WILD!!!

So these are just some pictures of the wonderful power of God last night. In case you don't live in Ojai, last night the wind was WILD!!!! I have never experienced wind that wild before and it was so humbling to know that I could do nothing to stop it. So last night I went out to rent some movies because my friend is lame and doesn't want to hand out with me while she is here (not you Katie, you're cool). I rented 4 DVDs and we were watching one of them as a family. I had just let my dog out to go to the bathroom when the electricity went out. It came back on really quickly, so we grabbed all of our flashlights and stuff just in time for the lights to go out for good. Luckily we still had most of our candles out from Christmas so we were fairly well prepared. I let my dog back in because he was super scared from the wind.

I went out to my room to grab another flashlight and I saw that the fence separating our property from the trailer park next door had come crashing down. Needless to say I opted to sleep in the house in case anything else happened. Most people are saying that around 6 transformers blew last night which caused the wild blackout.

This morning we awoke to find that two large pine trees had fallen into our backyard, one large branch had fallen on top of my room, and the fence was worse then we thought. But everyone is safe and the insurance people are coming out either today or tomorrow. I just thought it was pretty wild and I hope everyone else was luckier then we were.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful day today and yesterday. Christmas was in a word... interesting... for me. First of all we had Christmas eve dinner at our house last night and we had been prepping all week. My mom isn't the best at communicating what she needs done when she is focused on something else so this whole week has been super stressful with trying to help her, finishing up finals, and trying to manage with only three cars (Sarah's car needed a new transmission and it was in the shop all week). But Christmas eve dinner ended up just fine. Lots of great food and family drama that I really can't go into detail about on here because I don't feel like writing a novel, but feel free to ask me about it sometime. My grandma decided to give me the "what were you thinking grandma" gift this year. She gave me a flashlight. Now this wasn't even a cute flashlight or like an awesome mag-light; Oh no. This was an ever-ready, big, fat, ugly flashlight that you can buy at Ace for about $10 (yes I used to work at Ace Hardware).

Christmas eve I also sang with Amber and Ryan at the Christmas eve service. It was fun even though I am fighting off a small cold that Dalton gave me. I also told the children's story which was kinda funny cause it was so short. I was seriously up there for like 2 minutes. It was awesome!

Today was not as wonderful and merry as I would have liked. I woke up to my cell phone ringing at a around 7:30. It was a blocked number so I knew it was my house (I sleep in the garage), but whenever I would go to answer it they hung up. So I went into the house and poured myself a huge cup of coffee. Apparently Sarah was woken up a little bit more rough then myself and she was REALLY upset. So upset in fact, my mom opted out of opening presents right away to go for a run so everyone would cool off. So while my mom went out on her run, my dad went for a walk, Sarah went back to bed, and Janae and I stayed in the living room and watched Happy Gilmore. Finally at around 9:00 everyone was calm enough to enjoy giving and receiving. I got a hat, the rest I have to return.

After presents we made breakfast and made plans for the rest of the day. We decided to go to the beach since we are Southern Californians and well... we can. So we headed off for Bates with the family and Toby. It was Toby's first beach trip and he loved it. He was terrified of the waves, but loved the water and the sand and all the other dogs. It was cute. I was able to catch some pictures in between it all. Later we made Tamales (Christmas presents for everyone basically). Making the tamales was great fun but later my mom's friend came over and that kinda sent everyone into a tail-spine again which I can't go into detail about but ask me about it and I will be more then happy to share. But all in all Christmas was fine. I hope everyone else had a better time. Again Merry Christmas to all!

All Done!

Finals are finally over and I am done with this terrible semester. Ok, I wasn't that bad; I like to exaggerate things. Thursday was sort of annoying just because I was so over school, but my finals went alright. My speech final went really well. I didn't study for it at all and I know I did well on it. I ended up getting an A in the class so it all worked out.

My other final was much more difficult, but like I said, school's done and that's I don't want to worry about it anymore. Work was good today. Dalton has a bit of an ear infection, but he was super happy. He has this funny obsession with my cell phone and today I took some picture of him.

I now get a little break for Christmas and New Years. I don't have to work for a week because Alia is off all next week. It will suck financially, but I'm not driving anywhere really. My friend Stephanie is flying in tonight so I hope to spend most of next week catching up with her and maybe Katie (call me Katie). We'll see what happens. Merry Christmas!

Mid-Week Update

ALMOST DONE!!! I have two more finals tomorrow and then my semester really is over. Tuesday's finals went better then I had imagined. The first one was a four-minute presentation for my sign language class. All week my partner was trying to get me to drive down to Northridge to practice our four-minute presentation. I kept avoiding her because I didn't want to drive all the way down there to practice for 30 minutes. I felt bad, but she didn't seem to mind it. We practiced before our class started and it turns out she needed to practice more then me. But the presentation went well and I think I got an A on it.

After that short presentation I tried to sell my books back to the library. They were only using one of my books again next semester so that sucked; but hey, I got $12 out of it! So I waited around for about an hour and a half for my next final, Human Anatomy. It went so well I can't even begin to explain it. I finished the final in about ten minutes and I know I got them all right.

Today was good. Dalton got his cast off yesterday and he seems to be doing well. I guess the whole experience with the doctor was pretty traumatic yesterday. First with the saw and then they had to pull out the pin that was holding his thumb in place the whole time. His hand is still super sensitive and you can totally see this huge hole at the tip of his thumb where the pin was. But he is in great spirits (as always) and I think he's gonna bounce back really quick.

So two more finals to go and I'll be done. I wish it was done already, but what can ya do?

