Report Card

Official Grades

Class Description Units Grading Grade Grade Points COMP 101 COMPUTER LITERACY 3.00 Letter Grade A 12.000 ENGL 330 INTERDISCIPLINARY WRITING 3.00 Letter Grade B+ 9.900 MATH 150 CALCULUS I 4.00 Letter Grade A+ 16.000 PSY 345 IND WITH DISABILITIES 3.00 Letter Grade A 12.000

99 Red Balloons...

Maybe they weren't red and there were definitely way more then 99, but last week I filled the president of OVS's bathroom with a TON of balloons. Every year as a staff we play Secret Santa and this year I was lucky enough (haha... lucky...) to get the President. Luckily (for reals) my mom's friend Keri got his wife so we decided to mess with them a little and gave them both the same presents everyday, including filling their offices (or office's bathroom) with a bunch of balloons. It was super fun and I really enjoy our staff Christmas parties... It's nice to see everyone without the kids around.

72 Aqua Balloons...

Keri and I buried behind over 200 balloons... We loaded these bags into a school van and then drove them over to the school.

My best friend the Air Compressor... I couldn't have done this without you! I blew up the first 100 or so with the AComp. before getting some back up to help tie the balloons. We drove the 200 balloons over and still ended up blowing up an additional 100 or so balloons... All I can say is Praise the Lord for young, healthy lungs!

They Like Me... They Really Like Me!

Monday I finished my Calculus final finishing out the Fall 2009 semester! I ended up getting 51/50 on my final meaning that I scored above 100% on all three exams in the class. My professor even offered to write a letter of recommendation for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything like that. It's just so nice to feel like you are good at something. It's nice to feel like I am smart and I can get through this last bit of school.

Yesterday I met with an Academic Adviser to check on all my transfer credits and see how my General Ed and graduation requirements are going. Since I transferred from another Cal State school, all of my units transfer but the requirements are different for the two schools so I had to petition for a couple of classes to count in certain sections (which the adviser helped me fill out the paperwork and I turned it in after the meeting). If my petitions are approved, I will only be missing 3 classes to complete my Gen Ed which is nice. I also need 120 total units in order to graduate (40 units have to be upper division which I think I have around 15ish) and by the end of the Spring semester, I will have 112. So where does that leave me for school? Well, I have to meet with the Liberal Studies adviser to develop a contract outlining my course of study (Liberal Studies with a Math Concentration and a possible Minor in Foundational Math). The goal of that meeting will be to try to incorporate what I have already been taking and what I need to take (in order to pass all three levels of the Math CSET) into a course of study so I can graduate. If (When...) I pass the CSET, I can apply for a masters/credential program for Math.

I can't tell you how nice it is to feel supported at school. I actually feel like there are people there who want me to succeed and want me to graduate. And I finally feel like I am close and can actually finish school. This semester was a little hard just because of my bad attitude towards Computers but once I got over myself and just did the work, it was much easier. Looking back on this semester, I can honestly say that I like school again and I am excited for next semester! I know it's going to be a lot of really hard work, but I think I can do it and I am excited to try!

Math Suicide

I just registered for my classes for next semester and I went with option 1. I will be going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30am - 4 or 5pm (depending on the day). I have registered for 17 units but 5 units are two online classes and 2 units are Math labs that usually only help better my understanding of concepts discussed in class. I have 7 classes (again, two are online and two are Math labs), 6 of which are Math classes. It might be Math suicide but I couldn't resist the Tuesday/Thursday schedule.

Two more days of class this week and one final on Monday and I am done for the semester!

Oh Wow

This is what I do when I can't go to sleep because I took a two hour nap at 4pm... I watch gross YouTube videos and update my blog... This video is pretty nasty so if you have a weak stomach, don't watch this!

Ain't It Good

Last night I had the unbelievable pleasure of attending the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center production of Children of Eden. This play is one of Steven Schwartz's musical wonders and my good high school friend Darrienne Lissette Gross stared as Eve and Mama Noah. As the names probably tell you, this play is an artistic interpretation of the book of Genesis (specifically the story of Adam and Eve in the garden up until Cain and Abel and then jumps to the story of Noah and the Ark in the second act). The music was brilliant and the actors were incredible but the content of the play really bothered me. I say 'artistic interpretation' because it is a terrible interpretation of the book of Genesis. I won't even get into how off the content and order of events were in the play because they are too many to even begin to count, but what bothered me the most about the play was their interpretation of God (Father in the play). They (and by they I don't mean the company because they are just going with the script they are given... I guess I mean Steven Schwartz and John Caird) painted this picture of a mean, unforgiving father who abandoned his people. It just made me really sad to see this father who is nothing like the Father that I know and love.

All this to say, it was an incredible show and my friend Darrienne is AMAZING!!!! The show goes on for one more weekend so if you have the time, I highly recommend supporting one of our own, very talented Ojai native. She will also be performing in a production of Rent this coming New Year so check her out! This video is just a taste of Dar's amazing talent!



In other news, I am back to work for the next two weekends before my long 4 weekends off (with no pay which sucks but I've been trying to prepare for it for awhile now so hopefully everything will be ok... pray that my loan gets approved so I can pay for next semester which I register for on Tuesday) and I have one week left of school and one final before semester break! Ain't it good!

Let's Take a Vote...

Ok... I am going to be registering for classes soon (December 1st) and I thought I'd take a vote to see what schedule I should go for this semester. I am currently a Liberal Studies Major with a concentration in Math and am also picking up a Math Major to pick up some math classes in order to pass all three parts of the CSET Math exam in order to get into a Math Credentials program.

Option 1: 17 units (but 2 units are labs that I don't always have to attend)
- History of Mathematics - Online
- Health Issues in Education - Online
- Calculus 2 Lab - Tues and Thurs 8am
- Calculus 2 - Tues and Thurs 10am
- Logic and Mathematical Reasoning - Tues and Thurs 12
- Mathematics and Fine Arts Lab - Tues 1:30
- Mathematics and Fine Arts - Thurs 1:30

Option 2: 16 units (1 unit is a lab)
- History of Mathematics - Online
- Health Issues in Education - Online
- Calculus 2 Lab - Tues and Thurs 8am
- Calculus 2 - Tues and Thurs 10am
- Developmental Psychology - Tues 12-2:50
- Teaching Drama to Children - Fri 9-11:50

Option 3: 16 units (1 unit is a lab)
- History of Mathematics - Online
- Health Issues in Education - Online
- Calculus 2 Lab - Tues and Thurs 8am
- Calculus 2 - Tues and Thurs 10am
- Developmental Psychology - Tues 12-2:50
- Modern Mathematics for Elementary Teaching 1 - Numbers and Problem Solving - Mon and Wed 12 - 1:15

All of these classes are actually required... I prefer option 1 but what do you think?

'Tis the Season

It is officially the Holiday season when I get to have a Winter Dream Tea Latte from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf which I had on Thursday this week. Let me tell you, it was delish!

It's been awhile so let's see what's been going on. Last I left you, I was complaining about my group project. Well, the project has come and gone. The lady that I was complaining about in the group didn't show up for our presentation and actually hasn't been to class since the day before our presentation. I tried to call her to see if she was alive, but I was unable to get a hold of her. Hopefully she is ok and we may have done better without her... But we still only got a C+ which I was unhappy about, but I ended up getting an A on the response paper which is half of that grade which helps out a ton! Only two more weeks (not counting the week off we have for Thanksgiving... Furloughs gave us the whole week as opposed to just the two days...) or instruction this semester before finals (and I only have one final... so nice).

