Snow Day

How did I welcome in the New Year, you ask? Hanging out with my good buddies Grace, Beau, and Milo... Yes, they are animals. I was house-sitting and under the weather so I went to bed early. The New year is going well though and I am very excited about the things that are on the agenda for this year.

First: I am committed and prayerfully looking forward to another summer at Forest Home Ojai Valley. God has blessed me so much with the amazing opportunity to continue working there these last few months and I can't wait to see what He has in store for me through guest groups and summer program.

Second: I have two semesters left before getting my Bachelors. There have been many times in the last several years that I thought this would never happen, but to actually know that (if everything goes well) at the end of this year, I will be a college graduate.

Third: I need to start preparing for my CSET Math exam which I am looking to take in March. If that goes well, then I will be applying to a Credential program for next Spring.

I know it doesn't look like much, but this is kinda a big year for me. I am so thankful for getting to this point and I am very much looking forward to what God has in store for me this year...

To start, I am getting ready to head up to Mill Creek for a little Rec staff bonding time! I can't wait! Time for some snow!!!

I'm Good...

COMP 447 SOCIETAL ISSUES IN COMPUTING 3.00 Letter Grade B 9.000 ENGL 120 AMERICAN LITERATURE I 3.00 Letter Grade B+ 9.900 MATH 202 BIOSTATISTICS 3.00 Letter Grade A 12.000 MATH 208 MODERN MATH FOR ELEMENTARY TCH 3.00 Letter Grade A+ 12.000 MATH 240 LINEAR ALGEBRA 3.00 Letter Grade A 12.000 MATH 399 MODERN TOOLS IN MATH 1.00 Credit / No Credit CR MATH 399 MODERN TOOLS IN MATH 1.00 Credit / No Credit CR

As much as I complain about it... and as much as I dislike it... I'm kinda good at it...

Merry Christmas

I have always struggled with Christmas time... I can't stand the commercialization of Christmas... The hustle and bustle drives me nuts and people have always called me a Grinch or Scrooge because of it... It usually starts with the early playing of Christmas music that just pushes me over the edge. But this year, I really asked God to kinda work on my heart about the whole hatred towards Christmas thing and I really can say that I am happy that it's Christmas time. I am looking forward to spending time with my family and friends. And I have finally found some Christmas music that I not only can stand, but really like!

So in honor of Christmas time, here are some of my new favorite Christmas arrangements. Enjoy!

Erin McCarley - "Little Drummer Boy"

(Also see Katie Herzig's version of "Silent Night")

Seabird - "Joy to the World"

(Seabird's "Over the Hills and Everywhere" Christmas album is fantastic... So different from what anyone is used to, but so beautiful!)

Also look for Matthew Perryman Jones' "O Holy Night," Jill Phillips' "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," and Many Mann's "O Come All Ye Faithful" on the "Your King Has Come" album. Absolutely beautiful!

Ingrid Michaelson - "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

Record Holder

I've been pretty quiet about this, but I thought it was time to share. For the past several months I have been training with my dad to compete in Powerlifting competitions. This last Saturday was my first competition in Powerlifting and I have to say it was really fun! It was neat to see all the different guys participating in the competition. A lot of the older guys had great stories about powerlifting back in the day and it was funny to see them react to the young bucks who "know it all." For being such an individual event, the camaraderie that I experienced was truly a blast!

So... How did I do? Well, I won 1st for my class (there was no one else in my class...) and got invited to work out with Scott Mendelson and his family at his gym in Chatsworth. Who is Scott Mendelson you ask? Well he just so happens to be someone who holds the record for both raw and assisted bench press. How much has we benched? Well, raw (without a bench shirt), he holds the record of 715lbs and with the bench shirt, he holds the record of benching 1009 lbs! Needless to say, he is a strong dude and he invited my dad to come lift with him (his wife invited me... that's why I say I was invited... He didn't technically invite me, but his wife did which I still consider an invite). Along with 1st place in my class and an invite to work out with the Mendelson family, I established an American Record for raw bench (there was no record so anything I benched would have set it...). More importantly, I set a personal best of 133lbs (I have been stuck at 125lbs for a while so I was super pumped to break through that). The best part of the whole day, I have to say is spending time with my dad and seeing him light up as he chatted with the other athletes. I am super excited for the next meet, but I have a lot of work to do before then... For now, I guess I can add American Record holder to my list of accomplishments...