Weekly Prayer Requests

Wow, what a week. If you don't know what I am talking about, read my last post and it might give you an idea. But for now, another week and another set of prayer requests. So here we go:

• This Semester is finally over; Hurray!!! But now it's time for finals. Dang it! So please pray for wisdom and patience during this week.
• This morning I woke up to a dead car. It's fine now after a full day of charging, but it really shows me how I need to start looking for a new car. Please pray that after my finals I will be able to focus on finding a car that is right for me.
• Please pray that I will have patience as I look for a new job. It is one of my least favorite things in the world to look for jobs and I kinda have to get on the ball after finals.
• Today in Community we talked about what or favorite part of the holidays was and it really made me think. I really don't like the Holidays. Everyone gets all stressed out (including me) and there are so many people out shopping and stuff. The only thing I like to do is give presents to people. Unfortunately this sometime comes off as me being a Scrooge. Please pray that I will be able to get into the holiday season and try and enjoy it despite all the crappy things that have been going on.

I think that is all. My main focus right now is my finals. Once I get past those, I can start to get down to everything else.

Crazy Week...

Well what a crazy week I have had. I guess I can't really say week because it has only been the last three days that have been kinda crazy. Like I said Wednesday I lost my job (I didn't really lose it, they just can't afford to pay me starting at the new year and I can't afford to work for that much) which still sucks cause I am stressing major about what to do. Thursday there must have been a warp in the space time continuum or something cause super weird things happened. I was walking to class when out of the corner of my eye I saw something fall out of a tree across the street. All of a sudden I herd this loud "SPLAT!" I looked across the street and saw a squirrel get up off of his belly and run back up the 20 foot tree that he just belly flopped out of. It was awesome, but I couldn't really laugh because I was the only one who really saw it and I would look like a loser (even though I am) walking and laughing when no one else knew why.

After the Squirrel incident, I was waiting for my Anatomy class outside (I was early and another class was still going). While I was sitting there waiting, my professor came over to the drinking fountain in front of me. He started to drink out of it and then he kinda swished it around in his mouth like you do when you are using mouthwash. He was at that drinking fountain for seriously 2 or 3 minutes. It was awesome! Later that night at youth group we had another incident. During one of our less violent games, Ray, one of our kids, fell and broke his arm. Now I don't mean break like a little "Ow! I think I just broke my wrist." No, this was like his elbow bent backwards all the way around so his forearm was doubled back (up-side-down) on his humerus. It was the most knarly thing I have ever seen. So that was a fun little risk management exercise. All practiced up for summer there Dillon!

Needless to say I couldn't sleep last night because of all the adrenalin pumping through my system. After the little sleep that I did get I went to work. Dalton was great and while he was sleeping I attempted to register for my classes. My registration date wasn't until today (they schedule your dates so everyone doesn't register all at once; I got screwed with mine because it was one of the last ones). I looked up the classes I needed/wanted to take and arranged them into a nice schedule and went to register. All but two of the classes I wanted were full. I started to panic and stress out which I am still pretty stressed about. It did work out though and I think I will be ok. My schedule looks kinda like this:

Tuesday and Thursday:
8:00-9:15 BIOL 281 Human Physiology
9:30-10:45 HIST 161 Survey Latin America
11:00-11:50 KIN 244 Movement form Dance
12:30-1:45 TH 110 Plays and Players
Tuesday
4:20-6:50pm HIST 111 World Hist since 1500
7:00-9:50pm HIST 271 US since 1865

A lot of History classes which might suck, but I am trying to be positive. The Theater class is just to keep me sane, but the rest are all undergraduate stuff. Fun Soup; only 3 more years of this!

It'll Work Out

Today started out great. I finished my part of my group presentation and most of my group members sent me their parts. Dalton was great today. The last couple of days we have been playing peek-a-boo (it's so cute, I sit him on my lap facing me and I put a blanket up between us; he laughs sooo hard; it's hilarious). He is now 6 months old (which is crazy cause I met him when he was 4 weeks old). He is still skinny (10th percentile with his cast on), but they started him on carrots and he loves his rice cereal. He seems to be spitting up less and less every day (great for my clothes). Today I was thinking "man I have such a cool job; I get to lay on the ground and play with a baby all day, and while he naps I can sit and do my homework." I was also thinking how cool it was to be a part of Dalton's growth process. I was looking at him today and it was so cool to see him looking like a little boy. Unfortunately, Alia had some troubling news for me when she got home. Due to their financial constraints, they will no longer be able to pay me the $65 a day.

I know I can't survive on $45 a day (I am barely making it with the $65) so this New Year will start a new job for Michaela. I am so bummed out because I have watched this little boy grow up for forth months now and I doubt that I will have the opportunity to see him anymore. It sucks, but I know God has a plan for me and He will work everything out. Already Alia said that Jessica (Kendall's mom; Kendall was the other girl I was watching for a while) works with someone (a doctor who lives in Rancho Matilija; The Golden Ghetto) who is looking for a nanny. Maybe it will work out, maybe not, but it is nice to see God working already despite my lack of enthusiasm in needing to find a new job. Anyway... that's my fun news for the week. The semester is almost over like I said in my last post. I should get some sleep for my boring day of school tomorrow.

I'm Done... Almost

Thank the Lord I am almost done with this semester. Today was a pretty positive day. I had a test in my Sign Language class that didn't go as well as I had hoped, but I did get a very valuable tip from the smart girl in class. She showed me digital post-its. First of all, I love post-its. I think they are absolutely one of the best inventions ever. Second of all, I basically live on my computer; whether it be school, leisure, or writing in my blog, I am almost always on my computer. But to combine two of my favorite things into one is just sheer brilliance.

The day went on as normal. I sat through speeches in my speech class, and sat through a short lecture in my Anatomy class. I did however bag a study date this weekend for my Anatomy final. Don't get too excited... it's just another girl in my class who lives in Santa Paula. We're gonna go to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and try and get some studying done.