I started tutoring a couple of kids at OVS. So I am now at OVS 5 days a week. The money is good and it's nice to see the kids succeed in their classes with a little bit of extra support. Halloween came and went. We took the kids trick or treating which was a whole big fat mess that I won't go into because it's too long of a story. The kids also carved pumkins which was fun. Right now I am sitting in the computer lab at school with two kids waiting for the 8th graders to finish their SSATs (it's like the SATs but for private High Schools). This is my last weekend at work before Thanksgiving break (two weekends off). After Thanksgiving break I work for another two weekends before Winter break (where I have 4 weekends off with no pay...). So, if you need any cleaning/babysitting/yardwork/whatever done in that time period, I would love to help you out.

Group Projects

Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time in several months, I slept in! That's right. 8 am! It was glorious and actually it put me in a rather good mood today. Surprising what sleep can do for you.

So Tuesday we had our peer editing groups as you may have read from the previous post. I was super nervous about it, but it turns out they liked my paper. I was hoping for some more suggestions for my paper but it was helpful to hear that they thought I had a good paper. I still am not fully convinced so I am having Holly proof my paper tonight (turns out she loves proofing papers). Class today went really well. Since we are wrapping up our papers (oh yeah, she extended the due date to Tuesday which means I can breathe a little), my professor broke us into our groups for our group project. The project is a 30 minute presentation having to do with Themes of Feminism. Let's be honest, I hate group projects! Maybe it's cause I have never had a good group. There is always the weak link (someone who never meets with the group, doesn't do their share, or just doesn't understand English and therefore can't participate the way you would like them to). In my case this time it's the third. We have this lady in our group who is probably in her late 50s and is from China. Not only is English her second language, but she also rarely ever uses a computer and doesn't know how to do research properly (or at all for that matter). Now, I don't have anything against people of more advanced ages going back to school to finish up their degrees. I think it's great! Let's be honest, I may be one of them someday if I can't finish this stuff up. But what I struggle with is that she speaks very broken English and most of the time I don't understand what she's talking about and more then that, I am pretty sure she has no idea what I am talking about. It's hard to trust her with parts of the project when we are all going to get the same grade for the presentation... The other part I hate about group projects is trying to find a leader. While the project doesn't actually require assigning a leader, it's nice to have someone initiating conversations and getting everyone on the same page. I don't really like being that person. I would much rather let someone else do that job, but it seems in every group I am in, no one else will step up, causing me to take charge.

The group situation is actually not all that bad though. We chose to talk about Women in Music which is a SUPER broad topic and we are each taking this weekend to narrow the topic to a direction we as a group may take. I am thinking of talking about women as singer-songwriters and talk a little about Janis Joplin and other artists who kinda paved the way for women as singer-songwriters today. The other idea I have is to talk about women as musicians in bands. I was watching an episode of SNL a few months ago when Beyonce preformed and I remember being kinda shocked by her all girls band. It's not something we really see a lot of and it got me thinking about specific instruments that are considered more masculine (trumpet, sax, electric guitar, drums, base...) and then the instruments that are more feminine (flute, clarinet, piano...). I guess I'm just really excited about the topic and the freedom we have in this project that it makes me really excited about working with the people in my group, even if I have to be the leader and carry the one lady in my group.

Whatcha Say?

I just finished writing the rough draft of my English Essay on Out (a novel I had to read for the class) and I have to say I am filled with a lot of anxiety about it. Tomorrow we are having a peer editing group to get our papers ready to turn in by Thursday. I get so nervous when I let other people read my papers. Is it any good? Do I sound like a fool in my paper? Sometimes I feel like the things I say are way less then educated... is that how I write? What if my paper sucks? What if they laugh at me? What if it's terrible and I have to throw the whole thing out? Then What will I write about? What if I didn't say enough? What if I said too much? What if? What if?

What if's suck! I know that peer editing groups are good and I know I will get good, honest feedback on my paper, but I am still super nervous. This is why I like math so much... There is one right answer and there is usually a right way to get there... With papers and writing, you can say whatever you want and you may or may not get it right... We'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm going to attempt some sleep. Maybe since I got all of these questions out of my head I may actually sleep tonight...

PS: one of my new favorite things is the cover of Whatcha Say. So great!

I Keep Rolling On

This weekend was pretty good. Actually now that I think about it, it was really good. Friday I went into work. The kids were all getting back from their camping trips which made for a mellow afternoon. The kids were all really good and I even was able to get off at 7 (about two and a half hours earlier than normal...) I had switched my sleepover duties with Tami so I could swing by camp for Seeds (the Jr High Girls retreat). I went straight over to camp and was able to catch the tail end of dinner and the evening gathering and campfire (my favorite!). After the campfire I went home and to bed just to wake up early the next morning for Counselor Coffee. It was really nice to hang out with some of the counselors from summer before heading over to work for the day. Work was good... The kids were still super tired from camping and were really mellow. My little 6th grader that usually exhausts me's mom came to visit him Saturday which was great. I actually got to just hang out with the kids and not have to worry about him. I got off at 10 and headed back over to camp for the Seeds sleepover party. When I got there they were having a dance party and I helped Nae DJ. The party went pretty late and then I helped Holly clean up/set up for breakfast the next morning. I think I got home a little after 12 and went to bed. Again counselor coffee the nex morning and then work. El was gone Sunday so I was in charge with one other teacher on duty with me. We went up to Santa Barbara for the day. She took some kids to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs while I got to spend the whole afternoon hanging out with a gril named Hevyn (all of her friends went home for the weekend and so we were buddies for the day). Hevyn is such a sweet kid which it's hard to see sometimes with the people she hangs out with. But it was really nice to spend the afternoon with her. We sat in Borders reading for a couple hours before getting some coffee and walking around people watching. We played a little in the Apple store before heading back to the bus. All in all it was a really mellow, nice weekend (despite not really sleeping at all... but you can sleep when you're dead right?)

For now I keep rolling on. Writing papers, doing homework, and just trying to keep breathing (I've been listening to a lot of Ingrid Michaelson lately so that is an Ingrid reference).

Familiar Faces

I realized as I sat in my last class that my last entry was a little depressing so I thought I would clarify a few things. Sometimes I am sad. It happens to everyone; some more than others. But it happens non-the-less. These last couple of weeks I will be the first to admit that I have been a little on the sad side. No particular reason (maybe it's the birthday... maybe it's stress...) but I will say that I have been on that side of the track for a little bit. I am however trying to find joy in things around me to bring me out of this funk I seem to be finding myself in:

One thing bringing me joy right now are familiar faces. Yes I see the same people at youth group and work but I mean faces that show up in places I wouldn't really expect. For example yesterday at Disneyland (I know, how can anyone be sad while at Disneyland... it happens... trust me) I ran into two of my favorite people from camp (that's probably not fair to say, but I couldn't tell you how many favorites I had from camp... there are a lot!): the lovely Courtney Clayton (it was her birthday and it was nice to see her) and Abby Rich (she was a counselor the first week of camp and we had some good times together). Those two alone brought a smile to my face, but then today at school I ran into Piper and Emy. It was great to see people I knew at school, even if it was just to give them a little wave and go on my way to class. And just when I thought the familiar faces were over, I ran into Kathy Bergman on my quick stop at Trader Joes. It's great how a familiar face can just make you feel at home.

