The Consequence of Boredom

2006-08-23T13:43:00.000-06:00

So I guess that now that I've imported my blog so it can be seen on Facebook, maybe I should actually keep up with it. My usual problem is that I start typing and then find that I have absolutely nothing of importance to say...but it's been awhile so I'm sure I can come up with something.

I have officially entered the world of business casual clothing. No more jeans, and I even have to wear pantyhose and close-toed shoes for at least the first six weeks of my internship. I don't mind so much except for the fact that my new, dressy close-toed shoes have given me a total of about three blisters on each foot. :-( Anyways, starting Tuesday, I'll be spending six weeks at Covenant Hospital doing my first set of clinical rounds for my internship. I'm still not really sure exactly what to expect...

In other news, Lubbock is finally starting to feel a little bit more like home. I've been going to Broadway Church of Christ, and pretty much all of their college activities for about the past month and I absolutely love it. I have met some wonderful people, and the ministry is amazing. God has really blessed me.

Life is good.

2006-07-12T11:13:00.000-06:00

Missed church Sunday because I couldn't sleep...oops
Internet is out at the apartment
Found the library at Tech

2006-07-08T23:52:00.000-06:00

Now that is the ideal way to watch fireworks.

2006-07-08T23:03:00.000-06:00

Today seemed like a good day to start blogging again...we'll see how long it lasts. I've been in Lubbock now for about three weeks, but I think now is when it starts to become real. Alan left Lubbock tonight after we got to spend a wonderfully lazy and amazingly personal week together. It was pretty much immediately after he left that the emotional me started to set in. Now is when I really begin to make a way for myself...by myself. New city, new school, new chapter of life. Right now I am leaning heavily on the fact that God is in control and that Alan and the other comforts of Abilene are less than three hours away. My "Advanced Medical Nutrition Therapy" class started on Thursday, marking this new, exciting, and yet still slightly terrifying beginning . Tomorrow I'm gonna try out the University class at Sunset C of C...maybe I'll meet some new people...that would be very nice.

Much Ado....

2006-03-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! Sometimes I really wish I was a bit less of an emotional person.

Soooo.....this morning I had the last $150 of money that I needed to turn in for my campaign in the form of a check from my mom. The originial plan was to just cash in at the Campus Store and hand the money over to Alan at chapel.

Yes, well, that would have been entirely too simple.

My original impression was that the Campus Store would cash checks up to $200, but that is actually only for ACU checks...personal checks can only be $100. Shot down once.

Next stop, First Financial Bank at Wal-Mart. Nope, won't cash it because I don't have an account with the bank. Shot down twice.

Next stop, one counter over at Wal-Mart customer service. Stand in line about ten minutes, get to the counter....they only cash payroll checks, not personal checks. Shot down thrice.

My only remaining option: one of those shady check cashing stores. I hand over the check, but they have to verify that it is legitimate by calling the phone number of the person on the check, which is my home phone, which naturally will not be answered because my mother is at work. Shot down four times. (is there a word that comes after thrice? cuz there should be.)

Finally, I have given up on the check and decided that I would just pull the money out of my savings account and have my mom redeposit the $150. At this point, I was extremely aggravated and I was suffering from a massive sinus headache (again).

ATM in the Campus Center (right as chapel is letting out): type in $150 cash withdrawl.....do you want a receipt...yes...receipt comes out, screen goes back to beginning....no money. That makes....five times shot down. By now, my stress level and emotions are on complete overload and I just started crying, pretty much uncontrollably. I finally talk to the wonderful deskworker extrodinaire, Julie, who knew exactly what happened. It was simply that the ATM only gives money in $20 increments. I go back to the ATM try again with $160, and Ta-da! I have money.
(thanks, Julie!)

The End...everything's fine...

...except for the fact that I'm an emotional basketcase and I'm still crying and I have to go to band. After insisting to several people through my continuing tears that everything is really fine now, I took a few minutes in the bathroom to wash off my face, slow my breathing down to a normal rate, and take some Excedrin for the headache.

I finally went in to band and made it through rehearsel, and I am actually in a very good mood now.

I'm going back to Honduras tomorrow! Yay!!

2006-03-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

My passport made it.... *big sigh of relief*

Random thing that I just heard a guy say as he was passing by:

"I just have to lift my leg..."

Gotta love only hearing one piece of a conversation...

The end

2006-03-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Jesiree and I wore the same shirt today...

A Day of Random Happy Moments

2006-03-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

- Becoming increasingly happy and excited because I am now going to Honduras for Spring Break, and it's basically completely paid for!!***

- Discovering a ladybug during chapel and watching it crawl all over my hands, and then on to my jeans, and then up to my propped up feet and toes...and after chapel I set it free on a bush outside the Bible building.

- It makes me happy when people come into the office looking for something they've lost and we have it. Today was especially exciting because a guy came in looking for his iPod that he left in chapel (basically expecting that it was stolen) and there it was in the drawer. I'm not sure...but I think he may have skipped down the hall out of joy. It made me feel like I did something good...even though I had nothing to do with finding it.

- I got a bloody nose at work (okay, it's not a particularly happy moment...but it was unusual, so it counts)

- Listening to Dr. Ash talk about the Chronicles of Narnia and use the voices of Puzzle and Reepicheep...and using the word "orgyastic" in his lecture in reference to the taste of the toffee from the toffee tree in The Magician's Nephew.

- Going to Third Rock for yummy chocolate ice cream.

- Discover the I Love Toys countdown on VH1...what a genius idea for a TV show!

- Being inspired by Amy to look through old photos from high school and such and post them on Facebook...it made me realize that growing out my bangs was one of the best decisions I've EVER made.

***So the whole Honduras thing....
First of all, it's amazing what God can do to turn you around and inside out and upside down in such a short amount of time. He has been so visible in so many ways since the last time I posted.

Friday night before our band concert...Carissa comes up to me and asks me if I want to go to Hoduras for Spring Break:

First thought: I had kinda planned on going to Houston...but I hadn't made concrete plans yet.
Second thought: There is no possible way I can afford a $1000 trip.

Carissa knew that I already had the shots and a passport because I've been to Honduras before, and she continued to tell me that she thought that by the support of several different sources, most of the trip could probably be covered. Not much time passed, and I was suddenly committed to going. I was a bit nervous about the money, but I knew God would take care of it. Most of Friday night I was laughing to myself because the situation seemed so crazy! I had told Carissa that I was willing to pay about $300 out of pocket, and she would work on finding support for the rest. She called me Saturday...$700+ was already completely covered. This did not include money that was coming from my home church. So basically, two days after I sign up to go on a trip I had never planned on going on, the cost is completely covered. GOD IS INCREDIBLY AMAZING!!!

I am so excited about the group that is going, and I am so excited about the things God is going to do!

I'm beginning to wonder what kind of role Honduras may have in my long-term future: this is the second time in less than a year that I'm going, and both trips have been 100% God's work and not mine. Two trips that were not planned in the long term, but that I was asked to go on. God is working on something, and I think it's gonna be big. I told myself after this summer that I would be going back to Honduras...and well, here I go!

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.
- Proverbs 19:21

2006-03-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I've failed miserably in the world of Blogdom...but I'm extremely bored at work, and I have absolutely nothing to do. So it's the beginning of March and it's something like 95 degrees outside. I have to say I am quite enjoying it, and I even walked to work today...but really...it's March! I wish I could leave and go play in the park.

As of Monday, I am completely finished with all of my internship/grad school applications. Everything is in the mail and out of my hands. That is a huge burden lifted off my shoulders, now I just have to keep myself from worrying about where I'm going to end up and let God take control of it.

