http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/song-chart-memes-smoke-detector1.jpg

I think I told you all about how my freinds and I set off the smoke alarm while making pancakes.

Vacuums and Dragons

Saturday (which was already an epicly awesome day set in the midst of an epicly awesome weekend) was made all the better by a long awaited adventure exploring, what else, Vacuums and Dragons! One of my best friends, Jessie, and I long ago noticed a sign in a shopping center that read "Vacuums and Dragons". We were, of course, intrigued and highly amused. We made it our goal to visit that place and on Saturday we finally accomplished this. We drove around the parking lot looking for this store, hoping that it actually existed and the sign wasn't just a typo. We nearly gave up hope but while driving through the last corner of the parking lot we spotted it- Vacuums and Dragons! Ah! Sweet day! Our lives were complete! We parked and entered the store, trying to figure out what to say when we encountered an employee. It is quite the store. They sell and repair vacuums as well as figurines of dragons and other mythical creatures, incense, swords, and plants. A strange and intriguing store, it did not disappoint. We left with hearts brimming with immeasurable joy.

Attack of the Church Folk

I've been church hunting with a couple friends of mine. Last Sunday we visited a new church. It was small and most of the people there were middle aged or older. I didn't much enjoy the service, the pastor was very difficult to follow and wasted probably 15 minutes on a very strange demonstration which represented I'm not sure what. I also had difficulty figuring out how he got his message about Resurrection (he did have some good points) from the passage he was using- the two seemed only vaguely connected.

After the service finally ended (it wasn't even a long service) all I wanted was to book it out of there as fast as possible. On our way out, however, we were waylaid by a very freindly woman who thought we must be new since she had never seen us before- a correct assumption. She spent a few minutes chatting with us and rather impressed me by remembering throughout her entire dialogue with us what each of our names and majors were.
She told us that their church unfortunately didn't have many college age kids (thanks, I already noticed that) and didn't have a college group.
"Not a problem", thought I, "We're not going to come back here anyway".
She told us some more about the church and the small groups they had and then said that she'd go find the leader of her small group and bring him to meet us.
"Ugh, I'm hungry, I don't care, I want to leave" thought I as I smiled politely.
She returned shortly and informed us that she couldn't find the man she had set off to find but she had brought this other man to meet us (who he was I have no idea).
He chatted with us while the energetic woman disappeared again. After a couple minutes she returned bringing with her two people- a college age boy and a man who turned out to be the leader of the "non-existent" college groupn. She and the other mysterious man left us with these two.
They told us all about the college group. The man, after saying many times that he didn't want us to feel pressured or overwhelmed ("Thanks, too late"), invited us to their meeting that evening. Neither of these to knowledgeable though amiable individuals knew the location of the house where they meet every Sunday. The boy went off to call the young man who resides in said house. Then who shoudl come walking by but the young man's parents! who also didn't know his address. Helpful. Finally the boy returned triumphantly with the address in hand. This was entrusted to my care ("oh thanks, I'll keep this safe, since a certainly plan on attending").
"Don's feel pressured to come, but it's going to be a lot of fun", they told us. "But we don't want you to feel pressured"
Finally after being told several more times how we shouldn't feel pressured to come and how much fun they had hanging out together, we were allowed to leave.

I can say this for them; they're very freindly, if not a tad overbearing. I think it goes without saying that we do not plan on going there a second time.

The Departure of Arch-Nemesis Lauren (and other tales)

First of all, I must apologize profusely for having not blogged in over a month (i have a life, and homework). That is why we must mix various tales into one.

Part I: Amy vs Arch-Nemesis Lauren
One day I was in my apartment taking care of various chores. As I was cleaning our living room/kitchen I noticed an oddity; there was a suitcase in the room. Though I did not recognize the first name on the suitcase's label the last name I recognized immediately- Hart- the last name of my arch-nemesis. I then noticed another oddity; there were dishes stacked haphazardly on the nefarious Lauren's black swivel chair. An idea came into my head too good for me to even put into words in my own head for fear that I might be mistaken. I rushed to our bathroom to discover all of the articles that Lauren had provided gone. I sat on my bed for hours working on my homework, trying not to think of that too-good-to-be-true idea and finally I was rewarded with an overheard conversation between another roommate and my enemy. My hearty leaped within me as i listened clandestinely to the words of that conversation. It was true! Praise Jesus, it was true! Yes, dear freinds, she's leaving, my arch-nemesis is on her way out! She's not completely out yet (the actual date of her departure is "up in the air") but she is indeed going to leave. In the meantime she is on her best behavior because she is aware of my vendetta against her and my roommate and my plan to turn her in at the least sign of trouble.

Part II: Rid of Another Bother
I must also tell you all the other most annoying person in my life; Joe the one who was awkward, and sorta creepy and asked me out in a text message, will no longer be around to bother me. Are you prepared for the hilarity of the reason? He is planning on leaving the hobo gang he's in and finding a job. Yes folks, he was in a hobo gang. "What is a hobo gang?" you may ask. Well, I don't know but apparently they do in fact exist.

Part III: Many Adventures
The past weeks have been filled with many glorious adventures, and I am pleased to say that I now feel completely comfortable and normal being in the Springs even during the weekend. One of my friends and I have been exploring the city each weekend. So far we have figured out how to get to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, explored a palatial hotel (the Broadmoor), and found the cutest little coffee shop. Another friend and I managed to almost burn down my apartment (I use the phrase loosely) twice within the course of 24 hours. One of my roommates decided it would be a good idea to store a flammable pizza box in the oven-a fact which I did not discover until AFTER preheating the oven, and apparently chocolate pancakes cook faster than regular pancakes and hence burn sooner. My freinds from the swing dance team and I have gone to Denver 2 saturdays in a row to go dancing- insane? probably. And the next adventure on my list- changing the headlight by myself.

