:D

So... I finally found a job. I am going to be working as a special needs assistant for a guy named Jonathan. I am SUPER excited! I am not starting until April though, which kinda stinks, but there's some training and stuff that I believe is going to happen before then. Yay!

Can you believe spring break is right around the corner? Man, this semester is flying! Midterms are going to suck, but it will be nice to have a week off. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing that week yet though... Hmmm...

I believe I am now off the dead friends list, right? Booya!



Also, if anyone has a chance to go to Downtown Disney this Saturday around 6:50 PM (no later than that, bc this spectacular event is not going to last very long), I would highly suggest doing it. Don't ask questions. Just go.
:D

My Job Search and More

So, as I believe I mentioned in the last post, I have been searching for a job for quite some time now. It has recently gotten a little better, and also quite a bit more interesting.

I got a job babysitting a 4 yr old girl who lives near by here, just to make some money until I find a real job. Last week, we had a ministry fair on campus and a pastor of a nearby church aske me if I was looking for a job. So I was really excited that she was hiring. I sent her my resume, and I should find out tomorrow or sometime this week if I get anything. The two positions are Sunday school coordinator and worship intern. Not sure which one I'd rather have, but either way it'd be a lot of fun.

However, before this happened, I was starting to get really desperate. So I sent an application to John Wayne Airport to see if I could get a job as a security screener... You know, like one of those people who runs bags through the screener and stuff. I totally didn't think I would even pass the first step. I basically sent it as a joke. But today I got an email back from the TSA saying that I met the requirements and they would like me to come in for a computerized test. I'm still not sure if I'm going to do it, but I Thought it was funny. Maybe I'd get free plane tickets and stuff... Ya never know.

Well that is pretty much the update for now. I'm looking forward to Valentines Day coming up on Thursday! YAY!

OMGGG!

So it's been a really long time since I've blogged. Many apologies! I don't know if I've become a dead friend or not. Hopefully I haven't, but, if I have I am redeeming myself now!

The past month or so has been very crazy, fun, and exciting.

I love Vanguard. The people here are amazing, I'm super close to the beach which is wonderful, the religion and sociology departments are phenomenal, and being on the seventh floor is rather enjoyable bc I have a lovely view out of my window.

That being said, my classes are going pretty well. I have a kinda awkward schedule bc my admissions counselor decided to give me a random four hour break and then an evening class every day. Weird. But anyways. I'm taking data analysis, english, sociology, theology, and psychology (yes, all of the ologies). Data analysis sucks. But I mean it's math, so, ya know... All the others are great!

I also feel like God is going to lead me (and He already has) on an amazing spiritual journey at this school and I am very excited to see what He has planned!

As far as life outside of school... I am currently searching for a job. I have submitted a lot of applications, but unfortunately that random four hour gap makes it kinda hard for me to have a decent work schedule so no one has really wanted to hire me. I'm going to an interview at Yard House (the restaurant) today, so hopefully that goes well! if that doesn't work out, I'm handing in my application at in n out and applying at Target, so hopefully something happens soon!

Corey and I are doing well. We celebrated our six month a couple weeks ago which was very exciting! He surprised me with a very wonderful day. We had a picnic in the park and fed the ducks, took a nap on the beach, walked around by the beach, and then went to a nice restaurant on the beach. It was exciting.

Sooooo other than that the only other thing I think is really necessary for me to say is that our room is currently out of toilet paper which has made going to the bathroom really interesting for the past day or so!

Hope everyone's doing great!
:D

Merry late Christmas, everyone!

Wow, crazy to think Christmas is already over! I shall give a run down of how my Christmas/Christmas Eve went:
Christmas eve Corey and I went to his Uncle and Rosangela's house. She's an amazing cook and she made us dinner. The food was really good! But the entertaining part was the dessert. The chocolate was too hard so she tried to microwave it and it caught on fire. Good times.
I had a very nice day celebrating Jesus' birth with my friends and family. In the morning, I had breakfast with a ton of people at Corey's house. It was nice to meet some of the family I hadn't met yet. Very awesome people. Then we opened presents. Corey and his mom got me a ton, and his grandma got me a necklace which made me happy. After that we went to Reg's parents house and had dinner. It was really yummy! And his parents bought me presents which was surprising but very kind. Then Corey and I headed to my house where I opened presents from my parents and we played WOW.

