Uncertainty

Is my worst enemy.

I struggle with it day in, day out. Which is kind of pathetic. Cause what am I going to do about it by worrying about it? NOTHING. That's the thing...it's called uncertainty - not knowing my future. Sounds scary. However, it shouldn't. Why? Cause to God, there is no such thing as uncertainty. And that's all that matters. For God's plans are better than my plans. He knows my WHOLE life and it will ALL turn out for good. So what should I do? Stop worrying!

I love planning, I love thinking about my future, I love dreaming, and most of the time I am up for a little spontaneity. However, if this makes sense, I hate change. Why? Cause it's different, it's something I'm not used to, it's uncomfortable. For as long as I can remember, I regularly find myself thinking, "This time next year I will be..." and it is easy for me to come up with a general idea of what that looks like. However, I was thinking this the other day and I scared myself...I couldn't come up with an answer! The only thing I could think of was that I would be done with college. Yes, only one more year of college! I never thought the end would be in sight. But now it is...in the distant future, but it is very real. And even though it is exciting, it is UNCERTAIN. Cause who knows what I will be doing this time next year? I like to think that I have a general idea. But when I look at it, that is all MY plans and not God's. What does God have in store? Well, He's not telling me that yet. But that's okay, because I have a whole year. And I do know, that whatever it is, it is good. :)

Crazy Wednesday/Thursday

You know you have a crazy day when you can't take 5 minutes to sit and write about it! Hence the reason today's post is covering both yesterday and today :)

What I accomplished yesterday: Chemistry test (LAST ONE!), LAST Logic lecture, Probability and Statistics project

Today: sleep in :) (a little), Sports in Society homework, Probability and Statistics presentation, LAST Probability and Statistics class, Logic take-home final

Comforting focus of the day: God is my strength in weakness! Whenever I feel at the end of my rope, He always supplies me with strength to persevere. He encourages me through others as well.

EMBRACE THE DAY!

Crazy Tuesday

Today - Sports in Society homework, Chemistry lab presentation, studying for Chemistry test...all day!

Comforting focus of the day - God wants us to be joyful...today is just ONE day. If it doesn't go as planned, it is not the end of the world. I need to make the most of today and be glad in it.

EMBRACE THE DAY!

Crazy Monday

This week is the week right before final exams, aka - CRAZY WEEK! There is no other way to go about this week than to just take it one day at a time. So, that is how my blog posts are going to go this week...one day at a time.

Today - 3 classes, work on Probability and Statistics project, work on Chemistry lab presentation.

Comforting focus of the day - I am so thankful that God is in control and not me! His plan is PERFECT. If I abide in Him, then He will take care of me by giving me the strength, patience, endurance, focus and organization to complete everything that I need to.

EMBRACE THE DAY!

Simple Memories

I LOVE CHRISTMASTIME! Something about this time each year just makes everyone more joyful in general. The world is more cheery, carefree, and just uplifting. It is the time of family traditions, which I am a big sucker for. I mean, if we don't do the SAME EXACT thing each year, it throws me for a loop...so tradition is good :)

Today my family is doing what we always do the Saturday after Thanksgiving...hunting for our Christmas tree! This is always quite the adventure for the Grass family. No, we have down finding the perfect tree, it's getting it to stand up at home that we struggle with.

You see, there were about 3 consecutive years where we would find the perfect tree at the tree farm, but once we got home, we noticed that the trunk was crooked...WAY crooked. Our solution? Put nails into the wall, tie strings to the trunk of the tree, and pray it stays standing once we tie the strings to the nails. Usually it works, but it takes quite the skill.

Before we would leave the house, we would pray that when we returned, the tree would still be standing...but that only happened about fifty percent of the time. It got quite humorous actually...besides the fact that our floor would end up soaking wet, a few presents got soggy, and a couple of ornaments broke in the process.

One time our tree fell over and we were actually home. My sister and I were in the kitchen and my dad was sleeping in the recliner right next to the tree. The tree never fell over while we were at home. Whenever we first noticed the tree was leaning, we would immediately fix it so it wouldn't fall over. Well, all of a sudden my sister and I heard the tree fall over...right on top of dad! It was quite the sight.

Needless to say, we ALWAYS check the trunk of the tree before it is dubbed 'perfect tree'.

Just for Fun

So, I got distracted while researching for my papers and found these...

-Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

-I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

-We live in a society where pizza gets to your house before the police.

-The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.

-Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

-If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.

-We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

-War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

-Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

-Children: You spend the first 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next 16 years telling them to sit down and shut-up.

-Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason.

-Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

-To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

-How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

-A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

-Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

-Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR". What's my mother going to do?

-I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

-The shinbone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.

-Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

-The sole purpose of a child's middle name, is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.

-Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

-Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

-Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

-My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.

-I like work. It fascinates me. I sit and look at it for hours.

-To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

-A bargain is something you don't need at a price you can't resist.

-A TV can insult your intelligence, but nothing rubs it in like a computer.

-If winning isn't everything why do they keep score?

-A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.

:)

When I Become Rich (and Lazy)

I will hire someone to wash my hair.

I went to get my haircut yesterday. My favorite part?? When my hairdresser scrubs and scrubs and scrubs my head. It's so relaxing and feels so awesome. It was definitely a treat after washing my hair with hard water in the lovely dorm showers for 5 weeks!

Note to Self

When your blinds are open,
your window is open,
your music is blaring,
and you are perfectly visible to the outside world....


do NOT sing and dance like a fool

Sophisticated Nerd

I have been called 'Nerd' about 5 times in the last week...it's pretty sad, but when I think about it:

I find myself randomly going through the muscles and bones of the body without even thinking,

I love all those medical documentaries on mysterious medical conditions...they're like puzzles. And then I get SUPER excited when I figure it out.

I love it when people are sick and I "pre-diagnose" them and then they go to the doctor to find out they have what I thought they had [well, I don't like the fact that they were sick, just the fact that I was right :)]

Whenever I bend my arm or leg I find myself thinking "flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, prone, supine, etc"

I love dissecting!

The smell of a sterile hospital may or may not be one of my favorite smells,

I LOVE working with the cadaver!

Scrubs are quite possibly my favorite outfit,

I long for the day when wearing my stethoscope around my neck is part of my uniform,

Getting new medical textbooks in the mail feels like Christmas,

so basically...yes, I may be nerdy, but a "normal" one at that :)

Forgetting to Breathe

I am barely treading above water. It comes in stages: first you start out by telling yourself that you are going to attack this week with calmness and avoid getting overwhelmed, then you sense the stressfulness starting to rise but you are strong enough to succumb it, then it just keeps coming back so you accept it as a fact of life, then you are really stressing and tell yourself that next week will be better, then you eventually become numb to the feeling and it's a part of your life, and then it gets so bad you forget to breathe.

It's the unending cycle of a college student like me...unfortunately.

Sometimes [actually a lot of times] I find myself running myself ragged with no purpose trying to conquer the world. Obviously I fail every time. I take on everyone's problems as my own and think it is my duty to fix their lives. Yes, I have an obligation to come alongside others and encourage them, but I do not have control over their lives. Neither do they...only God does. And I need to wake up every morning with that in my head - God is the only one in control.

So, I can stop worrying about how I am going to accomplish this or that, worrying about if this or that person will get through the week, cause I can do nothing...life happens and that's when relying on God is vital.

I need to not approach each week simply not caring what will come my way, cause we all know that will never happen! Instead, I need to enter each week with open hands, giving God complete control and being at peace with that.

So my goal for the next week -- stop, thank God for caring about my life even more than I do, breathe, and go on.

Ohhh Chemistry...

Sometimes, it is really hard to have a good attitude. For me, I have to start to mentally prepare for Chemistry class the night before; bad I know. We took a test last week (which I studied for 10 hours for) and I felt illiterate when I was taking it. We got those tests back today and I have been preparing myself all weekend for the disgusting grade I would find on my test. Surprisingly I got a C...which I have never been so happy to get a C in my life.

We were going through test questions and I looked at one that was worth 12 points, and how many points did I receive for that question?? 1...yes, 1. It wasn't that I had no clue what I was doing, I just switched two numbers around. I did the whole problem correctly, but because I swapped those two numbers I obviously got the wrong answer. Now, I definitely was expecting to get some points taken off; after all, I got the wrong answer. But minus 11 points?! I clearly showed that I knew how to work the problem, so maybe give me half?? Nope, not happening.

And then, pretty much the whole class had a question on a multiple choice problem. We all got the answer of .5 when really it was supposed to be 2. So, he told us to work it out again....we still got .5. He told us we must have made a mathematical error and told us to try again. Sure enough...still .5. He didn't even work out the problem and still came to the conclusion that we ALL made a mathematical error...a little sketchy. So, that question still has a big X marked through it.

Oh well, I get all worked up about 1 little class in 1 little semester, but it is SO frustrating. But, I guess it is something that teaches me patience, perseverance, and humility...all three which I need to work on apparently. So, after this semester, hopefully I will see growth in these areas. In the mean time, this class has given me an idea for what type of discipline to use with my kids in the future. Instead of time outs or spankings, I'm just gonna pull out my big, fat Chemistry book and make them work through it...

