New Year's Eve

I'm leaving in a few moments for Plano to attend a New Year's gathering with some friends.

Lots has happened since last we talked.

Well, I'll be seeing you. Perhaps I'll come back with some New Year's Resolutions I've decided on. Perhaps I'll tell you what they are.

Quesadilla

I got a quesadilla maker from my mom for Christmas. It's like a waffle maker but....for quesadillas. So today, instead of my usual half a turkey sandwich with Baked Nacho Cheese Doritos, I made myself a quesadilla for lunch. For lack of other ingredients, I just grated myself some cheese and had myself a pretty tasty cheese quesadilla. And, not being able to find salsa, I dipped it in ranch (because, like a wise man once said, everything is better with ranch). And I'm satisfied. So far today has been quite an adventure.

Later today I got to MidWinter and will be gone until Friday. Just so you know.

Buon Natale!

The living room is littered with gifts and wrapping paper; my stomach is full of pancakes and biscuits and bacon and eggs and orange juice and coffee. It must be Christmas.



We wrapped Shiloh...


And there is now only one Christmas gift left under the tree. It looks so lonely...

"Don't you wish you're girlfriend was hot like me?"

I'm watching VH1's "Top 40 Videos of 2006," and at the same time realizing that most music videos by females are not so much about their song, but how hot said female is. And they are all hot, of course, so it gets pretty old. I think if I were to make a music video, I would just stand there, fully clothed, and sing my song. Or not be in it at all.

Buon Giorno

I just spend the last hour at a new coffee shop near my house, Buon Giorno Coffee. It was an hour well spent--reading, drinking coffee, supporting the local coffee shop peeps. It was my third time to go there and I have been pleased to find it pretty busy every time. Perhaps it will be able to compete with Starbucks and survive. The owner (who has a pleasant accent. English or something or other, I can never tell the difference.) saw that I was reading Blue Like Jazz and commented on what a good book it is. I concured. He then asked if I was a Christian and then what church I went to. He told me he led a church nearby as well as owning the coffee shop, that he opened the coffee shop in order to develop relationships in the community and such (I'm paraphrasing). He made a point to say that it wasnt' a "Christian" coffee shop, though, that he didn't want to alienate people, just serve them coffee. (I added that last part, about serving coffee. He didn't say that, but I figured it was implied, since it is a coffee shop). So that was neat, I thought. If you are ever in the Grapevine/Colleyville area, you should stop by Buon Giorno Coffee on Hall-Johnson for a cup o' joe. (It also as free wireless interenet. Starbucks can't beat that.)

I think it would be fun to open a coffee shop. It would be hard though, because of the Starbucks empire. Don't get me wrong, I like Starbucks-a lot-but you can't deny the fact that they are everywhere, which probably makes it hard for local coffee shops to survive.

Here is a question for my public, if you know the answer: Why is the Sound of Music's "Favorite Things," considered to be a Christmas song? Anyone?

In other news, my toe nail is falling off (sick OUT). I think that is of note. I postulate that my running shoes are to blame and so I've bought a new pair for myself for Christmas. I'm pretty excited about 'em.

I think it's funny that Shiloh likes having his butt rubbed (he's my dog, by the way). He just came up to me whilst I was sitting here and I started petting his back and he repostitioned himself so I was petting his butt, He always does that. Marco didn't do that. And also Shiloh always freaks out when Will leaves. LIke just now, Will, Allison and Bailey all went to the studio to record and now Shiloh is freaking out, running around and whining. It's pretty annoying and kind of sweet. Mainly just annoying.




Ok, you HAVE to see this.

Ping!

My house is making a lot of noises this morning. There are men outside doing yardwork and men above working in the attic, I think on the air conditioning or something. As we were eating breakfast this morning we kept hearing noises right above our head, like "pings!" and "thwats!" It was pretty funny/frightening.

It's only 11:10 and I've already accomplished so much. I've come closer to finishing my Christmas shopping, I've ordered my textbooks, and I've sent in my money for our electricity bill. Not a bad morning. It's interesting, having to worry about things like paying bills. When I got the email from Molly about how much we owe for our electric bill, I thought to myself, "Oh dear, and I still need to buy so many Christmas gifts. Perhaps I can hold off on paying the bill for a little while, they'd understand." I was thinking this was a perfectly reasonable assessment of the situation when it dawned on me that really, things like bills are supposed to take priority over things like Christmas presents, not the other way around. I'm not used to thinking like that.

Ok, I'm tired of strange men walking around my house, espeically when I'm here by myself. I'm going to do some more Christmas shopping. Perhaps I'll stop by a Coinstar first...

Restless

I'm home now, have been for two full days. It's good being home, but sometimes I get to feeling restless because there is so little to do. And then when I have a ton to do during school, I wish I was at home doing nothing and feeling restless. A person is never satisfied. What else is new?

I saw "The Pursuit of Happyness" this evening. It was a good movie, but I don't really wish to see it ever again. The majority of it was just so depressing. But like I said, it was still a good movie, I just didn't really have a good time watching it.

I worked out today at Lifetime. All by myself I went. It was nice. Working out just makes a person feel so much better about herself.

Not a bad day

I just spent the last hour or so being in and out of a nap on my couch. I never nap, but this was actually kind of nice. I don't remember actually being asleep, but I remembering dreaming. Like, in one dream my dad gave me a Christmas present that was kind of like a backpack, back more like a baby bag. And it could stretch out really long and fit a lot of stuff. I kept having ilttle dreams like that.

And also I'm done with this semester now. I finished my finals today. They were pretty painless. Not a walk in the park, but not a walk in downtown Waco at night either. For part of my Italian final I had to write a story using the words wedding, sad, sheep, to chat, and to say. I wrote a story about a man that was in love with a woman who worked as the restaurant where he ate lunch every day, but he was sad because she never talked to him. That is until on day when he ordered sheep for lunch. When she heard him order sheep, she said, "I love sheep!" After that every day they would chat while the man ate his lunch. One day the man asked the woman if she would like to go to his cousins wedding with him, but she said no. He asked her why and she said it was because she didn't like weddings, she always ended up eating too much cake. The story ends with the man saying, "Non capisco le donne!" or "I don't understand women!" The end.

I also got a five dollar Target gift card today for having the third most volunteer hours in Habitat for Humanity. That was pretty surprising. And I sold my books back and got some extra cash for Christmas shopping. So all in all, not a bad day.

Mad World

So I just saw "Stranger Than Fiction," for the second time. It is such a good movie. Oh goodness. You simply must watch it. And if you don't catch it in theatres, than you can watch it with me sometime, because I will definitely be buying it.

And also, this is a really good song/video. They showed it in church last Sunday. It's "Mad World," by Gary Jules. It's one of those beautifully depressing songs.

Merry finals!



What a splendid time of year. Finals, presents buying, studying, shopping, stressing, weight gaining, money spending, wrapping, increasing landfills. Oh joy. Oh peace. Oh Christmas.

Sorry, I'm really not that cynical. It just kind of came out.

