Hurricane Gustav

So I have now been to New Orleans, Louisiana twice in my life. I even spent six weeks there. I even can call it a home because I want to go back there again sometime in the future. That is how much I loved being there.

And because I feel such a love for Louisiana I have been reading a lot about Hurrican Gustav. This time if the storm hits, I know people that live there that could be deeply affected by this event. It makes it seem so much more real because in the pictures they show places that I have actually visited.

And isn't crazy that we can see this storm coming but we cannot do anything to stop it? No amount of technology in the world can stop a hurricane with thousand mile per hour winds. We can try and protect the houses with sand bags and what not. But we can't just continue on in our lives.

This realization hit me today that no matter how much the knews reports about this storm, they can't make it go away. It is going on the route it chooses. Maybe Louisiana will get lucky and it will suddenly change direction but we can't tell Hurricane Gustav to do this or coax him to stop his howling.

It just made me realize the prestige and power that this storm carries with it.

I'm going to miss the gypsy

This is Corisa Ricciardi. She is a nut. Last summer we went to Chile with this group of people. While we were there, we became friends. Apparently her name is close to the word 'colisa' which means gay so her host family called her Gypsy. Therefore, to our group of friends she became the gypsy. And really she often dresses like one, so it is very fitting. This summer we were camp counselors for high school. And we became close again. And now in exactly two weeks she is going back to Chile for an entire year. I am so excited for her and what God is doing in her life but I am so sad that I will not be able to see her throughout this year. This is Cor eating popcorn. If she could, she would live off popcorn for the rest of her life.
She's a little quirky and inappropriate at times but she is so genuine, so thoughtful, so caring, so amazing that I am going to miss her so much while she is gone. But she is going to do amazing things while she is there. And really how long is year in the scheme of life? 365 days. 525,600 minutes. 31,622,400 seconds.

Maybe a part of me is jealous of her because she is going out and doing something that she is passionate about. She is so on fire for Jesus that she is just going. Sure, she'll be taking online classes, but she's not settling for the expected path of going to a four year college to get into grad school to get a good paying job. She's following God. She is putting her whole trust in God and completely relying on him that this is where she is supposed to be. I admire her for that.

And even though she will be pretty far away, thanks to technology, we can still keep in touch through email, facebook, and skype. And maybe if I raise $2,000 I can go visit her.

Those random conversations..

You ever had one of those conversations that kind of plays over and over in your mind and either you are thinking of what you should have said that would have been funny or you were talking about a specific subject and you just can't get that out of your mind?

Well I was facebook chatting (a wonderful little thing, thanks facebook) with a friend and we were talking about playing soccer.

I haven't played competitive soccer since April 26, 2006. That was the night that I tore my ACL; an injury that would come to haunt me for several months, and probably the rest of my life. I had surgery to repair it but I never completely got back into competitive soccer. And then while I was playing intramurals, I hurt my knee again and had to have surgery again, this time on my meniscus. That was at the beginning of the summer. It went really well and it truly felt like it would not just go out on me again. However, I was wrong.

In my first pick up soccer game this summer, I hurt it again and it swelled up and of course I was trying to impress a guy so I kept playing and didn't immediately ice it like I maybe should have.

Anyway, back to the facebook conversation, my friend asked me if I ever thought about getting back into it. And I do think about it. I think about how cool it would be to play for APU and be competitive again and score goals and get that incredible rush after a hard played game, but I don't think that is where I am supposed to be.

I really do love where I am at in life. I am majoring in Athletic Training, with a minor in Leadership. I have some of the most amazing friends that are scattered everywhere. I help out with high school youth group at my church on Wednesday nights, which I absolutely love because I like high schoolers for some reason.

And soccer really is not out of my life forever. Maybe I'll play in an indoor team soon or I'll become a high school soccer coach or anything. But I do miss it. So if ever you want to play, do you think you can invite me?

