Happy Little Things

I'm just saying...

2012-01-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

This is Brock Osweiler.

He's the former Quarterback for ASU. Every time I see him, all I can think is that he looks really familiar. Like maybe he was in a movie or something.

Only with less hair. And more....blue.

Basically twins, right?

PS I've never even seen Avatar.

Dear Facebook,

2011-07-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

How did you know what I was looking for?

In case you can't see what it is, I'll help you out.

"Rich Man Needs a Princess

Want a man who can provide for you? Richmen.com only allows men with 100K + income. FREE for women. Click here to join now!"

Perfect. I only have one question.

Does he come with the baby?

That might be a deal breaker.

I'm just saying...

2011-04-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

These aren't the best pictures to represent the hair similarities, but they'll work.

The Biebes stole his hair from Luke Skywalker.

P.S. If you like thinking of Luke Skywalker as he will always remain in film, never ever google Mark Hamill.

P.P.S. When you type in the letters Ju into google, Justin Bieber is the first thing to pop up. Scary.

Today

2011-03-31T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today I rolled up my jeans

and I'm wearing my Red Sox shirt (because it's opening day)

and its 65 degrees in flagstaff

and my toes are painted pink

and I'm wearing my favorite flipflops

and I get to wear my red sunglasses.

It's spring time people, time to celebrate.

you guys...

2011-03-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

I have a new e-mail. It's adriane.goffena@gmail.com. Spread the word.

Unless you know creepy people. Don't tell them.

Also, if you are a creepy person, please don't e-mail me. I probably won't e-mail back.

Unless you are giving out puppies or ice cream or something. I'll be all over that.

P.S.

2011-02-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have really, really awesome friends that are most certainly going to be pretty famous some day.

Example: My friend Jordan who is hilarious on a day to day basis, but also happens to make some of the most entertaining videos ever. You should check her out because her latest video declaring her intentions toward a certain Troy Barnes happened to get her a tweet from the NBC show Community. So seriously, watch and tell your friends.

Do it now.

Just kidding.

2011-02-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I know that like two weeks ago I told you all that I was moving to Utah.

Long story extremely short: That’s not happening anymore.

I really feel like right now my life is heading in a different direction. I’m really, really excited about what God has for me in the future, even though it isn’t exactly what I imagined. Thanks in advance for the support, it means more than you know.

NOT reasons why I’m not doing the internship

1. I’m afraid of moving to Utah.

2. I hate Intervarsity

3. I’m not a Christian

4. I’m disobeying God

5. I don’t believe in college ministry

So yeah. I’m super duper excited. If you would like to know more about this very sudden change in direction I would love to sit down for coffee and explain what I’m doing with my life. Or you can e-mail me or something. You can call, but if I’m being honest I probably won’t answer. I hate the phone. You can even send me a letter. I would probably answer that. And if you still want to give me money, that’s OK too.

If you’re the praying type, (keep) praying that God opens doors for me.

Conversation of the day

2011-02-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

Time: 9:10 am
Place: starbucks on Milton

The scene:
Me waiting in a line 10 cars long to order a hot beverage. The new Britney song comes on. I sing along, but only the chorus, because that's all I know. I start thinking how funny it would be if I had to order with that song in the background. It won't because there are still approximately 8 cars in front of me.

By the time I order, Florence and the Machine are playing. I really like them.

Maybe, I don't know any song except that one. You know The dog days are overrrrrr ...come to think of it, those are all words I know to that song too.

Anyway, I order:

Starbucks girl: Hello and welcome to Starbucks, how are you today miss?

Me: I'm well, and you? (I always do this, but I'm not sure if it's weird or not, also how did she know I was a miss?)

SBG: I'm good (Improper english) thanks for asking. What can I get started for you?

Me: I'll have a venti,extra-hot chai.

SBG: Is that all?

Me: Yup, that'll be all

SBG: We'll have your drink and total at the window. Have a great day!

Me: Thanks!

(Drive up to window)

Starbucks guy: Okaaaaaaay, we have a venti,extra-hot chai and that'll be $.$$

(I hand him my birthday gift card, Thanks Laura!)

SBG: Oh! A birthday gift card. When was it?

Me: December.

SBG: Wow! How old did you turn?

Me: 23.

SBG: Whoa! Are you done with school?

Me: Yeah.

SBG: Ok, well I'll have your Chai out in a minute.

Me: ok.

SBG opens the window and hands me my card and drink.

Me: Thanks so much!

SBG: You're welcome, and Thanks a latte!

I drive off

end scene

Well that was unsuccessful.

2011-01-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

You guys. I might be the worst blogger in the whole world.

I don't even know the last time I updated.
Probably around November.
But maybe you didn't notice.

If you did, and were wondering what I've been up to, here's a list.

-graduated college
-turned 23
-partied with some friends and family for both
-CHRISTMAS
-went to Texas
-got stuck in Texas
-had a great idea for a blog series
-came home from Texas
-didn't follow through on blog series (obviously)
-watched a lot of football
-went to a Quilt show
-saw a Titanic exhibit
-journeyed through the Tucson Gem show (and came home with 6 necklaces)

and now I have some pretty big news. (drum roll please)

I'm moving to Utah.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that a huge part of my life is devoted to college ministry through Intervarsity. I applied and got accepted to be part of an intern team for the next school year learning how to do campus ministry. For this particular internship there are two teams, one in Flagstaff and one in Ogden,Utah.

Since I'm moving, you can probably guess where I'm headed.

Someday I'll post about how I came to the realization that college ministry was what I was called to, and how I feel about Utah, but for now I'll just tell you that a lot of you can expect some sort of support letter to come in the mail in the next couple of months.

If you have any friends or family that are itching to donate to college ministry, you know how to reach me :)

These are my roommates...

2010-12-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Aren't they beautiful?

Berry Scary to Berry Christmas

2010-11-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

I know that its been a reeeaaaalllly long time since I last updated all of you in the blogosphere on my going ons. I shouldn't have to explain that this semester has been, hands down, the most stressful of my entire life. Anyway, to combat this stressfulness, I like to hit up target. I don't always get things, but I love to stroll the aisles, sipping Starbucks and looking at all the beautiful things. This past week, my favorite section to hit up was the Halloween sale section (while I was there a mom was there with her daughter getting leftover costumes for dress up. Brilliant). Anyway, while perusing the shelves of gross candy and skull covered novelties I found this:

Here's an up close look:

Instantly, I knew that I had to have it. Unfortunately, the Halloween stuff was still only 50% off and the wreath was $12. I decided that I shouldn't spend that much on a wreath. A couple days later target lowered Halloween sale prices to 75% off!

My lovely black wreath was only $4. Magnificent.

So I snatched it up and brought it home. My plan is to spray paint it probably silver, gold, or a deep cranberry red.

Any suggestions?

We kick them to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger

2010-10-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

You guys. I don't know if you know or not, but this is week 6 of the fall semester at NAU. For those of you keeping count (I'm talking about you, Mom and Dad) that means approximately 10 weeks until I graduate college.

Since I have 10 weeks of being an official college student, I'm taking full advantage. Those of you who aren't in Flagstaff or aren't on facebook might not know, but Ke$ha is coming to NAU. For a concert. A FREE (technically not free, but courtesy of the new "23 fee" that we pay, this also got us free t-shirts, extended library hours and a shuttle to snowbowl once the slopes open) concert.

I just realized that those of you not in Flagstaff or not on facebook might not actually know who Ke$ha is. Here. I'll help you out:

She likes to wear trash bags.

Anyway, a couple of my friends and I heard that they were adding a couple hundred seats to the floor of the dome, and these tickets would be available at 12:05 on October 4. We debated a bit, went back and forth and then decided that we must have camp out for them. Little did we know, people would be there from 10 am on to get tickets. We're not that crazy. We arrived in line around 8:30 and received our line passes (numbers 513-521) We waited,

at first we were very energetic....

then we practiced our Ke$ha looks

Then we practiced our Ke$ha tattoos.

some of us brought homework

Mostly we were very tired...we're not 18 anymore.

Finally they said that the last line pass had been handed out and we would be lining up soon. (Side note: just saw a tornado warning pop up in the TV. For Flagstaff. I hope this isn't the last thing I ever post on the Internet...) The wonderful ASNAU people lined up 619 college students in numerical order.

Finally we got to the front of the line and...

THEY WERE OUT!

Just kidding. They weren't. We got our tickets. And my friends Jordan and Stephanie won backstage passes. Because Jordan is a rock star and made the coolest video ever. She's a celebrity now.

The concert is this Sunday and we already have a full weekend planned out (ok, that's a lie, we have Saturday night and Sunday planned out):

Saturday night:

-dinner with friends and my friend Jessie's dad

-sleepover at my apartment with Ashley, Stephanie, possibly Morgan and Staci

-prank call Jordan and Jenny M, because they won't be there

-paint our nails (dark with gold dollar signs)

-figure out wardrobe

-movies, snacks, and a general good time

Sunday:

- breakfast

-church

-lunch

-maybe some football?

-get ready!

-go!

Would we have done this if it wasn't free?

Probably not.

White gloves like Michael Jackson

2010-09-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today for one of my classes, we went on a trip to the Pioneer Museum. We had to wear white gloves the whole time. You know, to protect the history.

Things I saw in the Pioneer Museum:
-Jerky made from various wild animals including Ostrich, Alligator, Buffalo
- An Iron Lung (and a story about a woman living in an iron lung for like 60 years and died because of a power outage. Not a fun way to go. Or live for that matter)
- Caboose. I have an odd obsession with cabooses. We got to climb in this one.
- Ghost Cow. Ok, I didn't see the ghost cow, but my classmates and I all heard it.
- Josephine the Mountain Lion's head. A pet of Teddy Roosevelt.
- Rodeo Queen crown
- Not old box of pancake mix (because someday it will be old)
- Several small canisters marked "Do Not Open". The Curator never opened them and doesn't know what's inside. A mystery.
- The Hyde Party luggage

Overall, a fun field trip. If you're in Flagstaff and looking for something to do, check it out, I don't think the gloves are mandatory for the average visitor. And pick me up some jerky.

Sometimes My Life Looks Like This...

2010-09-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

Every first Friday of the month, Downtown Flagstaff hosts an Art Walk. This is by far one of my favorite times to be in Flagstaff. This past Friday, some of my friends and I journeyed the streets of Flagstaff and had a fabulous time enjoying each other and downtown. Pictures courtesy of Ashley, who took my camera and snapped most of these:

Like I said, First Friday is when I love Flagstaff the most.

Yesterday was my second first day of senior year. Today is my second, second first day.

2010-08-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I woke up with HUGE butterflies in my stomach. I felt like it was my first semester of college beginning all over again. I couldn’t figure out what was possibly going on. I’ve been through the first day of college classes 8 times now, I’ve gotten the hang of it, and as my GQ-esque professor said yesterday, I’m a pro. Sunday morning was spent at church with friends, worshipping God as he sat in the room with us, then we all lunched at Wildflower. Sunday night came and went, our annual bonfire was a success and the earth didn’t come to an end. Weird, I thought, that I still felt extremely anxious.

I felt completely rested when I woke up Monday morning. Like I knew what the day was going to hold. I wasn’t a scared freshman, worried about finding classes or learning the bus system. I was having mixed feelings about school. Not excited, not really dreading it, mostly just ready to get it going. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening spending some time with friends, quite time while waiting for my dad and then chatting with my roommates. When it was time for bed, the butterflies were back. I lay there thinking and talking to God, then listening. Lots and lots of listening. Finally, God quieted my thoughts and calmed my nervous spirit so that he could talk. He proclaimed his goodness over me. He reminded me that this year is His and not mine. He reminded me that my life and what I do with it is His and not mine. He reminded me that relationships are His and not mine. He reminded me that I have a choice in all this, I can choose to run or I can choose to let Him carry me.

All that might explain why this verse has been on my heart lately:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today: I place before you life and death, blessings and curse. Choose life so that you and your children may live. Love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. He is life itself, a life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20

I know that we say it all the time, and that it might begin to sound mundane and repetitive, but God is good. I know that this next year in my life is the beginning of something amazing. The works that He is going to do through his church are going to change the world. I am so ready for heaven to come to earth, especially Flagstaff.

I love how it makes me feel. It's like my heart is trying to hug my brain!

2010-08-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

I realize that its been well over a month since the last time I posted. I really have no excuse, because since the last time I wrote, I've been on real summer vacation, no school for the first time since May.

Anyway, I had a really fun post all lined up, but I slacked and didn't take the pictures for it...maybe sometime soon though.

So what have I been up to?
-Visiting my Great Aunt Rita in Yarnell
-Antiquing with my Aunts, Gram, and cousin
-Family weekend with my cousins
-Tucson for sister time
-Flagstaff for Andrew's Birthday
-Phoenix to see Jenny Marie and party for Jon

Today I leave for Flagstaff again. It's prefall time for InterVarsity, a couple days preparing for the new semester and praying for all the incoming freshmen, not to mention all the squealing that will take place with all the reunions. I don't think I've ever been this excited for school to start.

I've also been getting sly remarks, waiting for the blog. No worries. Its coming. Maybe in a couple weeks.

I was going to put a cool picture up, but it appears that I have done a horrible job of documenting my life, as usual.

Newness

2010-07-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

You guys. Starting August 28, I have a new mailing address. You can now reach me at

400 E. McConnell Drive #76

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Send me stuff!

Sometimes My Life Looks Like This:

2010-07-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend one of my best friends came to Flagstaff for a little visit. I've only gotten to see her once this summer since she's was in China for 6 weeks, so this weekend was a treat.

First, we had a little hot tub party. Morgan, Jennifer and Kim

My toes

Then we pulled some pranks...Last night Jessie, Andrew, Morgan, Jennifer and I had a picnic and watched the lovely Flagstaff sunset.

New Things

2010-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

Guess what I got.

If you guessed an iPad, you are severely mistaken.

I got a brand new fedora! In case you didn't know, I have a small obsession with hats. Especially fedora type hats. I have three now. It looks like this:

I mean, its no iPad with touch technology, but still cute nonetheless and summery!

Please excuse the horrendously awful picture of me, I'm really tired so my eyes are a little wonky.

Last weekend my friends returned from China. Since one of my best friends was one of the few that flew home from LAX, a couple friends and I decided to surprise her at the airport. Ashley and I whipped up some signs and headed to the airport to greet our dear friends. I was going to post pictures, but once again I forgot to actually take any.

This week I started a summer school class. Its Russian History post 1917, so its really interesting, but its 2 and a half hours a day 4 days a week, for those of you counting that's 4 weeks of regular class shoved into one week. Gross. Luckily, my professor is from Russia, only here for 4 weeks to teach our class and he looks like a young Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World. Every class he opens by teaching us Russian survival vocabulary (I can say Hello, Goodbye, Hi, Bye, How are you?, Good, and What's your name?) and giving a mini lecture on Russian culture. Today we learned about vodka!