ANYWAYS, now it's time to figure out what's going on for New Years! YAY! I always love New Years bc it's a time to get together with people and reminisce about all that's happened over the past year.

I want cereal, so goodbye for now!

An update on my WOW issues!

So, I finally got the issues resolved yesterday. I was so incredibly happy. So my main is no longer a night elf for the Alliance, it is now a blood elf on the Horde. I don't necessarily like the Horde, in fact I STILL think they're the bad guys, but blood elves are freaking amazing. And I guess they have a good reason to dislike the Alliance, since they destroyed their home and made them outcasts. Anyways, my cast is a Palladin, which is cool cuz I get to heal and fight. I'm basically a holy warrior. Pretty sweet, I must say. I also had my first battle with the Alliance today, which didn't go so well since I'm only level ten. Corey said we'll go back when we're level 19 and kick some butt. I'm pretty excited. Oh and I finally beat Corey in a duel!


ANYWAYS, exams are this week, but I don't have any tomorrow which is why I'm still awake. So I'm going to sleep in a bit and then spend the whole day studying. Well, probably not, but I'll try.

Good luck with your last week everyone! (except those of you who this isn't your last week).

:D

Home, WOW, Burning Crusade, etc

Well I have an announcement, and it's one I'm sure most of you have at least heard rumors of but just to clarify...
Yes, I am moving home next semester. Well, most likely, anyway. I'll be going to Vanguard, which is right next to UCI... So Kevin, get excited.

Also, more on my ranting about WOW (yes, WOW as in World of Warcraft. Yes, I am a nerd. And... yes, it has taken away immensely from my social life). So I was thoroughly enjoying playing WOW, however, I decided that I would love to have Burning Crusade as well (the extension pack) so that I could be a blood elf or a Draenai if I want. Being absolutely thrilled, I took a trip to Meijer and bought the Battle Chest pack, rushed back to my dorm and tried to install it. I installed WOW first (since I Was still on the trial version), and then tried to install BC. But at the end of the BC installation it told me I needed to install WOW. So I tried to enter WOW and it told me I was elligible for the BC expansion and couldn't play until I finished installing BC. Slight problem? Yes. So I called tech support and the guy told me that I had to uninstall WOW and reinstall it. Sounds easy, right? WRONG. I have spent the past two days attemting to install it but it INSISTS on going RIDICULOUSLY slow. Thats okay though, because when all is done, I will be able to enter the World of Warcraft and once again conquer all!

Okay that is all.

SAVED!

Yes, if I had waited one more day I would have been on the dead friends list. But I saved it.

Anyways, I have been super busy lately, if you couldn't tell by the lack of posting.

Thanksgiving was super fun. It was nice to see everyone from home again and have yummy home cooked food again!!!

I am very excited for Christmas break. Wouuld all of you agree with me that this semester went by WAY fast? I Can't believe we only have two weeks left! Next week is kinda gonna suck bc I have three papers and a presentation due, and you know me, procrastination all the way (especially now that Corey got me addicted to WOW. Yes, I said it, I play WOW now). Then finals week is going to be very hectic.

Well, unfortunately that's all the time I have to post now. Actually it's not, but I'm going to go play WOW. Haha.

Stolen

This is stolen from Justine. Happy belated birthday!!

1. Who was your first love?
This is a topic I don't like to talk about.

2. Who was your first kiss and when?
Micah summer after freshman year.

3. Who was your first prom date?
I don't think I had one junior year. So Cory.

4. Who was your first room mate?
Sue and Amber!!! Awww. And now I live with my lovely roomie, Laura.
:)

5. What was your first job?
Well I've volunteered a lot and now I work for Quixtar.

6. What was your first car?
Honda CRV. LOVE IT! I never want another.

7.When did you go to your first funeral?
There were some I can't remember but the first I remember is my grandma's. That was a while back...

9. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown?
Well... That would be like three months ago. lol.

10. Who was your first grade teacher?
Ms. Mewman? Or was she third? I can't remember.

11. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
Probably Kentucky or Wisconsin. Freakin hicks. But I love them haha.

