Tonight I decided I wanted to write about two things. One, I just wanted to write about what's going on in my life. Two, I wanted to write down some serious thoughts I've been having. I'm going to separate that into two posts, just for the sake of my sanity. :)
My nails are now short. Yes, I know that seems really random, but it's actually a big deal for me. Reason being that I FINALLY kicked the nail-biting habit PERMANENTLY about a month or so ago. Since I finally kicked the habit I've only cut my nails twice, and it is a really scary experience!! Thanks to probably around fourteen years of nail-biting, I don't know how to use the nail clippers! Last time I trimmed my nails I was scared of cutting too much off and barely cut anything off-just enough that they were no longer getting in the way of typing. On Tuesday I was thinking that my nails had gotten too long again, and considered cutting them, but didn't do it. That night at swing dance I was dancing with Stephen, and we were doing some move where my hand was sliding down his, only I wasn't actually supposed to let go, but thanks to sweaty hands I was about to lose my grip...so I increased the pressure of my hand on his hand, and all of a sudden he called out, "Ow, ow, nails!" I hadn't even thought about that. I'm not used to having long nails! I felt bad about it-then later I felt REALLY bad when I saw what I actually did to him. I didn't just scratch him like I thought. I cut him. Definitely time for the nails to be cut. This time I cut off more than I wanted. But that's okay, because the nikos fall retreat is this weekend, and short nails are better for camping.
Awana tonight!!! I LOVE MY SPARKIES!!! For some reason only two of my five sparkies showed up tonight, one brought a guest. The boys were HYPER tonight, but for some reason I didn't feel like my patience was being tried. I guess I just love them too much to get upset with them. :) This will sound weird, but I feel like since coming to Highland I've been both promoted and demoted. I've been promoted because I'm no longer a leader-in-training, I am a full blown leader. But I also feel demoted (I wish there was another term I could use that wasn't so negative-sounding) because I'm the new person. Back at home, my family was the first to arrive and the last to leave. If someone had a question, I was probably the first person they would ask. That's no longer the case here. Things are definitely run WAY differently at Highland than they are at Grace. But I'm okay with that. I love my sparkies, and I love serving God. :D
On Monday, I talked to my sister Shannon, and she told me she had been having dizzy spells. This made me REALLY worried. Turns out she just had hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), but...
(continuation of my thoughts in part two)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
This makes me laugh!
I think this is hilarious.
As we all know, girls require time and money.
Girls=Time x money
And, of course, "Time is money"
Time=Money
So therefore
Girls=Money x money= money^2
As we've all been told, "Money is the root of all evil"
Money=(Evil)^1/2
Substitute that into the equation:
Girls=(evil^1/2)^2
Bringing us to the conclusion that
Girls=Evil
As we all know, girls require time and money.
Girls=Time x money
And, of course, "Time is money"
Time=Money
So therefore
Girls=Money x money= money^2
As we've all been told, "Money is the root of all evil"
Money=(Evil)^1/2
Substitute that into the equation:
Girls=(evil^1/2)^2
Bringing us to the conclusion that
Girls=Evil
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Ballroom Dancing
"Dancing, dancing, dancing...Shaney, do you ever study?"
Well, believe it or not, I somehow ended up with all easy classes this semester. No joke, my workload is actually easier now than it was in high school. So the answer is, yes, I do study...but I also literally spend more time dancing than I do studying. No joke.
Last night there was a ballroom dance in Hewitt, which is about fifteen minutes from Baylor. Will picked me up at about 7:05 and we got there early, around 7:20-ish. We were the first ones from Baylor there. At about 7:40 they started the lesson, which was a few east coast swing moves. They were very fun and easy to learn. It helped that I got paired with Alex, who is a really good dancer. The lady teaching the lesson kept staring at me the whole time. At first I thought it was just me, but then Alex mentioned "She keeps staring at you." It made me a little nervous-was I doing something wrong? Or was it Alex? I thought he was leading me perfectly. But she never came over to correct us. Later that night, she came up to me and Shane after we had finished dancing one of the dances and commented that we were both really good. According to Shane, it's rare to get compliments like that. So that made me happy. :)
Shane and I dancing the tango.
