i hate cancer.

Two days ago, one of my NZ friends who I had grown up with went home to be with God after suffering from brain cancer. She only found out about it recently (as in a few weeks ago) and it got really bad really fast. I am glad that she isn't in pain anymore, but she was SO young! The same age as me! I am realizing that God's plans really are FAR from my own. And apparently He has more surprises up His sleeve than I expected. Its really hard to look at class pictures of us as kids and realize that Anna is no longer on earth. You expect that sort of thing once you get to be older, but we are not even 20 yet. Gahh. Its so hard to accept and I am not really okay with it, but I know that eventually God will reveal the reason for taking Anna so young.

SPRING BREAKKKKK!

Spring break so far has been absolutely amazing! I flew in on Friday and just spent the day relaxing. Saturday, I went fabric shopping with my mom. After being inspired by the plethora of fabrics, I went home and made a bag! It was so much fun! :) On Sunday, I went to church and then after church I went out to Disneyland to spend time with my cousin, his wife, and three kids who live in Colorado. The last time I saw the kids was 7 years ago and the kids were 4 and 6. Now they are 11 and 13! We had so much fun! To add to the fun, it was absolutely POURING!!! We got drenched! But it was great! On Monday I went back out for the afternoon and spent more time with them. I adore those kids! They are so funny and entertaining! The twins clung to me for most of the day, it was very cute! Yesterday (Tuesday), they all came over for lunch and ended up staying till almost 9 :) The kids and I spent the day playing spoons, hula hooping, playing tennis, going to the park, telling jokes, and leg wrestling. Dustin (the boy twin) talks CONSTANTLY. He is really funny but he never shuts up! But he was very quiet when the adults were around which was interesting! Jordan (the girl twin) was so precious and enjoyed relaxing. Clark (the oldest) was so funny. He has the cutest smile and thinks he is SO cool because he is a teenager. Hahaa. Yesterday was wonderful! So much fun!
In between all this, I have determined to finish Jane Eyre. So I have been spending most of my free time reading. :) It has been so great!
OH! I have also had a couple of first time experiences in the past few days. I ate a turkey leg at California Adventure! And I also laughed while drinking Sprite and had it come out my nose! :)
So thats my wonderful spring break so far :)

march

Well since Grace has been so good at posting, I decided to try and be better too! :)

Life has been CRAZY! So far this month, I have had 3 exams, 2 presentations (one more on wednesday!), and 3 papers. Considering I have had almost no homework ALL semester.... this is a hectic month! I knew it would eventually catch up to me! Oh well... it is kinda nice to be productive :)

I am have been volunteering in the class I was observing in last semester, and I love it! The kids are just so precious! I do that on Monday and Friday mornings. This month, they have had, and will continue to have, no school on Fridays. As much as I love being there, having Friday mornings free is great!

This weekend involved a lot of dancing! Friday night was "Prewitt Prom" (a dance for just girls) which was a lot of fun! Its nice to be able to go crazy and not have boys there! Then on Saturday night I went square dancing with a group of friends. So much fun! :)

Thats all for now :)

Have a great week! And im pretty sure you all have break right now... so enjoy it! :)


here is a photo from prewitt prom :)

Processing.....

So it has been a while since I talked about my oh-so-exciting life! Haha. Well, a couple of weekends ago, I went to San Francisco to see Danielle! I did not expect to like the city at all. I mean, it sounded cool, but I wasn't sure about the controversial stuff. Anyway, I absolutely loved it! It is so diverse, artistic, and eye opening! One of the things that really hit me was how to deal with homosexuality. I know that it is wrong, but I also know that I need to love people who are involved/practicing it. So how am I supposed to show my love for them without condoning it? I have yet to process enough to have an answer to that (any input is welcome regarding this). I found it extremely interesting that it has taken me this long to think about it. I realized that in a Christian college environment (specifically Corban, because I know others are different), it is SO easy to know what I believe regarding this. But when you are actually IN it, oh boy! That is different. Its easy to say love them but don't condone their behavior, but really? How is one supposed to show that through actions. In words, it sounds great and easy, in life, its a lot harder. I was very overwhelmed all of this! It disappoints me that I have been at Corban for almost two years and I have never been forced to process homosexuality in this way. Yesterday, I was having a conversation about Rent, the movie, which I have never seen. One of my friends said "Yah, well its not really Corban appropriate, but I really wanna watch it" and another said "Yeah, the homosexuality definitely makes it not-Corban-appropriate". REALLY? That hit me (which surprised me). Are we really that ignorant and in such a bubble that we can't even address it? No wonder I had never processed this before. This irritates me, a lot!
As you can see, I am still in the processing stage of this, but I thought I would post about it anyway :)