Speaking of letting God take control...I realized this weekend just how out of control my life has been this semester. As weird as it sounds, I think the only thing that was keeping me sane was the fact that I was so busy. Between class, work, and Sing Song, I had very little time to actually think about anything else. Basically, as soon as my schedule opened up, the lonliness set in... I'm not gonna whine about it because I know it's entirely unreasonable...and I'm working through that. By the end of the weekend, I finally figured out that a big part of my problem is that gap that has grown increasingly wider between me and God. Once again...I'm still not through it, but I'm working on it.

Stephen and Rachael's wedding is this weekend. It should be a fun weekend.

2005-11-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is the Pillsbury Doughboy saying, "Hooray, Tracy is finally updating her blog!!"

So it's Friday afternoon, I'm at work and I'm pretty much the only one in the building...although there must be a game of some sort going on tonight because there is suddenly loud music coming from the coliseum.

It's already November...how is that possible. I am officially done with marching band forever. It's still a little weird..and it makes me sad. Band retreat is this weekend, and then I turn around and go to San Antonio on Monday for the State Marching competition. Yay for San Antonio!

(The loud music went away again...but I can still hear a basketball bouncing.)

Haha... So yesterday, I'm sitting at work and Dr. Ash, while taking a break from his running, sticks his head in the office and asks me where my ring is.... He's had me confused for another girl that I was in his class with me for several weeks now. Anywayz, he has it figured out now. He just poked his head in again and corrected himself: I am Tracy; She is Abby. Abby has a ring; I do not have a ring. And all is well with the world.

The semester: Other than being somewhat apathetic towards a few things (mostly schoolwork); It has been a fabulous semester and I've had lots of fun. Emotions have been a bit on overdrive because of some family situations, but despite the difficulty of those; we have all seen God working in a big way. My cousin's daughter Anika is nearly five months old now, and every single day is still a struggle with her health. Tim and I are headed to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. We signed up to be on a work crew from Southern Hills for the weekend, and we'll get to spend Thanksgiving with members of the New Orleans church.

I think that's all for now...I will attempt to keep this thing a bit more updated...but I'm not making any promises.

2005-08-18T23:24:00.000-06:00

Back in Abilene

Lovin the new house and the new roomies

Back in band...good times...lots of freshmen

Side note: Real life is not two-dimensional.

Honduras Summary

2005-08-01T23:38:00.000-06:00

*I'm taking this directly from the letter I'm sending to the people that helped support my trip...it gives a good quick summary of what we did.*

"We worked with an organization called Predisan, which means to preach and to heal. The purpose of Predisan is to develop and deliver integrated programs that improve the public health, the economic development, and the spiritual well-being of the families in the service area. In addition to The Good Samaritan Family Health Center located in Catacamas; Predisan also runs seven rural health centers. These rural clinics provide care to 11,000 people. Their vital activities include vaccinations, care for women’s health, monitoring child growth and development, control of disease and infection, and emergency first aid. One of the recent goals of Predisan is to certify these clinics under the new government standards. Once the clinics are certified, they will be eligible for more government funding.

We worked at the rural mountain clinic in Agua Caliente, about two hours from Catacamas. This clinic was the closest to meeting the certification requirements, and all it lacked was a proper ceiling. A properly installed ceiling would provide the clinic with better insulation and sanitation. The existing structure had a tin roof, and the rafters were all open. Our group spent the week installing support beams, and painting, cutting, and installing ceiling tiles. We were also able to paint the ceiling that had already been completed in two rooms of the clinic, and we were able to add trim to further seal the edges between the walls and the ceiling.

In addition to working at the clinic, we were able to visit one of the local elementary schools. We performed a skit depicting the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den, sang a few songs for the children, and left them some small gifts. It was such a blessing to see the joy in the lives of these children, knowing that they have so little."

And there you have it.

2005-07-31T22:37:00.000-06:00

Hallelujah, it is finished...and there was much rejoicing. yay.

I'm done, I e-mailed in my assignments for my maymester class. It is out of my hands..unless of course I missed something. I think I'm good to go, though.

July is over, so now I have two days to pack, and then I'm out. It was a good last weekend here.

2005-07-28T22:33:00.000-06:00

5 Years Ago I:
1. Spent Friday nights cruising downtown (sad, I know.)
2. Carried an "emergencies only" cell phone that weighed about as much as a brick.
3. Dated a Buddhist guy that was three years older than me
4. Drove an '89 Cavalier.
5. Worked at a candy store.

1 Year Ago I:
1. Visited my sisters in TN for two weeks.
2. Was living on my own for the first time.
3. Was ready for school to start.
4. Was working on my Kai-O scrapbook.
5. Had just recently caught on to blogging.

1 Week Ago I:
1. Was in Honduras
2. Rode down a scary mountain road in a Land Cruiser with 12 other people for two hours....and we never switched into 4-wheel drive.
3. Blew bubbles for the Honduran children.
4. Wanted to kill the rooster.
5. Painted a ceiling.

Yesterday I:
1. Bought a new pair of jeans
2. Watched my favorite episode of Gilmore Girls.
3. Hung out with the Youth Group
4. Got a decent amount of homework done.
5. Watched Jack Johnson perform on Leno.

Today I:
1. Got my Honduras pictures back. yay!
2. Shopped for wedding presents.
3. Watched several episodes of Roswell.
4. Did not get nearly as much homework done as I should have.
5. Opted out of going to the Big and Rich concert because I am poor.

Tomorrow I:
1. Need to get way more homework done.
2. Might just go to the youth group girl's night.
3. Should probably start packing.
4. Need to write some letters and some e-mails.
5. Will be increasingly ready to get back to Abilene.

Back

2005-07-27T23:19:00.000-06:00

Oh, by the way...I'm back from Honduras. It was a good week...a very good week. This week, though, my focus is getting done with my stuff for maymester. When I finish that, I'll come back and tell Honduras stories.

Mmm...my room smells like Honduran coffee. :-)

2005-07-14T23:00:00.000-06:00

Anywayz...so the suitcases are finally packed up in a somewhat logical order, and there's just enough room in my "personal item" carry-on to put in a very fat Harry Potter book. :-D

VBS in the morning, and then off we go. I had a few apprehensive moments yesterday thinking about the trip, but most of those have passed, and I'm starting to get pretty excited. I'm still amazed at how this whole opportunity came about, and I'm beginning to realize how much it has already blessed my summer. Despite many long hours of nothingness, I've been able to spend a lot of time with my old youth group, and get to know a lot of the people that were the youngest ones when I was still in high school. It's been good...really good.

I'll be home late next Saturday night, and I'm sure updates will come soon after.

Thanx for all the support and prayers.

2005-07-14T22:59:00.000-06:00

I hate packing.

Wes - "You look absolutely ridiculous." Me - "Thanks! That's the idea."

2005-07-13T13:34:00.000-06:00

2005-07-12T22:32:00.000-06:00

Yay for having too much fun with things like VBS. So a couple of the teens decided that it would be fun to dress really goofy for the whole week....sounds good to me! So after wimping out today, (mostly because I got up kinda late and didn't really have time to put together an 'outfit') I have prepared myself for tomorrow with a ridiculously goofy outfit. Now the key to this whole thing is taking clothes and other accessories that you already have and that are in themselves actually fairly normal and putting them in any ridiculous and clashing combination. This is especially important, considering that most of the stuff that I would generally use for this purpose (such as sing song costumes and other interesting things i've collected over the past few years) are all in Abilene. So here's the proposed outfit for tomorrow: tie-die dress that has been in the back of my closet for years that is actually pretty cute, but for some reason I have never actually worn it out in public before...tomorrow is the day for that; knee-high green striped socks with a wintry snowflake motif along the top; my multi-color sequin shoes (fondly known as "Tacy-shoes" by my two-year-old neice who absolutely loves them and wore them pretty much the entire time she was here); a couple Hawaiian flower leis that were in the storage closet of doom (who knows where they came from); and of course the $1.99 trucker hat (truly ghetto with foam front, cardboard brim, and plastic mesh) directly from Branson, MO. My five-year-old crew kids are gonna think I'm psycho...should be fun. And speaking of those kids, on Monday I had four girls..their names: Brenna, Jenna, Jana, and Jennifer...how weird is that? At least it was easier to remember.