Now the only thing, besides finals, is a group presentation for my KIN 305 class. I have only one more day of this semester (finals don't count as part of the semester) and it will be a fairly easy day. I get to sit through presentations all morning in my first two classes. My Anatomy class in an optional study session and my last class is just our group presentation. I am almost done with this semester!!! Yeah!!!!

Weekly Prayer Requests

Hello all and Happy Sunday! Yes it's Sunday already... this week went by so fast! But now it is time for more prayer requests so here we go.

• Finals are coming up next week (I have this week of classes and then finals the following week) and I am really starting to stress out. Please pray that I will be able to focus and study in order to do well on my finals and actually pass my classes.
• In my KIN 305 History and Philosophy of Sport class we are all separated into groups in which we have to write a research paper on some part of sport (either historically or philosophically). I am the un-official group leader so I am compiling all of the group member's information into one paper. Please pray that I will have patience with my group members and that I will be able to finish this paper with as little stress as possible.
• Please pray that I will remain healthy; at least until the semester is over.

I think that is about it. Mainly finals are my number one concern right now. Thanks for all of your prayers and have a great week everyone.

Mid-Week Crisis

Well... it's been a while since my last post. Everything just gets so busy when it comes time for finals. So this week has not been that great and I will tell you why. Monday was fine... nothing outstanding to report. Tuesday started out with some bad news. Every semester I have to go see my academic adviser and every other semester I have to see an adviser in the athletic training department. So Tuesday morning I went to see Dr. Shane Stecyk, the adviser for the athletic training department. He told me that I was supposed to be applying for the athletic training program this spring, but there were about 14 units of really tough classes that I had to take in order to apply. I had already found out that I needed around 12 units to finish my undergraduate work, but he said I needed these additional 14 in order to apply. He said it was up to me whether I wanted to charge it out or not. I could have taken a couple of these classes over winter break (ew that would suck), finish the rest in the spring semester, and still apply for the program which, if accepted, would start that summer'07 and run through fall '07, spring '08, summer '08, fall '08, and finally finish up spring '09. Because I would rather enjoy my sanity I opted out of this suicidal schedule. Unfortunately this means my graduation will be postponed a year which really sucks, but I gotta learn to deal with it.

Wednesday was alright. Alia was sick so she was hanging out at home while I watched Dalton. It's always a little awkward when Alia stays home. I always feel like she's watching me and I can never get anything done (even when he is napping). So Wednesday was unproductive. Thursday was not fun. I woke up feeling gross (I had a terrible headache and my throat was hurting). I pumped every medicine known to man into my system to try and feel better. But I had to go to school because I had to give a speech. Once I gave my speech I drove home and went to bed for the rest of the night (I got home at about noon and slept the rest of the day). Friday I was feeling better (must have been all that Sudafed, Zicam, Excedrin, NyQuil, and ibuprofen I took the day before). I went to work and Alia was still sick (poor thing, I should have told her about my medicine combo... it seemed to work for me). That night I got to hang out with my good friends Sage and Aspen. We had a little Little Mermaid party which was probably the highlight of my week.

Now it's the weekend and here I am avoiding my paper like the plague. I started it, but I can't seem to get into it like I need to. I work better under pressure anyway.

Weekly Prayer Requests

Another week has come and gone and now it's time for new prayer requests. So lets get right into them.

• The semester is almost over (two weeks and then finals) and I am majorly stressing about all the things I have to get done. Please pray that I can manage my stress levels and get everything done. Also pray that I will do well on my finals and that I will pass all of my classes.
• My parents have been supper stressed lately about money and the holidays which is making me stressed about money and the holidays. Pray that everything will work out as it should and that we won't be stressed out anymore.
• Please pray for Sarah as she is applying for colleges. She already applied to a few but she still has a couple more due. Pray that she will get into the colleges that she is supposed to get into.
• Please pray for Janae during the soccer season. She is trying her best to get everything done on time (school, practice, games, health stuff...) but has been getting kinda stressed. Please pray that she will be able to relax and get it all done.

I believe that is all for this week. A lot of stress has been loading up so that's basically all I can think of right now. Have a great week everyone.

Tuesday Con't

It's funny, it's only Thursday, but every Thursday when I get home from school I completely relax because it feels like my week is over. Granted I still have work tomorrow so my week isn't technically over, you get the picture. So I told you about my funny morning on Tuesday in my last post, but I haven't had a chance to tell you about the rest of my day. My first class, like you read was canceled, so I went to my second class, Public Speaking, a little (maybe like two hours) early. In my speech class we got our speeches back from before break and I did much better then I expected (like a 150/150 on the outline and 150/150 on the actual speech). On the back of my speech grading sheet my professor asked if I would be interested in joining the speech team. Me? The speech team? I already think I'm a bit of a nerd, but how much more of a nerd would I be if I joined the speech team? Needless to say I am actually considering joining the team. I figure it's a nice way to socialize and meet people.

