51 Days!!!

I can't wait for Christmas!!!
some music in the mean time. 

Jesus vs. ____________

"Christ Jesus is the life of all the graces and comforts of a Christian in this world. By the knowledge and contemplation of him and of his death in our stead faith lives and is strengthened from day to day. All the springs of repentance are opened and flow freely when the heart is melted by views of a dying Saviour. Love feels the attractive power of its glorious object and is kindled into, a holy flame. Sin is mortified, the world is subdued, and the hope of future glory is supported, enlivened, and confirmed so as to become sure and steadfast, like an anchor of the soul. But without him, whom having not seen we love, these graces would die--or to speak more properly they would have no existence." Fawcett

People say growing up with brothers makes meals a battlefield...

but those people didn't grow up eating in my mother's kitchen. Saw this on girltalk today. My mother used to say this exact phrase and leave exactly one light on for the poor, lone, slow eater left at the table after everyone else had finished dinner.

  

Is dueling a brother for the last piece of chicken really worse than sitting alone in the dark finishing your meal? Ask Kimberly.

September 28th

Matt emailed this to me today. It is freaky.

 

 

 

I'm famous!!!

Now that it's out in the open everyone will want to be my friend.

"Death is cool until you die."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymN_LfrEZs&feature=player_embedded 

Esther is trying to make us do apartment bonding via Spartan Race. Even though after recently watching 300 I was all hyped about beating people up without a shirt on (Ahhh-woo!) this race is looks scary! I'm going to be Persian status getting owned by this Spartan race...

O well, it will be a glorious way to celebrate ending finals for the quarter!

"We are the descendants of those described. Our forefathers were given up to as brutish a service of the devil as any nation under the sun. It was therefore the work of infinite mercy that the day dawned on us, and that the 'day-spring from on high has visited us.' God might justly have left us to perish in the blindness and ignorance of our forefathers. But of his own will, and by his own powerful grace alone, he has 'translated us out of darkness into his marvelous light.' But the horrible ingratitude of men for the glorious light of the gospel, and the abuse of it, will bring on us his severe judgments." --Owen

September 20th

It has been a million years since I've posted a photo!!! Here is a nice back to school one.

 Why do I have bejeweled doorstops?

What else would they be used for but to prop my laptop up and keep it from overheating?

They're tacky and I love it.

This Just in...

"Just read that women in their 20s are 2xs as fertile as women in their 30s. Get it on."

...

My sister texted this to me this morning....

Choose Wisely.

I don't think of myself as a picky person. I eat almost anything except lima beans and peas (I do however love love split pea soup). I don't really have a favorite color, movie, song, etc. I'm only really picky when it comes to my journals (even here I am getting a little more lax...take heart CCM boys! I am using the notebook from sisters' appreciation!) and pen point size (I have to say  0.5 is the best...anything less is too small). I don't have a favorite farm animal either. I just hate horses.

Lately dating and relationships have been hot topics (actually...when are they not???) but especially more so recently because of Mt. Hermon. Camp is infamous for being a big meat market (ok..camps is also known for other serious things...that I will blog about later...maybe). It has even accumulated different nicknames; Mt. Hormone, Meet-Her-Man, etc. There's "cabin time", "top three", "superficial top 3", and "blanket rules".

It's strange and hilarious watching little high school boys and girls chase after each other. Doing QTs in the same area, eating meals together, bombarding the craft table, sneaky creeper pictures, luring each other with stuffed animals...it is all very bizarre. More frightening than their weirdo game is how quickly the flirtatious behaviour begins. At the most they've met each other the year before and at the least they've known each other a few hours. It's nuts! How well do you really know that person? More than that are you even interested in them for the right reasons?

A month or so before camp I started listening to Rick Holland's "Biblical Femininity" series again. I always get owned in the face, man, I need to work on being a classy biblical lady. I think what stood out to me most this time around was the warning Rick Holland gave repeatedly throughout the first 2 messages. "Ladies, ladies! Choose wisely!"

Holland was preaching through 1 Peter 3 talking about submission and how women are called to submit to their "own husbands", meaning we get a choice in who we decide to submit to. So choose wisely!

