hi friends

So, I decided since I like my friends, and my friends actually check my blog, I'd say hello. Lindsay asked where the lovely place pictured below is. Well, Lindsay, it is in Murrieta Ca. That's where my dearly beloved is from. Sorry Nor-Cal'ers, but the majority of my friends are down here. However I am leaving for Northern California in a week from today, to spend my last single summer at home. I am excited I suppose. It will be nice to live for free, and make money at the same time. I am going to miss my friends down here though.

For those who don't know, I got a job teaching 5th grade in the Fall. My wedding is in November. So, needless to say life is changing rapidly. 2 of my best friends are moving to far away places...Melissa to Chicago, Leslie to Kentucky...Niki, one of my other best friends is going to Africa for 4 months...and I am sad to say goodbye. Its all just another sign that we are changing and growing up.

we found a pretty place to get married. I will give you a little sneak peek at what is to come :)

Get this and other HP countdowns at LeakyNews.com

engaged

I'm engaged!! That's right folks, I'm gettin married! Kendall proposed Thursday night at the One Act Festival at CBU. I think it was pretty romantic, and pretty perfect for us. One of the directors had asked a group of us to "help introduce" their show. We had to all stand on stage acting like we were auditioning for a show, while they walked around, kicking us off stage one by one. What I did not know, was that he had arranged the whole thing. Before we were on stage Kendall showed a little slide show, explaining that he was about to propose...I obviously didn't see it then, but it was really cute. Anyways, then they started kicking people off, and then, when it was just down to me and this other guy, I was like, "what the heck?" Then, to my bewilderment, they left me on stage by myself...I was so confused, and really hoping someone would come and get me off the stage so I didn't have to just stand there awkwardly. Then, the audience started cheering like crazy and Kendall came out. He proposed on stage in front of like 200 people and it was amazing, and now I'm going to be married! I'm on cloud nine!!

If you want to watch a video of the proposal, it's on Kim's site. click on this: http://kimmysun.wordpress.com/

When God created man, it is my understanding that He did not allow Adam and Eve to sin so that they could learn from their mistakes; rather, God created man so that man could live in perfect, sinless existence with God. In this perfect co-existence, God, in His infinite (literally) Wisdom, did not require mistakes for man to learn...

A few months ago, a friend raised a pointed question. She asked if I regretted anything I have done, and whether I would change the past if I could. Then, today I came across a similar question in this book I have called "201 Great Questions." I thought about it a little bit and I thought I would share those thoughts with you. So many times you hear people say "NO!" to this question. They will rationalize that even though they made stupid mistakes, they learned such a valuable lesson, they became a better person. But let's take another look at this from a Biblical perspective. Does God like sin? NO. Does God give us freewill to choose our behavior? YES. Would God prefer us to get it right the first time? YES! Does God give us instructions, guidance and wisdom on how to make good decisions? YES, it's called the Bible! Now, that doesn't mean we always will get it right the first time, and yes, God has allowed, in His mercy, for us to be "refined", for us to change and become more and more like Him when we learn from our mistakes...But doesn't the Bible say how to become more like Him without all the mistakes?

SO my answer is yes, I have a ton of things I regret, and yes, if I could have the wisdom to do things differently, I would go back in time in a second and do a whole lot differently. For sanity's sake, I can't let myself dwell on that thought, however, because I can't go back...I must live with my mistakes. Did I learn from them, you bet I did! But, could I have learned the same things about God (and myself) without the mistakes, DEFINITELY! That's what I think about that question.

Concerts and Fish

Yesterday was Lindsey's birthday. and to pass her time, she took more pictures of herself on my computer. Because they are brilliant, I am including some.

Yesterday was also a Shane and Shane concert at CBU. I love Shane and Shane, as I know many others do. Last night was refreshing and wonderful. Its one thing to worship God with people you love, but even more amazing to do it next to the man you love. (we also had fun taking crazy pictures!)

Anyways, Shane Barnard and Shane Everret also support an organization called World Vision (www.worldvision.org). Please, check it out if you haven't before. Last night after the concert, Kendall and I got a child together. That's right, I officially have a black little baby like I have always wanted. Except, she's not actually a baby, she's 10 yrs. old. Her name is As Me, and she lives in Zimbabwe. It's also refreshing to be a part of something so much more important than the normal day to day "stuff", you know what I mean?
I was teaching fourth graders yesterday. During Bible class time, I read a story regarding fishermen and Jesus. Towards the end of the story, I read about the time Jesus told Simon (Peter) to go catch a fish, cut it open, and he would find money inside with which to pay a tax, After I read it, I thought, "hmm, that's strange." I couldn't, for the life of me, remember reading such a verse. So I looked it up, and lo and behold, it's in there. So I say, read Matthew 17:24-27. Now whenever I hear people say money doesn't grow on trees, I'll respond with, "yeah, but it comes out of fishes' mouths!!!"

