Why yes, we went out in public tonight both wearing long sleeve maroon t-shirts, baggy oversized gray sweatpants, and socks & chacos! We so cool!
Roommate. Friend. Blessed.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
It's in God's Hands Now: Cho-Yeh Summer 2013
Well, I've submitted my application for working at Cho-Yeh next summer, and it's in God's hands! Answering the questions provided an excellent time to reflect on what God did in my life this summer at the place I love the most. Between building new friendships, getting out of my comfort zone, and growing spiritually closer to Him, it was an incredible summer! Next summer is in His hands now!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Realizations of Today
I realized several things today, all of which are exciting!
-Because I had three tests within 24 hours of each other, I have no more tests for over three weeks!
-For the first time since I moved in for the semester, I have a working AC unit in my dorm!
-I get to go see Kasey in less than 3 weeks!
-Emily will be visiting me in less than 4 weeks!
-I know all 5 verses to "Rise and Shine"... I didn't even realize there were that many verses!
-I had a peanut butter sandwich (well, cracker sandwich) for the first time since coming home from camp! That's a huge deal!
-It's 11:18 and I'm done with everything for tomorrow and am going to bed before midnight on a school night! (Yes, that is in fact possible!)
-Because I had three tests within 24 hours of each other, I have no more tests for over three weeks!
-For the first time since I moved in for the semester, I have a working AC unit in my dorm!
-I get to go see Kasey in less than 3 weeks!
-Emily will be visiting me in less than 4 weeks!
-I know all 5 verses to "Rise and Shine"... I didn't even realize there were that many verses!
-I had a peanut butter sandwich (well, cracker sandwich) for the first time since coming home from camp! That's a huge deal!
-It's 11:18 and I'm done with everything for tomorrow and am going to bed before midnight on a school night! (Yes, that is in fact possible!)
Monday, October 22, 2012
Cystic Fibrosis
I feel like I grew up with more of a realization of sicknesses that could be potentially fatal, and that definitely began when I was really young and best friends with Warren.
Now, another one of my friends has a disease that could take a turn for a worse at any moment, unfortunately, today it has.
Sarah is a friend of mine from camp, who has CF. She never lets it stop her. She attends a college out of state in Oklahoma. She spent the summer working at camp. She has received an internship with Disney's Wide World of Sports for the spring. She is such a fighter.
Unfortunately today she woke up not feeling very well. She went to the doctor to find out that the percent of her lungs that are working have dropped nearly 30%. I am really close with her younger sister Emily who told me today about what is going on. Sarah has been restricted from doing anything for the next week in the hopes that her lungs will begin to work better again.
I ask you now to join me in praying for Sarah, and all of those that have CF. Sarah is a fighter, and such a firm believer in Our Father, and I know that she will appreciate all of the prayers.
Now, another one of my friends has a disease that could take a turn for a worse at any moment, unfortunately, today it has.
Sarah is a friend of mine from camp, who has CF. She never lets it stop her. She attends a college out of state in Oklahoma. She spent the summer working at camp. She has received an internship with Disney's Wide World of Sports for the spring. She is such a fighter.
Unfortunately today she woke up not feeling very well. She went to the doctor to find out that the percent of her lungs that are working have dropped nearly 30%. I am really close with her younger sister Emily who told me today about what is going on. Sarah has been restricted from doing anything for the next week in the hopes that her lungs will begin to work better again.
I ask you now to join me in praying for Sarah, and all of those that have CF. Sarah is a fighter, and such a firm believer in Our Father, and I know that she will appreciate all of the prayers.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Safety
I think the feeling of safety is something that we all take for granted. That is, until it is taken away from you.
Today was supposed to be a fairly simple Friday. Sleep in, take a calculus test, and then drive back to Cypress and be home by 2.
Well, that's not exactly how today went.
I finally finished studying for calculus around 2:30 this morning, but was up at the crack of dawn. I didn't sleep well, and when my phone started buzzing I knew it either had to be about Great Grandma or Kole's drivers license. Both good updates! Grandma was doing well and Kole got his license!