I worked out with Rachael last night at the SLC. They have TVs going in front of all the cardio machines, and on one of them, the one right in front of me, the Victoria Secret fashion show was airing. I got to watch girls with perfect bodies that all look the same parade around in underwear and angels wings. It was funny because a lot of them, along with their bra and panties, were wearing mittens and warm hats. And of course the angel wings. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. I was starting to feel a little down on myself, cause I'll never look like them, but then I stopped looking at the TV screen and started looking at the people around me-girls who were bigger than me, smaller than me, the same size as me. That's what's beautiful, how none of our bodies were the same, there's beauty in that variety, in not looking as the same like those dastardly Victoria's Secret models.

It's one thing to think that and write it in a blog, and it's another to actually believe it and to feel actually beautiful in one's own skin, not despite one's un-perfect body, but because of it. That's harder.

Hey, that reminds of me of a Kendall Payne song: "Me and B we hate supermodels. It's not that we know anyone personally. It's just that I'm tired of being compared."

Charlie Brown



I saw this last night at a Christmas gathering and had to share.

Deck the halls

Our loft is all Christmas-ed out right now. It's rather merry. I'm enjoying it. And this time next week classes will be over and we all will be merrily studying for finals. Actually, we will probably be sleeping. And this time in two weeks I will either be already home or will be about to go home.

Sometimes its just so hard to live today.

Prayer

I read this tonight in [Re]Understanding Prayer by Kyle Lake and thought you might want to too.

"Henri Nouwen said that when prayer becomes a way of life for you, it does not mean that you think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, or that you spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather, it means to think and live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts into thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life and put Him in a pious little niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings. Our instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5, 'pray without ceasing,' then finds new meaning."

It reminds me of a thing we did one Wednesday night last semester at UBC. We were in the midst of a series about the fruits of the spirit, and that night we were talking about peace. We walked into the room all quiet-like and instead of listening to someone talk, read words on a screen. We were told to take a piece of paper that had been given to us and write on it all the things that had been stressing us that week. Then, instead of throwing the paper away or setting it on fire, we were told to just bring those things to God. That when we pray, not to clear our minds of all distractions and focus only on God, but to bring all that stuff to God, letting God give us peace in everything, not just in "a pious little niche" of our lives.

That's cool. So is the name "Henri" with an "i."

Whoa, so I just googled Kyle's name and found it on Wikipedia. Interesting.

Colorless

The printer I use at home doesn't print in color. So I'm printing the works of art that I need to study for my art history quiz without color, and making flashcards out of them. I'm doing this so I can memorize the names, artists, periods, dates, and countries of origins of said works and so be successful on my quiz next week. As I was looking at my freshly printed page of black and white pieces of artwork, the thought occurred to me that I hope this is not what art becomes to me-black and white-names, artists, periods, dates, and countries of origins. Colorless. Either knowing a piece's artist, period, origin, the names of the various techniques used, why it was made, either knowing all that will make it more beautiful, because I will understand its complexity, or less beautiful, because I will understand its complexity. Will taking away the mystery take away some of the beauty? I guess it depends on the work of art. It's like with my brother and music. Music that is kind of simple, like most pop music, Will doesn't really like because the it is so trite and not original and simple. Because he understands music more than me, some of it is less beautiful, because he sees it for what it really is. For that reason he can't really enjoy, say, Ashlee Simpson. But at the same time he can more fully enjoy music than I can, because when he finds something really good, he can really appreciate it, because he understands it. He comprehends its beauty.

So I guess I'm just learning how to appreciate art.

It's cool how writing out stuff can help one work things out in one's mind. Like the whole last part of that paragraph I didn't think about until I started writing it. The first part, the part about art becoming just names and dates to me, I planned on writing, but not the rest. It kind of just pooped out of my fingers.

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving.


I worked on a house with Habitat this morning and it was such fun. Before, I was doing Habitat for Humanity mainly just to feel good about myself. This semester I wanted to get involved in something, and I felt like it should be something service oriented, so Habitat seemed like a nice fit. I'd go to meetings and work on some weekends, but never really enjoyed myself, was just doing it to be a good person and all that that entails. But this morning was different, I don't know why. One thing I really enjoyed about it was I worked a lot with non Baylor people. I don't realize how much of a bubble I'm in until I step outside of it. Really, the only people I spend time with are people who are connected with Baylor. Even at church, pretty much everyone goes/graduated from Baylor. And that's great, I love Baylor people, but its good to step out of that and spend time with people or are totally different from me. Perhaps build a house with them every once and awhile. I also worked harder than usual. I used to be really tentative around the site, not wanting to do anything wrong and make myself look foolish. I kind of got over that today and just got my hands dirty. It was fun.

The only bad part is I whacked my left thumb pretty bad with a hammer. I have a sizable blood blister that formed next to my nail, and I can tell that under my nail polish, my nail is purple. Yes yes, sympathy is welcome.

Oreos

Oreo's taste really good with peanut butter, I found out today. Really really.

In other news, I really don't like the tendency girls' have to obtain their value from boys. We all do it and it doesn't even make sense. Where does it come from? I partially blame chick flicks in which a girl is miserable and less-than until she finds the man of her dreams, such as in Bridget Jones and Sex and the City. Even in movies that I love, like "Garden State," the main characters are lost in life without their significant other. As sweet as that looks and sounds, its unhealthy. And annoying. I'm in a jaded mood today.

This makes me happy

Red nails


So my nails are red now. Bright red. I haven't painted my nails in awhile. I've recently been in this anti-doing-my-hair-or-painting-my-nails-or-tanning-or-doing-anything-girly phase. I've been wearing a lot less pink as well. But I now think its ok to be girly...every once in awhile.

This whole red-nails-thing will take some getting used to.

Road trip

I'm in Lubbock right now. Sic 'em Lubbock!

We stopped in Dublin and had Dr. Pepper floats.

That is all.

Someone else's words

"It’s too bad prayer comes bundled in a package of 'spiritual disciplines.' Really, we should see prayer as a spiritual privilege. We don’t do it as a callisthenic exercise to gain points with God; we do it, because it is good for us in every way. I quote the author Roberta Bondi who says so many people worry about “doing it right.” Hey, if you’re praying, you’re doing it right."

Philip Yancey in Relevant interview.

I don't understand prayer. I'd expand, but I have to go to class.

Boo!


I bought some granola bars today that have coffee in them and taste like coffee. I'm fascinated, and pleased. I like coffee, and I like granola bars. I found them whilst spending two hours at WalMart today. I was getting my oil changed, and there were lots of cars in front of me. But now, finally, its changed. I've been meaning to do this since July. While at WalMart, I saw a woman walking around dressed up like a ladybug. Just walking around, like it's totally normal to wear a big red shirt with black polka dots, wings, and glittery fake eyelashes (I, for one, didnt even know lady bugs had eyelashes, let alone glittery ones. ) I was a bit perplexed, but then remembered that its Halloween. They were playing the Ellen Degenerus (sp?) show in the waiting area and everyone in the audience had on costumes as well. They all looked pretty ridiculous. But I guess that's the point of Halloween, and to eat candy and cupcakes with orange icing. Speaking of, they were giving out free Halloween cake in the SUB today at lunch. It had orange icing. That was pretty exciting.

I'm not really feeling it this year though, Halloween. I think its mostly fun for little kids, parents of little kids, and people who party. I'm none of those.