Thankful for the Little Things

Today I REALLY didn't wanna go to my Chemistry lab. Now, don't get me wrong, it is not like I love going to Chemistry lab each week, but today was just one of those days...I didn't wanna go at all. I got dominated by a Chem test yesterday and I just wanted to have a day where I felt like I actually understood my academics...this would mean a day without any Chemistry.

I kept thinking to myself, "This day would be FANTASTIC if lab was canceled, but why would my prof cancel lab?? There is no good reason, and we only have lab once a week, so there is no way it is going to be canceled".

Guess what...it got canceled!

Therefore, today is a FANTASTIC day :)

Sweet Tea Triggers

Today I just realized how much I am addicted to McDonald's sweet tea. For one, whenever my mom sends me McDonald's Dollars in the mail, it feels like Christmas. Second, the McDonald's employees who are always working when I visit (Theresa and Ben) know me by name...and my order. In fact, if one of them is working the headset, I just have to tell them that it's me and they'll have my order ready for me at the window...right every time.

Certain things in my daily routine trigger the need for a sweet tea run:
-Chemistry...anything to do with that class
-Logic homework
-New Testament papers
-a stressful day at work
-not being able to start homework until 10 pm

so, basically, these sweet tea runs are a regular occurrence.

I Would Never...Oh, I Just Did...

It's easy to stereotype college students...what they do, what they don't do, how much they procrastinate, how crazy they are, etc. Before entering college there were certain things that I had heard of that describe college students and I told my self I would never do...well, I may or may not have done some of those things. Like:

-thinking anything before 10 is way too early
-the main way to cook any type of food is using the microwave...if cooking it at all
-instead of falling asleep in class, you just stay in bed and sleep
-you can't even remember the last time you washed your car
-your underwear and sock supply dictates your laundry schedule
-you wash dishes in the bathroom sink...when it's absolutely necessary to wash them
-finding random people in your house is perfectly normal...you will even talk to them like you've known them for years.
-the standard of meals per day falls to 2...if you're lucky
-your trash is overflowing, but your bank account is definitely not
-going to WalMart is a highlight of your week
-you wear the same jeans until you can't remember the last time you washed them
-breakfast is always on the go...if it exists that is
-quarters are like gold
-procrastination is your middle name
-you talk to your roommate on facebook chat...when you guys are in the same room
-you see people you've met several times and still cannot remember their names
-last names don't exist...if you're lucky you'll get the person's first name and their major
-you pay $100 for a book that you read maybe once and return it at the end of the semester for $7
-when the dining commons food is unidentifiable, cereal is always a safe alternative
-you throw things away because you don't feel like washing them
-going to the library is a social event
-you wear flip flops in the shower...for safety precautions
-Visits home depend on how much money you have for gas
-you skip one class to write a paper for another
-Bicycles aren't as lame as they were in high school
-your balance improves drastically...just try shaving in the showers in the dorm
-you've stopped to put $5 worth of gas in your car
-going to the mailbox becomes an ego booster/breaker...take your pick
-packages rank right up there with birthdays
-printers only break down when you desperately need them
-your computer and planner become your brain
-a canceled class is almost as exciting as Christmas
-taking a nap in the library is completely normal
-Christmas lights are acceptable all year round
-you are no longer thankful that fire alarms are here to protect you
-there's always a "question "kid in atleast one of your classes...this is where you get to practice patience
-laundry is an all day event
-you actually start using coupons
-you run out of black ink, and instead of buying a new cartridge, you decide blue is a nice substitute...adds a bit of flair

yep, I most definitely fit into this stereotype...

10 Great TV Role Models for Kids

This was an article title on the MSN news page this morning, and really, I was quite disturbed...

1) Clinton Kelly and Stacy London: tell contestants time and time again that they need to love themselves, love their bodies as they are, and find ways to dress and groom themselves in a way that helps them feel good and succeed in the world.

2) Lisa Simpson: remains passionate, idealistic and sweet despite her circumstances.

3) Mercedes from Glee: beauty doesn't always come in a stick-thin body. She uses her talent to tell the world what she believes.

4) Alexis from Castle: a happy teen who loves her dad. Rather study over the weekend than spend time with her friends - responsible.

5) Tim Gunn: wisest man on television - "make it work" is his famous quote.

6) Jon Stewart: reminds us that extremism evokes fear and bitterness.

7) Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters: geeky and curious. Relentlessly creative in pursuit of elusive truths. They make learning entertaining.

8) Ellen Degeneres: gives hope to teens who are struggling with their sexual identity.

9) Veronica Mars: smart, fearless, witty, and disciplined. Can tell her parents anything and never fell into peer pressure.

10) Jamie Oliver: taught others how to improve their health through home cooking. He is proof that you can take your passion and make something great of yourself. Anyone can make a difference.

Not bashing on any of these people, do you see why I am so disturbed? I mean, some have pretty good "qualities", but I would not want any of these "top 10" to be my child's role model. Our culture does not need anyone else telling us to love ourselves more, we are already too good at that. The Simpsons...really? First, it is a cartoon, and second, I would never let my kids watch that show, let alone try to make one of the characters my child's role model. Yes, I believe that gender identity is a real problem in today's society, but Ellen Degeneres is not the person we need to be getting our advice from on such an issue.

God calls us to be role models. We need to be stronger than these role models that society is trying to push for. What are we doing today that encourages others to live for Christ?

I Am Officially a Non-Prankster

So, part of the college life is pulling pranks right? Well, I am officially against pranks...probably for the rest of my life. Let me just share a little bit of why I am not a good candidate:

1- I don't like being mean to others...even if it's a joke
2 - I hate it when people are mad at me...seriously, if you wanted to pull a prank on me, all you would have to do would be mad at me for no apparent reason.
3 - and just to show you how upset I can get when people are mad at me...I sometimes cry

Ok, so on Friday, I fell asleep in our RA office on the couch. Well, one of my dear friends found this to be the perfect opportunity to grab a marker and be creative. I'll let you use your imagination on that one :) I eventually woke up, and of course eventually found out that I had marker all over my face. Yes, I admit, I laughed. I thought it was pretty clever..until it took me a total of 25 minutes to wash it off. By then, my face was raw and you could still see remnants of the marker, which now looked like multiple bruises. Oh well, I can just get him back right?

So, back to the pranking. I REALLY don't like it. BUT, this was a good opportunity for me to do it because, you see, it takes A LOT to make this friend mad. Or so I thought. So, I mustered up the strength to do some damage. Not permanent damage, just enough to be a little annoying and provide a good laugh. Of course, the whole time I'm doing it, I'm feeling extremely bad, but I eventually got over it.

Well, later I found out that he got back to campus sooner than I thought. No big deal...until his roommates told me that he had had a really bad day and then came back to school to what I had done. Awesome, of course I would do it when he had a bad day. So then I asked his friends how upset he really was. Then they informed me that he called campus safety to "report vandalization". Yep, my plan is totally going in the opposite direction I intended it to. I then asked his roommates where he was so that I could go apologize and clear everything up. I found out he was in the computer lab and headed over. By this time, I feel HORRIBLE...so horrible I am on the verge of tears. To make matters worse, I get to the computer lab, motion for him to come out, and what does he do? Gives me the worst look I have ever received in my life, pulls up his hood, and walks away sulking in the opposite direction. Okay, now I am horrified.

So, I go back to the dorm, crying because I feel awful. And go back to his room to clean the remainder of the mess up. Finally, he calls one of my friends and says that he is back from the computer lab and wanted to talk. I was so relieved! I could finally apologize and clear all of this ugliness up. So, I cautiously go outside where he is sitting just waiting for him to stand up and start yelling. But he didn't, he just sat there, so I preceded and apologized for what I had done, that I was sorry that he had a bad day, etc. Hoping that he would maybe forgive me eventually.

And you know what he did?? He just looked up and said, "I was just joking".

Oh.my.goodness. I have never felt so many emotions at the same time in my life! I was SO relieved that he was joking, I still felt bad for what I had done, and I was a little mad that he had gone so long with this "just joking" thing.

Well, finally we got it all sorted out, and I'm pretty sure we're still friends. And yes, I will probably be laughing about this whole thing a month or two down the road. What did I learn? A LOT. When it's all said and done, I will never pull a prank ever again...no matter what. Why? Because I never want to feel as horrible as I did last night ever again!

And of course, when I am stressing out like this, pretty much everyone I encounter gets the low-down. So, to.....

my beautiful Co-RA: I'm super sorry that we couldn't watch Project Runway, I love that show and was looking forward to watching it with you. I'm sorry that this whole situation stressed you out so much too. But thanks for being there, you make me laugh :)

the betraying roommate of my object of revenge: Thanks for letting me into your guys' room :) Even though it cost you cleaning up everything afterwords...I'm sure you liked doing it though since you're the neat freak of that household (ps - I'm sorry your name sounds so...degrading. I couldn't think of anything else!)

my object of revenge: oh my, that was crazy. You can rest assured that I will never do that again. I'm really sorry too for doing that to you; I'm sorry that you got upset. And don't tell me that you weren't upset because your betraying roommate told me that you were upset initially :) So, please forgive me and I hope we can still be friends :)

Dress to Impress

In Chemistry on Wednesday, the guy who sits next to me asked me why I "dress up" all the time. Now, what he meant by dress up is wearing anything but sweatpants and a sweatshirt. So, I just told him that I felt better, more awake, and thought I did better in class when I dressed like I do. He thought that was interesting and said he was going to try it.

