4 days.

It always seems to be a while in between my updates. Today is Monday November 5, 2007. This year is almost over. In two months and three days I will be 20. I don't know how to handle that. I will no longer be a teenager. I still feel like one. Age is definitely a mental state more than a number I believe.

Today I don't have class, like always, and I'm waiting to go buy a bike with Tyler. It should be fun, then I can ride to class and not walk. Haha I'm so lazy. Oh well. I also have a follow up appointment for my ruptured ear drum. Then I have my interview at Aero at 4. I hope I get that job! It would be great! They turned the water off today for about 2 hours. I really would like to take a shower but I can't. I guess I'll have to wait til later.

I have to read a Spanish chapter before Wednesday, and write my research paper before next Wednesday. Not excited. I found out though that the actual paper part is 12.50 percent of my grade! It makes me feel a little bit better about it if it's not that great.

On Friday I'm going to Florida to visit my friend Stacy! I am really excited to get out of Norfolk for a few days. This semester has been filled with quite a bit of travelling. Leadership retreat, sandbridge trip, Rudolph, CCM retreat, Fall Break to NY, now Florida. I'm happy. Next semester for Spring Break I'm going to go to California to visit Jason and Ashley! I cannot wait. I don't want them to move, but at least I can go visit them!

Yesterday I gave the last part of my STIM application to the priest at church! Now I just have to wait for them to send it in and then for the STIM people to give me an answer! I wonder where I'll go if I get accepted. I hope it's Bolivia. But I wouldn't mind Peru either. Kenya would be cool, too. Anywhere would be awesome. I just want to speak Spanish.

HEROES is on tonight. I was reading today that the writers are going on stike and the season might end sooner than they wanted. They better work it out because there are going to be A LOT of fans that will be pissed if they have to end this season earlier than they should.

Well I'm not getting a bike today. I guess it's going to be Thursday. Oh well.

I guess I should start my Spanish paper. But I would really like a shower first. I have to wait about another hour before I can take my shower.

Well I'm off to do something. Maybe I'll clean my room. Isn't The Price is Right on soon?

PEACE

Where to begin!

So much has gone on since I last updated. Fall break is over. It was okay, there have been better. I have officially moved on from trying to regain a friendship that died a long time ago. It sucks, but you learn. I've been working at my new job for almost a month. Pretty crazy when I think about it. It's good money though. I've already made a third of what I made at Cold Stone for 7 months. Pretty ridiculous. Classes are slowly going along.

Math: still easy, sometimes a little challenging as I forget stuff that I haven't used since 8th grade. Oh well. I had an A and now I'm a few points from an A, but there's still half the semester just about to raise it.

Spanish: This class is challenging! I have two big papers due in the next three weeks and I should probably start now so that way I'm not cramming late into the night to finish and research them. It's a really fun class though, I have an A for now...I wouldn't be too upset if I got a B+ in the class. I'd like an A, but ya know.

Geography: This class has surprisingly been more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I have an even 80 right now. But there's still plenty of things to raise my grade to an A.

Politics: This class is just horribly boring. I take notes to stay awake. The teacher is nice and knows his stuff he just structures his class kind of boringly. I don't think that's a word, but you know what I mean. I got a paper back today and I'm really proud of it. I got an A and he said "Andrew, this is a great paper. You went above and beyond. Keep up the good work!" It made me feel good about the 5.25 pages I wrote. Thanks go out to Doug for editing it for me.

Next semester has been planned out and then I went to talk to my advisor and he knew absolutely NOTHING about what I need to take and the questions I had. I'm now in search of answers from people who aren't my advisors. Oh well. It'll all turn out well.

I have an interview at Aero on Monday for seasonal work. I hope I get the job so I can make some extra money for the holidays. Maybe they'll pay me roughly the same amount as the coffee shop. Then I'll be rolling in the big bucks! Ha. It's a good thing to wish for.

Today at work I started this book called The Convict Christ: What the Gospel Says about Criminal Justice. It's extremely interesting and I encourage anyone who is interested in the death penalty and criminals and what God and Jesus feel toward them to read this. It's really good, written by a man in jail for life. Very moving.

I can't believe that next week is November already. This semester is flying by. I'm kind of excited because I want to take some other classes. I'm bored with these. But if I ever have to take another geogrpahy class it will definietly be with Mr. Kidd. He's absolutely hilarious.

I'm listening to the new Juanes cd. Juanes, for those of you who don't know, is a cantautor which means he writes his own songs and they're kind of political. But in this one song, there's a guy singing in German. Kind of weird.

