Tra La La La

Hmmm, Asbury is going well. The only thing to complain about is not having any close guy friends (that translates to having no good hugs). There are quite a few kids from Florida here; one of them, Joel, is in my Tag group (he lives in Melbourne). The older students move in today, so I'm a bit nervous about meeting them, but I'm sure they're cool.
Considering the tumbling team, though I have no skills currently whatsoever. Who knows, it may turn out really cool.

Invisible Children/Beach

This past Wednesday, I met up with a group of 10 or so people from Invisible Children in downtown Orlando. Our purpose was to talk to Senator Martinez about how he should support the Child Soldier Prevention Act 2007 and to also ask him to call the State Department and voice his concern that a diplomat should be deployed to Uganda to oversee the juba peace talks. We didn't get to meet with Martinez, but we did talk to a person on his staff (the Orlando Regional Coordinator or something).
This is a pic of some us who went with IC Wednesday (Laura, Blaze, Sara, Me).


On Friday, I began my last weekend in Florida by going to the beach with Sara W, Hannah, Matt, Adam, Courtney, Rachel, and Blake (Sara's friend from Oklahoma, the kid who cooked for us at C-stone '06). Courtney's truck got stuck in the sand though =(. In the picture w/ Sara and Matt, you can see where Hannah decided to use her artistic skills and draw a heart in sunscreen on Matt's leg.

I'm a Night Owl

I met with a guy who works for Senator Martinez today.
A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Invisible Children asking me if I'd like to go speak to a congressman about IC, so I said sure. They arranged a group to go in the area I live in and today was the day. There were 10 of us total. about 5 teenagers, 5 adults. I met some cool girls that either just graduated or still go to Lake Mary High (Laura, Sara, and Blaze). There was a kid named Dylan who led our group, he just graduated form WPHS and is going to Belmont in the fall. Anywho, it was an interesting experience. I did not say much (almost nothing except my name and age), but just being there, hearing an issue explained, knowing that my presence might help sway a decision, was cool. It was so scary walking into the office though. I got to sit in Martinez's fave chair though :-).
Anywho, I hope Martinez ends up supporting the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007.

It's funny how I don't like being at Northland parties. I feel very awkward and never seem to be able to find someone to talk to. Tonight was different though, Chris was there (rebekah P's bf). Chris and I just hung out in the kitchen and talked the whole time, with Mrs Augustine occasionally joining us. Everyone else was out in the living room doing something stupid or whatnot. I had way more fun with Chris at this Northland party than I do at usual Northland parties. I guess I'm just a one-on-one kind of person. It doesn't help that I find it hard to like M*** and a boy named W****n, who are very much involved in Northland.

I'm going to dinner at Seasons 52 with my dad tomorrow night, I'm kind of excited about it, I've never been there. I made the reservation today.

That Street

Why do I still have to force myself to not turn down Robert's road every time I pass by it? I have not spoken to him since just after Spring Break and he is a jerk (senny has much more vulgar words that she likes to use when describing him, but I will spare your ears).

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have an usually large lips according to my mother (well, to everyone, but the way my mother says it is uniqe). My sister often complains that I havebigger teeth and bigger lips than she does, but I don't mind, I like my big lips and teeth. Today at lunch though, my mom asked if my mom lip was swollen and I told her no, got self-concious, checked my compact, and confirmed that it was normal size. Then we talked about how I have such big lips and no one else in the family does. My mom said something along the lines of: I'm not meaning to be racist, and I know you're as white as can be, but you have black people lips.

Wow, I have African American lips, just what I've always wanted. Maybe I'm black and don't know it. Afterall, Ali (the girl next door) once told me that I had a black girl's butt.

The Good Girl :-)

So tonight I went to Starbucks and saw Michelle S there. Now, Michelle S has a friend who went to Asbury. That friend who went to Asbury was at Starbucks with Michelle tonight! Michelle and I said hi and then introduced the Asbury girl and I.

The Asburian said to me, "which dorm are you in?"
So I tell her that I am in Glide Crawford.