Today, he walked into class wearing brown shoes, gray sweatpants, a white polo, and a black sweater over top.

He may need a few lessons...

The Reuben

Fall break was last weekend, and let me tell you...it was a MUCH needed break. I am extremely grateful for it :) But, I was also ready to get back into the routine and let the semester keep going on its merry little way. When I returned to campus yesterday for dinner, NOTHING on campus was open where we could get food. So, I was "forced" to grab something off of campus.

I opted for Arby's. I tried a new sandwhich the last time I went there and it sounded pretty good. And, Arby's is right across the street. It seemed like a win-win situation.

I got there, and none of the sandwhich meals looked like the one I had had the previous time. Then, I spotted the Reuben. I really didn't know what it was, but from the picture, it looked like roast beef and provolone cheese between two pieces of rye bread. I almost asked the cashier before ordering to see what exactly the sandwhich was, but what else could it be??

Apparently I have no clue what a Reuben sandwhich is - corned beef and sauerkraut! And yes, I took a BIG bite. Actually, I took a couple of bites. The first couple bites I just couldn't tell what it was. And then, I opened the sandwhich and smelled it...then I figured it out. And was completely disgusted.

The thing is, on Wednesday I got food poisoning just from a cheeseburger! Clearly, my body is really picky when it comes to eating meat. So, the whole night I was dreading and just waiting for my stomach to get back at me for being so inconsiderate and putting those two nasty foods into it. But, thankfully, nothing happened.

Needless to say, I will NEVER, EVER, eat another Reuben sandwhich.

The Backward Notebook

Today in church, I sat by a lady that was writing in a "backwards" notebook. Well, really, it was a notebook made for leftys! For you right-handed people, you don't have to fight against the binding when you write in a notebook. It gets quite annoying, and personally, my handwriting looks sloppier the closer I get to the binding because the binding gets in the way and my hand is constantly fighting against it. You may think the journal above looks like the defect out of the bunch; I look at it and get excited because the notebook was finally made for convenience!

I Hope There Are Books in Heaven

because my reading list is up to 140 books! Needless to say, I LOVE reading :) Unfortunately, my textbooks are kind of holding me back from my "leisure reading". So, how am I going to catch up?? Well, there either needs to be a pause in good-book-writing or my profs need to stop adding to my "necessary reading". If I had a choice, I would opt for the latter...

I am SO looking forward to tomorrow! I have a HUGE Chem test on Monday that I am NOT looking forward to. And I think I have found a PERFECT recipe for PERFECT studying...

a whole free day + my grandparents empty house + quietness.

Oh how I am going to love this...

Squeaky Clean

This week has been a rough week for my sleep schedule...it's been all over the place. Obviously, my body wanted to let me know just how crazy this week has been this morning...

I woke up in the shower.

Yep, I slept walked, which RARELY happens. I woke up standing in the shower, water on, just standing there. Hmm, well, I was already wet so I decided to just take a shower. I set my alarm for 8:15, so I figured I woke up before my alarm since I don't remember waking up and turning it off. It was such a good feeling because I felt so rested. So, I must be a pretty good sleep walker because I brought all my soap and shampoo, my towel, and my robe into the bathroom with me.

After I got back into my room I looked at the clock...10:00! I went over to my alarm and saw that it had been turned off. Did I turn it off? That was like 2 hours ago! My skin was also VERY wrinkly...was I really in the shower for almost 2 hours?! Surely not...

NO TURN ON RED

I failed to obey this road sign today apparently.

I was coming home from the store and turned right on a red light...mind you, I have done this at this exact same light before. A few seconds later, a police car [lights flashing] pulled out behind me.

"Funny," I thought, "I'm going the speed limit; and I'm not doing anything else wrong...I wonder who he is going after."

So, I continued to drive, but the police car was STILL right behind me...I decided to pull over. Much to my surprise, the police car stopped right behind me. Then, I started to panic.

He came over to my window and asked if I knew what I had done wrong. Well, I couldn't think of anything so I told him that I did not. He told me that I turned right on red when it was not allowed. I don't remember seeing a sign anywhere saying so, but I apologized.

He then asked me where I was headed and if I considered myself as a good driver.

I must have given great answers because he didn't give me a ticket!

I Want to be a Husband

Now, before you all freak out, read the whole post...and humor me :)

Today in logic class we talked about language and meaning. We specifically talked about satire using the piece "I Want a Wife". It's a poem written by a woman who discusses the husband/wife role. There are certain parts of it that I could do without, but most of it I found humorous. Then, of course, we discussed it in class.

Ask 50% (or most likely more) of college girls today where they see themselves in 5 years. Almost all of them will say "married" or "have a husband".

Before I continue, I am in no way stating that I want to just turn into a man or that I find the husband role significantly easier than the wife's...but that's digging deeper into the issue. This post is staying on the surface.

In the future, I do not look forward to: cooking, cleaning, staying home just to maintain it, organizing everyone's schedules, matching my husband's clothes for him, laying awake at night because my husband is snoring

Instead, I much rather: eat, watch TV, work at a job, not have to remember my schedule because somebody else already knows it, have my clothes all ready for me to just put on, and be able to fall asleep fast and stay that way all through the night.

I know the above is just the petty stereotypes that we give to wives and husbands, and I am not complaining...being a wife I am sure is a wonderful thing and husbands really do work hard. But, after talking and joking about it during class today, wouldn't it be fun if we could choose?? :)

The Delusional, Irrational Notre Dame Football Fan

As most of you know, I go to school in Irish country...however, I am a Boilermaker. Now, I know Purdue football isn't the greatest...but neither is Notre Dame football. The difference here is that most Purdue fans [though still loyal] will admit that their team has room for improvement, but Notre Dame fans will rant and rave as though their team was perfect. It is quite humorous to me.

I found this little "blurb" on such Notre Dame fans:

Season after season, year after year, you try to justify your absurdly high pre-season ranking.

You scramble to make futile attempts at damage control when the Irish lose to yet another grossly inferior opponent.

Inevitably, you'll bring up the past, and boast of championships won 20 years before you were born.

You will point out that you have more heisman winners than any other program, as though that is relevant to the current season.

Go on, ignore that home loss to Boston College in the regular season for the 6th consecutive time in a row...

And continue to believe that you'll actually win a bowl game some time this century.

Oh Emperor of Excuses, take comfort knowing that when you don't finish in the top 25, you'll be back to number 3 when the pre-season polls come out next year.


All that to put us in the spirit for tomorrow - Purdue vs. Notre Dame

The Equivilent of Christmas Morning to an Exercise Science Major:

MEMORIAL HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE CENTER.

That is where I will be spending my free time as an intern this year. I was looking forward to it, and am even more excited now that I went and visited the place for my first time today.

I drove downtown to busy South Bend, and on my way there was silently praying that there would be other parking spots besides parallel parking available. Well, there wasn't, so I resorted to a parking garage a block down. As I'm walking down the street [umbrella in hand since it was raining] among prestigious businessmen and ritzy shoppers, I was looking for a small building that I pictured this clinic to be. When I reached the correct address, I was AMAZED! This place is 4 stories!

I have never seen anything like it. I was told that I would have my own clients and would have everything in the facility to my disposal. I interpreted that as a good assortment of exercise equipment and some physical therapy tools...which left a lot of room for creativity, which takes a lot of work some times. But no, I have 4 stories worth of stuff!

The first floor is geared towards children...administering therapy and helping kids stay fit. It also has a restaurant-type deal that serves ONLY healthy food!

The second floor is a nutrition facility. Clients can get free sessions with a nutritionist and then can work with a specialist on how they can exercise and eat better to improve their health.

The third floor is a workout facility. It's huge! It has a cardio room, weight room, bike room, pilates room, basketball and volleyball and racquetball courts, a group fitness lab, and a lap pool. And since I "work" there, I get a FREE one-year membership!

The fourth floor is more medically based...there are doctors that see patients for orthopedic and cardiac issues, massage therapists, occupational and physical therapists, and exercise physiologists. There are many tools available in order to help patients get back to health.

I am so excited...ALL of that to my disposal! Also, I have to come up with a program to get the public more fit. For example, last year's intern came up with a Biggest Loser's program...now it's my turn to get creative. I don't have an idea yet, so if you have any, I'm up for suggestions!

Drinking Deeply from God's Goodness

'You have a ticket to Heaven no thief can take,
an eternal home no divorce can break.

Every sin of your life has been cast to the sea.
Every mistake you've made is nailed to the tree.

You're blood-bought and Heaven-made.
A child of God, forever saved.

So be grateful, joyful - for isn't it true?
What you don't have is much less than what you do.'


WOW! How encouraging!!!
And what a great reminder - it's not about us, but Christ was all about us.