So yeah...I'm definitely taking a camera tomorrow. Picture coming soon.
:-D

Happy Birthday Trevor!

"Apparently she's an adult now"

2005-07-10T22:37:00.000-06:00

So the sleep late and do nothing phase of my summer was officially over on Thursday. Thursday and Friday I spent most of the day at the church making decorations and such for VBS...I made a killer paper hippo....it looks like a grey pig. :-D
Weekend was good. Had a camp staff bbq friday night. Saw my friend Laura in Goldilocks and the 3 Bears as a brown-haired Goldie. Little kid plays are great. :-) Spent way too much money on food (yay for the new Buffalo wild wings in FC), Had a relaxing and enjoyable time.
Leave for Honduras Friday. Today was the sendoff at church. The missions deacon introduced me by saying "apparently she's an adult now". It made me smile.
VBS in the morning...so I should probably actually get some sleep.

2005-07-05T22:23:00.000-06:00

So I finished watching the entire Star Wars saga a couple days ago in the period of a little more than a week. And it's a good thing we finished watching it, cuz it's July now...and in my house that means that the only thing on our TV until July 24th will be the one and only Tour de France. I usually hate it, but this year, considering it's Lance's last professional race, I've actually watched quite a bit so far.

Yippee.

The Chickens are Restless

2005-06-30T23:36:00.000-06:00

...or maybe it's just me...

So June is over...that means there's only one month until August. Right now, a month seems like a really long time. 15 days until Honduras, which basically means I have 15 days to be completely restless. I suppose I'd be fine if I had a little bit of motivation to get stuff done..but I get distracted way too easily by things like sleep, tv, the internet, and the urge to shop for things I don't need....or maybe things I need/would like to have...but I don't have the money for them. I really need to just quit being lazy and actually call my friends and go out and do something.

No job = BOREDOM

It's okay though, VBS starts the 11th, leave for Honduras the 15th, return the 23rd, use the next several days to get stuff done and pack, and then head back to Abilene sometime between August 1st and August 4th.

Don't get me wrong...I love being home...I'm just not that great at time management when I have too much of it.

Yes, well, goodnight then...and happy July.

Haircut!

2005-06-23T14:35:00.000-06:00

2005-06-22T23:33:00.000-06:00

Baby Anika will undergo the first of three major heart surgeries tomorrow. It is a twelve-hour operation. Prayers are definitely appreciated.

Considering I got up at 11:30, today actually seemed like a somewhat productive day. I am done with 16 pages of mug shots in the YBP scrapbook...this thing is gonna be huge. And I finally heard back from the lady I'm supposed to be volunteering for this summer, so tomorrow I start that and find out what else/how much more I'm gonna get to do....Plus, I made another possible contact for some other nutrition volunteer experience...and this one relates to diabetes, which is awesome, cuz that's the direction I want to go eventually. I even played Frisbee golf tonight and didn't make a complete fool of myself....didn't even get the frisbee stuck in a tree...always a plus.

22 days until I leave for Honduras. (I know this because there are 23 days until Harry Potter 6 is released....I plan on buying the book in the Miami airport so I can start reading it on the plane.)

2005-06-21T22:55:00.000-06:00

I did it. I cut my hair. It's super short, and I like it. :-) And I finally got started on the band scrapbook today! I actually have 4 whole pages completely finished. That's super exciting to me.

Blessings and Prayers

2005-06-16T22:02:00.000-06:00

Ok, so camp was over nearly a week ago now, but it was a great week. It was my first experience as a camp counselor, and I was definitely blessed. Our whole group of about 25 junior high kids all got along wonderfully...which is pretty much amazing. There were all sorts of good times, and lots of blessings that we all learned from the life of David. Along with that, after all the rain we've had, the camp was absolutely beautiful and green and perfect....couldn't have been better.

More blessings: I'm going to Honduras! And not only that, I am the official "female chaperone"...ha. Seems a little bit odd to me, but ok. I know all of the girls that are going, so I'm not too worried. Otherwise I'm absolutely thrilled about the trip. We loaded up my car with junk tonight for our church garage sale to raise money for the trip. Now I just have to get a support letter in the mail.

And Prayers:
Anika Michelle Bott was born to Jason (my cousin) and Candace Bott on Saturday June 11. Since then, she has already had one heart surgery, and she has at least two more surgeries scheduled. The doctors think she might have Turner's Syndrome, which is a genetic defect in which all or part of one of the X chromosomes is missing. Prayers needed for Anika and for the strength of her family.

And prayers for Chris Brannan, who is recovering from surgery to remove an abcess from his brain. It is a long, tedious recovery.

Opportunity..

2005-06-01T23:47:00.000-06:00

So my church here at home just finished up their study of The Purpose Driven Life tonight at church. The discussion focused mostly on spiritual gifts and getting out and doing something like volunteering, out-reach or anything that might be of personal interest...find something you're passionate about, and keep doing it.

This sent my mind spinning a bit considering I'm doing the church camp counselor thing for the first time next week, which I'm mostly excited about, but also slightly terrified (much less terrified than I was a few weeks ago). But then, after next week, my summer plans are more than a bit unclear. I need to find some kind of job, I will most likely be doing some intern type volunteering, and I have to put together the YBP scrapbook (a daunting task). Those plans, though they should keep me occupied, seem so empty to me...isn't there something more?

Enter Opportunity (AKA God showing up in a big and obvious way):
After church, one of our deacons asked me if I would like to go to Honduras for a week in July.
First response: I just got back from Europe, there's no way I could afford another trip out of the country.
Conversation continues: The trip would only cost about $500 (possibly less) because of various funding from the church.
Where I am right now: I really really want to do it. I still don't even have $500, but I'd be willing to write a support letter tomorrow and put it in the mail. I really feel like God has opened a huge door here, and I don't want it to slip by.

Basically, I really need prayers about this one.

2005-05-26T16:42:00.000-06:00

Comin' home soon. It's about that time...I'm ready.

2005-05-24T03:26:00.000-06:00

We survived! My first completely independent vacation was a success. Paris was absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a hostel near the Sacre Coeur cathedral, and it turned out to be pretty nice. It wasn't exactly the best part of town, but considering that basically all we did was sleep there, and the subway station was about 1/2 a block away, it worked out great. Our train left Oxford at 5:20 in the morning, so our trip there was early and long. Once we braved our first subway experience, which was an adventure in itself because we had no idea what we were doing, we took a nap for a couple hours before we decided to venture out again. That evening we wandered around our neighborhood for awhile, went to the Sacre Coeur, and got dinner, which was a somewhat unpleasant experience just because we had no idea about the language or customs or anything. Once we got back, we went to bed early, but not before we took some time to learn our essential French phrases, which absolutely saved us for the rest of the trip.
Friday we went to Versailles and the Louvre. Versailles was incredibly beautiful and extravagant, and we spent a lot of time wandering around the acres and acres of gardens on the property. The Louvre really does require an entire day or more if you really want to experience the whole thing. I think we got through maybe half of it before we went outside for a break, and then decided we were too tired to go back in and keep going. It was still definitely worth what we saw, though. Before heading home, we walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower...which was a longer walk than we thought...and spent a little bit of time there. Saturday morning, our plan was to meet some other girls at the Eiffel Tower...but we never actually found them. It was a more realxed day that we spent mostly shopping, and we went back to the tower after it got dark. It's beautiful when the tower is lit up at night...we used nearly an entire roll of film just on pictures of the tower, so hopefully I got some pretty good ones. Sunday, our trip was already coming to an end, but we still had most of the day in Paris. There was a great little street market right outside our hotel, so we shopped there for awhile and made some great purchases. Then it was on to Notre Dame where we fed the birds outside and then went inside during Mass. Our last big stop for the day was the Musee D'Orsay, where most of the impressionist art is displayed. I think it was one of my favorite experiences because I absolutely love Renoir, Degas, Monet, VanGogh and the rest. I could spend hours examining every piece of their artwork.

