I am Fairly Certain my Professors are Conspiring Against Me

I have 4 projects with presentations due the week after Thanksgiving. So much for enjoying family time.

Broken Computer

About 2 or 3 weeks ago I brought my lap top to school with me... something I never do... to make sure it would hook up properly for a presentation. I ALSO had my water bottle in my backpack. Somehow my water bottle exploded spilling at least 16 ounces of water on EVERYTHING. When I tried to turn my computer on it turned on, but the screen was completely blank.

Now I know it is an older computer... going on 5 years now... but it still works just fine. A couple days and a few tears later I took it to the apple store and figured out that by some miracle the water ONLY got in my screen. So all my files are still there. So I had to buy a monitor... but at least it wasn't a whole computer, which I wouldn't have been able to do anyway. Now I am stuck doing computer stuff at my desk in my room. I miss my lap top. Some day I will buy another one... but for now this is where I am stuck.

A Nice Side Effect

This semester I have a ton of group projects and presentations as well as individual ones. 9 in total. The nice thing about all of the times I've had to be in front of the class... as well as constantly getting in front of 5th and 6th graders and teaching? I'm no longer nervous at all to speak in front of people. Sweet.

Netflix

I've become totally addicted to Netflix. I love watching movies anyway. When I watch TV I usually search for a movie instead of a show. And it's SO much cheaper than renting from Blockbuster. Yay movies!

Kaleb

My friend Nicole had Kaleb about a month ago. He's the cutest thing ever. This picture cracks me up.



Here's a better picture of Kaleb and his 4 year old brother Kaden. So cute.

My Current Life... or At Least Part of It

I'm attempting to write more on here again, but as I get to this page I can't really think what to write about.

I seem to have insomnia lately, any time I get a chance to sleep in a little more than normal or take a nap I seem to not be able to sleep that night. I am getting old.

I'm watching some show on Animal Planet where there is an Octopus that has latched itself onto a divers face and he can't get away. Strange.

I am sort of just scraping by in school. I need to get my act together but I'm just so not motivated. Such is my life in school right now.

After working a lot more than usual and getting a consistent babysitting gig and other random side jobs I'm finally at the point where I'm at least able to pay bills on time. And I am slowly starting to pay down credit cards some. God is good and really does provide. I had gotten to the point where I was SO stressed all the time about constant overdraws and not being able to do anything. So the relief is nice.

Club 56 continues to be strong. Having 18-22 pre-teens on a Wednesday or Sunday has become normal, more than this group has ever really had. It's a cool thing to see. I'm getting better (at least I think I am) at teaching and being in charge of this group. And they are such amazing pre-teens.

I'm going to attempt to sleep now since it's 1am. Hopefully it works!

Oh the diver got away from the Octopus, I know you were worried.

Faith in Action

"Don't Go to Church. Be the Church."

On Sunday my church participated in a program called Faith in Action. Instead of having church that day we went out to serve the community around us in different ways. About 250 people participated, kids and adults alike. There was one group that went to help paint and clean up the outside of a house of one of our older members who isn't able to make it to church anymore. Another group went to help clean up trash and weeds from a local elementary school. There was a group who stayed at the church and wrote letters to soldiers and made care packages that could be handed out to the homeless. One group went to clean up a local park. A group that provided child care so families with smaller children could participate. Three different groups went to laundromats and paid for people's laundry and helped to wash and fold clothes if they were ok with it. And possibly a few other projects.

I signed up in the "put me where you need me" category and was sent to one of the laundromats. I was a little nervous about it because I didn't know what people would think about it. But it went pretty well. Most people were pretty appreciative once they realized we really were just there to help, and not trying to "sell them anything". We offered water and cookies and put a lot of quarters (I think it came to $200 worth) in machines. We were able to just talk to some people. A few people asked what church we were with and where we were located. One guy had come with just one load of laundry because he couldn't afford to do all his laundry that week. When he found out we would be there he went home to get the rest of it so we could wash it for him. He was extremely appreciative. Sometimes just that little bit can make a big difference to someone.

I heard later that at the elementary school the District Superintendent happened to drive by the school and got out to see what the people were doing. She thought it was so cool that we would help out just because and thanked the people there.

Anyway it was pretty awesome. Check out the website for more info if you'd like, maybe even bring the idea up in your church!

Faith in Action

Too Many

We had more kids than chairs this morning in Club 56. I failed to count but that's more than 20 kids.
Woohoo!

School

I started school on Tuesday. I can't believe that it's FINALLY my last year. I'm taking 12 units, which should be a nice lighter load than usual. However each of my 4 classes has one major group project and presentation, and at least one individual paper and presentation. Sort of intense. At the same time all of my professors seem like they enjoy teaching and enjoy their subjects, so hopefully the classes will be more enjoyable. They sound interesting enough.

