a bible study every wednesday night at Starbucks. That went pretty well I thought. One of the girls in the group talked about having a smallgroup party at her house and she has a nintendo Wii. El Grande Nerdo will be so jealous.

I went to the women's soccer game last night. That was really cool. Then today I volunteered at a local homeless shelter with a couple of other people from one of the student organizations I'm involved with. That was a pretty good time too, and it gave me something to do today, which was the real goal.

That's pretty much my week in review. Just trying to stay busy. My faithful readers are all updated now.

I Guess That Was A Bad Idea

2007-09-10T19:54:00.000-05:00

I've been working on learning my spanish vocabulary because the first quiz is on Thursday. I have had trouble remembering the word for floor, so I had this brilliant idea. I decided that I could write the word, "el piso" on the floor in dry erase marker, then I would see it and make the association. I tested a little mark on the floor to make sure the marker would come off, and it did. I then proceeded to write "el piso" on my floor. I went away, and when I checked it later it would not come off. I ended up getting it off with my clorox bleach pen,but maybe that wasn't such a brilliant idea. However, I do remember the word now.

Not So Exciting City Life

2007-09-08T15:27:00.000-05:00

Well it is the weekend, which in university terms means no classes. I have come to realize that most people that go to the University of Akron choose it because they live near by. That means that they all go home on the weekends. It is really weird to walk around campus and only pass a few people when during the week there are roughly 24,000 students bopping around.

Since I am not one of the fortunate ones that gets to return home every weekend, I have to find something to occupy my time with here. There is of course some homework and reading that I could do to prepare for classes next week, but I didn't want to do that the whole weekend. I decided that to kill some time I would head out into the big city and see what I could find. So I left campus and headed for the really big buildings, but when I got there I found a whole lot of nothing going on. There were some bars and hole in the wall restaurants, but not much more than that. Oh, and there was a Farmer's Market. What could be more exciting than a Famer's Market? Ha.

As I was walking around I saw a car pass that looked like Eddy. It made me wish that I had a car now. If I had a car maybe I could at least find a Wal-Mart or some other recognizable business, but alas I have no car, and no Wal-Mart. What is a girl to do?

I did work out today after my hike around Akron, but I've pretty much exausted all of my options. I will probably have to resort to doing homework now. I guess big city life isn't really all it's made out to be.

Happy Birthday

2007-09-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

Happy 14th Birthday to El Nerdo Grande (ha ha, I make myself laugh)

A Wonderful Weekend

2007-09-04T11:25:00.000-05:00

I had been anticipating coming home for the weekend all last week, and my expectations were met. I have had a super fun time and I got to catch up with somethings the I had missed even being away only a week. I was able to go to a soccer game, a cross country meet this evening, a smokin' hot bon fire, and just do the whole "hanging out" thing. Now I am sad to say that the weekend has come to an end, but I suppose it is time to go back to school.

I consider last weeks absence sort of a pre- leaving for college time because now it is going to be quite a bit longer than a week before I am scheduled to visit again. I still need you guys to pray for me. I need all the help I can get. But I do want to say thanks to everyone for making this weekend great. I will miss you guys, and I can't wait to see you again. Until then, I'll try to keep updating regularly.

Hasta luego

Wordless Wednesday

2007-08-29T07:05:00.000-05:00

First Day of School

2007-08-28T07:09:00.000-05:00

I survived my first day of classes. I made it to them on time too. They all seem like they are going to be fine. A couple of the professors seem fun and couple seem really boring, but that's something I'll just have to deal with.

The only drawback it that instead of ordering my books through the school bookstore, I ordered them from a web site called abe books. I really thought I was beating the system because I only paid $1 for each book plus shipping. Then I get to class and find out that I bought older editions of the books so now I have to get the new ones from the bookstore. That literally cost about 100x more than what I paid for the wrong books online. Now I have homework and the wrong books, so I can't do it. I don't have any classes on Tuesdays, so hopefully my order will be processed quickly and I can get my books from the bookstore on Tuesday and be all prepared for Wednesday.

After classess, I finally got to visit the rec center. It is really big and it was super busy when I went, but I was able to find a tredmill in the back and I ran for 20 minutes. Here is a picture of the rec center.

Well, that's about all I have for now. I've been thinking about and praying for you guys going back to school today. I know you all are going to do great. See ya soon.

Day 3 in the Big City

2007-08-26T19:36:00.000-05:00

On the agenda for today they had an assembly about Akron traditions and a welcome festival. The welcome festival had information about clubs and student organizations. It is one of my theories that the more I get involved in clubs the more people I will meet and the easier my transition into college life will be. That being said, this is what I signed up for:

AK Rowdies (they sit together and cheer at sports games)
Students for Life ( this is a pro-life student organization, not me commiting to be in college forever)
Associated Student Government
College Republicans
Campus Focus ( this is the campus ministry group)
ZPN (Zips Programing Network- they plan a lot of the on campus events)

After signing up for clubs I went to the soccer game to cheer them on. They beat Cleveland State 3-0. Go Zips! Right after the game was over I got a call from Piano Boy. Then I talked to Belle for a while and finished with JR. During these conversations I missed a call from my Mom so I called her back and talked to everyone else at home as well. After all of this chating I think I have reached a record even I didn't think was possible. I talk on the phone for an hour and a half. It shocks me even, but it was nice to hear from people at home and get caught up with things.