I took a shower and decided to review a bit more calculus before my test at 11:30. We were able to start our test a couple minutes early and I was feeling confident and on a roll when an announcement came over the PA system at 11:40 with this message: "Code Maroon. Bomb threat for campus in general. Evacuate immediately. Do not use vehicles". We all dropped our pencils, grabbed our stuff, and proceeded to ignore the TA who was trying to tell us to finish our test. I got outside the building, and immediately called one of my friends who lives off campus asking if I could bail over to her house. So I hopped on my bike and rode a good 2 miles almost to Jen's house. My roommate ended up coming over aswell, and another girl on the polo team and her brother. By noon we were all at her house, and lounged out watching Lifetime shows for hours on end.
Updates continued to roll in about every half hour, but nothing of importance except constant reminders to stay away from campus. It was at this point, when I was stuck without any of my belongings, with a dying cell phone, and no vehicle when it hit me. For a while today, there was a threat to my University, my home for the academic year. For a while, we weren't safe.
Safety is something we all take for granted, and something we don't really think about. When we heard about all the other bomb threats over the past month to college campuses, we knew that it could happen to us. Each semester I've been at A&M, there has been atleast one serious Code Maroon (emergency text from A&M to its entire student body) sent out -- this is the second one this semester. The bomb threat wasn't necessarily shocking exactly, but when I finally got far enough away from campus, I realized how much my adrenaline was pumping and how subconciously scared I was.
Around 4:00 we were notified that some buildings on campus had been cleared and reopened. I was able to bike back to campus and grab my stuff, jump in the car, and head towards home. Campus still wasn't a place I wanted to be, and I was only there for probably under 5 minutes. By 6:30 I was home in Houston, nearly 5 hours after when I was planning on being home.
Today was pretty far from what I was planning on it being when I woke up. I was definitely reminded of how blessed I am to feel safe where I am nearly all the time, and how blessed we were that this was just a threat.
Safety is not something to be taken lightly, because at any second one person can take that away from you!
Today was supposed to be a fairly simple Friday. Sleep in, take a calculus test, and then drive back to Cypress and be home by 2.
Well, that's not exactly how today went.
I finally finished studying for calculus around 2:30 this morning, but was up at the crack of dawn. I didn't sleep well, and when my phone started buzzing I knew it either had to be about Great Grandma or Kole's drivers license. Both good updates! Grandma was doing well and Kole got his license!
I took a shower and decided to review a bit more calculus before my test at 11:30. We were able to start our test a couple minutes early and I was feeling confident and on a roll when an announcement came over the PA system at 11:40 with this message: "Code Maroon. Bomb threat for campus in general. Evacuate immediately. Do not use vehicles". We all dropped our pencils, grabbed our stuff, and proceeded to ignore the TA who was trying to tell us to finish our test. I got outside the building, and immediately called one of my friends who lives off campus asking if I could bail over to her house. So I hopped on my bike and rode a good 2 miles almost to Jen's house. My roommate ended up coming over aswell, and another girl on the polo team and her brother. By noon we were all at her house, and lounged out watching Lifetime shows for hours on end.
Updates continued to roll in about every half hour, but nothing of importance except constant reminders to stay away from campus. It was at this point, when I was stuck without any of my belongings, with a dying cell phone, and no vehicle when it hit me. For a while today, there was a threat to my University, my home for the academic year. For a while, we weren't safe.
Safety is something we all take for granted, and something we don't really think about. When we heard about all the other bomb threats over the past month to college campuses, we knew that it could happen to us. Each semester I've been at A&M, there has been atleast one serious Code Maroon (emergency text from A&M to its entire student body) sent out -- this is the second one this semester. The bomb threat wasn't necessarily shocking exactly, but when I finally got far enough away from campus, I realized how much my adrenaline was pumping and how subconciously scared I was.