The other day I ran into one of my sister's old kindergarten teachers at the mall. The last time I talked to this lady was in 4th grade. She was telling me about everything she'd been up to since then like teaching art classes at the school and getting a divorce. After over 15 years of marriage she ended things for various reasons that I wont disclose...but that guy was just not a nice man at all. After talking about what had happened and then sharing about how God had been gracious to her through it all, she looked at me and told me "choose wisely".

As girls, we like to think we have it the hardest. There's more effort that needs to be put in to looking presentable. We have to cram our feet into stilettos. We shave, pluck, wax and thread. We get a visit from "Aunt Flow" once a month. And when it comes to dating we are left powerless until some boy asks us to coffee. The waiting game is tough, but we aren't left completely powerless, if anything we have all the power in the world! (ok...maybe not the world) We have the power to graciously and kindly reject any invitations we receive.

 Who you submit to for the rest of your life is at stake, ladies. So be picky. Choose wisely. Don't be rustling your leaves at some guy just because he's attractive or even just because he's seemingly godly. Choose wisely. Don't rely just on emotions or feelings that can be false and fleeting. 

"In every date is a potential mate." 
Choose wisely.

Be a Lady Not a Tramp.

Back in high school when I would drive Allison around she'd always ask if we could go to Starbucks. When I would say yes she would say thanks. Thanks because I ended up paying for her drink! Every time. But now the tables have turned. She is the one working this summer (I miss the pool!!!). So today, I rode with her to get gas (driving with her is not as scary as driving with Kaity....) and I made her get me Starbucks. Woo hoo!!!

She also bought me this book a while back, lost it, and then finally gave it to me today. She told me it would help me dress better. I seriously thought she was going to give me this book:

Or this one:

Everyone says I dress like a mom...or that I look like one. My question is why are all of your mothers dressing like hot 21 year olds???

Really though, she got me this book:

 "Highlights include: How to dress sexy without looking like a skank; How to flirt without facing charges of cyber stalking; Which guy is good, which guy is bad, which guy is gay; The difference between dinner conversation and discussions you should only have with your gynecologist; How to navigate meals with plates that aren't paper and utensils that aren't plastic"

Apparently I need to say farewell to my trampy lifestyle and hello to the "CLASSY" life.

Juniors!

The Junior class is the best. Granted I might be a little biased...but I think it's true. I mean no one else can pull off "Z" like we can.

  April made her rounds to our class dropping off study food. What a nice girl! Sad she's leaving!!!! Why must you be smart and graduate a year early!? But man, look at the love in our class. So wonderful...and I am tired/cracked out enough to get a little teary...

Highway to Hell.

Motor vehicle accidents can be scary. Cars can overturn. Airbags deploy. Motorcycles skid across the pavement. Even when cars are going at a mere 30mph serious damage can be done.
I've been in accidents, seen accidents, and more recently I've been able to offer help. Kaity and I stopped to help this one couple when we were driving back from Irvine once. We learned that people do weird things when they are in shock. This week, I was on my way to volunteer at the hospital when I saw the cause for all the crazy traffic. This motorcycle was down in the far left lane. I didn't see any flashing lights-- no CHP, or fire department. Immediately, I flipped on my left blinker and made my way over while dialing 911. 
It's funny how quickly and easily I made the decision to go over and help. I wasn't worried that people might be looking at me crouching on the freeway. I didn't care that I looked all weird with my polo tucked into my kakis. It didn't matter what the person lying on the ground thought about me. It didn't matter who the person on the ground was. I didn't care that I might come off a little annoying saying, "Hi! I'm Tracy. I know first aid. Can I help you?" I knew I might not be prepared or capable of dealing with what might be wrong with motorcyclist, but I was still willing to go and try and help.
You know a life is on the line. So with heart pounding and hands a little shaky you go.

Why isn't my response to evangelism the same?


"...do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell." Matthew 10:28
...
The lady got taken away by ambulance. The fire fighters came and slapped a c collar on her while I held her head and when they backboarded her I got to count it out! Weee!

I love firemen.