Last night JJ Heller was in Flagstaff for a concert. She is one my favorite artists and is finally making it on to the radio, so it was really cool to hear her live one more time for free before I actually have to pay to see her. Check her out if you haven't heard of her yet.

I'm still reading Daniel and it is haaaaaard. I get really tired of reading it so slowly and actually missed a week, but I'm learning a lot every time I open it up. This week I'm on chapter 4, where Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about the down fall of his kingdom. What I noticed today is that the whole chapter is written like a testimony. You know how I love testimonies...

2010-06-25T15:59:00.001-07:00

I know that I have been quiet for a couple of weeks and I thought that I would have more to blog about, but it turns out that with no job to speak of, not a lot is going on.

I did make some cards though...

This past weekend was Fathers Day:

Names of dad...

And my parents anniversary:

This is the engineering building at NAU where my parents met. On the inside it says thanks for meeting.

And my cousin Amy's graduation from Nursing School (I forgot to take a picture before I sealed the envelope....)

It was also a couple friends birthdays (shout out Kim, Denise and Amanda) but I wasn't efficient enough to get their cards made. Bad friend I know...

This is a hypothetical situation.

2010-06-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

Imagine with me, if you will, a group of friends.

Lets say 4 girls. They've gathered on a lovely Monday night to watch The Bachelorette. They're sitting in a loft eating brownies and ice cream and discussing how much they love/hate Frank and absolutely loath the weatherman. Suddenly, a sound! Its the dryer downstairs. One of the girls jumps up and starts to run down stairs. He feet slip out from under her and bang, bang, bang she falls down the stairs. Her friends yell down to see if she's ok, but since the wind was knocked out of her, all she can muster up is a very manly sounding "Uh Huh". Still gasping for air, she walks to the dryer and changes out the clothes, then makes her way up the stairs to watch the end of the show.

Never mind. I'll draw you a picture:

Ok, so this wasn't so much of a hypothetical situation. I fell down some stairs. It really hurt. I'm still really sore and have bruises everywhere. Add on top of that that I just started Jillian Micheal's shred and it is soooo hard that I was sore before the fall (hahaha...sounded like a Christian joke)

Anyway, I fell down, it was funny. I would rather fall in the privacy of my own home then on the pedway slipping around on ice in front of hundreds of people.

The wind is talking back

2010-06-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

If I could sit on a porch outside with a glass of iced tea everyday for the rest of my life, I think I would.

That’s one of the joys of being in Flagstaff this summer. Since I am currently unemployed, I spend the majority of my days sitting on the little balcony outside my apartment. Sometimes I bring my laptop, like today, but most of the time I bring a book, my bible, my journal, and a glass of iced tea.

I’ve never been one of those people that loved to be outside, but Flagstaff is too beautiful not to enjoy. I love the silence and the calm that comes with sitting out on a day like today. All I can hear is the wind in the trees, a few chirping birds, and a random neighbor coming and going. I never really thought that I experienced God through nature and the outdoors, but these past couple of days we’ve had some really good talks. It’s so easy to listen to him when there is nothing else going on and I’m tucked away in my own little corner.

This summer, I’m reading Daniel one chapter a week, I’m diving in and immersing myself in his story that extends well beyond the lion den. In my little escape this week, God showed me his character in Daniel. At the beginning of the story of Daniel, God blesses the Israelites that were brought to the king with health wisdom and understanding. He gave Daniel a gift of dream interpretation that would be used throughout the rest of his life. With those gifts, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were considered better than anyone else on the king’s staff. The bible says that there was no one equal to them in the entire kingdom.

The blessings that God pours out on me make me unequal to the rest of the kingdom. I know that like Daniel, I have been set apart and called to bigger things. When Daniel was taken to the king, we don’t get to hear much about what he thought. He probably wasn’t a fan, but God put him where He wanted him and that was much more important than where Daniel saw himself.

I’ve been struggling a lot lately about what God wants me to do with my life.

Actually, scratch that.

I know what God wants me to do, he’s making it painstakingly clear to me what I’m made for. I’ve been struggling a lot lately with how to explain to people what God wants me to do with my life. Like Daniel, I’ve been put somewhere that at first I thought I wanted nothing to do with. With each day, God is using me in new ways that I never thought possible.

On my balcony, with no one else around, it’s easy for me to think and pray about. It’s also really easy for me to listen to God. I want to be bold like Daniel. He said no to eating food that was against what God said. I want to say no to plans that aren’t His. On my balcony, it’s easy for me to write a blog telling whoever wants to read about my plans (even though I’m not quite bold enough to actually post it, maybe someday). It’s not so easy face to face.

*I actually wrote this last week but I didn't want to post it so soon after another semi-serious blog, so if I decide to blog weekly about Daniel and there are two this week that why. :)

**Also, sorry about the seriousness lately. I'll try to fill everyone in on my shenanigans later...

I think my cat's been reading my diary.

2010-05-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

Have you ever found an old diary or journal and read through the entries?

Last weekend, I was home for a couple of days and found a prayer journal that I’ve been keeping since I was sixteen.

Reading it was painful. Unfortunately, not the kind of painful that you look back on think about how sweet, innocent and ignorant you were, but the “I can’t believe that I thought this, much less wrote about it in a letter to God”, kind of painful. Afterwards I felt like I should apologize to God for the things I asked him for.

Fortunately, the entire journal wasn’t filled with prayers to make the boys in youth group fall madly in love with my winning personality. It turns out that I’ve had some insightful things to say to God in the past six years.

What was most interesting to me is that for the past six years, the theme of my prayers haven’t changed (The prayers, themselves have, don’t worry, I’ve given up on most of the boys from high school youth group). What I asked God for my sophomore year of high school are the same things that I ask him for today. At camp in Colorado a couple of weeks ago, the topic of the week was the life of Moses (and Joshua). I learned a lot those couple of days, but something that stuck out to me was Moses’ tendency to lie in the mud for the things that he wanted from God. Over and over again, the story of Moses said that he fell onto the ground. After he fell onto the ground, he prayed. Moses and God were so close that he would lay in the mud, waiting for God to listen. Sometimes God provided what Moses wanted and sometimes God told Moses to move on.

It’s okay that my prayers haven’t changed in six years. That’s what I would call laying in the mud. God hasn’t told me to move on yet, so I’m still here, lying in the mud.

My sixteen year old self and my twenty two year old self are different people. I don’t have the same friends, I don’t like the same music, and I don’t even live in the same place. What sixteen year old me didn’t know is that prayers that I begged for then are prayers and desires that God gave me for a reason. What I didn’t know then, is that passion for things some times has to be proved. I’m laying in the mud for things that are important to me. I’ll keep laying there until something changes because, like Moses, my prayer changes the world.

Six years of mud and counting.

Plus you're like the only one in school with a mustache

2010-05-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you have noticed or not, but there is a wave of new facial hair hitting the nation. It used to be just hipsters and, ehem, the older crowd rocking the "stache" but I'm here to tell you that the boys around me are all plagued by awesomely awful facial hair. To help document the hair around me, I put together a look book of mustaches.

Figure 1: Scruff. This look says "I don't care how I look, I spend too much time on my guitar and writing poetry."

Figure 2: Hitler. Little explanation needed.

Figure 3: Circle. This example of facial hair is all about making sure that every hair on the face is connected. Sometimes the hair crawls down into what is called... the neck beard.

Figure 4: Catfish. There are other names for this, like the porno. This mustache is think and creepy.

Figure 5: Faker. I've only seen this mustache in an un-serious manner. Its really gross and conjures up images of a salty sea man that lives in a lighthouse.

Figure 6: Mountain man. Since I live in flagstaff, this is what I see most often. This mustache/beard/side burn combo has to be maintained, otherwise it can creep into a neck beard.

Figure 7: Seriously. This mustache is to be taken very seriously. If it is left untrimmed, it can creep onto the upper lip and into food.

Figure 8: 4 in 1. A phenomenon where the one mustache is actually 4 segments of hair. Two on the top, two on the bottom.

The Mustache. Not just for hipsters.

You can stop posing, this is video

2010-05-20T11:44:00.002-07:00

I was in Colorado last week. You probably didn't know. That's because I didn't take one singe picture. Can you believe that? I even took 2 cameras. 2. That's double what the normal person would take.

I failed at my blog resolution. I'm sorry. There are some posted on facebook though, or my friend and roommate Ashley posted a couple on her blog.

This summer I'm living in Flagstaff. I'm really excited to be around my friends all summer. Except that some of them are leaving the country (China and Mozambique)soon. You should pray for them, I don't want them to contract malaria or SARS. That wouldn't be good. They'll be back though, they always come back.

I haven't had coffee in over a week. I think I'm quitting it for the summer. Maybe. I'm also not going shopping this summer. Hopefully. I mean, I don't need anything, really. My target addiction might haunt me though.

Last night I had a dream. I can't remember it though. It woke me up a couple times. I hate when I can't remember, because then I can't write it down. I think it was probably important.

laundry's done. have a pleasant day. ")

reflecting like a mirror

2010-05-06T22:49:00.003-07:00

As of right this second, I am done with another year of school. All my stuff is packed in my car and I'm ready to peace out bright and early tomorrow morning. As most of you know, this year was supposed to be my senior year, but I have a summer session and one more semester to go before I can officially call myself a college graduate.

Do I wish that I had graduated on time?
Sometimes, but I also know that above my plans are God's. I am really excited about next year and the summer, the people that I'm living with and serving in new ways.

Do I wish that I had chosen a different major?
Sometimes, but I don't know what I would have chosen. A lot of people think that history majors are jokes, that you can't do a single thing with it, which may be true-ish, but I wouldn't trade the things that I am learning for the world. Being a history major has taught me about the world. I get to learn about why people are the way they are, and how the rest of us are impacted by their decisions. I also learned that I love social history, because I love people. I love to see what do and why they do it. I love finding social trends. Most of all, I love the relationships that people form (I could write an entire post on how friendships have changed the world...)

I know that even though college is really hard, God has me here for a specific reason. I know that I didn't finish in 4 years because that is not what God had planned for me. I believe that everything happens in His perfect timing, no matter what I have to say about it. I know that my purpose in the world isn't to make tons of money or get super famous, but to be a light and enjoy the earth that he has created for me.

Sometimes I really like what I do...

2010-04-30T18:27:00.002-07:00

Its Friday night, and I'm doing homework.

"Ugh" you might be thinking, "That sounds awful"

Shows what you know. You probably wouldn't mind doing homework on a Friday night when your homework is THIS:

That's right. Sometimes, when you're a history major, you get to watch movies like Vegas Vacation (it was either that or just plain Vacation) and Monty Python. This week, I'm watching Vegas Vacation for my US West Class. Good times.

In case you all are worried about my un-collegiate like behavior (on account of me doing homework on a Friday night) I'll doing some college-y things later like hanging out at a weird little house in a sketchy neighborhood watching Nightmare on Elm Street, staying up really late, and playing beer pong.

Just kidding about that last one. :)

Dear Steve Sanchez

2010-04-28T10:27:00.005-07:00

Monday morning I woke up and began my daily ritual of checking facebook. Nothing too new, some messages, some wall posts, ect. I scroll down a bit and see that I've been poked (A really annoying, no real purpose thing on facebook for all you non-facebookers). Nothing new, my friend Jon has been poking me continuously for about a year and a half, but wait! This poke is from Steve Sanchez. Hm, I think, I don't know who that is. I looked in my friends and see that indeed, Mr. Sanchez and I are not friends. I go to his profile and see that Stevie and I have one friend in common, a store.

So I deleted the poke, and then, duh duh duuuuuuhhh....this morning it was there again.

Who are you Steve Sanchez?
Why do you keep poking me?

Sorry if this is boring.

2010-04-05T12:35:00.003-07:00

Hello Friends, and welcome to the most stressful week of my life.
Two weeks ago I was walking down the halls of my second home, the LIberal Arts building, and I noticed a bright blue sign declaring that anyone planning on graduating in December of 2010 HAVE to attend a graduation workshop.
"Crap", I thought, "I don't have time to attend that." I looked closer and saw that I could attend two of the four workshops, one on Thursday at 8 am (gross) or 1 friday afternoon at 2pm (also gross, since I was supposed to be heading home 2 hours earlier for Easter).
8am it was. So, I dragged myself out of bed (not really, I haven't been sleeping all that well lately so I was up way early). And printed out my transcript to head to the meeting. All of a sudden (dun, dun, dun) I noticed that my transcript was WRONG. It said BA in History. In case you aren't familiar with a Bachelor of Arts, it requires three semesters of a foreign language. That, for me, will not be possible in order to recieve my diploma next December.

I went to the workshop last thursday,(without a transcript) and proceeded to get really stressed out for no real reason. Later, I had planned to meet with one of my professors to discuss my scedule and such, then go to the history department and get everything sorted out and convince them to let me turn in my application late, since it had to be in by Friday and I couldn't meet with my advisor until the next tuesday.

>>>>Fast forward to later in that afternoon, several "almost" breakdowns<<<<
-I got my transcript fixed, Yay!
-Assured by the department head that if I don't make it into a class through the wait list, I can override it, Yay!
-Scheduled an appointment with my evasive advisor, Yay!
-Signed up for the rest of my summer school classes, Yay!(For fulfilling requirements, boo for summer school.)

Then....dun, dun, dun...
This morning looked up my transcript and found that it wasn't changed to the right major. A BS ed instead of a BS extended.

Oh good.

I spent the rest of the morning worrying and stressing about this tiny flaw. Immediately after class I raced to the history office and luckily walked right into the office of the super helpful aide how assured me that it could be fixed right away.

None of that is really important though. I mean, it is but what I learned is this:
No amount of worrying helped any part of the situation. I knew that before, and that God is in control, but I worry any way. I know that Christians always say that God is in control and that His plans are perfection, but its really hard to put that into action.

God took care of my situation today and reminded me that there is no system flaw that he can't take care of. He can soften people's hearts and overcome anything that is thrown out of left field for me. I love that God cares enough about me that he can make graduating college possible (now if he could just tame the wind, the day would be perfection...just kidding. Sort of...).

Thanks for all your prayers and support this week, its definitely been needed.

