Some Firsts

Over Christmas break I had the joy of being a bridesmaid in the wedding of one of my old college roommates from Biola, Amanda. Having never been a bridesmaid before I had little idea of what was in store for me. I now know firsthand that weddings are exhausting!!!! But, despite the fact that I can hardly keep my eyes open today, the day after the wedding, I wouldn't have missed yesterday for anything in the world! At the wedding I did two things I've never done. Well, three if you count being a bridesmaid. I took pictures in a photo booth, which the bride and groom had arranged to be at the reception. And...I caught the bouquet (no cuts, scratches, or broken bones were invovled in the process)!!

I'm Freeeeeeee!!!

I just finished my last final and I have this overwhelming urge to run around the hall yelling, "I'm freeeeeeee!!!!!" I also have the urge to burn my books. But alas I don't think I'll do either. I can hardly believe the semester is over. It has been an absolute whirlwind. Despite all the amazing new experiences I've had, and new friends I've made, this semester has actually been one of the more difficult ones, and by difficult I don't mean academically hard.

Never before has being single been such a struggle for me. Not only am I reaching the age where my friends are getting engaged but several of my very close friends have started dating this semester. Being around my friends while they've started dating was a first for me. I'm super happy for everyone but I quickly learned how much a boy can change the dynamics of a friendship. I swear I've run the gamete of emotions in regards to being single. I've been angry, hurt, jealous, frustrated, and incredibly lonely. The pain I've felt hasn't been so much in wanting a boyfriend but rather trying to understand why God is making me wait.

Although it's hard to admit, looking back I can honestly say that despite all the heartache this semester has really been a blessing. In all the pain I've felt I've always come back to God, even though I tried as hard as I can to avoid him at times. Chocolate can only do so much! ;) He has been consistent while everything else around me seems to be changing. He taught and continues to teach me so much about who He has created me to be. It would be nice to be able to say that things are peachy now and I'm totally fine with not dating. But I can't. Being content and trusting God in my singleness is still a constant and daily struggle. I'm not a quote person but I found one this semester that really stood out to me. The author probably didn't intended it to refer to the struggle of being single, but for me it has served as a means of encouragement during many a tear and chocolate filled night (I'm such a girl sometimes it kills me!)!!

"A great many things in God's divine providence do not look to the eye like goodness. But faith sits down before mysteries such as these and says, 'The Lord is good, therefore all that he does must be good no matter how good it looks. I can wait for His explanation."
-Hannah Whitall Smith

Stuff

Dawn surprised Kate and I today with probably the best present I'll get this Christmas. She is incredibly crafty and decorated picture frames for us with references to all the fun memories we've had together this semester. (Dawn is in blue & Kate is the blond on my right.) YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT FROM NORTH CAROLINA WHEN: #1. You think the John Deer tractor store is super interesting. "WOW...look at all the tractors!!" #2 You think the fact that car windows freeze over at night is just AWESOMELY COOL. "What's that white stuff? Is that frost?!?! Sweet!"

I have turned into a caffeine addicted shlub!

In the words of my good friend Kate, "Coffee has a PROFOUND impact on my life!" It sure as heck does for me during the last two weeks of the semester. In my attempt to stay semi functional while I studied my life away at the library I drank three large coffees today. Whose bright idea was it to make accumulative tests!?!? Daniel you should be so proud. You sister is turning into a true coffee drinker. Gosh I LOOOOOOVE finals!!!! I just hope I don't die of a heart attack or develop an ulcer before my test tomorrow.

I also haven't worn real clothes in almost four days. I've been living in sweats and slippers. Only 8 more days till I no longer need coffee to stay alive and can wear normal clothes!!!

Pictures

Chinese Christmas Monday Crew!












...and then there's the boys.

The Devil Wears Many Disguises

In this case he came in the form of my roommate's mother with many jars of peanut butter. I am ashamed to admit it but I have officially lost the bet I made with myself and eaten peanut butter. My roommate's mother made it almost impossible for me to resist the temptation. After hearing of my love for peanut butter she not only gave me the initial jar but several subsequent jars thinking I had finished the first one long ago. How can be expected to resist when I not only have JIFFY smooth and creamy, Skippy crunchy, and PeterPan peanut butter to go in little individual cups!?? Granted I never ate the initial jar but I totally cheated by eating all of the other jars she gave me! I wonder if they have anything like PBAA (peanut butter addicts anonymous), because I could sure as heck use the help!

A very important question!

Don't ask me how we got to this point!! In the car today I said to a friend that a good test of friendship is when you can fart in front of someone else and neither one of you care. She said that an even better test of friendship is when you can go to the bathroom in front of someone else. Now I said I could maybe...maybe go number 1. But I told her, "There's NO WAY I'd ever go number 2 while talking to a friend!!" She looked me dead in the eye and said, "I've done it!" Would you?? Could you?? I can't believe I'm asking this but...

Could you go number 2 in front of a good friend?!

Cooooooookies!