365 Days of Foto Fail.

I am really bad at keeping up with this photo blog thing. Freak. Here are some old ones. So old I don't even remember why and when I took them. Fail.

 Here's a picture of the back of a truck. I have no idea why I took this. I think it's in V-town aka self-named "Awesometown"

 This was from like...last month or something. I went to study in the Science Library in the study rooms. Someone put their boogers on the wall. I was going to die. This is a picture of the bigger darker ones.

Some people say that I have germaphobia, but I really don't think it's true. Carrying Lysol in your bag is a normal thing. All those little specks on the wall are boogers.

On Saturday, I got to hang out with most of my aunts and uncles. No cousins. I was the only child. BUT I was not the one who did this. It was my aunt.

My Soul Finds Rest in God Alone.

My soul finds rest in God alone,
My Rock and my salvation,
A fortress strong against my foes,
And I will not be shaken.
Though lips may bless and hearts may curse,
And lies like arrows pierce me,
I’ll fix my heart on righteousness,
I’ll look to Him who hears me.

O praise Him, hallelujah,
My Delight and my Reward;
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.

Find rest, my soul, in God alone
Amid the world’s temptations;
When evil seeks to take a hold
I’ll cling to my salvation.
Though riches come and riches go,
Don’t set your heart upon them;
The fields of hope in which I sow
Are harvested in heaven.

O praise Him, hallelujah,
My Delight and my Reward;
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.

I’ll set my gaze on God alone,
And trust in Him completely;
With every day pour out my soul,
And He will prove His mercy.
Though life is but a fleeting breath,
A sigh too brief to measure,
My King has crushed the curse of death
And I am His forever.

O praise Him, hallelujah,
My Delight and my Reward;
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.

Finish Well.

No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it.

-Alexander MacLaren (1826–1910), Scottish preacher

Sanctification.

"Glory be to God for the furnace, the hammer, and the file. Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss because we have been filled with anguish here below, and earth shall be better tilled because of our training in the school of adversity."- CHS

I Went to a Funeral & Finally Watched Iron Man.

That is what I literally did last  Friday. Well, I also went to physics lab in the morning.

Funerals. I have been to many in my life. I even have a specific black dress that I keep on hand, the funeral dress, like a go bag it's ready when I need it even on a moments notice. I guess it is kind of morbid having a "funeral dress" (my sisters and I seriously call it that), But it comes in handy and considering the number of funerals I've been to it's nice just having one go to outfit. 

At this past funeral, my sister noted that she's almost been to more funerals than years she has been alive. At one of the funerals I was at a couple of years ago, my one friend said that it was the first one she'd ever been to in her entire life, I think that was the seventh one I'd been to that year. I've been to funerals for old people. Funerals for young people. To funerals for people I knew well and for people I didn't. I've been to funerals where the person's death was expected and to ones where death came suddenly. Christian funerals. Buddhist funerals. Funerals with no religious association. Funerals that were bittersweet because the person was a Christian and sad funerals where the person wasn't. One thing that all funerals have in common though is that they get me thinking about not only death and dying, but also life and living.

This past funeral I was at the man lived a long, long life. My cousins' grandpa lived to be 105 (or...maybe 106...no one is sure when his birthday was). He lived to see two world wars. Survived the Depression. He was alive to see the Wright bothers fly their plane and man land on the moon. He was alive when both the television and blue ray disc were invented.

I thought about all the things that I will have seen in my lifetime. I don't know if I will live to see 105/106 years worth of things, but already I've seen a lot. The iPod, hybrid cars, the birth control patch, the Euro, 9/11, H1N1, and Justin Beiber to name a few things. While these things are significant, I think more narcissistically maybe, I tend to ask not what crazy things have happened in the world during my lifetime, but how has my life been significant. Am I living a life that matters?

Maybe this is lame...No, it is lame, but watching Iron Man reinforced these questions. I finally watched Iron Man all the way through, paying full attention to the movie (YAY! Iron Man 2 this Thursday!). The whole movie is about getting the chance to live a life that matters, making an impact on the world.