I'm not sure if I've expressed this before on this blog, but before tonight, I was really scared that Asbury would be waaaaaaay too conservative for me. Now, however, I am not too worried.

The girl said that she was a GC girl and that it was a good thing 'cus Kresge girls tend to be more wild, party, and go from bf to bf. She said GC girls are more tight knit and tend to stick together, in addition to usually being the ones who have steady bfs (as well as their husbands) at Asbury. She said I looked like a GC girl.

That may just be her own prejudice talking 'cus she was a GC girl, but it definitely made me realize that I am not going to be the liberal girl I was hoping to be taken for. I will, once again (and still), be the girl who is naiive, innocent, doesn't know anything about drugs, has never tasted alchohol girl. However, you should now that I am now (and was before tonight too) very proud to be so. I hope I stand out at Asbury because of that, though I'm sure plenty of girls will be the same about things like that.

Oh, and have I mentioned that in addition to all that stuff listed above, I have also never been kissed? Haha, yeah, I rock :-), saving my love for one man and one man only.

Oh, just letting you know, I am now the only Sister to not have made out with a boy (yes, Lydia left me).

Looking For Work

I was on my way home from Summit youth tonight and, when I went over a bump, my phone bounced out of the cup holder where it was sitting and slid under my sit. From there, it began to ring, but I was not able to reach it in time. So, when I felt blindly about enough to put my hand on it, I looked at the number and saw that it was a Kentucky area code and called back.

It turns out that it was Meredith who called me, a woman who is in charge of hiring for Joseph-Beth bookstores in Lexington. She asked when I would be available for an interview. She wants to get her hiring out of the way by this Friday, but I won't be in Kentucky until next Wednesday, so she told me to give her a call this upcoming Monday to set up and interview because she doubted that she would actually have all of her hiring finished.

I'm super excited about this. I applied about three weeks ago, but on the application it asked if I had ever been in the store before. I did not want to lie, so I told them that I had never been inside a Joseph-Beth. They called me for an interview and I've never even been in the store before :-).

"Ladies"

Jane Eyre -published in 1847.
Pride and Prejudice -published in 1813.

Why were women of high society expected to be so highly knowledgeable in foreign language, music, and art? It seems odd that they would be required to be so learned/proficient in thos areas. Though, music and art are not exactly academic, foreign languages are (to me, at least). I suppose young gentlemen were learning math -was math taught to girls? In Jane Eyre, they taught history at the orphanage, so I would assume that the wealty's children would also learn it. Maybe I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that all they were truly expected to do is marry. It seems odd that so much should be expected intellectually, when it was not acceptable for them to actually make use of what they had learned. Am I missing something here? Am I just not understanding the culture of the early 19th century?

One thing I must say, I really like the phrase "the order of the day." Maybe we should bring that back.

By the way, in case you were wondering, I am about a third of the way into reading Jane Eyre as of today (I started it today, haha). I found a copy for $2.11, including tax, last night at Books a Million while with Lauren and couldn't help but buy it. Hopefully, I will be finished within a few days and will be able to start Pride and Prejudice and/or Sense and Sensibility. I have not read all summer but for Angela's Ashes and am now excited to be reading again. I hope I am able to finish everything before I leave for Asbury on the 21st.

Well, Atleast I'm Not...

watching a sappy chick-flick and feeling all alone. Instead, I'm just half-asleep and too tired to lift myself out of my yellow-with-white-daisies armchair.

Staying up late probably isn't good for me. I promised Vince to meet him at Starbucks tomorrow at 10am.

I wonder how much flights to Calgary are going for...