Gotta go for now...we're headed to Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace)...that's the meat of the trip...minus all of the many interesting exeriences that we encounterd...hopefully I'll get to those later.

Oww!

2005-05-18T14:51:00.000-06:00

I have never walked so much in my life! Monday was our 11 mile walk along the Thames River, and it was absolutely exhausting. My feet had never been so sore.

We hit up a show in London last night...saw Mel Brook's show The Producers. It was absolutely hillarious. The whole London underground/train thing was a bit of an adventure too.

Took our test today...at least it's over.

Tomorrow we're off to Paris, bright and early. I'll be back late on Sunday...so until then...have fun and stuff....I knowI will.

2005-05-15T13:51:00.000-06:00

Wow, so it's been a little bit harder to get kept up with this thing every day like I wanted to. And of course, when it's been three days, it feels like a million things have happened. Friday was London, Saturday we got most of the day off in Oxford, and today we went to Woodstock.

The hi-lites of London were seeing the Globe Theatre and The Tower of London. Got to see the crown jewels and the biggest diamond in the world...as well as a whole bunch of really cool old castley stuff that goes right along with our class. I ate fish and chips for the first time for dinner that night...good...just greasy. The Globe was a really cool experience, because after taking the tour in the morning, we decided that we would come back that evening to watch a performance. The tickets were only£5, which is a really good deal...you just have to stand up the whole time. But that's just part of the authentic experience. Even though this building is only about ten years old, it was built using absolutely all of the historical specifications they had of the original Globe, with an open floor area where the 'groundlings' stand, and the balconies up above. We saw The Tempest, which I have actually seen before, but that was like 8th grade, so I hardly remembered it. It was a really interesting performance because three men played all of the characters. I was completely lost for awhile, but eventually figured out most of the plot.

Needless to say, by Saturday morning when we were in class at 9:00, we were exhausted. Luckily, we had the afternoon off, so almost everyone took a nap, and then I wandered around Oxford for awhile with a few from the group. We stopped by the Ashmoleon museum, shopped for awhile, and then went to Eagle and Child for dinner. It is the pub where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien often met together and wrote and whatnot. After giving up on going out, we came back and watched a movie, and ended up watching Elizabeth. We felt kinda nerdy, considering that we had just talked about Queen Elizabeth in class, and we were way excited to watch the movie, and we were constantly trying to figure out if it was accurate or not. It was actually very good, although I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much if I didn't know the history behind it.

Today, a few of us went to church at St. Aldates in Oxford. It is one of the only churches in Oxford that is actually thriving. I guess you could call it an Evangelical Anglican church. I really enjoyed the service. This afternoon, we went to Blenheim Palace in Woodstock. It is the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough (who have some relation to Princess Dianna) to this day. Winston Churchill was also born there. The palace was absolutely beautiful, but the best part of the experience was all of the gardens and grounds around the palace. We didn't even have enough time to wander through all of them, but it was a great place to just stop and lay in the sun on the great lawn.

I would love to post some pictures, but so far I haven't used my digital camera at all. I have, however, used 5 or 6 roles of film so far....if I ever do pick up the digital, I'll definitely try to get some pictures posted.

Tomorrow, we take our 11 mile walk along the Thames River, so I need to get some sleep.

Oxford...Trout...Warwick

2005-05-12T13:31:00.000-06:00

The last couple days have been so much fun and so very busy. The first evening we were here we took a walking tour of Oxford, but it wasn't exactly the most beneficial to everyone because we were so jetlagged. I went to bed at 8:00 that evening, so now I'm pretty much recovered from that. Yesterday evening, we took another walk to the outside of Oxford through some gorgeous fields and a couple small villages to see St. Margaret's church, a very old, very small little country church. After that, we went to The Trout restaurant and had some tasty English food.
Today was a great day, definitely my favorite so far. We took the train to Warwick and got to see a gorgeous church and tour the Warwick castle. It was great fun and we took lots of pictures. It was really nice because we got to do our own thing for most of the afternoon at the castle on our own. Afterwards, we got a tasty dinner and headed back on the train.
...so i'm not terribly detailed at the moment, but I'm getting sleepy and losing my train of thought...so...that's all for now.

2005-05-10T04:59:00.000-06:00

Made it to England...somewhat settled in. We're headed out on our first walk. More later.

2005-05-05T22:51:00.000-06:00

4 Days until England.

God's timing is kinda funny sometimes...but I have a feeling He know what He's doing.

The End.

Kah-Reer!

2005-05-04T23:26:00.000-06:00

Wow, I'm leaving for England in 5 days! Wow. And I officially decided today that I'm gonna go to Paris on our weekend off. Super thrilled about that one.

I also found out today that I don't have to pay rent for June and July. Super thrilled about that one too.

In the meantime...my room (actually the entire upstairs) is an absolute pit right now. I have absolutely no organization or motivation for packing and moving and whatnot. I FINALLY got a couple boxes from Tortuga tonight (hopefully no one minds too much) so now I can maybe pack slightly more efficiently.

Got the Bet Lat Soundtrack today...and a new copy of Grayskull Soundtrack. YES!

One final tomorrow, two on Friday...and I could care less about any of them. Ready to be done.

Not ready, on the other hand for people to be leaving or for me to be leaving and not seeing everyone for 3 months. (not to mention some of the people who are graduating, who knows when I might see them) Pretty freaked out about the fact that I'm gonna be doing the graduation thing in a year...yikes. At least I know that I'll have another year of an internship...if not more if I decide to do grad school...another scary thought. After that though...wow, I'm clueless.

We had a great night of impromptu ultimate. Lots of old schoolers showed up and it was good times. Then Curdit busted Phil's head open...ouch....it was a pretty gnarly gash. So most likely, Phil is going to have a face full of stitches (or at least a super-glued cut) for graduation. It was pretty hard-core...and he seemed pretty okay. (I just used the word 'pretty' three times in two sentences...pretty bad at this word variation thing)

That's about all I got left in my train of thought...I don't really feel like going to sleep right now...maybe I'll go look at Facebook...Stupid Facebook!

2005-04-16T23:41:00.000-06:00

I liked today. It was good. I went to the zoo and I got to see the G-Rafs and the LE-Fants and big fish. I got sunburned, but that's okay cuz it was a
B-utiful day. Watched several hours of softball...I think the Gamma Banana was my favorite...

2005-04-10T15:26:00.000-06:00

I have a lot of laundry to do.
I have a lot of studying to do....

I think I'll call my good friend Trevor.

Playing Tourist...

2005-03-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

So Spring Break was great...I got to go home! And Jez and Amanda got to come too. 2000 miles later, I am back in Abilene...and I actually have to start using my brain again.

Some Highlights:
~Road trippin'
~Passing the Denver SBC (there and back), Sarah and Eric, random Harding people, and the FC Vineyard YG
~Supporting consumer America
~Muhkahna, Pahruki, and Wayne
~Our new friends from New Jersey
~Jammin' to Relient K, Jack Johnson, and Moose Songs
~Free hairnets and tea at Celestial Seasonings
~Casa Bonita - all you can eat sopapillas
~Walking on Bear Lake, Climbing a waterfall
~Ghetto Hot Springs
~Brandy in Idaho Springs...of all places...random
~The Pirate Movie

So yeah, it was a good week, very fun, very full, very relaxing.