Next I went to my Anatomy class which was somewhat normal (surprising with a professor who looks like Super Mario). My forth and last class of the day, History and Philosophy of Sport, is in the same room as my Anatomy class. So I waited as the rest of the people in the class poured in. Doug, the professor of the class, is kinda a loon. He is not shaving until he gets his PhD (and I thought Ryan's facial hair was gross); he is recently divorced (he can't be older then 35 but I really don't know cause the beard is so nasty); he believes that the answer to all life's problems lies within the sport of Ultimate Frisbee.. like I said, he's a little off his rocker. So he showed up to class late (like always), he sits of the back of the chair, and then stares at us for the first five minutes of class. We start to talk about something completely random that he thinks pertains to our topic, then all of a sudden the fire alarm went off in the entire Kinesiology building. We all had to evacuate the building and wait outside in the freezing cold wind. Now there were ups and downs to this whole thing. The up was we got out of 30 minutes of class. The downs were 1) we were out in the cold for 30 minutes and 2) the Kinesiology building is connected to the adapted aquatics therapy center that was doing water aerobics when the alarm went off; so all of the old people had to get out of the pool and come outside in the freezing cold. It was super sad, but they seemed to be doing alright. We finally got the all clear from the campus police and we went back into class. We sat there for maybe 2 minutes when the alarm went off again! Doug just said to forget about class for the day so not only did I get out of my morning class, I got out of my afternoon class!

Yes so that was my exciting day this week. Nothing else going on. I may go see a movie this weekend (give me a call Amber), but that's about it. Have a good weekend everyone.

It Is Well

Today is Tuesday and as most of you know I go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Well today I drove down to Northridge, arrived at my normal 7 am, ate my bagel and drank my coffee, and then walked up to my first class (Sign Language). So I was sitting in the class for a little while talking to the girl that I sit next to (she's the smart kid in the class who already knows Sign Language; she's super annoying, but a great help when I don't know what's going on), I suddenly realize that it's 7:35 (our class starts at 7:30 in case you were wondering why I get to school so stinking early). So we sit and wait... and wait... and wait until about 7:45. You're technically allowed to leave if the professor is more then 15 minutes late, but since we had no were to go at 7:45 in the morning we decided the responsible thing to do was to text message him (he's deaf so since we can't call him, we text him) and see if he is on his way. I was elected the texter 1) because no one else wanted to and 2) because I was the only one who wrote his Sidekick number down. So I asked him if he was in traffic and if he was on his way. He texted me back saying that class was canceled and he had emailed everyone that morning. Ok, I wake up at 5:30 am and leave my house at 5:45; there is no way that I have time to check my email before I leave! To say the least I was kinda pissed off that class was canceled (I could have been sleeping in my warm car instead of sitting in a cold classroom). I wandered around for a few minutes wondering what I should do with myself; my next class wasn't until 9:30 and with my huge mug of caffeine running through me there was no way I was gonna get any sleep. I couldn't believe he didn't let us know sooner. But then I remembered a song that had played on my ipod on my drive here. It was the old Hymn It Is Well With My Soul. The lyrics go:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul. It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul."

Now, granted a class being canceled is hardly "sorrows like sea billows rolling," I was still some what comforted by this song. I realized that a class being canceled is hardly the end of the world and I should be angry about it, but rather thankful that I get to take a break (and write a new post on my blog). Right now I can truly say that "It is well with my soul."

Weekly Prayer Requests

I can't believe it's another week already. This week off went by so fast, but I am glad I get to get back into things. I can't handle sitting around doing nothing all day. It drives me nuts. So if you have been reading, you know a lot went on this week; from not being able to go to Australia, to my uncle dying... it's been a full week to say the least. Thank you for all of your prayers over the last few weeks. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and is recovering from there day of binging. But another week is upon us which means I have another set of prayer requests:

• Please pray for my family tomorrow. My great-uncle Roy's funeral is tomorrow (I will not be attending because I have to work). Please pray that everyone will get the closure that they need.
• Please continue to pray for Dalton and his acid reflux medicine. I only watched him on Monday last week and he was doing really well; not throwing up that much at all. Please pray that the medicine will continue to work and that he will be able to keep his formula down.
• Please pray for continued patience for me as I look for a new car (and by new I mean used cause I can't afford a new car). I haven't really been looking very hard because the Burb is just so much fun to drive (I hope you know that was sarcasm). Please just pray that I will find the car that is right for me.
• Please pray for my last month of school (for this semester anyway). Pray that I will remain focused (Focus! Happiness! that's for you Ryan) during this last month and that I am able to pass all of my classes.I did really well on my Anatomy test from a few weeks ago and I will find out about the other one on Tuesday (seeing how my professor has been in Australia the last couple of weeks for the Ultimate World Championships he hasn't really had time to grade our tests... he's crazy i dunno).

I believe that is all for this week. Again thank you for all of your prayers. Have a great week everyone!

Fun With YouTube

In honor of the new Wii, I thought I would dig up an old YouTube favorite. Enjoy the wonderful soundings of the old-school Nintendo!

Pitures Of The Bob

Since I forgot that a few of the people who actually read this blog don't live in Ojai (hi Katie), I took some pictures of my new haircut. Enjoy!

Hairs to You Chad!!!

If you got to the end of my last post, you would see that I had asked you all to pray for me and my hair today. Like I said, my friend Chad is a student at Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica. Every so often he needs a model's hair to cut and this week I was that lucky customer. To say the least I was nervi heading down there seeing how my Mom is the only person who has ever touched my hair (well one other person and she made me look like a boy). I had to take PCH down to Santa Monica, but as I was driving all my fears about my haircut went away (I forget how beautiful Malibu is and how much I love driving the PCH). To say the least my hair turned out amazing and I absolutely love it! All those fears were for nothing so hairs to you Chad!! Thanks a lot!

It's Out Of My Hands

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their turkeys (the birds I mean), hams, mass amounts of food, and time with the family. I know mine could have been better. I guess I just have been frustrated lately with not a lot of things going the way I planned them. For example, Australia, my uncle's passing, and more recently a change in tradition. It's a tradition with my immediate family (my parents and sisters) to go see a movie on Thanksgiving day. It's almost the only movie I see all year. We had been planning to go see Bobby for the last few weeks, but, as I have been finding out lately, plans change. We got a call around 9:30 this morning from my cousin Candice (she was hosting Dinner at her house this year) who was already panicking about not finishing everything in time. She asked us to come over and help her and of course we did. But instead of being happy about being able to help my cousin, I was pissed off that I didn't get to go to the movies (pretty selfish, huh?).