P.S. I'm graduating December 17, 2010 (my 23rd birthday) at 10 am in the Dome. Be there :)

2010-03-29T13:48:00.004-07:00

This weekend, I went to Disneyland. If you know me at all, which I hope the people reading this do, you know that I adore Disneyland. Especially when it's with these people:
When I was little, we used to go on big family vacations, my family, my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents would all pile in our cars and drive off somewhere amazing. Disneyland was one of my favorite destinations, and obviously still is. When I was 4 we had one of those great, once in a life time, great vacations. We stayed in these suites, and my dad let us have doughnuts and Pepsi for dinner.
I rode Dumbo with my cousin April and my first memory of the Haunted Mansion was sitting between her and my mom and giggling wildly at the ghosts that sat on my lap. I wore a watermelon outfit, an outfit that I adored, and a floppy hat. Needless to say, I was adorable.
This time, Disneyland with the family was a little different. My sister, cousin, dad and I raced around riding all the fun rides until we met up with everyone else for lunch. I learned a few things on this vacation; I'm incredibly blessed with a family that is generous, loving, hilarious, fun loving, joyful,self sacrificing, and genuine.
As I soared over California (Disney joke,say what...) on my way to meet my family, I thought of all the reasons I love Disneyland...
~When you're at Disneyland, its always summer, or it feels like it anyway.
~You are always a kid. When you go with you're parents, they buy you 1 souvenir, just like when you were a kid. You don't have to worry about anything except finding food at the right time, and waiting in line for the next adventure to start.
~Everything is perfect. The sky is blue, the flowers are in bloom, the streets are clean, and all the shopkeepers wear a smile.
~At Disneyland, its almost more fun to watch other people experience the magic, then to actually experience it yourself.

I love Disneyland. I love my family. I love vacation.

I also love the airport. I know, bazaar.

This IS a Spring Break Post

2010-03-22T20:41:00.010-07:00

Spring Break, yeah! (Sorry in advance for all the spelling mistakes...blogger won't let me run spell check. Argggh.)

Who doesn't love Spring Break? I sure do. It reminds me that life will be good soon, the sun will shine basically everyday, and most importantly; I can wear flip flops every single day without worry that they won't be weather "appropriate". This spring break I, along with my lovely cousins Hayden and Dana, journeyed across the vast desert into Dallas to see the darling Callie that we've all missed so so so much. This living in separate states thing isn't really working out for me.

Anyway, Callie told me that she hadn't posted any pictures of her new Dallas life and I promised her I would act as the temporary mom and post pictures of her place for some family, cough, cough Michelle,cough, cough. Here they are (scroll down for more Dallas fun):
This is Callie's living roomish area. Super cute. Normally the futon doesn't have sheets on it. I guess. I don't know her life. The door on the right leads to...

Not the fireplace. Blogger messed up the pictures. This is Callies fireplace. Adoreable! Hayden was supposed to fancy it up, but slacked a bit.

This is what the door leads to. A cute little balcony. You can see lots from there, cats, line painting men, cars, flocks of death birds, etc.

This is Callie's front door. the last thing she sees when she heads off to....

WORK! This is TODD. It's very fancy and orange and they plan lots of wicked events, like for Victoria Beckham or something.

This is the the end of Spring break segment one, please turn the tape over.

On Friday I loaded up all my junk and headed for Duncan. Hayden and I prepared for our long journey by eating some yummy chicken (shout out Brad), looking at maps and speculating about Dana's date. The next morning, we dragged out of bed at 4:30 and were ready to hit the road at 5. Luckily for us, Callie had mailed us a fun little treat for the car, and Gram and Joann made sure that we were well stocked with junk food and cookies.
This is about 5 hours in and Hayden took over the wheel. (Dana, sorry for posting this. I understand if you write me hate mail.)

Once we got to Texas, we did all sort of fun things. Like see the Dr. Pepper Stadium. (That was Haydens favorite) Its a cool baseball field anyway...

Later that day, we thought we would do something educational and impress our parents. "What historical happened in Dallas?" you might be asking yourself...

THE JFK ASSASSINATION OF COURSE!
So, with the handy-dandy Tom-Tom, Callie plugged in the address and off we went! Then we got a little lost on the freeways, but then, off we went! About ten minutes later, Callie announced to the car that she thought we were going the wrong way, you know, since JFK was shot down town and we were headed in the opposite direction. What do we know, we thought as we continued to follow Tom-Tom's directions. Soon,this is where we ended up:

In case you didn't know, that is not what the grassy knoll looks like. Its more like this:
If you go by the street, you might see an x on the road. You might think that's a water piper or something, but someone might have gotten shot there.

This is the three of us girls in Louisiana's daffodile capital. Hayden didn't want pictures with flowers. This is also where....

Bonnie and Clyde got killed! Way exciting. We went into a museum run by the sweetest old man and his tv "agnus".

This is on the way into Louisiana. We went to Arkansas too, but I couldn't get a picture. Lame.

We also went to the stockyards. We saw Billy Bob's something or other, and also a Texas Longhorn cattle drive! Very Texasy.

The rest of our time in Texas was filled with movie going, fun times, sea monkey watching, and....RIPLEYS BELIEVE IT....OR NOT (with Louis Tussaud's Palace of Wax)!

I have some pictures from the wax museum, but most were pretty blurry. Among them, me with Rocky (get it, Rocky and Adriane...) me with some Communists, a "Communist Party", and me on the Late Show. Good times.

This is NOT a spring break recap (sort of)

2010-03-20T14:49:00.003-07:00

Texas recap is coming. I just need to get up the energy to do it. Today's post is much more entertaining anyway.

Today is Saturday, the last day of real spring break, tomorrow I'll head back up to Flagstaff to work on a online test that's due at midnight. "What did Adriane do today" you might be asking, the loyal readers that you are.

Well, loyal readers, this is what I did:
Slept until 10:30
Showered
Messed around on the Internet
Ate Tacos and drank a Diet Coke
Looked at an Ikea catalog
Made my self coffee and ate some walnut brownies
Thought about how posh it would be if I took my coffee outside with a book
Stayed inside
Messed around on the Internet (Disney website, 1 week, whoohoo!)
Checked blogger
Almost responded to a comment on last weeks post, decided to blog an answer instead.

Last week, Amy asked:
What's wrong with the toe with the ring on it? Why is it purple/black at the base of the nail??? Also, don't tweet. Its gay.

Well, Loyal reader Amy, this is what happened to my nasty toe:
For those of you who don't pay attention to my feet, here's the picture from the previous post:

About 3ish months ago, I was innocently doing work online (facebook) when I decided to move to the couch, for more comfort (and proximity to the tv). I brought my cord along, and as I had my hands full with computer, accessories, and probably something healthy to eat or drink (Diet Dr. Pepper and cheeseits), I dropped the cord with its big black box of death on my toe. That night was a killer every time my sheets touched my toe, I writhed with pain (thought "ouch" and went back to sleep). Now, three months later, my toe (also the toe that's been broken 3 times in the past 3 years) doesn't hurt anymore, but the blackness remains, reminding me of the dangers of computing away from a table of some sort (or without shoes). I live my life in constant fear that one day I'll look down to see no toe nail! Aghhh...the travesty that would be.

Interesting, right? Be careful of your computer cords, readers, someday they might come back to smack you in the foot.

Oh, and I have had numerous (2) inquiries about my tweeting future, and no, I don't have twitter yet, but I'll y'all updated.

To tweet, or not to tweet

2010-03-08T12:30:00.004-07:00

I have a dilemma.

I'm thinking about getting a twitter.

I know. Please don't judge me.

Pros:
I can update as many times as I want without judgement, unlike facebook.

The majority of my friends have it.

I can update from my phone.

I can receive updates from my phone.

It's free (duh) so even if I fail at it, what do I have to lose.

Con's:
One more thing to do.

I swore I would never do it.

People might not follow. (Although I guess people read this, and I'm hoping tweeting will be more entertaining)

I don't want to be a bandwagon jumper.

Oh. P.S. This girl got engaged: OK, major fail. The only picture I have of my BFF and I is when we were in 1st grade. Boo. Anywhoo, Kim and Joel are getting married! Woo Hoo!

P.P.S. I finally got these bad boys:

Gotta get them broken in for Dallas and Disneyland!
Please notice how my feet are ready for spring, and flagstaff keeps forcing winter down my throat.

Ok. And my feet hopefully do not look like that in real life.

Things I learned today

2010-03-03T11:56:00.002-07:00

Skinny ties, skinny pants, and short dressed came into fashion in WWII because it would conserve fabric, thus helping the war effort. (This also aided in the Zoot Suit Riots, big suits=unpatriotic)

If I don't leave my class exactly at 10:20, the line at Einsteins is too long to justify standing in. Thus ruining my perfect breakfast (Yogurt Parfait, cinnamon sugar bagel light cream cheese and hazelnut coffee)

I can't wear my fabulous gold coach "lucky" shoes with a toe ring.

I can keep people from doing homework for over an hour by talking about weird vacations (Worlds first Nuclear Power Plant, The Very Large Array, etc.)

Before we bombed Hiroshima, we bombed New Mexico. My professor says that's because New Mexico doesn't matter.

The NAU football team does not wear knee braces.

The new Tonight Show is not good.

I hate the word "Blogosphere"

Sarah Palin has Texas sized hair.

I would rather wear flip flops than any other shoe.

I need to post more pictures on here

I need to take more pictures.

Things I did this week:

2010-02-17T16:19:00.003-07:00

1. Ate a oatmeal pie for breakfast
2. Ate my new favorite salad: Chipotle Chicken salad from Einsteins (minus the gross cheese and corn)
3. Over explained why I didn't want to be on camera for the school
4. Had to tell a boy that I couldn't buy magazines from him for five minutes
5. Made tiny art ($1 from Target)
6. Drank some Chai and had pumpkin loaf
7. Listened to my friend Jade rap about my roommate
8. Gave my friend Paul wire cutters
9. Changed out of my favorite yellow sweater so that I could wear it Thursday.
10. Made a list of things I did
11. Tried to watch the Olympics, but saw the news instead
12. Turned off the news
13. Found out that our IV Staff, Steven, got hit by a smart car in Denver. (Pray please)
14. Ate $1 Barbecue from Bigfoot. Delish
15. Took three tests
16. Got caught up on my friend Brian's Blog
17. Pretended to take pictures with my fancy camera
18. Went to Target to scoop up after Valentine's Day leftovers
19. Took an innocence test.
20. Made some Arizona Cards for my cousins in Texas and Alaska (They'll be there soon!)

Arizona

2010-02-14T19:39:00.003-07:00

This year instead of Valentines Day Cards, I sent my sisters and parents some Statehood day cards. They look like this:
Cute huh. The counties were a little hard to put together, but I think they turned out well.

Ready for some Arizona Trivia??
1. What is the capital of Arizona? ____________________________
2. What country borders Arizona on the south? ___________________________
3. What two states border Arizona on the west? _________________________ and _________________________
4. What state borders Arizona on the north? _______________________
5. What state borders Arizona on the east? _______________________
6. What state just touches Arizona on its northeast corner (at the famous "Four Corners")? ___________________________
7. What river forms most of the western border of Arizona? ______________________
8. What is the name of the National Park in northwestern Arizona? ______________________________________________
9. What is the name of the National Park in southeastern Arizona? It is named for a type of cactus. ______________________________________________
10. London Bridge was dismantled in England and shipped to a city in western Arizona near the California border, where this famous bridge now stands. What is the name of this city? ______________________

Funny thing: Check out my sister's blog post for today.

The times they are a-changin’

2010-02-06T17:18:00.003-07:00

I love ketchup. In fact, I really only like french fries so I can eat the ketchup. This week, ketchup made headlines. Our favorite ketchup has undergone a transformation. No longer is this the ketchup packet that you'll get at your fast food restaurant of choice:
Instead this:

So you can "sqeeze or dip" they say. What will they come up with next?

I don't like it one bit.

Ketchup trivia: How many single-serve packets of Heinz Ketchup are sold around the world each year?

Blah, blah blah, poor me.

2010-02-05T12:39:00.005-07:00

This has been a bad week. I could tell you multiple stories of why, but just know that its been bad. Yesterday I had a meeting to discuss Release 2010 and in walked my friend and mentor Ashley with this:
Beautiful flowers and a RedBull.

I have great friends (and family)

2010-02-03T17:37:00.001-07:00

God is my shepherd
I won't be wanting
I won't be wanting
He makes me rest
In fields of green
With quite streams
Even though I walk
Through the valley
Of death and dying
I will not fear
'Cause you are with me
You are with me

Your shepherd staff
Comforts me
You are my feast
In the presence of enemy
Surely goodness
Follow me
Follow me
In the house of God, forever

God is my shepherd
I won't be wanting
I won't be wanting
He makes me rest
In fields of green
Like quiet streams
Even while I'm walking
Through the valley
Of death and dying
I will not fear
'Cause you are with me
You're always with me

Your shepherd staff
Comforts me
You are my feast
In the presence of enemy
Surely goodness
Follow me
Follow me
In the house of God, forever
In the house of God, forever
In the house of God, forever

It's week four of school and I'm tired. Strangely, school isn't the thing that is wearing me out, its a strange relief. I'm excited for it again. I'm excited about what comes next (blog on that later).
This week has been trying. My faith is definitely being tested. I'm weak. I love this song. It reminds me that God is the one fighting, not me. He lets me rest while he fights for me. He takes care while the enemy stands and watches. God is good.

P.S. Click on the song :)

Oh the weather outside is weather....

2010-01-26T12:41:00.005-07:00

Some of you may have heard the sad news.

Bookmans in Flagstaff is closed. I guess they don't really have a choice, considering it looks like this:

Sad day. We got like 5 feet of snow last week with more to come sometime this week. Bookmans wasn't the only building torn up, Joann's looks like this:
.
Too bad you can't see just how bad it is from these pictures. Can you even imagine all those books going to waste!? On the other hand, maybe they'll have a sale or something...
Also the skating rink collapsed. I don't have a a picture for that one. Sorry.

Oh! One small story about the snow. Since buildings are collapsing left and right up here, the city passed a new ordinance that said that no one could be open for business if there was an excessive amount of snow on their roofs, especially flat roofs (Why are there flat roofs here? People know that it snows...). Anyway, My lovely roommie Jennifer and I were on our way to Target the other day (driving) and we saw some girls walking. The snow people were busy clearing the roof of target (they get paid SO MUCH for that job) and just hurling snow over the side. As the girls were walking, snow just kept hitting them in the head. They would look up, see no one and keep walking, then more snow would rain down. Bahahahaha. Could have kept me entertained for hours.

In other news, can you imagine any better way to spend a snow day than this?

Thursday school was cancelled, so a bunch of us trekked over to my lovely friend Alissa's house and spent the day cooking, eating and watching Tyler Perry movies. Goodness.

Crafty...

2010-01-23T15:30:00.004-07:00

Today is my friend Stephanie's birthday. Tonight we're having a surprise party for her and I decided to make a card. What started out as a simple thing began to take hours. Literally. So here it is I modified a design I found here:

This is the envelope, obviously, I left the ribbon slacked a bit so the tab can be tucked in

This was the front of the envelope, but I thought it was lacking something....

