The Semester In A Nut Shell

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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