Let the Good Times Roll

So, it has been a week since I have officially been a resident in my new apt. The other day, my roommate Lindsey and I passed the time by playing with my new laptop computer. I have this fancy little contraption called "Photo Booth" which allows me to take the most ridiculous pictures. I thought I would share some with you!

WOW! So apparently I'm a lame-o and I never post on my blogs. How did I discover this? Well, I have currently switched locations and now reside with two of my very best friends in the world. Yes, these are the two best friends who studied in India the last semester of my college career! I love them. The point, however, is that they are blog ho's. In fact, I am almost sure they blog every day. Thus, I have decided to try and keep this up, as boring as my life can be sometimes. Ooh, distracted by my roommate...I'll be back!

End of show!

So the show ended this weekend. I had SO much fun, though I can't say I am not a bit happy to have a break now. After the show on Saturday night, we had a little fun before packing everything up...for instance, i put my prego suit on one last time... we took some pics just for fun!


























I am auditioning for another show today. Seussical. Should be fun if i get in i think. I guess I just like being crazy busy!
p.s. I am on the fifth HP book now. It just keeps getting better!
p.p.s. I have a lot of homework to do for the Credentialing program
p.p.p.s. I am very distracted
p.p.p.p.s. I hate that you just keep adding p's and never s's. It's silly!!
p.p.p.p.p.s. I love Thanksgiving and it is coming very soon!

So, this was opening weekend for the play The Diary of Anne Frank. It actually went very well. I was a little nervous, I'm not gonna lie. I think it's worth seeing. Here is a picture of us girls in our slips. Really, they are the only ones that you ever see in slips because they all change on stage. Mine is really a pregnant suit. That's right, I'm pregnant! (in the play, that is!!) Don't mind the bright pink belly and the nice boob pads...its all part of the effect. Don't worry, you don't see either when I actually have my costume on top! If you wanna come, tickets are on sale for $5 in CAB and we show Fri/Sat at 8pm and Sat at 2pm also! Hope to see you there!!!

So I have a new obsession, called Harry Potter. I am only in the third book currently, but have been completely sucked in. I'm a nerd. I have taken some quizzes lately and have determined that I would be in Hufflepuff, I would play Keeper in quiddich, if i were a teacher, I would be Flittwick, and I am most like Ginny...and that's not just because my boyfriend has a book crush on her either... look, I took two, and they both said Ginny. Wow, I have reached a new level of Nerd.
But on a lighter note, I have spent some quality time with my friends lately. I haven't seen Kim, or Melissa in like 2 years, but I'm working on it. I miss these people. Well, I have some homework for grad school to do...Disneyland tonight...i love having an annual pass!

celebrate independance

Happy 230th birthday USA! Yesterday was Independance day...one of my favorite holidays. and i must admit, yesterday was probably my favorite of all 4th of July celebrations I have had. It was a very relaxing day. I basically sucked it up at phase 10, but it was fun, nonetheless. I spent the day with some great people in a beautiful place. This is where we watched the fireworks. Needless to say, we had a fantastic view. That's Big Bear Lake for all of you non-so cal kids. Plus I got to be with some of my besties. This is me with my girls Sarah and Lindsey. I missed their beautiful faces, both of which have been to the Istanbul. It was really nice to share stories and talk about familiar loved places with them. *BESIKTAS!!*

Possibly one of the most eventful parts of the evening, other than getting my butt kicked in phase 10, was when Sarah decided to stand on the cooler and be the Statue of Liberty while the rest of us (about 30) decided to sing a patriotic medley at the top of our voices. It was quite humerous, I'm not gonna lie. All in all, a very good day. Only thing that would have made it perfect...DONDURMA....actually, there were a couple of other things too i suppose, but good day still. This is me procrastinating on filling out applications. I hate applications. I hate answering stupid questions. I hate being bored. I get to go try on my bridesmaid dress for janelle's wedding now. She gets married this saturday...out of control. and thus begins the weekends of weddings...for some reason, going to weddings always makes me not want to get married...aren't they supposed to do the opposite?!? Ok, well, back to procrastinating in some other way. Peace out.

So, since I have made so many friends from different parts of the world, I thought I would write a little blog about my daily life...kinda. Actually, I thought I would just put up a few pics about my surroundings. The first is my school. The second, my favorite part of campus and the third picture is Petunia, my car. This is me missing Northern California...kinda wishing I was going home sooner. Kinda wish I were back in Istanbul. Kinda don't know what I want.

So an entire semester has rolled by without a post, so i thought i would add one quickly. My roommates come home next week and I am gonna pee myself i am so excited!! I have a boyfriend...so thats wierd and wonderful. here are 2 pics of us at the Grand Canyon! He's so cute, isn't he?? Well, I'm procrastinating, so i am gonna go back to work!