I'm taking...
- Cultural Pluralism
- Creativity and Innovation
- International Business Strategy and Integration
- Social and Ethical Issues in Business

We'll see how that goes!

Sunday School

Sunday was the first time I was in charge of teaching Sunday school for Club 56. I've been praying so much for God to just use me and speak through me to those pre-teens. On my own i easily get nervous or doubt myself. But Sunday went so amazingly. Everything was smooth, the class was under control and the lesson went well.
Anyway very cool. Thanks Jesus!

Babysitting

I babysat a 7 week old girl tonight. She was very cute and pretty good until she got tired. I think that I'll just skip the baby phase and adopt kids when they're at least 2 already. Yep, definitely.

Oh and 3 different times I could HEAR her pooping in her diaper, and once she turned her head to burp in my face. Now that's just gross.

Wow!

This is probably the longest I've gone without blogging! Anyway I am back from my summer of fun and life is starting to get back to "normal". I'm completely broke and in debt. Which I knew I would be. But the reality is a lot more stressful. To make that better the power steering went out on my car last Friday. Something about a hose broken and something else being messed up that broke it. Almost $800 and 3 days later I got it back. On the positive it's good it didn't break down while we were on our road trip and stranded in a little po-dunk town.

I've started working with the Club 56 at church. It's pretty exciting but still a little nerve wrecking. Basically when I was a volunteer I showed up and helped out. Now I'm in charge of planning and organizing things like sleepovers and swim parties as well as the usual Wednesday night Sunday morning stuff. But I'm really excited for this year and getting the chance to minister to all of these awesome pre-teens.

Besides that I've been working at my other job still almost full time, which is nice. And next week I start school. BOO.

Should be a pretty busy semester! But I'm excited for it :)

No Internet

I haven't been able to get onto the internet for a week. It was kind of freeing actually. But now I am back again, catching up on life.

Camp was a blast. Exhausting but awesome.

Just got back tonight from a wedding in Idaho. Very nice. Some interesting stories coming out of that.

Tomorrow I move all my stuff into storage. My sister is driving down to help me.

Wednesday we leave on our road trip.

Oh and I finally got my new phone... my old one was only working on speaker phone and not very well even on that. Yay for that. I need to figure out how to work the stinkin blue tooth on it. As of July 1st in California you can no longer talk on your phone unless you are using a hands free device. The law has finally passed somewhere... watch out rest of the country, you are next!

Camp and Pastors

I am off to kids camp for a week at Idyllwild! We have 10 preteen girls from our church going (not including all of the other kids who won't be in my cabin). And I'm sure we'll have a few more from another church like we did last year. Should be fun! As long as I don't lose my sanity.

And today was our Pastor's last day at church. He announced about a month ago that he had been offered the position of Chaplain at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University and accepted after much prayer. It's an amazing opportunity for him and his family. But I am very sad to see them go. He has done an amazing job leading our church. So now we go through the process of looking for a new pastor. Hopefully within the next couple of months they find someone!

Oh My Goodness!

Has it really been over a month since I last blogged?? A lot has been going on... lets see if I can give a brief overview in a kind of order...

1. We had our kids musical. They did amazing and were totally adorable.
2. Amy graduated.
3. I finished school for the year. I think I already mentioned that though?
4. Corrie had her bachelorette slash wedding shower at my place a few days after.
5. I went to Vegas with my friends Amy and Josh to enjoy the scorching heat and celebrate being done with school. We decided to go after finding $50 a night rooms on the strip through hotels.com.
6. I had a meeting with Beverly, a pastor at my church, and I am now going to be the new Club 56 leader. Many prayers needed for this one!
7. Three days later I left for London and then Ireland to go to Corrie's wedding. And yes lets not lie, it was very much an excuse to travel again! Wedding was nice, trip was fun.
8. During that same trip Cerise and Jackie graudated
9. The day after I got back our 6th graders had a graduation party. We went to Corvette Diner then Laser Tag. They loved it. Now they're off in the youth group and I'm going to miss them!
10. Jackie (one of my room mates) moved to Colorado for a job.
11. One of my amazing best friends Amy moved to Michigan to work at a camp and get to know a cool guy she met even better. She's very possibly not coming back to live in San Diego again. Which makes me REALLY sad even though I'm excited for her.
12. Cerise and I found a place to live in North Pacific Beach. We got an amazing discount because her boyfriend works for the apartments. AND something I am overly excited about... I finally get my own room for the first time since I moved to San Diego.
13. Emily graduated from high school and I went home for that and also celebrated Fathers Day a couple of days early.
14. Currently I am busy packing all of my stuff to move out.
15. Next week is kids camp.
16. The Friday we get back from camp I am flying to Idaho for a family friends wedding.
17. The day I get back is the 29th. I have to move all my stuff into storage by the 30th. We don't actually get to move into our new place until mid July, which works out well for me only paying a half months rent.
18. Emily and I are basically ready for our road trip. Our goal is to leave July 1st (we'll see, I may really need to rest an extra day) and we will be back the 27th... almost a month long! I am SO EXCITED. Even though gas prices are kinda going to kill us more than we had originally planned.