Being Nice to Her as a Person, or Being Correct to Her as a Woman

This is the debate in a sentence when it comes to door-holding. Do we hold doors open for others out of genuine kindness and courtesy, or do men hold doors open for women because they feel obligated?
There's the guy who acts as though there is not even a person right behind them, so the door is shut right in a girl's face. There is the guy who is walking 10 feet behind a girl and when she reaches for the door handle, he sprints to grab it from her, running her over in the process. Then there are the ladies - the ones who don't even say thank you when someone holds the door open for them. And the ones who act helpless and stand at the door just waiting for someone to open it for them.

There needs to be a happy medium. Over the past couple days, I have witnessed people act like the four described above and it is quite humorous sometimes. On the other hand, there is a lot of rudeness involved.

Newsflash: it is not wrong to do a nice gesture for someone

MEN - When a girl gets to the door first and holds it open for you, don't just stand there waiting for her to go before you. Don't reject her polite gesture because of some idea that that would be rude...because it isn't. Pass through it and hold it open behind you so that you both can be satisfied with the feeling common courtesy.

WOMEN - say thank you! Don't mumble...look the person in the eye, smile, and say it in a pleasant voice. Also, guys are not obligated to hold the door open for us; although it is polite for them to do so, we are fully capable of doing it by ourself. So please don't make them wait on you hand and foot.

Just a little observation of mine while walking the Bethel College campus :)

The 'No Pecking' Order

I am currently reading Max Lucado's 'A Love Worth Giving'...it is very practical and gives several good points on how to live out 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. I just finished reading the chapter on 'love is not proud and does not boast'...so good!
Max talked about how in today's society there is rank in about every situation. Which in one sense is a good thing to maintain order. But on the other hand, can provide times of boasting and being prideful.
If we truly love as Christ loves though, we will look past these rankings and treat everyone more important than ourselves. Love puts others before self. For Christ, my soul was more important than His blood. My eternal life was more important than His earthly life. My place in heaven was more important to Him than His place in heaven. He gave up so that I could have eternal life.
Through this chapter, I was reminded to always be a person of humility and how I can go about portraying this characteristic. True humility is not thinking lowly of myself but thinking accurately of myself. I do not need to think, "I can't do anything", but rather "I can't do everything; I know my part and am happy to do it".

The Nerd In Me

Today, I got my very own library card for the Mishawaka library! I was so excited...over a little piece of laminated paper?? I think yes!
You see, reading is my stress reliever. Yes, we do have a library on campus...filled with educational and philosophical books, which are NOT very good stress relievers. So, I decided to go to the public library.
Well, the librarian told me that since I was not a permanent resident, I would have to pay a fee for my library card. When I heard the word 'fee' I thought 5-10 dollars right? No, 70 dollars! What?!
I begged and pleaded with her, telling her that I was just a college student who wanted to borrow a book every two weeks to keep my stress level under control...so she made a deal with me - I could get the library card for free as long as I only used it while I was living on campus. Pretty good deal considering that I wasn't planning on driving 3 hours when at home to just come to the library.
So, yesterday I walked out of the library with my library card and Nicholas Sparks book in hand...I was one happy camper :)

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE THINGS THAT HAVE MADE MY WEEK EVENTFUL:

Allergies

An alarm that doesn't go off

A stye in my eye

A rat in my room

Ants in my room

A toilet that likes to overflow

A bathroom light that decides on its own if it is going to turn on or not

...

Welcome back college life! :)

An Unwanted Roommate

I have moved back to college! Although I am not looking forward to my classes this semester, I am excited to get back into the groove of a schedule and see all my friends. This week has been busy with RA training and I got the opportunity this afternoon to have a 2 hour break! I was so excited to just chill and relax in my room.

As I was on my computer, I heard some rustling under one of my shelves. The first couple times I heard it I just ignored it. Well, it got annoying. So I bent over and picked up a bag...

just in time to see a mouse run out from under it over to my closet.

Well, to say the least, I panicked. I screamed of course, and standing on my roommate's desk, I opened the bathroom door and the mouse ran into the bathroom. Then, I hopped onto the toilet and opened the door to the room beside me. The mouse then ran in there. So then I stood on the counter and opened the door into the hallway. I pretty much felt like Tarzan.

After I caught my breath I ran out into the hallway closing the door behind me to assure the mouse would not re-enter. I ran to my RD's room to give her the low-down. Yep, we definitely called maintenance; they will be coming to rid my living space of all living creatures.

A Simple, Money-Making Invention

We all joke about getting rich by inventing some awesome invention. A robot that does basically everything, a car that runs without gas, you name it. You know what though...not all inventions have to be that intense to make money.

Silly bands.

The simplest thing that has made the creator a millionaire by now I imagine. I mean, since when are children amused by colored, different shaped rubber bands? If I would have known that kids would sit for hours and hours mesmerized by these silly bands and buy several bags of them each week, I would have invented them a long time ago.

You Act Like You Are 52 Years Old

I took the "What Age Are You?" quiz on facebook. Now, I usually don't do all the quizzes and applications and gadgets on facebook, but this one came across my news feed and sparked my interest. It said I was 52 years old!

This is what it said:

You are a mature adult. You've experienced a lot - and you definitely have some "street smarts." You've been through a lot, and it's hard to shake you. You can deal with most things that come your way. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax. Enjoy it!

?????

A Month in A Post

First, I apologize, I haven't written in over a month! It bothers me, but my schedule is crazy...and by the time I sit down to write, all I want to do is sleep. So, since I have missed a month, I will fill you in :)

1) We have one more month of Adventure Camp...it has flown by! I love spending time with the kids. They make me laugh as well. I took a long weekend vacation over July 4th and missed camp a couple of days. Because I was gone, the kids thought that I got married and moved to Canada...yep, random.

2) My family went out East for a short vacation. We visited family, went to Cape May in New Jersey, and RELAXED! Very fun :)

3) I am working twice a week at a PT clinic. I am becoming more comfortable with therapy as I see my patients. I really enjoy it, which is a good thing because I will be doing it for the rest of my life :)

4) And of course I am taking summer classes...this is the semi-downfall to summer. It is good because I get easy classes out of the way, but there is still homework involved and that is never fun. I have a group project right now for an online class that I may or may not like, but it's all good.

5) I am learning how to play golf. Yep, I never thought I would actually enjoy it. One of my friends gave a speech in class on how to play golf and it sparked my interest. It is actually kind of addicting! Now, don't get me wrong, I am horrible at it, but I am improving :)

6) I am having knee surgery on Friday...not looking forward to surgery, but looking forward to no more pain! My kneecap moves around too much so the doctor is going in to tighten up some ligaments...should be an adventure!

7) I leave to go back to school in exactly one month from yesterday for RA training! Summer has flown by, but by the time school rolls around I will be ready...3 more semesters here I come!

My BP Expert

One of my campers went on vacation to Florida. Before he left, I asked him what he was going to do on vacation. His response?

Surf in the oil

I had to laugh :)

Well, when he came back to camp I asked him if he did just that. He said that he was not down by the gulf, but on the atlantic coast so there was no oil. And then he told me this:

"If I was President, I would have gotten rid of the oil a long time ago. I mean, you make a mistake every now and then and that's ok, but not EVERYONE needs to know about it. The President couldn't prevent the oil spill because that was the gas station's fault...not his. So, if I were President in that situation, I would just pour the same amount of blue food coloring as there was oil into the ocean."

An Ordinary Day at the Bowling Alley

Every Tuesday at camp, we go bowling. I love going bowling...the kids love it and I enjoy watching them get so excited over the littlest things. Also, it is a very easy activity. Everyone is nice to each other and no one gets hurt.

Except for today.

There is this one boy...he never ceases to amaze me. His mom should get some kind of award. For what, I don't know. It's not that he is a bad kid...he is just high maintenance.

You know the "bowling ball machines"? The ones where the ball comes rolling up from after knocking down the pins? Well, this boy REALLY wanted his ball...fast. So much that he stuck his arm into the machine to fetch his ball. And while doing so, managed to get his arm stuck...while the machine was still running. I did not see this happen. In fact, I never would have known it happened if it wasn't for the ear-piercing scream that he let out.

I turned around, and there he was...stuck. Stuck and terrified. I quickly hopped up and raced over to try and set him free. I started pulling on his arm, but it wouldn't budge. By the way he was screaming, it sounded like his arm was gonna fall off any minute. As I'm pulling I am thinking about what I am going to have to tell his mother...nothing good could come to my mind. So then, I started to panic.

My boss came over and tried to pull his hand free as well. Still, it wouldn't budge. As he is trying to pull this boy's arm out of the machine the boy is yelling, "My hand feels like it is falling off; you're gonna break my arm; it hurts so bad!" Yes, by now, we have EVERYBODY'S attention.

Thankfully, the manager came over, shut the machine off, took it apart, and freed my poor little boy's hand. Praying it wasn't broken I looked down at his wrist...not even a scratch.

You could say we all learned a valuable lesson at the bowling alley today.

Some of my campers were talking today about how excited they are to see Toy Story 3...one little boy mentioned that his favorite character was 'Buzz Light-Beer' :)

Dinner Discussion

Derrick's friend: 'I can see the raindrops in the puddles on the picnic table'

Dad: 'Yeah, the rain is falling from the sky'

Mom: 'As opposed to our rain coming out of the ground?'