2005-03-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

Jack Johnson has a new album out...that makes me smile :-)

ADV Nutritionase - the enzyme that's killing my GPA. Took Test #2 today. Had to memorize lots of enzyme names...pretty sure I made up a few make-believe enzymes. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I at least did better than last time. Besides, God provides, and it will all work out no matter how I did on one test. And now that it's out of the way, I might actually go to bed early tonight!

Spring Break is so soon...couldn't come fast enough.

2005-02-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Sigma Pi Phi has come one step farther towards actual existence: We now have a bulletin board. Check it out in the Sprout...

Annoyance of the day: the dull roar of whispers during chapel

blessings

2005-02-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

So, Spring Break is next week...How did that happen? That means that February, the busiest month on the ACU campus is almost over. Some amazing things have happened in this month. The whole TMEA experience was incredible. To play on that stage in San Antonio was an emotionally spiritual event that is 100% credited to the glory of God.

" ...we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds intself up in love, as each part does its work." ~Ephesians 4:15,16

After playing those songs over and over again for 2 months, it was bittersweet to play them for the last time during our lectureship concert. The Bach chorale we played/sang almost made me cry. (again) The words to that song are so powerful:

Who puts his trust in God most just

Hath built his house securely

He who relies on Jesus Christ

Shall reach his heaven most surely

Then fixed on Thee, my trust shall be

For thy truth cannot alter

While mine thou art

Not death's worst smart

Shall make my courage falter

Sing Song has also come and gone. It too was a huge blessing with all credit given to God's glory. Alpha kai Omega worked hard, praised God, had fun, and loved every minute. And apparently it showed. The audience loved us, and for the first time in club history we placed first in the Presentation category. We were Thrilled!

I read all of these verses/excerpts one night earlier this week. God has been challenging a lot of things in my life in the past few weeks, calling me to a life of holiness.

The word Holy means "to separate". It comes from an ancient word meaning "to cut". To be holy, then, is to be a cut above the norm, superior, extraordinary... ~Max Lucado

"Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, HOLY and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1,2

"Just as He who called you is HOLY, so be HOLY in all you do; for it is written: "Be HOLY, because I AM HOLY." 1 Peter 1:15,16

Be blessed.

Independence and Purpose

2005-01-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

Independence: What I have learned in the past two weeks due to various life circumstances such as dead rats and break-ups.

Purpose: What I have discovered that my life has. This all came about starting Sunday night when I found out about the Highland accident. The car swerved off the road, over-corrected, and rolled several times killing one 11-year-old boy, and injuring everyone else in the car. When I heard this, my mind instantly returned to high school, returning from our youth group senior trip. A truck appeared to be drifting into our lane, the driver swerved to avoid it, over-corrected, the truck struck the side of the car and we spun and ended up in the median on the side of the road. All of us walked away without a scratch. Even at that time, the cop told us that there had recently been similar accidents in that area that were fatal because the car rolled. The hill coming down from the overpass had probably kept our car from rolling....better yet, God had kept our car from rolling.
Returning to now, I couldn't help but ask why the Highland accident was so horrible, and ours wasn't. I can't fully answer this question, but I do know that God was ready to take Brody Borland home. As for the rest of us, God has left us here for a reason. Whether we know what that reason is or not, our goal should be to live our lives pursuing God's purpose.

- Jeremiah 29:11,12 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."

...suddenly dead rats and break-ups don't seem so important any more.

Sugar High Holidays

2004-12-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

There are way too many sweets in this house. Mom and I spent all this past week baking...I don't even want to know how many pounds of sugar we've used.

So the whirlwind Christmas weekend is finally coming to a close. After Kari's family came in Thursday, we went to pick up Amy at the airport Friday morning. We met some friends from Denver for lunch at the Chili's with the worst service ever....I could list everything that went wrong, but I won't. Needless to say, we won't go to that Chili's again. We're one of those families that opens family presents all on Christmas Eve, so when we got home, Amy spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping presents, and Kari and I did some last minute shopping. By the end of the night, Kari and I had gotten the exact same or very similar presents for nearly every member of the family. She got Kaedyn the same toy I did (it was exchanged before presents were opened), we got the same book for my mom, we both got my dad slippers (at least they weren't the same ones), and we got the same stuffed dog for Amy, and she got me the same giraffe I got for Lisa. That aspect made opening presents pretty entertaining. On the receiving end, I was pretty well satisfied. The biggest and most exciting present I got is that I get to go to Oxford for Maymester!! Super excited about that one. Got a new coat, a printer, couple other little things. Good Christmas. Santa came Christmas morning for Kaybre and Kaedyn and most of Christmas day was spent eating food, watching the Broncos finally win (we knew they would because of the pretty blue and orange Bronco sunset), and hangin out with the family. Church this morning, followed by an always interesting brunch with my girls. Spent the afternoon decorating what seemed like thousands of cookies...it got a little chaotic, especially when Amy launched the frosting covered egg beaters at me. And finally, tonight was the extended family Christmas with my dad's side of the family. More good food, Kari and I got Grandma the same pair of socks, more presents, etc. Kaybre got a Chicken Dance Cookie Monster...she enjoyed watching it dance and wobble around....as long as it wasn't walking towards her...then she was terrified. The best toy of the night was of course the simplest...stacking boxes. Kaedyn made the tower, Kaybre knocked it down...hours of fun.
And that's Christmas. It's been tons of fun having the nieces running around the house, it's hours of free entertainment. Every time I come home, I cherish family time more and more, and sometimes, it makes it pretty hard to leave. It's hard to believe that I have to head back to Abilene in a little over a week...but hey, I can't wait to get back and see everybody.

2004-12-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

Christmas Sunset

2004-12-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

So it's official. The first of my ex-boyfriend's (that I know of) is engaged...and to a girl that I was pretty good friends with in high school. I'm actually very excited for them.

Tonight was my high school's Christmas concert, and of course, being the music nerd that I am, I went. I was pretty impressed...it looks like the music program has grown quite a bit, especially considering that a new high school just opened this year, so they probably lost some people that way. And to continue my nerdiness, I talked to my band director afterwards, and I'm gonna go watch the band rehearse tomorrow...bright and early...7:38AM.

And since I'll be up, my goal of tomorrow is to finish my Christmas shopping. I want to be done...shopping has been giving me a headache.

k, bedtime.

Home

2004-12-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

I am Home.
It's a good feeling.
Finals are over.
I made it through another semester.
I contributed my time to the 24-hour-Smat-a-thon.
I am officially a senior!?!
I miss my friends.

The last _____ of the semester

2004-12-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

There have been a lot of those statements in the past couple weeks. The last Kai-O meeting, the last micro class, the last band rehearsel, etc, etc, etc. Today consisted of a couple of those: the last day off, the last trip to the mall (or at least I sure hope so, I've been such a mall rat lately), the last greasy pizza hut pizza, the last HIP.
I guess this shows how life can become so routine. Every day we expect the same things...and yet, every day is a day of firsts. These may be the little things, but they are always there. Like today:
It was the first time I've ever seen a man pull over on the side of the road just to throw a six-pack of empty beer bottles into the creek...what goes through people's minds when they do stuff like that. It probably took so much more effort to do that than to throw them in a trash can.
It was also the first time I've ever seen (pictures of) a dishwasher overflowing with soap suds. Here's a tip, don't use liquid dish soap.

So I'm not exactly sure if there is much of a point to this...I guess it's just one way of saying that I am blessed...or that every ending has a new beginning, or maybe that you should always look for the little experiences in life that keep things interesting...I dunno...take it how you please, and there it is.

2004-12-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

So, I figure a month is a long enough break from updating. It's not so much that I didn't want to...just that I didn't want to take the time to do it.