There's that one scene toward the beginning of the movie when Tony Stark is in the first suit that he built and is escaping from the Ten Rings and his new friend, Yinsen, is dying and he tells Stark, "Don't waste it. Don't waste your life." Right after he said that immediately I started thinking Piper. "Don't waste your life."

Similarly to Iron Man, Christians get a "second chance". We've been redeemed to live lives that matter for God's glory. We are allowed to be part of the process of saving souls! How much greater is that than stopping some rebel terror group that is using the weapons you invented? 

I think, a lot of times I don't see it as that great. While I would spend energy cheering Iron Man on as he kills some bad guys, I often forget to spend my time and energy in prayer for the missionaries I know. And while I become anxious and excited as a fictitious superhero goes to confront the antagonist, I become scared and timid and I shy away from opportunities to share the Gospel. How is it that defeating the Ten Rings has become more relevant than fighting for people's souls???

Death is guaranteed. I don't know when it will come, but it will. I might live to be 105 too or maybe I will not even see tomorrow morning. When I am dead it wont matter how much money I made (if I died tonight it really would not matter) or what career I had, who I married, if I even got married. It's not going to matter if people thought highly of me or if I was significant according to the world's standards. At the end we go, "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." I will take nothing from this world with me to the next. What will matter is if I lived a life that was spent on the gospel. 

There is no fear in spending and being spent for Christ because we know that we are like Iron Man (sort of...) in that we cannot be defeated either. Like Whitfield said, "We are immortal until our work on earth is done."  

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." John 12: 24-26   

Without.

"Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

April 22

So while reading Men's Health I came across this ad for this yogurt. Greek yogurt is the new cottage cheese. I really love this yogurt now. Thank you, Men's Health. Not only did you provide me entertainment with Paul Walker and an interesting article to read, "I Want My Prostate Back", but I now know the greatness of Greek yogurt.

 
Me yogurt and me homage to Earth Day.

"Buy a cow, eat a double cheeseburger, step on the grass, kill a deer, and drill for oil now" -J. Mac.

April 20

Yesterday's shift at the hospital was so slow. I was the only volunteer there so I had to man the front for 2 hours instead of just one. At least there was a copy of vogue and vanity fair to keep me occupied. Toward the end of my shift I had to run some paper work upstairs. So I took the elevator up and waited until I reached my destination. Riding in the elevator is not as exciting as Grey's Anatomy makes it out to be. Usually, I am the only one in the elevator and there is no juicy gossip to be shared (there are even signs in the elevators reminding everyone of patient confidentiality). I closed my eyes to let them rest a little then got ready to get off. The elevator stopped and the doors opened but to my surprise I couldn't exit. The elevator didn't open to a hallway...it opened to a door. I was freaking confused...and a little scared. What if I got stuck in there an no one knew I was gone??? Then the doors closed and the elevators started to descend. It reached the first floor but then the doors didn't open! I was all freaking out. I thought for sure I was all stuck in there. I was going to die. I got smart and pushed the button and the doors opened. Then, I walked to another elevator and took that one up instead. When I got back on the floor I needed to be on I went around to see what the deal was...

 This door in front of the elevator is shut and locked.

Frightening. 

April 15

Twice now Esther, Sharon, and I have had wonderfully romantic breakfast dates at Las Brisas.

 Breakfast buffet. The beach. Best friends. Could there be a better way to start the day???

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

How Sweet & Aweful.

How sweet and aweful is the place
With Christ within the doors
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores


While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast
Each of us cry with thankful tongues
"Lord, why was I a guest?"


"Why was I made to hear Thy voice
And enter while there's room
When thousands make a wretched choice
And rather starve than come?"


'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in
Else we had still refused to taste
And perish in our sin


Pity the nations, O our God
Constrain the earth to come
Send Thy victorious Word abroad
And bring the strangers home


We long to see Thy churches full
That all the chosen race
May with one voice and heart and soul
Sing Thy redeeming grace


"Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish." Jonah 3:9

When I sleep it will be like I am in a cage!

My roommate took her mattress out into the living room to sleep...now I have a cage-bed!

Took a shower and came back to find these guys getting ready to watch me sleep... 