After the lesson was the dancing. And then I realized that the majority of the guys we brought from Baylor were swing guys and knew none of the other dances. Some of the guys knew how to waltz, a few knew how to rhumba, a couple knew salsa...but that was pretty much it. Only two guys knew all of the dances-Shane and Matthew. I tried to avoid hogging Shane so that other girls could have a chance to dance with a guy who knew the dances, but I still believe I ended up dancing with him more than anyone else. Matthew was there with his partner, Alaena, and they are GOOD. Normally I'm not intimidated by guys who are better dancers than me, but for some reason I felt a little nervous about asking Matthew to dance, so I waited all the way until the last Rhumba. Looking back, I regret that a little bit. Matthew does more than just basic stuff, but I'm almost always able to follow him. I wish I had gotten in a salsa as well. Oh well.
Shane attempts to teach me a salsa move...it didn't quite work.
This dance was a little different from dancing in Ft. Worth because it seemed all of the older people had their partners that they danced with the entire night. I only got asked by two guys who weren't from Baylor to dance-the instructor asked me to dance a waltz, and another man asked me to dance a swing. So out of 34 dances, 32 of them were danced with Baylor people. Some of them I would just ask a random guy to dance and teach him the basic step for the dance. A couple of them I had no clue what the basic step was, so I just grabbed a guy named Austin and told him "I don't care what you make up, just do something." And he definitely didn't disappoint. Those dances were fun.
Afterwards we went to Dairy Queen and got food. Then Kevin, Will, and myself went with Katie to her apartment and played a game of apples to apples before heading home for the night.
I went home happy :)
Well, believe it or not, I somehow ended up with all easy classes this semester. No joke, my workload is actually easier now than it was in high school. So the answer is, yes, I do study...but I also literally spend more time dancing than I do studying. No joke.
Last night there was a ballroom dance in Hewitt, which is about fifteen minutes from Baylor. Will picked me up at about 7:05 and we got there early, around 7:20-ish. We were the first ones from Baylor there. At about 7:40 they started the lesson, which was a few east coast swing moves. They were very fun and easy to learn. It helped that I got paired with Alex, who is a really good dancer. The lady teaching the lesson kept staring at me the whole time. At first I thought it was just me, but then Alex mentioned "She keeps staring at you." It made me a little nervous-was I doing something wrong? Or was it Alex? I thought he was leading me perfectly. But she never came over to correct us. Later that night, she came up to me and Shane after we had finished dancing one of the dances and commented that we were both really good. According to Shane, it's rare to get compliments like that. So that made me happy. :)
Shane and I dancing the tango.
Shane attempts to teach me a salsa move...it didn't quite work.Afterwards we went to Dairy Queen and got food. Then Kevin, Will, and myself went with Katie to her apartment and played a game of apples to apples before heading home for the night.
I went home happy :)
Friday, September 19, 2008
An Evening Full of Dancing
Thursday evening was an evening filled with dancing. If you know me, you know I LOVE dancing, and having an evening full of it made me very, very happy!
First was ballroom dancing at 6. We continued learning the rhumba and added on a couple moves. Jonathan Pinto came a little late, around 6:30-ish, after they had already finished teaching. So Shane gave him a one-on-one lesson, and had me come over and help him teach. So most of the class for me was spent between Jonathan and Shane. But it's alright, I still got to dance with a variety of guys. At the end of class, Shane decided he wanted to try the girl part, so I did the guy part. It was definitely weird, and I don't lead very well. Nevertheless, it was fun and entertaining. I can't wait to continue learning new dances.
Ballroom dancing ended at 7:45, swing was at 9. Several of the girls at ballroom had been wearing skirts and dresses, and I decided that I like the way their skirts flowed while they danced, so I went back to my dorm and changed into a dress. Swing dance was SO much fun. The teaching time hardly took any time at all, so there was a lot more time for dancing. I got to dance with a much wider variety of guys than usual. One guy commented that he really enjoyed when girls wore skirts while dancing and was happy that I had decided to wear one. It really is so much more fun to dance in a skirt. I think I'm going to make it a habit to wear a skirt or dress to swing dance.