Like I said in my post from a week ago, I have been reading a book called "Buck-Naked Faith: A Brutally Honest Look at Stunted Christianity" by Eric Sandras PhD. I don't really like it that much, but the last chapter talked a lot about being a part of God's story rather then making Him a part of your own. This is something I have really been praying about lately because I often find myself trying to fit God into my own story rather then conforming my own life to be a part of His. Today sort of sent me over the edge emotionally and I just started to cry (basically just being overwhelmed, and not really having anyone to talk to about it). But crying was good because it helped me focus on what I needed to do, and that was to allow myself to be a part of God's story. As I was listening to my ipod today and I came across a song that I haven't listened to in awhile. The song is by Matthew West (his Happy CD)and it really made me think about being a part of God's story and it kind of explained how I have been feeling the last couple of weeks:

"There you go changing my plans again; There you go shifting my sands again; For reasons I don't understand again; Lately I don't have a clue; Just when I start liking what I see; There you go changing my scenery; I never know where you're taking me; But I'm trying just to follow you; It's out of my hands; It's out of my reach; It's over my head; And it's out of my league; There's too many things that I don't understand; So it's into your will, And it's out of my hands; There you go healing these scars again; Showing me right where you are again; I'm helpless, and that's where I start again; I'm giving it all up to you; It's out of my hands; It's out of my reach; It's over my head; And it's out of my league; There's too many things that I don't understand; So it's into your will, And it's out of my hands; Move me, make me, Choose me, change me, Send me, shake me, Find me, remind me, The past is behind me; Take it all away; Take it all from me, I pray; It's out of my hands; It's out of my reach; It's over my head; And it's out of my league; There's too many things that I don't understand; So it's into your will, And it's out of my hands"

This song helped me remember that it's all out of my hands and that God is in control of it all. His story is much more important then my own and I would rather be a part of His story. It's not easy, but I'm trying.

(BTW: Please pray for me tomorrow. My friend Chad is a student at Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica and he asked me to model for him and I agreed to it. One other person has touched my hair besides my Mom and she totally screwed it up so to say the very least I am way nervi. Please pray for my hair (that sounds so lame). I know it's just hair and he wouldn't do anything I wasn't comfortable with, but I am still way nervi!)

Time With The Family

Yesterday I had a very unpleasant surprise as some of you have probably read, but what you didn't read yet is that I also had a very pleasant surprise. Last night my Tia (aunt) Irma, my Tio (uncle) Robert, and my cousins Ryan and Aaron came over to spend the night. In case you don't speak Spanish, this is my mother's side of the family (Irma is my mom's sister). It was wonderful to see them especially since they moved to Sacramento three years ago and I really haven't seen them since they moved. What's even better is Aaron is three years old. I spent all of last night running around my living room and throwing yoga balls at each other. I love my family!

I Hate Surprises!!!

Well, it's only Tuesday and my week is basically done with. I have Wednesday and Friday off work and I don't have school on Thursday because it's Thanksgiving so basically my week is over. Of course something always comes up when I start to relax and you know how I hate surprises... So I was driving to school this morning looking forward to a very long relaxing weekend when I got a call from my mom. She called to tell me that my great-uncle Roy passed away last night. This is my grandmother's brother. He has been sick for a really long time so it wasn't a big surprise, but any passing is a surprise to me. So please pray for my grandmother Linda and her sister Peggy. Also pray for my Aunt Barbra (she is my uncle Roy's wife). Just pray for healing throughout the entire family. And please pray for Sarah as she was very close to my uncle Roy.

Weekly Prayer Requests

Another Sunday is upon us, which means that another week is right around the corner. I hope everyone had a great week and a wonderful weekend.I know a lot of people have been getting sick (sorry Smiths), but I hope everyone is staying as healthy at all possible. Thank you for all of your prayers this last week. If you read my post from Thursday, you can get a fairly detailed summary of my wonderful week. But now we are faced with yet another Sunday which means another week of prayer requests. So here they go:

• This Tuesday I will be getting my exams back from last week. I know my scores won't change no matter how I did, Please just pray that I will be able to work with the scores that I get and pass the class.
• Please pray that Dalton's acid reflux medicine will start to work better and that his puking will mellow out a little bit more.
• Please pray that everyone will have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving.
• Please pray that I will have patience as I try to buy a car. Pray that I will find the right one that will work best for me.

That's all that I have this week. Thanks again for all of your prays. Stay safe and healthy this week!

A Rock and A Hard Place

Well, if anyone has been reading or talking to me lately you would know about a couple of things that I talk about a lot. The first being my much needed trip to Australia for New Years and the second being my crappy car. Well, today I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place when I had to choose between my car and my trip. I know this decision sounds really stupid. I'm sure there are billions of people out there that would love to even have this dilemma in front of them, but none the less it is still a sucky situation for me personally. So basically I have been planning my first vacation in about 5 years to Australia with my friend Stephanie who moved out there for school this last October. I have been so excited to actually go out of town let alone out of the country. Unfortunately my car has been a piece of crap lately and because it is so expensive to fix, it would be cheaper to buy a new (used) car. So lately I have been thinking and praying if I should continue with my plans to go on this trip or use the little money I have to replace my failing car... What would you do? Well, I'll tell you what I am going to do... Ryan, I'm gonna need a new Community sticker...