March 24

Spring break is the best! I love the sun and having time to do anything I want. Like today, I made a snuggie and attempted to make macarons with Kaity.

Hands free!!!

March 16/17

Fortress of Darkness

Weird sleeping patterns and the time change have forced me to make a fort to block out the sunlight that comes through the window and interrupts my precious sleep. Worked too well. Slept an extra 45min. O well, still got time!  I hope this nice weather lasts through spring break...when I can get outside and actually enjoy it...

 

"Store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:20-21 (Memorized that in Sparklers. Hand motions and all. Hollahhh!)

No boob job, thank you. I want to be unhappy too.

Read this blog from this mother who doesn't want her kids to be happy. I don't want to be happy either. A good reminder in light of finals...and life.
 Read it here. 
"The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted."-Edwards

March 3

Dang. Missed the actual day! O well.

March 3rd was a day of food. It all started March 2nd after my volunteer shift at the hospital. I came back to the apartment around 11 40, got ready for bed, check email and facebook one last time, and then crawled into bed around 12 30. I noticed I had missed a text. Skye asked what I was doing around 12 15, so I texted her back saying I was getting ready to sleep. She told me I had to come over "right NOW" because she had macarons that she wanted to share with me. Well, obviously I had to go over. So I crept out of bed threw on my rainbows and trekked across the parking lot to her apartment (living near friends has so many benefits!) After chatting a little with the other roommates and caressing Esther in her sleep, Skye busted out the delicious treats!

 

O yes!

 
 

SO good!!! Best past midnight snack ever.

While I was over at her apartment we tried looking the place the macarons were from up on the internet, but their website was lame. So we checked them out on yelp...which lead to looking at other places with food...namely the Qwick Korner. We decided we'd check it out for breakfast later that morning. So, at 8 15 we ventured out to find this place with 4.5 star rated breakfast burritos. Esther came too. After a couple of Uturns we found the place.

 

This thing was huge! The size of a small baby....for real. I got a 2 meat one. Ham and Bacon. Delicious!

 

Even though it was so huge...I still killed it. But it was crazy....

I didn't eat again until I was done with class and I ate a small banana. Then, I ran. Haha.

For fellowship after CCM we went to the Hat and ended up sharing some fries with some of my favorite freshmen.

 

 

Glorious!

All of this eating wouldn't be so terrible if I wasn't participating in my apartment's "Biggest Loser" contest.....freak... 

 

 

 

The Heart.

"The heart is the part of man which God chiefly notices in religion. The bowed head, and the bended knee--the grave face and the rigid posture--the ritual response, and the formal amen--all these together do not make up a spiritual worshiper. The eyes of God look further and deeper. He requires the worship of the heart. 'My son,' he says to every one of us, 'Give me your heart.'"-Ryle

February 25

Back to the Beginning.

I remember the very first episode of ER that I ever watched. I couldn't have been more than 6 years old. Mom let me stay up late and watch t.v. with her one night and I remember her telling me as the opening credits were playing that everything was not real and not to be scared and all the blood and guts and everything were fake. I don't remember it being especially bloody...it was one of the Christmas episodes when the ER was full of drunk santas, santas with gunshot wounds, etc. I loved it. But, since it was on so late at night I don't remember watching another episode until later (instead I watched Baywatch..in kindergarten I wanted to be a lifeguard when I grew up...I also wanted to have 100 children...)

Last night, I was like a kid the night before he gets to go to Disneyland. Brother's Appreciation, while fun and wonderful, went pretty late so I didn't get into bed until even later and my shift was at 7. It was the worst trying to fall asleep...I was too excited! Got to the ER in the morning and got a tour and a rundown of everything I could do from one of the techs. Then, it was slow...and I ended up folding papers for the charts. Not too exciting, but honestly, I was hoping for a slow first day so that I could get the hang of things before it all got crazy.

After being on for like 2 hours it got freaking awesome! I got to help take vitals when patients rolled. One of the patients had to be intubated and the doc asked me to hold the tube while she shoved the laryngoscope down. Once, she got the tube down I got to hold it in place while she attached the bag and then...I GOT TO BAG THE PATIENT! Ah, it was awesome! Then, I got to watch the doc put in a central line...so amazing! She found the artery completely blind! So cool. Later, we got to see an xray of the central line and intubation tube all in the right place. Amazing.