Finally I met my bathroom mate after 3 days of being here. She must have just moved in today or something. Her name is Annie and she seemed nice. Now I'm just trying to prepare myself for classes starting tomorrow. I have a full schedule starting at 8:50 and going until 2. I'm hoping that everything goes well and that I'm not bombarded with homework, but I really don't know what to expect. I don't like being the unexperienced freshman all over again, but I guess I'll have to deal with it.

Well, that would be my day in review. I'm sure I'll be updating tomorrow with a report on how classes went. Gives you a little something to look forward to right?

Aloha from Akron (now that's a great aliteration)

2007-08-25T23:30:00.000-05:00

I been in Akron 2 days now so I figured it was time for an update. On Friday I got moved into my dorm room. Then I attended my floor meeting and met my resident assistants Eric and Kate. They both remember my name already. Eric remembers my name because we are both political science majors, and Kate remembers my name because she is in charge of Hall Government and I turned in my application to her about 1/2 hour after she gave it to me. Elections for Hall Government will be early next month, so we'll see how that goes. On friday I also went to see the comedian that they had performing because we are encouraged to participate in welcome weekend activities, but she was terrible. I'll remember that for next time. Here is what my room looks like.

Today (saturday) I went bowling. I also signed up for the AK Rowdies club. They go to home games and cheer on the team. I think it will be fun, and it gets me involved on campus. It also gives me an excuse to go to the soccer games. It amazes me that even though I only played for 1 season, I still really miss it. The first soccer game is tomorrow at 5pm, so I'm looking forward to that.

Tonight they had an event at the National Inventers Hall of Fame, which is down the street from campus. They started off with the resident assistants from each dorm do a little lip syncing performance. That was entertaining. Then afterward it was a casino themed event. They gave us tokens and raffle tickets, but that didn't help me much because I don't know how to play the gambling card games. Instead I put my tokens in the slot machine to get rid of them, but I kept winning more. I finally got rid of them. My ticket got pulled for the raffle and I won a $25 gift card to Olive Garden.

Tomorrow is the big welcome assembly where they will have all of the information about clubs and such. I will probably update tomorrow about what I join. Until then, I miss you all. Keep praying for me. I will see you soon and update even sooner.

On the Verge of Destiny

2007-08-23T08:20:00.000-05:00

Within 24 hours my blog will step into its full destiny. The reason I created a blog many months ago was for the purpose of keeping the general public informed and updated with my life at college. That time has nearly come. Tomorrow is a big day for my blog and I. We will embark into the unknown and have adventures of all sorts, and then report them back here all while using proper grammar. I know. This sounds like a huge under taking, adventures AND proper grammar, but some how I know my blog and I will survive.

Ok, that's enough dramatizing for one post. On a serious note, tomorrow really is an important day. A day that I have had mixed emotions about for probably somewhere around the time frame of a year. Most of these emotions have left me dreading this day, but as of recently I have had a change of mind. For the majority of the past year I have had the recurring thought process of "this is going to be so hard, and I don't know how I can survive leaving everyone and everything I have ever known and care about behind, etc. etc". However, over the past couple of weeks, instead of thinking about all of the negative things, I came to the realization that I shouldn't be having negative feelings about being obedient to God. I am taking a step into my destiny by doing this, and this is what God has for me at this time, so of course I can survive.

I am very thankful for this shift in thinking because I originally expected these last few weeks to be the hardest ones, but in reality the opposite happened. I think that I am as ready as I can be
for college, and though it's not going to be easy, it is definately do-able.

So, I'm all packed up and "ready" for whatever happens. My blog is ready too. We promise to update more often than we have in the past. So don't worry, you'll be hearing from me.

That's A Lot Of Bathtubs

2007-08-13T18:51:00.000-05:00

Most of you probably already know this, but I work as a housekeeper for a local motel. I was scheduled to work today, which was uncommon because I don't usually work on Mondays. However, I showed up as was requested of me, and my boss lady forgot that she had scheduled me. She had already assigned all of the rooms, so instead of cleaning rooms she had me do different odd jobs all day. Task #1 for the day was to scrub all of the bath tubs on the list she gave me. Do you want to guess how many bathtubs I scrubbed today?

If you guessed 28 then you would be right. Talk about some serious scrubbing. Fortunately none of them were as nasty as my picture.

Something to Think About

2007-08-02T14:44:00.000-05:00

I was reading one of the little magazine inserts that come in the paper recently. Contained in the magazine was a section devoted to answering people's questions, sort of like Dear Abby. This question was deemed "too funny to answer" so she didn't give an answer, but I really want one. Here's the question:

Why do birds sometimes pick a single vehicle to make a mess on? Do they have a warped sense of humor or are they not capable of this kind of thought?

When Belle & I went to Cedar Point last week, the stupid seagulls pooped on my car eight times while leaving every other car in the surrounding rows clean. Why is that?

* Please notice that I have now posted 2 days in a row. How's that for making up for a postless July? That deserves be a pat on the back for self. Good Job Super-K! *

Getting Crafty With My Bad Self

2007-08-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

The rumors are true. I have been crafting. This may come as a shock to some, but I actually enjoyed it. Even I can't believe that I just admitted to that. Anyways, thanks to the help of Mama Lily and Shagga Bear I got in touch with my crafty side.

I made pillows with Mama Lily:

And I painted with Shagga Bear:

What do you think?

I'm In Love!