13. Where did you go for your first date and who was it with?
My first date... Hmmm... Oh gosh I have no idea what my first real date was. So I'll just say in second grade with Noah when we met Mr. Rodgers. Ha.
:)

14. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
i I've never snuck out. I tried a couple times and got caught... Haha.

15. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them?
My first best friend was Noah Smith. From kindergarten to middle school pretty much. He was also my first crush lol. I wouldn't say we're really friends anymore but we do still see each other sometimes and our parents still talk. So yeah.

16. Who was the first person to send you flowers?
Sadly I believe it was Corey at the beginning of the year this year. Haha. Or maybe my parents some other random time.

17. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents house?
Calvin College. Grand Rapids, Michigan.

18. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?
Corey. :)

19. Who's wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen?
I've only been to one wedding my whole life and I wasn't a bridesmaid. However, I did end up helping set up and Sarah and I helped people sign in. Um. Yeah. Let's just say the wedding was beautiful but setting up was not the most pleasant experience ever. I am so getting a wedding coordinator who actually works.

20. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Hit the snooze button like ten times. Then pee. Unless my suitemates are in there. Then I just wash my face and brush my teeth.


Yayyy this weekend is going to be fun!

Adulthood

Yes, it is true. I am finally an adult (as of yesterday).

My birthday was wonderful. I told everyone I wanted food and money, and that is what I got. A total of 370 dollars, chocolate from Cristina, Corey, my parents, and Sarah, pretzels from Rebekah, a coupon to the fish house from Cristina, and a cake from Calvin (well, my parents told Calvin to give it to me). I got some other presents but I'm just listing off the food bc I think it's funny. My roomie says my present is going to be chocolate cuz she thinks it's funny that so many people got me chocolate.

How did I celebrate? Well, I went out to dinner with Brandon. Aimee was supposed to come but she has mono so she couldn't. Then I came back and shared my cake with some wonderful people, and then I knitted with Stina. On Sunday the girls and I might to to the spa and dinner, if we can find a spa.

So... it's interesting being an adult. I can now legally smoke and do other raunchy things if I so wished. But I don't wish to so none of you have to worry about me.

Anyways, my friends are pretty freaking awesome. Yay!
:)

OOPS.

It's been quite a while since I updated. My bad ("Mah b!"- that was for you, Stina).

The past few weeks have been eventful. Corey came out to visit last weekend. I missed him. You have no idea how much. And now I miss him even more than before he left.
:(

Also, last week was midterm week, aka hell week. The beginning of the week was okay but I had three papers and a midterm for Friday. I'm glad that's over, but I have two papers due Monday. HOWEVER, next week is advising/reading recess so we have Tuesday and Wednesday OFF! That makes me incredibly excited.

The next few things I have to look forward to are my birthday, and Thanksgiving when I come home. Yes, tomorrow it will be only one month until I get to see Corey again!

I have also once again been reminded of God's grace and mercy. I really need to start reading the Bible more. So please pray about that.

That's all for now! Blessings everyone!

Espadeas.

So the past couple weeks have been funnnn!

Last Friday, Cristina and I were going to go to Robinettes (an apple cider place), but when we got there it was closed. So then we went to Meijer. That night we were going to go with Rebekah to hear a speaker for Prelude credit, but... we couldn't figure out where to go. So instead we decided to go see Across the Universe. But the problem was it wasn't out yet. SO we decided to see Wild Chipmanzees on the Imax but it wasn't playing at the right time... which led to us finally seeing Sydney White. It was really really funny but I'm still trying to figure out why the dork who was supposed to be Happy, the dwarf, wasn't really happy. He was just horny. Haha.

Errr anyways, Saturday we went to Robinettes and it was super duper amazing and yummy and awesome.

Sukkoth ends tomorrow :( But I'm spending the night at Stina's again and we're playing Pass the Etrog!

I don't feel well right now so I'm going to stop writing but I'll try to update again soon. Hope all you Californians are doing WONDERFUL!

Splash Gum, Michigan Winter, and Zebras

First off, I would like to start by saying that Trident Splash gum is absolutely amazing. It's like, SPLASH! And then a burst of fruity goodness.