Saw a lot of AVD (?) tests too. So suspenseful. The nurses sat really still and felt for an artery in the forearm area and then when they found one they'd poke it with the syringe and if blood started going in the thing then it was good...if not they had to poke around a little more. I got to hold the patients' arms still for those...and when the little bit of red started flowing into the tubes I wanted to do a little dance....but I had to stay still too...


I ended the shift doing triage in the front (while I was up there the other girl got to see a spinal tap!).


So fun! It was as glorious as that first episode I watched way back when. I love it.

 

Cheater Picture. Man, I remember when George Clooney was on the show...such a long time ago!

February 21

My roommate brought her snake back to the apartment. So far, I like the snake better than my roommate from last year's hamster (I hated that thing...)

Today, we fed the snake. It was amazing. The snake was so hungry and crazy. Very snakes on a plane-esque. It was glorious!!!! Steph let me dump the little mouse into the cage. I was a little hesitant...but I apologized to him and then shook him out of the brown paper bag. Within a few seconds the snake got him and he met his maker. 


These pictures are not for the faint of heart. 

 

The snake in action. It's so crazy how huge its mouth is!!!

 

The little mouse almost completely swallowed!

All of this makes me want to go to the zoo.

Day 46

I love long weekends!

Friday, saw "Dear John" with the sisters and the mother. None of us particularly liked the movie in the end, but it was still fun just hanging out with them. I also learned that I am the least trendy sister. We were all getting ready to head out and I had on my Einstein tshirt and jeans while the rest of my sisters had on blouses or sweaters or blazers and shoes that were not rainbows. "Flip flops are to be worn at the beach, not to lunch." At least I know I am not the vainest sister.

 

My sister's movie going attire was nice enough to wear to a funeral.

 Saturday, we spent in Old Town Pasadena while Al was in art class.

Sunday, early morning service and children's ministry! I like (not lick) the kids so much, even with all of their strange antics I have missed serving with kids! Then, off to have the best macrons in the South Bay.

 

Stole this picture from Mandy. These things...so cute so delicious!

Today, I had early morning multimedia small group. O yes, we are that holy....I hope we never have to do that again. Then, Al and I headed out to grams' to eat lunch with her and the rest of our family. Then, we had dinner with Bach. Sushi for lunch and oden for dinner...I love long weekends!!!

 

Everyone in their early morning glory. 

 

Yes. The kid table. Complete with laminated placemats from various places. We did get our own pot of oden.  

Tofu-pouchy thing filled with mochi. 

  Started a new journal.

Yes.

"Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth"-Wesley

Day 40

Since I started swimming I have developed a prophetic knee (that is sometimes wrong). I know when it is going to rain when my knee starts to hurt. I think there is some serious scientific validity to this gift of prophesy something with atmospheric pressure changes...or something. I am not crazy. Today it was all sore so I busted out my tube of Icy Hot (except the tube I have right now is a generic Target brand) So far I have brought a tube with me every year of college. It is the best...save the smelling like a geriatric part.


Tired feet? Icy Hot. Sore neck from hovering over a textbook for too long? Icy Hot! Prophetic knee? Icy Hot!


I don't particularly like taking drugs so my supply is pretty small even though my mother always tries to force me to take all kinds of meds with me.

 

Tamiflu is another thing that I have brought with me every year of college too. My family is a group serious about the flu. It is no joke. Paps has been warning us about H1N1 and H5N1 for at least 10 years. When H1N1 broke out he told me to avoid large crowds at school eg. lecture halls.

Day 37

Biochem is my least favorite bio class! It is worse than ochem. I've been studying all day. Except a small trip to Target to get printer ink and toilet paper and a candle. The apartment has been smelling kind of weird so I moved the Febreze Noticeable out into the living room and set it to high. I have no idea what the smell is...so far none of my other roommates have said anything (but to me their room smells a little strange to me too....haha)

This thing smells like Anthropologie. It is great.