An "S"! 27 sketches of S's later I got one that looked OK. I outlined it with a thin black marker and smudged it with my finger.

Here's the card, like I said, I got the design idea from a blog but changed it a little.

Up close of the cupcakes. I cut mine out and added a little foam to make them pop up and added the same paisley to the middle so it looked like a window. Oh, and I switched the drawn on cherries for some sparkly glue.

Have a good day!

No mo Poe...

2010-01-19T12:00:00.003-07:00

Friends,
I regret to inform you that the Poe toaster never came.

Whats that? You don't know about that? Well friends, let me explain.

As obsessed as my dear sister Erin is with Ben Franklin, I am, with Edgar Allan Poe. I know, so hip of me. I've even been to the Poe museum in Richmond.

Today my friends, is Poe's birthday. In honor, I'll drink out of my raven cups and read Anabelle Lee (Its my favorite, you know). I used to have raven tattoos, I'm not sure where they went... Others choose to honor Poe's birthday in other ways.

For more than 60 years a mysterious person has been leaving 3 roses and a half bottle of cognac at Poe's grave in Baltimore. For years the only glimpse of him was through a fence or as he was leaving. Now people stake out the cemetery to watch the mystery man come, but this year he never came.

Happy 201 birthday Poe.

2010-01-18T17:11:00.004-07:00

I pray for love, like Yours for me
I pray for love, like Yours for me

I pray for love, more and more
That I might have, love like Yours
A love that shines, upon the earth
A love that fills the ocean floors

I pray for peace, like rivers flow
I pray for joy, like fountains glow
Faith that moves the mountains to seas
But most of all

I pray for love, like Yours for me
I pray for love, like Yours for me

I pray for love, more and more
That I might have, love like Yours
A love that goes, from east to west
A love that has no height or depth

I pray for peace, like rivers flow
I pray for joy, like fountains glow
Faith that moves the mountains to seas
But most of all

I pray for love, like Yours for me
I pray for love, like Yours for me

I pray for peace, like rivers flow
I pray for joy, like fountains glow
I pray for truth and grace over me
I pray for strength, this hope I believe
A faith that moves mountains to seas
But most of all...

I pray for love, like Yours for me
I pray for love, like Yours for me.

I wish that I could love like Jesus loves me. I don't though. This semester, IV is partnering with World Vision to raise awareness of the effects of AIDS. Why am I a part of it?

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress... (James 1:27)

When I watch movies like Invisible Children or clips on youtube about world injustice or disease I don't cry. If those people die, it doesn't affect me. If Jesus didn't tell me to care about these things, I probably wouldn't. Jesus plainly tells us to take care of the orphans and widows, in fact, James says that's what True Religion is!
I don't know any orphans.
Luckily for me IV is devoted to bringing awareness to issues like sexual slavery, human trafficking, and the aids epidemic to the attention of people like me. The ones who don't care. I'm in awe of people that are passionate about this because they actually care. The more I spend time with those people, and because this is the third year running of our Release efforts, I can say that I do care. I care because God cares. I care, because people don't care enough. I care, because right now, all I can do is care. I can't go to Africa, I can barely give money. I pray and I can care. It's the least I can do.
Watch me

2010-01-11T12:51:00.002-07:00

I know that my blog has been, shall we say, bearish, this last month, but can you blame me?

Yes, yes you can. It's not like I have an actual life or anything.

Now that my winter break is donzo (Laguna Beach reference), I'll have much more time to update. Just kidding. I probably won't. I'm about as busy this semester as I have been, but there are tons of new things to tell you all about.

First up:
Things about the First Day of School that terrify me:
1. Accidentally sleeping through my alarm and missing my class. This has never happened to me on the first day of school, but none the less, I check my alarm a couple times before going to sleep.

2. Walking in on the wrong class, resulting in my having to walk out. I've never actually done this, but I've been in a class where it happens. Horrible. Everyone chuckles as they leave about the idiot who didn't check their schedule. Because of this, I write every detail of my class in the following in both my notebook and planner. I also have printed schedule and check it a dozen times before actually entering the class.

3. Having squeaky shoes. I know, ridiculous, but my worst nightmare is having squeaky shoes and having to walk into class with them. Parents: consider this when buying new shoes for your kids. They can sometimes draw unwanted attention. I know this from experience, but that's another story.

4. Sitting in the front. I loath sitting in the front. I know what they tell you about the T zone and how those people are more successful, blah, blah, blah. What I notice about those people is that they have to talk more. Which leads me to....

5. Having to talk in class. Today in my first class, when our teacher took roll, we had to tell him where we were from and the historical significance of it. (luckily for me I had just visited Fort Verde, Montezuma's Castle, and Montezuma's Well before coming back to school, so I was able to sound somewhat intelligent, also I'm really glad that I'm from somewhere where things actually happened [Thanks Mom and Dad!]) Anyway, I hate talking in class. Most of the time, I really have nothing to say so I would rather just sit in my corner and take notes.

6. The "what to wear" question. I feel that the first day of school sets all sorts of precedents for the rest of the semester. For example; if you wear jeans and a t-shirt to class the first day, that's fine. A few weeks go by and you've basically been wearing the same thing when suddenly you decide to wear, say.... a dress. Now, in my mind everyone notices that you suddenly wear a dress and think that its super weird. Also drawing unwanted attention. Bad.

7. Having no pen. This has only happened to me once, but it was a terrible experience. Normally I have like 20 pens, because I throw in about 15 before I leave for class.

8. Being late. As you can probably tell, I hate extra attention and being late is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Due to this phobia, I am 20 minutes early to every class. (This leaves me time to recheck my schedule and make sure I'm prepared)

There you have it. My first day of school phobias. Luckily, my classes are done for the day and I survived. Unfortunately for me, college normally has two first days, the Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and the Tuesday, Thursday. Plus, this semester I have a class that only meets on Wednesdays. One first day down, two more to go.

22 facts about my 22nd birthday

2009-12-17T09:21:00.003-07:00

Today is my 22 birthday. In honor of that and because of all my free time, I'll make a little list about my birthday.

1. Today is December 17, 2009. 22 years ago, I was born in Flagstaff, Az. Today is my birthday because their was a blizzard warning for the days after the 17 and the doctor needed to Christmas shop on the 16.

2. I share my birthday with William Floyd (He signed the Declaration of Independence), Cal Ripken Sr., Bill Pullman, Duff Goldman (from Ace of Cakes), Chase Utley, and my cousin Callie.

3. I have gotten a lot of christmas items for birthday presents over the years.

4. Last year I was sung Happy Birthday only twice. Once in Italian while in a gondola.

5. When I was in Kindergarten, I had the chickenpox on my birthday.

6. In first grade, I got a new cabbage patch doll (with lifelike hair) for my birthday. I loved her. The next week we went to Duncan and Dana loved her too. I had to hide my doll from her. Then we spilled orange juice in her hair.

7. One time I had a tea party birthday and my sister made me a tea pot cake.

8. In 5th grade my birthday had to be cancelled because my dad was in the hospital with a staph infection and we had to pick up Geleene from college.

9. When Callie and I turned 17 we had a big party in Tucson. We ate eegees.

10. I have worn tiara's at two of my birthday's.

11. Today I'm wearing my lucky gold Coach shoes. Nothing lucky has actually happened in them, besides that they were free. (Thanks Stephanie and Ashley!)

12. For the past 4 years, I've woken up at 11:55 pm on Decemeber 16. I think happy birthday to myself, then go back to sleep.

13. I was supposed to be at Disneyland today. I'm clearly not.

14. When I was little, I hated having my birthday in the winter becasue I could never have a pool party. Now I love it because winter is so much more birthday-ee.

15. I may or may not be having birthday lunch with my mom at Sweet Grace. Yum.

16. Once, on my birthday I went to Olive Garden with my parents, Oma, aunt, uncle and cousin. The waitress spilled a whole tray of drinks on my mom so we got my birthday cake free.

17. My freshman year roommates birthday is June 17. Happy half birthday Denise.

18. I might take a walk today and take pictures. I might not. It's my birthday, I'll do what I want. (Except go to Disneyland)

19. My sister is coming tonight. My birthday present from her isn't wrapped yet so I cant have it until Friday.

20. I got my birthday presents from my parents a month ago.

21. In high school, instead of a birthday cake, I requested cream puffs.

22. I'm 22.

Happy Birthday to me. And here's to 22 more.

2009-12-07T13:31:00.003-07:00

For the rest of you...

It's snowing like crazy right now. Probably at least a foot of snow. We got a blizzard warning thats in effect from noon today until like 2 tomorrow. NAU is shut down due to extreme weather, its finals week so that meens that grades are posted as is, rescheduled for the spring, or like all of my teachers have chosen, done online. Welcome to flagstaff, winter.

2009-12-06T16:41:00.002-07:00

Like the new background?
I figured it was time to get into the Christmas spirit, and what better way than changing my blog background. Drastic, I know. Anyway, this past Thursday, my two roommates,myself and two of our darling friends watched the NAU production of A Christmas Carol. Needless to say it was nothing like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhjTHlui2ws

No singing puppets at NAU...

While I was looking for that, I found this little gem....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVB4kUK6UY8
Check it out. Super funny.

Also, if you haven't yet, this article

Have a good week!

2009-11-24T14:43:00.003-07:00

Remember the twenty dollar project? It turns out that it was way more far reaching then just NAU or Flagstaff. After this article, about twenty schools across the country are following our lead. How awesome is that?

Next up for our chapter is Release 2010. For the past two years, NAU IV has put on a campus wide event that brought awareness to global issues, specifically the Sex Trade industry. Our goals were to release sex slaves by raising funds and awareness, release our friends and campus from spiritual bondage and to release ourselves from apathy. We worked with some really great organizations, IJM and a local mission in Phoenix. Did you guys know that the southwest is the number six hot spot for human sex trafficking in the world? Scary. Anyway, this year we decided to focus on something new. This February, NAU InterVarsity, along with other campus groups, is partnering with World Vision in the fight against AIDS. We won't be raising funds for AIDS research, but rather to help take care of the thousands of children orphaned by AIDS everyday. What I'm asking you, lovely blog readers is a couple of things: 1. Pray for NAU and InterVarsity. We want this to be an effective way to show people that Christians care about global issues too, and not only that but Jesus does too. Please be praying for the kids that we are helping and the next two things on this. 2. Send us Money. Sorry for this, but it costs a lot to put this on. We need everything that we can get our hands on. We're going around to churches in the area and the other campus clubs to raise money so that every penny that we raise during the week will go directly to World Vision. Finally, 3. We want your donations. More pleas for money, but this is the last time. If you are feeling led to donate, do it. If not through NAU IV, then through the World Vision website.
Ok. soapbox over. Regardless of what you end up doing, please, please be praying for us. If you need specifics, e-mail me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

framed

2009-11-18T01:05:00.003-07:00

Above my desk I have a bulletin board. Its primary usage of holding notes and things doesn't really work for me. I mostly use it to hold pictures. There are pictures of my and my friends, my family, cool places, and some of my incredibly cute cousins. In high school when I was on year book staff, we had to learn the basics of cropping pictures and how to take them. Now that I'm in college, my super rad friend Ashley is teaching a few of us photography (she's super talented). Anyway, a few weeks ago my camera card got erased so I cant show you all of them but here are a few from the past two weeks: The first few are from an assignment that was about capturing creation, the last one was for an ad.

2009-10-27T19:33:00.003-07:00

On Friday I got a sunburn while carving my super cool pumpkin.

On Saturday, I didn't even need a hoodie at night.

On Monday, I used my air conditioning in the car.

Right now it's snowing.

I'm still wearing my flipflops.

*sorry for the stolen picture Jennifer, my card got erased...

2009-10-26T14:27:00.002-07:00

I realized that I haven't blogged in a while. Not because I don't have anything to write about, and not only because I didn't have much time, but I just didn't feel like it. When you are a history major like myself, when you spend all your waking hours writing papers the last thing that you want to do is write some more. Since life has settled down for a bit (ten minutes) I can update.

Last weekend 4 of my friends and I road tripped to Disneyland to visit some of our lovely friends who are doing the Disney Internship that NAU offers. We shoved the 5 of us into my car on Friday and off we went! Friday night we got dinner with our frinds at the Garden Walk across the street from Disneyland then drove to our hotel ($85 for two nights!) The next morning, we got up bright and early, enjoyed our complimentary breakfast and headed over to our friends apartment. With them in our car, we got free parking and our day was set! Yay Disneyland! Oh, they also got us park hopper tickets so we could play all day for free! Best. Trip. Ever. Anyway, halloween at Disneyland is something that I have never done before so I was super pumped to check out all the decorated rides, as well as some new ones, AND eat some of my favorite things (Dole Whip Float, Mint Julep, bread bowl, etc).

This weekend was homecoming at NAU. Most people really like family weekend, but Homecoming is something that my family has done for as long as I can remember. This year my mom, dad, sister Erin, cousins Amy and Hayden came up. At the game we met up with some friends from church, the afterwards ate dinner at BigFoot BBQ (my favorite) and headed home. Good weekend.

Today I came back up to Flagstaff, Mondays are normally my sabbath, but I haven't really had one in a while. In the car on the way up, I put in one of my favorite worship cd's and worshipped loudly. God has blessed me in so many ways and given me so many opportunities that lots of people don't get. Today God let me know a few things, first of all, not to worry about what I'm going to do the rest of my life. He is in complete control and what he has is better than anything that I or anyone else has. The best way that I can serve him is by waiting on him and letting him be in control. The more I am like him, the more his passions for my life will become my passions for my life. What more do I want besides a passionate life?

2009-10-12T13:43:00.002-07:00

Mmmm. Don't you just love a good weekend? I sure do, and this one was no disappointment. On Friday afternoon, about 100 of my closest friends and I packed up our cars and headed to Heber for a weekend of fellowship and worship with our friends from UA. Let me just let you in on how awesome this weekend was before it even started. Steven, our staff was supposed to be the speaker for the weekend. About 3 weeks ago, he got shingles. Gross right? Also the doctor told him it could take from 6 weeks to 6 months to be completely healed. Bummer. Luckily, God had some pretty awesome things to say through Steven and healed him just in time for this weekend. So good.
Things that were good this weekend:
- learning about the life of David and how to leave a legacy
- awesome worship
- Nice weather
- Pretty rad friends
- Bananagrams
- Dutch Blitz
- Dance Party
- Bible Study bonding <3

So good.

This Weekend: Disneyland
Next Weekend: Pumpkin carving party/Homecoming/parents/sister/cousins/other extended family?

That last one was an invite if you didn't know...

It's done.