Also, Cristina and I have officially discovered that the Fish House (which, contrary to popular belief (actually not popular, I'm the only one who thought this) does NOT serve fish). Iced Zebras and Michigan Winters are delicious. I'm drinking a Michigan Winter right now and it's mmm mmm good!

I also realized that out of my three pairs of jeans, two are sort of tight and one is way too big. Maybe I should buy a new pair.

Well anyways, classes are going pretty well. International Development gives a crapload of homework, but other than that, my assignments are mostly reading.

This weekend is my dorm retreat. It should be interesting because I'm not super tight with anyone on my floor yet. I mostly know people in NVW and KH. But alas, i'm sure it will be a good time... just so long as they don't try to get me involved in any games of Ultimate Frisbee cuz the last time I tried that on a dorm date it was disastrous.

Hope everyone else is doing wonderful!
:D




It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise above the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word

When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

A message from Jever (my friend from South Africa)

This is a message one of my friends who I met when I was in South Africa sent me on facebook. It was really special to me because I'm going through a lot right now (like... a lot a lot) so it made me feel better. It's cool how God gives people the perfect words to say to you, especially because I hadn't even told him anything that's been going on.

Don't Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must—but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he’d stuck it out.
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup,A
nd he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It's when things go wrong
That you mustn't quit.

with love
Jever

With the windows down when this is guiding you home

Sorry I haven't really posted a lot lately. College is kicking my butt.

I basically drowned in IDS homework last night. It was horrible. But now that I've finished that, I'm slightly more relaxed and hopefully tonight I will get more than three hours of sleep. Yay for sleep.

So... the past week was a little hard bc two very special people in my life died. The first I was not very close to, but he was a member of my church community and I worked with him some in Little Lambs. Tyler Verkaik died earlier this week. I believe the funerals tomorrow. I know it must be extremely hard on his parents and on a lot of people in my church/high school bc I know everyone was really pulling for him. Also, my grandma died yesterday. I guess it was for the best bc she suffered for many years but it's still really hard. She is part of what inspired me to travel and she was just an amazing, funny, kind woman.

Yeah... the past few days have been pretty rough. BUT my mom sent me a plant to remind me of my grandma today... and CHOCOLATE. Yes, it was very exciting. I also found out that pretty much everyone in my IDS class had a really hard time with the assignment (some people even moreso than me) so that was pretty comforting.

I am just freaking exhausted.

Hope everyone is doing well! there should be a video tour of my room on here tomorrow. Hooray!

College?

Well, I've been here for a while now (but classes haven't started yet) and so far it's pretty awesome.

Passport was kinda boring. I guess it was sort of fun though? Well after passport, we had Quest. Quest was pretty interesting. We got split into like fifty groups. GO GROUP SIX! Anyways, our group was pretty cool. We played lots of get to know you games, got lost many many times, played the great ball challenge, had a cook out, and did many other things.

Calvin is a pretty cool school. I really miss California though. And Corey.

Today I went to Mars Hill. For those of you who don't know, that is Rob Bell's church. It was very very amazing. He spoke about having child like faith and had all of the children up on stage coloring for the entire sermon. It was a very good sermon but I'm too tired to go into much detail.

There is also a lot of other stuff I'd like to talk about here, but I'm tired and we're going to the beach tomorrow so I'm going to end this now.

I hope everyone in California is doing wonderful. I miss all of you!!!

Roadtrip Insanity

Well... We are finally in Michigan after an incredibly long five days. The trip was fun (I guess?) but also incredibly... eventful, to say the least.

I shall explain:
Day number 1: This was the only day that went smoothly. Hooray Utah!

Day number 2: This is where things got interesting. We left early the next morning. The woman at the resort we stayed at suggested the scenic route. Oh, it was scenic alright. It was about two hours of extra driving time filled with scenery (she told us thirty minutes). We managed to find a Subway where they told us we were 8 hours away from Denver, which was our destination. We thought it'd only be three. THEN one of my family members had to go to a medical clinic for reasons I shall not mention. It was a dinky little place in some hodung town in the midde of nowhere. We were there for a couple hours and then were on our way.