Day 32

Today, I decided to wear my rainbows. It's strange saying that. Normally, I would have to decide to wear some other pair of shoes. I love my rainbows! This winter though, I neglected them. They got forgotten at home. Stolen by my sister. I had one pair here at school that were brand spanking new. Green double layer ones that I wore a few times, but the double layer thing is not a fave. Never again shall I purchase double layer sandals. Anyway, today I decided to bust out this pair and let my pigs see the sunlight. Walking on campus wasn't too bad at first. It was a little uncomfortable, but it just felt like that new sandal rub. But it wasn't just a little rub. I got crazy blisters. Since they are on the top/side of my feet any shoes I wear touch the open wounds. Lovely. I tried looking for my stash of New Skin but sadly (actually mostly relief...that stuff stings worse than salt on a paper cut) it could not be found. Regular bandaids it is.

"He who prays as he ought will endeavour to live as he prays." -Owen

So Boss.

Paps sent us this email today. He is reading "A Praying Life". I think he doesn't know that I read it and gave it to mom over the summer...but that's ok. His email was a good reminder of the importance of prayer and why we pray. He ended it with this
 
"We pray because our worst enemy is ourselves; our tendency to want to be God in our own life. We pray to God to save us from us."


My dad is so boss.

Ps. 131: 1-2
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
My eyes are not raised too high.
I do not occupy myself with things
Too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul
Like a weaned child on its mother
Like a weaned child is my soul on me

Day 23

Saturday night we had a party at our apartment. The idea came last quarter when one of my roommates decided that we needed to make use of the nook in our living room. She said it looked like a stage. Then, another one of my roommates started working as a barista. Both of these things gave birth to cafe night at our apartment. Live music and cocoa. It was so fun!

Elis Im and The Oceanographers

"Encore until the flippin cops come!!!"

We'll have another one sometime...not in the next 30 days though. If we get a noise complaint again we got to pay the po-po major moolahh.

God's grace made manifest through my family part 5: Paps

"Paps" is what my sisters and I (and now more recently other people) call my father. I forget how this name for him came about. I think Allison started it because she thought it was hilarious. Every time she would call him that we would all get grossed out because it reminded us of pap smear. Lovely, right? Well, now the name has caught on. Once, we tried calling him "Doctor" instead of "Dad". That stuck for a little while, but not like this name.

Paps and I. I think I told him to make the face he give us when we are in trouble. For some reason, it is more terrifying and convincing in real life. If I saw this when I was going to get disciplined, I would laugh. (actually, Kaity, Alli, Kim and I all have stories from when we were younger and we were getting lectured and we had to try really hard not to laugh......we are bad....)

A lot of people say that I'm like Paps. I'm "Mini Don".  Since birth I've looked like him, which I'm not sad about. Why should I be ashamed about looking like such a beautiful man? We have a similar laugh and similar humor. Amidst all the similarities, we're different. First, I am a girl. More seriously though, Paps knows what it means to care for the souls of others, to be compassionate and care for sheep.

These are things I desperately need to learn. Good thing I have him as an example to follow.

I listened to this sermon series on parenting a couple of weeks ago (for fun! not because I have any surprise news) and I got owned. In my interactions with others my attitude was bad and I only had to see those people once or twice a week. Being a parent though, you have to see your kids 24/7 and still have the same attitude, a winsome one, where loving Christ is the ultimate goal, your sole desire for those rugrats. I am glad I am not a parent yet. And I'm glad I'm not in some role where I have to care for the souls of a bunch of other people.

Paps does both. He's got all of us in the family to care for and also the church. It's pretty crazy. A couple of months ago, Paps had the opportunity to preach from the pulpit for the first time. I went home to hear it and show some moral support. My dad, man, he loves God. I know that winsome attitude that I learned about a couple of weeks ago is in Paps, maybe not 100% of the time (I mean...he's still sinful too), but it's seen both at home and in the church.

Dad knows he's a sinner. He's humble. He might own all the guys in the church fantasy football league and trash talk after (but that's all part of being a winner.) Paps can have a winsome attitude more often than me because he knows and remembers often what he has been saved from. The gospel applied to his life first forms how he interacts with others. I need that. A good dose of the reality of my own sin.