2007-06-29T11:11:00.000-05:00

It was love at first sight. After being introduced to him by my very best friend , I immediately had to sit down at the risk of fainting in the presence of such a flawless creation as he. I could hold him in my arms for hours as he sings me sweet melodies. I've never felt this way before. It's like I'm walking on the clouds.
OK, now I'm just being silly, but I did find my dream guitar yesterday. It is a beautiful 12-string acoustic electric guitar that was undoubtedly made just for me. Hopefully someday Orlando (that's what I decided his name will be) and I will be reunited once and for all time. However, until that day comes, Orlando will have to live on in my dreams because I'm hesitant to make such a big purchase, and I would have to part with Peter in order for Orlando to occupy my heart.

It's About Time

2007-06-12T12:10:00.000-05:00

I can hear the dramatic gasps now, and I'm trying not to get sucked away. It's true, this is an actual update. I've neglected my blog for far too long. So here we go.

I survived my senior year of high school, and I am now an official high school graduate, diploma and all. Now I guess I'll have to get used to being a freshman again. My classes are scheduled for college and I have my student ID. I'll be taking Honors English Comp. II , Statistics, Honors Psychology, U.S. Gov't & Politics, and Spanish I this fall. Here are some pictures from graduation:

Then a few days after graduation I was off to Washington DC for the Trans-Generational War Council meeting. That was totally awesome. Any time you get to go to DC you know it is going to be awesome. All of the speakers were really good, and I enjoyed praying at the Capitol Building. The whole trip was really good, but quite exhausting. After returning to Norwalk Saturday afternoon I ended up sleeping 13 hours. I don't know about you, but that is a personal record for me. Here are a few more pictures. ( for better pictures check out Mama Lily's post)

Then on Monday Belle and I decided to take an excursion to Home Depot. I'm sure you can all guess whose idea that was. Anyways, Mama Lily was in need of a little break so Thaddeus, Puk Puk and Doodle Bug ended up coming with us. We all piled into Eddy and set off for Sandusky. We made it to Home Depot and Belle bought a board, then we ventured to a couple of other stores. Puk Puk and Doodle Bug are so willing to try things on that we just had to take their picture. Here they are:

Thadeus in a cabinet at Home Depot / PukPuk & Doodle at the Dollar store

These are at MC Sports

Do we know how to have a good time or what?

I Really Do Look Famous!

2007-05-30T20:17:00.001-05:00

Art Expo

2007-05-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

Since it's the end of the year I am finishing up my art projects and getting to take home the ones I did earlier in the year. Do you want to see them?

I'll start at the begining of the year with a couple of drawings I did in my Advanced Drawing class:

Next is my pot that I just finished:

And here is my final project for the year. I am carving a polar bear out of alabaster. It gets pretty messy when I use the dremel.

My egg that has been the subject of previous posts will be displayed in the fair this year. I think my giraffe drawing might be there too.

The Call

2007-05-19T11:25:00.000-05:00

http://thecall.com/vision.php

There's A New Blog In Town.

2007-05-14T15:29:00.000-05:00

NEWS FLASH: Dylan has entered the blog world, so make sure you check it out here. There are high expectations for his blog to be a funny one, but I'm sure he can pull it off. He is MY brother after all. I've taught him everything he knows.

What type of flower are you?

2007-05-10T15:12:00.001-05:00

After taking the rose quiz on Mama Lily's blog, I saw this quiz and thought I would find out what other kind of flower I "relate" to.

You Are a Carnation

You are down to earth and grounded.
You tend to be more traditional than trendy.
Your confidence gets you through anything.
People trust you and are very loyal to you.

What Flower Are You?

Then I found this fun quiz too.

You Are Cranberry Red

Peaceful and philosophical, you are almost always at harmony with the world.

You're not very social, but you always enjoy a deep, complex conversation with a friend.

It's possible that you've been disappointed a lot in your life, but you've gotten over those disappointments quickly.

For you, each day is new and glorious. You wake up refreshed and happy, even when things aren't going your way.

What Color Red Are You?

What type of flower are you?

2007-05-10T15:12:00.000-05:00

After taking the rose quiz on Mama Lily's blog, I saw this quiz and thought I would find out what other kind of flower I "relate" to.

You Are a Carnation

You are down to earth and grounded. You tend to be more traditional than trendy.Your confidence gets you through anything.People trust you and are very loyal to you.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatflowerareyouquiz/">What Flower Are You?

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-05-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

Amazing talent!

2007-05-08T21:42:00.000-05:00

Could Life Get Any Busier?

2007-05-08T05:32:00.000-05:00

Blogging has been put on the back burner lately because I have been bombarded with billions of things to do an d prepare for. (I tried, but I think I squeezed all the "B"'s that I possibly could into that sentence) There is so much to do from gigantic end of the year projects to preparing graduation invitations to send out. This week is extra busy with practices for the talent show. I'm also trying to get everything ready for when I go th freshman orientation next Thursday. Throw work into the mix along with weekends that equally busy, and I find myself trying very hard not to be overwhelmed.

In other news I found my new best friend. Just kidding. My best friend is irreplaceable,

however, my guitar is not.

I got a new guitar this weekend. It sounds as cool as it looks. I can't wait to play it hooked up to a real sound system. I don't think my little practice amp seves it much justice. I need to think of a name for it. It should probably be something rustic or woodsy considering its natural wood finish. Let me know if you think of a good one.