BABEL

Like I said in my last posting, I went to see a movie. I know it's remarkable, I actually left my house and did something normal for once. If you can't tell already, the movie I saw was Babel. I have been wanting to see it since I saw the previews and I finally talked someone into going with me. Unfortunately for me that person was my sister. Don't get me wrong, I love doing stuff with my sister; she's just not the type of person who would appreciate this type of movie like I did.

I absolutely LOVED this movie. I thought it was an amazing story line and the execution of the film was astounding! If you haven't heard much about this movie, let me explain the premise of the movie. Basically an American couple are on vacation in Morocco when the wife gets shot which sets off this huge international affair. That's basically all I knew going into the movie, but after watching it I can tell you it goes much deeper then that. Yes that's kinda the basis of the film, but it's not just about the couple; it's about four different sets of people from different worlds who are affected by this one moment in time.

I don't want to give too much away, but I have to say that there were two parts (there were definitely way more then two but so I won't kill the movie I will only share two) in this movie that just touched my heart. The first was a scene after Cate Blanchett's character, Susan, had been shot and was waiting in a small village with her husband (Brad Pitt's character, Richard) for an ambulance to come and take them to a hospital. They are in the hut of an old woman who speaks no English. This woman sees Susan in pain and reaches out to her by lighting up some tobacco or Pot of some sort and sharing it with Susan to numb her pain. I loved seeing how, despite the huge language barrier, this woman was able to reach out and show compassion for another human being in need.

The second part that just tore at my heart was when Adriana Barazza's character, Amelia (she's the nanny to Susan and Richard's kids) begins to cry. I won't tell you why she is crying because you should go see for yourself, but to put it simply I was able to connect to the passion of this character because she reminded me of my grandmother (obviously my mom's mom because she is Mexican). The only time I have seen my grandmother cry was at her mother's funeral. There I saw this once so strong woman break down to tears. In this movie, Amelia breaks down and seeing her break down brought me back to that moment of seeing my grandmother cry and it truly broke my heart. It's hard to explain cause it's a total personal thing, but I hope you kinda get the idea.

To put it simply, I absolutely loved this movie and would totally recommend it to you all. However, before I recommend it, I just want to say that it is rated R (I sometimes forget to mention that part when I recommend movies and it will probably get me in trouble some day). If you have a weak stomach, don't see it (for some reason I felt nauseous the whole time; not that it was a violent movie, but the passion of the film and those in the film made me nauseous; in a good way though); If you have a weak heart, don't see this movie because your heart will be pulled in all kinds of directions that will drive you off the wall. To put it plainly, there is no excuse to not go see this movie.

Another Week

Well, it doesn't seem like I am very good at keeping this blog up to date. I just get so busy during the week that I never have anything insightful to say. So sorry! Anyway, I just thought I would give you a little update on my week. So, Dalton is doing much better. He actually got really sick after his surgery. He already was a super puker, but after all of the anesthetics and stuff, the puking got ten times worse! He had diarrhea all weekend and was pooping blood and stuff. So Alia and Brian took him to the hospital where the doctor put him on acid reflux medicine... Poor Baby!!! But Dalton is such a happy baby already, the puking didn't even phase him. His hand is doing alright. It's in this huge, hard cast from the tip of his left pollicis (that would be the thumb in Anatomical terms (what can I say? I'm a Kinesiology major for crying out loud!)) all the way up half his Humerus (the the bone above the elbow); but Alia and Brian wrap the cast in an ACE bandage so when he hits himself (or anyone else for the that matter).

My EXAMS (hi Katie!) went very well! I felt super confident about them but I will find out for sure on Tuesday if my confidence is mistaken for cockiness. But school went well this week and I am definitely glad it's the weekend! I am looking forward to reading my new books (I went a little crazy on Amazon this week). I actually didn't go CRAZY par-say... I only bought 3 books. The first one I am reading (since I'm not as talented as Ryan is at reading multiple books at a time) is called "Buck-Naked Faith: A Brutally Honest Look at Stunted Christianity" by Eric Sandras PhD. I'm only about one chapter into the book, but it looks to be a promising read. The next book I bought was "Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens" by Neil Cole. I also started to read that when I first got the books Wednesday night to see which one I wanted to read first. I decided to go with the the Buck-Naked one cause the title's pretty sick and Hardcovers intimidate me (Organic Church is a hardcover). The other book was kinda a fluke. I bought a used copy of "The Color Purple" just cause I have been listening to the soundtrack a lot in my car (since I only have a CD player in the car that works) and I have been dying to read the book forever!

Speaking of my car... here's a little update on the BMW sitch. So I was driving to work on Wednesday and as I was driving on the freeway I looked down at my speedometer to make sure I wasn't going too fast. All of a sudden my speedometer said I was driving at 0 mph on the freeway. It then proceeded to bounce around all over the place as I was driving. So basically something is wrong with the computer board on the car. So I am driving The Burb until we can figure something out. The auto teacher at Nordhoff said he could take a look at it and see if he could fix it but who knows if that will work out. So we'll see what happens with that.

Well that's about all that has happened this week. I think I'm gonna see a movie tonight with my sister so I will let you all know about that tomorrow. Have a good weekend all! Be safe and have fun!