This weekend is the IV Halloween Party. I'm going as Dwight from The Office. Tomorrow I'm hanging out with Tyler and I think he and I are going to go thrift store shopping so I can get some good Dwight garb.

Well I want to read sme more before bed, so this is where I leave you.

PEACE

Blogger sucks

So I tried redoing my fun pictures and friends thing and blogger is being gay and not letting me. wtf. i guess i'll have to do it later. maybe when i get back to school. i have new pictures that need putting up.

long drive tomorrow. Not looking forward to it.

BYE

I'm cold.

So I'm sitting here in my "room" watching the first season of The Office and it's hilarious. I really enjoy this show. I think I'm going to start watching it.

Fall Break has begun, it's actually almost over. Friday morning I left Norfolk around 7:35, 35 minutes later than I wanted to, but I was making great time all the way through PA until I got stuck in traffic for a total of 3 hours. I made it to Binghamton around 5ish. I got lost in Bing for a little while and that was annoying. Needless to say I finally made it and it was a lot of fun. Kelly took me to eat dinner at her nasty dining hall and it was fun. That night we went downtown, which is ridiculously small. We went to a club and I got in using someone else's fake i.d. That was fun. Lots of funny pictures were taken. Got in really late that night and had a great sleep.

Saturday was a lot of fun too. We went to Tully's for lunch and had HUGE burgers. Then we stopped by Cold Stone and went to a pet store for quite a while. We saw two dead beta fish and moved them to the back. We also saw a dead turtle. That wasn't cool.

Today I woke up early and headed up to Rochester. It took me 2.5 hours roughly and it was an okay drive. I'm not looking forward to going back to VA because the drive sucks big hairy balls. I refuse to drive home again. I'll fly or take a train. After Christmas of course where I go home with Katie. Today I got to see Katelyn and that made my day. She came over for dinner and we laughed for a good while and then she left for work. Afterwards I went to Meg's, picked her up and we went to Cold Stone and rented a movie. We rented Breach but didn't finish watching it becuase we were tired and it took too long to get into. Then we talked for a bit and I headed home.

Tomorrow I plan on getting my hair cut and then hanging out and I don't really know. Maybe getting dinner with some fun people. Tuesday I plan on going to Odyssey so I can see Eva. That's my old high school Spanish teacher. She's my favorite. I think I'll talk to her about when I get my free trip to Spain.

Well that's all I've got for now. I'm tired.

PEACE

Fall Break anyone?

As I sit here ready to get into bed I can't help but think about the great weekend coming up! It's Fall Break and I am heading home. First I'm making a pitstop in Binghamton, NY to visit my friend Kelly at school. She goes to SUNY Binghmaton (SUNY = State University of New York by the way). It's going to be a fun few days! On Sunday I'm going to drive 3 hours North and go back home to the ROC. I get to visit my cousin at school and see her new place, see my mom and brother, see some friends. Hopefully go to lunch with Eva (my highschool Spanish teacher) and just relax for .3 seconds. Then Tuesday monring/afternoon I'll begin the treck back down here. It's horribly boring to go by yourself. If I weren't going to the Bing I might have invited someone to come with me, but I am so it would be weird for them to come.

Also really soon (in about a month) I'm going to Tallahassee to visit Stacy at FSU! I'm really excited about that. It's always fun when I get to see her and it'll be even greater going to her school and seeing it and meeting her friends. Hopefully it'll be warmer there, too.

I'm in search of a bike. I'm going to go to thrift stores and look for a good one. Hopefully it'll be nice and cheap, but still a reliable bike.

Well that's all I've got.

PEACE

¿Como te llamas?...Estoy roto.

Wow. Like Andrew's post it has been a really long time since I've updated. Part of it was due to lack of internet and the other part is just lazyness. So I guess it's time to be unlazy. Right now I am laying in bed and just turned on The Chronicles of Narnia to watch. I'm really excited, I've been thinking about this movie lately.

Where to start, the last thing you knew was that there was a dance party to go to. I went. It was a lot of fun and I took a lot of pictures (you can find them on Facebook). After that classes continued on and then I worked at lame-ass Cold Stone. The following weekend was the InterVarsity Chapter Retreat! I love retreats. They get you started on your Jesus high that lets you go from there. The trip up there was great. I had a car of 4 girls. So naturally, it was hectic. We got lost (following Doug and Justin though!) and then finally made it there. One word to describe this retreat: revealing.