::wishing I was hanging out with Adam::

Lauren D

Ohmygoodnes, I had such a good talk with Lauren D tonight. I appreciate talking to her so much. She and I are on the same level when it comes to so many things. We're comfortable enough to be able to confide in each other and support one another. It was so encouraging to know that she's also wrestling with her faith right now. Just like me, she's struggling to find her value and identity in Christ instead of other people, especially boys. We both want husbands/boyfriends, but we also want to put God first and love Him more than the man that He gives us. I wish I could just wait patiently for the man God has picked for me, instead of thinking "hmm, potential?" every time I meet a guy. Lauren and I have been feeling frustrated at God pretty much because we don't fully understand Him (hello, big surprise there, He's flipping God, haha), but also frustrated at ourselves for not being content in being single. Lauren is such a kindred spirit. I'm truly sorry that our friendship has only just blossom before I leave for school, but I have no doubt that we will stay good friends even when we are 800 miles apart. I feel so blessed by God to have gotten to know her. Her friendship has helped remind me that God is faithful, is watching over us, and puts people in our lives so that we can see Him in them.

Resonating in Me

Ever feel like throwing in the towel and just quitting church? I feel like that so many times. I go to 3 churches -one for my parents, one for youthgroup, and one for me. The one my parents go to is great, the purpose and ideology is amazing, focused on loving, community, Christ and serving; some people might call it young and naiive (if plans it budget not for what would be te least amount to get things done, but what should the offering look like if every member gave 10% of their income). The curret annual budget is 1.9 million, and the congregation has actually given over 1 million (it is only a 900 person church). But however cool my parents' church is, I don't feel like it is "my" church, like I belong.So I go to Northland for youthgroup. Over the past year or so though, I've felt like the messages taught have no relevance in my life and often found myself going to my small group and then leaving (before youth could start) with a friend or a small group leader to go to Starbucks and talk about what God's been up to in our lives.I now go to the college group at Northland instead of the high school one, but I feel even less inclined to participate and grow in the college group. I'm not sure if it's b/c all the college kids were my h/s leaders when I was in middle school, if I just don't do well in discussions w/ big groups, or what. I've been feeling shriveled in my walk with Christ lately. I feel like my whole life I have tried to ignore the crucifixion b/c so much pain and such serious love makes me uncomfortable -though I believe every bit that it happened and is the reason for my salvation, I just do not like to dwell upon it much. The thing is, I keep saying "I feel", which makes me wonder if this is just a thing where I'm relying on my emotions too much. But it doesn't make it seem any less real. I've been having trouble finding meaning in my faith (I barely know what that means, fyi), but it feels empty and I want to so badly just to own my faith for myself. Maybe that will happen at Asbury this year, but I don't know.However, I didn't mention my 3rd church, Status. When go to Status, I feel like I can connect with God and He is really listening -unlike so much of the time I spend in my room praying and reading the Bible. My doubts and confusion seem to dissappear when I step into Status and listen to the speaker and sing worship in that room. I don't want to leave Status, it's the first time I've truly found a church that I want to become a part of. And now I'm going to Asbury in Kentucky, 14 hours away from Status. I don't know if it's good or bad that Status makes everything seem real for just 2 hours and not much else seems to. All I know is that He has offered me guidance and love even when I am struggling and I want to follow Him all the more.

The Look In Her Eyes

I went to Status with my friend Matt tonight. He was a senior in HS when I was a freshman, but now we are both college kids and hang out a lot together with the other college kids. I have had a mini-crush on him since I was in middle school. Tonight some kid asked us at church if we were dating. I almost died.
Matt laughed and was like "no way", I nervously shrugged, made a thin laugh, and said "yeah, that'd be weird."
Then,w hile pointing at me, the kid said to matt in a joking manner, "oh, well, she had the look in her eyes like she wanted to take the relationship to the next level, buddy."
Matt and I nervously laughed, I said, "haha, very funny."
We walked away and Matt said "Wow, that was soooo awkward."
Ever have that happen to you?


That kid so better have been kidding about "the look in her eyes"

Anxious

I've been feeling restless lately, like I'm in limbo between last-summer-of-high-school and leaving for Asbury. I went running twice today because I felt like there was nothing else to do. At the same time, I don't want to go out or watch movies, I'd rather stay at home. It's hard to decide what to do. Oh, and should I major in sociology or music (maybe something entirely different)?