Marvelous

I forgot to change my watch for Daylight Saving's and so this whole time, I've been thinking its almost four. I have to do something at four, and so was preparing myself to get ready to go. Then I picked up my phone and saw that it was 2:30, not 3:30. "Oh yes," I remembered, "I forgot to change my watch." And then I got really excited because I had a whole nother hour! (is "nother" really a word?....my widget dictionary couldn't find it) I feel like my day just grew by an hour. It's marvelous.

I have an art history exam tomorrow. I haven't really studied that much for it yet. I feel like I should be more concerned, but really, I'm not. I mean yeah, I'll study, but I'm not freaking out....I feel like I freak out far much less than I should ("far much less"? That's awkward). I always see my friends freaking out about some such test or paper or another, but I never really do. Hm. And like yesterday, at the game, all my friends were in a frenzy, and I wasn't really. It's not that I didn't care, I wanted to win, but I didn't get that worked up about it. Maybe I just dont have a soul.

I'm pretty dang excited about this extra hour though.

Macaroni

So I just did some blog surfing, and now I feel like a totally inadequate blogger. I read all these blogs about life and beauty and loss and theology and poetic crap and I write about.....new shoes? The chicken ceaser salad I had for lunch? (I had one for lunch yesterday actually, from Quiznos in the SUB. That's also when I came to the realization that I have only three dining dollars left...I guess I won't be having Quiznos tomorrow...)

Bah. Who am I writing this for anyways? I don't know anymore. But it's entertaining so I'll just keep doing it. And I don't write about "life and beauty and loss and theology and poetic crap" because I feel so fake when I do. Like I'm trying so hard to be profound and smart. I'd rather write about new shoes and just be me, thank you.

I wouldn't have anything original to say anyway. Like Derek Webb says "I am like a mockingbird, I've got now new song to sing. I am like an amplifier, I just tell you what I've heard.." Preach it Derek. (I like refering to celebrities by their first names. It makes me feel like we're best friends.) Why does Derek have two b's in his last name? How pretentious.

I wonder who reads this that I don't know about. I wonder if I have a stalker. That'd be awesome. Hey, if you're reading this now, leave a comment and just say "macaroni." Nothing else, just "macaroni." You don't have to say you're name, just "macaroni." This isn't just for my stalker, this is for everyone

What if nobody says macaroni? I'd be so depressed.

Routine

That's weird. I don't remember making my bed, but I just looked over my shoulder, and there it was, made. I think that is what one calls a habit.

I think there is beauty in a good routine. Like waking up early, making coffee, and eating breafast whilst reading a good book. Then hopping in the shower (well, not literally. That could be dangerous. One could trip). Then making one's bed. Then finishing up whatever work one needs to do before going to class. Oh yeah, and sometime in there putting clothes on.

Clothes are so overrated though. I would rather just spend all day in my bath robe. I don't know if that is what everyone else would rather me do though...

I guess I'll put on clothes now.

No unity

This year I've come to like coffee, asian food, and salads. It's been quite a pivotal year. I had a chicken ceaser salad for lunch today at Jason's. It was rather statisfying, but there was too much chicken.

Sometimes, on the weekends, I forget that I have class, or it just feels like a dream. It's weird, cause it's only been two days since I've been to class, not a like a month. But it kind of feels that way. But then Sunday rolls around and I start having to do homework, and I remember.

I don't know if any of that made since. I mean sense.

It's interesting how one can know a song and not really pay attention to the lyrics. Like this past week, I discovered some lyrics I like in a Jack Johnson song that I've been listening to for about two years... "...So I was late for class, I locked my bike to yours, It wasn't hard to find, you painted flowers on, I guess that I was afraid that if you rolled away, You might not roll back my direction really soon..." I think that's cute, but I've never noticed it before.

I have no idea what I'm going to put on the title line of this entry. There's no unity, just random thoughts. Sometimes that empty 'title' box can be pretty intimidating.

Beyond Barefoot


I got my Gurkees in the mail today! I'm pretty dang excited about it, so I decided to take a picture for you.

"Gurkee's® Sandals are very unique 'Jesus sandals' made from carpet fiber that is spun and heat welded together. They are extremely comfortable and incredibly durable. Not only are they salt water and chlorine resistant, but they are machine washable! They are not just sandals, but an experience that will take you 'Beyond Barefoot!'
....Beyond Barefoot, It's a State of Mind. Remember that hot summer day with the sun pounding down and that smell of coconut tanning oil in the air? Or that afternoon with the top down, hair blowing in the breeze on that Jeep ride over the pass? That refreshing feeling of coming up for air after jumping in the water on that 100-plus degree day. It's that feeling, that state of mind... Kind of like a vacation that never ends."

My feet are on a vacation that never ends.

Nice

This is really nice. I'm the only one at my appartamento right now (which doesn't happen a lot, because there are six of us), I have Sufjan playing softly over the surround sound, a bowl of Ramen at my side, and some light Anthropology reading to do. Mm. And I went running not too long ago, so I guess I'm still a little happy from all the endorphins. Gotta love those.

It's been a good day, all in all. I foresee that it will be a good week. The school part of it is already halfway through, seeing as how we have Friday off. I'm going camping con miei amici nel Arkansas. I love road trips and I enjoy camping, so it should be a buon weekend. It'll be nice to just get away be outside.

Geez

According to Ambassador Youth what I'm doing right now is apparently evil.

"Should teenagers and others in the Church express themselves to the world through blogs? Because of the obvious dangers; the clear biblical principles that apply; the fact that it gives one a voice; that it is almost always idle words; that teens often do not think before they do; that it is acting out of boredom; and it is filled with appearances of evil—blogging is simply not to be done in the Church. It should be clear that it is unnecessary and in fact dangerous on many levels.
Let me emphasize that no one—including adults—should have a blog or personal website (unless it is for legitimate business purposes). . . .Blogging has become a socially accepted practice—just as are dating seriously too young, underage drinking and general misbehaving. But just because someone else 'jumps off the cliff' does not mean you should do the same."

I'm warned.

I did a shower

I feel so fresh and so clean clean. I need to take showers at night more often. In the morning, one is in a hurry and can't fully appreciate the fresh feeling. But at night, all you have is time. Well, not always. Really, just right now. I have not much homework and plenty of time to enjoy my freshness. Like freshly shaven legs. Yum.

And plenty of time to write pointless blog entries.

That's all I have to say really.

And my tongue is burnt.

Ho fatto una doccia means "I took a shower." Literally it means, "I did a shower."

You've got to get yourself together...

I really like the song "Stuck in a Moment" by U2. I think that's what its called. I'm at Common Grounds right now studio italiano, and the aforementioned song is playing (i love using that word! aforementioned. mi piace.) I just wanted to express that I liked it, and I'm by myself, so I thought I'd tell you.

Ho l'esame di italiano domani. Mamma mia!

A footnote!

I love living here with these girls. We all* just got home from church, changed into our sweats, made coffee, and are now studying. It's beautiful.