I use the word revealing because there were a lot of things revealed to me. One. God speaks to me through Spanish. I used my Spanish Bible a lot while I was there and it just started clicking. Two. I don't know my name. If you were there you'll understand that. Three. I am broken. I am trying to find my way and understand what that means. I know that I am in need of God and Jesus so much that it hurts. My life is anything but perfect, and I need to learn that in order to help with that, Jesus needs to be the center of that help. Four. I am a judge. I am constantly judging people. But luckily, God is constantly slapping me in the face and telling me I'm wrong. I would say that this weekend I made some good friends, with the new people and with people I've known since last year.

It was extremely weird walking back into that place. I have grown so much since last year, and shrunk a little, too. Being a small group leader was really weird because I now know what it feels like to be on both sides. I really enjoyed my small group. Ashley was my co-leader and I feel so much more connected to her (you'll find out why in a little bit). That's actually what my picture is; my small group. Just kidding. It won't load.

Saturday night we had a time for extended worship and a time to pray and think. There were a few people in the back: Shane, Dawn, Jeremy, Ashley, Jessica, Doug, and Dani. I first went back and talked with Ashley. I talked about what was going on with me and then she prayed for me. I can't tell you how great it is to have someone pray for you. To hear them ask God to help you. Its truly amazing. After that I chair hopped on over to Jessica. We talked and then she too prayed for me. Again an amazing feeling. After I was finished with her, I went to Dani's chair. I was actually quite nervous about that because Dani and I had only recently started talking. We talked about STIM next year and all the great things that are going to happen. Then she prayed for me. I think that just really showed how much I don't know about people, and how much I let judgements get in my way.

Afterwards we had the bonfire, and the best part of that was that we had a GIANT massage line. It was just amazing. I got massages from so many people and gave them too. Doug wins for guys and Nicole wins for girls. They were good. This weekend was also a great time to talk with Doug and Tyler. We had great conversations sitting in the woods and talking with them was where I could open up and talk about anything. Great friendships are forming.

Sometimes I'm a douchebag. For some reason, I decide that I'm not going to call someone to hang out until they call me first. I think God is telling me that that's pretty stupid. I have run into said person every day this week. I think it's an insult to the friendship that I have and I need to stop.

What I really liked about the retreat was when Dani gave her talk about identity, and who she is. We were all given nametags for us to think about what our names are. I still don't know, but I wrote some things down. I think it's a process to figure it out and can't be thought of on the spot.

¿A dónde voy con mi vida? = Where am I going with my life?

My plan when I'm done with school is to head overseas somewhere to teach English. Maybe in Latin America or Spain. I don't want to leave behind my friends. But I guess if they are meant to be in my life in the future, God will keep them there. It's just really nerve racking becuase I'm very selfish when it comes to that and refuse to say goodbye.

Tonight I had dinner with one of the guys from my small group. It was fun, he's cool and we share the same name and cell phone actually. I look forward to getting to know him better. Tomorrow I'm getting lunch with another one of the guys and that too should be fun.

Well I'm exhausted so it's off to bed I go.

Also. Yay for an interview at the coffee shop and hopefully telling Cold Stone to fuck off.

PEACE

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Wow. These weeks are just going by so fast! The third week of school is already over with. Pretty soon the semester will be over, I'll be finding out if I'm gong to Bolivia and Argentina and then it will be Spring semester. Wow. My goal is to not have Dr. Gordus for classes again after this semester. He's a nice guy but I don't like his teaching methods and I prefer to have natives teach me. Oh well, I'll get plenty of that when I go to Latin America (If I go haha). I have to finish filling out my Application for STIM, give the parts to some other people and then send it in.

I'm also really happy becuase I am officially a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church now! I got a letter yesterday saying, "Welcome!!" Now I'll get my fun little envelopes and tithe my life away :).

The picture above is one of my cousin, her boyfriend Nate, and me. It was taken on my beautiful Mac and I just love it. It makes me miss her a lot, but I know that I'll see her soon enough and we video chat quite frequently so it's fun. I don't think I'm going to see her until December actually, that makes me quite sad, but I'll live.

I have a lot of stuff to do today. I have to meet with Ryan and plan SG stuff, meet Laura for lunch, meet with my Spanish professor at 3:30, go to the bank, go to the pet/grocery store, call Verizon and yell at them, call Cox, begin working on my Spanish essay, begin my Politics essay, start my Spanish presentation, and there may be another thing or two that I have to do. But it's a good thing I don't have class on Fridays or Mondays. It's going to be my saving grace, I can tell right now.

Speaking of which, that's a funny little idiom right there. Saving grace. We have a saving grace. It was given to us by God, yet we choose to use it when talking about classes and other random earthly things. Kind of funnny. Well not funny, but interesting. I wonder if non-Christians know that they use these phrases and really understand where they come from.