After watching "The Nativity Story" on Friday night my group of girlfriends and I decided it was high time we made Christmas cookies. It started out just the four of us but after hearing of free baked goods the boys eventually made it over to Dawn's apartment to sample our work. Let me just say that craziness and all out hilarity soon followed after their arrival. We threw cookie dough all around Dawn's kitchen, Mikey told stories about how he used to shoot himself in the foot for fun (he's about as country of a guy as I've ever met!), Jason and Mikey put on my lipgloss, and finally, as everyone must, Mikey tried on my green vest! Nights like this are a big reason why I don't want to leave here when I graduate!

2 more weeks...

It's now 1 am and I still have a paper to write. Thank God for roommates who can sleep with the light on. Otherwise I'd wake up tomorrow still sitting at my desk having drooled all over my computer. Ug! Two more weeks...only two more weeks of school left till Christmas!

Shhhhhhhh! She's sleeping!

Turkey Weekend

Early on in the semester I was blessed to be invited to my friend Megan's house for Thanksgiving. So on Tuesday night, after all our classes were over, and amidst a major thunder storm, Megan and I piled all our stuff in her car and headed off for the 2 hour drive to her home in Cary North Carolina. We spent Thanksgiving day at Megan's aunt's house along with 14 of Megan's other relatives. I had my first deep fried turkey and much to my shock actually enjoyed the sweet potato casserole. I learned that in North Carolina Thanksgiving is just a dot on the way to Christmas. The day after Thanksgiving Christmas decorations started going up all over Megan's neighborhood. On Saturday we helped Megan's Mom decorate the tree and went to a pre-Christmas celebration at her cousin's house. At her cousin's house we played a hilarious game. The game worked as a competition. Her cousin played Christmas carols randomly on CD player. Whoever named the carol first won. The losers then had to put a lollipop in their mouths. The object was to have the fewest amount of lollipops by the end of the game. Now just imagine trying to shout out "Away In A Manger" with 8 lollipops in your mouth. Basically it's the Christmas version of Chubby Bunny. Like I said, hysterical! I will admit it was a little hard being in a home, but not my home. As my Mother will testify I made my share of phone calls back to California this past weekend. I guess I was homesick but I really can't complain. I can honestly say I couldn't have had a better Thanksgiving!

Here are some pictures of me, Megan (the blonde), her sister, and her sister's friend playing the lollipop game.

Halloween

For the first time in about 10 years I dressed up for Halloween. For lack of time and any better ideas I was a pig (hence the last name Hogshead). My friends and I dressed up and went over to our church for a hangout night. We played games, ate candy, and did some impromptu dancing (to Michael Jackson of course!). All in all it was one fun night!!

Friday Afternoon Adventures

One very normal Friday Becca was up to her usual...studying. Out of the blue her friend Dawn called her and said, "Can I come over!" Sick of studying Becca said, "Sure!" So Dawn came over. While sitting on the couch discussing their weeks Dawn had a brilliant idea. While holding a light bulb she said, "I know lets go for a drive." They piled in Dawn's car and headed off into the west going towards Raleigh... but not totally sure where they were going. At one point they got really lost!!It was scary but being the smart girls they were the whipped out the map. Just as Becca started to make sense of where they were Dawn saw the Crabtree mall out her left window. Go Dawn! Becca and Dawn decided to make it a shopping day and headed on into the mall. There they tried on crazy shoes, got some crazy dot shaped ice cream, and bought some crazy cheap accessories. In the end they left feeling happy because it had been a good day.

Let the betting begin!

My roommate's Mom found out I love peanut butter. So, out of the kindness of her heart she decided to buy my possibly the biggest jar of crunchy Jif peanut butter that I've ever seen. The thing she doesn't know is that while I love peanut butter I have almost no self control when it comes to the stuff. As much as I would love to eat that peanut butter she gave me I know it would be gone before the week was out, and my face and hips would seriously regret it. So, I have decided to try and go the entire semester without opening the jar. If I last that long I plan to reward myself with some sort of peanut butter fantasy creation that has yet to be determined. If I last that long. To give you an idea of how hard this might be for me I'll admit to that fact that as a kid my mother had to hide the peanut butter from me. My roommate bet me 5 dollars that I won't be able to do it. I think I can. It's going to be torture but I'll tough it out. ;) So the question is, what do you think?

Hairy Floors

Both my roommate and I have long brown hair. Between brushing, blow drying, and styling it in our room a substantial amount of that hair winds up on our floor. It doesn't just wind up on our floor. In fact it seems to disappear into our floor only to show up at the most inopportune times. Like for example, when we have a guest over to watch a movie. For lack of seating our guest will lay down in the floor only to get up two hours later with a large clump of hair hanging off the seat of their pants. Um, ew! My roommate has a vacuum but unfortunately it doesn’t work all that well. Rather than picking up the hair it only seems to move it around the room. The only other vacuum we can get is in the campus living office across the street and well, we're lazy. For this reason we have resorted to some rather creative measures to clean the hair off or floor. Ladies and gentleman, introducing the newest technology in cleaning floors…THE LINT ROLLER!! Yes that’s right, I lint roll my floor. It’s gross but it sure as heck does the job!