Some hi-lites of the month of November:

God is amazing, and when you least expect it, He gives you exactly what you need.
Band retreat: The Juniors may not be able to catch a frisbee, block a spike, or win a relay (without cheating), but we can lay down some great lyrics. --- I am dating Napoleon Dynamite. --- Dustin and Chris Brannan...dangerous combination...watch out for flying tennis balls. --- If you're not careful, a hooded sweatshirt can easily become a straightjacket. --- West Texas really does have Fall! ---
Thanksgiving: Hooray for obscure relatives and shopping in small town Oklahoma. The nieces get cuter every time I see them. Kaboose and Kabooli (the puppies) have joined the Wright family.
Tests, projects, papers, practicum...finals are upon us.
I finished all of the devotionals from the OT in my devotional Bible. This is super exciting for me, because I've actually kept up with my daily Bible reading for six months. It has definitely been a blessing. On to the New Testament.

A good month, I would say. Now, it's December, and even in the first week, it has been far from dull. This weekend was jam packed with festivities from movies to gingerbread to firecrackers to mistletoe to Oplin to Elmer "phd". Good times.

Now two finals are done, three are left. I have a day off to recoop before the other three. Today was odd, Micro final wasn't too bad, strangely, like 5 of the questions were on the test twice. Kinda weird, but I'm okay with that cuz those questions were all pretty easy. One more science class finished. Hooray.

There, I am no longer a slacker.

Bittersweet Symphony

2004-11-07T23:25:00.000-07:00

For many on the ACU campus, the moment in college life that is filled with the most apprehension and anticipation is the night social club bids are distributed. There is laughing, crying, screams of joy and jumping up and down, (well, at least in the girls dorms..it's a scary place to be) heartbreak, and disappointment.
A much lesser known, but equally, if not more, bittersweet night is the night that the ACU Wind Ensemble audition results are posted. And for these people, this night doesn't come once, but four times (or more) in their college career. With around 30 people waiting, the list went up at 11 pm after many had been waiting or checking in most of the day. The reactions, though, differed somewhat from those of bidnight. The most common emotions were relief (combined with concern for those who didn't make it) and disappointment.
With the results:
I am excited to be a part of the wind ensemble again.
For those who are in concert band, I know it's going to be an awesome season, there is a lot of talent in that group...have fun with it.

Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ~1 Cor. 10:31

And one more thing

2004-11-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

The unofficial song of the weekend:

White Christmas

kthx Roomate...it is eternally in my head...

Fun Times

2004-11-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Arrgg...Computers take all the fun out of this kind of stuff. I actually had progress on a blog and of course my computer froze. Oh the wonders of technology.

I think I just got done blaming my absence on blogger's block, therefore skipping any interesting occurrences of the last two weeks including Homecoming and the conclusion of pledging.

Fall break is the intended focus of this blog:

Fall break 2004: Sigma Pi Phi roadtrip to Kingsville and Corpus Christi with approximately 35 friends...and of course friends of friends.

Thursday: The leaving
The caravan dwindled to two cars with the change of plans of others in the group. The parking lot median attacked us before we could even leave. Eventually, after the fear of a gas leak that turned out to be just car computer confusion, we were on our way...only about an hour and a half delayed. Several rounds of 20 questions, dinner in Brady, a gas stop in San Antonio, and a few power naps later, we made it to Kingsville. Exit car, enter humid jungle of South Texas, exit humid jungle, enter arctic tundra of the community center where we stayed. Settled in, and finally got to sleep after the football and volleyball were stolen from the boys so they would stop making noise.

Friday: The Beach
Good times including smashing jellyfish, feeding seagulls, burying EC, oyster races, sand castles, waves, and volleyball. Lots of sun and sand, and I escaped with minimal sunburns. Dinner at the Fullbright's...I still don't really know what I ate. I know there was turkey...and sausage...but as to what the sausage was made of, I have no idea. The moon was painted...by most...and many items were packed for our future trip...also to the moon. Can I take Tortuga? Late night activities included Murder in the Dark, random other games, and also some random (much needed) girl talk.

Saturday: The day of indecision
The plan: to split up and do what you want, either the beach, the aquarium, or the mall. My choice, the aquarium...sounded fun to me...yay fish. Lunch was a stop at "Subway Subway Subway!!" Aquarium was fun...cute blowfish looked like a cabbage patch doll, blue lobster was 1 in 5 million, jellyfish are colorful, dolphins are smart, wrestled concrete alligators... Came back, ate good pizza, watched ACU beat A&M Kingsville...for half the game, went to The Grudge, dressed up everybody to go to Whataburger, had a talk.., more "girly" moments, bed.

Sunday: Good church, Good food, more driving
Gotta love small town churches where the football game is brought up in class/service at least five times. Potluck...gimme some fried chicken and a dessert plate and I'm good to go. Drive home, play more 20 questions, drive through some rain, get a phone call from Mark about the broken jaw that wasn't broken...that was a mean joke...Made it home alive.

I survived Corpus Christi 2004.

The End...

Thought of the day

2004-10-17T22:23:00.000-06:00

This comment was made in class this morning in reference to James 2:14-26: Faith without deeds is dead:

"You may be rejected when sharing your faith with someone, but if you share your faith by your actions through service, you will not be rejected."

A good weekend

2004-10-17T21:58:00.000-06:00

So it turns out that dressing as the game pieces from "The Game of Life" was not a unique idea at all. Next year's grub...i'm going all out...I will have a unique costume, and it will be awesome. I definitely enjoyed the hour of grub I attended: running around, getting all of the necessary pictures taken, sprinting across a very crowded room to grab one of the first pizzas so Justin and I can eat and run; all very fun. And eat and run we did, I was basically stuffing my second slice of pizza in my mouth while I was driving to the orchestra concert, it was awesome. After a quick costume change in the car, there was the orchestra concert. It actually went quite well, definitely one of the best orchestra concerts since I've been here. Then there was the return home, Toy Story 2, the sticky bat incident (which, by the way, is still thouroughly stuck to the ceiling), some spilled water, and bed.

Saturday was good. After skipping out on our club activity a little early, got to watch the miniscule McMurray band perform Veggie Tales at UIL. As for our performance later that day, I think it went well. There was absolutely no wind, which is always a miraculous occurence in west Texas, and it made life as a guard member much easier.

Ah, IW. So there may not be a consistent definition of "independent" anymore, we are still independent women. We can still eat lots of food...whether it is Yummy Mexican food, or even yummier junkfood; we can discover that attempting to wax your legs really isn't worth it at all; we can watch the two girliest movies of the year (Mean Girls and 13 Going on 30) and laugh and cry and never feel awkward about it; we can feel victorious in the fact that the girls of RELM are fabulous pranksters; we can giggle with glee that Katrina is finally engaged to Mark; and it is all a beautiful thing.

Hypothesis: it is a great idea to go to early service, come home and take a nap, then have the rest of the afternoon to actually accomplish something.
Conclusion: It's Sunday afternoon, no matter what, I will not accomplish anything of any value whatsoever, I should really just learn to accept that.

2004-10-14T22:31:00.000-06:00

Wow. That's about the only way I can describe this week:

I found out Tuesday that my little sis' decided to depledge. I am glad that I got the chance to know her better during pledging, and I hope that doesn't change. I am sad that she is gone, but I respect her decision.

Tuesday night was hard after finding out that Dr. Trevathan passed away. I only met him one time at the Sullivan's, but I was blessed by that experience. I have heard so many wonderful things about him, and I had planned on taking his sociology class this spring. I know that his family and his students will celebrate his life in his passing.

Lisa is back! She got back at about 12:30 last night. I missed her a lot.

Mark and Katrina are engaged! It really was the biggest Bean Sprout night ever. I am so excited for them.

And a quick note...

2004-10-11T22:11:00.000-06:00

I have decided that I am removing the word "busy" from my daily vocabulary. I am not too busy to finish tomorrow's assignment, and I am definitely not too busy to spend time with God.

Tut, Tut, it looks like rain

2004-10-11T21:58:00.000-06:00

I love our girl's Bible study. It makes for a wonderful Spirit-filled start every week, and I have already seen God do some amazing things in this group.