I enjoy just laying in bed, typing on my computer, and waiting for my alarm to go off to tell me to get up. I still have 27 more minutes of free time :). How shall I use it? Maybe a quick nap.

The chapter retreat is coming up and I am so excited!!! It's going to be so much fun. There are TONS of new people coming and I cannot wait to talk to them and figure them out a little better. I don't really want to pay my $40 but oh well. This year I have to worry about making a connection with a freshman instead of being the freshman that tried talking to the other people. I already know them, and it'll just be a little weird changing roles. But I guess that's what our lives are all about. Changing. Nothering is ever there forever, you'll never know someone forever, so you have to learn to accept changes.

Tonight is a dance party, so excited! Tomorrow is the CCM BBQ and then Jason and Ashley's, so excited!! It'll be a good weekend I predict. Filled with fun and buttloads of homework. Oh well. That's what school's all about.

That's all I've got.

PEACE

Hate.

Hate is a very strong word. Did you know that it's used in the Gospel? I didn't until yesterday when I went to church and the Priest read it. I was very interested in what he was talking about.

Why is it that someone can have so much control over your life when you don't want them to? Why is it that they can go along without wondering what I'm doing and how I'm doing, yet I can't go five fucking minutes without thinking about what they're doing and knowing that they don't care. It's getting to the point where I didn't eat today. I had half a bowl of maccaroni and cheese, two sticks of celery, two bites of soup, and three pieces of this weird thing Katie made. It may sound like a lot of food, but it's not. On top of it I don't sleep. It's really starting to get to me and add it to the school work I have that I don't understand. I need a break from my life right now. Where can I get one of those?

If things couldn't be any more stressful, I get a 16 year old telling me that she likes me. Not only is that a. illegal, but b. I work with her and c. she's Jamie's little sister. All of that is just too much for me to handle right now.

Also, adding to my plate of shit are the leadership meetings on Tuesdays. If I can't force myself to finish my Spanish homework, I don't know if I'll attend becuase class is just more important.

I really just want to scream. All I did today was read. I went to bed around 2ish, got up at 8:40. Tried to sleep until about 9:48, but all I did was lay there. Got up and read all day. I read my new Catholicism book and then my Spanish Civ book. We have a couch now so it's more fun to sit in the family room and read. Next we just need a tv stand and some cable/dvd player.

This stress is really starting to affect me. It was okay when it was just school, but when you throw in Spanish that I don't understand and people that don't care when you try to care, it just sucks. Can someone please give me a vacation from myself?

Well I guess I'm done being emo.

PEACE

Numbers?

So the second week of classes has ended. It was a long week! And I only have class three days out of the week. This semester is going to be very hard I think. Not class wise, but jsut intense. My classes are all squished together into three days and that's tiring. Then I have lots to do for IV and it's just overwhelming. OUr second week of NSO stuff has ended and I feel like we've met a lot of people, but how many are going to come to IV and small groups? Did they jsut sign up for free stuff? I don't want to get too caught up in numbers, even though it's important. I feel that as soon as we focus on the numbers and not the people, we're going to lose sight of what a small group or even IV is all about. Where's the happy medium?

Today I had to take the ferrets to the vet for their last distemper boosters. It was expensive but I'm glad they only need to get their rabies shots and then they're done for a year. Hooray!

So I'm slowly pluggin away on my STIM application. I hope I get accepted. I really hope I get to go to Bolivia too. I gave my reference part to Laura today and I'm so thankful that she's going to fill it out. I have to give one to Shane, Andrew, and the priest at church. I just became a member there so I don't know if he'll be able to answer the questions entirely. Maybe I'l set up a meeting with him and talk to him and then he'll know where to go from there. But I've been going to the church for about a year and I cosnider mysefl a member. Is that all that really counts? I don't know.

Tonight I think I might do some homework and read. It'll be a nice relaxing night.

Well that's all I've got for now.

PEACE

Triple Chocolate Meltdown

Good evening readers! It is a good day. I woke up at 7:41 am and that part wasn't too good, but then I napped until about 9. That was good. Then I got up and read for my politics class and it was slightly interesting. I hope we start debating in that class becuase I like to debate. After some lunch I went to BIBLE PREPARATION 404 according to Ashley and that was okay. I don't know how much I got out of it in 30 minutes. I guess I'll have to spend more time in it by myself. It's a good jumping off point though.