:)

A Peaceful Reminder for the Persevering

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

Camper: My favorite number is 28....how does it feel to be 28 years old Miss Lindsey?

Me: I don't know, probably pretty cool.

Camper: Of course you know, you're 30 right?

:)

A Little Milestone

I did it!

I baked something...

without a picture,

without my sister helping me,

I completed all the directions correctly,

and it tastes AND looks PERFECT!

You may thing, "What's the big deal?" Everyone bakes right? Especially girls??

Ha! I am a HORRIBLE cook. I always try to make something and end up failing. I'm so bad, that 'being a good cook' has been made #2 on my husband qualification list. You may think that is a little extreme, but if my family is going to eat, my husband must be able to cook.

So yes, you may laugh at my little accomplishment - my simple crumb cake, but I am thrilled :)

A Couple Reasons Why I Love Daycamp

"If you were a rainbow, you would be the color yellow like a smiley happy face."

Camper 1: "Miss Lindsey, does Dan (1st grade camper) still like you?"
Camper 2: "You guys are dating?!"
Me: "No, no, silly!"
Camper 1: "Oh good, that would be weird."
Camper 2: "Well that's good, now you guys can get married...I'll be the wedding coordinator!"

"Miss Lindsey, I wish you were my mom...you would be the coolest mom ever!"

"Miss Lindsey, if I was your age, you would be my girlfriend."

"Miss Lindsey, remember how last year I wanted to marry Troy Bolton?? Well, it's more realistic if I marry Justin Bieber...he's only 4 years older than me!"

Camper 1: "Do you like Lady Gaga?"
Camper 2: "No way!"
Camper 1: "Why not?"
Camper 2: "Cause she's weird...I've never even seen her normal face!"
Camper 1: Well, her parents are weirder...I mean, who would name their kid Lady Gaga??"

"Miss Lindsey, tomorrow is Valentine's Day; can you bring us candy?"

God is a Jealous God

Lately, I have been bothered by a particular thing - we live in a "don't offend me" society. While we are expected to be polite and compassionate, we are also called to be honest. I see this mentality come up a lot when dealing with witnessing to others and portraying a life of Christ likeness.

Yes, we seek to witness to others, but we are so focused on not offending them. Because if we offend them, then they may not want to listen to what we have to say. There must be a balance...

We need to tell them about Christ! He is the sovereign Creator; He has the right to be jealous. He is jealous of our time, our affection, and our worship.

Our jealous God is also a holy God. And our holy God is just. God created us, gave us His Son to lead an example for how we should live and then died to give us hope; God gave us a choice, it's His way or the high way.

In witnessing, we must tell the WHOLE story. Even the bad parts - we are sinners and deserve a life in hell. Without accepting God's free gift of salvation we will spend eternity in hell, but we have the choice to accept Him as Savior and live with Him forever in Heaven. Jesus spoke more of hell than of heaven; if He spoke of hell, so must we. If hell really exists, it would be the cruelest thing in the world to keep it a secret.

So instead of worrying about being the debbie downer, be the bearer of TRUTH!

Throughout the day [while I'm driving, cleaning trays at work, writing discharges on my patients, waiting for my patients to be done warming up/cooling down] I pray...for anything that comes to my mind. No, I rarely stop what I'm doing, kneel, fold my hands, close my eyes, and pray throughout the day. But it's more of a conversation with my God when I'm out and about. Some things are more urgent than others. The more "urgent" things I find myself praying for more than once daily. Well, today I had too many things going on obviously...

I caught myself praying for Jack Bauer to find a solitary island so that he could live life peacefully.

Yes, I am a big 24 fan...and the finale was this past Monday. It was so sad! Mainly, I think, because it was the last season. I guess I am so attached to it that I feel that it's real life.

It made me chuckle. I've done that before though too! I love Karen Kingsbury books and I have caught myself praying for her characters sometimes!

Just a funny snippet from my day that I thought I would share :)

Grasses Go Amish

Yesterday I was reminded how thankful I am for electricity! Our electricity went out yesterday evening for about 3 hours. I had just gotten home from work and was getting ready to log onto my email in my room when all of a sudden my computer shut down, fan stopped, ceiling fan slowed, light went off, and clock started blinking. Hmm....

Well, I really wanted to take a shower because I felt gross and smelled like chicken from work. But my mom wanted to conserve the water because we weren't sure how long the electricity would be out. I thought surely it was just our house that was struggling, but my friend's house didn't have electricity either! I still took a shower despite the lack of electricity. Thank goodness one of their bathroom's has a window so I didn't have to shower in the dark!

Even though I knew the electricity was out, I forgot about all that that entails. No hair dryer, no straightener, no AC, no light, no nothing. So, needless to say, it was interesting.

But, happy ending, the electricity came back on eventually!

Yes, I love when I am the only one home and I can blast my music and sing at the top of my lungs and dance around from room to room using my hairbrush as my microphone.

Don't judge, because if you were honest, you like to do the same thing...

Today, while driving home from work, I saw an old man riding his bike...with swim floaties on his arms.

I guess you can never be too safe

Tonight while babysitting we were playing with Play-doh. Squashy was getting frustrated that his play-doh was getting stuck in the 'spaghetti maker' and made it all messy. I offered an alternative, but I don't think he was sold on the idea. So, he just continued to use the spaghetti maker. He was getting so frustrated! He pushed his play-doh and buried his face in his hands.

Bella just turned to him and said, "you know, you should just do what Miss Lindsey says; she's always right anyways."

Squashy sighed loudly and looked up at me and said, "are girls ALWAYS right??"

Then, little 2 year old Banana replied, "YEP!"

Oh how I love them :)

When I Was Your Age...

I have heard this phrase several times. It bothers me...I don't know why. Following this phrase comes something saying that I have it easier and that I am spoiled. I am not disagreeing, it may be true. But, of course it's gonna be different. I mean, the people that tell that to me are atleast 15 years older than me; I really do hope America has improved somewhat in 15 years. But instead of just ending the conversation short by "agreeing" with them or telling them 'they just don't understand' maybe introduce them to the thoughts and ideas of those born into the digital world. Those classified as Millennials. Those who are between the ages of 10 and 29. A good majority of you who read my posts fall into this category. Recently there have been many sociologists who compare and contrast baby boomers to us as millennials. They hypothesize what the workplace will look like in a couple of years as the baby boomers start to retire as well as the common trends we tend to follow. Doing some research on my own and observing for myself, I have found that they are not that far off...

Our generation is comprised of impatient (microwave ready), experiential learning, multitasking, and electronic consuming individuals. We demand more selectivity, personalization, and customization in the choices we make.

Sociologists say that there is a common trend among millennials in that we value education more than we value family. I agree with this statement; let me explain. Most students graduating from high school, both male and female, attend college. And yet, we go further; we go to med school, we get our mba, we get our master's in education, we get our phd in chemistry. We want to be the biggest and best we can be. We look at "getting married and starting a family" as something that can wait. Most of us are fine with getting married at 30 instead of at 22, right out of college. We would first like to get out there and make a name for ourselves because that's what we value.

According to demographics, the largest birth year for Millennials is 1990. In about a year or two, we can expect a great incline in competition among graduate students and continuing professional education. The standards in the workplace will be set higher; employees looking for more and more credentials. This encourages us to keep going, and going, and going...

We like to have choices. We like things to be immediate. We are very unhappy with limited choices. For example, there should not be just one professor teaching a specific course. The school should have atleast a couple of professor's teaching each course so that we can have the choice of who to take from.

We prefer learning by doing. We almost never read directions. We love to learn by interaction; we find average lectures boring.

We prefer to keep time commitments flexible longer in order to take advantage of other options. We may make decisions last minute so as not to foreclose a better option later (job offers, college acceptance, etc).

We like to make our things personal. Personally, I don't like people to have the same clothing as me. Selfish I know, and I am getting better at it, but it takes all the originality out of it.

We have no tolerance for delays. We want things ready when it is most convenient for us. We require constant feedback to know how things are progressing. We are permeated by instant gratification. We want to learn what we have to learn and then we are ready to move on...we live speedy lives.

We excel at juggling several different tasks at once. It is perfectly normal for me to be chatting to 2 people online, listening to music, watching TV, and doing homework at the same time; it is almost weird not to be doing all these things at once...almost boring.

We expect communication mobility; whether it be online communication, email, cell phone, texting...we love to be able to communicate to whomever, whenever. This allows us to live the speedy lives we like to live, the instant gratification, we even use shorthand and abbreviate to communicate even faster.

Our view on intelligence is changing. When group projects are assigned, everyone wants to be partners with the smart student because they value their grade. Being smart is cool.

We want balanced lives. We don't want to sacrifice our health so we set aside time to exercise. We believe that we need some sort of leisure time each day to 'reward' ourself, so we set aside an hour of "me time". Work is important, but it must not be the only thing that fills our day. We also picture ourselves making more than our parents; living the same [or better off] of a lifestyle than our parents do now right when we graduate from college.