After swing dancing myself, Johnny, Ashley, Richard, Andrew, Tracey and Grant went to Wild West for Grant's 22nd birthday. For those of you not living in Waco, Wild West is a country dancing club/bar. Grant and I got there first. Grant went up to the door, showed his ID to the bouncer, got his 21+ wristband, and walked inside. I got out my ID and showed it to the bouncer, then stuck out my hand, expecting him to take his permanent marker and mark a big X on my hand to show I'm under 21. Instead, the bouncer puts a 21+ wristband on me. I was way too surprised and dumbfounded to say anything. Before you ask: NO, I was not dressed like a slut. In all seriousness, I would be proud to meet the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in what I was wearing that night. NO, I did not flirt with bouncer in any way, shape or form. I don't even remember smiling. All I did was hand him my ID-which, by the way, has "Under 21" printed at the top and is lengthwise instead of widthwise. I honestly have no earthly clue why the bouncer decided to give me a wristband instead of an X. I'm not gonna lie, it was tempting to take advantage of the wristband and try a drink, but I decided against it. One, it would still be illegal, but two, the more pressing reason, I decided that I didn't want to try any alcoholic drink for the first time the night before an 8am class. I feel bad that that's the reason I decided against it, not because it would be wrong...oh well. Point is, I didn't try anything.
Anyways, Wild West was a lot of fun, although I've heard it's better if you go earlier. Apparently if you go before midnight, they will play all country songs, meaning you can actually do real dancing (two step, texas two step, and maybe swing) the whole time. After midnight they start playing rap and hip hop along with the country, which means that some songs you can't really dance-it's just a bunch of people grinding up on each other. Note to self: Next time you go to wild west, go earlier. The country dances were a lot of fun, especially with Grant. Grant and Richard also decided to try swinging to some of the hip hop songs, which was fun. I learned a new line dance. Johnny took Ashley and myself home at one.
I woke up this morning EXHAUSTED. I still managed to make it to my 8am class on time and not fall asleep, although I didn't get to eat breakfast beforehand. Luckily, my class got out REALLY early so I got to eat breakfast at Memorial before my 9:05 class. It was at breakfast when I realized just how tired I was when Shane came up beside me and said something to me, and I DIDN'T HEAR HIM. Nevertheless, I had an AMAZING time last night and wouldn't have chosen to do anything differently. I just need a nap...
First was ballroom dancing at 6. We continued learning the rhumba and added on a couple moves. Jonathan Pinto came a little late, around 6:30-ish, after they had already finished teaching. So Shane gave him a one-on-one lesson, and had me come over and help him teach. So most of the class for me was spent between Jonathan and Shane. But it's alright, I still got to dance with a variety of guys. At the end of class, Shane decided he wanted to try the girl part, so I did the guy part. It was definitely weird, and I don't lead very well. Nevertheless, it was fun and entertaining. I can't wait to continue learning new dances.
Ballroom dancing ended at 7:45, swing was at 9. Several of the girls at ballroom had been wearing skirts and dresses, and I decided that I like the way their skirts flowed while they danced, so I went back to my dorm and changed into a dress. Swing dance was SO much fun. The teaching time hardly took any time at all, so there was a lot more time for dancing. I got to dance with a much wider variety of guys than usual. One guy commented that he really enjoyed when girls wore skirts while dancing and was happy that I had decided to wear one. It really is so much more fun to dance in a skirt. I think I'm going to make it a habit to wear a skirt or dress to swing dance.
After swing dancing myself, Johnny, Ashley, Richard, Andrew, Tracey and Grant went to Wild West for Grant's 22nd birthday. For those of you not living in Waco, Wild West is a country dancing club/bar. Grant and I got there first. Grant went up to the door, showed his ID to the bouncer, got his 21+ wristband, and walked inside. I got out my ID and showed it to the bouncer, then stuck out my hand, expecting him to take his permanent marker and mark a big X on my hand to show I'm under 21. Instead, the bouncer puts a 21+ wristband on me. I was way too surprised and dumbfounded to say anything. Before you ask: NO, I was not dressed like a slut. In all seriousness, I would be proud to meet the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in what I was wearing that night. NO, I did not flirt with bouncer in any way, shape or form. I don't even remember smiling. All I did was hand him my ID-which, by the way, has "Under 21" printed at the top and is lengthwise instead of widthwise. I honestly have no earthly clue why the bouncer decided to give me a wristband instead of an X. I'm not gonna lie, it was tempting to take advantage of the wristband and try a drink, but I decided against it. One, it would still be illegal, but two, the more pressing reason, I decided that I didn't want to try any alcoholic drink for the first time the night before an 8am class. I feel bad that that's the reason I decided against it, not because it would be wrong...oh well. Point is, I didn't try anything.
