College and a Wedding and Phantom, Oh My

It's been a month since I've posted anything..... I blame it on school! And to be honest that isn't far from the truth. While school has not filled my every waking moment, I tend to find myself unwilling to use my free time to sit down and do still more writing. However, now that it's "crunch time" and I have quite a bit to do, I'll do anything that helps me avoid college paper writing.

In the realm of school... Psych class continues to be a joy. I love the lectures and the tests aren't too bad. Right now I have an A- in the course which (with increase in the next two test scores) can be pulled up to an A. The math class is much better than I thought it would be, but we'll see if I'm still saying that next week when I get my first test back....


In addition to the two classes mentioned before, I have and art class (more about that later), Development and Learning Theory (Ed Psych), and Ruth and Esther. Development and Learning Theory is the class were I feel the most out of my league. I don't know what the professor's saying half the time and writing a paper for her is scary. She has a very dry sense of humor which makes her hard to read. However, I think she like me so that's good :D Ruth and Esther is with my favorite professor from last semester. I really enjoy the lectures, but the papers he has us writing are a bit daunting and the midterm and final are absolutely scary.

In the realm of the wedding... Oh wait, didn't I tell you?!?!? One of my best friends is getting married!!!!!!! In MAY!!! And she asked me to be her maid of honor!!! So yeah, it's pretty exciting and all that :P Just last Sunday we went dress shopping for me. She already had picked out her dress and the bridesmaids' dresses but she wanted the maid of honor's dress to be different. We found one, though I'm afraid I can't post pictures, it being for the wedding in May and such. It's quite interesting. I love the color and most of the style. It's a bit snug but we had two options: buy the size they had and I'll lose a some weight by the wedding or order a size larger (if we were even able to) and then run into problems if I did lose any weight between now and May. Obviously we went with the first option. And my dad even said that if in trying to lose the weight I ended up losing too much to fit the dress, we could have it altered. So with the weight lose I think I'll like the dress even more than I do now!

In the realm of Phantom... Remember that art class I mention earlier in this post? Well I was pretty apathetic about the whole class, not really loving, it not really hating it. That is not until they took me to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway again! And gave me two extra tickets for my mom and brother!!! It was pretty fantastic. I love all things musical and Broadway, and Phantom takes the cake!

So anyways, that's all that has really been going on in my life. Odd how I can summarize a whole month and a half almost in a few paragraphs. I could flesh it out more I suppose but would you really care to read it?? Probably not....so.... short and sweet. Or at least, kinda short and sweet.

Please Ignore Half Of What I Say

Well besides being back in the world of blogging, I’m also back at school which is not nearly as exciting…..Nevertheless my first class helped my dismal attitude to school a little bit, General Psychology with Prof. Stephen Maret. Besides standing on the stool of drum set with one foot and leaning over like he was pretending to be an airplane, Prof. Maret also told us “please ignore half of what I say” and “I’m trying to work on my sarcasm…….that was sarcasm.” Let’s just say it ought to be an interesting semester! :)

My next class was Math for the Elementary School Teacher. Not nearly so much fun. The Professor decided to throw and 81 question test at us to “see where you all are.” Fun!…..not. The professor herself is a tiny, old woman who proudly declared her graduation from a NYC public highschool, who speaks in an almost whisper and yet at the speed of light, and who wants us to “write our own math story.” I’m starting to wonder were they find these people……

Well anyway, I least I don’t have classes on Fridays! In celebration of being home, my mommy and I went out for brunch to our favorite local diner. It was great to catch up with her after a long three months away. I love you, Mom!

I'm Back!

Well I’m back! I had high hopes of keeping up on my blog this summer, but obviously that didn’t happen. My excuse? It was a crazy busy summer! Where to begin, where to begin? Well I left on Sunday, May 31^st to head up to my beloved Pinebrook. It was an extremely long ride because the driver accidently went east instead of west causing us to sit in 45 minutes of traffic for about a mile of roadway. I should have seen this summer coming right?