Good bye old school...hello upbeat, multitasked, immediate, and ever changing world!

Fashion 101

Today, while talking to a friend, we got onto the subject of "women and fashion" as he called it. Haha! It makes me laugh. But, by the end of our discussion I think I set him straight on some things. Such as...

- Why women need much more shoes than men. Men can get by on three pairs of shoes: tennis shoes, black dress shoes, and casual shoes. Women on the other hand cannot. They need flip flops to match every outfit. Sandals. A couple pairs of tennis shoes...one pair to workout in and another pair to get dirty. Heels...however many your heart desires and so on. Women can never have enough shoes.

- Matching. One of our roles as females in the world is to help men match their clothing. I am amazed at some of the things men put together. A free tip: just because it's a stripe doesn't mean it goes together. There are differences; horizontal, vertical, and slanted stripes...enough to make one looking at you dizzy. And you may wonder when you wear your favorite striped or polka dot tie with a striped shirt that none of the ladies notice you. Oh, we notice you all right...we just can't look at you without getting a headache!

- The meaning of fat clothes. You know, the shirts that have the empire waists, that flow away from the body...otherwise known as pregnant or poofy shirts? Yep, we wear them when we go out to dinner. Hey, they're fashionable and they hide EVERYTHING.

- Why we are VERY particular about our hairdressers. A good man may be hard to find, but finding the right hairdresser is next to impossible. They know the way we like our hair and we feel confident handing our head over to her scissors. I have been going to the same hairdresser my whole life...no one else has cut my hair.

- When a girl tries to help you out in the fashion department, don't get offended or try to defend yourself. Just accept the fact that you may need some help, take her advice, and you will be better off. She'll only help you out if she thinks you have potential, so take it as a compliment. She knows you have the potential to look good, she's just helping you out so that you can be the best you can be.

An Important Lesson...Learned?

Most of you know that I am an Exercise Science Major...dealing with physical therapy and athletic training. I have learned many things while in school, one of which is putting a joint back in socket. Yes, quite fun, I know.

This weekend, I learned that I may need a little more practice.

At work on Friday, I was in the walk in fridge and was stocking. There was a heavy box that was falling off the shelf. So, being the genius that I am, went to grab it so it wouldn't fall...with one hand. Yes, my wrist bent back all the way and popped out of place. So, practicing my skills, I nonchalantly popped it back into place. Yes, it hurt...really bad. But I was very proud of myself for doing it correctly.

Until today, when I was just moving [light weight] bags while organizing. My wrist, still sore, bent the wrong way and popped out of socket AGAIN. This, was too much. Yes, I popped it back into place but I could handle it no more. I was on my home from work and felt really light headed. So light headed, that I felt I may pass out. I pulled over in Walmart and called my mom crying to come pick me up.

I now have a lovely brace on for the time being. Every time I look at it, it reminds me why I have 2 more years of school left...I still have a lot to learn, and practice.

Redo Please?

I was looking at all my photo albums the other day and you know what?

There is almost always a story behind a picture. And half of those stories aren't the greatest. I look at those pictures and think, 'well I should've done this instead' or 'man, i really wish that didn't happen' and so on. But who cares right? After all, it's not like I can go back in time and do it all over again. There are several important lessons behind those pictures.

Growing up, I was the biggest Barney fan alive. And, yes, even though Barney is weird and he gets a bad rap, I will let my kids watch it someday. It's better than Tellatubbies and Spongebob, so it's not the worst. For my third birthday my mom made me a Barney cake. Everyone knows that Barney is purple. Well, I was very disappointed to find out on my birthday that my Barney cake was blue. You can eve tell by the picture that I was disgusted. I think about that every year; how that cake was so not right. AND I remind my mom that she was the one that messed it up. So, this year (yes, for my 20th birthday) she made me a Barney cake. And yet, I was still not impressed. Yes, I love her and give her an A for effort, the icing was even purple; but even I, the Barney expert, could not even tell that it was supposed to be Barney. So, whoever can make me a Barney cake that looks like him AND is purple will be my new best friend.

Speaking of kids television shows, do any of you remember Molly and the Big Comfy Couch? I loved that show! I watched it all the time, until I picked up on one of Molly's bad habits. For those of you who have seen it, remember the episode Molly's Bad Day? Yeah, she sticks her tongue out in that episode. If Molly does it, then it's ok for me to do it right? Yeah, well not so. I was watching TV and my dad asked me to put my clothes in my room. I didn't want to, so what did I do? Yep, I stuck my tongue out at him. And when he asked where I learned to do such a thing, I told him I learned it from Molly. Needless to say, I never watched that show again...

My brother and sister and I used to sit at the edge of the driveway and throw little rocks across the road to see who could throw it the furthest. And, of course, we were good kids and only threw when there were no cars coming...except for this one time. Yes, we hit a car. BUT, only the tires so it was ok...no damage. Well, the driver didn't think so. As soon as we realized what we had done, we ran around to the back of the house to "hide". The wonderful driver came storming back around the house and angrily explained to our poor babysitter what we had done. Thanks to her, she is called The Rock Lady to this day. It wouldn't be so bad if that was the first and last time we saw her right? But of course, she has been one of my coworkers, she goes to our church, and her daughter is one of my mom's students. So, that always makes it awkward.

One time, I baked cookies and didn't realize I had left the oven on until we got back home from church...3 hours later. Yeah, you can only imagine how that one turned out.

Or, the other time that I had put meat in the freezer outside in the garage and didn't close the freezer door all the way. 10 days later, after coming home from vacation, my dad informed me that I had ruined about $200 worth of meat. Now that's a great feeling. Especially when you get the special privilege of cleaning it all up.

One thing you may know about me is, that I am deathly scared of clowns. In fact, I am scared of anything dressed up. Don't ask me why because I don't know; I have always been that way. Well, my sophomore year of high school I was standing and waiting for the Christmas parade to begin. When, all of a sudden, 2 of my classmates decided it would be funny to get a clown to come over and wish me a happy birthday. Needless to say, I started freaking out and even cried. #1, it wasn't my birthday. #2, that was a very embarrassing and frightening moment I must say.

I am also not a fan of tight and crowded spaces. I don't like hugs; I just like my space. I don't like my personal space invaded. On senior trip, my dad told a group of about 12 of us that we were going to jump on the upcoming subway...which had standing room for about 4 people. Yes, my personal space was quickly taken and I did not handle it well one bit. I was smooshed between people, my face in a classmates armpit. Not something I would classify as a fun moment. I was so tired, so out of my comfort zone, and so needed just some alone time. I lost it, I cried, for the whole metro to hear me. And what did my dad do? He laughed. Thank you, thanks for your support dad.

So, yes, for some of these experiences I look back and laugh. But don't get me wrong, I would never want them to happen again. And, would probably prefer to have a chance to handle these situations and respond differently if I had a chance. But I don't, so I get to live with the memories; and I get to share them with you.

Food For Thought

The other day, a co-worker and I were discussing politics...oh the joys of politics. You can really get someone's engine going just talking about such things can't you. Well, we got onto the topic of abortion. I will not get into full detail, but will leave this post as mainly a thinking post for you :)

I had just finished reading a book (Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury - read it if you haven't!) And abortion was the main problem of the story line; it was what caused all the heart break.

So, we were discussing different views and the different arguments for each. I have my view, and no matter what people say...I cannot be persuaded on such an issue. I believe what I believe and that is that. And I'm not going to tell you...until you tell me your thoughts :) So, leave me your thoughts on this post ok? :)

My co-worker stated that he believed that abortion is wrong in ALMOST all circumstances...except for one. If the pregnancy is life threatening to the mother, the husband and wife have a choice to make...whether to risk the baby and mother's lives or get rid of the baby. He stated that if he was in such a situation he would abort the baby because his primary role in the family is to protect his wife and THEN his kids; to him, this would be shown by aborting the baby because he would be protecting his wife first and foremost.

Now, what do YOU think?

4 Peas in a Pod

Last night, I spent some of my evening with four of my favorite kiddos while their parents headed off to Bible study. Can I just say...kids crack me up! Oh how interesting life can be with three 4 year olds and a 2 year old :)

We started out playing hide and go seek. Banana (the 2 year old) desperately wanted to count all by herself. So the four of us hid while she counted to 20 (kind of). The best part - when she was done counting, she yelled "ready or not, yes I am!" Haha it made me laugh.

Then we went on a trip around the block...boy is that interesting with everyone! I thought it would be fun for all of them to ride their bikes. Before we headed out though, Bella reminded me that we need to be safe when riding bikes. So, after fastening 3 helmets, tying 6 shoes, putting on 6 knee pads and elbow pads, buckling one into a stroller we were finally off! Not so fast though, Dabby said that it was too bright outside and said that we all needed to wear sunglasses. So I went back into the house and grabbed 5 pairs of sunglasses. Yes, they made me wear a pair too...finding nemo sunglasses :) That was quite a trip!

We ended out the night by playing chutes and ladders (sort of), eating treats (laffy taffy), singing songs, and reading books. As I put the triplets to bed, Squashy asked if I was staying for breakfast. When I answered 'no', he suggested that I really stay sometime because breakfast is when you talk, and he liked talking to me better than his sisters. Ohhh boy :)

They are so fun!