Anyways, Wild West was a lot of fun, although I've heard it's better if you go earlier. Apparently if you go before midnight, they will play all country songs, meaning you can actually do real dancing (two step, texas two step, and maybe swing) the whole time. After midnight they start playing rap and hip hop along with the country, which means that some songs you can't really dance-it's just a bunch of people grinding up on each other. Note to self: Next time you go to wild west, go earlier. The country dances were a lot of fun, especially with Grant. Grant and Richard also decided to try swinging to some of the hip hop songs, which was fun. I learned a new line dance. Johnny took Ashley and myself home at one.
I woke up this morning EXHAUSTED. I still managed to make it to my 8am class on time and not fall asleep, although I didn't get to eat breakfast beforehand. Luckily, my class got out REALLY early so I got to eat breakfast at Memorial before my 9:05 class. It was at breakfast when I realized just how tired I was when Shane came up beside me and said something to me, and I DIDN'T HEAR HIM. Nevertheless, I had an AMAZING time last night and wouldn't have chosen to do anything differently. I just need a nap...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday and Wednesday
Tuesday-Acting class at 9:30. We're working on improv. Our professor had some guys from the improv comedy troupe at Baylor come and show us some stuff and play some games with us. It's a lot of fun, but I'm learning just how bad at improv I really am.
Christian Scriptures class was at 3:30. We got our scores for the first test back. Apparently, I really am an Awana nerd. In all honesty, except for the map locations, I didn't really study that much for this test. I mostly went off of my own knowledge, plus what I remembered from class lectures and readings. I reviewed my notes from class lectures, but besides that I didn't do much in the way of studying. Despite that, I got a 96 on the test. Class average was 78. When asked what the highest score was, the professor replied "96 or 98". Wow. So I had either the highest or second highest score in the class. I almost feel guilty. But in all honesty, I am just really happy that I grew up on this stuff.
Tuesday evening-swing dancing!!! We learned the a couple charleston variations. I realized that I still have a bad habit of leading instead of following-something I'm definitely working on. I also realized that I don't provide much resistance, so I'm making it harder for the guy to send signals because my arms are kind of limp. Definitely something I'm working on. Several of us went to Common Grounds afterwards. Will offered to buy me something, but I didn't really know what I wanted, and I wanted to try something new, so I said "Surprise me." He got me a smoothie called a strawberry bomb and it was very delicious. Tracey told us about upcoming swing events, and we talked about how cool it would be to put on a swing show at common grounds.
Wednesday-typical Wednesday. Chemistry-alright but not exciting. Sociology-still my favorite class. We watched a video of one of our classmates, Jake, showing us his living space. We talked about socialization and watched a video clip of the Breakfast Club. The point of the clip was how all the teenagers were talking about why they acted the way they did, but as they did I started crying because of the anger and frustration they all obviously held. On Sunday, Kyle Dunn (college pastor) talked about how oftentimes we judge non-christians instead of letting our hearts break for them. God is definitely working in my heart about that. There was a time when I wouldn't have been able to get past all the s-bombs and f-bombs and actually listen to what the characters were saying. This time, I listened to the emotions behind their language-and I just let myself cry. There are real people in the world hurting like this. I know that wasn't the point of showing the video clip-but that's what I got out of it.
Awana Wednesday evening!!! I got my permanent group of sparkies for the year. I have three boys and two girls, all second graders. I already absolutely love them. During game time, one of my girls, Aidan, asked to go to the bathroom, so I went with her. As we were headed back to game time, she said, "There's my daddy!" and ran down the hall. I looked up to see who she was running towards-and it was Kevin Dougherty, my sociology professor!!! That's just WAY too cool of a coincidence. Okay, so I don't believe it's a coincidence, I believe it's a God thing. It's just so weird, though. I saw Aidan's last name and thought "I have a professor with that last name". I saw Aidan, and she has vibrant red hair JUST like her daddy-and it still didn't click. It didn't even cross my mind. When Aidan found out that her daddy was my professor, she thought it was the coolest thing. The first thing she told the other girl, Madelyn, when we got back to game time was "My daddy teaches our leader!"
Christian Scriptures class was at 3:30. We got our scores for the first test back. Apparently, I really am an Awana nerd. In all honesty, except for the map locations, I didn't really study that much for this test. I mostly went off of my own knowledge, plus what I remembered from class lectures and readings. I reviewed my notes from class lectures, but besides that I didn't do much in the way of studying. Despite that, I got a 96 on the test. Class average was 78. When asked what the highest score was, the professor replied "96 or 98". Wow. So I had either the highest or second highest score in the class. I almost feel guilty. But in all honesty, I am just really happy that I grew up on this stuff.
