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!

On Swing Dancing

So many new posts for you all to read! Aren't you excited?!

As some of you may know I have been getting into swing dancing since starting school. It's a truly wonderful thing. Allow me to expound upon one aspect that I love about dancing: the relationship between the guy and the girl. The guy, or 'young man' I ought to say, comes over to the young lady and offers his hand to her. The young lady accepts and follows him to the dance floor. The young man gently leads the young lady where he wants her to move. The young lady could, of course, simply not do as her partner leads her but there are so many lovely moves that are rendered impossible when she doesn't wait and follow. The young man is respectful in all he does; in the way he touches her, in the way he leads her. At the end of the song he dips the young lady. He holds her gently and makes sure she doesn't fall. I think it's beautiful the way this works. It seems to go against a lot of what our culture dictates about the way men and women should relate to each other. I've also noticed that the worst guys to dance with are the ones that think their good; they never are, and they're terrible at leading, the humble ones are the ones you can enjoy dancing with even if they're not that good. Swing dancing is so refreshing and I think it has helped (at least a little) to mature in the way that I relate to guys, I'm very glad I got into doing it.

A Week of Epic-ness

First, I have blessed you all with more pictures on picasa!

This week has been a week filled with epic adventures.
1) Epic adventure #1: I had a bunch of freinds over to my apartment and made pumpkin pie and spaghetti. First Brooke and I went to Safeway (which in itself is a thrilling adventure- at least the way I shop). We scoured the whole store for the pre-made pie crusts before finally being directed to the only aisle we had not been down. The pies turned out beautifully although we (being impatient college kids) didn't give them the required two hours to cool. Instead we put them in front of windows opened to the cold night air. it took two of us working together (one holding plate and knife, the other holding spoon and fork) to get each sloppy piece out. I neglected to buy whipped cream but we had a tiny amount of heavy whipping cream left after making the pies so we added some sugar to it and whipped it using a fork (Jenna and I did the actual whipping, Stephanie and Devon watched). Aparently, as the internet informed us, it is indeed possible to over-whip whipped cream, when this happens you end up with butter. I think we were nearing the butter faze when we decided we had thoroughly whipped it.

2) Epic adventure #2: Some friends and I went to Target after dinner and before the Navigator's meeting. We had a pretty fun time. We descovered a lovely children's book entitled "Barack" with an animated picture of Obama on the front. Next to it was a similar McCain book.

3) Epic adventure #3: Brooke and I saw Quantum of Solace at midnight on Thursday. We got there really early expecting lots of people and for a long time were the only poeple in the theater. We felt very lame. But more people showed up.

I hope you all enjoyed hearing about the epic-ness of my week.

Ahhhhh!

I am so overwhelmed right now. There's so much that I have to do. I have a psychology exam on Monday, and the hardest English paper of my life to write by Thursday. I have to work on memorizing the muscles in the arms and legs and reviewing everything we've covered in anatomy so far. It's getting time for thinking about Christmas presents but I have no money and I'm going to have to make all of them so I need to figure out what on earth I can make for everyone. I need to look into holiday jobs so I can try to make a little money. I'm praying about going on another mission trip next summer (should I go?, where should I go?, what about going on a road trip with Shannon?, do either of us have the money for a road trip anyway?). So many things to think about! And I thought (briefly) about the possibility of joining ROTC, but it seems hasty and, well, insane, to agree to being in the army for four years after graduation, regardless of what the benefits are, so I will certainly not be doing that (baring the audible voice of God commanding me to do so which I think is unlikely).

As I write these things out they seem much less important. Really, I suppose they're all pretty small things. I find it interesting, and quite timely, that on Wednesday at Navigator's our speakers talked about trusting God. Something I need to work on doing perhaps?

I feel like I havn't posted for a while so I'll give you all a short message (since I know al of you are eagerlt awaiting word from me). I went to a regional conference for the Navigators (a christian college group) up in Estes Park. It was freakin awesome! It was exactly what I needed. God did awesome stuff with lots of people and really touched everyone. And hanging out with all my Navs friends was a lot of fun.

Sorry for not writing in more detail but I'm exhausted.

Love you all!

P.S. Pictures hopefully soon to come.

:)