IT'S A HACK!

2007-05-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

(Note: Krista's favorite brother is doing a hack post so don't forget to leave a comment!)

¿¡So, what do you think¡¿

There's A Whole Lot Of Painting Going On.

2007-04-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

I spent much of this past weekend painting. I painted my room, and I finished painting my egg. I've got pictures so you can see. First, I'll show you my egg.

Here is what it looked like last time I showed it......

And here it is now!

I'm very happy with how my egg turned out. It will be in the Art Show tomorrow along with 4 of my drawings. Woot Woot! And Now for my bedroom.

BEFORE: (Boring White)

AFTER: (Outstanding Orange)

I plan on decorating the walls further with these cool picture frames I got because I LOVE PICTURES!

Soggy Eddy

2007-04-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

It has been raining a lot lately, which means that Eddy has been leaking a lot and smelling funnier than normal. I know that I wrote about how Eddy leaks before, but telling you is not enough. So, just in case you thought I was exaggerating in my earlier post about Eddy's quirks, I have pictures to prove it.

Here you can see a little pond forming on my gear shifter thingy do.

The seal around the door isn't very tight, so the water comes in here too.

This is the white "stuff" that protrudes from the ceiling whenever Eddy starts to dry out.

This is my leg. Take notice to the wet spot. That happens when I have to sit next to the door with the leaky seal.

Eddy and his little small flaws make life exciting. His idiosyncrasies have given me many fond memories. I will always remember my first car, and all of the adventures I have had, and will have, in it.

**What does the word soggy make you think of? I always think of a wet piece of bread**

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-04-25T06:13:00.000-05:00

Fun To Know

2007-04-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

Just Me sent me this in an e-mail, and I figured I would just fill it out here because the people that read my blog are the people I would have forwarded it to anyway.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? NO

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Last Week

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yeah

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I'm not really a lunch meat kinda girl. I'd rather have a PBJ

5. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Absolutley

6. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Occasionally

7. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

8. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I don't think so. I'm not a big fan of heights.

9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Frosted Flakes

10. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No

11. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I am super Buff

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Mint Chocolate Chip

13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their eyes

14. RED OR PINK? Red

15. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue Jeans & brown flip flops

16. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Nilla Wafers

17. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Dylan asking me where the Nilla Wafers are. [I hid them :) ]

18. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Green

19. FAVORITE SMELLS? All of the smells that associate with Fall

20. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Belle

21. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? ¡Yeah, She's way cool!

22. HAIR COLOR? Brown

23. EYE COLOR? Blue

24. FAVORITE FRUIT? Banana

25. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Ending

26. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

27. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs

28. FAVORITE DESSERT? Ice cream

29. FAVORITE SOUND? Acoustic Guitar & Laughter

30. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Nicaragua

There were actually more questions , but I only picked 30 because this is my 30th post. ¡Hurray for me!

2007-04-23T19:25:00.000-05:00

You Are An INFJ

The Protector
You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is.You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them.
You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

What's" Your Personality Type?

So how accurate do you all think this is?

Spring Break: A Week In Review

2007-04-13T22:27:00.000-05:00

Well, this is officially my last spring break of high school, and the weather has been anything but spring-like. I spent my time working a lot this week among other things. That was pretty boring, but on a lighter note I did finish my clay pot.

I had to construct a pot using coils, but then smooth it out so you couldn't tell it was made from coils. (I say, if we don't want it to look like coils then let's not use coils, but I'm not in charge so I did what I was told.) Then, I had to cut holes into it and put little holes around the big ones because I will eventually be lacing leather strips across the holes. They tell me it will lokk really cool, but i have my doubts. I would've preferred to not put holes in my pot, but oh well. What can you do? Here is a picture of my finished masterpiece.

I also spent time seriously considering starting my pre-calculus homework, but I could only bring myself to finish one assignment. I have 4 more to go. AHHHHH. Math is so NOT my thing.

I, of course, continued the teenage tradition of staying up super late over break. However, I did not follow it up by sleeping in. It is simply impossible. Oh well.

On Thursday I was up until around 1AM watching movies. I watched You've Got Mail and The Importance of Being Earnest. Both were good movies. The night before that I stayed up until 3:25AM hanging out with Belle. That was lots of fun too. ¿Isn't this a funny picture?

Yes, that is an upside down question mark. I also learned how to do that over spring break. ¡It's amazing the invaluable things you can learn from your nerdy little brother! (I hope you noticed that upside down exclaimation point) Now I could type in Spanish and be authentic. If only I knew Spanish.

I finished off this spring break week with a trip to the Toledo Zoo with some of my favorite people. Now the zoo isn't really my favorite place to go. For some reason I don't really find the zoo enchanting, exciting, enthralling or any other words that start with "e". However, spending time with my fellow zoo-goers was what made it a good time.

Gettin' Down To The Wire

2007-04-06T06:51:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that it is already April. That means that that I have approximately 34 school days left. Graduation will be here in no time. This is becoming more and more evident with activities such as turning in senior pictures for the yearbook, filling out senior polls, and recieving the coveted cap & gown. I just got my cap, gown, and invitations on Wednesday. Do I look scholarly or what?