Tonight, a little quote stuck out to me:

"If you're going to pray for rain, you'd better carry your umbrella."

God is fabulous.

Grumpiness, junkfood, and a sore nose

2004-10-09T22:39:00.000-06:00

My definition of grumpy: the kind of bad mood you might have when you are tired, hot, hungry, and overall just annoyed with mankind. You feel this way, and you know it's silly, but you refuse to be in a better mood, because a bad mood just seems like a much better option at the time.
And after a 10:00 guard sectional, followed by a hard-core pre-game rehearsel with sprinting across the field and hot sweatiness; and of course getting chocolate smeared all over my arm, it's only natural right?
So once the football game started, I got over the grumpiness pretty quick, and actually enjoyed the game quite a bit. I had food in my belly (a hot dog and cheetos), I found out that OU beat UT (go OU!), and after a pretty pitiful first half, ACU pulled out a win over an 0-6 team. Of course that doesn't include our halftime performance. It actually went pretty well, I felt pretty good about MOST of my personal performance, minus the double toss that i dropped on my face at the end of our second song. (I hate West Texas wind) OW, that one hurt a whole lot, and I sure did have to just keep marching. Luckily, the bleeding was minor enough that I didn't even notice it until I got off the field, but my nose sure is tender still. It makes for a good story tho, I think that's the first time I've actually hurt myself during a performance.
Today was the type of day that being a Nutrition major isn't much fun, cuz I just feel horribly guilty about everything I ate today. Okay, so I had my typical ceral bar breakfast...not too bad...but then there was the hot dog and cheetos for lunch, various other snacks throughout the game, pizza for dinner, heavily buttered popcorn and cookies and a brownie. If it wasn't for my two glasses of milk, I think I might feel like a complete failure. Oh well, such is life.

Rain

2004-10-07T22:03:00.000-06:00

So I'm starting to think that God must be bored with normal weather, so He's having some fun mixin things up a bit. Seriously...it's raining, two hours later it's 85 degrees, two more hours, raining again...for four days straight. And back in Colorado, 11 tornados touched down between Greeley and Denver. (including one right down the street from my aunt and uncle) Tornados in Colorado in October, that's just weird. But hey, as long as God is keepin up safe, I'm cool with a little creative weather.
It's kinda like our lives. Sometimes God just has to mix things up a little bit. It keeps us on our toes, maybe sometimes drives us a little crazy, but overall it makes us stronger, keeps us faithful.

So....here's to craziness...yeah.

He makes all things new

2004-10-03T21:43:00.000-06:00

Dear Father,

I need you,

Your strength, my heart to mend,

I want to fly higher

Every New Day again

....

Man versus himself

man versus machine

man versus the world

mankind versus me

the struggles go on

the wisdom i lack

the burdens keep piling

up on my back

so hard to breathe

to take the step

the mountain is high

i wait in the depths

yearning for grace

and hoping for peace

Dear God increase

--Five Iron Frenzy

"Every New Day"

Get me off this roller coaster

2004-10-01T23:52:00.000-06:00

Well, the internet is still being retarded on my computer, so here I am using my roomie's while she's at home this weekend.

Emotions have been running on overload this week. Overall, it was a good one, I didn't really have any tests, so the school part of it was fairly unstressful. I've been generally happy this week, there have been many happy moments, such as going to see Napoleon Dynamite for the second time. I try not to think about the fact that I have already spent $14.50 on that movie....cuz wow that's a lot of money.
When it comes to the events of the rest of the week, they have ranged from personal stresses and general over-reactions, to being on both sides of a rough situation that does not need to be talked about, to overwhelming empathy for the greving of friends. All I can say right now is that GREAT GREAT prayer is needed in all of these situations; satan is attacking our lives. In these prayers, always remember that God is in control no matter what, and he can do great things with our lives if we let him.

--- Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2,3 ---

Football Makes Me Happy

2004-09-21T22:20:00.000-06:00

Life without cable has been somewhat of an adjustment for me. Really, it's probably good that we don't have TV because it would probably always be on. I do, however, very much miss watching my sports. At least I don't have to worry about not being able to see hockey games, cuz those sure are out of the picture this year. As the NHL goes down the hole, a gap is left in my heart....but, alas, it is Intramural football season. I have three teams that have my full support: the Big Purple guys team, the Big Purple girls team, and of course Alpha Kai Omega (who, by the way, sure did beat the Kojies tonight, I was very happy). Every once in awhile I might even stop by at a Pike or GSP game if I feel so inclined to do so. So at least for the next several weeks, I will have no worries of having no TV, because I can spend all the time I want (in which I should probably be studying) watching Intramural football.

On a different note, it turns out that the ACO (Abilene Collegiate Orchestra) really is trying to take over my life. Our first concert is in just a few weeks, on October 15. Ok, yeah, great, whatever....the problem: not only in October 15 a Friday (who schedules concerts on Fridays, seriously) but it is also the night of AkaiO's grub. There is anger and sadness, yes, but I am determined to make it work. One way or another I will go to both...

2004-09-19T21:57:00.000-06:00

Okay, So I was wrong about the Texas liscense plate thing. I guess Texas is actually okay in that aspect.

Life is going to start to get crazy this week.

Lord help me to focus on You above everything else in these crazy times....my mind has a tendency to wander.

God is my Alarm Clock

2004-09-16T22:22:00.000-06:00

So it's been awhile...I've been a bit busy this week focusing on my Microbiology test that I took this morning. I was quite relieved that it was not nearly as hard as I expected it to be. The rest of my day turned out to be pretty interesting. I ate breakfast at the Bean today...a little weird, I know but there's no way I'm gonna use all of my bean bucks so I figured I may as well. Micro lab was cancelled, so naturally I went home to chill before chapel. So on my way to chapel, I'm driving around looking for a parking spot, and I sure did get backed into. Always a good feeling. I was sitting behind this girl for like 30 seconds and then she decided she was gonna back up...definitely didn't ever see me. Luckily, her back bumper went directly into my front liscense plate and did no damage to my car, and only slightly scratched hers...Just think, if I were a Texan, I wouldn't have a liscense plate on my front bumper, and I'd probably have a nice pretty dent in my car. Ha! Texas loses again!
I took my second attempt at a nap after class and before orchestra...this was a good nap...apparently too good, I was out cold. So I set my alarm on my phone for 3:30, which gave me plenty of time to be awake and be to orchestra by 4:10. Of course, the automatic reflex was to turn off my alarm as soon as it went off, and naturally, fall back asleep. Half hour later, I hear an alarm, realize it's 4:00, jump out of bed and drive to orchestra...but wait, I turned my phone alarm off, my regular alarm clock was off...there was no alarm. Apparently the alarm clock I heard was in my dream, conveniently right when I needed to wake up and leave. How cool is that? God works in some fun ways...just enough to confuse us a little, and then get on with our day.

Many Birthdays

2004-09-05T01:46:00.000-06:00

In summary of my weekend outings:

Happy birthday Stephen
Happy birthday Philip
Happy birthday Adrienne
Happy birthday Kendra
Happy birthday Melanie

And if there's anyone else who has a birthday during the first week of September, Happy birthday to you as well.

Dilemma of the Day

2004-09-02T22:59:00.000-06:00

Question: Should I play on the YBP intramural football team?

Pros:
-Something new and totally different, i don't know if I've ever actually played a real game of football outside of Jr high PE.
-I would get a t-shirt, and that's what ACU is all about.
-They need more girls, the more girls there are, the cheaper it'll be

Cons:
-I am the most uncompetetive person ever.
-Every other girl that wants to play is apparently out for blood....no really...i'm a little scared
-$225 per team...dang that's a lot o' money, and I don't got none, I po.
-I'm not even excited about it
-The last time I played for an intramural team, I only made it to one game. Actually, it was more like half of a game.