Last night was my first small group and there was one person that came. I can't even really count that since it was Ryan's friend and not a freshman. Maybe next week we'll get more since yesterday was Labor Day and a lot of people went home. I look forward to the guys that God is going to bring to small group, just like He brought me to Jason and Doug's last year. After Bible class I went off to Spanish Lit. That class is so freaking hard. Next class I have an outline due for an essay and a presentation on Cotes' letters. I just need to find time to sit down and work. I think the library is going to become my best friend soon, I can't really work here, I get too distracted. I thought that class was going to be about novels and other good things, but instead we're reading poetry written by Natives right after Cortes got there. It's so hard! I don't understand any of it.

After that extremely hard class I go onto math, which is a joke all in itself. I sit there extremely bored. Oh well. I signed up for the class for an easy A so we'll see if it'll still be that easy later on down the road. I hope so becuase with the other classes I'm taking I need a nice easy one.

After my math class I headed on over to International Politics and that was fun. I think it's going to be really interesting learning about the politics of the world. Sometimes I wonder if I should pick up a minor of International something. Considering I'm a Spanish major and plan to travel a lot. I guess that's something to look into.

After class I went out to dinner with Doug and we had some really great conversations and one that I never thought about was how obsessed I've been with getting a job. Everywhere I turn I say I need a job. Why do I need a job? So I can spend money. Maybe the thing I need to learn to do is to not spend money. I think I should cancel all my credit cards and live off what money I have in my bank accounts. That way I'm limited to what I can spend, whereas if I have credit cards I know that I can spend money and pay it back later. It's not a good thing.

I talked to my friend Stacy today and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go visit her in November. It only costs $158 to fly out of Richmond. I know that I just wrote that I shouldn't spend money, but it's vital that I go and see her. I would love to head on down to Florida. It'll be a great quick break.

Tomorrow is my cousin's birthday. I'm sad that I can't be there to celebrate it with her. Oh well, I'll give her a cute call at midnight and scream Happy Birthday to her. She's precious.

Tomorrow I'm working on my Spanish presentation from 10 until we finish it. I'm kind of nervous about it since it's for a class that I have no idea what is ever going on, but maybe this will be my turning point to understanding! Then after that I have my 3 hour Spanish Civ class. That too is killer. I have to start prepping for two essays, one for both classes. It's going to stretch my Spanish skills in so many ways.

After that is CRASH. I'm looking forward to being able to sit there and watch tomorrow. I don't have to speak which is nice. Dani was saying that she wants Katie and I to sing sometime. I think it would be a lot of fun to sing with Jason playing the guitar or singing with us. Guess we'll have to see how that turns out!

Well that's all I've got for now.

PEACE

Do you squeeze your toothpaste from the middle or the bottom?

Hello my faithful readers. I think I've decided that this is more for me than anyone else. Noone really reads this so I guess it's a way for me to write about waht I'm feeling and work things out. Sounds good to me. Enjoy my new mind set as I ramble.

I am currently overwhelmed. I've only had class for three days and there has been so much assigned and gone over. I guess that's what I get for crambing 5 classes into 3 days. Oh well. I've been having some great conversations with people in the past few days and I really had forgotten what it was like to have these people around me all summer. I think there are definitely some relationships that I want to have even after I graduate from college. Wow that time is approaching a lot faster than I would like, but I guess the only thing I can do is see where God is going to take me and use me. I guess this is a situation where it's 100% okay to be used.

I'm really excited to see where God takes IV this year. And also me. I definitely feel like talking to people that I don't know a lot more and just meeting lots of people. I guess I'll start in my classes and go from there. I also have to finish my application for STIM. That's due by November and I really hope I get accepted becuase I am just feeling being drawn towards a missions trip right now. A way that I can use the gifts I have been given and reach out to people.

I'm feeling extremely encourageed right now after talking with my friend this afternoon. That's all I've got for now, but it's a really good feeling.

PEACE

Next stop, Sky High

Man. It's been a long time since I have updated.

Classes have begun and they're going pretty well. Granted I've only had three, but ya know. This past weekend was the IV Leadership Retreat. That was a lot of fun and I'm really excited about all the great stuff we have planned for NSO (New Student Outreach). Tomorrow is our fist Crash of the year. I'm a little nervous because I have to speak and do a skit with Andrew. It will be fun, but I always get nervous about speaking in front of groups until I get up there.

Today I had Spanish Lit. That class is going to be hard. I can tell right now. My partner and I have our presentation next Thursday and I have to read a book written by Cortes I think and it's going to be hard. But he said he goes easier on the first group that goes. And my partner is a good person to have. After that class I went ovr to my math class. My teacher is mean. She was snapping at kids left and right. She's old but I think she'll be an easy teacher. It's College Algebra so it's the easiest thing in the world. After that class I headed back to BAL for my political science class. That class is going to be fun I imagine. The teacher is young and sounds like he doesn't just want to stand up there and lecture.