*By "we all" I mean three of the six of us. It just sounds better to say "we all." This is the first time I've used a footnote here. It's pretty fun. I feel like David Crowder. In his books he has lots of footnotes, sometimes with just random commentary. It's fun. I've just starting reading him and Mike Hogan's new book actually (I don't know that that's proper grammar. His and Mike Hogan's new book? Yeah, I think that's better), Everybody Wants to go to Heaven but Nobody wants to Die. So I'm reading that and The Great Divorce. Preoccupation with death, do I have? And it's especially ironic that I started reading the former book last Sunday, because of events that have occurred this week. Death is everywhere really. I know I sound really morbid and Emily Dickens-ish, but it's just something I've noticed recently. We're all just around the corner from it, we've all lost someone(s) because of it (yes, I know "someones" is not a word) or know people who have, but it's not often we talk about it. Not that that's a bad thing, I think it would maybe a little unhealthy if death occupied the majority of our conversations. I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm just kind of talking. Not even talking really, typing. Really, I'm just not studying. That's what this is: me not studying. I'll do that now. Studying, I mean.

It's interesting how my footnote is longer than my actual entry.

Sono eccitata

So apparently Baylor has only sent one student to Sicily. Ever. That pretty much makes me want to go even more.

I've started doing yoga via Bearobics. I love it. Just thought you should know.

Sicilia

I can't sleep because my mind is doing somersaults. All I can think about it how much I want to study in Sicily next fall. Just yesterday I wanted to study in Florence, but now I'm sold on Sicily. Next fall, it's you and me Sicily. It's on the Mediterranean and it's so beautiful and smaller than Florence, more friendly and cozy and warm. I could go snorkeling! And visit Mt. Etna, an active volcano. The art is more Greco-Roman as opposed to the Renaissance art of Florence. The fact that the community is smaller really appeals to me. There are some cons too, but I feel like just focusing on the pros right now. The beautiful beaches! For one. Oh, and I'd be forced to use my Italiano more in Sicily than in Florence, I would learn it better. That appeals to me. I love Italian. I thought the more I learned it the more I would grow tired of it, but the opposite is true.

I just wish I could sleep.

Poor Miles

Hey, Baylor got mentioned in news slice at RelevantMagazine.com today: "According to a new study from Baylor University, religion is not on the decline in the United States. Researchers say that, contrary to some pundits' opinion, most Americans do not believe God favors one political party over another, though about one-fifth believe God favors the United States in world affairs..." We're a pretty big deal.

So it actually rained yesterday, that'd good news. Except for the fact that it was right when I had to ride my bike across campus, from Italian to Art. Once I got past caring about getting wet, it was actually kind of fun. That is, until I encountered a really deep puddle in front of Moody Library. The depth caused me not to perceive a curb, and so my bike hit the curb and I fell over, into said puddle. It really wasn't that bad, because I was going really slow. But then once I got to my destination and parked my bike, I realized my U-lock was no longer resting on my handlebars, where I put it. It must have slid of when I toppled over. So after class I went back to the scene of my fall, but I couldn't find my U-lock. I went there again today, but it wasn't there. Maybe the water carried it away. That's kind of a bummer though. So my bike, Miles is his name, is right now sitting next to me in my room (Well, if a bike can sit. More like, it's leaning.) to keep him safe from bike-stealing hooligans. I missed him today though. Walking everywhere is so lame, I envied everyone who rode past me on a bike.

I'm meeting with a guy on Thursday to talk about studying in Florence next year, either Spring or Fall. Pretty exciting.

I'm now off to procure a new U-lock

Poo

I think I'm getting sick. Everyone else is too. It's the cool thing to do, really. Like having little dogs. There's this girl at LL Sams that has this really adorable pug puppy.

But yeah, I'm all stuffy right now. Poo!

Derek Webb

I recently procured Derek Webb's album, Mockingbird, and have been listening to it pretty constantly these last few days. His lyrics are so challenging and in your face, I love it. Like in the song A King and a Kingdom: "My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man. My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood, it's to a king & a kingdom. There are two great lies that I'’ve heard: 'the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die' and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him." Zing. And I like in Rich Young Ruler: "Poverty is so hard to see when it'’s only on your tv and twenty miles across town. Where we're all living so good that we moved out of Jesus' neighborhood where he's hungry and not feeling so good from going through our trash. He says, more than just your cash and coin I want your time, I want your voice I want the things you just can'’t give me."

Good stuff. And he's giving away this CD for free at freederekwebb.com. That's how I got it.

Oh yes, and happy Labor Day. Not classes were had today by me. Holla. And it rained! That's exciting. We grilled out. Here is photographic evidence of that.

Bridge



(you'll probably wanna turn up your volume to hear, I had to.)

Just click here to find out more about it, I don't feel like explaining it all here.

You can find my mile by searching my email address. Check it out!

Stars

"I have read that beyond our own solar system, beyond our own galaxy, there are some 100 million galaxies—each containing more than 100,000 million stars. These numbers are incomprehensible. We can pass them around and write them down on flash cards, memorize them to appear smarter, but we can't ever really grasp that kind of size. The size of that kind of universe goes beyond our ability to know. It follows that God must be similarly sized. 'What is man that you take thought of him,' the ancient songwriter sang. When peering out at the stars, it seems like a good question."

Hooray

My bike is all better now! Hooray! I only had to get a new tube in the back tire, which cost a mere $4.32. I rode it to my circolo d'italiano this evening (that's italian club for all you laymen) without a problem. Holla.

And I really don't have much homework to do right now. That makes me very uneasy....

I would also like to take this moment to briefly implore you to, if you are not already, sponsor a child. I do it through World Vision, but I've also heard good stuff about Compassion International. All I do it pay $30 a month and occasionly send/recieve stuff to/from little Ive Chimpango in Malawi (isn't Ive such a cool name?). Just $30. Maybe you think you don't have $30 to spend a month, but think about it. That's less than 10 dollars a week. That's a couple CDs. That's 3-6 meals out. That's a pair of jeans. You can do it. And it's so rewarding, but more than that, it's so needed. According to World Vision, "on any given day, we have thousands of children who are still waiting for sponsors — their photos have been taken and their profiles written, but they are still waiting to hear that they've been sponsored." They're just waiting for you! Ok, now I'm sounding kind of cheesy, but seriously yo. Look into it. I got a letter from Ive a little while ago. She is too young to write for herself right now, so the letters are written on her behalf. She drew pictures though. I can't wait til she is old enough and and can hear stuff straight for her. That'll be neato.

Will's Birthday

In my anthropology book, on the chapter concerning genetics, there is a big picture of Wolverine in the "Mutation" section. "..the positive side of mutation is fictionalized in the special talents of the X-Men..." That makes my day a little.

Happy Birthday to Willl! I went on an impromptu voyage home this evening for said birthday. This picture is a result of that.

Those are some goodlookin' twenty-somethings. (yes, a zero is a something)

Grrr

We'll just say its funny, ok? Saying its funny makes it so much less aggravating.

I crashed my bike on Monday and the front tire of it has been out of commission until today, when I went to Bicycle Outback and got a new tube put in. So all this week, I've been walking to class, because I don't have a parking pass, and, even if I did, finding a parking spot is more trouble than its worth. So I was really looking forward to having my bike back, to riding it to class tomorrow. But then, a few moments ago, I was airing up the back tire, and the valve broke off. Just snapped off when I detached the pump. So now my back tire has no air, and there's nothing I can do about it.