2009-10-06T20:54:00.003-07:00

I used my twenty. I hope that it is used well. I prayed A LOT before I spent it. A couple nights ago, God gave me a name. A name of a good friend that is going through some hard times. Tonight I wrote a letter, stuck the twenty in and sealed it. In a while I'm going to head to the mailbox and send it away. My friend is going to be mad. They are going to think that someone else deserves it more. She's wrong. That twenty dollar bill was printed for her to use. I just know it.

Thanks for all your ideas everyone. I really loved them all but when it came down to it, I knew that this was what I was supposed to do.

2009-09-30T13:58:00.002-07:00

Oh boy. I have exactly 1 week and 3 days before my time is up to spend my twenty dollars.
Have I done it? No.
Do I have any ideas? Lots.
Is this as easy as I thought it would be? No way.

So I loved all the ideas that you all threw my way, but after spending A LOT of time asking God about it, I can't really come up with anything. I never realized what a burden it is to spend twenty dollars for Jesus. I could give it away in offering. I could take a friend out for coffee for a week. I could donate to a cause. None of these things seem big enough. I think that might be my problem. God definitely works in huge ways, he parts seas and raises people from the dead, but he works in little ways too. He can, for sure, use my twenty dollars to expand his kingdom.

2009-09-21T15:05:00.002-07:00

We need to talk. I asked for help and I got 1 response. Thats right, ONE. Now, I'm calling you out. PLEASE help me decide how to use my twenty dollars. Please.
(Cough, Cough, FAMILY! Cough,Cough)

The 20 Dollar Project

2009-09-15T22:19:00.002-07:00

You may recognize this:

Here's the story. InterVarsity (The Campus Ministry I'm involved in) started this thing called movement. Its three times during the semester and what we do is put the things that we've been learning on Thursday nights into action (movement...get it?) Anyway, Monday was our very first one. The staff has been very secretive about this meeting since before school even started, so you can imagine how excited I was when they asked me to help them pull some stuff together. What I had to do was:
1. Check my mail
2: Deposit Checks
3. Withdraw checks in $20 bills

Check. Check. Check. Next up was our meeting. As people entered the room they saw envelopes hanging from string. The staff explained to us what the meeting was going to be, then what we were going to be doing. We talked about the parable of the talents (Matthew 25: 14-29);

"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

Then we were told to each grab an envelope and get into our small groups. After that we talked about what Jesus was telling us to do, and how it related to the IV mission statement, especially the transform lives part. Then we were told to open our envelopes. Inside was twenty dollars in monopoly money. In our small groups we talked about what we would each do to transform a life with $20. (I bet you are all catching on now) Then the staff told us that we would be getting actual twenties. The only catch was this:
We had to spend our twenty dollars on other people. It needs to transform lives. We can combine money, and we have to blog about what we're doing on the blog set up for our very own project.

Also it has to be done by October 9. That's right 1 month.

So family, friends, random strangers, how do you think that a bunch of college kids could change the world with twenty dollars apiece. Seriously. I want input. I have already disabled comment blocking and making people log in, so I expect commenting. Go on. Do it.

2009-09-02T12:18:00.003-07:00

Tonight is my first bible study. I'm stoked. Last night my wonderful Co and I went and surprised the girls that had signed up with some hand made cards that I had laying around. It was really good to see them and be able to introduce ourselves. They all seem really excited. It's going to be good. Plus we're studying Psalms. Even better.

In other news, I am obsessed with this pen:

It is amazing. It writes like a sharpie, but doesn't bleed through paper. My notes look fantastic. One of my friends actually said to me. That pen will be beautiful in your planner. It was like she was reading my mind. Go out and pick yourself up one. You won't regret it.

Also, I saw a police car this morning. Not just any police car, but a Smart Police Car. I can't find a picture of it on google, but it doesn't look like it would be much fun in the snow. If you are bored, please google image search smart cars. Then look for the SUV one and the monster truck one. Good times.

2009-08-30T18:55:00.002-07:00

Its good to be back. This past week was my first week back at school, and let me tell you how good it is to be back amung the insanity that is Flagstaff. While I could tell you how my classes were, or how crazy the people at this school are, I would rather tell you about these people: oh...well scratch that. I was going to put a picture up but I can't find a good one. Anyway, these people are my school year family. We have tons of fun together.

This week was the first IV of the semester. One of our new staffers, Theo, talked and it was good. Really good. 14 people had their lives changed forever. Awesome. College ministry is like nothing else. I love it. People that come to college group aren't doing it for any reason other than that they want to know God better. For the first time in a lot of their lives, they are taking complete control over their lives and are choosing to spend time with other Christians when they could be doing dozens of other things. Blah, blah, blah. Sorry about that. Anyway, what this blog is really about is to introduce you to some of my friends via the blog world.

Bethany

Bethany is one of the first people that I met at IV my freshman year. She graduated last year and is headed out on the world race (which you should all check out)

Ashley

Ashley hasn't blogged in a while, but give her a break, she was in China for six weeks on a mission trip with some kids from NAU, UA and Johns Hopkins. When she's not being amazingly witty (thanks to Gilmore Girls) she is on staff with InterVarsity, making sure things run.

Alissa

Alissa is one of my favorite people in the world. I first met her on facebook when she was living in California and getting ready to move to NAU for her freshman year. Last year she was in my bible study and this year she is my co-leader. We are incredibly different, but are perfect for each other.

Stephanie Fleenor

Stephanie Fleenor is another one of the first people I ever met at IV. She grabbed my head to examine my white streak. She also loves to spell my name. She's crazy but I love her.

Stephanie Barber

I love this girl. I'm obsessed with her blog. She's so talented and crafty. She's one of those people that you just want to be friends with. Plus she updates all the time. Like 3 times a week. Sick.

I have other friends with blogs, but unfortunately they dont update. EVER. So you can't get to know them.

Next week: Things you only see in flagstaff. :)

Good night and have a pleasant week.

2009-08-17T15:18:00.003-07:00

It turns out it's a lot less fun moving back to school when its your fourth year doing it. Hardly any new stuff at all. Only a new laundry basket and about 42 wash cloths that came all tied up in a fancy little bow. Beautiful.

I wish my dorm room would look like this: (Complete with the jumping girl, She looks fun)

Needless to say, it doesn't.

I'm getting two new wonderful roommates this year,

This is at a NAU football game. I can't wait to live with these two girlies, they are always up for just about anything. :)

Oh! I almost forgot, we will have an air hockey table in our room this year. (Thanks Geleene) I think that this will audtomatically make us have the coolest room in the building, maybe all of North campus.

2009-08-05T13:57:00.003-07:00

Two posts in one day. So unlike me but I thought that I would share some pictures from our little vacation in Ouray.

This is our little house. Tiny, but adorably decorated in Victorian style, complete with the best bathtub in the whole world. The view's not bad either.

Doubleish rainbow as viewed from the front porch. It rains pretty much everyday, but my favorite thing to do is curl up in a chair on the front porch with a book and a blanket.

Favorite restaurant. This is the ceiling. It will cost you a dollar to see how they get the money up there.

Gram and Joann on the Durango Silverton Railroad. They took our tickets back, don't tell.

The train man on the train. Its about a three hour ride through the mountains. They claim you can see bears and moose, I saw nothing.

2009-08-05T13:51:00.002-07:00

This summer I've been feeling really crafty. I started out with great plans to do some painting, make a quilt, learn to sew, make and send cards, etc, etc... None of that has been accomplished. Sigh. More summer fail. A couple of weeks ago I saw a really cute idea for a scarf on marthastewart.com . it looked nothing like this:
It mainly just looked like some scraps all tied up together. Fail. I have been making some cards, and today I recovered a journal that I might give away.

So much for good intentions. :)

2009-07-25T11:02:00.002-07:00

Don't you just love my header? I sure do. What I love most about it, is that its a real picture, a real person carved that into a brick, and real people walk past it everyday. My friend Jennifer found it in downtown Flagstaff, she says that she likes to think that the person that carved it was thinking of God. I think that she is amazingly right. For His love we are grateful. For love we are grateful.
The person that created that was thinking of God's love, whether they knew it or not. In the bible, we are reminded over and over again that God is Love. So wouldn't it make since for love to be God too?

Love is such an amazing thing for God to show us. What is more universal than love? Everyone, at one time or another has felt love. In one of the books that I've been reading, the author talks about how every time we feel love or see love we are experiencing God. God wants to show us how much he loves us. Some of us realize that love is a gift of God, others feel it but don't know where it comes from. I love that God doesn't withhold love from people that don't know him. He wants them to experience his love, even if they don't know who its from. What a loving God I love!

Go out and love on somebody :)

Christmas Shopping....check

2009-07-16T17:35:00.001-07:00

Guess what I saw on TV today. The perfect Christmas present for anyone on your list (and mine)...the OBAMA CHIA! Who could resist this?

I think I've shopped for everyone.

2009-07-09T20:49:00.004-07:00

Five days late, but here it is: my 4th of July recap.

Last Thursday, after hearing that Amy ditched my for Alaska (not that I can really blame her:)) Dana and Callie convinced me to drive to Duncan. So approximately 1 hour later I hit the road for a 5ish hour road trip. I normally hate driving, but going places by myself has always been fun for me. The road to Duncan is always filled with lots of memories, like the Strawberry lodge that our family has stopped at for breakfast for as long as I can remember and the Honey stand in Pine that Gram and Grandaddy one time bought Callie, Hayden, Dana and I honey sticks from on the way back to Duncan. There's also Roosevelt lake, my favorite part of the trip and the Dam road (haha).

When I was little we used to go to Duncan alot for the 4th of July, not only was it a holiday, but also Gram and Granddaddy's anniversary. There used be a day full of fun, starting with the parade (often with us kids riding on a firetruck or something, then donkey basketball and bathtub races, then ending the night with fireworks. After that we would go back to Grams and have sparklers (everyone else, not me. I hated them until I was about 10). When I was older, we would go to the line store and buy our own fireworks to shoot off in various places in New Mexico, always with Hayden and a super-soaker nearby.

This year was alot different, but still lots of fun. we spent lots of time with some kids from church and then had a yummy dinner at the new steakhouse in Safford. After that Callie, Dana, and I saw a movie, then crashed Haydens date. (We owe him for sure). The fourth started out with the parade, then lunch at Grams. Later that day Hayden took Dana and I to the Line and we (he) bought us a bunch of fireworks to shoot off later. Then we headed to the fireworks show that the town put on. Hayden and Brad helped, then while we waited for Hayden to finish up there, some of us went to the street dance. After that a bunch of us went out to the airstrip in New Mexico to shoot off our illegal fireworks. The next day was Sunday, and church and lunch at Grams. Homemade fried chicken and other yummy stuff (Homemade Ice Cream). After church that night we all headed out to Mud Springs for some games at the Vaughn's house. After some Nertz and Cranium (three blonde's and a blond streak domination) we headed back home. The next day was Monday and time for me to drive back home.
All in all it was a really great trip. Lots of memories made and remembered. The fourth of July is always a fun holiday and especially in Duncan, where it takes me back to being a kid.

Taping firewors together to make a super firework

Town Fireworks

Our illegal collection

The Line store: only Arizona Cars

Hayden driving a firetruck in the parade

2009-06-30T10:40:00.003-07:00

In April I had a really great idea to start up a list of books that I wanted to read this summer. I had some that I wanted to read and then I had some of my friends recommend some books to. Here's what I ended up with ( the unedited list):
The Left Behind series [read it...or at least most of it, I think the 9th book is the last one that I finished]
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
Gulliver's Travels
For the Time Being by Annie Dillard
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [read it]
The Who Begot Who's of the Bible
History of the World in 6 Glasses
Chocolate Fever
The God of Small Things [read it]
Are You My Mother?[read it, obviously]
The Secret life of Bees
5 People You Meet in Heaven
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Woman in White
C.S. Lewis ( No specific book, just C.S. Lewis.)[read some]
Edgar Allen Poe (Again, nothing specific)[read lots]
Robert Frost (Yet again...)
Robinson Crusoe
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair [I think I've read this]
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
The God Of Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Nicholas Sparks
Tipping Point
Blink
Outliers
Freakonomics
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
Empire Falls
Another Country
Reason For God
The Giver by Lois Lowry
What's So Amazing About Grace?

Yeah...so the books that I have read on this list I had been through before. So what have I been reading, you ask?

This:

Irresistible Revolution has been recommended to me by a couple people over the past two years. So far it's really good.

This is a book by Rob Bell. He's really great. Despite the title (Sex God), it's all about God and what it means to be a human seeking after him. He also wrote Velvet Elvis and a book called Jesus wants to Save Christians. He also does a series of short movies called Nooma. I highly recommend all of it.

Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism. This is a book that my dad gave me a couple of months ago. I started it, but got busy and recently restarted it. P.J. O'Rourke is a really funny journalist and a little Dave Barry-ish.

Every year, NAU has a book for the incoming freshman to read, then at welcome week they all get together to talk about it together. My Year it was a book called The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Nighttime. This past year it was A Long Way Gone. The book is really fascinating and sheds light in the practice of Child Armies. In November Ishmael Beah came to NAU to guest lecture and it was awesome.

There you have it. What I did on my summer vacation. Enriching my mind everyday. Let me know if you have any books that I can borrow or that I should read. And you can always borrow mine :)

Vacation, all I ever wanted.

2009-06-13T11:16:00.009-07:00

Flashback to Spring break 2009, Adriane and Erin sitting in Erins room in Tucson watching the Food Network. All of a sudden, a segment comes on about an ice cream festival in Boston.

Erin: That looks fun. I've never been to Boston, and I love Ice Cream (or something like that)
Adriane: Me either. We should probably go to that.
Erin: OK. I'll Text Geleene.
Adriane: I'll see if Callie wants to go.

There you go, thats how it started.

Now for the real fun. Boston was fantastic. I'm pretty sure that I could live there. Since Erin already did the recap of Boston on her blog, I'll tell you all my favorite parts.

~First of all, I'm a big nerd so any occasion for flying is super exciting for me. A lot if times, I'm equally excited about the airport as I am for the actual trip.

~ As much as I love flying, I also love the in-flight trivia game on Delta. Win.

~ Hotels. Who doesn't love hotels?

Now for the Boston stuff...
~Fenway. It's no secret to any that knows me that I love sports. On Saturday the four of us went on a Fenway tour. It was amazing. So cool and worth the super cheap price. You get to go on top of the Green Monster, which by itself is worth it. Also you learn some really cool stuff about the park, like it still has some of the original seats that Mr. Yawkey put in. Good stuff.

~The Harbor. Boston is right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, so basically everything is super close to the water. I loved all the little sail boats in the water and especially all the sea food.

~Quincy Market. Fantastically busy and a little overwhelming with all the people, but super fun little shops.