Speaking Of...

Speaking of blogs, here is a funny one on this week's episode of The Fashion Show Ultimate Collection on Bravo featuring Ojai native Dominique Pearl David. It's fun watching someone you know on a national television show. It's also really funny to see how networks spin things to make shows more interesting. The show is basically a really bad version of Project Runway, but it's fun seeing someone you know and rooting for them even though it's already been filmed. If you haven't turned into this show, you should. Even though it's a bad knock-off version of Project Runway, it's pretty entertaining to see what Calvin is going to say next... "Oh here go hell come!"

Avalanche of Gossip?

Yesterday I submitted a 6 page research paper on blogs and I thought it only appropriate to write a blog entry on it. The prompt was similar to any research project; tell the history of blogs, where did they come from? Compare blogs to Usenet... The overall direction of the paper was to determine whether blogs illustrate empowerment and increased availability of information, or do they illustrate the avalanche of gossip and inaccurate or useless information on the Net? Considering that I have had this blog for the last 4 years, I thought that this was the best topic to choose for my research paper.

Blogs first came onto the scene in the mid 1990s with OpenDiary and later followed by LiveJournal and our beloved Blogger (later bought by Google in 2003). Usenet, for those of you who don't know is an online discussion program where users can submit articles and respond/post new articles in response to those articles. Basically it's a very early form of blogging that gives way less control to the users but allows for some great discussions on a global scale. Blogs are useful in all areas of life, from classrooms to large companies to a mini journal of the life of a 23 year old, 7 year plan college student. There are thousands of inaccurate blogs out there and yes, many quickly become "an avalanche of gossip" but I truly believe that as long as people have something to say, blogs with exist and thrive (well, until something better comes out...).

I Might Be Smart...

This semester has been a tough one for sure. Not necessarily in the content of the classes I have, but more in my daily schedule. Being at school Monday-Thursday from 9am-6pm is a big commitment and I don't think I realized that until it was too late.

But anyway, I only have 3 more weeks of this semester and then finals (two and a half really because the week of Thanksgiving is only a half week). I just got back my last two midterms of the semester (in math classes, the professors usually do two midterms and the final... so they really should be called tri-terms but midterms is usually what we call them...) and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Like I said, the semester has been kinda hard and I have started to fall back into old bad habits of ditching class (especially my two classes that are from 4:30-5:45pm), but to be fair, my Biostats class only involves me sitting on facebook not paying attention (just like the rest of the class) and my Modern Math 4 Elementary Children is absolutely ridiculous! So I ditch a class here and there and before I realize it, I haven't been to class in two weeks and I have a midterm the next week (which is what happened in my Biostats class). I studied like crazy all week long to prepare for the test, and I ended up getting 100%. Holy crap, I might be smart! I also had a midterm in my Linear Algebra class which is my hardest class this semester and I got the highest grade in the class! I might be smart!

I get to register for next semester on the 29th and I have a schedule that I am shooting for. It'll be another 18 units this semester and then 15 the following semester, but then I should be done. It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

What Do You Say?

Yesterday in my Linear Algebra lab, my friend told me that over break she was getting her boobs done. Really? Who tells people in a Linear Algebra math lab stuff like that? I didn't really know how to respond to that information. I said "awesome" or something along those lines. I really didn't know what to say. It's not like she needs her boobs done either. She has to be at least a 'C' cup already... Why do people like getting their boobs done? It's not like she's gonna be any more comfortable running those marathons that she does... I just don't really get it, but if it makes her and her fiance happy, who am I to stop her?