While graduating is super exciting, right after that starts the countdown until I leave for college. I'm afraid that summer vacation will probably go too fast.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-03-28T06:05:00.000-05:00

This One's for Puk Puk

2007-03-27T19:57:00.000-05:00

Way back when I was constructing my egg I wrote about how Puk Puk came over to my house. While I was doing my egg he made an elephant out of my extra clay. Since then He has been asking me to put it on my blog, so here it is. Mama Lily, could you please make sure he sees it?

** Also, Congrats to Belle for getting 1st place in her events at her track meet today! Way To Go......Fast!

My Sweet New Phone

2007-03-26T18:59:00.000-05:00

I got my first "real" cell phone on Saturday! I've had prepaid phones before, but now I have a contract & everything. This is my new phone, a cherry chocolate:

Most of you know that I am not a huge fan of talking on the phone, so purchasing a phone would seem silly. But this is not just a phone. It is also an MP3 player, a camera & its name is chocolate. I think this phone was made for me. Now I will have a camera at all times! It doesn't get much better than that.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ( well, maybe a few words)

2007-03-20T17:34:00.001-05:00

GANGSTAZ

A Duck ???????

National Honor Society

2007-03-20T16:56:00.000-05:00

Last night was the induction ceremony for National Honor Society. It was an interesting ceremony, and very brief! It only took about a half an hour. Some of the old members talk about National Honor society. Then all of the new members come on stage with the old members. The new members get a cndlge that they light from one big National Honors society candle (I think this is a corny idea, but they didn't consult with me before hand). Then we all say the National honors Sociey pledge, and it's all over.

Next comes the best part.... refreshments. Well, I was planning on it being the best part because I was planning on ice cream. However, instead of ice cream there was cake. Who's bright idea was that? I was so distraught. Planning on ice cream and recieving cake is not a warm welcome if you ask me. Oh well.

We slipped away from the cake eaters and snuck up to the front of the school where one of my drawings is on display so my mama could see it. It was hard to take a picture of it becaus eof the reflection on the glass, but it is a giraffe that is supposed to look like it is woven with strips of cloth.

Here is a picture of DP & I. He insisted on wearing his Obi-Wan Kenobi tie. Is he white & nerdy or what!?!

BRUISER

2007-03-18T15:42:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile because nothing earth shattering has happened lately. I figured it's about time that I blog about something. I am also trying to avoid doing my homework and this will kill a little time.
This is a post dedicated to my wonderful dog Bruiser. He is named after the dog on the movie Legally Blonde. I am at a loss for words when it comes to describing his greatness so, instead I will present a collage of pictures in no particular order.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-03-14T07:28:00.000-05:00

Eddy Part Deux

2007-03-13T08:06:00.000-05:00

Just a little Eddy update. It took all weekend, but Eddy is now up and running and sounding as normal as possible. Woo Hoo! Eddy has been loud for so long that I had fogotten what he used to sound like. You won't be able to hear me coming from a mile away anymore. I just hope this is Eddy's last repair for awhile.

Eddy is ill :(

2007-03-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, Eddy is my car. Unfortunately, Eddy has been making some weird noises lately among other minor problems.

Let's start from the begining. Eddy has had a leaky roof ever since he has been with me. That is not a problem until it rains or snows and the moisture from the ceiling leaks through on to the seats or disperses through the air onto the windows and windshield. My boss' husband tried to fix that last week by putting some gooey stuff in by the windshield. However, that didn't work and I still have to scrape my windows from the inside and outside of the car.

Eddy has also always smelled a little wierd. It is probably from the moisture the is in the ceiling, which by the way leaves a wonderful white residue. I refer to it as "decoration". About a month ago Belle bought me some air fresheners, so now Eddy smells like strawberry instead of soggyness.

These two minor flaws have been around all along, and don't really bother me. The real trouble started when it finally got cold outside. January is when the weird sounds started occuring. First I noticed a squeaky sound around my glovebox. That turned out just to be my heater, which is temperamental and doesn't work if it gets too cold outside. I can deal with a squeaky heater. It is slightly annoying, but I doesn't cost me any money.

After I figured that out another noise arose from the depths of the car. There was a loud clicking sound that would happen whenever I accelerated. After a few weeks of ignoring the sound and hoping it would go away, my boss' husband once again helped me out and advised me that I needed to check my oil. Well, it happened to be that Eddy was totally out of oil. If only someone had told me before that you need to check that regularly. Anyways, I put some oil in Eddy, and that solved the problem, for about a day.

Now I have a new sound. This new sound is an extremely loud droning sound. At first thought, most assumed that it was my muffler. This was sad news because mufflers cost money. However after having my brother crawl under the car, (I would do it, but I have no idea what I would be looking for), He informed me that my exhaust pipe broke off. It will cost me about $100.00 to fix Eddy.

He sounds so terrible. I passed 3 cop cars today and was afraid I would get pulled over for being to loud, but that didn't happen. I suppose I will have to put the passport on hold and fix Eddy first. At least he still gets me where I need to go. Hopefully he will make a full recovery and start acting normal again.

HA HA HA

2007-03-08T06:30:00.000-05:00

PreTeena is my favorite comic strip. They are always funny. I think this one is a good one so I'm sharing it with you. Happy Thursday!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-03-07T08:06:00.000-05:00

WooHoo! Yeah! Yipee!

2007-03-06T17:31:00.000-05:00

Hooray! I finally got my income tax return yesterday! I was such a beautiful sight, really. The check it quite colorful. Now I can get a new passport and send in my housing contract for school next year.

