ETBU :)

This weekend was AWESOME! On Friday as soon as I got out of polisci I hit the road and headed to Marshall, Texas! It took just under 4 hours to get there, but the drive wasn't too bad. I had downloaded a bunch of podcasts and so the drive went pretty fast and soon enough I was pulling in at East Texas Baptist University!

2 of my friends from camp this summer, Tiffany and Kasey, live together and so I stayed with them. On Friday we grabbed dinner at "The Caf" (aka...cafeteria?) and then went to an ETBU volleyball game. Tiffany took me on a tour of campus, and let me tell you, it was BEAUTIFUL. We then went to Walmart to grab stuff to make lunch on Saturday and rented a movie. We enjoyed a lazy night of hanging out and having a "sleepover" in their living room while watching Disney's Prom. On Saturday we got to sleep in (WHOOP!) and then went to the Fire Ant Festival. It was a beautiful day outside and we loved just walking around and looking at the booths, enjoying each other's company. We then went to the "Blue Hole" which was a beautiful lake that was hidden in some trees and spent a few minutes in awe of God's wonderful beauty and sharing what God's been doing in our lives. We made popcorn chicken, honey barbeque wings and green beans for lunch. All were delicious. Yes, I tried the green beans. No, I didn't die. :P We then watched Blind Side together and started Titanic, but ended up all taking naps. We woke up and went to another ETBU volleyball game, then went out to dinner. We ran by Walmart and rented another movie, and spent the rest of the night laughing and being our silly goofy selves. This morning we got up, went to church, went out for lunch, and then I headed back to cstat. (the drive back is another story... gotta love getting sick while driving 4 hours!)

This weekend was great and I LOVED ETBU. Not only was it a beautiful campus, the people were uber friendly, it was small to where I knew my way around (I still don't know my way around A&M), and it felt comfortable. I definitely see another visit there happening next semester!

ROAD TRIP!!!

Going on my 1st road trip as a college student! WHOOP! I mean, I've gone to Livingston and to Cypress... but those are more like "going home" than going on a road trip..

After polisci today I'll be heading to ETBU in Marshall, Texas to spend the weekend with some camp friends! 2 of them have a house together and so we are all just having a huge sleepover in their livingroom. That's what's up! I made a bunch of mix CD's and downloaded podcasts this morning, so I'm all ready for this little road trip! Be expecting a very happy college kid come Sunday evening when I'm blogging :)

Hope everybody else has a fantastic weekend as well!

You Know You are Tired When...

I really should start writing a book.

Note: this all happened within the past hour
Disclosure: "Tired" could be easily exchanged for "blonde", "delirious", "Kylie" etc...

You Know You are Tired When...

...it's 11:00 at night and you realized you haven't had dinner so end up eating apples and caramel.
...you go to make hot chocolate, and after 2 minutes of heating the "water", you realize that you had poured the powder in the cup instead of the water and now just have fried cocoa powder.
...you mistake the bottles in the shower, and end up washing your face with shaving cream.
...you end up putting your glasses on and realize you never took your contacts out in the first place.
...you go to empty your trash into the big trashcans in the hallway and end up throwing your entire trashcan away (and don't realize it until 3 or 4 minutes later)
...you try to use your driver's license instead of your student ID to open up the door to get into the dorms

It's been a long day. Obviously. Time for bed :)

SURPRISE!

Such a fun weekend!

At about 1:30 last Friday I decided to surprise my family by coming home for the weekend. I knew Kole would be in a baseball tournament, and I honestly miss getting to see him play. So, by 2:00 I packed up a bag and was in my car driving home. I picked up 3 Route 44 Sonic Limeades for Mom, Dad, and Kole, and an ice-cream yumminess for me, and headed to Aragon where I knew Dad was having football practice and Kole was hanging out. SURPRISE! The smile on Dad's face as he walked across the field, and the energy that had encompassed Kole as he raced down the bleachers was priceless. Then, off to Fiest to surprise Mom. I walked into the building and ran into Tina, but gave her the "shhh!" look, as I sneaked into Mom's office and handed her her drink. She looked so happy, and it made me grin ear-to-ear.

On Friday, Mom and I went shopping and then we all went out to dinner (mmmm fajitas). Dad, Kole and I then watched 2 episodes of NCIS, and I got to go to sleep early!