Yeah, so that's lookin like a no. It's official, I'm not going to do it.

....talk to me in about a week once the deadline comes around...if I say that I'm playing football, I am officially the world's biggest pushover.

Fabulous

2004-08-31T22:45:00.000-06:00

It's amesome how an amazingly uplifting Bible study one night can make life marvelously pleasant the next day. I am very excited to finally be involved in a girl's Bible study again, and I know God will do incredible things through it.

The simple perks of life made today a great day.
After two weeks of an unfinished desk being stewn about my bedroom floor, my replacement part came in and I was able to finish building it.
I got to go bowling (for free) and I finally broke 100 again for the first time since my bowling class Freshman year.
Old school ultimate - hooray!
...and of course my first games of SMAT of the semester.

A good day.

An Empty Room

2004-08-27T21:25:00.000-06:00

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
- Jeremiah 29:11

"He gives strength to the weary and increases power to the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
- Isaiah 40:29-31

Words of marvelous hope in times of great trial.

Lisa, you are loved.

"Big Purple is Watching"

2004-08-26T23:14:00.000-06:00

In the three weeks that I have been back in Abilene, I think approximately 99% of my time has been devoted to band. Whether leadership training, welcome week, picture taking, rehearsing, spinning a flag...all to Big Purple. This week alone, in order to finish the photo directory, I have taken five trips to Eckerd to drop off, pick up, re-drop off, re-pick up, and re-pick up my pictures. This adventure also included an extra trip to Super Wal-Mart becuause the regular Wal-mart was out of white tagboard. (who runs out of white tagboard, seriously) So now, finally after approximately one bottle of rubber cement and other glue products, various afternoon games of 'guess that torso', living amidst a sea of black and purple paper scraps, and a pre-ultimate trip to the bandhall: It Is Finished.

Come to find out, the Big Purple is not the only music program that controls my life. All summer, I kept telling myself:
I am not going to do orchestra,
I will not do orchestra,
I shouldn't have to do orchestra because I work on Tuesdays,
If there is another bassoon I won't do orchestra,
If there are two bassoons I won't do orchestra,
I'll see if anyone auditions and then decide if I'll do orchestra,
I'll talk to Mr. Issacson and see if he needs me to be in orchestra.
- see the deterieration of confidence here? needless to say, I am now in orchestra.

The moral of the story is: God made me a band nerd, and I will always be a band nerd. Praise God for band nerds. What would the world be without them?

Reflection

2004-07-12T23:21:00.000-06:00

Well, the Colorado portion of my summer is quickly coming to a close, and I now sit in the somewhat organized chaos of my half-packed room to reflect on the last six weeks.
Here are several things I have observed:
- It's okay to spend the weekend at home.
- Comfort is often found in the familiarity of the past.
- I am addicted to bargain shopping.
- There is rarely a dull moment at work when the boss is on vacation.
- Hollywood makes some really horrible movies. (ie. Torque)
- For many, "July 4th is just an excuse to get drunk and blow things up."
- No matter what the weather is, there's always someone complaining about it.
- Road trips are always worth it.
- People change, but true friendships stay the same.
- God makes things work out the way they need to.
- Family time is the best time.
- I am way too much of a perfectionist when it comes to my scrapbooks.
- There is never enough time.
- Just because Big City Burrito tastes good, doesn't mean that it won't make you sick.
- Once you accecpt that life changes, that is when you start living it.

2004-07-11T23:28:00.000-06:00

The perspective of the basketball hoop in this picture is really messin' with my head.

Kids are Cute

2004-07-06T23:16:00.000-06:00

So I was sitting at Red Robin tonight eating dinner with the girls, and I realized I had a message on my phone. This is what it said (in choppy little girl voice):

"hi tracy. hi tracy. this is kaedyn. i want to talk to you on your phone. call me sometime. i love you. bye bye."

That is the cutest thing I've heard in a long time. I think this message was a breakthrough for my 4 year old niece...she hardly ever talks on the phone. Apparently she had wanted to talk to her aunt Tracy all day. I just hope when I call tomorrow for my sister's birthday she'll still be in the mood to talk.

Exploding Soup

2004-07-02T23:08:00.000-06:00

I burned my hand on the potato soup at work today. How genius is that? I was grabbing it out of the microwave, and before I could get it to level ground the hot steam got to me, and woops, it slipped out of my hand. The impending splash covered most of the microwave, the countertop, and of course me. My right hand was scalded, and my shirt was crusted with soup. Luckily the container didn't actually tip over, so much of the soup was saved at the sacrifice of my hand. It stung for most of the night, and now it basically feels like a bad sunburn, especially if anything hot touches it. Ow, mega sting.
Ya know, I made through all of last summer without any major incidents at work. This summer, my first night back I cut myself on the slicer, and now this.

life

2004-07-01T00:44:00.000-06:00

Does it make you stronger to know that you can't have something you want? Because it really seems like it would just be much easier to just not want it any more. I suppose the trick is figuring out how to make yourself not want it...but after four years, I'm still clueless.

Peek-A-Boo

2004-06-30T13:24:00.000-06:00

It's so nice to have a child-like moment in the "adult" working world. Today was the first day of the boss’ vacation, which basically leaves 7 college students to run a sandwich shop for a week and a half. Wow, that has reality TV written all over it. When Dave, the stereotypical stoner type, came in this afternoon, he immediately grabbed the giant bouncy ball and put the cleaning bucket at the opposite end of the kitchen. Impressively, the ball bounced right in on the first try. It was shortly after this that the ball lost all control, and I fled the scene before extensive damage was done. I'd say the week looks promising.
My return to childhood occurred today between the hours of 2 and 4 PM when very few normal American people venture out to enjoy a meal...in other words, it was quite slow. But one family, including a three or four year old boy, decided to break the mold and enjoy a mid-afternoon meal. Not surprisingly, this boy lost interest in his lunch very quickly and took to wandering about the restaurant to keep himself occupied. He started out standing behind the wall that separates the dining area from the back counter...and I saw a head poke slowly out from the wall, but naturally, as soon as he caught my eye and I smiled, he quickly withdrew. This continued repeated for a few minutes, and then, instead of a head, I saw a small foot creep out from behind the wall. He then moved to the edge of the front counter where I could see only a forehead and a set of curious eyes, and finally he moved to behind the half-wall and stood on a chair and again bobbed his head up over the wall and immediately out of sight again. It was a very fun game...and all I had to do was catch his eye and smile.

The Beginning

2004-06-28T23:31:00.000-06:00

Well, I've decided to try out this whole blogging thing. It's hard to say how long it will last, but it could be fun.
I'm beginning to realize that I have only 14 more days in Colorado this summer, and starting tomorrow, I'm working 12 of those days without a day off. I spent my last weekend off with Lisa and Carly visiting Dustin (who, by the way, is again just a friend) and Luke at (along with a handful of other ACU people) at Camp Blue Haven in New Mexico. It was an uneventful, but still entertaining weekend, especially knowing that Luke is still clueless that the mystery love note he found was written by us. HA! And who can go wrong with a weekend camping at the local KOA, even with torrential rain for most of the weekend.
Life in Fort Collins is definitely different now, but I have been blessed with being content in the ways things are now. I have been able to spend a lot of time with my parents, which has become more and more important to me since I went to Abilene. I did get to see several friends from high school for awhile last week. I even had a very UNCOE-esque conversation with my friend Trey after mentioning the pirate-ninja party. He went into a very excited and descriptive account of how awesome ninjas are and that pirates and ninjas are constantly fighting, yet no one ever wins, because they are both equally dominant. It held true to the infamous March competition which was only won after a shocking tie between the pirates and the ninjas. That was by far the highlight of my week.

Now comes sleep so I can work hard and sell lots of sandwiches.