I love my job

This is my job:I wash uniforms, practice jerseys, towels, ace wraps, etc. And I love it. Do you know why? Because while I am writing this, I am working and getting paid. I put the clothes in, put the detergent in, and press start. And if I am drying them, then I put the clothes, put the dryer sheet in and press start. Sometimes I have to fold towels though, and that can get annoying. Especially, when there are a million towels to fold and it is just a never ending pile. But you make do. Well I do anyway.

Sometimes, I feel unappreciated by the athletes but then I realize that if I had been an athlete here I probably would do the same things they do. So what can you do?

There's the buzzer, time to earn my pay.

Mod Sweet Mod

So I have now moved all my stuff into the place where I will reside the next eightish months. I live in a place that they call the Shire Mods. Its basically a trailer. Kind of ghetto but there is a kitchen, a living area, a bathroom (which is kind of small) and two bedrooms.

This is my roommate Ariel. She looks sweet and innocent but she's ferocious. I'm excited to get to know her better this year.These two girls will be living next door: Kai and Kim. Kai was my roommate last year so it is cool that we are still living together. I'm excited to be moved in because now I can start working and hanging out with all my college friends and start classes. I realize that I am a huge nerd and really can't wait to start learning stuff again.

The class I am most excited about is Human Diversity. It's about race and cultures and God; things that I always like to ponder in my spare time.

My goal for this year is to get A's in all my classes. What that means for me is cutting back on the Facebook time.

Los Jeans

So throughout high school and jr high, each year I always seemed to have only one pair of jeans that I basically wore every day. And when I wore that pair out, which meant holes where the pants rubbed together or being too small for me, then, and only then, would I go out and buy a new pair. I hated buying new pairs of jeans because I felt like I could never find a pair that would fit me. And really it seemed that each year, I would have a favorite pair that I would wear regardless if I already wore them three times that week.

And then I discovered Old Navy jeans. And they fit nicely. This was about junior year of high school. So now I actually had about two or three pairs. But I would still wear them out and had to go get new jeans. But I actually liked buying jeans now that I realized Old Navy jeans fit me and really weren't that expensive (especially when you go when they have a blow out sale because they are getting a new line and need to get rid of their old crap. )

Anyway, today I was doing laundry (because I'm moving back to APU this week and I wanted to wash everything before it cost me) and I decided to do an all jean load. And while I was folding them I realized I had close to ten pairs of jeans.

I was shocked. I have never had this many pairs of jeans before. I mean I guess I did just buy three pairs this past Saturday at Old Navy's $12 sale. But still, when did I become the person with more pairs of jeans than there are days in the week? Where did this person come from? Next thing you know, I'll be wearing make up.... okay, yeah, you're right, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Bass Pro Shops, Mt. Rubidoux, Wyatt, Funfetti Cookies

So this is my weekend in pictures and commentary.

Have you ever been to Bass Pro Shops? That place is so fun. Even if you don't camp or fish or hunt, this store makes you want to do something. Or at least get hiking shoes and go on all sorts of adventures. I think that is something that I am going to look into. Here is the standard timer shot hiding in the sleeping bags.

And then we walk around Victoria Gardens. And this lady pulls Rel to her seat and gives her extensions. I just wanted to put this picture because she is a hottie.
And then we decide to walk up Mt. Rubidoux.
So that we can watch the sunset.

And then we made a delicious dinner of pasta, chicken caesar salad and garlic bread.

And ate ALL of it. We are pigs.

And then the next day I help Elly paint wyatt's room a light green (it looks yellow but its not) Speaking of Wyatt, this is the most recent picture of him. He's now 3lbs, 12 oz. He just had laser eye surgery because he might have been blind. He is breathing on his own and getting lower levels of oxygen, which is good. And then that night we make funfetti cookies
And drank some milk.

It was a good last weekend before I go back to college and move all my crap in. I'm excited for school to start though. I like learning. I'm just going to miss these random weekends.