First Semester

I am now one final from the end of my first semester of college (anatomy and physiology on Thursday). I just returned from driving around the city viewing Christmas lights with my closest friend here- Jessie. My apartment is quiet. The Christmas lights tastefully strung across our living room and my bedroom are shining merrily. All is peaceful and calm. It is now time for me to reflect on my first semester of college.

I must say, it's been pretty wonderful. Sure there have been some really crapy parts but mostly it's been amazing. I've learned a lot. I've learned a lot of things in class, of course- a lot of things that I need for my major (like where the sternocleidomastoid muscle is)- but I think more important are the things I've learned that have absolutely nothing to do with my major and the new friends I've made (man am i flirting with corny! I'm sorry all, I will try to avoid corny-ness).

I've learned how to be civil to someone I don't like and don't respect and how best to try to solve problems with them -even though in the end it hasn't actually worked out, nonetheless I tried and was as respectful as I could be so I have no regrets that my roommate and I don't get along at all. I've learned how to and pray blessings for someone I don't like or respect and who I feel is nothing but rude to me (once again the roommate). I've learned the importance of budgeting time- though it is an art form I fear I shall never master. I've learned the necessity of budgeting money. I've always thought of myself as smart with how I use my money- I always carefully evaluate my purchases to make absolutely sure that I don't waste money- but it turns out that an actual budget allotting me so much money for each thing is an excellent idea. I've learned (at least to some degree) how to handle boys who are interested in me without me sharing the feeling. I've learned that it is not the end of the world if I have to eat a meal alone. I've learned how to create acceptable dishes with limited ingredients, no recipe and very little time from scratch. I've learned that, though I hate it and fight it, I do judge people unfairly- for instance, jsut because someone likes to party doesn't mean that she can't be oh, say, a good RA (there are after all worse things someone can do than go to a party). I've learned that my worries are insignificant- God is more than big enough to take care of things and He's put people in my life who take care of me. I've learned that perhaps I can sing and write well- two things that I've long since decided I'm horrible at- and I shouldn't discredit myself. I've learned how extremely important it is to take opportunities and try things and not make lame excuses. I am now on the swing dance performance team here and I go swing dancing at least three days a week. I have great friends that I've met other places but my closest friends and the ones I hang out with most (like Jessie) are in swing. Had I made lame excuses why I shouldn't go to swing that first night I never would have met these amazing people and my life here would be lame- at best. One should not waste life with lame excuses.

I have learned just how blessed I am! I have such a wonderful family and such wonderful friends! Since this is a reflection on college, I will write about the new ones. God has given me so many wonderful friends here. They are people I trust completely, people who I can rely on completely, people who are always there for me when I need them. I don't know what I would do without them (nicely illustrated by the fact that Jessie and I have to work together in order to find our way anywhere). I've met a lot of guys who are honorable and trustworthy; they are worthy of the term "young men"- a term I don't apply lightly. I've met some guys who are, well, less than respectable, but they only make me more grateful for the wonderful young men God has put in my life. I love all of my new friends and I'm so, so grateful for them.

I think that just about covers my reflections on this semester. Overall, it's been wonderful.

"Play and Feed a Hungry Person"

Has anyone else noticed the button to the side of the blog that says "play and feed a hungry person"? How....? I'm flabergasted. Really. How does my playing some online game provide food to another person? It makes no sense! Now, thanks to technology, we are able to save the world and end social ills without being bothered by the inconvenience of even raising our butts from our chairs.

The excitement of the past (and coming) week

The past week has been rather eventful- and the source of all this excitement?- boys. Aaaagh! Stupid boys. In one week I ended up with 3 new boys liking me (all of them at swing dancing to give you some context).
Boy number one is desperate. First he liked my friend, but upon finding out that I and not she was single, he latched on to me. He is highly unattractive- short, gangly, sparkly earings that would work well on a girl. He is socially awkward- within the first 3 hours of knowing me and my freind he divulged his entire life story to us. Slightly creepy. When I saw him for the second time the other night he was less clingy, but I felt like if he wasn't talking or dancing with me he wasn't talking or dancing with anyone he was just sort of in the background. I had planned on talking to him about it- gently telling him that I wasn't interested and that he needed to dance with other girls- but he wasn't clingy and didn't give me a reason to do so.
Boy number two is a step up- probably several steps up. He's a christian and he's certainly nice enough. But he's somewhat short, and overweight and his oral hygiene is, well, questionable.
Boy number three tops the others. I know very little about him, I have no idea if he's a christian, but he was very gentlemanly about the way he asked for my phone number- he actually asked my permission to call me! I definitely appreciate such manners.

What else exciting has happened this week? Snow! It snowed friday evening and sunday. I was at a freind's house and we kept rushing outside to play in the snow. We made a giant snow man who must have been near ten feet tall! It took a ladder, and five people to make that snowman! I beleive pictures are on facebook.

We are nearing finals! only three weeks till break begins! I only have one more chem lab, which is thoroughly awesome since I hate that class. My final test in A&P is not a cumulative test, hallelujah! Unfotunately I have a final paper due on the 14th- but atleast I have two weeks to work on it.

I have now made business cards to give out so I can start trying to sell art.

I feel this post has been poorly composed and jumped around too much but you all should be grateful that I updated at all- and never fear! I would not have been using this time on that paper anyway, my mind gave out while trying to work on it before I switched to this mindless blogging. love you all!