Anyway, when I arrived the rest of the leadership team was not on grounds so I had another almost three hours all to myself to unpack. It seemed ideal at the time, get all settled in before the fun begins, but unfortunately in the long run it made things harder. And so began Leadership Orientation. Leadership Orientation is basically three weeks of practically free manual labor, with a few hours of meetings stuck in on Tuesdays. Here’s what our schedule looked like for three week, 8 o’clock ~ Staff Prayer, 8:15-12 ~ weeding/cleaning/painting/sanding, 12-1 ~ lunch. 1-4:45 more of the same. Sounds fun doesn’t it? And to be honest, a lot of it was. It just would have been more fun without the whole work aspect. The friendships were amazing. All but two of the members of the LT I’ve known for years, but even my friendship with those people grew and matured this summer. I now count most of them as some of my nearest and dearest friends. All the things we did - trips to Walmart and Salvo, pictures with Bob the Builder, Kosherland (more about that later), midnight viewings of the Disney’s Robin Hood and the 5 hour version of Pride and Prejudice, late night talks, and a trip to Boulder Field – only grew my love for theses dear people.

Here’s a little bit about them, we’ll start with the guys (I know, I know, ladies first. Deal with it.)

Edward ~ He’s my brother! What more is there to say :P Seriously though, I always enjoy seeing my brother in a leadership position; he always amazes me with how well he does.

Stephen ~ If there’s one word that could describe Stephen it’s unique. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone quite like Stephen, or ever will again! Still, he was always fun to hang out with and his fake British accent was hysterical!

Michael ~ Mike may not be the best leader in the whole world, but he’s always fun to hang out with. Plus he called me awesome so that’s cool.

Eric ~ I’ve known Eric since my first summer in 2006, but this was the first summer we got beyond just being comfortable around each other. I’m really honored to be considered his friend. He has a great desire to follow God’s will and grow in Him. Add to that, his great sense of humor and facial expressions and you’ve got one fantastic person! We had some great times, going bowling in Lehighton, going book shopping with Elizabeth in Schnecksville, and random trips to Rita’s.

Nathaniel ~ Nate and I have been great friends for the last two years. However it was great to have a relationship grow and change this summer. And he got a girlfriend, making him an all over happier person. They’re quite cute together, even if they are a bit sappy!

Now for the girls.

Alicia ~ I was very apprehensive about having Lecie on the LT this summer, not only had she never worked on staff but she’d never even been to Pinebrook. However, it turned out to work really well. I’ve never met anyone sweeter than she and I’m privileged to call her my friend. Plus she was a fantastic secret sister! I now have two fantastic tea cups to add to my collection!

Meredith ~ My fellow city dweller! Meredith and I have also known each other since 2006, but it was great to see her in a leadership position that really stretched and grew here. She was quite hard working and a great friend to all.

Rachel ~ Again, someone I’ve known since 2006. However she was always someone I envisioned as lofty and popular, one of the cool girls which I was not. Add to that her quite demeanor and it made for very little actually conversation between us. This summer all that changed. I got to see her on her own, away from her friends that overshadowed her personality and actually heard her speak, and you know what? I love her! She’s a wonderful young lady who has great leadership ability. Plus she was a great example to the girls in her relationship with her boyfriend, Nate. That’s right, what’s a summer without a little LT romance. Which reminds me, did I tell you Stephen and Lecie started dating too….. :)

Elizabeth ~ Liz and I have been really good friends since our first summer, 2006. However this summer she became more than a friend to me. She’s like a sister. It’s incredible how much I’ve grown to love her and care about her. I can share anything with her and I believe the feelings mutual! Right now I’m praying she’ll have her own little post-summer romance. If you can’t beat them, join them right?

Anyway that was Leadership Orientation in a nutshell. It’s a good thing there are some large nuts out there cause this ended up being quite long. And just think, it was only three out of 13 weeks!

The Leadership Team (Plus 6)

A Rather Busy Weekend

Thursday ~
Yes, I know, Thursday is technically not part of the weekend. However, when school is out and work has not yet commenced the line between weekday and weekend can be blurred slightly. My Thursday was spent, to my great enjoyment, in the kitchen. I managed to end the day with 24+ cupcakes for the end-of-the year kids' program at church,

a Jewish apple cake (don't know quite why it's called that but it's quite good nonetheless),


two brownie-bottom cheesecakes (my personal favorite) drizzled with chocolate,


and dinner for my family. I certainly enjoyed myself and I think it all tasted pretty good :)

Friday~
Friday we celebrated my highschool graduation. While I was technically done in December and have completed a semester of college, we waited till the spring to have a party. Even though many of my friends couldn't make it, it was still a great party. My grandparent were able to come from Pennsylvania and my cousin came with them.
We had a wonderful dinner of turkey barbecue, potato salad, and seven layer salad.