I come back to San Diego in the beginning of August and begin more new adventures! Next year is going to be crazy, busy, exciting, scary, and much more. But I'll save that for another post :)

GAH!

I'm done!!

Done for the semester... yay!!

I feel like I need to jump around or something. Too bad I'm at work. Just 1 more year!

Don't Worry, I Haven't Been Arrested

You have probably already heard. If you haven't then it means you haven't seen the news, or gone on yahoo, or anything in the past 13 hours.

My school, San Diego State University, made national news today for a huge drug bust that happened this morning. 96 people, mostly students, were arrested for dealing drugs (not using, dealing). There were connections to 6 fraternity houses. The Greek system may shut down completely at my school. It's pretty crazy. And a horrible thing to be known for.

If you want to read more about it just type in "SDSU drug bust" and a ton of stories will come up.

Minor Panic Attacks

This year is Amy's last year working with Club 56. She's graduating in a couple of weeks and then going to work at a camp in Michigan for the summer. And then is kind of up in the air after that... but not back at our church.

So why does this have anything to do with me? Well I don't know exactly yet. I've been asked by the children's pastor to be praying about what kind of role I want to have next year with these kids. Every time I start to think or pray about it I get a minor panic attack. I think that I do very well as a helper. Amy is very obviously called in to ministry and being a pastor of children. I don't know what my call is. I just feel fairly inadequate to really be in charge. It's funny to me, but also not necessarily funny that the kids I think know more about being a Christian than I do because they've grown up in it. And I still have SO MUCH to learn. I'm not sure what exactly the children's pastor is thinking for next year.

BLAH! I'm not trying to be all negative. This is coming out fairly random. Basically I need to keep praying. I do know that I absolutely love these kids. And in the past 2 years of working with them God has helped me to grow SO much in learning how to teach and lead and love and just interact with this age group. I seem to continually be stepping out of my comfort zone. Just when I finally feel like I'm settling down there's a new stretch. I know that's how God works, but man! It would be nice to stay comfortable just for a little while!

So I really don't know. I don't doubt God. But I want what's best for these preteens. If there is someone better to lead then they should be in charge.

I don't think there was any kind of conclusion in that. Other than that I need to pray to see where God wants me. And if for some crazy reason He reveals to me that I should step up and take the challenge... than I need a lot more prayer to ease up on the anxiety attacks. For Him to continually guide me and speak and work through me.

We are supposed to get together to really talk about things as soon as the musical is over, which is in 2 weeks. Ok... trying to pray... and breathe.

Hepatitis A

There was a minor outbreak of Hepatitis A in San Diego. They figured out that all 6 of these people had eaten at the same Chipotle in the past month and a half. This happens to be the Chipotle right down the street from me. And I've eaten there twice in the time frame they mentioned in the news. Sweet!
So far however I do not have any symptoms so I think I'm good. Although apparently they do not always show up right away and the last time I ate there was Sunday.
Oh, and I learned something new. How do you get Hepatitis A you may be wondering? From "feces" transferred through food or in close contact. So either they have rats that are pooping in the food. OR an employee who isn't washing their hands.
GROSS. Chipotle is one of my favorite fast food places... but I don't know if I'll be able to go back to that one... too grossed out.

Busy But Exciting!

I have 2.5 more weeks of classes. Then a week of finals and then I'm free for the summer! It's kind of a crazy but exciting (and expensive) summer.

May 11 - Kids Musical
May 15 - Last 2 finals and end of the semester.
May 23 thru June 7 - London and Ireland for Corrie's wedding and a mini vacation back to my favorite city.
June 8 - 6th graders "graduate" from our Club 56 group (sad day!)
June 12 - Emily graduates from high school
June 23 thru 27 - Kids Camp
June 27 thru 29 - Go to Idaho for a family friends wedding
July 1 thru 31? - Road trip with my sister!

And somewhere in there I need to move since my lease is up July 1st. Crazy busy. But I'm so stinkin excited!

