Good Old College

I got 5 hours of sleep last night. Partly because I was studying, partly because I was playing the Big Red game. What exactly is the Big Red game? Take a pack of Big Red gum, lick the gum wrapper, stick it to your forehead, and see how long you can keep it up there. It's a lot harder than you might think, but I won't tell you why. Grandpa and Grandma do not do this! Haha! I love college! When else will you stick gum wrappers to your forehead for fun? :)


So that I could actually function today I got coffee, real coffee, for maybe the second time in my life. Daniel it wasn't one of those sweet numbers I usually get! You should be proud! Oh, and it's butt cold outside. I'm not sure what butt cold is exactly but my butt is really cold. It's raining and windy. My umbrella has turned inside out 3 times already. Oh my I need some sleep!!

More Pics!

Here are a few from the Crusade formal dance. Enjoy!

This girl is a riot!















My workout partner Steph!















Lovely ladies!















Me and Leanne. We're the new kids on the block!

Doing the laundry thing.

So it's now about 12:30 am and I've just put my clothes in the dryer. Why you ask? It really and truly is hard to find any other time when the washers and dryers are free. Plus I'm almost out of clean undergarments. :) Anyway, in my spare time while I wait for my clothes to dry I thought I'd update ya'll on life. It's almost hard to know what to write because so much has been going on. Since I haven't covered the topic of classes yet I'll start with that.

For those who don't know, here is a list of the classes I'm taking: Anatomy and Physiology, Introduction to Recreation and Leisure, Introduction to Therapeutic Recreation, and Psychology of Adjustment. Anatomy has been a good class thus far. Hard but good. We have 7 tests in my lecture class which essentially means I'll be studying my butt off every two or three weeks. On the first day of my Anatomy Lab we skinned a cat. That was a yummy experience considering I had just eaten lunch! Thankfully the one boy in our group wasn't shy about cutting up the poor animal. Interestingly enough my lab teacher is probably only like 23. On the first day of lab we all thought he was another student. It's strange to know he isn't that much older than I am, but at the same time it's kinda cool! My Into to Therapeutic Recreation (TR) class is great! Our teacher is the head of the TR department. He is hysterical, fun loving, and generally pretty interesting! We've played games several times in class, some of which have been really helpful for learning. He's also not afraid to make fun of himself so that makes class even better. All around his personality and teaching style make me look forward to coming to class. The rest of my classes are nothing to hoot about. My teachers aren't bad but neither are they great. They are simply another thing to do during the day!

Now on to the the good stuff!! Socially I'm making new friends every week. Everyone in Campus Crusade has been really welcoming and I love it! However, I do have a bit of a beef with them already. Every year Crusade puts on something Summer Project. They take about 30 students to Myrtle Beach for 10 weeks of discipleship training and evangelism. They make it a huge deal at Crusade meetings. And on top off that it's discussed on a fairly regular basis in social settings. It makes me annoyed and frustrated! I understand it's a great experience but some of us have other commitments. I feel like if I don't go, I'm somehow excluded from the "Summer Project" club. In general I feel guilty I just wish they would tone down their promotion of it a little. Anyway, despite all this I do love the people and love going to Crusade meetings.

I've gotten the chance to try several new Southern foods and establishments recently. Grits were very interesting. Since they don't really taste like anything I can't understand how some people find them good. I liked fried Ochra. Sweet tea was just the way it sounds. Very, very, very, sweet! We went to Bojangles (a local fast food establishment) for the first time last week. Because, I wasn't really sure what to get I ordered the Chicken Supreme meal on the recommendation of my roommate. It consisted of chicken fingers, a biscut, and fries. It was junk food to the max and I won't deny that it tasted good, but oh my was I in the mood for some vegetables after that!!! Needless to say I won't be making Bojangles a part of my regular diet.

I think this is it for now. I should get to bed so I can actually function tomorrow! Good night!

No time to blog...

...so here are a few pictures of me and some of my new friends instead. They are in order: my first trip to the southern version of In N Out (Bojangles), fun night in the dorm, me and my new friend Britney, and finally dinner at Cubbies with some folks from Campus Crusade.

My address is...

311 Umstead Hall ECU
Greenville North Carolina
27858

Write me a letter if you feel so inclined! :)

3 Signs

So as wrote in the last blog I had a bit of an adjustment going to church for the first time here in North Carolina. That hasn't been the only thing I've had to adjust to. There's the fact that I get called ma'am everywhere I go. The hottest fast food place down here is called Bojangles. Everyone here drinks something called sweet tea instead of Starbucks. And there is the racism. It did not take long to encounter that. These pictures are a few of the other things I've had to adjust to. I like to call them my, "Three Signs You Know You Are No Longer In California."

I don't think I've ever seen this at Walmart.
I just can't get over the name of this place.

This is one that makes me glad to live in Cali.

FINALLY....

The internet in my room is working for the first time since we got here!! At last I have the chance to sit down and dish everything about the last several days. Let me just say God has been amazing!! When I think about it, this experience could have gone so incredibly bad. But, thankfully he has really seen me through the whole thing. Being able to see his hand in my going to ECU has really helped me to be more confident that this is the place for me.

Once we got to ECU we had a crazy few days trying to shop and get everything done. Between walking around campus and all the stores we needed to go to, I've never been more exhausted. At the end of some days I swear I thought my feet were gonna just about fall off. I said goodbye to my parents on Friday and I blubbered like a baby. Yes, I admit it, I cracked. I was fine up until about half an hour before they left. Nancy you were so right! They went to go run one last errand for me to Target while I stayed behind to "unpack". Truthfully I was grateful for the chance to just sit down for once. Unfortunately, when I actually sat down I started to think about the fact that they were leaving. The moment I realized they were really leaving I could only think, "OHHH NO!!" Anyway, some good did come out of those tears. The grandmother of a girl who was moving onto my floor found me crying and insisted I meet her grand daughter. This was her first semester at ECU and she was very much in the same boat I was. We're pretty different but have hung out fairly regularly since we met and I've been grateful for the company.

I meet my roomie the day my folks left. Her name is Jessica and she is wonderful!!! She's a Christian and super easygoing. She's also a heavy sleeper so if I snore hopefully I won't wake her up. :) We have pretty different schedules but I'm hoping we'll get some bonding time eventually. I don't foresee us having any major problems.

On Sunday I went to church with another girl on my floor, who also happens to be fellow Oprah fan. Yeah! It was my first experience with a Southern Baptist church. The service we went to was the "Contemporary" service. However, it was a bit different than what I expected. The music was very much like home. The started with the song, "Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord". I was getting all into it, ready to lift my hands and start clapping when I noticed NO ONE else was doing anything close to that. I guess I could have been the one to break out of the mold but I gave into peer pressure and worshiped like the rest of them.

I have so much more I could write but I'll save it for another blog since this one is already so long. Long story short things are good! :) I'm off to a bonfire! Love all ya'll.

Here are some random pictures over the last several days. Just some notes, the large brick building with no one in front is my dorm from the outside. The picture with Mom and me and the one with just me on the stairs are both on campus at ECU.