Here's my dad's sermon. He has some places where his words get confused (eg: when he quotes Luke 18:12 he says, "I fast twice a week; I pay thighs of all that I get." thighs instead of tithes. ahaha.) overall though, it was a good message.

Remember From Where You Have Been Raised 

Day 18/19

I haven't posted a picture in awhile. Because 1.) Most days I forget. and 2.) I don't do anything exciting to take a picture of. Especially not every day.

That being said, yesterday was an exciting day off. Mom and I went out to run some errands and hit a redbox when Dad called us to pick up the car from the airport. Late last month, at Snowtastic, the window on Mom's car  broke. What was once a power window became a manual one. As in to roll it up you have to sandwich the window between your two hands and use your strength to force it up. The only way you can roll it down is if it drops suddenly by itself. This is what happened to Dad as he was trying to catch a flight out for a business trip. Except the window didn't just drop a little...this time it dropped all the way down. So, already kind of late for his flight he called us to go pick up the car. Mom and I left with some cardboard and duct tape to go retrieve the car.

When we got there Mom stuck her hand through the wide open window and unlocked the door and opened it. The the alarm went off. And we didn't have the right key to make it stop. See for some reason we have 2 keys for this car. One to lock/unlock and the other to start the engine. On the spare set however, we only have the one for the engine. Not the most brilliant thing. So here we are at the airport with the alarm of the car going off. I seriously thought that we were going to get arrested or something especially with all of the security breaches that have been happening lately. So I called Dad and tried to figure out a way to get his set of keys. The airport people were nice and passed them to me without Dad having to go out of the airport and go back through security. We got the keys. Taped up the car. And drove our pimp ride home.

Here is Mom taping cardboard to the hole where the window should be. All we had was purple duct tape at home. We ran out of the hot pink roll.

Today, I have some pictures of the rain. I hate the rain. Almost everyone loves it. But not me. They love the gentle "pitter patter" that the rain makes as it hits their windows softly singing them to sleep. To me it sounds like gunfire... like some arsenal of firearms is being emptied. I don't like the rain. 

The rain means everyone is out with umbrellas. Crowds with umbrellas is a terrifying thing and going to school with a largely asian population makes it even scarier. Everyone is short enough where their umbrellas are right at my eye level. One day, someone is going to gouge out my eye on accident and I will hate the rain even more.

Driving in the rain is also the worst. This morning I was coming back to Irvine from Valencia and I seriously thought I was going to die. The rain makes everyone drive super slowly, which is good unless you are trying to make it back to school in time to take a quiz and on top of that you have to pee really badly because 1.) you didn't go before you left, thinking traffic wouldn't be that bad and you could hold it and 2.) because driving in the rain is just that frightening. It is scary. You could hydroplane. The idiot driving too fast in the lane next to you could hydroplane. The idiot behind you going to fast might not brake in time and smash into you. I hate it when the car next to you or on the other side of the freeway drives through some massive puddle and all that water is displaced onto your windshield leaving you blind until your wiper comes and tries to get rid of all that water plus the water falling from the sky off of your car. A million things could go wrong on the road because of the rain. The rain is evil.

Somewhere on the 405. This is another way things could go wrong on the road. Some idiot tries to take pictures while driving in a storm.

I also hate the rain because it makes the crazy people come out. Or maybe it makes the crazy come out of people. The most idiotic outfits and behaviours can be seen when it rains. There are the girls who think that because they wore their Ugg boots with their shorts it makes everything ok. Then there are the fools who think they look super cool standing in the middle of the flooded part on Ring Road not doing anything. Just standing there. 

Or there is this stupid fool (who you can't really see because I was walking all fast since the rain was nuts and also because this guy was running. He's that fleshy colored blur at the top of the photo). This guy is running around with no shirt and no shoes...all he is wearing is shorts. The rain makes people stupid.

One other exciting thing happened aside from the rain. I ate buffalo jerky. Buffalo are not endangered so I didn't feel bad about it. 

 

Painted my nails as an act of rebellion against the weather.