Tomorrow I have my Spanish American Civ. class and I'm looking forward to that. I like the teacher and I think it'll be fun. I was reading the syllabi for my Spanish classes and I have to write three papers between the two of them and they have to be 5-6 and 6-8 pages. I'm a littler nervous about that becuase writing in Spanish is kind of hard. Writing that much in English can be difficult. Oh well. It's the only way to leanr.

Right now I'm watcing Sky High and getting ready for bed. I think I might do my Political Science readings tonight before bed so that way tomorrow I can do my Spanish lit homeowrok.

I'm feeling pretty good about this year. We'll just have to wait and see.

Tomorrow before my class I'm going out to the beach to see three of my aunts. Two are here visiting and I haven't seen them in a long time. It'll be nice. A little nerve racking at first but overall a good experience.

I applied at Aero yesterday and I look forward to calling them on Friday and seeing if they're going to hire me. I hope they do because I really need a job, and then I'll get a discount on their clothes.

Well, that's all I've got for now. It's off to bed I go.

PEACE

Lu lu lu, you got some, too.

School starts on Monday! Hooray! I cannot wait for classes to begin. I know that I'm nerdy, but I really enjoy going to class. I like learning about new things, even though they may be completely irrelavant. I think I'm going to enjoy taking my naps again. Naps really make the days better. But this year I don't have gaps in between classes. They're all back-to-back.

Tomorrow is the IV Leadership Retreat. I'm kind of excited for it, but apprehensive at the same time. I still don't really think I should be a small group leader sometimes. I guess this weekend will either make or break my thoughts on it, but I have to go in with an open mind.

I started reading Fahrenheit 451 today. Of the 7 pages i"ve read I really enjoy it. I've heard it's an awesome classic and I look forward to reading what it's pages bring. The next book I want to read is "Why do Catholics do that?" It's a book all about the different ceremonies and other rituals that Catholics do. I guess it's all part of my searching my roots thing. I'm really interested to see where my own thoughts and ideas develop. I think it's weird, but I like being Catholic. I don't really know why.

I'm looking forward to sleep tonight. There's just something about crawling into bed that is so peaceful and relaxing. You know that you're about to enter a place in time that is just pure relaxation and awesome. In fact, I think I'll go there now.

PEACE

Lu lu lu, I got some apples

Wow where to start. It's been quite eventful these past few days. Last Tuesday night my cousn Katelyn and her boyfriend Nathan left and came down to visit me for a few days. It was the most fun I've had in a long time. The tnire time they were here it was non-stop laughing and having fun. We went to the Virginia Aquarium, the beach, out to dinner, and just hung out. I miss her a lot when I'm gone.

The other day was Andrew's birthday and we went out to dinner at Outback. Had horrible service. Then went go-karting! That was a lot of fun. We raced 5 different tracks and had a blast. Lots of laughing went on and everyone won at a different race. Lots of fun. Will deffinitely be doing that again.

Yesterday I went to church for the first time since I've been back and it was really good. I picked up a registration form to join the church and we'll see how that goes! I really hope to become an active member of the church. I've never really been apart of a church before and it's something I want.

I think that I may end up living here when I'm done with school and everything. I know I want to head over to Spain for a good chunk of time and teach English and enjoy the amazing Spanish culture.

Let's skip to today. Today I worked 11-5 and hated every minute of it. Tomorrow I'm going to give my boss a letter that tells her my last day is going to be August 31. I'm calling back a job tomorrow that's on-campus that I hope to get and then I'll have a job again!

Tonight while I was playing a fun game of monopoly with the crew I got a call from Ryan asking me if I could house an international student for the night becuase he had just gotten off the plane and had nowhere to stay. So I said yes and Andrew and I went to get him and I can't really spell his name, but he's from Turkey. I instantly thought of Kelly and Dogan, who is from Turkey and all the funny things he taught me to say. Of course they are all things you shouldn't say to someone you just met. I was hoping that he would be from a Spanish speaking country, but no luck. Hopefully we can maybe stay in touch and help him with his English. Andrew gave him mine and his e-mail addresses and such, so who knows!

Well tomorrow is my day off...HOORAY! I like days off.

That's all I've got for now.

PEACE

No inspiring titles around

Well, I'm sitting here bored and watching tv. I have been watching so much tv since I moved here and it's really annoying. Hopefully as soon as everyone moves back in I'll stop watching tv and hang out with people.

I forgot to eat today. I worked 11-5 and whenever I get home from work I'm not hungry, so I still haven't eaten. Oh well, maybe I will later.