~The North End. The north end is Bostons little Italy. The streets are tiny, the buildings cramped together and row houses with different colored doors. Coffee shops, gelatto, and Mikes Pastry. Yummy cannoli's and really good pizza in tiny little restaurants that look like they could only fit about 20 people max.

~ USS Constitution. "Old Iron Sides" This is one of the coolest things and one of the first things that we saw. This is a ship from the Revolutionary War and is still in commission, which means that it still can be sailed. You can go on an d tour the boat with a lot of the things that they would have had on it. Grandaddy would have loved it.

~ Churches. I love old churches that look like churches. It's something I think, that the west coast is lacking besides the missions. The stained glass windows, towers and bells. I love it all. This is Trinity Church, a really great Gothic Style church.

~ All the history. I'm not really that interested in US history, and most of the time I would rather read about something that is actually old, but there is something about staring at a piece of glass in someones window that has been there for three hundred plus years. Imagine all the things that that window has seen. (the old ones are purple because they have too much lead). The houses also have really pretty iron work that is made out of cannons that they found in the streets! Not to mention that every step you take in Boston leads you to somewhere that history has been made. I love the fact that the houses that are in the old part are the very houses that people sat on to watch the battles in the war. This, for example, is the North Church where Paul Revere rode to alert the city of the British coming. You know, one if by land, two if by sea...

~ The difference between the east coast and the west coast. Not only do people in Boston have really great accents, they are pretty passionate. Baseball, driving, and history. Everyone wears Red Sox gear all the time. Every day. The drivers might be worse than California drivers, and probably anyone growing up in Boston could tell you the history of every building you pass.

~ I know I already talked about the boats, but really, its great. Geleenes friend Abby is on a rowing team for the city that she just joined. No cost, no mandatory being at things, she just decided to do it. Also, you can get free sailing lessons! Can't you just imagine me in a little sail boat with a cute hat and some top siders? Perfect.

~ Lastly for now, Boston is just pretty. The city is covered in trees, mostly because when the did the big dig and put the freeways under ground, they put parks up where the roads used to be. Trees everywhere. Boston is also a walking city. I like this because I hate driving. If its too far to walk, just take the T. Super convenient.

Anyway, I really loved Boston. I could imagine myself living there, which is a little ironic since my gram said that she hoped we wouldn't find a place that we would want to live. Ha ha.

Ho Hum...

2009-06-01T10:44:00.004-07:00

First off, as per Michelles request, party weekend pictures....

Parker and Hayden

Awww...sweet Greyson

Dana, in her dramatic fashion, and Amy

Getting ready for Grams party

Center pieces with cute pin wheels.

Random picture, I know, but funny because of the street name...Test Dr. It has car dealerships...haha..

No pictures of Davis because he was too busy running around to be bothered with sitting with his girl cousins. :)

This week is going to be a busy one. Today the washer repair man is coming to our house to (hopefully) fix our new washer. Its been almost a week and a half since my last load, and needless to say I'm quickly running out of clothes. Today's outfit consists of several repeat items. Yuck. Anywhoo, then tomorrow I'm off to Flagstaff to visit my beautiful ex roomie Brook, her new roommates, our good friend Emily, and hopefully my co bible study leader, mentor and favorite, lauren before her and her husband Matt move to Colorado. Then Thursday, Erin, Callie, and I will leave for Boston and meet Geleene in the airport for 5ish days of east coast fun!

Long time, no blog

2009-05-28T13:13:00.002-07:00

I see that it's been a while since I updated, sorry about that. How about an recap of events after school got out?

I got out of school on May 6, headed home, did some some laundry, then on mothers day headed to Colorado for a week with about 50 other kids from the NAU chapter of InterVarisity. The camp is called Bear Trap Ranch and is located way up in the middle of the Rockies in Colorado Springs. Needless to say, it's beautiful up there. We spent the week with a couple of other schools going over what it means to be a light. Good stuff. God worked alot during the week and in some ways that I never imagined. The trip back down was bittersweet, happy to be home but sad to realize that we had to say good bye to people for a while. Stick anyone up in the mountains for a week with no cell service and I guarantee they'll be friends. :) Anyway I got home on Sunday, then on Thursday my mom and I headed to Phoenix to pick up Geleene and then to Duncan for the "Party Weekend". For those of you who don't know, the party weekend consisted of my cousin Haydens graduation, a dedication of a firehouse to my Grandad and my Gram's 80th birthday party.
Each one was super fun, and like any Boyd celebration, there were tears. It was really good to see everyone and spend time with my cousins and sisters.
Next up is my Boston trip! Whoohoo!

2009-05-05T10:04:00.001-07:00

Hello Family and Friends! I hope that you all are having a pleasant day. This is just a little note to say that I changed my blog settings, so now you can ALL comment. No excuses now! :)

I forgot...

2009-05-02T12:20:00.004-07:00

In case you haven't heard, there is a "probably case" of swine flu at NAU.
You can check out the article at nau.edu, for some reason the link I put on here won't work. Anyway, I heard that if it's confirmed, they have to shut down the school which means finals canceled. Unfortunately this doesn't affect me, since all my finals I have left are take home so they can be submitted over email. Darn. :)

Also... I heard a funny joke the other day, They always said a balck man would be president when pigs flew, and now a black man is president and pigs flu. Hahaha...

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Swine Flu Update

I just got an update from NAU, the tests were negative for swine flu. Is it bad that I'm a little disappointed?

2009-05-02T11:54:00.003-07:00

This week is reading week at NAU. Mostly this means nothing significant, except that it signals that it's time to start packing up. I never really minded this before, but this year it seems exceptionally hard for two reasons. 1) I have way more stuff now that I'm in a bigger room, and 2) both my roommates are graduating, which means that they're gone for good. I love my roommates for next year, and I'm so excited for them to move in, but I am going to miss Janet and Brook so much. We've had some really good time this year, and the fact that both of them are leaving makes me really sad.
Speaking of these girls, I'm really proud of them both. Brook is graduating with a degree in Psychology and is headed off to Boulder next year to inter with InterVarsity. I'm so excited for her to be in Colorado and be giving the first year of her life back to God. Crazy good. Janet is graduating with a degree in Hotel Restaurant. Not to mention that she is fluent in 4 languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Japanese) and graduating with honors. Both these girls are doing really amazing things, and I can't wait for them to visit and tell me all about it. :)

Anyway, the last week of real school has been pretty busy with packing, organizing summer plans (I still don't have a job, so any ideas are welcomed), having lots of fun(Karaoke at Granny's, hot tubs, Mars Hill), and saying good bye some for the summer, and some for good.
I'm almost done with my finals, I took the third of five this morning, and my last two are take home, so I hope to have them done by Monday. Then after that, it'll be more packing, cleaning, and going away parties. (Sigh)

All and all, this year has been a great one. I've been blessed with amazing roommates, wonderful family, awesome friends, both new and old, and more blessings than God should even be allowed to give out. I've learned a lot about what it means to be a friend, and that God has absolutely everything under control. I'm waiting in him daily to provide for me and I want his plans for me above any that I could make for myself. School has been hard, but I feel like I've learned alot about everything from the environment to post Independence India. I'm ready for summer to be here, but I will miss Flagstaff and all my friends. :)

Oh yeah... I got contacts, but my camera is broken, so you'll have to head over to facebook to see my new look.

2009-04-22T10:41:00.002-07:00

Lately God has been showing me how important testimonies are. It's funny to me that once He starts showing you things, it keeps on rolling until you are noticing it everywhere.
About a week ago, one of my friends was asking people to tell her how they know that God is good. Most of the time, people ended up sharing their testimonies. Then it hit me how important they are. Testimonies are visible proof of how God is good. When we tell people what God is doing in our lives, it gives then hope and helps us to be grateful for what we have been given.
In our small groups we are going through John and the last couple verses are all about testimonies. John tells us how important they are and that without them, it would be so much harder for us to see what God is doing in the lives of people all over the world. The gospels are all testimonies! Crazy stuff.
Then, on Sunday, I was in Phoenix and Callie and Amy invited me to go to Cornerstone with them. Jay Bell was speaking (former Diamondbacks player) and he shared his testimony. God is funny sometimes.

So here is my question to you, Why has God been good to you? I think that too often, we skirt around the issue that the God that we serve is great and powerful. He is working in our lives everyday and is blessing us beyond all measure. You don't have to share your testimony, just a little something to give glory to God. I'll go first:
Every year our intervarsity chapter meets up with other chapters for a week of camp. It costs a lot and since I'm headed to Boston in a month, I didn't want my parents to have to pay for both. I was kind of stressing and thinking that I wasn't going to be able to go and had even told a couple of people that I wasn't going. Then yesterday, I had a surprise. I won't go into details, because the person who donated used tithe money to do it, but basically my trip is paid for. I hadn't even gone to God with it yet, and he blessed me anyway!

Mermaid update

2009-04-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

I just learned that the Starbucks mermaid is not actually a mermaid, but referred to as a siren. Strabucks has had three major logos, and each time they are edited to be a little more socially acceptable, the first one was a little dirty. They brought it back a few years ago, but do to it's...cough, cough, graphic nature, they decided to go back to what we all see now.

There you go, mystery solved.

So many plans, so little progress...

2009-04-14T17:37:00.001-07:00

I had this great plan for an Easter recap post complete with pictures but of course, I never took my camera out of the bag the entire weekend. Shame on me.
This Easter was really good, even without documentation. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my Gram on the phone when she invited me down for Easter. I hadn't seen her in a while, or been to Duncan, so I thought about it and decided to catch a ride with Callie.
After horrendous traffic, I got to Billie and Buzz's house and Callie and I headed out. The car ride was great with lots of good and weird conversation. When we got to grams, we had tacos waiting for us. The rest of the night was spent catching up and lots of giggling. The next morning, we got up and headed to grams for some chocolate chip pancakes (mixed by Gram, served by Becky). They were yummy. After that Callie, Dana, and I went back to bed until it was time for dinner. After some homework, we played some apples to apples and helped out Brad with his sunrise sermon (Good Lenin jokes). The next morning was Easter, and at 5:43 we were at the cemetery for sunrise service. It was a great time for worship and being with God. It was a little weird to go to the cemetery and not go visit Grandaddy. After that, everyone else went back to the church to eat breakfast, I went back to the house to get some sleep and shower (Luckily there were some resurrection, empty grave muffins left for me!). At 11 it was time for the regular church so I put on my $11.00 dress and went for the cantata. I really love going to church in Duncan. It might be that my family is so involved, but it is so welcoming and loving. Anyway, after that we went back to grams house and ate a wonderful meal (of course). Then it was time to leave, which is always hard. The ride home was really good too.
Then, to top off the weekend my good friend Emily, was waiting in my room on Monday morning. She's been gone for 4 months and I have missed her SO much. God has been teaching her so much and has brought her through some big stuff. It's great that she's here because she's not in school and not working so she can hang out for a month.
Thats her on my right:)
I have been so blessed with not only a God loving family, but friends that are constantly seeking Him and his council. Good friends make my heart warm. :)

2009-04-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

This past week has been pretty mundane. Not much is happening on campus right now, with the exception of classes. My mom and dad probably think that is a good thing. :) Anyway, as I'm trying to blog at least once a week, this creates a dilemma. What to write about....
Why does the Starbucks Mermaid have two tails? Anyone? This has bothered me since I found out about Starbucks. At the on campus Starbucks, someone took out the middle of the mermaid. It now looks like this:

I just noticed it yesterday, but I wonder what happened to it. Does someone have a mystery Starbucks mermaid face and one layer of hair in their room?

In other news, today my roommate and I are fasting. I hate fasting. It is so hard, and I haven't been practicing that as a discipline for long. All I want right now is a jamba juice, but I think that might be against the rules.

I just checked facebook, and April said that there was an earthquake. I'm glad that we have pretty much nothing to worry about in Arizona besides fires and stupid weather. The weather in Flagstaff today is awesome. No wind, 60 ish degrees, and just plain beautiful. I wish I could spend all day outside to appreciate it because tomorrow it's supposed to snow. How's that for stupid? I can't wait for school to be out. :)

2009-03-31T16:45:00.000-07:00

Last year, InterVaristy put on a week long even called Release 08 that focused on the issue of sexual slavery. We raised a ton of money to send to International Justice Mission,
a group that works to release and rehabilitate the girls and women. IJM works mostly over seas and the support that we received from the campus was unbelievable.
This year, we decided to focus on the same issue, but here at home. Phoenix is the number one hot spot for kidnappings in the United States and the triangle between Phoenix, Vegas, and Phoenix is number six in the world for human trafficking. This week, we are raising awareness and funds to send to a rehabilitation center in Phoenix. Right now they have about 15 beds, and with literally millions being involved, the places that we have available won't cut it. We are partnering with Branded Phx, Food For The Hungry, Vision Abolition, Mending the Soul Ministries, Florence Crittenton, Dignity House (Catholic Charities), and the Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking.

Our goals for the week are...
-To promote unity among the campus and community
-To raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking in the Phoenix area
-To take action to stop these injustices.

God cares about these issues and commands us to care about them to. It is so amazing to see that the NAU campus cares about this issue, even if they aren't Christians. The women and girls that are involved in human trafficking and prostitution have horrible stories. Take a minute and check out the websites and do some research. I guarantee that you will be moved by the stories.

So I guess that I would ask all you readers to be praying for us this week. Injustice isn't an easy thing to look at and the fact that it is so close to home means that the people we will be talking to may have had personal encounters with Human Trafficking. We are having three main events, a proxie station (loaded with facts and pictures) out on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as a screening of the documentary "Branded" on Thursday night. Also, be praying about the money being raised, that it would bless the people that receive it and those who are giving it.

2009-03-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Spring break is over. The sheer fact of this makes me very sad, as well as the realization that this is my second to last spring break. This week was very unproductive, but pretty relaxing and fun. At the beginning of the week, I went to Tucson to spend time with Erin and bonus time with the Boyds. It was super fun to get out of the mildly cold weather in Flagstaff to the warmness of Tucson. Erin and I went to the Zoo, the movies (a sacrifice for her, as she hates movie going...thanks sister!) and unsuccessfully to spring training (still can't believe they were sold out). Monday, after a pit stop in Phoenix, I headed home for the rest of the week. Tuesday was basically spent outside on the porch with some tea and the second Twilight book.

I'm a little ashamed to say that it took me less than a day to finish. It's really good, like eating candy. No substance what so ever. Wednesday, we spent the day in Prescott shopping. I realized something this week. I really like new things. It doesn't matter what it is, I just like to have new things. I think this is bad. Anyway, the rest of the week I hung out at home and relaxed, slept in my big bed, and watched movies (the "P.S. I Love You" count for this week is 4)
.