As for the rest of the weekend, Danielle and I did A LOT! We walked so much and saw so many things! It was wonderful! I am so glad that I was able to spend the weekend there with her! It was a much needed break from the chaos and drama of school! :)

Thats all for now :)

beautiful disaster

I should be getting ready for bed... but I decided to post while this was on my mind. I have really been noticing recently how God uses terrible things and makes them beautiful somehow. Two examples:
1. Sunsets. They are only beautiful because of the pollution in the air. Wow!
2. One of my friends has seizures but because of the brain problem causing them, she can also see sound. Beautiful!

I am just in awe of how God can take something so negative, gross, and inconvenient and turn it into beauty. WOW! God is good!

reminiscing

So I never posted my goals for 2011.... so quickly, they are:

1. Read the whole Bible this year
2. Eat healthier and exercise

Thats it... I am just making a couple, maybe that will help me be more successful :)

ANYWAY... the purpose of this post was to talk about how reminiscent I have been lately. Last weekend.... I purchased 4 Mary-Kate and Ashley movies. Why? I dunno... I just wanted to see them again since they were my favorite childhood movies. And today, I purchased a CD on iTunes that my mom used to have in NZ. It is a guy singing Disney songs, and we listened to it all the time! I absolutely love it and really wanted to hear it again. It brings back a ton of memories :)

Life is a little crazy right now, but I have hopes of things calming down.... haha yah right.

2011... whaaaaaat?

I really don't know where 2010 went! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was complaining about 2009 being gone! Well, life has been a little hectic recently and I haven't had the chance to think of a theme or resolutions for this year. I will probably do that in a couple of weeks. Anyway, I just wanted to reflect on 2010 for a bit. My goals for the year were:

-Be in God's Word EVERY day!
-Let go, and let God.
-Form relationships/closer relationships with my siblings
-Learn German
-Be healthier... exercise and eat better
-Be a better friend

Well.... I read my Bible more than I have any other year, but not every day. I tried to let go and let God, but I wouldn't say I was overly successful at that. Forming relationships with my siblings: SUCCESS! Although the reason for it sucked, I am so much closer to my siblings after losing Dad. Its incredible and I love it! Learn German: FAIL. No excuse for that one except that I didn't end up going to Germany as planned. Healthier: ehh kinda. Being a better friend: well thats not up to me to judge but I do know that I found out who my real friends are. Ya know, the ones that are there to support me through anything. And that meant a lot to me!

I think the biggest thing I realized in 2010 is that God's plan and my plan are not always gonna line up, but thats GOOD! Because God knows everything and I don't! Shoot! If all my plans worked out, my life would be a mess!

(Let me just say that I am SO thankful for auto save because I definitely just pushed a button that would have made me lose everything above here!)

My first day of 2011 was so amazing! I watched one of my best friends (who is SUCH a brother to me) get married. I had not met the bride until today so I was nervous about her. But Ben made a wonderful choice! She is perfect for him. It was amazing to be at the ceremony! Ben means so much to me! I have been nervous/scared that because he is married, we won't be close, but I don't think it will be an issue. :) I was just so happy that Mum and I were able to go!

Well, thats it for now but I will post soon with my goals for 2011!

Happy New Year!