So I also have decided that I'm not going to quit Cold Stone right away. I was angry and was making hasty decisions so I'm going to search for a new job and not quit until I find one. Plus, I have about $50 in tips sitting on my desk.

Well, I'm going to go find something to do.

PEACE

So Long, Farewell

I hate working at Cold Stone. I thought it was going to be great working there again and seeing everyone that I used to work with. But I was wrong. It was horrible. This girl who was hired after me was made a crew leader and a guy who was hired at the end of May is going to try and get Asst. Manager. I'm not jealous or bitter or anything, but the fact that they aren't capable to effieciently run the store. Tonight, said guy, came into work drunk. The store was really busy and the dishes PILED up in the backroom. For a good hour, Jamie and I were the only people clocked in, forced to handle the line and dishes and ice cream, while there were 4 people sitting in the back, one doesn't count though because she wasn't supposed to be on until 7. But it was very frusturating and I couldn't go start dishes becuase "i was needed on the line." It sucked.

So we got out around 11:15. I think I'm going to put my two weeks notice in and find another job. It's too stressful, which it shouldn't be because it's Cold Stone, but it is. I was very angry and my co-workers could tell. At the end of the night two girls came in right before we were about to close and my co-worker says, "Not it." and I'm sure they could hear her. So I took care of them and only charged them for kids ice cream and not what they really got. I bet they thought I was hitting on them, which is okay because they were very pretty.

Well now I'm waiting for Katie to come over and help me put the fridge back together. Hopefully work tomorrow will be better. The plus side is that I got $20.70 in tips.

PEACE

Ugh

I am such a moron! Last night at my aunt's house, while I was babysitting, I went swimming. I was really exctied because the water was really warm. I had just put my phone in my pocket to bring it outside and I went right into the water with it. After a good minute or two, I feel a vibrating on my leg. Then I remembered that my phone was in my pocket. I freaked out and tried to get it out asap, but of course when you panick you don't move as fast as you'd like. So finally I got the battery out and dried it with the towel and let it sit. But it still doesn't work.

I think I'm the most upset because it was an expensive phone, and I really liked it. Oh well. I have to go to Verizon today and get a new one. That's not going to be fun because I think I'll end up having to pay out the ass for a new one.

Well that's all I've got for now.

PEACE

Slightly Confused

Good evening my loyal readers. I'm laying here in bed and I'm confused. A little history lesson. Last year when I started working at Cold Stone, I met Jamie. She was hired after me and I thought she was very pretty and funny so we started talking. We went out and hung out a bit. It was fun, it was really cool getting to know her. We talked all the time and she used to call me and it was really good. However, after I left and went to Blacksburg and then Rockbridge I didn't hear from her. I assumed that it was "Out of sight, out of mind." So I went on with the summer and didn't really think about her.

I knew that when I started working at Cold Stone again that I would see her, but I wasn't really interested in pursuing anything with her. However, I got a phone call tonight from her and we were talking like we did before I left. It was really good to hear from her and talk. She mentioned that she has a boyfriend now, but it makes me wonder as to why she would call and talk to me for a good chunk of time. I know that friends call each other, but we were never really friends. So I guess some feelings I thought were dead came back and are plaguing me. I guess I don't really know how I should feel. We're completely different people and our views on a lot of things are different.

Last year when I was talking to her, my friend told me to be careful and to not cross a line. The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to realize how correct he was. There are lines that shouldn't be crossed. I guess as I'm still figuring out my own thoughts on everything and still adjusting to my life with Christ. Sex before marriage has always been something that I've never really thought was a big deal. A lot of my friends are having sex and it doens't bother me. At first it's a slight shock, but it doesn't bother me. I guess I don't know how sex changes you, but I've been told it does. I don't know how it would alter me mentally, but I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to abuse something that important and detremental to your soul. Having sex with the wrong person could affect you in ways that you don't know. Waiting until you're married and truly in love is when sex is meant to be, or at least that's how I feel.

Sorry that this turned into a discussion on sex, but I guess after talking to Jamie again, it's been on my mind. I don't judge people who have sex, I feel that it's their choice, but I guess I've made my own personal choice.

Well, I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep in and figure out what to do when I awake.

PEACE

I think that milk is spoiled...

Good morning. It's Thursday August 9, 2007, and what a nice day it is. I am starting to feel officially moved in since last night was garbage night and I got rid of a lot of boxes and now the hallway isn't cluttered.