And of course, I can't forget the chocolate fountain......Yum! One of the young men from our church who came to the party managed to get a fair amount of chocolate on his clothes as well as in his mouth. His mother told me when he came home Friday night the first thing she said to him was, "I see you had chocolate." :D

We had lots of different types of fruit to dip in the chocolate, as well as pretzels.

I had a wonderful time. I'm so thankful to my mommy for all the hard work she put in to making this a special day! Thanks, mom!


Saturday~
As I mentioned before, my cousin, Carol Jean, from Pennsylvania came for my graduation party and she and my grandparents stayed until Sunday. We decided to take a trip to Times Square on Saturday.
We got a little bored on the subway, so we took a picture :)

Times Square in black and white.


We didn't see either of these but we're making plans for the fall.....yay Wicked!


I don't think she believed me at first when I told her there was a Starbucks on practically every corner......Now she does.And of course, although we had grandiose plans for not buying food at ridiculously high Times Square prices, we broke down and got some New York pizza!


Later that evening we curled up with bowls (or, I guess, mugs) of ice cream. Ice cream that we got for free....... double yum! Monkey Butter (Banana flavored ice cream with peanut butter) is probably just about the best ice cream I've ever had.

Oh, and who can resist flipping on Pride and Prejudice to close the evening. Cousins, Darcy, and ice cream, *sigh* it was a good day.

Sunday ~
Although I do not have pictures of Sunday, it was still a pretty eventful day. We went to church in the morning and afterwards a Chinese buffet for lunch. After managing to get my grandfather to the restaurant (I don't do so well with directions), I proceeded to exemplify grace and took a marvelous little tumble onto the sidewalk. Well, it really wasn't much of a tumble, it was a flat out fall, complete with bloody knee....... I don't know how I did it, but despite the blood and pain it was a fun day. As my grandfather said, "unfortunatley knees heel faster than egos."

Love

Aristotle once said that, “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” However, for the Christian, love is composed of two souls cohabiting in one flesh.

Ephesians 5:31 "For this reason a man shall. . .be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

Pastors and PMS

Did you know that pastors get PMS?? Every pastor of a small church that I’ve known (and that’s quite a few since my dad is a pastor in a small denomination) gets something I like to call PMS or Pastoral Morning Syndrome. I happens every Sunday morning and it goes a little something like this…..

“Did you bring that vase from home like I told you to?” “No, you simply mentioned that we should bring it so I didn’t remember….” Well what am I supposed to do NOW??” “There’s a vase in the kitchen, dad.” “Where?” “Right in the bottom cabinet.” (opens cabinet) “I don’t see it!” “It’s right there, dad.” “*heavy sigh* This one’s not as pretty as the red one at home.”

Following that there’s the huge discussion of how best to arrange the flowers and whether or to put the water in before or after the flowers. Next there’s the OCD arranging of the chairs and the constant rushing around until everything is just so. Seriously, it’s just like the normal kind of PMS (swift mood changes, obsessions, and annoying everyone around them) only it’s once every week instead of once a month, but luckily it also only lasts for about an hour instead of a week.

Some Thoughts on My 1st Semester of College

So it's hard to believe as I sit here typing this, that I've completed my first semester of college! It's funny, as much as college was always a part of my plans it seems so weird to be where I am right now. I'm only 17 and have a full 15 college credits!

Anyway, I took my last final today! The knowledge that I'm done gives me the most amazing feeling! I couldn't help thinking back over my first college classes, my first classes with teachers other than my parents. I'll never forget the feeling of shock when the first thing we studied in my College Writing I Class was what a noun was! I felt like I was back in 1^st grade! Not that I'm complaining, I got all As J From that class I moved on to Old Testament. Again, I was slightly shocked when we spent the first hour memorizing the books of the Old Testament, again something I did in 1^st grade! Though Old Testament did end up being my favorite class, the beginning was rather humorous.

My Monday classes weren't quite as shocking, and they didn't make me feel quite as juvenile. However, by the end of the semester, I'm so glad that my New Testament class is over. Some of the most boring three-hour time chunks ever! Foundations of Education was neither juvenile nor boring, but I'm still glad it's over. It's funny how I can enjoy teaching and yet hate school.

So all in all the like/hate ratio was fair. I LOVED Old Testament and enjoyed Foundations of Education, while I HATED College Writing (more about that at a different time perhaps) and barely tolerated New Testament. Let me say again though that I am SOOOOO glad to be done! And get this!!! I think I even have a 4.0!!!