Weekly Prayer Requests

Hello all! Thank you for all of your prayers this week. Just a little update. Dalton's surgery went very well, but there is still a lot of physical therapy and stuff to go. Sarah had a very safe trip out to Tennessee, even though she hated it. My tests went very well. I got an "A" on my Sign Language test and an "A" on my last Anatomy quiz. So all in all, it was a very successful week. But another week and another set of prayer requests. So here they go:

• Although Dalton's surgery went very well, He has been kinda sick since. Please pray that he will get better soon and that his body will heal quickly. Also pray that if he is in pain when I am watching him, I will have wisdom and patience to calm and soothe him.
• Please continue to pray that Sarah will have wisdom in choosing what colleges she wants to apply to but more importantly, what college she wants to go to. She kinda got turned off from the whole college idea this weekend after going to Sewanee.
• Please pray for me this week as I have two large EXAMS (I am writing exams now because someone (Katie) got confused when I wrote tests last week). I haven't done too hot on the other exams in these classes and I really need to get it in gear if I am going to stand a chance of passing these classes.
• Please pray for my car. Yeah, It's cool saying that I drive a BMW, but to tell you the truth it's a hunk of junk! Everything seems to be going wrong with this car. First the air conditioner is broken; the passenger window gets stuck when you are trying to roll it up; The odometer doesn't show on the dash; the gas gage will get stuck saying that I am out of gas when I know I have a full tank; the emergency flashers button is broken; the drivers side door won't lock when I lock the car; the other day every window was stuck up and I felt like I was suffocating... just to list a few. Unfortunately it is VERY expensive to fix a BMW and I don't have money to fix it or get a new car. Please pray that it will hold together for me as long as possible.

That's about all that I can think of at the present moment. Again thank you all for your continued prays. God Bless!

Best Made Plans...

Seeing how I haven't posted in a while, I thought I could use this time to do some updating. This week went really well. Classes went really well. I did really well on my Sign Language test and my Anatomy quiz which makes me think I will do well on my Anatomy test coming up next week. Sarah flew out to Tennessee on Thursday to check out Sewanee. She didn't really like the whole college part of the trip, but she tried to make the best of a free trip to Tennessee. So Dalton had his surgery on Thursday. From what I have heard, everything went really well and he is recovering fantastically. He's gonna be doing physical therapy and stuff on his arm (that is in a cast up to his shoulder) because of the chance of nerve damage or something. I didn't get the whole rundown of it all, but he is doing very well and I will see him on Monday.

So because Dalton had his surgery on Thursday, I had Friday off of work. Even though I had the day off, I still seemed to find myself working. My mom (who really doesn't want to have to hire a housekeeper) paid me to "Deep Clean" the house. Seeing how I am trying to go to Australia for New Years I really couldn't say no. So most of Friday was spent cleaning every part of our house (accept for my room which I have been avoiding like the plague!). Friday night I went to this party thing that Danielle invited me to. I guess she has a friend who is 22 and just moved into town named Jessica. Basically I kicked butt playing Disney's Scene It and Apples to Apples. Being raised on nothing but Disney movies and playing board games at home group for the last year really payed off for me.

Today I had planned to bunker down and study for a solid 4 or 5 hours seeing how I have two huge exams on Tuesday. I started making my many flash cards and as I began to run out of 3x4 index cards, I became a little less enthused about spending hours and hours studying today. So I began my day by popping in a few DVDs. I started with House of D. Ryan has been talking about this movie for I don't know how long. Well at least the "Focus" "Happiness" and "Boner" parts. This was a great movie that I really enjoyed. Thanks for the recommendation Ryan! Next I moved on to I movie that I have been dying to see since it was in theaters, but never could get anyone to go see it with me. The movie is called Ask the Dust with Collin Ferrell and Salma Hayek. I mainly wanted to see it because Idina Menzel is in it and I love Idina as an actress so yeah, that's what led me to this movie initially. In this movie Ferrell plays Arturo Bandini, a would-be writer seeking fame, fortune, and a blue-eyed blonde in 1930's. Instead he finds Mexican barmaid Camilla (Hayek), who hopes to blend into Anglo society by marrying a wealthy blue-blood. I liked this movie because it just showed the human need for acceptance. It's hard to describe it, but it is an excellent film and I definitely recommend it (Amber, we should pull for this one for next home group instead of letting the guys pick). Next I moved onto Thank You for Smoking. Another Ryan recommendation. It was a very funny movie with many valid points about life and Human nature.

After a very relaxing day of great movies, my Mom decided to educate me on her taste in music. So she put in these DVDs called The Midnight Special. They are basically a bunch of performances from the 70's with people like Heart, Diana Ross, Ike and Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, and James Brown. It was seriously the funniest thing I have ever seen. It just made me think how different my Mom's youth was to mine. She spent her time listening to people like Ike and Tina Turner, while I spend my time pretending to study, but watching movies. This has been a wonderful week and today was just the break I needed from normal life, but now I have to catch up on all the plans I had for studying tomorrow. Oh well! Best made plans...

Weekly Prayer Requests

Another week and another set of prayer requests. So here they go:

• Thursday Dalton is having his surgery. Please pray for him to bounce back quickly from the surgery. Pray for his doctors to have wisdom throughout the surgery. Pray that his parents and grandparents hearts are calmed throughout the surgery.
• Thursday Sarah is flying out to Sewanee for their multicultural weekend. Please pray for safe travels to and from Tennessee.
• Please pray for me as I have a couple of tests coming up in the next couple of weeks.
• Please pray for Tuesday's elections. Pray that God's will shall be done in these elections.
  
• Please continue to pray that I will finalize my travel plans for New Years within the next couple of weeks.

Again thank you for your continued prays. Have a wonderful week everyone. Don't forget to vote on Tuesday.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Lately I have been getting bored with the music that I listen to every morning on my way to school. I don't really get alot of new music cause I am a poor college student who really wants to go to Australia for New Years. So I listen to a lot of the same thing over and over and over again. On Tuesday I copied my sister's CD, The Color Purple, to my computer and burned a copy for my car. I listened to it on the way to school and the lyrics to the song The Color Purple astounded me:

"Look at all he give us. Laughin', and singin'. Sky over our heads, birds singin' to us. I think it piss God off if anybody even walk past the color purple in a field and not notice it. He say, "look what I made for you." God is the flowers and everything else that was or ever will be. And when you feel the truth so real, and when you love the way you feel, you've found it just as sure as moonlight bless the night. Like a blade of corn, Like a honeybee, Like a waterfall, all a part of me. Like the Color Purple, where do it come from? Open up your eyes, look what God has done."