Then today I recieved my letter of acceptance into the National Honor Society! They must have realized what they were missing out on by not letting me in last year. Anyways, there is an induction ceremony and everything. They say that they will have refreshments afterward. I hope it's ice cream!

Weekend Update

2007-03-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

This weekend has been quite busy. I spent a lot of time on Saturday working on the feberge egg that I am making for my sculpture class. This is an example of a real faberge egg:

Now Here is my version of a faberge egg:

It still needs to be put in the kiln and then painted and glazed, but it's a work in progress. I worked on my egg until around 11:00. That is when Puk Puk came over to visit. Once he came over I had to entertain him, so that put the egg work on hold. We took a trip to Wal-Mart so that Puk Puk could pick out a birthday present for Belle and I could pay for it. He's so thoughtful :).

Once we got back he was bored, so we played the dance factory game that I have. It is similar to Dance Dance Revolution if you know what that is. The only difference is you can use your own CD's instead of listening to the junk that comes programmed on the game. It turns out Puk Puk has got some pretty sweet moves. See for yourself:

We danced the afternoon away until it was time for Belle & Piano Boy's birthday party. The party was lots of fun, but around 6:00 I started to not feel well. Hopefully I didn't put to much of a damper on the party. I did enjoy myself though.

Moving on to today. In the mornig was church of course. Worship was really awesome this morning. Then after church there was another party to attend. After that party I went to Shagga's house to watch the movie Stranger Than Fiction. It was really a funny movie. I liked it a lot. After the movie I had to hurry up and go to Cleansing stream class. Now that everything is over I am SO ready for bed.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-02-27T19:27:00.000-05:00

Senior-itis is Setting in Already.

2007-02-27T18:49:00.000-05:00

I think I have a mildly severe case of the dreaded Senior-itis. For those of you who don't know what it is, Senior-itis is when upon nearing the end of one's school career they feel unmotivated to put forth any real effort into their school work. Severe cases result in numerous absences from school. I don't plan on my case progressing to that point.

I have become tired of going to school, and work for that matter. They just seem so boring lately. Unfortunately both are unavoidable. This is not a good thing to be so bored because I still have 4 months of school and roughly 7 months of work. Normally I wouldn't consider that a very long time, however, from my current stand point on the top of Mount Boredom this seems like an eternity. What is a girl to do?

There is a slight glimpse of joy when school is over, but then it is quickly driven away by the thought that next I have to work and sit some more at my boring desk job. I'm so happy when the clock strikes 6 and work is over that I run to my car. Then once I reach my house I am filled with happiness because I am done with work and school for another day.

I have decided to blame this sudden case of Senior-itis on the weather ( i've got to have something to blame it on right?). I am always, always cold and I think that the temperature is finally getting to me. I've been strong for so long, but I just can't stand it anymore. I was thinking recently, (I'm always thinking), and I came to the conclusion that I have been cold enough to wear a sweatshirt for nearly 5 months! I want to be warm! I hope the weather changes soon so that I can be cured of my Senior-itis.

Harder Than The First Time

2007-02-24T02:17:00.000-05:00

This is the title to a song by Barlow Girl. Barlow Girl is my favorite band by far because so many of their songs speak to me personally. When I got to speak at youth group I used one of their songs that really fit with what I was speaking about and what I was going through. Now I have another one.

This song is about how sometimes you kind of take God for granted. Lately I have been letting other things get in the way of really setting aside the time to press in to God and read my bible, that sort of thing. I get so busy with work and school that I just fit in time to spend with Him when I can. I know that this is not the way to do things, and so it frustrates me even more because I still do it. I will be consistent about reading my bible everyday for a week or so, but then I fall back into the pattern of letting the concerns of life get in the way.

How can I expect God to use me to make an impact and see change in my school when I'm not committed to spending time with him the way I know I should be. For awhile I haven't felt like God has been using me much to impact the people around me. I'm sure my lack of consistency in my relationship with Him has something to do with it.

I have been following God for a while and so throughout this time I have learned a lot. I know that God is in control and he will take care of me, and so this is how I sometimes take him for granted. I have just gotten used to knowing that no matter what, God will always be there when I need him. However, I absolutley know that this is not the way I want to keep doing things.

I am NOT SATISFIED with things the way they are. I'm NOT OK with the fact that I have not really been making an impact on the people around me. I want to know more about God and the plan that He has for my life, and I know that letting other unimportant things distract me from Him will not get me to the place I want to be. This song kind of embodies how I feel and how I have acted lately.

Harder Than the First Time

I walked with you

Just like we've done for so long

You seemed so near

But even that's become so common

It's not just you, just been together so long

That I thought I knew everything about you

But today I saw; did you open up my eyes?

'Cause I feel like I've just seen you for the first time

Chorus

I didn't see you

But God I want to

You've come alive and I think I've fallen harder than the first time

Was I so blind; how did I not see you?

Yet in all that time you never left my side

So for all my life, I will live to know you

So here I am; I'll take your hand

Bridge
I see your face; I feel you close
The love you've always shown me
Won't miss it now, can't waste a day

Jesus I'm yours completely

I have come to the realization that when you are going through a problem that you're usually not the only one going through it. So this is my challenge to my fellow bloggers and readers who go to school with me, it is time to re-evaluate how committed you have actually been in your relationship with God. I know that there are some things that I need to do differently, and I am commiting to make the necessary changes because I'm not satisfied with things the way they are now.