I really just want to scream, but I don't think my roommates would appreciate that.

And Common Grounds isn't hiring anymore. Apparently "many of [their] employees (which [they] weren't sure about) came back to work, and the positions were opened to them first."

And I had this whole fiasco with a textbook that I don't feel like explaining.

Do you ever just want to turn life off for a few minutes?

Arte

"Art is never an empy container; rather, it is a vessel loaded with meaning, subject to multiple interpretations, and always represeting someone's point of view." Janson's History of Art (my Art History textbook)

And that's why I'm majoring in Art History. Mostly.

Free

I have like the next 2 1/2 hours free and I have no idea what to do with myself. I'm just not used to that. This week, I've been busy almost nonstop, except for an hour here or there, but 2 1/2? That's ridiculous.

I'm nervous about class starting.

I got my books today.

Move in day

So my body is pretty tired right now. All us Welcome Week leaders met in front of Collins this morning at 5:30 am and moved girls in til about 11:30. And you should remember that Collins has six floors, and that Collins girls are known for their ...high maitenance -ness, so there was lots of stuff (and I can say that because I was a Collins' girl myself last year). It was kind of fun though. I like stuff like that, manual labor stuff. I don't know why, that's kind of odd, especially since I'm a girl. But it also just really frustrates me when I see people who are supposed to be here to help, just standing around in the shade. It makes me want to work even harder. And so I do.

So, Welcome Week is beginning. Pretty exciting.

I can't believe classes start on Monday.

I could really go for a massage.

Training


So Welcome Week training is now in full swing. It's pretty painless, sometimes fun, and then sometimes mind-numbing. But its all gravy baby.

That's all I have to say really

Splendid

So I did something kind of spontaneous today...I applied for a job....at Common Grounds. Ah! That's how I feel. Ah! It's a good Ah! though. We were hanging out there last night and I saw they had a "Now Hiring" sign out and a thought started forming in my head...... then last night, I couldn't get to sleep because our neighbors were blaring Justin Timberlake, and so I started thinking more about the aforementioned "Now Hiring" sign...and how I have a lot of free time this semester because I'm not in FCC anymore....and I thought about how it would be fun to work at Common Grounds...So today, after lunch, I went by and picked up an application. The guy working said that they were needing worker(s) of the female variety, and I'm a female, so that works. So I came back to the loft and filled out the application. It's was a long, beastly, but also kind of fun application. I turned it back in a few hours ago. The same guy was working. And I got a Strawberry Bomb smoothie. I've kept the cup sitting on my desk for good luck. I rinsed it out though, don't worry, its not that gross.

So yeah that would be way sweet if I got the job, but I'm trying not to expect to. I think a job at Common Grounds would be highly coveted. I'm just kind of proud of myself for applying.

And later, when we are more settled in, I will definitely put pictures up of our loft. I already have "before" pictures, of how it looked after bringing all my boxes in. I'm waiting to take the "after" pictures, its not quite ready for that yet. So stay tuned.

Oh, and we went to UBC this morning! That was splendid, seeing everyone and being back in the building and all. Simply splendid.

Moved In

So here I am in Waco, in my new loft. It's pretty snazzy, I'm not gonna lie. I'm almost totally unpacked. You should come visit me. Allison is going to today.

Oh yeah, and I'm twenty, my birthday was yesterday. It's was a good birthday, my first spend away from home. I ate empanadas at One The Border, got some presents, got a Brownie Batter Blizzard from Diary Queen, went swimming in our pool (it's salt water, not chlorine.) and chilled with friends. Good times.

I can't believe this is my life now, living here. I love it! Though there is still lots to do, as far as settling in goes. Only three of the six of us have moved in yet, and the rest will arrive within the week. I wonder what it will be like once all six of us are here, I wonder how crazy it will get.

Packing

I have a lot of clothes. I remember coming to that realization this time last year, as I was packing for school. Lot's of clothes.

I move-in to my loft tomorrow. I'm mucho excitedo.

Genevieve

Genevieve is a pretty name. I like it. You ever play that game where you could change your name to any name in the world? I think I'll add Genevieve to my list. And then there's Desiree. And Esther. And a bunch more, but I can't think of them on the spot. You know, like when someone asks you what your favorite movies are, and you know there are many that you love, but you can't think of them all right then? Kind of like that.

Sorry, I'm in the midst of reading a book that much of it is the point of view of a 4th grader, so now I think I'm kind of writing like that. The name Genevieve is in it; the book I mean, not the fourth grader. That's what spurred this post, the name Genevieve, not the book or the 4th grader. Oh dear, this is getting confusing. Is spurred the right word? ..... Yes, spur =to "cause or promote the development of; stimulate." Also "a device with a small spike or a spiked wheel that is worn on a rider's heel and used for urging a horse forward." But that's not what I mean, that's not even a verb.

Movies


I'm watching Me and You and Everyone We Know. It's this quirky independent film I recently procured at the "Pre-Viewed" section of Blockbuster.
"I don't want to have to do this living. I just walk around. I want to be swept off my feet, you know? I want my children to have magical powers. I am prepared for amazing things to happen. I can handle it."
I liked that.


I also got Dopamine. It's another independent film. Not as quirky, but just as thoughtful. I don't have any clever quotes from that one though.


And on another note, here is a wiggity wack picture of Allison and I that she took last night on her new pink phone. I think I was possessed or something, look at my eyes. They're like, black.

Waco

So I went to Waco yesterday, caught up with some friends, moved some stuff into my loft. It was nice, and made me super excited about moving in. Super. Super duper pooper scooper. And I got my Common Grounds fix. That was pretty sweet. Literally.

Now museum, now you don't

So yesterday I went to the Dallas Museum of Art, by myself ("miss independent, miss self-sufficient..."). I'm not really very experienced as far as art museums go, so I don't have anything really to compare it too, but I liked it, I enjoyed myself. And I didn't know this when I decided to go, but the first Tuesday of every month = free admission. That was a pleasant surprise. Before I go back to Waco I would like to check out the Kimball and the Modern in Fort Worth. Apparently they are better than the Dallas Museum of Art. It's a good thing I went to Dallas first then, so it wouldn't be a let down, you know? Oh, but I was molto proud of myself for finding my way there and back all by myself. My directional skills are not something I boast about, so I was a little concerned about getting lost. But I didn't. Go me.

I go to Wacko Waco today to check out my new digs con mia mamma e Allison. I'm excited about it.

i'm really excited

about all the stuff I bought at IKEA yesterday con mia mamma per il mio appartamento. I've got to brush up on my Italian.

3D! 3D! 3D!

So we went to see Monster House last night...in 3D! We got some crazy cool 3D glasses. Linh and I are modeling them. I'm astonished at the blonde-ness of my hair.

Philippian 2:14-15

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."



I can't believe I got a tattoo. But it's a good "I can't believe it." Not a bad one.

Some photographic evidence of my aforementioned painting




and all that painting makes a girl sleepy...