Now that it's Sunday, its almost time to head back up the mountain for the last stretch until summer. In the coming weeks, I will be pretty busy with school, but also a really cool thing for InterVarsity called Release 09. I'll save that for another post, because it really deserves it's own.

2009-03-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

This week was 24/7 Prayer at NAU. For those of you not familiar with the 24/7 prayer movement, it has a really awesome story and is an even more awesome thing to be a part of (so check it out!!!)

The way it works here it that we have a room set up to be prayed in for every hour of the day for about a week. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of what we do at InterVarsity and I love picking times that I can go pray as well as taking my small group girls. This year, the prayer team started picking themes for the prayer room, this weeks was world wide prayer. The room was set up with maps, missionary letters, worship areas, and art areas so that anyway that you feel led to pray you can do it in the room. This by far has been my favorite theme. I love that the God that we serve is the same God that people in Russia serve. The week has been filled with blessings and it's incredible to see what God does for a campus, especially one that is so against any "formal religion".

I have a new obsession:
It's called the Daily Nightly and it's a blog written by the reporters of NBC news. One of my favorite reporters (nerdy I know) is Brian Williams, and the blog that he writes is well written and very alot like his newscasts. He also talks about Tom Brokaw some, and if you know me at all, you know that I adore Mr. Brokaw.

Last night, I saw this documentary that people at IV are talking about like mad called "The Finger of God".

The documentary is basically about the miracles that God is still doing today. Some of them are crazy, this church in California has people that get covered in gold dust while they preach, receive manna in their bibles, and receive gemstones from God out of thin air. It's pretty crazy, and I'm not really sure what I think of the documentary and I think that I need to watch it again. Have any of you seen it? Let me know what you thought (IE Brad:)).

Oh! Also, a quick hello to Alissa's grandma. Alissa told me how you sent her the link asking if she knew me. Funny how God works!

Home again, home again...

2009-02-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

I'm back! I know that my blog has been silent as of late, but this time it wasn't laziness. At least mostly. My beloved laptop has in fact, just returned from a little trip to California. Why, you ask?

Let me tell you. A couple of weekends ago, my friends and I threw a Super Bowl party. After the heartbreaking defeat :(, I came home and updated my facebook, checked my e-mail, and went to bed. The next morning, still bummed about the loss and nursing an incredibly sore throat, I tried to turn on my computer. The blue touch pad LED lights blinked, then the computer shut down. After trying to turn it on in every way possible, I called the lovely people at HP. They shipped me a box and I shipped my PC back to them. 2ish VERY long weeks later, I have my computer back! Yay!

It was so weird to go through life without a computer, or at least limited access to one. School was so much harder (I have 2 online classes with weekly assignments) and most of the time I was bored out of my mind. I would mostly finish all my homework in a couple of hours and caught up on all my reading, then with nothing else to to watched a lot of Discovery Channel, History Channel and Food Network.

Some things that I missed checking while my computer was away:
cakewrecks.blogspot.com - So great check it out.
postsecret.com
facebook.com
hulu.com
msn.com - I know nerdy, but I get a lot of news from the headlines.
nfl.com- no laughing. I completely missed all the coaching changes for the Cards.
And of course....all my favorite blogs!

That's so Flagstaff Part 2

2009-01-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

I complain about Flagstaff a lot, and make fun of it a lot, but I'm pretty sure if it didn't snow so much I could live here for a long time. These are some of the reasons that I love Flagstaff.

The Train. I love that I can hear the train from my bed. It used to be annoying, and I hate getting stopped at lights because of it, but it makes Flagstaff feel old-timey. Also the abandoned tracks are sketchy, but cool. One time we took a field trip in my history class to them.

Old Main. I love that we have such a cool building on our campus. All the original buildings on campus are super cool and have a great history which leads me to...

Morton and Campbell ghosts. A couple of days ago some friends and I took a trip to see Kathy the ghosts room in Morton. It was creepy. These buildings used to be used as an insane asylum and I absolutely believe that there is something creepy in there. (This is Kathy's room, they don't let anyone sleep anymore, hence the Mechanical sign on it)

The bells on campus. I know, I know, they are recordings. I don't care. I love hearing them at the top of the hour every hour. If they were real, they would look like this:

Underground tunnels. It is my desire to go into the tunnels under campus. I'm pretty sure that I would be scared out of my mind, but I think that it would be super cool. Since I've never been, I don't know what they look like. Like this maybe, but more spiderwebs and some skeletons.

Heated sidewalks. I like that the sidewalks by the Union are the only ones on campus that are pretty much not icy. I've heard that it's because of the tunnels underneath, but it's still nice.

Downtown. Downtown Flagstaff is the greatest place. The stores are all really cool and sell the most random stuff. There are lots of old hotels, like the Monte Vista, and great restaurants. One of my favorite stores is the basement marketplace. In this picture you can also see the pine cone that drops on New Years Eve.

All the attempts to be green. I heard a rumor that we are getting the first "green" Walmart. I hate Walmart, but it's funny anyway. Also, we have a green dorm and a green lab building.

The Dome. The largest wooden structure in the United States. Pretty cool, plus it's visible from space.

The Peaks. Everyone loves the peaks. I don't blame them, they're pretty spectacular.

4 hours to Vegas, 3 to Phoenix. Fun either way.

Bigfoot Barbecue. Possibly my favorite restaurant in Flagstaff.

Macy's. As the New York Times wrote, a trip to Flagstaff is not complete without a visit to Macy's. This is possibly one of the most intimidating places in Flagstaff. It's a Vegan Coffee house. Chances are, if you don't own a pair of Birkenstocks, you don't belong, but its yummy anyway.

So there you have it. Come visit, it'll be fun!

Thats so Flagstaff

2009-01-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

My roommates and I love art. Sometimes, we go downtown for the art walk, and drool over the cool stuff. In our room right now, we have at least 10 pieces of handmade art. Some of it was gifted, some we made ourselves, and some we inherited. All of it is beautiful and we love people giving us a piece of themselves, as well as creating new things to make our white square a little better. All this art has led to our friends calling our room the gallery. I thought that I would share a little bit:

Our friend Ashley made us this one. She's super artsy (she majored in Art). If you look closely, its an elephant with the words beautifully created.

This one my roommate Brook made. It has Revelations 7:16-17.

The first weekend of school, we hosted a tea part (that I wasn't at) and some of our friends made us this. It has tea cups and love written all over it!

I made this one...

We inherited this one from one of our friends roommates. She was moving out and didn't want it. She painted this in a class.

I made this one too.

Our friend Emily made us these for Christmas. They are all a little different,and they have all our names painted on them. Mine is purple.

Brook made this one too, it's inspired by a field of flowers by our friend Erik's house.

Take it to the Streets

2009-01-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

This has been my first week back from winter break and so far it has been really great. I've gotten to see old friends, and I have a great schedule with ok classes.

Today, as my friend Stephanie and I were walking back from our Mexican history class, we came upon a street preacher. This isn't the first time that NAU has seen this, even this year. In about October, a man came to campus preaching hate and twisting the word of God. He wouldn't let anyone speak, even Christians, and in the end, all he did was make people mad. For four days, he came to campus and yelled, wouldn't let Christians talk, and when they tried to pray seperatly from him, he mocked them. He claimed to be perfect in God, and since he had recieved God, he had not sinned. The guy on campus today was completely different. While his approach was much the same, signs and posters, he spoke the truth. He let people ask questions, and stayed to talk to people after he was done. While his word were not seemingly spoken in love, he was speaking God's word truthfully and not twisting it. Some of the things that he was saying were not detrimental to getting people to follow Jesus, like abortion and evolution. I don't think that, borrowing an analogy from Rob Bell, that Christianity is a brick wall, and that if you remove one brick, the whole thing falls down. Jesus is the main point of Christianity, right? When you believe in him, and accept him as your savior, the rest follows. If you choose to believe in evolution, that doesn't mean that you're going to hell. The street Preacher, Shawn, was not making the best argument for Christians. Talking about evolution and abortion only gets people mad and makes them unwilling to listen.

The results of both preachers were the same. People were mad. Screaming back at him, laughing at him, and cussing at him. Here is where I'm at. I don't think that Shawn is wrong. I think that the things he chooses to preach are not really the ones that you should preach to people that don't know God's love. To them, sex, drugs, drinking, evolution, and abortions, are all just things that they do. All that they hear is someonbe attacking that and not seeing why it's wrong. They won't see that its wrong until they know Jesus. Before he left, he took time to pray over the campus and for the Christians on the campus, that they would step up and show the love of Christ, and not be afraid. He also prayed that the campus would turn from it's sin and choose to live in light instead of darkness.

I am torn about his being on campus, on one hand, I think that by bringing up hard subjects to people that don't understand is wrong, and all he is doing is stirring up a already messy situation in Flagstaff. On the other hand, He is genuinely speaking the truth, and people never want to hear what makes them have to look back at themselves.

If you could all be praying for our campus, and especially the Christian groups then we would be especially grateful. Also, any insight would be much appreciated. Love you all!

Christmas break recap

2009-01-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here I am. My last night at home before I go back up to school and to some of the people I love most (Shout out NAU). I have missed these people, especially my bible study girls and roomates (both present and future) so much and this weekend is going to be super fun catching up with a girls weekend. Anyway, as promised, here is my winter break recap(minus pictures because the pic application isn't showing up):

December 11: Finished my last final, said some goodbyes, and headed home.

December 12: Went to Village of Oak Creek with my mom, came home, went to rent a movie, got in a car accident.

December 17: 21!! Yay! Spent the day with Callie, picked Geleene up from the airport, had birthday luch at Oreganos, had birthday dinner of Indian Fry Bread.

December 19: VEGAS baby!!! Road trip with my sisters and cousins. That night we went out and ate at a Buffet. Callie and I got birthday cake, and sung to. It was super fun. After a little shopping, we walked (and limped) back to the hotel where we went down to the bar (heh) and had drinks. After explaining our birthdays to the guy checking ID's we sat down. During a bartending competition, one of the bartenders asked Callie or I to lick some whipped cream off his head. We did not. We discussed that if we were ever to do that we would need alot more to drink.

December 20: Walked the strip all day. Saw fun stuff like a small angry man dressed up like a leprechaun and the top of the eiffel tower. We also saw some cute lions sleeping with their trainers and many, many UA fans (Bear Down was a popular phrase). Later that night we went to our fancy dinner at Mario Batali's restaurant. Then we went on a gondola ride, where we got serenaded with Thats Amore, something by Dean Martin, and Happy Birthday in Italian! Callie and I decided that if we had to be sung Happy Birthday to, in Italian on a boat was the way to go.

December 21: Homeward bound from Vegas. We once again drove over the Hoover Dam, and it was super cool. We took lots of pictures.

December 23: Breakfast with Oma and Taylor at the Haciempa, then last minute shopping which included, but was not limited to a Karaoke machine! Whoo Hoo!

December 24: Went to Duncan with my mom, dad, and Geleene, Geleene and I entertained ourselves with movies in the backseat. Once we got there and greeted everyone, we broke out the karaoke machine and sang our hearts out. Santa arrived a little early and handed out presents to Me, Callie, and Dana, plus one for Erin when she got there. They were incredibly frightening immitation Bratz dolls. They intertained us the entire time we were there. Erin and Tony arrived and made fun of us for the dolls and the karaoke. That night we went to Christmas eve service. I always love going to church in Duncan and hearing my uncle Brad preach. Later that night, we went back to Grams, had some dinner (Yummy Posole) had a mini birthday party for my dad, and opened our Christmas eve pajamas. After a couple of exchanges, we played some games, then when people started to get tired, Callie, Dana, Hayden,and I went back to thier house (just like when we were little!) Dana Callie and I watched a couple of episodes of the OC, then went to bed.

December 25: Christmas! After waking up a little late, we packed up the presents at Brad and Joanns, headed to grams and started to pass out presents. After that was over, we ate some yummy cinnamon rolls, and spent the day watching movies, talking, and of course, eating a yummy luch with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Mickey. That night, we watched Erin and Tony open their stockings, much to the chagrin of the rest of us, who were waiting until Billie and Buzz got there the next day. The rest of the night progressed much the same, with movies, games, and merriment for all :)

December 26: On the first day of Christmas, Billie and Buzz arrived, and I got to eat some of my Grams famous chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast, we got to open our stockings and as always, I got some great stuff. After that, the remaining of the Goffenas packed up and started to head out. Leaving Grams is always hard and this was no exception. I love Christmas at Grams and it is always one of my favorite memories. It would have been even better with the other Fillemans and the Johnsons. Maybe next year :) On the way home, Geleene and I watched more movies. When we got to Strawberry, we stopped and ate at the Strawberry lodge. We've been going there almost as long as I can remember and it's always the same. I love it!

December 28: Geleene went home. I was going to go with to drop her off at the airport, but they left at 4am. Too early for me.

December 31: Watched movies with my parents, then after they went to bed, I watched movies until midinght, then went to bed. Is that a sign I'm getting old?

January 7: Had lunch with Kim. We found out that we had both been sitting at our respective homes bored, and wondered why we didn't call each other. Grr. Anyway, luch was fun as always, and I miss her already. Illinois is way to far away.

January 8: Today! I'm leaving tomorrow, and I still haven't done any laundry, packed anything, or started thinking about going back at all. Tomorrow I guess. As of now, I'm watching the BCS Championship game (Go Gators) and typing away.

The reason that I'm going back to Flagstaff a little early is for InterVarsity Winter retreat. It's going to be super fun, and I cannot wait for the sleepover with all the girls. I am definitly going to miss my free days, and spending time with my family pretty much at least once a week. God has definitly blessed me with an amazing family that is so fun, that I love to hang out with them. He's also blessed me with a student ministry that is letting me spread his word and praise him even when I'm away from home.

Enough Already!

2008-12-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

Since I have recieved complaints about my slacking from almost everyone in the family, without further adieu, I present my 7 random facts:

Random Fact #1: I will not eat food that has touched other food. I know that it gets all mixed up in my stomach anyway, but it grosses me out. There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as holiday dinners, mexican and chinese food. Anything else should be seperated.

Random Fact #2: I cannot stand to watch Christmas movies before Thanksgiving, the holiday movie season begins right after thanksgiving dinner and continues on until about Valentines day (the next sort of major holiday, New Years is still in the Christmas Holiday season)

Random Fact #3: I love football. I could watch football all day long, every day of the year and never get sick of it. I will watch any game, and any team.

Random Fact #4: I have never died my hair. Ever. Or done anything besides cut it.

Random Fact #5: I hate sleeping in, and it is almost immpossible for me to sleep more than 9 hours. If I sleep in longer than 10, I feel like half the day is gone and I am unlikely to do anything productive.

Random Fact #6: I hate the beach. I think that mostly this is because of the sand, but I also think that it's because there isn't much to do except sit and maybe go in gross water.