We are all in this fight together to transform our school. When we all aren't serving God to our fullest capacity, then as a group we can't reach our full potential. School will be over in 4 months, and I'm not willing to let this school year to be wasted because I let other things get in the way of my commitment to God.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-02-21T08:27:00.000-05:00

Oxymorons!

2007-02-20T19:18:00.000-05:00

English class is one of my favorites because I really like words and writing an essay is super easy for me. I thoroughly enjoy learning new vocabulary words and once I've learned them I anxoiusly await an opportunity to use them. The dictionary and thesarus are my favorite reference books. I also dominate in Scrabble and Mad Gab. I could play for hours.

I also enjoy literary devices such as alliteration and irony. However, my absolute favorite is the oxymoron. Oxymorons are so much fun to use and stumbling upon new ones fills my heart with joy. I have come up with a list of some of the oxymorons that I like:

jumbo shrimp

boxing ring

bittersweet

black light

constant change

definite maybe

larger half

live recording

mindless thinking

plastic silverware

original copy

freezer burn

hard water

pretty ugly

seriously funny

Now wasn't that SO much fun!?!

Will Justice Be Served?

2007-02-17T20:31:00.000-05:00

Today I attended the school board meeting. The 2 issues of major importance were abstinence based sex education and random drug testing being implemented into our schools. I am in favor of both, but I found it interesting to hear the arguments from both sides. I did not speak out at the meeting because I was not aware of procedure in which the meeting would be conducted, so I did not prepare anything. I also feel a little uninformed on the details because I had to miss the informational meeting last week. However, I do have my own opinions, and I have decided to share my views.

I agree with abstinence based sex education because teen pregnancy is a growing problem in the high school, and is trickling down to the middle school. A change in the sex education program needs to occur that puts more emphasis on abstinence instead of just promoting the use of contraceptives.

I am also in favor of random drug testing. I am well aware of the 4th amendment involving search & seizure. However, students are required by law to attend school, at least until the age of 16. While attending school, the responsibility for protecting the students falls on the school system. A student using drugs causes harm to themselves and potentially those around them. I believe that the implementation of random drug testing will reduce the number of student users because of the increased chance of getting caught, therefore protecting the students.

Another argument raised against this issue is that random drug testing infringes on the students privacy. I disagree with this statement and say that drug testing is no more an infringment on privacy than requiring student to change clothes for gym class in an open locker room. Drug testing is an effort to protect students, not take away their privacy.

It was exciting to attend this meeting and see people willing to standing up for what they believe is right. It was encouragin to see that there are many supporters of these issues. Hopefully the board members will be able to set their reputations aside and make a decision based on what they know is right.

Back In The Habit

2007-02-16T20:51:00.000-05:00

After 3 wonderful snow days it was time to return to school, work, and all those other things you do during a normal day. Although I was getting a little bored, returning to school is so unfortunate for a number of reasons. Now, I have to get up at 6AM and stay up instead of heading back to bed. The return to school also means the return of homework, tests, etc. ahhh! Homework just does not fit in my box. If 7 hours a day isn't enough time to get everything done then the teachers should be penalized, not the students with more hours of work outside of school. I think child labor laws should be applied here. Yes, I can hear it now "There, There" .

Let's move away from the subject of school and on to other thoughts. My 3 snowdays were quite enjoyable. I went sledding, I got to miss work for 2 days, took some dogs for a walk in subzero temperatures, had a couple of air soft gun fights, and I got to drive in treacherous weather (very exciting), the list goes on and on. I did not, however, enjoy having to shovel the entire driveway and sidewalk 4 times. I do like to shovel, but 4 times is overkill.

Well, I suppose I am all updated now, but I will return soon to post again.

A Day To Remember

2007-02-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

No, nothing amazing happened. Today was just a day of recalling things from the past. First I was remembering old basketball seasons with some of my basketball buddies, who also don't play anymore, while we were in the lunch line. It was fun to remember seasons gone by. We all three concluded that we don't miss the drama between the team members and the coaches who were less than encouraging, but we definatley miss playing. I wish they had a rec league for older kids.

Last night my Mom and I were going through my old sports photos, certificates, etc. and organizing them to put into a scrap book. I love pictures. My favorite part is looking at pictures and remembering what was going on right before that picture was taken. Looking at my old sports pictures allowed me to remember all of the fun times I've had during my numerous basketball seasons (8 to be exact) as well as my lone cross country and soccer seasons.

Then, this evening for dinner we had spaghetti. After I was done I decide I would spell my name with the noodles left over on my plate.

This reminded me of the time that us Westies went to the Harts for dinner. It was a mexican theme and we had spanish rice. The spanish rice contained green peppers. I am not a big fan of cooked green peppers so I picked them all out of my rice. Then, after I was done, I made a smiley face out of the green peppers. Linda found that humorous and she has liked me ever since. It must have been those green peppers.

I also got to walk with Belle in the hall at school for about 2.5 seconds. That hasn't happened since last year so that was special too.

Today was a day to reminisce.

Plans Are Changing... But It's All Good

2007-02-10T12:02:00.000-05:00

This week I delivered my speech in english class about my future plans, and what I want to do with my life. It was an extremely difficult assignment for me. First of all it was a speech. I am not terrified of public speaking, but it is not my favorite thing. Also, I haven't been really sure of what I want to do with my life because I keep changing my mind.
I have changed my mind once again. Most of you probably knew that I was planning on studying physical therapy this fall. Well, I have since changed my mind, and now I have decided to major in political science.

