Feeling slightly giddy....

In what universe does this make sense? Ok, so I go to work this morning at 8:00 and stay until 1 in the afternoon. Five hours of work, right? False! Four and a half hours of me doing homework and maybe 30 minutes of me actually doing what they pay me to do. I'm not necessarily complaining, just making an observation. It was weird.

Tonight was much more entertaining. Ryan, the rumored boy, came over for a few hours. It was good times. After I forced him to wait while I watched the end of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (what a great show!!), we decided it was chow time and ventured into the kitchen to whip up the classic American delicacy, mac & cheese. The preparation of the dish proved to be much better than the end product, as it appears that our refrigerator has decided to rebell and make all of our milk turn bad. Sad day. But I'm sure he'll not soon forget the time he came over and I fed him sour macaroni.

Despite the initial culinary catastrophe, the evening went fabulously. In spite of the fact that I have only known this guy for about a week, I find myself remarkably at ease and myself around him. This is completely foreign to me. I have always felt awkward and self-conscious around new people, especially guys, not to mention guys I'm attracted to! So, needless to say, I am pretty excited about the way things seem to be progressing. I'll be sure to keep my faithful readers posted on any further developments.

Watch out for needles

I finally have internet access on my computer!! I sing praises to the name of the Cox Customer Support man forever and ever!! Since school has started I haven't had much time to go up to campus in order to update my blog, and I have missed it.

Nursing school is going fabulously. Today I learned how to give shots!! Woo hoo!! Of course, I gave them to myself for about 5 years of my life, but giving them to someone else is quite different. I think I did quite well, if I do say so myself. Look out come flu season, because rumor has it we will be administering flu shots to ACU students! Mwaahahahah! How fun is that?

So apparently word got out pretty fast about my date this weekend, but for anyone who missed the memo, yes I did go on a date this weekend with a boy from nursing school. A male nursing student! How rare and fabulous! We had a great time and I'm definitely not dismissing the possibility of more dates in the future. Anyway, that's my life in a nutshell. The end

It's the End of My Life as I Know It

I just spent the last 15 minutes or so of my life perusing the thoughts of total strangers. I thought it might be fun to read some of the "blogs of interest" and recently updated blogs. I have discovered a new time-devouring trap I must beware of. Or is it "of which I must beware?" Where is my English-major roommate when I need her?

Nursing school is going to eat my life. I can feel it. These past 2 days of orientation have been extremely long days. One more to go. And then school starts for real. What am I doing with my life? Starting it. That's what. It's kind of scary to realize that the information I will be cramming into my head in the next 2 years is what I will be relying on throughout the remainder of my professional career. (Ka-Reer!!) But I am definately excited about it all. I really think I will enjoy nursing school, despite the fact that today we were told of the extremely likelihood of our social lives as we know them failing to exist for the next 2 years. I am determined to find a way around this. But I also realize that in all reality, I will have to study more in the coming semesters than I ever have before. This makes me sad on the inside. I am not a studier. I never have been. I was the person in high school who would show up to class on test days completely oblivious to the fact that a test was about to be administered and still do well on it. I say this not to brag on myself, but just to say that this is the way I was. As a result of that, I never really learned how to study effectively. I fear that this will be a struggle for me in my new academic endeavors. That and the fact that I have an attention span of approximately 43 seconds.

A New Chapter in my Life

My summer has ended. This is a sad day. I am currently enjoing a 2 hour break from nursing school orientation. I have 2 and a half more days of this to look forward to. Please pray for my sanity. I'm definately looking forward to getting into my majr and all, but I hate just sitting and listening to all the rules and guidelines, etc. I suppose it's all necessary and what not, but wow, very boring.

We took a random break in the middle of our morning to convene in the "living room" of the school for some singing. This was an interesting experience. We sang some worship songs with the accompaniment of a piano. This was my first real experience with using instruments in worship. It made me have a whole new appreciation for a capella singing. The piano was pretty and all, but I could only hear the voices of the 3 or 4 people right around me. I think part of the worship experience for me is hearing the voices of others as they worship as well. I guess it's mostly a matter of what I'm used to, but today I came to appreciate the a capella tradition in a whole new way.

This is the Day that the Lord Has Made

And so another week begins. And what a bittersweet week it is, being that this is the last week of summer break and all. Sad day. Let us take a moment to mourn the passing of such a dear friend. Actually, I am quite ready to get on with this school thing. I have orientation for nursing school this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. They call it orientation, but I really think that is just a fancy way of saying "you're going to start school 3 days before everyone else but we don't want to come out and say it to your face." Let's consider the facts, shall we?

1) I am required to attend said "orientation"
2) This is no 2 hour orientation session. I must be there all 3 days from 8:30 till 4 or 5
3) Books are required by the second day
4) There will be tests administered

This sounds an awful lot like school to me. Maybe it's just me.