And, despite the bad reviews, I enjoyed Lady in the Water. And I also enjoy the fact that now, the house is a little cleaner. I can relax a little better. But I do still have all that laundry to do. I think I'm going to see how long I can go without doing it, see how creative I can be with my wardrobe.

home now

So I'm back now. Jackson was enjoyable. It went by really fast. We did a lot of painting. I still have some paint on my fingernails.

The house is really messy right now and it makes it hard to for me to relax. I cleaned up a little...but that wasn't very relaxing either, so now I'm watching The Simpsons. Later I'm going to go see Lady in the Water. I'm pretty excited about it.

The view from where I'm sitting


I took off "Now Museum, Now U Don't." So now you just...don't. We go to Jackson tomorrow. Woohoo! I ate enchiladas with my grandparents. And I still haven't packed.

I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am not your expectations. No.

I bought the new India Arie CD today. I love it! I just wanted to express this. India Arie is amazing, not just because of her music, but she seems to be just such a genuine, cool person. Of course, I don't really know her, so I could be wrong, but ignorance is bliss. You should buy her CD too. And look at the guitar. Isn't it cool?


This week has been really great. Just chilling with my friends, reading, avoiding my room because it's so dirty. All great. I went to the park on Tuesday with some peeps, that picture of Will and Linh is a result of said trip to the park. It's from my phone. I could really use a digital camera. Not that I need one, it would just be nice to have one. Nothing fancy, just something to capture memories with. My birthday is less than a month away. Just thought you should know....

adventures

So I painted my fingernails and toenails with a color labeled "Now Museum Now U Don't." It's a dark maroon-ish color. I thought that was fun.

So here are two pictures from Allison's phone from various adventures that have occurred since I got home.


This is from Sunday night when Elise, Allison, Linh, Will and I attempted to dreadlock my hair. We got as far as dividing my hair into sections via little hairties (pictured here). After doing that we made two dreadlocks and realized how long it would take/how hard it would be to get out, so we stopped. It was an adventure.

Me being cultural at World Market yesterday. My hair being non-dreaded.

Pretty exciting.

Home am I. I slept until 11:47 this morning, so that was pretty sweet. I've hung out with my friends and eaten fast food and gone bike riding and went to Barnes and Noble and have driven a lot. Sky Ranch kind of feels like a dream I had.

I'm really ready to get home. Two more days! But that still feels like a long time, just because the days are so full.

So there is this one night event called "Keep Your Counselor Clean." The name pretty much speaks for itself, but if the name is not enough, here is a picture...

Suffice to say, it it not our, the counselors', favorite activity.

There was some pretty sweet fireworks on Tuesday. That was cool. And because of them, we did not play "Keep Your Counselor Clean". That is really sweet.

happy 2nd of July

This couch that I'm lounging on in the counselors' lounge is really comfortable. I mean really. I don't know why I haven't lounged on this couch before. I'm really full of coffee cake. Sunday morning breakfast here is rather yummy. It includes fruit and muffins and coffee cake and granola and such, kind of a continental breakfast, to give the cooking staff a break I presume. Usually there is also coffee, but they didn't have any this morning. That was really unfortunate. But I had a lot of coffee cake, to make up for it.

So this time next week I will be home. Probably. I'm not sure if we are to leave Sunday or Saturday, I'm thinking Saturday. That's weird. It's going to be hard to focus this week because the whole time I will be thinking "This is the last time to do the Pendulum" "This is the last time to play Mission Impossible" "This is the last time to eat Sky Burgers" "This is the last time to do the Truckin' Thursday dance." At first I was only happy, I just wanted to get home, but now I'm a little afraid. I've developed such good habits here, and have been challenged and have learned so much. I don't want to go home and be the same I was before. I don't want to just sit in front of the TV and shop and eat and sleep and play. Summers are so selfish. But I also can't wait to sleep in and take of my watch for a few days. Not have to always worry about being on schedule and always having to be fun. Sometimes, the pressure to be a "fun" and "cool" counselor weighs on me.

But anywho, I need to stop thinking about this. I still have a whole week! A lot could happen in a week. The world could end in a week.

On Thursday, for an illustration for our Bible Study, I did 105 pushups. My arms are still really sore.

Happy Tuesday everybody! Life here at the Ranch is pretty good. No complaints. Except I kind of had a nasty fall yesterday. It's a little hard to explain.....but here I go. There's this thing called the pendulum where you hook your kids up in a harness, pull them up really high, and then let them go...and then they swing...like a pendulum. It's fun. Anywho, whenever a kid is pulled up really high, someone on the ground pulls a string that lets them go, and yesterday, that was my job. You go, "One!..Two!...Three!" and pull, and the kid flies. Or if its a brave kid, you might pull on two or something, to catch them off guard. ANYwho, I was doing it yesterday, and I got to three, and pulled.....and nothing happened. So I kept pulling, "Four!...Five!...Six!" and still nothing. And the girl is just sitting there, like 20 feet above our heads, hanging in her harness. So I grab the rope, and, using all my strength, lifting myself off the ground, I pull. And it works. So the rope I'm pulling is no longer attached to the girl 20 feet up in the air. So I fall, landing on my back on the wood platform I was standing on. It hurt a lot, and I bruised my bum pretty bad, and scrapped up my right elbow nicely. What was cool though, is that as soon as I stood up, as my eyes were tearing up, about 19 girls gather around me and hug me and ask if I'm ok. It was so cool!

But it really hurt. And let me just say that you shoudn't go down a waterslide if you have a big bruise on your butt. It's just not a good idea.


So after my campers left today, I went to Mineola and grabbed a bite at East Texas Burger Co., "the oldest eatin' in Mineola," because everyone here at the ranch raves about their burgers. And yes, I enjoyed a rather tasty cheeseburger with spicy waffle fries. And afterwards, whilst driving around Mineola (which is a really cute town, by the way), I encountered Laura Drive! How sweet is that? But wait, it gets sweeter. After we passed Laura Drive, we passed Nancy Street (or drive or way, I don't really remember), and in case you don't know, Nancy is my mom's name. So I got pretty excited.

Other than that, today has been really good in that I got to spend a lot of time by myself, doing what I wanna do. I went to Starbucks for about 1 1/2 hours and just read and journaled, and went to Target and Barnes & Nobles, just whatever I pleased. It was refreshing.

Two more weeks.

I have Rascal Flatts in my head.

happy selah

I like coffee, I'm just going to put that out there.

I just finished a cup of it, and I am very satisfied. I am thankful Sky Ranch provides coffee in the mornings. Sometimes, as I'm going to sleep at night, I look forward to the cup of coffee I'll have with my waffles/french toast/biscuits and gravy/bagel sandwhich/whatever in the morning. And usually a little bit of cereal. I think I just love breakfast altogether.

Selah ( Hebrew: סלה) meaning "pause, reflection", within the context of a prayer or psalms, is similar in purpose to Amen in that it stresses the importance of the preceding passage.
In this way, Selah is thought to imply that one should pause and reflect on what has been said. Alternatively, Selah may be a musical notation (thus explaining its use throughout Psalms) or may mean "forever", as it does in some places in the liturgy (notably the penultimate blessing of the Amidah).