So what's been going on with me these past few days. Well Tuesday night I went to a Bible study out in Newport News with Katie, Yannick, and Scott, and oh man was it awesome. I didn't really want to go and had decided that I wasn't going to say anything and was just going to listen. However, that didn't happen. As soon as we finished reading it, I didn't want to be the first person to say something, so I was the second person. I ended up talking a lot. We read 2Peter 1. I had never read that and I really liked looking at it. It was also cool heraing people that I don't know discussing it. It was really cool. Then afterwards we just hung out and talked. I had a fun conversation with this girl about languages and I didn't feel so nerdy haha.

Then yesterday I worked 10-5. I had forgotten how boring it can be working at Cold Stone when there aren't any customers. I did dishes, stocked cambros, and filled mix-in jars. I did leave however with 12 dollars in tips, so that was nice. I'm still trying to find a different job. I want one that will actually pay me real money and have better hours. Oh well, Cold Stone is a good place to work while I look.

After work I went over to Jason and Ashley's house. Man I missed them! It was really good to see them. They made me dinner, which always makes me really happy. It was baked ziti and oh man, it was so good! After dinner we sat around the table talking and then Jason and I went to the movie store and rented Volver. An Almodovar movie starring Penelope Cruz. It was good, a little weird, but good. Like all his movies, Almodovar makes the weirdest possible stories and makes great movies out of them. It made me want to come home and watch Pan's Labrynth, but I didn't. After the movie we sat around Ashley's Mac and she was teaching me new things about them! It was really cool! I enjoy Macs.

I don't have anything to do today except wait til tonight when I'm hanging out with Doug. I guess I'll eat lunch and maybe read today. It will be good! Katie is going home tonight until Saturday and she's going to bring me back Chinese food from our favorite restaurant! I am really excited abut that! Also my cousin comes down Tuesday night!! We're going to have fun!

Well that's all I've got for now, must start the day!

PEACE

Old Dominion Universtiy. Changing Lives.

Isn't that O-DU's motto or catch phrase? If it is, I like it. I think it kind of fits. Well at least it does to my life. Everyone takes something away from their college expereience. Whether it be good or bad. As of right now, if I were to be done with college I would say that I am taking away something very good and positive. Then I think about all the people that can't say that. I wonder what they did during their four years here. Did they venture out of their bubble and try to meet new people and expand their horizons? If not, why? I know that when I first came here I didn't really talk to anyone because I thought I was going to transfer the next year. I didn't want to be here and I thought that making friends would make it harder to leave. Well, I am glad to say that I didn't continue with that frame of mind. I have made some amazing freinds here, and if you're reading this, I'm sure you've heard this before.

But it makes me wonder if it's not just the student's fault that they don't take something positive away from here. How much of an impact do our teachers have on us even at the colegiate level? I know that in high school I was really close with some of my teachers, and spent a lot of time talking to them outside of class. Will that be the same here? I think that once I get higher up in my field of study I will have the same teachers and they'll get to know me better. I feel that having even a basic relationship with a teacher outside of class can make your time at the school that much better.

The other day I was bored and made a graduation plan for myself. I decided I wasn't going to double in French and Spanish, and just stick to Spanish. I planned out the rest of my semesters here and I will be done with all my classes in Fall of 2009. I'm not scheduled to graduate until 2010. I know I want to study abroad, so if I do that then I won't have to worry about what classes I take there and can just take a bunch of fun electives for credit. I decided I want to go to Argentina. I was reading the study abroad pamphelt and it sounds really good. They offer areas for Spanish majors, with history, literature and film classes. I know that I would really enjoy all that. And I've been told that Argentina is beautiful.

I've also been thinking a lot lately about going on a missions trip next summer. I've been wanting to go on one since last November and now I think I'm ready to do it next summer. I want to go to Bolivia. I was reading about it in the STIM pamphlet and it requires a strong knowledge of Spanish, and it will stretch me in ways that I didn't know I could go. I facebook messaged this girl who went to Bolivia one year and she said that it was really tough, but overall extremely rewarding. I hope that I can go there and learn more about myself and what God has planned for me. Also, as to how I can help spread the word of God to people who might not have heard it before. I think it would be extremely difficult to talk about God in Spanish, but the only way to find out is to do it. It's something that I need to continue praying about, but I feel that I need to go.

If I go to both of those places I will be getting a lot of exposure to Spanish culture. I also have a free trip to Spain in the near future with my high school Spanish teacher, Eva. That will be exciting too! This also makes me wonder how some people aren't passionate about anything. I feel extremely passionate about languages and I wonder how people never find what they truly love. Thinking of the future excites and scares me at the same time. I have no idea where I'm going to be, all I know is that it's going to allow me to rely more on God and discover what His plans for me are.

Well that's all I've got for now. Time to start the day.

PEACE