Election Day?

I...did not vote today. Before you judge, let me explain.

I have no clue who ANY of the people are in the primaries...therefore, with my luck, I would vote for the worst person possible.

So, I justified my decision by telling myself I would be doing a disservice to America if I voted.

"Can I Have a Name for the Order?"

That is the phrase we at ChickfilA ask our customers. This helps us so that when we have one hundred customers waiting for food, we can just call out their name and they can come get it...it is much easier this way. Well, today I found out that a nine hour shift may be a bit too long for me.

Every once in a while, you get a smarty pants who tries to be funny. Key word - TRIES. Today, I helped one of these people. I asked the guy if I could have his name for the order. Instead, he said, "What about my number instead of my name?" Ha ha, well isn't that funny. So, in return I said "Or, you can just give me your name." Well, he wasn't amused that I wasn't playing along so he just gave me his name and left my register.

Here is the embarrassing part. I was moving so fast in my orders and really wasn't paying attention to anything I was saying...I say the same thing thousands of times per day at that place, that my words just spill out of my mouth without thinking. So, when it was time to ask the next guy his name for the order I messed up; instead, I asked "Can I have your number?"

Yeah, I'll leave it up to you to figure out how that one played out...

Freedom...with a schedule

I am done with spring semester! It is such a satisfying feeling; a great load has been taken off of my back as a student and I feel a sense of freedom as I yearn for summer.

But, why I do I yearn for summer?? It's not like it's gonna be a relaxing one:

I take that back, 1 out of my 3 month summer will be somewhat relaxing. In May, I will be working at ChickfilA about 4 days a week...I would take getting paid over going to school any day! Also, I will be getting some practicum hours in twice a week at a local physical therapy center.

Then, the month of June - I am excited/scared about all I have to accomplish in the months of June and July. I will be taking 12 credits this summer (yes, that is a full semester load) and working full time. Along with studying for a personal trainer board exam and fulfilling more of my practicum hours. Yay for busy schedules.

My mom said that I packed too many things into my summer. That's what scares me; when my mom says I have too much to do, I REALLY have too much to do. But, I am determined to do it all; and all with excellence.

I am really looking forward to my summer job though! I get to spend my day with 60 of my favorite kiddos. Oh, there are times when I ask myself why I am a camp counselor - when the same girl (who is going into the THIRD grade) has an accident atleast 3 times a day, even in the pool; when I have a boy screaming, biting, scratching, and hiding under tables because he doesn't want to share ANYTHING (yes, he is an only child); when I have to deal with an 8th grader who thinks she's "in love" with a 3rd grader, that's just a whole different story; when we have to start getting ready an hour before we leave on a field trip because we have to bathe every child in sunscreen AND bug spray (and of course every mom sends their own spray and lotion for their own child and requests to not share with anyone else); and those infamous days where everyone is on their worst behavior, definitely my favorite. For some reason though, I wouldn't trade that job for any other.

So, yes, I am going to have a crazy busy summer. But for some reason, I feel as if it will be relaxing. Let's hope so!

A Couple Reasons Why Girls are Smarter than Boys

Today I was studying in the library in a big cushioned chair, using the window sill as my foot rest. What a beautiful view...looking out at the pond on a nice sunny day. While I was studying 2 boys and their soccer balls stood at the top of the hill overlooking the pond. The guys put their soccer balls down and kicked them...straight towards the pond. And then looked at each other, blaming the other for the idea of doing it.

What did they think was gonna happen anyway? Of course, the balls landed smack dab in the middle of the pond. So, I watched in sheer amusement, for about 20 minutes as they tried everything under the sun to get their soccer balls back. They finally got one out, but the story doesn't end here.

The guy that got it out kicked it up the hill then walked away to try and retrieve the other ball. What goes up must come down right? Well, he obviously doesn't get this concept. The ball rolled up the hill....and rolled right back down again - into the pond.

What a genius.

I just smiled as he turned around and watched it land back into the pond...I'm sure he felt REALLY smart.

Hopefully they do well on their finals...

LSINFWELIVLRGWIL

The above jibberish nonsense is pretty much how I feel right about now.

I feel ADD...I am struggling and man do I mean STRUGGLING with sitting down for longer than 30 minutes to study.

I am very impatient...I just want it to be Thursday at 3 pm. Is that so hard to ask for?

It seems so easy: two days, three finals to go. Should fly bye right?? WRONG! These next 2 days will probably be some of the slowest days of my life.

I just wanna go over to my window and yell as loud as I can to relieve all my stress for the whole world to hear, BUT thank the Lord He has given me more self-control than to do that :)

Instead, I decided to vent to you all about it...thanks for listening

As a result of summer approaching,


And the stress of finals week,I chopped quite a bit of hair off.

Good thing I'm not too attached!

Post for Thought

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/04/26/something-for-nothing/

I read this blog every day and LOVE all the posts the authors write. This one was especially neat and I decided to share it with you! Maybe, even, you can add the Gospel Coalition Blog to your daily readings; I promise you will not be disappointed :)

Enjoy!

Sophomore 75

I have finally gotten an answer to one of my odd observations. I really am ashamed that I made this observation, I feel really judgmental...but sometimes, things are just too obvious for one not to notice.

What is my observation? Well, I guess I'll just say it bluntly...that one of my classmates has gained weight and lots of it.

Now before you judge me for judging this person, let me explain myself and give some precursors.

First, about 25% of my major deals with weight management; therefore, it is becoming very easily for me to detect when someone gains weight, what a person's general weight is just by looking at them, etc. It's kind of disturbing actually. Next, I did not 'confront' this person or question them asking if they had gained any weight or why. And lastly, this person willingly told the class that he had gained weight.

75 pounds to be exact.

Woah! 75 pounds??! In 8 months? And he's only a sophomore! Is he going to gain another 200 pounds during the rest of his college career?? The other astonishing thing about this scenario is that he is an athlete here at Bethel...a TRACK athlete. So of course he couldn't be eating poorly if he is on the track team right?

I have come to the conclusion - just by LOOKING at the food here on campus, you gain weight.

Mechanic Panic

I had to take my wonderful car into the mechanic today :( The airbag light came on a couple days ago and I just thought I wasn't distributing my weight enough so that it would sense me sitting in the driver seat. It sensed me all right, so need to fear of being too light (darn!). In fact, after I read my manual, it stated that either one of two things may happen as a result of the airbag readiness light coming on....neither of them ideal:

1) the airbag may not deploy if I were to get in a wreck

OR

2) the airbag may randomly deploy while driving

AWESOME!

Needless to say, I have been freaking out lately while driving; just waiting for my airbag to all of a sudden pop out and suffocate me and then end up making me crash.

I am going to my grandparents this weekend and they have a friend who is willing to fix my car [without ripping me off like other mechanics do - taking advantage of women that come into the shop and have no clue what they are talking about] so I was relieved to know that it will soon be fixed.

However, my manual said it needed to be fixed ASAP...does it really need to be checked that soon?

I had no idea, so just to make sure my air bag won't deploy as I am driving 70 on the highway, I decided to go get it checked.

I pulled into the parking lot of the Chevy dealership and immediately felt lost. There were so many doors, so many garages, so many cars, so many men....I definitely felt out of place.

So, right before I stepped out of my car, I took a deep breath and was determined to walk with purpose and make it sound like I knew what I was talking about.

I walked into the [correct!] door of the mechanic's garage and was intimidated by atleast 10 big men just standing there waiting for business.

I marched right up, told one of them what was wrong with my car, and asked if I really needed to get it fixed before I got my car serviced this weekend.

The mechanic asked if we could chat about my car for a couple minutes so that he could gain some ground on what he was working with. I was so nervous! I know NOTHING about cars. But to my surprise (and his as well) I carried myself very well and atleast made it sound like I knew what I was talking about. He even 'complimented' my car knowledge skills by stating, "Well, you DO know what you are talking about don't you?"

Yes, mechanic, I do...even if I had to do some extra research before I came in.

Good news - with my car being the model year that it is, the airbag will not deploy unexpectedly. It just won't deploy if I wreck.

So, in summary, I just have to make it to Plymouth (45 minutes away) without getting in a wreck...perfectly doable :)

FaceLIFT

What is one of the first things you do in the morning? I bet atleast half, if not all of us, check our facebook.

Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy facebook and I check it daily. But sometimes, it just irritates me! The little things on/about facebook that simply could just be better

Facebook needs a facelift.

'People You May Know' - in other words, people you may know, but not well enough to be friends with. Put simply, if you haven't found your friend yet and they haven't found you, then you probably aren't even friends in the first place.

'Mini Feed' - yeah, cause we need reminders of things we have recently done or said. Thank you facebook but if it's important enough, I can remember those things without help.

'Bathing Suit Profile Pictures' - yes, you are young and skinny and probably fake and bake at a tanning salon, we get it. But we can observe this without you having to post a picture of it for all America to see.

'Picture Takers' - the people that have 60 photo albums...60 ALBUMS! And so, on any given day, you can count on these people to post atleast 10 pictures of their lives to their profile.