Other things bringing me joy right now:

• Driving down to LAX on the PCH as the sun is rising... Beautiful!
• Not quite ripe Yellow Nectarines... the reason I say not quite ripe is because I like them a little crunchy and tart. When they get ripe, they are usually softer and juicier and sweeter and while they are good, I much prefer them crunchy.
• Great feedback on my English paper. We had to read the book Out by Natsuo Kirino (it's a novel about 4 Japanese women who work in a factory together and are "friends." One of them murders her husband and the other three help her cover up the murder... I hate reading and when I do read, it's never fiction, but I actually enjoyed this book... very grusome and violent but a good read non-the-less) and we are supposed to write a 5-7 page essay on a specific theme or topic or character in the book and somehow relate it to our class theme (feminism). The prompt was super broad making it so we could write about almost anything which always makes me nervous. But the intro paragraph and outline were due today and we got into small groups to discuss our papers and help each other out. Everyone in my group gave me great feedback and they all really liked my intro. The professor even came over and said that she really liked my intro. I know, big deal, you're doing well on a paper right? But here's the thing, I don't consider myself a good writer and I have always struggled (in my opinion) with English and papers. So the positive feedback was really comforting and reasuring and I think I can actually finish this paper with confidence.
• And finally, and it may sound dumb but here it goes, Red Sunflowers. I stopped in at TJoes today to pick up some stuff for dinner and there were these beautiful Red Sunflowers staring at me. No reason really why I liked them. They just made me smile.

So here's where I stand. Trying to find joy. And actually succeeding.

Two things before I finish this post:

1. Please be praying for Daisy Love Merrick. She is the daughter of Britt Merrick, the teaching pastor at Reality Carpinteria (the church my parents attend and call their home). Monday doctors found a tumor the size of a nerf football taking up most of her abdomen and today doctor's were able to remove the entire tumor. She is still going to need Chemo and the recovery is going to be crazy but please pray for healing on her little body. For details and updates on little Daisy Love, visit their blog.
2. And two, something that stuck out to me as I was driving home today:

Savior I come, Quiet my soul, remember
Redemptions hill where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom. Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees, Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself, I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

Word Vomit

Ok... So I tried to be good about blogging, but for some reason I can't seem to sit down at a computer long enough to process all of the thoughts that I would like to share with you. My laptop crashed about six months ago and since then I have been sharing a computer with Janae and my parents. A couple of years ago, it wouldn't have made a difference because my parents hardly even knew what a computer was (just kidding guys... that's an exaggeration). But as they learn more and more about it (Facebook for example), I seem to see less and less of the computer. And when I do see the computer I feel bad sitting there for hours at a time spilling out my thoughts for the world to see (or the two people who actually read my blog)...

Let's try and do a quick catch up shall we....

Work started a couple of weeks ago and it has been going really well for the most part. I have a new boss this year and she isn't around as much as Dave was which puts me in charge a lot. I don't have a problem taking charge but it kinda sucks to not be getting paid for it... Our kids this year are great so far. No major problems as of yet but it's still pretty early in the year. Last weekend was rather exhausting. We have this one little boy who is a 10 year old 6th grader with severe ADD, depression, etc. He doesn't have any friends which means he is with a staff member at all times. Guess who had him all weekend? Yup... I was really tired. But I really feel bad for the kid. We'll see if he makes it through until Thanksgiving but I am kinda thinking he won't... I've been spending more time with the boys this year (when I am "in charge" it's easier to be in the boy's dorm because it is more centrally located on campus... plus most of the staff members hate being in the boys dorm anyway so I figure I can take it).

School... Oh school... school is ok but stressful and busy. I really like three of my four classes and absolutely hate my forth class (computers). It's one of those classes that almost makes you forget that you like your other classes because of the big black cloud hovering over you making you not even want to get out of bed in the morning. Maybe that's being dramatic but I actually really hate it...

I've decided I hate my birthday. I love other people's birthdays. I love celebrating them and enjoying them, but I hate my own. It's weird and people sometimes get mad at me about it but I really get freaked out/depressed around my birthday. I get all anxious and find myself struggling to find air to breath. I want to curl up in a ball away from the world for the week. It's weird I know and I wish I could explain it. Maybe it's the attention that freaks me out... Or maybe I worry if anyone will even remember... Or maybe I just feel like every other birthday has been a let down so I just expect it to be a let down... Or maybe I hate that the one day of the year I don't want to be alone, I always find myself feeling the most alone (even when I am not)... Maybe it's a combination of all four... Maybe it's none of those. I don't know. All this to say, I am sorry to anyone who wishes me a happy birthday. I appreciate you all SOOOOOO much and I love that you care and I love that you show it. I am sorry if I don't always show/express that.

Ok... enough word vomit for today... I really do want to try and be better about this to avoid dumping everything into one long/depressing blog.

Black Tuesday?

Today has not been a great day... I woke up, checked my school email and found out that two of my classes were canceled today because the instructors were using their furlough days today (due to the crappy budget cuts their salaries got cut by 10% and they are required to take a set number of furlough days). Great right! I slept awhile longer and then checked my email again and found out that my last class of the day (Computers) was a mandatory attendance day. NOOOO!!!! Last thursday was optional attendance. And all of the homework and class work, I can do at home!!!! But if I didn't show up to this one class today, he threatened to drop me (not just me, everyone... it sounds like I have been ditching which I haven't been... I've been really good about going to class...). Ok, fine... Going to class... On my way there I almost get killed on the freeway by an idiot in a black BMW on his cell phone... Today just isn't a great day and I am kinda in a bad mood... I hope it gets better...

Claim Jumpers

Yup... This is on the menu tonight... look good? It is... Last night I picked up my mom from Burbank Airport and we stopped at Claim Jumpers in Valencia for dinner. We split a pizza and this delicious Blue Cheese Wedge Salad. Hope everyone else likes it as much as I did.

School was great today. I love math... It just makes sense. Everything around me can be changing but Math will never change. I'm weird, I know (some would say nerd) but I like it. It makes sense to me.

Just Call Me Oscar...

Today was not a great day... In fact, I might even have to go as far as to say it was a bad day. Why you may ask? Nothing to specific but let me try and paint the picture for you. 9am I drove my abuela and my tia Leecha (yes that's her name) to Santa Clarita to meet up with my tio David who drove them the rest of the way to Palmdale. Not a big deal but a little out of the way when it comes to having class at noon. So driving back towards Camarillo I really wasn't into going to class but knew it was only the first week of classes and I can't start up with my old habits. Plus I had a paper due and I knew I had to be there.

So I get to school and go to exchange my math book (I bought the wrong one and the real one cost my an extra $55). Buying books puts me in a terrible mood! Paying for school puts me in a terrible mood! I hate how much money people (myself included) have to pay for school. And on top of tuition, they want us to buy $150+ books (per class...) and a $145 parking permit? It's dumb! Anyway, after getting the book, I go and try to find a place to park and there is zero parking... and by zero, I mean, I drove around for 30 mins before I found someone leaving. I hate looking for parking and 30 minutes is out of control! As soon as I got out of my air conditioned car, I was blown away with this large amount of heat that instantly got me sweating. Oh and did I mention the parking spot I found was on the opposite side of campus in comparison to my class? Yeah... that sucked. And it was Balls HOT!!!! I know I am complaining, but just give me this...

