things to be thankful for: UCU edition

• alli she makes me food...nuff said
• dance parties ...in a kitchen...in a basement...in a living room...in a bedroom
  
• baking you can never have too many desserts...
• chair dancing with hannah party in the u.s.a. !
• volleyball "I want to dig balls too!"
• late lunch the conversation is always enticing...and the food usually is too
  
• ima buddies and I thought I would never go down there
  
• friday frolf late night campus adventures!
• tea apparently, my tastes have changed.
• conversation bound to make you rethink God, life, love, and everything inbetween.
  
• tv thursday the spectacular lineup of thursday night entertainment
• the INN if only there was a worship service like this every night...
• sketchway thanks for satisfying my food cravings...safeway
• monday night worship the diversity of this night thrills me!
• memos don't get the chicken burrito...
• group games "I have everything you will ever need..."
• water pranks watch out krypt and frat boys!
• husky sports the dawg pack is where it's at
• u-village what more could you need?
• the krypt a favorite hang out.
• roommates sisters I never had :)
• gallagher law library homework lifesaver
• the u-district crime, inflated prices, uneven sidewalks, puddles disguised as piles of leaves, yet still I love it.
• new friends!
  

things to be thankful for: home edition

• family that I can laugh with and make fun of :)
• work as much as it sucks sometimes, it keeps me busy, and I like that...also money is good to have hah
  
• never-ending supplies of ice cream peppermint for the holidays! and my all time favorite, creamy coffee
• church friends it wouldn't feel like home without them...
• my home church I miss worship team so very much.
• all the food my heart desires and then some for thanksgiving!
  
• peace an escape from all the bustle I (really do normally) love
  
• no chores at least not now since I am a visitor to my own home...
• an empty room for the first time in a long time, its nice just to have my bare essentials. no clutter, no mess
• time
• my thoughts they require the previous to be done.
• not having to wear shoes ...the UCU kitchen floor ehh
  
• finding out that people miss you I miss you too!
  
• not having to carry a key at all times i'm a forgetful person and UCU doors aren't forgiving...
  
• rupert is miles and miles away thanks juan...not.
• video games I love my macbook...but let's face it, if I want to play a little AoE, my home PC is about the only place to go.
• minimal noise I feel like i'm in a vacuum
• sleeping alone roommates are cool, but when I'm going to bed, I prefer being by myself.
  
• soft carpet never underestimate the desire of your footsies.
• the worlds largest supply of notepads my life would be in disarray if not for these little reminder pads.
• my car, theh jetta stick shift is so so fun to drive.
• the drumset I may now use sticks and drums instead of hands and chairbacks.
• brothers "going on a hot date?"..."looking like a scrub?"

UCU

Now that my life has slightly settled into that of a college student's, I have a tad bit of extra time to mention what I have been doing for the past month.
It has been
FANTASTIC.
and by that I mean, really really great.

In September, I went to see my cousins in Kansas for a week and a half. They are so much fun to be with and it is such a bummer that they live so far away :/ I miss them all the time.

God has allowed me to completely put past feelings to rest. A blessing that I have been waiting months for. He has also placed me in this delightful little community of UCU, full of people to support me and have a blast with. I am SO glad that I am here.

A few grand memories as of late:
- UCU initiation
- girls dance party
- tubing on deer lake
- 10 fingers relationship style
- FROLF across the UW campus at night
- staying up until 3 am in the kitchen with a community chocolate chip pancake
- angry old man swimmer at the IMA
- tribal council
and never-ending hilarious sarcasm.

oh but there are many more good times ahead.
such as:
- laser MJ
- doppelganger danz
- UCU halloween dance

I am also studying...hah

new phone

after two years with the samsung juke why did I want that phone? I finally have a new cell.

the motorola rival in purple and black yeaaa huskies!now I'm off to Kansas to visit my cousins until the 12th!

the worst feeling in the world.

As I was contemplating life today ...hah I thought, love is deemed the best "feeling" in the world, though it is so very much MORE than a feeling, but what is the worst?

A major one people think of is heartbreak, but I don't think it is. Yes, heartbreak is terrible, but in order to be heartbroken, you had to, at one point or another, have had the best feeling in the world. I think that definitely detracts from its terribleness then the never ending argument of if it is better to love and lose than to have never loved at all. And so I thought some more about what it could be.