On a completely different note...I'd like to take a moment to reflect on my experience at University Church this morning. For the first time in quite a while I felt deeply moved by what the preacher was saying. Usually I have a tendency to sit quietly and listen politely, but by Sunday night I've all but forgotten what was said. Today was different. Eddie Sharp spoke about giving the firstfruits of our lives to God. I've heard this phrase numerous times before, but I never took the time to realize what a huge concept that is. He talked about how in Old Testament times the people of Israel were required to take the BEST fruits of their fields and the BEST animals from their flocks and give them to God. They were to sacrifice something that would guarantee their well-being and security in the near future and trust that God would reward their selflessness with a greater prosperity than they could provide for themselves. The faith these people had to do such things blows my mind!! It made me realize how weak my own faith is in such matters. I convince myself that I can't spare that extra few dollars each week for the collection plate because I "need" it for dinner that night, or whatever else may come up. And it's not just the firstfruits of our material blessings that God wants. He wants the firstfruits of our time. This is where I struggle the most. I "try" to find quiet time to read my Bible and pray, but usually I end up just fitting it in right before I go to bed. Are these really the best hours of my day? It makes spending time with my Lord seem like something I'm obligated to do instead of something I'm priveleged and blessed to do. I began thinking of my relationship with God like a relationship with one of my good friends. If I only spared the last 15 minutes or so of my day to catch up on my friend's life and fill them in on what's going on in mine, that friend probably wouldn't feel like they mattered a whole lot to me. Especially if I was struggling to stay awake long enough to finish the conversation. If I can schedule in time to spend with my earthly friends, why do I find it so hard to set aside time to spend with my Heavenly Father, who blessed me with the friends in the first place? Today it was as if my eyes were opened in a way I've never experienced before. I know I need to work on my priorities. I would welcome your prayers with mine as I seek to live my life more fully for my God.

Let Bill Live

Wow. So tired. And yet I don't go to bed. What am I doing with my life? I just wasted the last 3 hours or so watching Kill Bill, volumes 1 and 2. Let me just say I am more than ready to close that chapter in my life. Those are most definately what I would classify as "boy movies." What can you do?

So tomorrow my little brother will be arriving in Abilene to begin his college adventure. I am very excited about this, but at the same time it kind of weirds me out. I think it will be good times having him out here, though. This truly is the dawning of the age of the younger siblings. It seems like everyone I know has a younger brother or sister coming out here this fall. Ok, maybe not, but quite a few anyway.

I'm very excited about starting a new school year. New beginnings are always exciting. The thrill of the unknown is very, well, thrilling. For some reason I have a feeling that this year is going to be very much different from last year. Obviously, every year is different from the one before, but I feel like this one will be especially so. I am very interested to see how the semester pans out. I know that everyone had very unique experiences over the summer, and I think that as a result of our experiences away from each other we are all slightly different people than the ones who left Abilene (or stayed here, as the case may be) in May. This makes for a whole new group dynamic, which I find quite exciting. In my case, my summer wans't all that adventurous and I spent a good deal of time on my own. But while this wasn't the most entertaining way to spend 3 months of my life, I think it was just what I needed. Being away from home and/or dorm life for the first time ever helped me become more independent. And time away from a big group of friends allowed me to really get to know myself. I don't think I'd ever done that before. I've always been the kind of person who seeks out a crowd to get lost in, and then goes along with whatever the crowd does. But I'm finally starting to realize that I am, in fact, an individual with my own opinions and likes and dislikes, and that's ok. I feel like the person I was in August of last year and the person I am now are completely different. I have even had other people tell me they've noticed a big change in me over the past year (for the better, I would hope!) This excites me greatly. I am feeling much more confident and sure of myself than I ever have, and I can't wait to get this school year started!!

Learning to Accept my Age

Oh man. Two of my friends are now married. Does this freak out anyone else as much as it does me? For some reason I find it very hard to make myself believe that I am actually approaching the age where marriage is an appropriate step to take. Perhaps it is because I feel it is still in my very, very distant future. However, I still find great joy in attending other people's weddings, and Curtis and Lauren's was no exception. Everything was so pretty! Sometimes I wish that I could just have a wedding without the whole getting married part. Does anyone else share my sentiments? Probably not, but I am ok with that.

The knowledge that no more than 14 days lie between me and the start of nursing school has me feeling rather restless. Part of me is ready to jump in with both feet and get this career path started, but another part of me is saying, "there's no way I'm ready for this!! I don't want to grow up!" In all reality, I think I'll be fine. I've always been pretty academically-inclined, especially when it comes to things that interest me. I think what I'm most concerned about is the fact that I'll no longer be at ACU. All of my classes will be at the nursing school over by Hendrick Hospital. I have this fear that as a result of this, my connections with my friends will slowly drift away and I will be stranded in a world of nursing students who do nothing but study. That thought alone makes me question my choice of majors. But I will be strong. I will not be lost in the nursing school abyss. I'm counting on my friends to help me out in this. If you realize that I seem to have fallen off the face of the earth, please rescue me. Call me, come over and drag me away, anything. I will need it, I'm sure.

Sleep Deprivation at Its Best

I find myself back in Abilene after an exhausting but fabulous week at Iron Springs. Being an advisor instead of a counselor allowed me to experience camp in a whole new way. It was fabulous. The week served for me as a much needed vacation from Abilene, and an opportunity to reconnect with friends I haven't seen in a while, as well as an exciting, spritual experience for the kids who came. The new position which I held this week provided me with more free time than I've ever had at camp, and it resulted in much good-natured mischief. It was great. I feel that everyone deserves the right to be mischievious from time to time. It's healthy, right?

What is not healthy is the extreme sleep deprivation I am still feeling. Every night I was up until at least 12:30 or 1:00 and up again around 7:00. The worst was last night. After camp ended we had to clean up and lock everything up before we could leave, so we got off to a later start than planned for the trip back to Arlington. We arrived in Arlington around 11 or so, and I was ready to crash right then and there. But I still had the trip to Abilene to look forward to. Stephen, Daniel, and I departed around 12:30 and arrived here at like 3:30am. It was nuts. I did get to go by the guys' new house and see everyone that I haven't seen since school was out, but I wasn't exactly in the most social mood at the time. Something about being awake for 20 hours straight will do that do you.

However, I am thrilled that everyone is starting to return from their summer adventures and I'm very excited to see everyone together again. I can't believe Curtis and Lauren will be married in less than 28 hours!! How very exciting!