Josephus

So I bet all of you are asking yourself, who could this Josephus character be?! Well, he is our apartments mouse. No, no, no, we did not buy or even want this mouse, he came to us. Yes, we have a sick mouse in our apartment, hiding somewhere behind or under the refrigerator and the stove. Katie was the first to spot him scurry across the floor yesterday morning. Then, Miss Clay was the lucky one who got to hear him clammer around in our stuff.

For those of you who don't know, I have a harsh way of dealing with these little pests. So last night, shannon and I decided to poison some peanutbutter and put it out for Josephus. We added some amoxicillan and stuff that said "Do not eat" to the peanutbutter and mixed it up. there was some missing this morning, so we might have killed him. If thats the case, our kitchen is going to start smelling really bad. So anyways, that was adventure number one with the new roommates...well, just shannon really. Katie isnt new...

Speaking of roommates, I miss mine. It is a strange thing to go from living with my bestest friends in the world to...well, not. I like adjustment though, makes you stronger. Thats about all I have to say for now. I am going to go see if i can't find Josephus. But first, here are some pictures. This was taken before linds left at our favorite place: Jamba Juice!!!

The new apartment layout. I am on the bottom bed. I kinda like the new arrangement, at least for this living situation!

roommates and India

I thought I would dedicate this blog to my roommates who are moving out at the end of the semester. It is just starting to hit me that I only have one more week with these two beautiful ladies. They are leaving to spend a semester in India. So let me begin with Kimmy. Kimmy is my little Jewish Asian roommate. She was adopted by a jewish family from Korea when she was just a little asian pea, so she is really the whitest asian i know. She is this little ball of energy! Sometimes she thinks cussing is the funniest thing in the whole world and you never know what to expect to come out of her mouth! I think she's narcaleptic because I have never known anyone who could fall asleep in any position at any time of the day. She is leaving in 2 weeks to go see her boyfriend before she goes to India. I am going to miss her lovin!

Then there's Lindsey. Linds is one of those girls that you just know she's got something to tell you as soon as you walk in the door. She has these huge blue eyes that just light up a room! She's a deep thinker too, and she's extremely passionate. And let me tell you, she's a TALKER! Her and I could talk for hours and hours and hours before we realize we have homework we should be doing. She's pretty ghetto-fabulous too. Her favorite movie is "Diary of a Mad Black Woman"...she could quote the entire movie to you if you asked her to.

I love these girls with all of my heart and everytime I think of them leaving, I get really sad. I'm tearing up right now actually! SO thats what i am going through these days!

great quote

“We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character. Here again we come up against what I have called the “intolerable compliment.” Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life - the work which he loves, though in a different fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child – he will take endless trouble – and would, doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and re-commenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumbnail sketch whose making was over in a minute. In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.” –C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain

Disneyland

So I just got back from Disneyland...thats right, the happiest place on earth. "What were you doing in Disneyland on a Tuesday?" you might ask. Well, let me tell you. Some of you may have heard of the Christmas Parade they show on ABC every year. It takes place usually just at Disneyworld, but this year, for Disney's 50th, its at both disneyworld and disneyland. So to get to my point, my choir, UCO was asked to sing the back-up vocals for Fantasia (American Idol) for this big Christmas ordeal. We were there from 5:30 in the morning unil 11:30 filming this song, which will air on ABC on Christmas morning. So if you get a chance, watch ABC on Christmas morning. You just might see me in a bright green choir robe singing back-up for Fantasia. We're the grand finale number!

http://abc.go.com/specials/wdwxmasparade.html

why fear?

I thought I would dedicate my first actual blog to describing why I believe fear is such a good thing. Psalm 111:10 says that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 19 says “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.” Proverbs 10:27 says “The fear of the Lord prolongs life.” So far, fear sounds pretty good to me. What do you mean by “fear” you ask? Well, fear is defined by Merriam Webster as “to have a reverential awe”. I wonder how anyone could not have a reverential awe for God. What a great big God I serve! For who can fathom the depths of the riches of knowing Him? He spoke and the world came into existence! All that we see is His doing! And yet somehow, people do not have a reverential awe…I don’t get it. But there are a lot of things in the world I don’t get. I don’t get traffic…if everyone just kept moving, we wouldn’t have traffic (I realize its much more complex than that, but it’s a nice thought, isn’t it?).

Anyways, I made a website (also for my computer class). The site is so creative, are you ready for this?? Its http://fearisgood.tripod.com Man! I’m all about technology these days! Well, that’s all there is to say for now. Its 1:30 am and I have some homework I am procrastinating on…although, since this is for class…I guess I am doing homework by posting this :)

Welcome to the land of Blogs

There is a time for everything...and because I am in a computer class, this is apparently the time to join the world of blogging. I have fought it, and have lost the battle!! So here I am. Let the good times roll...