Day number 3: We woke up and it was drizzling. We tried to turn on my windshield whipers, only to discover one of them was stuck because the nut was stripped. So we went to the car dealership to get it repaired. They didn't have the right nut, but they put on a temporary one. It was a good thing, because later that night a massive storm came across our path. By massive I mean... Buckets of rain, cats and dogs if you would like to put it that way. Lightning... HUGE LIGHTNING. My mother was frightened. And thunder. It was interesting. But we made it to Nebraska.

Day number 4: We left Nebraska and headed for Chicago. It wasn't too bad in the beginning, but at night it started storming again. (FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT ACTUALLY READING THIS BECAUSE YOU'RE BORED, THIS PART IS MORE INTERESTING). My dad needed to figure out what hotel we were staying at, so we pulled off and went into a McDonalds. While we were in there, the storm worsened, and about five minutes later we hear "The tornado sirens are going off! GET IN THE BASEMENT!" So, we went into the basement and waited for the sirens to go off. It was only about fifteen minutes, and then we were finally able to make it to Chicago.

Day number 5: After a nice day of sight seeing in the windy city, we were once again on our way, this time to GR. Well, once we got on the highway, we noticed there was an abnormally large amount of traffic. As in, it wasn't moving. At all. So after two hours of waiting, we had moved about one mile. We finally managed to get to an exit. We went in a Burger King and asked what the hold up was, and discovered that the highway was flooded for about two miles. In other words, we couldn't get through. So we pulled out the grand old atlas and figured out an alternate route... but of course that took us about an hour. Then the alternate route didn't go as planned bc the street we were on was closed bc of flooding. BUT a couple hours later, we finally found our way and got past the flood.


So... I am now sitting in our hotel at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin. I am alive, as is all my family and Steph (who a man in Nebraska thinks is my adopted twin, thanks to my mother). My car also survived the tornado. Hooray!

Cristina, I think your trip went slightly smoother than ours. Haha.

YOUTAW!

Yes, I am currently in Utah at a resort about five minutes away from Zion. It's amazingly beautiful here and so awesome to see these canyons which God so perfectly sculpted. But driving here... through the desert... reminded me of Africa, AND the fact that I need to post about it.


So everyone keeps asking me about my trip. I don't really know where to begin, or how to respond. It was not what I expected, but at the same time more than I expected. It was not what you typically think of when you hear the word "Africa." Yes, we had electricity. Yes, we had clean water and showers. No, the food was not gross, in fact I think I gained weight. No, we were not staying in grass huts in the middle of nowhere. We were in a city fairly urbanized city, which resembled the states once you got past the electric fences, panic alarms, lock down gates, and watch dogs which accompanied every house. It was really dangerous. Stealing is huge there, smash and grab is huge there... Yeah, one of our combi's got stolen. But it was amazing. The children were amazing. The work we did was amazing (yes, even filling the ginormous container). Visiting the squatter village was amazing in a very sad way. It was all perfect, because it was God's plan.

I miss everyone I met. Especially Nafe and Jever and Ben and Cindy. They inspired me. Their hope and joy taught me a lot.

It's nice to be home, but at the same time it's incredibly sad. I can't wait until I go back to Africa.

The pictures aren't working right now, so I'll post them later.

I miss everyone in CA already. :(

Home

Yes, I am finally home and settling down (a little).

Africa was amazing. I'll have to post more later.
I miss everyone there SO much. SO SO SO SO MUCH.
:'(

Insanity

This past weekend was really fun. I love my friends. The end.

Well, not the end.

It's weird that college is coming up so fast. And Africa. Yes, on Monday I will be on a 22 hour long flight to South Africa where I'll be working with AIDs orphans. I am SUPER excited. A little nervous though.

I'll be gone for two weeks, and when I come back, I have two weeks before Steph and I begin our journey to Michigan, where I will be staying until December.

Too many emotions to even describe.

Near-death Experience

Being face to face with a semi going about fifty heading straight for you, and narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with said monstrosity of a truck.

I am happy I didn't get in an accident.... and that I didn't get crushed or killed. I am also thankful that Nori was on the phone with me the whole time to help me find my way home. Mucho gracias amigo.


The bonfire yesterday was fun. It was good to see Anne again! I missed her. She's definitely still the same Anne we knew in middle school. I might post pictures later.



Have a happy and safe 4th of July everyone!
:D