English was fine. We talked about Feminism :-&... I could kinda care less but I guess it's kinda interesting. I was already in a bit of a grouchy mood (hence the title of the blog... get it?) and just wanted a 'D' DC (in case you don't know the abrieves, 'D' is for damn and DC is for Diet Coke). Class got out and so I went over to my next class (that didn't start for another almost two hours). Thankfully the door was open and there was no class before my next one... and it's a computer class so I went and sat on the internet for a good two hours. The brief time between classes was great (and I got a DC which helped) but then class started...

Ok so my computer class. I would say I know a good amount about computers. More than most people but not near as much as others. I know Microsoft really really well! For this class we have the opportunity to test out of the class. The first of a series of Test Out exams was given on the first day and you had to score 65% or better to be eligible to take the other exams. Now while I know the ins and out of Microsoft, I am not quite as knowledgeable when it comes to the ins and outs of a computer and saving documents in different formats and SPTs and WLAN vs LAN (I actually know the WLAN stuff and the saving stuff... but you get the idea). I took the test and scored a 61%... That SUCKS!!! I know computers! I know how to work a computer! Why the Hell do we need to know what a SPT is? It just sucks to be so close and to still feel like a failure... Anyway, that was Tuesday and we are talking about today (thursday). Today we had the second in the series of exams which he still was requiring everyone to take and it was the Excel exam. I know Excel! I took a class in HS and I have been using it forever! I know that program! But going into a test that I know I can kill and knowing that it won't matter... SUCKS!!!! The test was basically recreating a chart that the professor already made with some random data. The object was to show that we knew how to create equations to find inputs as opposed to doing it ourselves. Of course he locked the sample chart so we couldn't just copy and paste... However, he also did something weird where he locked all tools that would allow us to make a real chart... Merging cells, bold text, text alignment... all of it... gone... I was still able to get the info in and create the equations which is what he wanted but it didn't look like the original (the numbers were the same which is what really mattered) which if you know me at all, it's not ok (OCD and all... it wasn't perfect and I wanted it to be perfect...)! The second part of the test was to take the information and create a bar graph. Super easy! But again with the whole, locked tools thing, I couldn't even get to the create a graph section! I was so pissed. Not to mention the professor is kinda a D-Bag and was upset that I haven't bought the $145 book yet (class only started Tuesday...)...

I know this sounds like a lot of complaining and yeah it is actually... Today wasn't great. I was grouchy and unhappy which sucks but tomorrow is a new day full of meetings, hanging out with teens, and lifeguarding for kids with Cancer...

Wrong Class...

Today is my second day at CSUCI (and I say is because I am still here waiting for my computer class to start) and I have to say there are some definite highlights for today.

1. My SPED/PSY 345 class has a girl that I used to play soccer with named Anna Lee.
2. My SPED/PSY 345 class has a girl from Sarah's class in it named Krista Sweezy.
3. Upon taking role in my SPED/PSY 345 class I come to find out that the girl that sat next to me's last name is also Andrews (the instructor thought we were sisters but it was a total accident that we sat next to each other... I have never seen her before in my life).
4. And yes, for the first time in my life, I went to the wrong class... Now is wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. I sat in a tini little class alone for about 20 mins before three other people joined me. When it came time for class to begin and no one else was there, I decided to look into it. Turns out the class schedule had posted one room while her syllabus (which I thankfully printed out last night) said another. The four of us hurried to the other class where she didn't even notice we were late.

I am actually really excited about my SPED/PSY345 class. It's a Special Education/Psychology class that discusses Individuals with Disabilities. These Disabilities rang from AD/HD to Cerebral Palsy to Tourette's. It should be a fun class with a lot of writing. My English class is going to be a little rough, but I think I am excited about it. I am excited to work on my writing and hopefully become a better writer. Maybe then people will actually read my blog... (JK!). My computer class is about to begin. Pray that I can remember everything I need to know about Microsoft to be able to test out of this class...

What is a Function?

Def (n): a Function is an assignment between two sets A and B such that any element of A is assigned to exactly one element of B.

Today marked my first official day at Cal State Channel Islands. I only had one class which if you can't tell already was Calculus. Today we did a little review on Functions but I spent most of the time thinking about how all math professors are exactly the same! Has anyone else ever noticed this? I am not sure if it applies to High School math teachers so much... well... maybe it does... Let's see... Most math teachers (and I say most and not all because it's not fair to say all) are tall? Not super tall but in the 5'8" club at least (which is taller than me so I say tall)... Asian (and again, I say most... and it's not a racist comment... just an observation)... Awkward (and I say this because it's true... they walk into the room all quiet and reserved and try and crack jokes that aren't funny... but are funny because they think it's funny)... Quiet and Reserved... and they all have the same sense of humor (they like the puns and play on words... it's crazy but they are all the same).

Class went well today. Syllabus, short intros, how was your summer? all that great stuff. And the best part, we got out early. Tomorrow will be much longer as I have three classes and am going to try and pick up a fourth. I'll let you know how that goes later!

God Is Good... Take 2

Just a little taste of what's going on and how God is good and something you can be praying about... My mom's best friend Trisha is not a Christian... she has spent most of my mom and her friendship making fun of my mom's beliefs (in a loving joking way where she respected it but didn't believe it). On August 9th, Trisha's 14 year old nephew was burned to death in a terrible car accident. This tragedy has completely rocked Trisha and her family but what is amazing is my mom has been able to be there for Trisha through all of it. The funeral is next weekend and my mom is flying up to be with Trisha. My mom walked with Trisha yesterday and she said that God is doing some amazing things in Trisha's life... She can no longer deny that there is a God and she can no longer deny that He loves her... She asked my mom why she would go up north for the funeral when she doesn't even know Hunter (her nephew) or his family. I love that my mom gets to show Trisha Jesus' love through this time... God is good and He has amazing plans for Trisha and her family but please continue to pray for her and her family... they suffered a terrible, tragic loss with Hunter's death but I know God is working through this.

God Is Good

I started this entry a couple of weeks ago when camp actually ended (well maybe that was only a week ago... I've been so busy I kinda lost track of the time) but I haven't really been able to formulate my words. But with school starting tomorrow I better wrap up this chapter before I move onto another.

My summer at Forest Home Ojai Valley was definitely one I will remember forever. There are many things I will remember, both good and bad, but I think the biggest thing I will take away from this summer is that God is good! Pretty simple, I know. Whenever people ask what I learned this summer it's that God is good. I have heard it my whole life and I knew what it meant but it was never really real to me before. I think I just saw so many times this summer that God is good and I heard so many people say it over and over again that it kinda clicked in my head. I don't think anyone can really wrap their heads around how good God is (I don't think our human minds can really contain that full knowledge) but it became more real to me this summer than it ever has.