Every week, us counselors get a predetermined "Selah" day. I wasn't clear on what the word Selah meant, so I did some research (thank you Wikipedia). Now I know, and so do you. Oh, and my Selah day is today.

I'm in the mood for some pictures, aren't you?


So this was at TGI Fridays on my last evening at Baylor. It was a Sunday night, and I was to leave the next day after my last final, Religion. The people that you see sitting at that table are now all over the world - Paris, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Sky Ranch, Dallas, possibly Egypt. Hopefully next semester we can pick up right where we left off.

Ok, one more.


I just really like that picture of Jiye and me, also taken on my last night. It's right outside of a Collins' stairwell. And that Minnie Mouse watch I'm wearing (yeah, I know you can't tell its Minnie Mouse, but just trust me on this one.)? I got it at Disney World last May, after graduation. Yeah, I've been wearing it a whole year (I'm wearing it right now actually) I never hang onto watches that long. They usually break or I get tired of them or something. So that was thirteen dollars well spent.

Man guys, I really have a good life. And also, I just realized that Swizterland is a really funny word.


And all I intended to talk about in this post was coffee.

Hey, I just thought I'd drop in and say that I love my cabin of girls this week. This group will definitely be one of my favorites.

And want to know what makes my day? Letters. No, this isn't a plug for you to send me letters (although, if you look in my previous posts, you can find the address to send letters to me. Just if your curious.) I just got a letter today from a girl in my cabin the first week of camp (this is the fourth week) and it has made my day. Or at least my afternoon (because days are long here). It's fun to here from them. I want to try to keep up relationships with some of my girls throughout the year. I hope i can do that.

And I have a question. What is the difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke? I can't figure it out.

french toast

I had the privlege of eating French toast this morning without the aid of my hands. And then I ate my cereal with my fingers. It was grrreat.

I don't really have much else to say. Except I'm coming home tomorrow, just for the night. You know, Father's Day and such. I'm looking forward to it. But when I get there, I'll probably be looking forward to coming back, because even on my Selah days (which are my off days) and I get antsy to be back with my girls again. But I'm looking forward to my bed and bathroom. And wearing something other than shorts and tshirts. And seeing my family. Good stuff.

I'm in the correct time zone now. Yay! Thanks John.

I think it's funny how, in a parallel universe, if I was at home right now at this time, I would probably just be getting up and starting my day. But here, I've already done so much. Like cleaning our cabin and breakfast and waterslides and party pool and right now my cabin is at the team wall. It's going to be weird when I go home in 3 1/2 weeks and I can sleep till whenever I want (oh yes) and I won't have wake up a cabin of 22 thirteen year old girls and make them clean and I won't have a strict schedule to adhere to and a big backpack to carry around. I mean, I'm having fun here (usually), don't get me wrong, it'll just be different.

After this week, I will be half way done with being a counselor. I'll have had 3 weeks with kids and I will have 3 weeks left.

I want to stop thinking like that though. I just want to live one day at a time. One activity at a time. One minute at a time. One little girl at a time. Or I will get overwhelmed.

I've not been playing my guitar as much and my callouses (sp?) are starting to peel off. That makes me sad. My voice is back though. I'll have coughing fits every once and awhile, but other than that I'm gravy.

Oh, and I'm reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

And does anyone know how to change the time zone on this thing? It's really 11, not 9.

kind of awkward

It's kind of awkward when there are only two people in the counselor's lounge and they don't know each other and it's silent. Like right now. Kind of awkward. What's awkward about it is that they don't aknowledge each other's presence. I said hi when he walked in, but that's about it. Now we're both just sitting here, staring at our computers.

Ok, someone else just walked in. And someone else. And they're talking about basketball. I think I'll just go sit somewhere and read.

I feel so refreshed. I'm ready for Week 3. Bring it on.

Man, what a rollercoaster this is. There are some moments, like yesterday evening, when I just feel so exhausted and sick and alone, and I just wanted to go home and get a hug from my mom, and there are other moments, like right now, when I'm in love with all of my campers (not in a creepy way) and am soaking up every drop of God that he gives me, and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. A rollercoaster, I tell ya.

I think I should just mention that last night, my cabin, Carmichael (C-Mike, if you will) won the Keep-Your-Counselor-Clean game. I couldn't have been prouder. We were all covered in syrup and flour and mustard and ketchup and chocolate and dirt, but were we so PUMPED! Because we're basically amazing.

I have all our cheers in my head, playing over and over and over again. Like...

Back! Back! Back! Back!
What?!
Gimme fifty feet!
Don't try to mess with C-Mike
Cause you know we got you beat!

I think it's a variation of some rap song I don't know. And then there's...

Carmichael
Always and forever
If you think you're better
Ch Ch
Whatever
Ch Ch
Whatever


..In other news. I think you should know that "a New York man has been charged with second-degree assault after he hit his mother with a bottle opener following a heated argument over American Idol."

a new week

A fresh batch of campers arrived yesterday. They are all a year younger than last week's campers (they are Sky 3, not Sky 4, if that means anything to you). I like them all so far. I encountered one attitude problem today, but nothing major.

I just got done doing the Zip Lines. I love doing activities like that, ones that are scarey for some campers. I like it because then you get to encourage them and see how much fun they end up having once they get past their fear. It's so cool!

I'm still kind of sick. That's not really fun. It was the worst yesterday morning, before the campers came. I just felt so exhausted and weak and I couldn't barely talk, and I wanted to be able to give my new campers 100% and make them feel happy and at home, but I just felt so sick. I feel a little better, but no where near 100%. But I'll push through.

and so ends the first week of camp

And it was a good week. A little exhausting, got a little sick, got a little too much unwanted shaving cream sprayed on me, but all in all, it was good.

I saw X-men 3 this afternoon. I have to admit, I was a little disapointed in it. I ate a hamburger at Cheddars that I was not disappointed in. My throat is scratchy, I have access to only a little of my voice, and my nose is running; in that I am disappointed. Life is rough. But I get to sleep in til 11 tomorrow. In that I am not disappointed.

I'm gonna go blow my nose.

I've really gotten to know this group of girls this week and really like them, and it's weird to think that they're going to leave soon and there will be a fresh new batch next week. And then the next week and the next.

I found myself getting a little bit homesick today. I just craved a person that really knew me, and that I didn't just meet a few weeks ago. But on that note, it's been really cool getting to meet people here. I've really grown a lot since high school, I think, in that I've been forced to get out of my shell and meet people and such. Like first at Baylor and now here. I still have my bouts of shyness now and then, and that's ok, though kind of annoying.

So, apparently Batwoman is a lesbian.

So camp is now in full swing. It was rough at first, and I was distracted by my own inadequecy (sp?) and was a tad overwhelmed, but now, I'm smiling. Literally, I'm sitting here in the deathly quiet counselor's lounge, smiling (other people are on their laptops as well). It probably looks pretty silly.

I love my cabin of girls. No major attitude problems or anything (my stomach just growled really loud, that was kind of awkward). Teenage girls are funny, I've realized (yes, I realize I still am one for a few more months.) For instance, this morning, before heading out to our first activity, the water slides, they were all crowded around the mirror straightening their hair and putting on make up. And we were going to the water slides. Silly girls. And it was so cute to watch them at the barn dance last night as they awkwardly two-stepped with the boys. And I'm not gonna lie, my cabin has a lot of good-looking ninth graders, so its fun to watch the boys try to get their attention, and vice versa.