Around 4:00 we were notified that some buildings on campus had been cleared and reopened. I was able to bike back to campus and grab my stuff, jump in the car, and head towards home. Campus still wasn't a place I wanted to be, and I was only there for probably under 5 minutes. By 6:30 I was home in Houston, nearly 5 hours after when I was planning on being home.
Today was pretty far from what I was planning on it being when I woke up. I was definitely reminded of how blessed I am to feel safe where I am nearly all the time, and how blessed we were that this was just a threat.
Safety is not something to be taken lightly, because at any second one person can take that away from you!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thankful for a Busy Night
When things go wrong, my automatic emotional defense mechanism is to make myself super busy.
Kole having some bumps along the road was only a start to the whirlwind that was today.
The worst part was finding out my great grandmother has fallen and broken her hip. Luckily, I think it was a blessing that I was able to sit with my mom when we were finding this out since she and Kole were in College Station trying to get his license. Mom and I instantly had the same response... is great grandma strong enough for surgery?
I instinctively flashed back to when Gramma Max was in the hospital. We didn't think it was anything major at the time. I was still living at home, and my parents tried to protect Kole and I by not telling us all the information. I am still freaking out wondering what is really going on, and so scared that if something does happen that I won't find out until it is too late. My stomach is still flipping in nervousness, and I know that I won't find out if the surgery went okay until my parents wake up in the morning, assuming that they tell me exactly what is going on.
I'm so thankful that I have been busy tonight. I texted Jen and Katie before practice telling them what's going on, and them, along with the rest of the team that was at practice did an excellent job of distracting me from thinking about Great Grandma, and provided some much needed laughs.
When I first found out about Great Grandma I texted 3 of my best friends from camp asking for prayers. Laura called me after practice to make sure that my emotions were in check, because she knows I tend to freak out and work myself up very easily where my family is concerned. After talking to Laura and allowing her to talk about her kids at work and all of the crazy things they do, I went back to my dorm and have begun to immerse myself in studying for calculus. This will keep me occupied until midnight easily, at which point I am hoping to have atleast semi-mastered the concepts I need to know before my test tomorrow, and then will hopefully be able to go to sleep. I only have my calculus test in the morning, and then will be able to drive home for the weekend.
Ultimately, I'm so thankful for a busy night and for my friends keeping me in check and stopping my mind from wandering to worst possible cases.
Kole having some bumps along the road was only a start to the whirlwind that was today.
The worst part was finding out my great grandmother has fallen and broken her hip. Luckily, I think it was a blessing that I was able to sit with my mom when we were finding this out since she and Kole were in College Station trying to get his license. Mom and I instantly had the same response... is great grandma strong enough for surgery?
I instinctively flashed back to when Gramma Max was in the hospital. We didn't think it was anything major at the time. I was still living at home, and my parents tried to protect Kole and I by not telling us all the information. I am still freaking out wondering what is really going on, and so scared that if something does happen that I won't find out until it is too late. My stomach is still flipping in nervousness, and I know that I won't find out if the surgery went okay until my parents wake up in the morning, assuming that they tell me exactly what is going on.
I'm so thankful that I have been busy tonight. I texted Jen and Katie before practice telling them what's going on, and them, along with the rest of the team that was at practice did an excellent job of distracting me from thinking about Great Grandma, and provided some much needed laughs.
When I first found out about Great Grandma I texted 3 of my best friends from camp asking for prayers. Laura called me after practice to make sure that my emotions were in check, because she knows I tend to freak out and work myself up very easily where my family is concerned. After talking to Laura and allowing her to talk about her kids at work and all of the crazy things they do, I went back to my dorm and have begun to immerse myself in studying for calculus. This will keep me occupied until midnight easily, at which point I am hoping to have atleast semi-mastered the concepts I need to know before my test tomorrow, and then will hopefully be able to go to sleep. I only have my calculus test in the morning, and then will be able to drive home for the weekend.