'People Who Spend Too Much Time on Facebook' - they totally take over my news feed with 12 different whiny status updates (so and so is still in love with her, so and so wishes she knew how this feels, and so on and so forth)

'People Who Update Facebook with Every Minute of Their Lives' - so and so is sleeping, so and so is eating cheese, so and so is standing in line at the store....I DONT CARE!

'Constant Layout Changes' - granted, change is needed to prevent staleness, but sometimes things need to be left alone. Just as the frustration dies down from one design, the site changes again. What's the difference between news feed and live feed? And why can't facebook remember which I prefer??

'No Dislike Button' - if there are going to be such things dominating my page like Mafia Wars and Farmville, there MUST be a dislike button.

'The Let Me Tell You Every Detail of My Day Bore' - which kind of goes with the one above, but I guess Im mentioning it again because it is TRULY a pet peeve. So and so is waking up, so and so had wheaties for breakfast, so and so is bored at work, so and so is stuck in traffic...your kidding! How fascinating! Really? I care about you, but I don't need a play by play.

'The Self Promoter' - there is a difference between letting others know what's going on in your life and dominating facebook with your biography.

'The Friend Padder' - no one has more than 500 [real] friends...if they do, then that's just showing off.

'The Town Crier' - "Michael Jackson is dead!" These people are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks.

'The TMIer' - some things, just need to not be proclaimed to the world of facebook.

'The Bad Grammarian' - "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling Nazi...but please, get it right.

'The Sympathy Baiter' - there is a difference between genuine bad news and people with hopes of gaining concerned responses just to boost there self esteem. So and so is feeling sad today, so and so is glad that's over, so and so could use some good news right about now. You know what I mean?

'The Lurker' - the one who never updates their status or writes on your wall, yet you can randomly be talking and they will bring something up about one of your past posts. So really, you know they're on your page...STALKER! Or, even worse, you walk by someone who is on your page just staring at it...that is awkward as well. Also, they may be sitting right alongside you while you are both on facebook and read almost everything on your page out loud to you...really, I know what happened in my life today you don't have to remind me.

'The Crank' - there isn't anything they CAN'T complain about. I'm sorry that your life is terrible, but in reality it probably isn't as bad as you think it is...it could be a lot worse.

'The Paparazzo' - the person that posts pictures you SPECIFICALLY told them not to post or posts pictures of you that you didn't even realized existed.

'The Philosopher' - the person who has the deepest statuses (or the annoying, sappy, sad lines from various country songs) that no one understands and better yet they have to comment under their own status to further their previous status...enough is enough! Plus, half of the world doesn't even know what you are talking about in all of your status deepness.

'The Chronic Inviter' - support my cause, sign my petition, play Mafia Wars with me, which 'Star Trek' character are you?, here are the top 5 cars I have personally owned, here are 25 things about me, here's a drink; what drink are you?, We're related!, I took the what president are you? quiz and so should you! These people probably mean well, but stop; just stop...can't we simply just be friends and have normal conversations without having to add a million applications to take pointless quizzes and compare ourselves to others and try to beat someone else's IQ? Thanks

Now, do not feel offended if you feel yourself fit into one of the above categories; I still love you, you are still my friend, and I know that you meant no harm at all. It's just, when done in excess, it kind of bothers me...if you couldn't tell ;)

This, my friends, is Hercules.

We have a love - hate relationship.

Why?

Well, you see, every morning he comes at 5:45 AND 7:30 to wake us up - aka: empty the dumpster.

So, you now see why he is not on my friend list.

However, he may be making his way there...

because if it wasn't for him, I would have missed class the other morning...my alarm failed me.

But Hercules didn't...

No matter how much I dislike him, one thing is true - he is reliable, he never fails.

And for this, I am [sometimes] thankful.

Jettson & Genevieve

By now, you all know that Bethel College is home to about half of the squirrels in this country. They all look the same except for two we have recently been blessed with this spring semester...they are known as the naked squirrels. One has no hair at all and the other one only has hair for it's bushy tail. Usually, squirrels run away as you approach them; but as for me and another girl in my dorm, these two naked squirrels (whom we have named Jettson and Genevieve) like our company.

The other day, Hannah was studying outside on a blanket when Jettson came up and just crawled around on her blanket. He sat there contently as she fed him grapes...it was so weird! Every morning, before my 8:00 class, I walk outside and there they are by this one specific tree...they walk in front of me all the way to the building of my class. They run in front of me, and then will stop and look back to make sure I am still coming. Before I get to the building my class is in, they run up a tree and I don't see them until my last class is over; they are always right outside my dorm running around and then they stop and stare at me as I walk into my dorm....it is quite strange.

Twice last week, while I was doing homework out by the pond, they have crawled around on my blanket; it's kind of gross but really funny at the same time. I brought crackers with me and they just sit there and eat the crackers I give them and wait patiently for more when they finish.

It is so funny, we feel as if they are our pets, so yes we were weird and named them. They are so ugly, they are almost cute.

Will they be here next semester? I have no clue. Will they have hair by then? I sure do hope so!

A Slow & Distracted Mind...All for a Purpose

I went to Grace College this weekend and had a relaxing and very fun time! It was my first time driving there by myself from school so I printed off directions. Coming home, I was supposed to get on 30 and then follow 331 all the way back to campus.

Some people hate driving, but I like it. I find it relaxing and a good time to reflect. All while paying attention to the road of course :) Well today I got a bit distracted...I don't really know why though. I was listening to the radio and just thinking and talking to myself when I flew right by the 331 exit. Yes, I saw it...but not until about 5 minutes later did I realize that I didn't turn. So, I turned around and added about 10 minutes to my trip.

I missed my turn AGAIN to head to Mishawaka. And yes, again, I remember seeing the turn and driving right by it. But not until I reached the Elkart exit (about 10 minutes away) did I realize I had gone too far. That added about another 15 minutes to my trip.

I was kind of laughing at myself...I mean, if I get this distracted now, what kind of driver am I going to be when I'm older?! I'm gonna set out to drive to the grocery store one day that is 5 minutes away and yet drive all the way to Indy an hour a way...sheesh! I sure hope not!

But, I'm positive my distractedness played a part in this day. You see, when I finally did turn on the right road to Mishawaka, I was on the road for 5 minutes when I passed a semi on the side of the road and a car mutilated and smashed in front of it with emergency vehicles all around.

God used my mistakes to keep me safe. That could have easily been me; when I was thinking about the time that it happened, I would have been there at around the exact time the accident occurred. My life could have easily been drastically changed...just like that!

I CANNOT tell you how thankful I am for God's protection! It also reminded me that I need to be more thankful for all that God has done for me. An awesome reminder, and a good lesson learned :)

I Want to Be Educated by a Noneducated Person

Kind of. I believe that as a professor, the more titles to your name, the less likely it is for you to relate to your students. I mean, some of my professors are so smart...almost too smart.

Do not get this confused with a professor who has no clue what he is talking about, because unorganized professors are just as bad as really smart ones.

And of course there are those rare professors who have a doctorate and a couple master's and yet they are AWESOME teachers...so there are a few exceptions.

If your anatomy professor is a retired surgeon, he will treat you like a surgeon in training. This means, memorize the whole book and maybe you will pass the test.

Don't get me wrong, I want to learn, and having someone very informed and professional on the topic will help me be the best I can be, but...Mr. Anatomy Professor - I do NOT want to be a surgeon, so can you please not teach me like one? I promise I will understand the material much better if you teach in English and not surgeonese...thanks!

I Never Realized How Great Those Days Were Until Now When I Look Back

Now a days, I feel like I get so much accomplished yet I still have so much to do; in other words, I never feel like I am "caught up", I never feel like all my school work is "completed". There is ALWAYS something to work on!

Looking back, high school was a PIECE OF CAKE! Yes, there were stressful weeks and hard tests but they were always do-able. There are things I look back on, and at that time, took them for granted: seeing my friends all day every day, having teachers that pretty much babysat us and made sure our work was done, having the little inside jokes that everyone knew about, etc.

Now, we have to "schedule" to spend time with friends, we take care of ourselves instead of our professors doing it for us, and yes there are plenty of inside jokes but now they are truly inside jokes because only about 5 people are in on them. I am not saying I miss high school, because I don't...college is way too much fun :)

I do wish I would have appreciated and cared about my life more in high school though, if that makes sense. My relationships with my teachers were the best that I will ever have with a prof, yet I rarely sincerely thanked them for all the time they spent on me and helping me succeed. I rarely stopped to tell my friends simply that I was glad to see them every day; of course I enjoyed talking to them and love them to death, but I can only think of a couple times that I simply thanked them for being with me all the time.

I do miss bathroom/locker room talks, decorating lockers, pep rallys, and other school events but, I am reminded those are being replaced by late night talks, leaving a note under someone's door, and college games and campus events.

The one thing I would trade - more easy classes! However, my classes are more interesting here at college but they are just SO hard! High school anatomy and trig seem like a walk in the park compared to my classes now...but, everything is not easy so I just have to get used to it!

I guess the lesson here is treasure every moment, don't take anything for granted, and be thankful for every blessing; live the life God has given you to the fullest!