The summer started off great! It was so nice to work with other Christians and to live somewhere other than my house for the summer (not that living at my house is bad but sometimes I feel like a loser because I am almost 22, living at home with my parents. I know it's the smartest thing for me to be doing right now but it was nice to try something different). My roommates in the beginning were Becca and Kat. I had met Kat previously but never met Becca before camp. It was great getting to know them through sharing Leo Carrillo D. Through some crazy mice inccidents we also become psuedo roommates with the girls of Leo C (our door had a crack at the bottem and mice got it... we had mice for about a week until I moved some furniture and scared them out... we taped up the bottom of the door and had to go through the adjoining room's door... Leo C), Mallory, Alyssa, and Lauren. There are too many stories from Leo C/D to write down. The first week of camp was all "getting to know you" stuff and staff meetings (you know, the sexual harrassment stuff). The meetings were quickly followed by lots and lots of program development. I have never been given the freedom to come up with games and ideas before and it was really neat to be able to participate in that. We had crazy stuff happen with some staff members and some left earlier than planned, which was sad but God is good and He was faithful through it all. Through some of these events, I ended up switching to Leo C and joining Mal, Alyssa, and Lauren for the last three weeks of camp. What's funny is when I moved out, Kat and I started hanging out more than when we lived together. It was neat to spend that time with her and share our hearts with each other for those last three weeks.


When asked what my favorite part of camp was, I think I would have to say the people. The churchs that came, the students, the counselors, the youth pastors, but esspecially the staff. I really felt like I had a family when I was at camp. I trusted each and every one of them and loved getting to know them. I can honestly say I miss each and every one of them and I can't wait to see them again!

Like I said, I have been really busy since camp ended. I have been working almost every day (trying to pick up hours at camp until I start my real job). The tan is looking great (I've been lifeguarding... it's kinda my fav and I didn't get to do it all summer so I am glad I have been able to this last week) and I think I am ready to start school. Good thing too because my first class is tomorrow morning at 8am. Not too early but enough to get me going for the day. I'll try and be better and keeping this updated, but we will see what this semester holds. All I know is that God is good and it is all in His hands.

Sweetly Broken

Two weeks of camp down and I am already feeling it. I love camp. Don't get me wrong. But this week was a little rough for me. I am not sure why. I don't think it was the low numbers (only 50 campers which was different but really neat to be able to connect with all of the campers and to show love to all of them). This week Ryan spoke which made me so happy! It was so nice to have Amber (for the first couple of days) and Ryan and the girls around for the week. So it wasn't the speaker... The band was the same as the week before so it wasn't that... Maybe I'm just tired... Maybe I am just feeling like I have to do everything myself. I know I don't have to. I have amazing people around me who are all there for the same reasons. So why was this week so hard? I don't have an answer right now... Maybe I'll come up with one. Maybe I won't. Maybe it was that the week started out a little stressful. Holly was gone Sunday and Monday (she flew home for her grandpa's funeral) which made me feel like I need to pick up the slack. Not that her leaving creates slack or that it is even my place to pick up the slack, but... Does this make any sense? Don't get me wrong, our staff is amazing and it speaks volumes that Holly was even comfortable and confident enough in our staff to leave for a couple days. Maybe I just need to be thankful and happy for another great week of camp. Maybe the best way I can explain how I feel is that I feel broken. And I think that's ok...

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

I don't want this to sound like "Woe is me, I am so hurt... BooHoo." I am actually loving camp and everything in it. The people, the campers, the program, the music, and the staff! It's all great and I am so happy! This week was just weird I guess... But camp is great and I love it! I took a lot of pictures this last week (including the 4th of July) and you should go check them out if you have time. Please continue to pray for camp. We have another week with low numbers that we would love to fill. Pray for the continued health of our staff (a lot of people have been sick on and off which makes camp hard). Pray for rest for our staff and energy and excitement to love every person comes into camp.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb

Program starts tomorrow!!! I can't believe it's already here! I am so excited to have campers around and to actually get to run the program that we have been preparing for the last three weeks. I have loved getting to know our summer family but I am ready for some campers.

This last week was kinda crazy with lifeguard classes, CPR, First Aid... We did some surf training on Thursday and let's just say, there is probably a very good reason I have never surfed before... The ocean scares me! I don't like the waves and the cold and the salt... gross... I tried it out for a bit but kept freaking out. Maybe another time and another place. We finished up our opener and skits Thursday night (earlier than previous years which makes me feel pretty confident in our staff). We are doing a STOMP routine for the opener which is super fun and I hope it goes well tomorrow... Next week I will be a team lead for the Green Fenders which basically means I (with the help of other staff members on my team; Jay, Lauren, and Derek) am in charge of around 50ish students and counselors. We will lead them in cheers, games, and solo time debriefs. I will also be driving the surf vehicles on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons (the kids can sign up for surf classes and the staff members who are 21 and older and trained on vehicles, drive them back and forth from Mondos beach...). I will also be working some recreation throughout the week and helping Murphy with A/V stuff (sound, lights, PPT) for our evening gatherings and Camp's Got Talent.

As far as the title of this entry goes, one of our games we will be playing this week is called Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. It involves two sets of three campers in two very large TShirts filled with McDonalds balls and Water Balloons running to the end of the field and back... We had to practice all of our competitions and this one was probably my favorite! We also have Kick N Slide, Octopuzzle, and Surf O War... So Fun! Time for Program! Please keep myself and the rest of our staff in your prayers as we start Program tomorrow. Also please pray for the churches and campers that will be joining us this summer. There are a few weeks of camp with very low number so please pray that camp will fill. If you know of any youth groups who are looking for a camp send them our way. We would love to have some campers!

Bitchin' Tub!

Two weeks into camp and I can't wait for campers to arrive! I met my new summer family two weeks ago and have been so blessed to spend so much time with each and every one of them. The first week was full of the usual meetings (sexual harassment, fire extinguisher training, cart training, driver's ed, clean sweep... ). Ok, maybe only the first two are your "typical" meetings, but the others were no less awesome! Last weekend most of our summer family came over to relax, watch movies and eat... and I even got to go to church last weekend... I nearly died laughing (not really cause that would be really embarrassing) when Pastor Paul started a new series on Restoration (it's our camp theme for the summer and I found it pretty ironic). Last week was full of programing and planning for campers to arrive... Next week will be rehearsing and prep for our first week of camp. I am so excited!

We have all been creating so many new memories from camp (including at least 10 hours of road trip time) and I will leave you with the reason for the title of this entry.

1) Family dinner night.
The full time staff at FHOV made dinner for all of us and we all went to their different houses for dinner and then to Sharon's new house for dessert. They are remodeling the house and it wasn't quite finished yet so we played some Sardines. Towards the end of the game, we were all crammed into a tini toilet closet in the bathroom... we were all completely silent and out of the blue Bree (A-Team lead and great new friend!) says, "Bitchin' Tub!" We all died laughing and gave away our position...

Camp really has been great so far but please continue to pray for all of us. People have been getting sick and tired so please pray that we all stay healthy and get everything done this week (before campers arrive).

Obsessed

This last weekend I took some of my kids to see Obsessed (don't worry... not the elementary kids... another staff member who could drive a van took them to see the Hannah Montana movie...). The movie was pretty wild and definitely had it's creepy parts but what I liked the most was my kids reaction to the movie.