I spent the weekend out at the ball park. I watched Avery and Kara each play their first softball game of the season, then watched Kole play to games on Saturday. Mom, Kole, Renee and I watched Soul Surfer Saturday night, and I went to bed early again. SCORE!

On Sunday we played more baseball. It was SO much fun to be able to see Kole play again, as that is something that I truly miss being up in cstat. I was able to run by my old youth group and see my youth director Kelly, and one of the girls that I mentored this past semester. It felt so weird to be there! I got volunteered to pray over dinner because I was the "visitor"... a visitor in my own church! How weird... I got back up to c-stat around 7:30 and unloaded my car which was packed full of groceries and a few new clothes (yahoo sweat pants!!!). I wrote a few letters to some of my campers that had written me in the past couple of weeks, and am looking forward to a lazy night!

This next week shouldn't be too stressful. I'm starting to study for polisci (and by study I just mean read the chapters and take additional notes) because I have that test next week. I only have one test this week, and it's in my education class so it shouldn't be anything too hard. This weekend I'm going to visit some camp friends in Marshall, Texas and I can't wait!!!

STUDY BREAAAKKK!!!

First off I would like to say--still haven't had any coffee!!

Midnight Study Breaks in college consist of...
-Popcorn and M&M's
-Cookie Dough
-Turning up the music (thank you Pandora!)
-Thinking about doing laundry, but deciding you can go a few more days. (Yes, people do laundry at really weird hours... so what?)
-Getting excited about Honduras!
-Massive "YOU CAN DO IT!" encouragement text messages sent out to all of my friends who I know are studying too.

And... back to studying! Gotta love having 3 tests in ONE day!

"Dam! Dam! Dam!"

Every Monday morning, I go to an elementary school in Bryan (just outside of cstat) and work with two 1st graders and help them read. My first child is bilingual...

So today I was helping the little girl (she barely speaks English so there is a MAJOR language barrier, b/c even though I understand some Spanish, we have her speak English, THANK GOODNESS!), and we were labeling pictures on a worksheet. (So dumb... such boring busy work... too bad I'm not allowed to be creative and make it fun!) For example, there would be a picture of a box, and underneath it would be ____ox, so they would have to write the "b".

Well, we get to a picture of a dam. It takes her a little while, but she figures it out. She writes the "d" and I went to praise her for knowing the difference between "b" and "d" when she stands up on her chair, jumps off and runs around the classroom squawking "DAM! DAM! DAM! DAM!"...

What the heck?! Who on Earth would put a picture of a dam on a worksheet that is geared towards young children? Geesh Louise!

Heading Chome

After the week I've had, I'm heading CHOME for the weekend!

I've been majorly stressed out about tests and school stuff, and trying to fit in polo and studying and still be able to have fun and see my friends. Literally, I've been losing hair this week, and the last time that happened was the month after my Gramma passed away.

There was a rainbow today though! I had just rode my bike through a rain storm right before I found out that I didn't do well at all on my political science test this week. (Rain always reminds me of a saying that my Gramma used to say when it was just her and I watching the rain/snow -- "I love it when it rains because it reminds me that those in Heaven are watching over me".) Ever since she passed away rain has meant a lot to me. It rained on my 18th birthday, and the day that I graduated. It rained on her birthday, and the 6 month anniversary of the day she made it into Heaven. I cannot see it rain without smiling anymore, and I love it. Well, I had just rode my bike through the rain, grinning the entire time. I found out my exam grade and took it pretty hard. I decided to get off of campus and so I went to Target for some therapeutic shopping (yay for gift cards!), and on my way I saw a BEAUTIFUL rainbow. It was the reminder I needed of the rain and the metaphor that is for me. It was also a "hey, things do turn out well. there's beauty behind the storm" thing for me.

Well... I've been needing to get out of C-stat and so when the opportunity to go work a retreat at Cho-Yeh came about, I immediately said yes. So, I'm going CHOME (Cho-Home) this weekend! I will be able to see two of the ladies that were instrumental in my summer and also get to hang out with some other counselors. I can't step foot onto camp property and not be grinning ear-to-ear, and so therefore I know that being back for the weekend is going to do wonders for me!