I know this is in a totally different ball park from physical therapy, but I feel more confident with this major than with any of the others I have considered. This is a weird major for me to pick because I wasn't really interested in government/politics until this past summer. I don't know as much as I should about the government and how it all works, but that is probably why I have enjoyed my Senior Social Studies class so much. It surprisingly has become my favorite. I finally have a government teacher that is as passionate about teaching it as I am about learning it.

A couple of events have occured that have sort of reassured me of my decision. A couple of weeks ago my Senior Social Studies teacher kept me after class. He asked what my plans for after high school were and I told him political science. He encouraged me, and told me that I would do really well in that major. The reason he had kept me after class was because he had gotten information about the Ashbrook Center, a division of Ashland University focused on public affairs and politics that is primarily conservative. He said that he thought of me when he got the information, and thought I might be interested. Isn't that special? Then just his week after sharing my thoughts on some issues in my small group during class there are a few girls who are convinced I should be the first woman president. Ha Ha. I just laughed to myself. I don't see that happening.

Now I've been thinking to myself "why couldn't that happen?". I think a lot of the time I don't give myself enough credit. I catch myself comparing my work or my talents with others, and I never seem to measure up. Sometimes I let those "everyone is better than me" lies get in the way of seeing myself the way God sees me. I know he has a plan specifically for my life with important things that I need to accomplish.

So it is time that I stop limiting God's power and how he can use me to change the world around me. I see all of my short comings and mistakes magnified, while God sees me as a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman with an amazing future ahead of me.

So I guess what I'm saying is "God, If you want me to be the first woman president then I'm all for it. I want accomplish all that you have for me to do and I'm not going to let fear & doubt stand in my way".

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-02-07T07:38:00.000-05:00

Cold Day Happenings

2007-02-06T18:07:00.000-05:00

School was closed again today because of the cold. It has been a long time since we had 2 days off in a row.

Since I didn't have school today I went to the rec to work out. It was lots of fun. I am going to be super buff in no time. After working out, Belle & I BEAT JR & DP in a game of basketball. We've still got it after a few years of not playing.

Well, after the rec I went to work for a little bit. Then, when I came home from work I started on a project and recruited DP to help me (this gets dangerous).

My project was to remove the burrs from my gloves. They got completely covered during a sledding excursion a few weeks ago, and I haven't had time to sit down and pick them off.

DP and I started by picking them off one by one. I quicky grew impatient with this ( if you can imagine) and tried to think of alternatives. I first tried the vacuum cleaner. That didn't do a thing. Next I had DP put the gloves on, and I covered them in duct tape, then quickly pulled it off. This worked a little bit, but not nearly well enough. My next thought was to check the internet.

Before I got on the internet I put hot water on the stove to make cappucino because I am freezing. Then I embarked on my search to get rid of these burrs. Eventually the teapot whistled so I took it off the stove. DP, who was wearing one of my burr covered gloves, came in behind me to make hot chocolate. Before I had a chance to turn off the stove DP had this bright idea to touch the stove with his hand that had the glove on it to see if it was hot. Of course it was hot, it was still turned on. Needless to say, the glove was burnt.

I lauged at his ridiculousness for a moment, then made him give me his gloves. Now I have new gloves that are free of burrs. Mission accomplished!

No School!

2007-02-05T09:42:00.000-05:00

Today is a glorious day because there is no school thanks to the subzero temperatures. I have been waiting so long for a cancellation. I just knew this day would come. There are a few reasons why this "cold day" is so wonderful:

Sleeping in - I love the idea of sleeping in, but it is pretty much impossible to do so. Every morning that I have to get up for school I would much rather sleep in, but when I actually have the chance it never happens no matter how late I stay up the night before. Last night I stayed up until around 2:30 am at some friends house because I knew I could sleep in today. However, 7:45 am rolls around and I just have to get up. I wish I could sleep in.

More Time to Work On My Speech- Yes speech. The student teacher that I have for english thought it would be a great idea to have us write a speech about our future plans and what we want to do with our lives. And if that wasn't bad enough, the speech has to be 7-1o minutes long. AHHHHH! This seems nearly impossible to come up with 7 minutes worth of talking material, but I can't do sub-standard work so I'll have to come up with something. At least I have an extra day to prepare . Now I don't have to deliver my speech until Wednesday. If only I had something to write about.

More Time to Prepare For Other School Work- I am a firm believer that teachers collaborate together and plan their tests for the same days. Not only will I have my speech on Wednesday, but the tests that were planned for Tuesday will be pushed back. That means a Pre-Calculus test and a Sociology test to go along with my speech. Aye Aye Aye.

No Set Schedules- I can do whatever I want, as long as I'm at work by 3:30. I could stay inside all day, go to a movie ( if there were anythign worth watching), or go work out at the rec. However, it looks like today will be filled with preparation for school tomorrow.

I am so happy that I don't have school today, but all the preparation for school that this day contains makes this "cold day" is a little bitter sweet.

Why Hello There!

2007-02-03T19:16:00.000-05:00

Yes. I have succumbed to peer pressure and started my own blog. This should be interesting.

I plan on filling this blog with inspiring tales of my life and how I overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges and still remain magnificent. However, there is no time for that now. But never fear, for I will return to post again.