But of course that's not the most fun part. The best part is when a girl will take you aside because they have a question about God, or share with you something that is going on at home and ask you for help. That's the best part, but its also the scariest part. That's the part when you have to totally let God take control, because you don't want to screw anything up. You know? You know.

Campers come tomorrow! I am so excited and so afraid.

Cabin decorating time.

I am oh-so-sweaty and dirty right now. Mmm hm. It's fabulous. And so is Sky Ranch. Today is the first day this week that I have not been in the water. At least when you've been in the water, you don't feel so gross, even if you are gross, because the water takes off all the grime and sweat. But no. Now I'm just sweaty and grimy. Yum.

This evening I get to go out on the town with my cabin. There is six of us counselors in my cabin, but there will only be five there at a time (two of us are half summer). We're going to hit up Marble Slab. I'm excited.

One thing that is kind of a bummer is I'm meeting a bunch of people who are working the second half of the summer, whilst I'm working the first half, so after this week, I may never see them again. Except maybe next year if we both work again. So yeah, that's kind of a bummer.

Bummer in the summer. plumber slumber lumber

Ok, maybe the shower will be free now.

Sorry to leave you in suspense, but I do now know what cabin/age group I'm in. I'm in Sky 3 (which is middle school kids) which is what I wanted. Woot! But I'm also a "swing" cabin, which means if Sky 4 has a bunch of kids a certain week, our cabin will become a Sky 4 cabin (which is 14-16 year olds). It's cool though

I'm still having fun (and getting sunburned). We've been getting trained on all the activities this week. My favorites so far have been the canoes and waterslides. What's lame is that they wouldn't let us do the blob, because we're older than 18. It's a liability or something. Psh. I wanted to blob.

Right now, I have like and hour and a half of free time. I'm in the counselors lounge, which has a bunch of comfy couches and chairs and wireless internet. There are four people on their laptops right now, and three out of those four are on iBooks (that includes myself).

Campers come Sunday. I'm excited, but also real nervous. There's just so much to think about. The campers safety and happiness and health and spiritual welfare. And then I also have to take care of myself. And sleep. And not get skin caner. And be authentic. And not run out of clean clothes. I can see how it would be so easy to just put on my Christianity, for the kids, and have all the bible studies memorized and say all the right words, but then be totally dead inside. Especially when I get really tired. I just don't want that to happen.

mela is apple in italian. mele is apples in italian.

I think I've eaten more apples these last two days than I have in the last two months. Possibly even the last three months. It's not that I've eaten an incredible amount, it's just that I never really did before. I don't really know where I'm going with this.

Tonight we find out what cabin and age group we are with. I'm hoping for Sky 3 (which is middle school) but I know it'll be great wherever I am placed.

Right now we have an hour and a half of free time and I don't really know quite what to do with myself.

So far I've done a lot of sitting and listening. And frisbee throwing. And sunburn acquiring. And friend making. And food eating. And backpack wearing. Speaking of, being a staff of Sky Ranch, we all get these rather fly red Jansport backpacks with like, a million pockets (or maybe like 4 or 5) and a water thing that's kind of complicated to explain, but its like a camelback if you know what that is. And a nalgene-like water bottle. Pretty sweet.

Hope your summer is going well.

2nd day

this is fun

first day

So here I am at Sky Ranch (I don't have much battery power, so i'm gonna keep this short). It's beautiful here, for one. There lots of trees and a big lake and...prettiness abounds. We haven't really done much so far. Just sit and listen to people talk about the way thinks work around here and relational evanglizing. Apparently this week isn't supposed to be too exciting, but next week we have to do everything at the camp (the blob, waterslides, zip line, ropes course, etc.) so that we know how it works. I'm pretty pumped about that. And Friday we find out our age group and cabin.

It was kind of overwhelming at first, coming here. There were so many people and everyone seemed to know each other. But really, once I started talking to people, I found out most people don't know many people (only about 1/3 of the 407 of us are returning staff) and everyone is nervous. I guess except for the vets (which are the returning staff).

Anywho, I have to go now. Dinner is soon.
(that time is wrong, its really 6:11. I dont know how to change the time zone.

leaving day

I HATE PACKING.

And in case you're wondering:

Sky Ranch
24657 CR 448
Van, TX 75790

You should drop me a line.

surprise me

So, yesterday I looked in my church's bulletin and noticed that in June they are doing a series based on Terry Esau's book Surprise Me. That stopped me in my tracks (even though I wasn't walking...but sitting..you know what I mean. My thought tracks). My heart started beating really fast, because I remember the Sunday when UBC started the Surprise Me experiment. And so my first thought when I saw that notice in the bulletin was, "No."

I'm kind of glad I will be out of town for that one, to be honest.

I know that's probably not the best attitude.

Mother's Day

And a happy Mother's Day to you. My stomach is full of Kentucky Fried Chicken and all that that entails, like mashed potatoes and nummy biscuits. Poker is on the TV, but I don't know how to play poker. Will's sitting next to me playing guitar. There's a police car on our street with his lights on. That's curious. I guess they've found me.

I'm wearing a Baylor shirt. For some reason, I find satisfaction wearing Baylor paraphanalia (sp?) when not at Baylor. Like "Hello, I'm in college. I go to Baylor. Boo ya."

I really don't have anything to say, I don't know if you can tell. I'll be at Sky Ranch soon and will update every once in awhile whilst I'm there. I should have something interesting to say then.

It's a pretty day, I'm going to go to the park.

friends are a good thing to have

Tonight I Tasted Addison with some of my Baylor peeps. It was fun. And we saw The Fray. That was icing on the cake. I also tasted a berry crepe. It was alright. Funnel cakes are better. I seem to be liking short sentences tonight.

I leave for Sky Ranch on Tuesday. Eeee. I'm kind of anxious. I don't really know what to expect. It'll be good though.

Man, The Fray has some mighty catchy songs. They are on repeat in my mind right now. It's kind of annoying.

bike

I got a new bike today. It's pretty fly. Literally, it flies. In the air. Seriously. No not really. That'd be sweet though, huh? But it's pretty nice. No parking permit for Laura.

neat

So more people must have read my xanga than I thought, for my profile views went from 16 to 53. Sweet.

And as to my title, it's just kind of there. I signed up for the this blog, and it asked me for a title. I sat there for a few moments, staring at the computer screen...and the cheese factory just came out.

And speaking of, there's a new Cheesecake Factory in town. I need to hit that up.

I'm watching Mulan by the way. I thought you should know.

summer

I got in the pool for the first time this summer. I didn't so much swim as lay. On a raft. And read a magazine. It was rather comfortable. And I got a little sun.

Nothing much else was accomplished today.

the first

I'm at home now. I'm sitting in my bed, wanting to sleep, but not being able to. Boxes line my walls. I'm looking forward to going through all of them. What a nerd, right?

I'm trying to wean myself off of xanga.

And it's not 10:19 pm, it's 12:19 pm. but I don't know how to change the freakin' time zone. Any help?