A much needed rest

Since classes have ended until June 8 in IELI, I decided to use some of my comp time and take three days off work. Because of Memorial Day, I am ending up with a 6-day weekend. Yahoo! I had a couple of doctor's appointments in Plano to go to, so I decided to spend the weekend at home. My sister is back from OU for the week before she heads out to Seattle for the summer, so we got to spend some time together laying out by the pool and going to a movie. I feel like I am back in college and home for the summer. It feels so good!

Since I am at my parents house, I have internet finally. Yay! I've spent all morning playing around with blogging sites and am learning how to cutesy up my blog. It's pretty fun! I am moving out of my apartment at the end of June and into a house with some girls from my home group. I'm excited about having roommates again, and I will have a home with Internet again, so hopefully I can start blogging more. I seriously behind on my new year's resolution.

I love a good wedding

I was able to go to the wedding of my friends Jill and Wisdom this past weekend. I met Jill when we both studied abroad through the Baylor in Maastricht program our junior year in college. Not really knowing each other that well, we ended up taking a special trip to Ireland and England together that remains one of my favorite travel experiences ever, even after all these years. I actually met Wisdom on that trip too when he flew to London to do some traveling with Jill before we came home for the semester. He's a great guy, and they are perfect for one another. Since Maastricht, Jill and I have slowly become good friends, and I look forward to getting know her even more in the coming years. Jill and Wisdom have a long story full of God's grace and blessings, and it was so special to see them finally commit their lives to each other and to God. I love going to weddings like this. They remind me that God has a special plan and story for each of us, and one day, in his timing, I'll be the one walking down the aisle, sharing my own story of God's faithfulness with those who are present.

Congratulations Jill and Wisdom!

It's Monday

I was so proud of myself this weekend. I cleaned, did laundry, washed the dishes, ironed my work clothes for the week, packed my gym bag on Sunday night, and made my lunches for the week and put them in the refrigerator. The last one is key, because I always run late in the morning and either don't pack a lunch or arrive 10 minutes late because I had to make a sandwhich. I went to bed feeling a sense of accomplishment, even though there's no reason that I can't easily do those things every day. I got into work this morning and realized I had left my packed lunch in the refrigerator. :( No turkey pita, fresh cut up strawberries, and fig newtons for me today. I also left my morning yogurt snack there too. It's 9:49 a.m. and my stomach is already growling. So much for my wonderful plan. There's always tomorrow, right?

For the record

I hate cars. Except for the tiny fact that they me freedom to go places whenever I want. But besides that, I hate cars. My Betsy broke down on me twice last week and cost me A LOT of money to fix. She also caused me to have to chase after a bus when she wouldn't start. I was up at UNT on a Saturday to chaperone a fieldtrip and was going to follow the bus with my car. The buses had already pulled away when I discovered she wouldn't start, and I had to run after the bus with all my students looking at me through the windows. They figured out what the problem was though and got the driver to stop and let me on.

The people at the shop still can't really figure out what the problem is, so despite $1,000 in needed repairs, there's still no guarantee she won't quit on me again. Now I am a paranoid driver. When you commute 25 minutes every day on I-35 you want to be able to trust your car. I think the time is coming for me to make my first adult purchase and buy a new car. I've still got some saving to do though.

Poor Betsy.

Man 0, Wild 1

This past weekend, I went camping with some friends I’ve made at the Village. We went up to Turner Falls in Oklahoma and had a great time.

Here’s a little recap of the weekend:

Saturday
12:45 p.m. Sarah, Lindsay, Johnny and I meet up to load our CRV and drive to Oklahoma. I’m sad to learn that my camping cot won’t fit in the car, and I have to leave it behind. My motto in camping is, why sleep on the ground when you don’t have to, so I was disappointed to sacrifice my cot for the sake of our cooler with food. I had to take one for the team.
3 p.m. Arrive in Turner Falls and meet up with our friends in the second car. They had already picked our campsite, which was in the perfect secluded spot. We actually had to cross a creek to get to our campsite, and we all fell into the water at some point or another during the weekend. It’s hard to carry a cooler across the creek while trying to balance and hop from slippery stone to slippery stone. Note: It’s also hard to do that in the dark when you’ve got some wine in you.
4 p.m. Finished setting up our tents and decide to do some hiking. We walked over the falls and did some rock climbing and exploring in caves. The boys leave the girls behind to go be “mountain men” and do some exploring on their own, but we finally met back up and went back to the campsite.
7 p.m. Walked up a hill behind our campsite and sit on a ledge overlooking the “mountains” and watch the sun set.
8 p.m. Lindsay and I begin to set up and start our fire. It was difficult because everything was wet from the morning rain. After about an hour of frustration, we finally got it going. We made hobo packs and cooked them on the fire. Food always tastes better outdoors.
11 p.m. We all decided to go craw-dadding in the creek by our campsite. We managed to catch 8 and boiled them and tried them out.