Women's Retreat

This weekend is our church's womens retreat. I'm pretty excited to bring the average age down quite a bit :) Amy and my friend Monica and I are making shirts with cartoon salt shakers and light bulb's since the theme is "Salt and Light". Yay for being cheesy!
A weekend getaway for free (being a poor college student has it's perks) should be nice :)

Busy Weekend!

Friday I went to breakfast at Denny's with Corrie. That was nice, I haven't seen her in awhile. Busy schedules... don't really live that close to each other... all that jazz.
Then I worked for a few hours. At night I watched 4 kids in the nursery (the oldest being almost 2) since there was a play going on at the church. Now, I'm not normally the one who is called to watch the really little kids. But apparently everyone else was busy. It was kind of an interesting night. I had one baby who literally SCREAMED every time I would put her down. As long as I was holding her she was fine. But anytime I moved to put her down whether in the swing or a crib or whatever she screamed and wouldn't stop. If it was just me and her it wouldn't have been a big deal because I could just hold her... but there were 3 other kids to watch. ANYWAY... fun night.

Saturday I went to The Wild Animal Park with my friend Brandy who had free tickets and her parents and 2 year old nephew (it was kind of a kid filled weekend). I woke up late and then hit really bad traffic (really?? on a Saturday??). It was fun but stinkin HOT. And her nephew was doing pretty good, but he is 2. Needless to say we didn't stay the whole day. Then I went to a friends birthday dinner at Buca di Beppo in downtown. Yummy yummy food.

Today after church we had filming for the musical. I don't know if I mentioned this before... but we decided to do something new this year and film the speaking parts for the musical. The singing will still be live... as will a couple of the scenes. But the rest of the speaking will be on camera. It was fun but LONG and again HOT. We filmed on Mt. Helix since it is a "hiking" musical. The microphone man last minute wasn't able to make it so I was the Mic holder. When we finally made it back Amy and Monica (who works with the 1st-4th graders) and I needed to do something NOT involving children. So we went to see "Smart People". I actually found the movie HILARIOUS. Very real, in all it's awkwardness.

And now I SMELL really bad and need to go to sleep because I'm exhausted. Good night!

Color

Cerise upon seeing my mascara: "You totally bought this mascara because the tube is hot pink didn't you?"

Me: "No..."

Alright yes. Why is that bad?

Fact

I am a crappy phone person. I stink at calling people back. I stink even more at keeping in touch. I often stink at answering the phone.

I promise it's not cause I don't love anyone. I just am not a good phone person. So here is my apology in the form of an excuse to anyone that I haven't returned a call to lately, or haven't called just to say "hi" when I should have.

Sorry!

#1

According to a recent Harris Poll ranking America's top 10 favorite books, the Bible ranked #1.

Cool.

Boring

Do you ever feel boring? Well I feel boring lately. After Thursday my life gets more exciting. But for now... I'm boring.

I'm at the point in my life...

Where my friends are either getting married or having babies.

WEIRD.

Responses / Answers

Hey friends sorry for not answering questions! So lets see...

The musical the kids are performing is called Rock Solid. I think it's RELATIVELY knew... but I don't know for sure. It's supposed to be a Stomp type musical.

Apparently with the penguin the bus actually drove all the way back to Lake Arrowhead where their school was. And someone from Sea World drove out to get him. That's about all I know... haha.

AND lastly (I think) the interest for Child Abuse Prevention just kind of came from being around children. I learned about it from Amy and appreciate the cause. I do not currently know any children who have been abused or are being abused. But I DO have friends now who grew up in abusive homes and are STILL suffering. I recognize now that mental or emotional abuse... and even what may seem like minor physical abuse... can be very damaging. It is very sad to read any of the statistics... here's just a very small few:
Abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy.
Nearly 2/3’s of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused as children.
1/3 of abused and neglected children will eventually victimize their own children.
In 2003, there were 906,000 child abuse convictions AND the rate of child abuse is estimated to be 3 times greater than is reported.

So I THINK that answers all questions? In the future I'll try to actually respond right away... thanks for reading!

April is...

Child Abuse Prevention Month.

This is taken from http://www.co.pierce.wi.us/Human%20Services/Child%20Abuse/Child_Abuse_Prevention.html

What is Child Abuse Prevention Month?
Child Abuse Prevention Month is a Presidentially declared observance that is celebrated every year in April. It focuses on the importance of providing children with a safe and nurturing environment in which they can grow to their full potential as responsible adults and members of society.

What is the purpose of this observance?
Child Abuse Prevention Month aims to encourage everyone to play an active role in identifying and preventing all forms of child abuse.

The symbol is a blue ribbon. Wear one! Here's why it's blue http://preventchildabuse.com/blue.htm

Spring Break

YAY!