Poems

Sometimes my grandma finds things from her past and shares them with us. The other day she found three poems that she wrote when she was younger that I thought I would share...

Dreams and Realtiy
by Linda Andrews

When I was a little girl, my hopes were all a dream.
Someday I'd be a mother, someday I'd be a queen.

I'd own a lovely castle, with children all around.
I'd have a loving husband, to share my royal crown.

Now I am not a little girl, but somehow I have found,
My dreams are a reality, my castle and my crown.

I have four lovely children, to give me love and joy.
To share with me their treasures, their dreams, and their rewards.

My husband is the fortress, in all that's said and done.
His strength and hope surrounds us, we're guarded with his love.

What more could I have hoped for, what more could I have dreamed,
I have the love, I have the joy, so few have ever seen.

Poems by Linda Andrews

I called to God in my distress,
I prayed for joy and happiness,
He told me just to love and pray
and ask no more than for this day.
He said He'd guide my every step
and give me joy of inner depth,
A peace and joy for each new day,
to guide in all I do and say.

I took Him at His word and prayed,
for guidance all along the way,
I asked no more than for today,
and prayed for Him to guard my ways.
He filled my life with hope and love,
with His great guidance from above
Now I have peace for each new day,
and happiness along the way.

Animal Activist... Check!

Yesterday I saved a red-tailed hawk... No big...

So here's the story. I was at work just finishing up running breakfast when one of the guests pointed out a beautiful hawk that was hanging out on a rock close to the kitchen. Ed and I watched it for a bit while trying to take some pictures. Ed got pretty close and spooked it to where it hopped down the hill a little bit. I thought it was pretty weird how it let us get so close but then when I saw it hop away instead of fly away, I knew something was up. I sat and observed the bird for a good twenty minutes and noticed another smaller hawk (which I later found out was a red shouldered hawk) was attacking the larger hawk (the one that was acting strange... which I later found out was a red-tail... I usually can spot them but this one was on the ground and I didn't get a good look at his tail). The larger hawk wasn't flying away (or flying at all) and even used his talons and beak to climb up into a tree...

I decided it would be best to call the Ojai Raptor Center to have them come pick up the bird and see what was up with it. After a runaround of call this number, and try this number, and "I'm out of the office, call this person...", I was able to get a hold of Bob who happens to be the snake guy who comes to do snake programs at Outdoor Ed and works for the Raptor Center. He came out and tried to catch the bird with a fishing net, but it climbed higher into the tree and we eventually lost track of him. Bob left and told me to call him again if the bird showed up again. Sure enough, later that afternoon, the hawk showed up again in the same area so I called Bob. He came out again and was able to catch the bird. From his initial assessment, he could tell that the hawk was extremely underweight and his flight muscles were extremely underdeveloped (which explains why he wasn't flying). I love the Raptor Center because they are so concerned about the animals but they also love educating people on the animals. Bob told me what they were going to check for with the bird and what could be wrong and how they might need to feed it. He even let me feel the chest of the Hawk to see how underdeveloped it's flight muscles were (that's right, I touched a red-tailed hawk... have you?). Bob called me later that evening and said that the Hawk was 22% underweight which is a lot for a bird. He said when they get to be 30% underweight, they just fall over dead. He also said in another day or two this guy would probably be dead. He told me that he had to insert a feeding tube to start bulking this guy up, but he was super happy that we got him when we did.

It sounds silly, I know. I really didn't do anything but call the Raptor Center. But if it weren't for Outdoor Ed and the few times I sat through the Raptor Center class, I wouldn't have known who to call or really took the time to watch the bird. I am so thankful for the Raptor Center and the work they do. If you ever have a chance to sit in one of their classes (the Raptor one with Kim or Bob's snake class), I would highly recommend it!