Anger isn't great, but it definitely has a purpose and need in life.

bitterness
That is what I think. I googled for some back up and this is what I found:

• definition: an expression of severe pain, grief, or regret; a characteristic of intense antagonism, resentment, hostility, or cynicism; a feeling that is difficult or distasteful to accept, admit, or bear; misery
• what the doc says: bitterness as a mental illness?
• biblical commentary: "Bitterness is one of the most crushing mental problems in a person's life. When a Christian is bitter, there is a loss of close fellowship with the Lord and a hindrance in one's relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ...Bitterness is neither consistent nor rational. A bitter person is his own worst enemy...selfish [and] inconsiderate of others." A bitter person may also put themselves in a state of implacability (unteachableness) and reject Biblical truth.
• verses: James 3:14 - "But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't brag and lie in defiance of the truth."
• Proverbs 14:10 - "The heart knows its own bitterness, and no outsider shares in its joy."
• Isaiah 38:17 - "Indeed, it was for my own welfare that I had such great bitterness; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of destruction, for you have thrown all my sins behind Your back."
  

It is SO easy to be bitter and nothing good ever comes of it. I pray sometimes to not be bitter and I now realize how very important that is.

oh technology...

I was setting up all my new apple products recently and I stopped to consider the amount of technology we have these days. If I wanted to talk to one of my friends or let people know what I was up to, there are over 20 ways of doing so without actually physically being with them. On my cell phone, Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Myspace, and Blogger. On my itouch, Facebook app, Twitter app, and all of the above through Safari. On my laptop, all of the above. On my desktop, all of the above. Then of course there is Skype, texting, calling someone, and using the good old USPS. And I'm sure I forgot some.

So I was sitting in my room and wanted to get on the internet...what do I use? My desktop, my laptop, or my itouch? Insane.

Technology is great. Great. Great. Great. Buuut, sometimes I have to remind myself that there are much better ways to spend my time...and to be honest, the excess amount of information on the web and internet choices have recently left me with little desire to use the www often. Like on FB...do I really care that the girl I sat next to in freshman english just took 30 pictures of her boyfriend and her and is now going to go shop for some cute boots? and if i'm just going to hide her on my newsfeed, then why am I "friends" with her anyways? The amount of fake friending online is ridiculous. If I'm never going to talk to you in real life, then I shouldn't and don't care about talking to you online. Although I wish it were not so, there is always a rebound in internet usage once the temperatures drop and the school year sets in. But in my time away from the computer, I've found that I like talking on the phone more than I previously thought, that it's so so much better to be with someone talking than to be online talking duh, and that I don't need as much alone time as I once believed I did. Good thing too, because I will have 3 roommates in a little over a month! My summer has been fantastic. I'm a very organized and clean person but I mean I don't even have time to clean my room because I'm either working or with my friends all the time. The change is satisfying...but the room does need to be cleaned soon. heh.

Something I'm looking forward to alot in the coming months is being in new or altered relationships, places, and situations. Making a house of strangers my good friends, not working, surviving and thriving in relatively impersonal education, not having to tell my parents where I am at all times, diving headfirst into God's word, being transparent. feels goooood...

land o' maple leaves

This last week I had the pleasure of having Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off. I wanted to take a trip to Canada for a couple days but other people were not available so it ended up being a day trip on Saturday to Vancouver with Hannah(her first time in Canada)! I spent about 8 hours driving and 8 hours hanging around the city and now I have $8 in Canadian money (loonies and toonies!) that I don't know what to do with ha.

Driving in Canada was...interesting. I passed about 3 speed limit signs in the entire city (there were many on the freeway though) and they were all really slow. That's probably why everyone drove at least 10 km/h over the speed limit at all times and usually much more. And I understand the idea behind blinking green lights...but they make for incredibly dangerous intersections. My day included lots of parallel parking as well (which always makes me nervous) but that's what it took to get free parking so I did it. Also, there are no freeway signs in Vancouver...at least not for the actual freeway (99) but there was for the alternative freeway that goes through every town between the border and Vancouver, takes twice as long, and is named 99a. Whoops.

Itinerary.
7:00a - Leave
7:30a - Finish using the one broken gas pump at Safeway
10:00a - Enter Canada, laugh at Hannah's passport photo, feel accomplished, cry, take memorable photos10:30a - Enter Vancouver
11:00a - Sophie's Cosmic Cafe - yummy thick french toast and waffles with berries1:00p - Stanley Park, walk the Seawall, laugh at Chevron gas station floating in the water, chase Canadian geese3:00p - Vancouver Aquarium, jellyfish room, dolphin show, beluga whales6:00p - Downtown, Kin's Farm Market, Cobs Bakery, Tim Hortons8:00p - La Casa Gelato - lemon raspberry sorbetto, delish9:00p - Follow signs on 99a
10:30p - Finally arrive at border, realize 99a is not hwy 99, desperate need to use restroom, try to eat a foot long cucumber before reaching customs officer
11:00p - US soil
1:00a - Home



I've decided that jellyfish are my favorite seacreatures. I think they are incredibly interesting, beautiful, and mysterious. Someday, I hope to own one, however unlikely. That would be SO so cool.

The rest of the photos.