Ice Skating Pictures

Interesting Conversations

Last night some of my girlfriends and I were hanging out in my room doing homework. Well...not really. We were mostly sitting around with our books open, watching TV and talking. This would be the perfect example of why I go to the library when I have things I really need to get done.

Anyway, the show we were watching featured an interracial couple. This prompted one of my girlfriends to ask me if I would ever date someone of another race. I said I had no problem with it. She then informed me that she could never date someone of a different race, and that if she did her parents would probably disown her. I was flabbergasted. What blew me away even more was that she also proceeded to tell me that neither she nor her family was racist. I probed her a little more on the subject and finally got her to admit that her attitude toward interracial dating was indeed somewhat racist. This made me wonder, so I posed the question to the other girl in the room. She had a very similar response. She said she didn’t have a problem with it but would never do it herself. She also told me that she had been brought up believing that somewhere in the Bible it said that we shouldn’t date interracially. All I could think at that point was, “Wow!”

I went to bed that evening with a lot on my mind and honestly feeling rather sad. Although they probably wouldn’t admit it, the attitudes of my friends boiled down to the fact that they believed it was wrong to date someone of the opposite race. I just cannot comprehend that belief. For me, I don’t understand how could something so beautiful could be wrong?? I think interracial couples and children are some of the most stunning examples of God’s creation. I guess over the summer I forgot that I go to school in, “The South”.

You know you're in college when...

...you play Chubby Bunny at 1 in the morning on school night with your roommate and her friend. I now know that 5 is the maximum number of marshmallows I can fit in my mouth and still be able to say, "Chubby Bunny". Don't worry Dad. I still got my homework done!

New Friends

After a lot of thinking and praying I decided I was going to move on from Campus Crusade this year and look for something different. I'm not totally sure if this will be home yet but I've found what seems to be a great church and college group with some folks more my age (something I was looking for). In the short time I've hung out with them it seems this group also happens to LOVE sports! It's not too hard to take since I'm a sports fan too! Here's a picture of us at the end of some ultimate frisbee fun. Daniel you should be proud. I may progress to where I can actually play catch with you if I stay friends with these guys. :) Warning: We are all really sweaty and exhausted!

I can now officially say...

I have been through a hurricane!! And might I add, they are NOT easy things to sleep through. I spent the better part of my waking moments last night with a friend, who had also never been through a hurricane, counting down the hours till our impending"death" (when the hurricane would hit). Thankfully Greenville and ECU suffered no major damage. Although, I did get some nice pictures of the rather serious flooding.

The Room

Here are some pictures of my oh so fine living accommodations. :)

Back to School

I only have two more years left here at ECU and I have no clue how I’m going to survive all the moves back and forth and plane rides home for the holidays that I am going to make in those years. I arrived on campus Monday night at 11:30 after one rather torturous day of travel. As a kid I remember thinking how much fun and exciting airplane trips were. Where I got this idea I do not know! I swear they are some of the most painful experiences! But, I suppose I can’t complain too much. They get me where I want to go.

After arriving I had about 24 hours to get my side of the room set up as much as possible. Thankfully I am blessed with a wonderful roommate. She made my bed for me so I didn’t have to worry about it the night I got back! How sweet is that?! She also arranged our room, bought a futon for us, and ran me wherever I needed to go. Between unpacking clothes, and running errands I went to my first “Pig Pickin” with some friends from Crusade. I eat pork no problem but it’s a little unsettling to see an entire pig cut open in front of you and the cook pulling out pieces for you to eat. I can’t say I am dying to go to another one, but at least now I can cross, “Go to a pig picking!” off my list of Southern experiences I need to have.

Classes started on Wednesday much to everyone’s dismay. I have no classes Friday so my week was pretty short. So far I am super excited but very overwhelmed for my classes. I have 3 practicums to complete this semester! If my guess is right that’s going to add up to about 40 or 50 hours. Thankfully at least one of those practicums is going to be at ECU during my class time. I think I’m the most excited about that one. Long story short we get assigned a special needs student from the Pitt County school system with which we will do adapted PE once a week. The challenging part will be coming up with the activities, as we are responsible for assessing our clients, establishing goals, and creating activities to meet those goals.

All in all it feels strange yet oddly comfortable to be back in North Carolina. I like the fact that ECU feels familiar. I no longer am totally confused finding my classes. I know both the dining hall and the buss schedules. And of course it’s fun to see what you might call, “new old friends”. But, on the flip side, North Carolina itself still feels so different. Maybe time will help that adjustment process. Or maybe, just maybe…I will always be a California girl at heart.

What a difference...

...a few years can make! I'm still not used to seeing all my hair when I take pictures.

A Country Home

I couldn't have asked for a prettier place to spend my Easter Sunday afternoon!

Special Olympics

Just a few pictures of my time spent today volunteering for the Special Olympics spring games here in Greenville. The young lady with the short hair was my buddy for the day. Enjoy!





















































































I couldn't resist putting this one up. She wasn't my buddy but just look at that face! Could anything be happier?!