Have you ever been in a movie where people clap and cheer when good things happen? Well this weekend, those annoying kids that clap and cheer like they are at home where my kids. The movie Obsessed is about this man who gets a promotion and is stalked by at temp worker in his new building. At one point (well actually several points) in the movie she throws herself at him and he sternly rejects her because he loves his wife and he would never cheat on her. As he stormed out of the bathroom (that she had followed him into) my kids erupted in cheers and applause. I had to tell them to keep it down a few times (there were other people in the theater and I felt bad) but what they don't know is I was actually really proud of them. How many movies do we see now-a-days where the husband is cheating on the wife or the wife is cheating on the husband or whatever. My kids love that stuff (I watch that stuff too and it doesn't seem to phase me)... But for them to actually recognize that it is wrong for a husband (or a wife) to cheat on their spouse... I am proud.

Outdoor Ed is Wednesday which starts a very busy three weeks before camp. I also got offered a photography job helping to shoot my friend's wedding. I really want to make it work out but I'm not sure if I can get off work... I hope I can because that would be super fun and a great experience!

Prisoner of Hope

Allie Moss came out with an new EP and this is probably my favorite of the 7 songs. I really like the lyrics and Allie's voice is just beautiful. If you get a chance, you should check it out.

Prisoner of Hope
by Allie Moss

The bar is set so high that I can walk right under
Can't reach even on my tippy toes
No matter how far I've run in training for this marathon
I trip and fall, lose by a nose

Then something taps me on the shoulder
I listen when it's older than me

CHORUS:
It says, Look up
Reach out your hand
You can't see anything new
'til you change where you stand
I'll throw you a rope
You know you're just a fellow prisoner of hope

Another day, another no
Sucker punch leaves me bunched on the floor (woe is me)
This is when I fall into a downward spiral
Negative thoughts feed vanity (and I'm so hungry)
Then something taps me on the shoulder
I listen when it's older than me

CHORUS
It says, Look up
Reach out your hand
You can't see anything new
'til you change where you stand
I'll throw you a rope
You know you're just a fellow prisoner of hope

From the high wall
Sometimes all we see is how hard we could fall
So what if we do
Rise mud-scraped and bruised
Maybe we have to be a little bit broken to hear hope call

CHORUS
It says, Look up
Reach out your hand
You can't see anything new
'til you change where you stand
I'll throw you a rope
You know you're just a fellow prisoner of hope

I think my favorite line is "Maybe we have to be a little bit broken to hear hope call"...

This weekend at work was my last sleepover duty of this school year. It was a really long weekend with Friday being up with a kid until 1am (long story that I can't share but you can pray for her) but I felt this overwhelming sense that God really wanted me there this weekend. I had traded sleepover duties with another dorm parent so I can go to my friend's wedding in two weeks and I know that God has His hand in that. Not only with Friday night but also Saturday night. I walked into one of my kid's rooms to say goodnight and turn the lights out and found two other girls (who were not supposed to be in there because it was lights out and they are supposed to be in their own rooms when it's lights out). One of the girls asked me, "Miss Michaela, what's the difference between Catholic and Christian?" I knew the one girl asking was Catholic (she's from Mexico and it's usually safe to assume that they are Catholic) but the other girl, from what I understand, has no beliefs in any sort of god. I chatted with them for a bit explaining the difference between Catholic/Christian/Jewish Beliefs then the other girl (the one who doesn't believe in God but apparently has a Jewish background) said, "I don't believe in God because how could a god let all of this bad stuff happen? If there was a god, wouldn't he just stop all of the bad things from happening?" Oh the age old question. I talked to her about Creation and the fall of man and how we all have a choice to do what it right and wrong. The conversation probably lasted a good 20 minutes (after lights out mind you...). I eventually had to tell her that I would love to talk to her more about any sort of questions she has but she needed to go to bed because it was way past lights out and I still had to go say goodnight to the rest of the dorm. Despite the long weekend, I was really glad I was there to deal with Friday night and this conversation on Saturday night.

Three more weekends for this school year and then it's off to Forest Home (haha... off to... it's down the street... but you know what I mean...). I am finishing up a Term Paper Outline (it was supposed to be a 5 page Term Paper but he decided to make it easy on us and made it just an outline). Math homework is done, I just have to finish up the review problems to study for the final which I will take on Monday. It's almost summer and I am so excited!

Let The Sunshine In!

Yes! The sun is back (both literally and figuratively I guess...) and I am so happy! I can't stand this back and forth weather... I would just like to see the sun from now until late fall thank you!

Last week as kinda a downer. I went swimming Tuesday night at OVS (the pool is being heated again so it's super nice!) and I put my hand down on a bee... My middle finger was about twice it's normal size and hurt pretty bad which was not fun. I did however discover that we didn't have a bee kit down at the pool which could be a huge safety issue if one of the kids got stung and not me... I also got a letter Tuesday night from CSUCI denying my transfer for this fall semester... I know I've been out of the whole school thing for about a year but the last few months I have been really excited about finishing school and moving towards a teaching career so the news really sucked and made me super sad! They said that I hadn't completed my math requirements which is a lie because I got a 5 on the AP Calculus test (4 years ago...). But since I didn't send them my scores, it didn't count... Thankfully I decided to take a Pre-Calc class this semester (just for a little review... the class was online and it's super easy... I got 100% on the midterm... easy...). The transcripts I sent CSUCI didn't show that I was currently taking a math class so I dropped off some new transcripts showing my current class load and after a couple days they reconsidered and accepted me on a conditional basis... you know... as long as I don't fail my math class...

Last night we took the kids to see Earth. It's this new Disney documentary... The whole time I was just reminded of how great our God is. How everything fits together so perfectly that only a Creator could have designed... It was pretty awesome... I also came to the realization last night that I love my kids... They are rude, inconsiderate, disrespectful, mean, and spoiled brats... but I love them.

That's all... Just a few realization and a good day and I am happy. Six more weeks of this school year and then camp starts up and I can't wait!

Also... I took some photos a couple weeks ago and I like how they turned out... Thanks for letting me use your camera Ryan!

Never Judge a Book By It's Cover

Today, Sharon at Forest Home showed me this video. I am sure some of you who keep up with the news have heard of this lady, but if you haven't (or even if you have) you have to watch this video on YouTube of a great singer named Susan Boyle. Now, there are a few reasons why I like this lady: 1) She is 47 years old and still pursuing her dream of becoming a singer, 2) she lives alone with her cat and is a little nutty, 3) she sings I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables (which is one of my all time fav songs!), and 4) NO ONE thought "now this is going to be a good singer" when she walked out onto the stage. It sucks how much we judge people by their apperence. Susan Boyle walked out on that stage and was literally laughed at and judged by everyone in the theater (and probably everyone watching the show), but she was a rock star and pulled out a very difficult song with nothing but class!

I spent the last week at Forest Home here in Ojai. I got to hang out with 5th graders all week and I loved it! Outdoor Ed was so much fun! I got to teach a drama class which was super fun because I got to be in the teacher role for once and from what I heard, I did a good job. Lifeguarding everyday was great and I got some much needed sun (still need some more but it the tan will get there... don't worry...). Changing 4 times a day, teaching classes, learning tye dye, running zip line, lifeguarding, campfires... Couldn't have been any better! Can't wait for summer!

When It Rains...

Where did that saying come from? Anyone? Ryan, you'll know... Anyway, the saying goes "When it rains, it pours." And while I don't feel like I am at my whits end, it has been one of those last couple of weeks. Let me fill you in since I have become so bad a doing that lately.