Ultimately, I'm so thankful for a busy night and for my friends keeping me in check and stopping my mind from wandering to worst possible cases.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Through Chicken Fingers, Mac and Cheese, and a Brownie, the Lord Teaches Me
Last night it was around 8, I was frustrated with my project group, and I was starving. The pizza, pasta, and sub lines were closed and I didn't feel like walking somewhere else to get food. And I definitely wasn't going to eat a salad from the commons, so I went into the convenience store and bought a frozen dinner to heat up.
I got back home and Rachel texted me "I'm sick of group projects. Treating myself to Grub Burger, join me?" She didn't have to ask twice. I through my frozen meal in the fridge and headed out to enjoy burger and fries with my roommate.
After class today, and more frustrations with my project group (but luckily that's over with), I remembered I had that frozen meal in my fridge. So I headed back to home, and proceeded to heat it up. The directions seemed way too complicated for a frozen dinner that was now already half thawed out since it was in my fridge as opposed to a freezer. The directions said to only remove half the film covering from the chicken fingers and brownie, but leave on the macaroni. You were to take out every 30 seconds to stir, and progressively finish removing the film paper over 2 minutes of cooking. Then you were to take out and let sit for 2 minutes, then re-microwave for 45 seconds.
For a frozen dinner? You've got to be kidding me. I ripped off all the film paper, through it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes, and called it good.
My chicken fingers had the consistency of rubber, and tasted very similar to what I would assume rubber tasted like.
My macaroni and cheese had interestingly separated from itself, to have liquidy noodles and cheese in solid form.
My brownie looked more like hot chocolate than a brownie.
This is what happens when I decide not to follow the rules, and to think that I know better than the original maker of the frozen dinner. It turns out looking, and tasting, rather undelightful and disgusting.
The same thing happens in life. Too often I think that I know the best way to do something. That I know better than the original maker of this Universe -- our Father. When that happens my life gets off course, messed up a bit, out of order, and in chaos. Luckily (unlike the maker of my frozen dinner), when I get off track in life, I turn to the Maker and He pulls me back in, refreshes me, and sets me back out in the world, given another chance at life.
We mess up daily, but God is always there to pull us back, wipe us off, and remind us that we are His.
I got back home and Rachel texted me "I'm sick of group projects. Treating myself to Grub Burger, join me?" She didn't have to ask twice. I through my frozen meal in the fridge and headed out to enjoy burger and fries with my roommate.
After class today, and more frustrations with my project group (but luckily that's over with), I remembered I had that frozen meal in my fridge. So I headed back to home, and proceeded to heat it up. The directions seemed way too complicated for a frozen dinner that was now already half thawed out since it was in my fridge as opposed to a freezer. The directions said to only remove half the film covering from the chicken fingers and brownie, but leave on the macaroni. You were to take out every 30 seconds to stir, and progressively finish removing the film paper over 2 minutes of cooking. Then you were to take out and let sit for 2 minutes, then re-microwave for 45 seconds.
For a frozen dinner? You've got to be kidding me. I ripped off all the film paper, through it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes, and called it good.
My chicken fingers had the consistency of rubber, and tasted very similar to what I would assume rubber tasted like.
My macaroni and cheese had interestingly separated from itself, to have liquidy noodles and cheese in solid form.
My brownie looked more like hot chocolate than a brownie.
This is what happens when I decide not to follow the rules, and to think that I know better than the original maker of the frozen dinner. It turns out looking, and tasting, rather undelightful and disgusting.
The same thing happens in life. Too often I think that I know the best way to do something. That I know better than the original maker of this Universe -- our Father. When that happens my life gets off course, messed up a bit, out of order, and in chaos. Luckily (unlike the maker of my frozen dinner), when I get off track in life, I turn to the Maker and He pulls me back in, refreshes me, and sets me back out in the world, given another chance at life.
We mess up daily, but God is always there to pull us back, wipe us off, and remind us that we are His.
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