On my way back to my car on Thursday after my classes, I walked the same direction that I always do, but as I got closer to the parking lot I walked past this mini garden full of beautiful roses that smelt amazing. I have been walking this way for two months now and I have yet to notice these flowers. Isn't it funny how we get so busy with our lives that we don't even notice the little things that make life beautiful. We get so sidetracked with school, work, ipods (which about 80% of the kids at my school have on while walking from class to class), Myspace... Maybe we all should just take some time to stop and smell the roses.

Free Hugs Campaign

Today I was reminded once again of how small of a world we live in. Last week in my speech class we were doing our impromptu speeches and one girl in my class mentioned this free hugs campaign. She explained what it was and I thought, hey, that's kinda cool. I should check it out on YouTube sometime. Well of course I didn't check it out because I was too busy studying and having a real life. So today on Oprah, guess what the top story was... Yes it was the Free Hugs Campaign. So I had to see this video on YouTube for myself and here it is for you.

Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)


Here's what PeaceonEarth123 says about this video:

"Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.

In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.

In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person..."

I love this whole movement and if I had the courage to hug a stranger I would love to do the same thing. What I find astounding is that police officers banned the Free Hugs Campaign. What kind of world have we come to that we can't give out hugs anymore? I am so grateful for the 10,000 people who signed that petition and even more grateful for the hundreds of others who have continued this campaign by spreading Free Hugs around the world. Let's all try and spread a little love and give a Free Hug!

Weekly Prayer Requests

Seeing that it is Sunday and that the only people who really look at this blog are Amber and Ryan (maybe a couple others but Amber and Ryan are the only ones that I know of), I thought I might do this weekly prayer request post to keep people a little more up to date with whats going on in my life. So here it goes:

• First you can pray that Dalton doesn't get sick especially since he is having his surgery in a week and a half.
• Pray for me to have strength and patience at work especially having both Dalton and Kendall.
• Pray for my classes this week and that I will remain focused throughout the rest of this semester.
• Pray for Sarah to make the right decision on whether or not to audition for the musical
• And finally pray that I can get all my travel plans and stuff for Australia all planned out by mid November

I believe that is about it. I can't think of anything else that might pertain to me personally. So I would appreciate you all being in prayer for me this week as I will be in prayer for you as all as well. Have a good Sunday everyone. Have a Happy Halloween as well.

I Think I Think Too Much

The past month and a half or so I have been playing women's league soccer at the Rec Dept. It started out really fun. We had a great team and we were the only team that had enough players. Around the third game or so, players started getting hurt and not showing up and it stopped being fun.

A couple weeks ago after I finally gave into the fact that our team was not going to succeed like I wanted us to, I decided to just accept our fate and have fun with it. So I have been trying to teach my mom how to play soccer just by giving her pointers throughout the game. Last week she was saying that she couldn't get her brain to tell her legs to do what she wanted them to in time to make the play. So I told her to not think about it and to just do it. Tonight she took my advise and she kicked butt. She played the best I have ever seen her play.

So that made me wonder. All it took for my mom to play well was to stop thinking about what she had to do and just do it. I wonder how many times in our daily lives we think too much about what we should do instead of just doing it. When we see a homeless person asking for food or money, do we think about all the drugs or alcohol that he might buy with the money that we give him instead of just helping out another human being in need? Our if we see someone hurting, do we stop and think about how we can help them, missing our opportunity to actually do what they need? I think I think too much.

Do you think about the moon? Do you think about the stars? Do you think about why we sneeze in the sun? Do you think about when you're older? Do you think about what kind of tattoo your grandkid's gonna like? Do you think about all the books you haven't read? I think I think too much.

Here's a thought. Thinking is wonderful, but if we do it too much it distracts us from living our lives the way we were born to live them. I'm not saying stop thinking completely, but to find a nice balance between not thinking at all and thinking too much. Wish me luck.

I AM SMART!!!!

Today, I had a stunning realization; I AM ACTUALLY SMART!

Now here me out. This semester has been really hard on me. I just haven't been that excited to be at school. Don't get me wrong, I love my classes (Sign Language, Public Speaking, Human Anatomy, and History and Philosophy of Sport), I just haven't been as into this semester as I have in the past. I have even been thinking about taking a semester off or even dropping out. I had my midterms last week and when I got them back I was... less then thrilled on how I did. So I kinda had to kick myself in the butt to get focused.

So anyway, back to my Ah Ha! moment today. Since I have been paying more attention in class, I have been able to follow my once very confusing professor (who looks like a Eugene Levy-Super Mario mix) in his lectures. He gives out these worksheets that we are supposed to fill in as he letures. For the first time this entire semester I was able to listen to what he said and fill in the blanks, while still understanding what he said. It was a remarkable feeling to know that I do actually belong in college and I can pull this off.

Anyway I know it's probably not that big of a deal, but it was a wonderful feeling walking away form that class and knowing that I am going to kick butt on my next exam.

Welcome to My Blog

"Many believers feel stunted in their christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Father beckons us to himself with a furious love that burns brightly and constantly. Only when we truely embrace God's grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of his flock - the ragamuffins" - Brennan Manning

So, in response to the wonderful nagging of a certain someone (Hi Ryan!) here it is. My very own blog. It probably won't be that exciting as my life is fairly constant. I am not sure who will read this but I open my life up for all to see on the wide web. So enjoy every bit of it. This blog is just a look into the life of an Ordinary Radical; just Another Ragamuffin. Welcome to my life!