Maybe about two weeks ago I went to turn on my already dumb computer and I was immediately directed to a black screen with Courier like font saying something along the lines of, "Media connection not found... blah blah blah" and then it would go back to the black screen and repeat until I turned it off... Awesome! Broken computer. (sarcasm is hard to type but I hope you get the idea). So I took it into Fry's and had them run a diagnostic (that would cost me $69.99) with the small hope that it was only a minor problem and could easily be fixed. Unfortunately before my computer was even fully checking in, they told me it was a bad hard drive and I should replace it. I told them I didn't want to do that yet and had them finish the diagnostic to see if anything could be saved... Turns out it was a bum hard drive and I could buy a new, pay to have it installed, and pay for them to install windows back onto my compuer for somewhere around $400. Seeing that the computer was only $700 new, I am pretty sure it's not worth it... Luckily I got smart a few months back and started backing up my computer in the event that it would one day crash on me. I am just praying that the backups worked and my music is on that external hard drive. I think I would be much more sad if my music was gone.

Well that brings me to last week and my Salmonella scare. I came home Sunday night from work, super tired and with a small headache. After dozing on the couch for about an hour, I went to bed at 7pm and slept until 9am. I felt better in the morning after getting all that sleep and so I went to Ventura and ran some errands (including dropping off my laptop at Fry's). One of my errands included a stop at Trader Joe's to pick up some stuff for Home Group that night. Seeing that it was almost 1 in the afternoon and I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, I picked up some mixed nuts to eat on the way home. After a couple of handfulls of nuts, I started to feel super sick to my stomach and my headache came back in full force. When I got home I crashed onto the couch and slept for 3 hours. I felt sort of drunk when I woke up (you know the feeling when you have slept so much that you wake up and you aren't totally sure what's going on?) but my stomach was better so I made my salad and got in my car to go to Home Group. Backing out of the driveway, I forgot about the Chrysler in the driveway (which was dumb because it is always there and I knew it was there because I saw it there) and I backed into it giving it a great 2 foot red stripe down the back fender and giving my car a couple of dents and white stripes on my back fender. I went into the house and told my mom that I backed into the Chrysler and appologized to her and Janae. My mom asked if I was ok to drive and I said yes, I was just being dumb and not paying attention. Tuesday I found out that there was a small Salmonella outbreak in pistachio nuts which freaked me out a little since the mixed nuts I ate had pistachios in it. My mom immediately put me on detox with juices and lots of water. While I had a headache all of Tuesday and Wednesday, I didn't start to feel nauseous again until Thursday morning. Despite feeling a little ill, I went down to Biola with Holly and Mallory to help do some summer staff interviews. It was super fun to hang out with Holly and Mal and meet some of the people who could potentially be part of my summer staff family, but I was kinda feeling terrible the whole time. As the day went on, I just started to feel worse and I barely made it home before... well, you know what happens when you are nauseous all day. You don't need to know the details. I went straight to bed (6:30pm) and slept until 7:30am when my mom woke me up to check on me. I still had a terrible headache and was a little nauseous so I slept for a couple more hours before deciding that I needed to get up and shower and see if I could make it to work. I did make it to work which was sort of painful, but by the end of the weekend, I was feeling much better (minus the headache that seemed to last all week and would not go away even with medicine... wierd). I don't actually think I had Salmonella, but it was an interesting coincidence that I got the "flu" after eating some potentially contaminated nuts...

Hm... What else? Oh, then sometime last week (I think Thursday-ish), my "check engine" light came on in my car and I started to notice all of the little quirks my car had and I realized I should probably take it in to make sure nothing was wrong with it. $125 later I find out that the gas cap wasn't on tight enough causing some minor leaks.

This post seems pretty whiney (and it kinda is) but there is good. Thank God I got smart and backed up my computer ahead of time. Thank God I am alive and if I had salmonella or didn't have salmonella, it wasn't worse than it could have been. Thank God it was only the dumb gas cap that wasn't on all the way and it wasn't my transmission or something that would cost me a lot more than $125. For now I am enjoying a relaxing Spring Break with Janae (and I think Sarah is coming home tonight... Sister Fro-Yo Barge?). I have the next two weekends off of work, which means I actually can go to church on Easter Sunday and spend time with my familia. Next week I am working Outdoor Education at Forest Home which I am SUPER excited about! I get to teach a drama class to a bunch of 5th graders one day along with lifeguarding, tie-dye, climbing wall, zip-line, campfires (my ultimate fav!), and all of the wonderful things of camp life that I love! After that there are only 6 more weeks at OVS, then I move into Forest Home for the summer! It's kinda crazy but I am super excited about what God has planned for these next few months of my life!

I Can't Get No... Satisfaction...

The last couple of weekends at work have been a little rough... Just crazy kids and not a whole lot of support from other staff members has left me coming home in tears from being so exhausted! This weekend was no different. My kids were sick and the nurse had to come in three times this weekend (she is on call for "emergencies" and we try to not call her unless something is seriously wrong with our kids; she should never have to come in three times especially when it's for the same kid). Anyway, it was frustrating and hard and I left Sunday sad and wondering if I was making a difference in these kids lives. All I want is for these kids to feel loved and these last few weekends I have been so heartbroken because I don't feel like I am making a difference. I was chatting with my parents at dinner Sunday night after work and I remembered a conversation that I had with one of my kids on Friday night that almost brought me to tears.

One of my kids I have known for the last 3 years. He came here with no guardians and we had almost zero contact with his parents (sound familiar Amber and Ryan? This is a boy... not Chris). My mom worked really hard to find him a guardian (trying to be his guardian herself... the school wouldn't let her; conflict of interest) and sort of took him under her wing. We have kinda all taken him in and kept an eye on him at school for the last few years (he's one of our "year-round" kids; he's here all school year and 9 weeks during the summer). Anyway, Friday he came into my office (well, it's Dave's office and Dave was gone so I was him for the afternoon and I was in his office) and looked a little sad. I asked him how he was doing and he said he was tired of all of the drama at school. I asked him to elaborate and as he was getting ready to tell me one of the sixth grade girls came in asking him to come out and talk to him. I told her she could tell me too and she was very vague and didn't want to. Anyway, this kid told her that if she wanted to talk to him, she could say it in front of me because he was going to tell me everything that was going on anyway. She was shocked that he was going to tell me the drama and this was his response, "Miss Michaela is like my older sister. I tell her everything." Wow! Sister? Really? I had no idea that this was how he felt. He went on to tell me about the drama and I gave him my two sense about the whole thing which he appreciated and took to heart. It was so nice to actually feel like I was making a difference in at least one kid's lives. It's enough to keep me going back every weekend. Next weekend is Parent Weekend which is usually really sad and hard so please pray for me and my kids (especially the one's who's parents will not be visiting them).

"Christians" vs "Christians"???