Sunday
1 a.m. Finally begin to turn in for the night.
3 a.m. Still awake. I’m missing my cot.
5 a.m. Rustling outside the tent begins. Hissing and scratching and roaring at the tent next to us begins. All of the girls in my sit up and stare at each other wide-eyed. We decide the animal outside must be a raccoon. The raccoon is going to town on the tent that is holding our food and supplies. Stephanie pulls out her iPhone and starts tweeting so our family and friends will know what happens to us if we die. I think at some point one of us says, “At least we have boys with us to protect us.”
5:45 a.m. The raccoon finally leaves.
7:30 a.m. Tired of lying down and not being able to sleep, I’m the first one out of the tent, eager to inspect the work of the raccoon. I discover he had clawed a hole in the fabric of the tent next to us and pulled out and ate our hotdog buns and marshmallows.
8 a.m. The girls’ tent is up and cooking breakfast.
10:30 a.m. The boys emerge from their tent. We ask them if they heard the raccoon last night, and they have no idea what we’re talking about. So much for having boys around for protection.
1 p.m. Take down the campsite and head home.

Best quote of the trip:
Jesse (to Sarah, who is staying by herself at the campsite while we go hiking) – Want to take a gun with you?
Sarah – Nope, I got these. (Flexes biceps.)

Job Hunt

I applied for a job in DC yesterday. And I didn't apply because it was in DC but because it's a job that I would really like and think I would be good at. It would also be a good step up in my career. Now I'm telling myself to just live my life and try to pretend that I'm not playing the waiting game.

Hello Blog World

Obviously I've failed miserably at my New Year's Resolution to blog consistently. I've done a little better about writing in my journal, but not much. I've had some exciting things happen since I last posted. (Disclaimer: I live a pretty boring life right now. Exciting for me may not be exciting for most people.)

I went to Washington, D.C. at the begining of March. I needed to get OUT of town, and it was a much needed and enjoyed break. I got to visit my friends Min and Diana, who I had not seen since graduating from Baylor. It was so fun to see them again and catch up! To be honest, the purpose of my trip was two-fold: To go on vacation and see my friends, but also to check out DC and maybe do some networking. I've thought about moving to DC for a long time, but I haven't been there since I was a child. I figured I should see the city before I get too invested in searching for jobs there. As to whether or not there will be return trips to DC or possible move in the future ... TBD. I loved the city, but I am doing some serious prayer and God-seeking right now.

I am getting involved at The Village. I went through the membership class in February, and have been growing more and more comfortable in my home group. I'm starting to really care about and become invested in the women in my group. We started accountability groups a couple of weeks ago, and I'm so excited about the women I will be going through life with over the coming months. I also contacted the high school ministry at the church and met with some of the youth leaders. I'm going to become a home group leader for some high school girls and am attending my first meeting this Sunday. I'm so excited about this opportunity to mentor and invest in the lives of some teen girls. My small group leader in high school played a huge role in my life, and I'm excited to do the same for someone else. I'm nervous as all get-out though. What if I'm not fun or cool or wise and the girls don't like me? I'm trying to trust God to equip me for this adventure.

After some ups and downs at work lately, I'm excited about some projects I have going on. Staff had to work during Spring Break last week, and it was a horrible week. It was so beautiful outside, and I had to sit in my windowless office with no human interaction. I was so happy to see my students again this week. I really love them and have so much fun interacting with them. I will be sad to say good-bye to my students whenever I finally leave my job. I hate to admit it, but I realize now how easy it is for teachers to develop favorites. I definitely have mine.

I've had some fun nights out recently. I went karoaking with a big group for my friend Kim's birthday. We rented out a room in a Korean karoake bar and had a blast. I was the only person to receive a 100 top score from the computer for my rendition of "Larger than Life." Man, I can kill those Backstreet Boy songs. My friend Ashley also came down from Kansas for her Spring Break and we went out two-stepping with some friends. Haha. I've also had some fun dinner/shopping/coffee/movie dates with friends. Yep, I am "living the life". The Dallas life that is.

I need to start taking pictures so I can upload them and make my blog look more interesting. I just find it so dang hard to get pictures in the right position in Blogger, so I don't even bother. Does anyone else have that problem?