Tuesday evening-swing dancing!!! We learned the a couple charleston variations. I realized that I still have a bad habit of leading instead of following-something I'm definitely working on. I also realized that I don't provide much resistance, so I'm making it harder for the guy to send signals because my arms are kind of limp. Definitely something I'm working on. Several of us went to Common Grounds afterwards. Will offered to buy me something, but I didn't really know what I wanted, and I wanted to try something new, so I said "Surprise me." He got me a smoothie called a strawberry bomb and it was very delicious. Tracey told us about upcoming swing events, and we talked about how cool it would be to put on a swing show at common grounds.
Wednesday-typical Wednesday. Chemistry-alright but not exciting. Sociology-still my favorite class. We watched a video of one of our classmates, Jake, showing us his living space. We talked about socialization and watched a video clip of the Breakfast Club. The point of the clip was how all the teenagers were talking about why they acted the way they did, but as they did I started crying because of the anger and frustration they all obviously held. On Sunday, Kyle Dunn (college pastor) talked about how oftentimes we judge non-christians instead of letting our hearts break for them. God is definitely working in my heart about that. There was a time when I wouldn't have been able to get past all the s-bombs and f-bombs and actually listen to what the characters were saying. This time, I listened to the emotions behind their language-and I just let myself cry. There are real people in the world hurting like this. I know that wasn't the point of showing the video clip-but that's what I got out of it.
Awana Wednesday evening!!! I got my permanent group of sparkies for the year. I have three boys and two girls, all second graders. I already absolutely love them. During game time, one of my girls, Aidan, asked to go to the bathroom, so I went with her. As we were headed back to game time, she said, "There's my daddy!" and ran down the hall. I looked up to see who she was running towards-and it was Kevin Dougherty, my sociology professor!!! That's just WAY too cool of a coincidence. Okay, so I don't believe it's a coincidence, I believe it's a God thing. It's just so weird, though. I saw Aidan's last name and thought "I have a professor with that last name". I saw Aidan, and she has vibrant red hair JUST like her daddy-and it still didn't click. It didn't even cross my mind. When Aidan found out that her daddy was my professor, she thought it was the coolest thing. The first thing she told the other girl, Madelyn, when we got back to game time was "My daddy teaches our leader!"
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday 9/15/18
So I woke up and got ready for classes yesterday morning, and was ready to go when I realized that I didn't know where my ID was. This is VERY bad. Life at college basically revolves around the ID card-it's what I need to get into my dorm, what I need to eat, what I need to pay for stuff, what I need to get credit for chapel attendance...I spent about 10 minutes searching for it when I realize that it really is nowhere to be found. I knew that if I didn't leave right then, I would be late to class. But I also knew that I also may not be able to get into my room later. Deciding that school was definitely a high priority, I left and went to Chemistry, then to Sociology. Afterwards I went back to my dorm, managed to get inside the building, and obtained an emergency access code from the front desk to get into my room. Once I got inside my room I searched EVERYWHERE for my ID but couldn't find it anywhere. Finally I decided it was going to take less time to go get a new ID than to search and find my old one. So I left, hopped on the bus to go to Robinson tower, and got a new ID. It literally took 30 seconds once I got inside the building to get my new ID. The bus route is a 15-minute route, so I decided that waiting for the bus wasn't worth it and walked back. (Yes, I crossed under the freeway...don't freak out.) I missed chapel, unfortunately, but I would have needed an ID to get credit for being there anyway. So the morning was somewhat eventful. The rest of the afternoon was not.
Monday evenings are latin dance. I've had latin dance lessons before but I'm not very good. I was very happy though, because I got to dance with a couple guys who REALLY knew what they were doing and pushed me to improve. Even between the beginning of the evening and the end, I felt dramatic improvement in my technique. I'm excited about continuing to learn and improve. :)
Monday evenings are latin dance. I've had latin dance lessons before but I'm not very good. I was very happy though, because I got to dance with a couple guys who REALLY knew what they were doing and pushed me to improve. Even between the beginning of the evening and the end, I felt dramatic improvement in my technique. I'm excited about continuing to learn and improve. :)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Great news!!!!
I called my cousin Amanda earlier today, and I found out that Yomarrah, my cousin Nestor's girlfriend, accepted Christ as her Savior!!! Praise the Lord!!!! I am so excited!!! There is a new child in the kingdom...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)