Today I was watching some reruns on Lifetime (yes I am a nerd sometimes) and I came across a show that almost brought me to tears: Anyone familiar with the show Wifeswap? Well, the basis of the show is to find two very different families (usually they are messed up, broken families) and the "new moms" come in and switch things up to try and "teach" the new families how other families function. Anyway, I got caught watching it today and it really broke my heart. The first family, the Child's family, were super conservative, Bible-thumping Christians who believe the father is the Ruler of the household and the mother is his "Help-mate." They have two 18 year-old daughters, a 17 year old son, a 13 year old daughter, a 10 year old daughter, and a 2 year old daughter. They all have "chosen" not to date and pray and believe that God will reveal their spouse to them when the time is right. The second family, the Beckman-Heari... something family, were Liberal Christians, where the father is a super educated ex-preacher who has 3 masters degree in theology and a PhD in Bible and can read and speak 8 languages. The mother is a powerhouse executive who "brings home the bacon" while the husband is the "stay at home mom." They believe that their childern should think for themselves and are they are allowed to slack on their chores.

As the intro to the show ran, I started to laugh at the crazy families... But it didn't take long (maybe 2 minutes into the show) for me to realize how sad this episode actually was. The conservative father admitted, with pride I might add, that he "brainwashes" his children and he has been "brainwashing" them since birth. When their 13 year old daughter started to express an interest in having a career as well as taking care of her family, the father removed her from the house to "protect" her from the new mom's "worldly" influence. The other father mocks "Bible-thumpers" by enthusiastically praying and singing songs like "The B-I-B-L-E. Yes that's the book for me..."

Anyway, the show made me really sad to see how wrong both of these families were and what a terrible example they were of what a Christian is and should be. Neither of the families had it right and I just pray that something will change in those families.

Carded?

Sometimes I go to the grocery store and pick up stuff for Taco Tuesday. And sometimes I pick up a bottle of Triple Sec and I don't get carded... Do I look like I am old? Why did they not card me? It's sort of a depressing thought... Anyway, Happy Taco Tuesday everyone!

My Funny Valentine

Every year I look forward to Valentine's day for one reason and one reason only; My Dad. Every year he gets each of us (my mom and my sisters and myself) a Valentines card and some candy. Sounds simple, but I really do love him for it. I love mydad so much and I am so thankful for the person that he is. Thanks Papa! I love you!

A Moment of Joy

My last post was a little depressing so I thought I would share a moment of joy with you. Yesterday afternoon as I was rounding up the girls for dinner (22-1 can be a little difficult), I ran into a Chinese couple who were looking for one of my students. I knew that this girl was going home for the weekend (but with her, going home means going to her sister's house), but I didn't recognize either of these people. I went to her room and told her someone was here that I didn't recognize. She was a little confused but when she saw the woman, she got so excited and ran up to her and embraced her. They were chatting in Chinese and I was awkwardly in the way, then she asked if her father could come into the dorm. At that moment I realized that these were her parents and I let them have their little reunion. It might sound like not that big of a deal, but to see the joy and happiness on this students face, it really made my day.

I am on sleepovers this weekend, so I am here the whole weekend which is hard, but ok. I am tired, but I will get by. On another wonderful note, my dad got a new job. I don't think I blogged about it, but he got laid off about three weeks ago and he has been looking and praying for the last few weeks. He is now going to be working the third shift (9pm-6am) for Channel Island Surfboards in Carpinteria. He'll be running the machines that cut out and shape the surf boards. It was definitely a God thing for him to find this job so thank you for those of you who were praying about it. Please continue to pray that this will be a good fit. Pray that his sleeping patterns can be adjusted easily and that our family can adjust to this new and exciting change.

Heartbreaker

While Heartbreaker is a great Pat Benatar song, it doesn't really describe my weekend. Friday was my first day back at work after a very long break. I really missed my kids and was excited to get back (even though I had been battling a cold all week). Most of the afternoon was spent catching up with kids and learning how to do Speed Stacks. The kids had a Social that evening which always makes for an eventful night. It started with cleaning up one kid's leg (one of the girls "accidentally" scratched his leg with her shoe... long story but he ended up with a cut on his leg from a couple inches below his knee to a couple inches below his ankle). He's a tough kid so it wasn't a big deal to him, but it was a gnarly cut nonetheless. Later in the evening one of my middle school boys thought it would be a funny idea to pull a chair out as someone was sitting down... It would have been a funny idea if he didn't pick the one girl who just had surgery that removed a piece of her hip bone (they took the bone from her hip and put it in her mouth...). She was in so much pain and because of the very recent surgery (like a week and a half ago), I called the nurse... She ended up being ok, but really really sore. After the social, I went up to open the dorm and walked by one of my girls crying hysterically on another girl's shoulder. I gave the second girl the look of "Is she ok? What's going on?" and she gave me the "I'll tell you later." look. Apparently she just found out that her ex-boyfriend in Korea just died in a car accident. She was pretty devastated so Tami (the head of the girl's dorm) came in a chatted with her.

The rest of the weekend was full of fairly typical teenage drama, but what really broke my heart was a kid who doesn't even go to this school. Saturday morning I ran into Tami who was going to take an old student out for breakfast. He had been calling her the last few nights, crying hysterically because his parents don't love him. As she is telling me this, the kid pulls up in his Brand New BMW Bimmer that his parents gave him for getting a B average. A brand new car and all this kid wants is for his parents to love him... It broke my heart and continues to break my heart. I really do hope and pray that these kids feel loved; if not by their parents, then by their dorm parents at least.

Maybe it's a Sign

Last night I got to hang out with a bunch of old friends (Katie, Megan, Keri, Becky, Nicki and some of their husbands and babies). It was so fun to hang out with them all again and to see everyone all grown up and living their lives. It was a little awkward being the only single person there, but I have to say I am pretty happy where I am at. Everyone is in town for Kelly's memorial today which kinda makes me sad, but I know she is in a better place.

The picture is from walking shelf road the other day with my mom and Sarah. I took a few more that I really like, but I need to work on them a little in photoshop... For now, you can check them out.

A Few of My Favorite Things

While raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are some of my aunt Julie's favorite things, (haha... I tell that joke to my kids and they never get it...) I thought I would share a few of my favorite things.

• Spending 8 hours Decoupaging a coat rack for my bedroom (I'll try and get a picture of it for you).
• Spending 4 hours sewing 4 pairs of PJ shorts for my sister.
• A Sunday afternoon phone call: "Hey Michaela! What are you doing tomorrow at 5am?" "Um... Sleeping... Why? What do you need?" "Wanna drive me to the Burbank Airport?"
• Running into people at the gas station... at 4:30am. (So, I met this couple last weekend at church. They pulled up just as I was getting out of my car and asked what time church started. I said 9:30 and walked in with them. Her name was Deborah and his name was Noah. They just moved into town a couple of months ago and their friend recommended the church.) Anyway, he was on his was to work down at Disney Studios. He works construction on film sets and is currently working on the new Sandra Bullock movie, The Proposal (which I don't really understand because the movie is in post-production and I have already seen previews for the film... which I thought means the movie is finished... I dunno).
  
• The 4:30 drive to Burbank Airport...
• Random Conversations at Trader Joes: The first after this guy noticed my FH shirt (getting dressed at 4:15am = grabbing the shirt at the top of the clean pile). He started chatting about Rancho Del Rey and how his dad was good friends with the Hansens (who donated a bunch of money to RDR back in the day... hence Hansen Hall). We chatted about FH for a bit before I had to leave. The second was at the check out at TJoes. The girl at the register commented on how much she liked my haircut (which is always funny when I haven't gotten my haircut in 3 months... has it really been that long? Oh Wowee Wow!). We chatted about straightning hair and stuff before I had to head out.

A pretty random start to the New Year... And I love every bit of it!