Random Fact #7: I am an adverturous eater. I will eat anything once, and I plan to eat blowfish before I die.

There you have it.

2008-12-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

I love Christmas and everything that comes with it. Yesterday at our last "After Church lunch" for the semester, we talked about our favorite family traditions. This got me thinking about what else I love about Christmas and my favorite Christmas memories...

Family sing-alongs

Getting new pajamas on Christmas eve

No one being allowed in to the living room until EVERYONE was out of bed

Christmas cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning

Stockings

Candle light Christmas eve service

Christmas movies

Candy bar cookies

Christmas drinks at Starbucks (Especially Gingerbread Latte)

Decorations

Christmas carols

Family

The "Elves" passing out Christmas presents

Watching the little kids open their presents

No School!

Christmas cards

Cold weather clothes

I can't wait for Christmas and to see all my family!

'Twas the weeks before Christmas....

2008-12-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Since TWO of my cousins said that I wouldn't do this, I had to be stubborn and do it. I think they might have guilted me into it. I love them anyway.

1. Wrapping paper or bags? Wrapping paper. I love all the bows and fun stuff you can do with ribbon. Wrapping is the first part of the present!
2. Real or artificial tree? Always real. In the country (where most of my friends say I'm from) We do things the right way.
3. When do you put up the tree? Normally soon after Thanksgiving. One time we didn't put it up until Christmas eve and my mom was really mad.
4. When do you take the tree down? Eh...whenever it starts being a fire hazard.
5. Do you like Eggnog? No. I tried it a couple of weeks ago and it is just as gross as I though it was going to be.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably anything that made Callie a little jealous. I also always love the gifts from my aunt Monica, she always buys stuff that you would never know that you would want.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Erin and my dad. They always say that they want something then go buy it for themselves.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom. She's a mom. She loves everything.
9. Do you have a nativity? Personally...no. I'm in college. My mom has a really pretty one from Willow Tree.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail...although you will be lucky if you get one from me. Sometimes I send them, but most of the time I ride the coat tails of my parents.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Box of gross smelling bath stuff. I still have most of it. Unopened.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? So many to choose! I really love Elf and Christmas Vacation and Love Actually. When I was little it was without a doubt A Muppets Christmas Carol. But now I would have to say that It's A Wonderful Life is my number one. (I only watch it once a year though)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Good question...I start thinking and making a possibilities list in about October.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No...maybe that bath stuff though...
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Erin's cinnamon rolls and Gram's chocolate pie.
16. Lights on the tree? My mom (Dad) always uses blue. I love that.
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I love when we go to Duncan. Christmas at Grams is one of my favorite memories.
19. Can you name all of Santa's Reindeer? Now Dasher!Now Dancer! Now Donner and Vixen! On Comet!OnCupid! On Donner and Blitzen!
20. Angel on the tree top or star? We used to have an angel. She was a bit sad looking and I think she returned to heaven, as the top of our tree has been bare for the past couple of years.
21. Open present on Christmas Eve or morning? Pajamas on Christmas Eve and real presents on Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Figuring out presents for Flagstaff people.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? We usually put up blueish colored ornaments or ones that are crystal. Thats right. We have a theme. I love my Grams tree though, it has all ornaments from different places that we have all gone.
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? All of it. I love holiday food.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Check Grams refrigerator. If you're going to splurge, I want a new iPod.
26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Hm....maybe Alissa.
27. Who is least likely to respond? Stephen or Steph.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

It's a Wonderful Life

2008-11-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of my favorite holidays, and as many of you probably know, I'm kind of a Nazi about when we are allowed to break out Christmas stuff. I do believe that Thanksgiving should be celebrated in all of it's glory because we hardly take time to actually give thanks to the people, things and blessings that God has allowed us to have. So without further adue (and 2 days late);
My family (including cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents)
This week I got to spend with my Gram. This is kind of a rare thing but having her around this week was great. I got chocolate chip pancakes and she is always so supportive of me and defends me when my dad is picking on me (Mosly about school). My entire family is possibly one of the greatest families ever created. We are super fun and quite attractive if you ask me :) Alot of the time, I would rather be with them than anyone else. I love my family and am extremely grateful for them because of the support that they have for me. No matter what the situation is, there is always someone in the family that can relate and give advice. There is never any hesitation to fill needs within our family and out of it also. Watching them serve others always inspires me and make me want to serve too.
My friends, from 1st grade to college, the people that I surround myself with are amazing people that teach me everyday what it is to be a friend. This past month, I watched as several of my friends gathered around to support a friend whos mom had died. Lots of us traveled to her moms funeral even though we had never met her. This overwhelming friendship and love that we have for each other brightens my day and I know that the all of them would do nothing less for me if the situations were reversed.
InterVarsity. I'm not really sure where I would be with out ministry. I'm not sure I want to. This group has had such a strong impact on my life and I have never wanted to serve more than I do now. God has truly blessed me and NAU with such a strong campus ministry that cares so much about people and the campus. I love the staff and all the interns and I love spending time with everyone there.
I love my Bible Study. My girls are amazing and their questions always astound me. These girls have an incredible heart for the love of God and their yearning to know Him more definitly rubs off on me. I also adore my co-leaders. Lauren and Christine are so loving and kind, and being around them is such a blessing.
As much as I hate to admit it, school is a blessing. Without it, I would have no InterVarsity and would not have met all of my wonderful friends. I also realize that classes are a gift that not everyone gets to enjoy, and certainly not with the finiancial support that I have. I have no idea what I want to do with my life but I love learning more (about the things that I want to learn about) and my mind has been stretched for sure.

I know you..we had geography together, remember?

2008-11-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went home to spend some time with my mom and get away from school for a little bit. Pretty much every time I go home I am reminded why I am so glad that I don't have to be involved with all the drama that still holds so many people captive there. It's refreshing to not know or care who is dating who, how they broke up and why. I never understand those people that go home and still care about all those people and the drama enough to consistently engage in gossiping about it. I used to think that I would always love to come home and always want to see people but time is starting to change that. I really only talk to 4 people from home, one lives in Illinois, one here in Flagstaff, one is still back home but we recently started talking, and two halves of people, since I only talk to them when it's convenient. Is that a bad thing?

I really don't think so. I always said that I would never go to my high school reunion and that I'd keep in touch with the people that I wanted to and the rest would fade away.

Most of the time, I hate going anywhere when I'm home besides church, because I'm afraid that people will think that I never left (Scary thought). I may not have gone far, but far enough to be gone. On top of that, I'm not married, pregnant, on drugs, or working fast food or at the gas station. I'm quite proud of the fact that I am still at the school that I started in, going to church on my own, involved with ministry, have friends that would do anything for me, and although I may not be the best student, I like to go to most of my classes and am furthering myself intellectually. This is more than I can say for most of my high school graduating class.

What's this?

2008-11-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well friends, winter has officially arrived in Flagstaff.

Yesterday at about 4:30 it started to snow without ceasing for a couple of hours. I am pretty bummed about this for a couple reasons:

I only really have 1 coat that I like.
I don't have any of my hats at school.
My glottens (glove/mittens) are falling apart.
And the ped-way gets slippery and I hate falling.
All night people where missing the target and hitting our windows with snowballs.

This year I live pretty close to a freshman dorm and all night I could hear them outside yelling and when I did venture outside, I over heard conversations that sounded like this : "Mom. Its snowing! Yeah... it's sticking. I know its so crazy! It's so cold."

I guess since I've been up here for 3 years now, the novelty is lost on me. I do plan on going sledding at least once and I will play in the snow eventually, but it's too early for now.

Day in the Life

2008-11-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

8:46 am: Woke up approximately 14 minutes before my alarm. I love this because I absolutely hate the sound of my alarm.

9:50 am: Got a text from Jennifer asking if I wanted to meet at Starbucks before class. I did.

10:15 am: Class started 5 minutes early. This is slightly later than usual.

10:16 am: Found out that Dr. Collier was getting observed and hoped that there would be less profanity and sexual references than usual.

11:10 am: An entire 55 minute class period that was appropriate! Yeah!

11:30 am: Watched a movie with an old British guy lecturing instead of my old American teacher lecturing.

12:25 pm: Got out of class late. I might die the day we get out on time.

12:35 pm: Got offer to eat lunch with Jerome Sours (NAU football coach) by obscure football player that high fived me when I knew the coaches name.

12:36 pm: Said no to above request.

12:41 pm: Discovered that there was General Tsoas Chicken at Magellan's.

12:42 pm: wondered why there was a random fake bloody hand between a pumpkin.

1:03 pm: Arrived at desert counter right in time to get fresh cookies.

1:28 pm: Signed up to go to Disneyland on my 22 birthday.

1:29 pm: Realized that I will be old by then.

1:35 pm: Wasted time on facebook.

2:04 pm: Discovered a new obsession : Sports Action Team.

3:37 pm: Laughed hysterically at Jeff Samardzija episode.

3:53 pm: Submitted online homework for campus event.

4:17 pm: Still watching S.A.T.

4:29 pm: Wished I was at Disneyland.

4:31 pm: E-mailed former Bible Study leader asking if Paul wrote down his dream or dictated it to someone else.

4:43 pm: Still watching S.A.T.

4:44 pm: Realized that I started on the second season instead of the first.

4:45 pm: Realized that the next two days of free time could be occupied by watching Sports Action Team

4:47 pm: Realized that at 5 I had a meeting, and should probably get dressed.

4:52 pm: Wondered if the view is considered journalism.

4:55 pm: Left for leaders meeting.

Good night all!

Family Love

2008-10-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend, I got to spend some well needed time with my family. Like most things, I never really know how much I miss all of them until I get to spend time with them. This weekend I got to meet the newest member of the family (baby Grayson) and just be with my family as we celebrated my uncles birthday (We missed you April, Clayton, Kara, Clay Clay, Geleene, Gram, Brad, Joann, Hayden, and Dana!). The importance of these relationships has never been more clear to me as it has been these past couple of months and I have been so incredibly blessed to have been raised in a Christ loving family. I love that my family loves Jesus and that their love is so evident through their serving of other people, in the church setting and in life in general. I have never servants like those of my uncles and my dad. I guess that I never really realized that the way that I feel Jesus' love for me the most is when I'm around the people that love me the most. I'm so blessed to have the family that I do. (Side note to the Boyd side: I'm tearing up as I write this as is our trait). As weird as it sounds, the first time I truly noticed the love was when Grandaddy died. As all of us were grieving, we took the time to really show that we loved each other. Every time that some of us are together since then, I can really appreciate what God has allowed for me to be a part of.

*Per my moms request, I have to post a edit for the last blog. I was not complaining that my parents did not come to family weekend. I did in fact tell them not to come because I hate the families that do come and clog up all the streets we have. Plus when I leave they steal my parking spot and force me to park across the street. And they are coming this weekend with more of my family (Yay Billie, Buzz and Callie)

Nick, Norah, Adriane, Brook, and Janet

2008-10-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last night my two wonderful roomates and I got to spend the night together watching Nick and Norah's infinite playlist. It was so good! It's really rare that the three of us of us get to spend time together, let alone an entire night! The movie was great and we all had a blast.

This weekend is family weekend at NAU, and while my own family isn't here, several of my friends families are. Later today, IV is hosting a family BBQ and I'm really excited to meet peoples families and spend time with my school family.

How did that happen?

2008-09-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

God has been really laying on my heart to do more at InterVarsity and in campus ministry in general. I thought that mostly that would mean me leading a Bible study, which I have been doing and I love! My girls are absolutely amazing and so open, even though they just met each other a month ago. A couple of weeks ago we decided to make our application a collage of who we are as opposed to who God wants us to be or who we were to who we were since Christ changed us. Everyone in our group was so open and by the end of the night people were a little emotional. It was great! I look forward to Wednesday nights almost more than any other.

So as to getting involved with ministry, I thought I knew what God had for me until last night. Right before IV Ashley came up to me and asked me to be the Treasurer for InterVarsity. Basically this means that I sign checks for the ministries that we support and keep the checkbook. I'm so excited for this new opportunity and just the fact that I get to be involved so immediately with giving money.

God is good all the time!

Oh yeah, this verse has been on my heart this week: "Because of the Lords great love, we are not consumed, for his mercies never fail."
Lamentations 3:22

Yeah visits from old roomates!

2008-09-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

Denise came to visit this week. She's been living in Phoenix this year and I haven't seen her since last may when I moved home. Little FYI for her; I totally cried when I got to the car that day. Anyway, this girl is one of my best friends! Love her. Denise came Tuesday and we got to hang out all day, until it was time for me to go over to Laurens with Christine so that we could plan Bible Study and hang out. We got a little treat because Matt, Lauren's husband, ate with us. He showed us his new cowboy hat over hamburger helper and veggies, which was perfect because of the rain storm that day. Then I went to Jennifer and Elaine's for Tiny Tuesday (tiny dorm room, tiny TV, and tiny food= fun times). Those girls are a definite light in my week and most of the time I need it.
Yesterday was my 3rd bible study and the girls were even more amazing. I am astounded by the openness that they have with us and each other already. Our application last night was to make a collage about out lives before Christ and after, or to show some transformation that we'd gone through. It took longer than expected so we're coming back with them next week to share. Tonight is Inter Varsity and I am so excited. Ashley is speaking on Changing the World and I know that God is going to speak through her.

Pray for me this weekend!

2008-09-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here I am, my first attempt at a real blog. This is mostly for me but also so that the people I don't see very often can keep up with me. So here it is: I promise to update this every week. Or I'll try to at least. On with the show...

I am currently trying to stop my brain from bursting by watching trashy TV. After slight panic last night and a two hour talk with God, I picked up on watching Friday Night Lights again. This show is fantastic for 3 reasons:

All about Football
Ridiculously good looking "High School" boys (Tim Riggins) with Texas accents
Horrible story lines (right now the QB is hooking up with his grandmas maid, later she'll leave him broken hearted)

Oh. Also I watched One Tree Hill last night and I just have to say that everything bad that could EVER possibly happen to a person, happens on that show. (Spoiler Alert) I mean, really, did Q have to die? An armed robbery is pretty much the only thing that hasn't happened yet to the residents of Tree Hill. Plus I was just starting to not hate him. to top that all off, watching Payton and Lucas did not help my situation.

Right. So my brain was about to explode. Those of you that received frantic phone calls or saw my freak out face last night I apologize. God is kind of throwing me for a loop. Luckily, I have multiple amazing friends (shout out for Kim, Denise, and Brook) who are great at showing me the love of Christ, even when I don't feel it.

I guess that the lesson learned last night was this: When you feel like you're falling without anyone to catch you, God remains faithful and provides. It's okay to not know the plans that the Lord has in store and it's certainly OK to ask God about them. God loves questions.