New friends and Bad cats

I love new friends.

I do NOT like bad cats.

I'll start off with the bad cat story so that I can end this post on a happy note. :)

My stinkin' bad cat (Dax) tripped me last night as I was making my way up the stairs to go to bed. This was because he was excited it was bed time (it was after midnight) and he wanted to sleep in my room. So I was going up the stairs, and he tripped me, causing me to drop my lovely phone. As I watched it bounce down the stairs, I could tell it was gonna be a bad break. It broke to pieces, but between Bill and I, we were able to fix it. Except for the part where the charger goes in. So, my phone can't be charged... the Sprint store wouldn't fix it, and the cheapest phone I could get there(without renewing my contract) was over $200. I looked on craigslist, but the only ones I could find online were all from this store called Apex. So, I went there & the guys were really nice. They had some used phones that they wanted to sell for $120, $130, and $140 but I said I couldn't afford that but needed something because I use it for work. So, they asked where I worked & I told him the church, and he was like Oh, you work for a church? Hang on. So he goes into this back room and came back and said that I could take my choice of any of the phones for $100. So mom transferred some money for me, and I got a new one (well, a new to me one--it's a Katana II and looks really nice...I'm waiting for it to activate-takes 4 hours).
Stinkin' cat---making me spend a hundred bucks. :(

Okay--New friends!!! YAY!

Today, I had lunch at Chili's (yum) with an awesome girl, Brittany, who has been coming to Oso for awhile now. She's got the cutest little boy, Korbyn, and she was so much fun to hang out with and talk to. I am so glad to have a new friend near my age. Anyway, I am so excited about our new friendship and what God has in store for us! :)

Well, I've got a paper due in 3 hours and have MAJOR writers block, so I better get busy.

AUS-10

Headed to Austin tomorrow afternoon! I am uber excited about it, since I haven't seen my family since...since Thanksgiving? I'm gonna drive up tomorrow after I get outta lab (and my cousin, Tori, is joining me-yay!) and come back (by myself-boo) on Saturday.
Audie loaned me her Garmin, so i'm excited about not losing my way.

Well, I must go pack & pass out. :)

BTW, I did not eat bagels & cream cheese today. and I did not have a migraine. Woo!

MI to the GRAINES

I have been having HORRIBLE migraines over the past two weeks or so...7 in 9 days actually.

I went to the doctor yesterday & told her that & she said I needed to let my profs know I wouldn't be in class that afternoon & I needed to see a neurologist, stat (well, she didn't say stat, but she did say that day). After a brief freak out moment on my part, I told her that my cousin's dad gets migraines from yogurt (it's a food allergy that triggers migraines), and that I had thought about the different foods I have eaten and I realized I had eaten a bagel and cream cheese for 10 mornings. I ate them Monday - Thursday of last week, Friday I burnt it, got ticked and threw it away, Saturday I was out (but bought more at HEB Sat night), and then I ate them Sunday-Tuesday mornings as well. Well, since last Monday, I've had a migraine every day except Friday and Saturday (the days I didn't eat a bagel and cream cheese).

We came to the conclusion that I must have developed an allergy to either the bagels or the cream cheese and I am on strict orders to not eat either one for a minimum of a month. After a month, she'll check me again & then i'll be allowed to eat bagels for two weeks (no cream cheese) and see if I have one. If not, then we'll try me eating cream cheese for two weeks (no bagels).

I got some new Imitrex pills and she told me if I have another really bad one (like the throwing up, can't stand it one I had Thursday), I'm supposed to immediately go in to see her. Because, I guess people who have brain aneurisms start out by having a lot of migraines...

Prayers, please!!!

icanhascheezburger.com

Okay, for anyone who hasn't visited http://icanhascheezburger.com, you are REALLY missing out... It is a hilarious website with pictures of animals (mostly cats) and funny captions. On this website, you can vote for your favorite 'lolcat' and even make your own. I made one of my cat, Dax.
Please click the link below & vote on it by giving it the appropriate number of cheezburgers that you you feel it deserves (I think it deserves 5). :)
http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=3160272

Thanks!

OHIO!!!

I just booked plane tickets to Ohio! I'll be there Monday June 15th until Thursday, June 25th! 10 days!!! WOOHOO!

Bad Habits...

Over the Christmas Vacation, I got into the bad habit of wasting my 'free time' watching shows on abc.com or the cw.com or just looking at friends' blogs... now, that I have school work...I'm having a hard time not watching shows on abc.com and cw.com & looking at blogs.

Please pray with me that I'll be able to concentrate on school work and understand all the things that I'm reading.

Overwhelmed

I must admit, after my first full day of classes, I'm a bit overwhelmed. During this semester, I will have :

• 22 Reading Reports (1 page papers about what we've read)
• 10 Reading Quizzes
• 10 Physics Quizzes (a minimum of 10...)
• A research paper on a Philosopher (Voltaire is who I chose)
• A Personal Cross Cultural Presentation
• 2 Cross Cultural Field Experiences
• Book Map Presentation
• Develop a Learning Covenant
• Numerous Tests, Quizzes, etc...
• As well as reading:
• The Poem of the Cid
• Medieval Romances
• Inferno
• Candide
• The Reader's Companion to World Literature
• Ministering Cross Culturally
• A Beginner's Guide to Crossing Cultures- making friends ina multi-cultural world
• Under the Predictable Plant
• Does the Center Hold?
• As well as reading a minimum of 5 books between the classes.

AHhhhHHHHHHhhhh

Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life!!!

Exercise has never been something I enjoyed (unless it was swimming). I've always had to push myself, and have never really had the motivation to do so. This last semester, I took to water courses (swimming and water aerobics) and I lost over 20 pounds....not sure where because I never went down in sizes in clothes, but the digital numbers on the scale don't lie, right? Well, in this last month or so since school let out, I've gained about 8 pounds of it back; which really depresses me. No, I haven't been working out. I haven't been eating right. In fact, I've done a lot of butt sitting & eating out.

So yesterday, I went to David's Bridal to try on a bridesmaid dress for my friends wedding in June. I expected it to be one size, but no, it was 4-6 sizes bigger than I expected. I knew that those dresses ran big, but I have never even tried on something in that size, and it just kinda freaked me out. I was almost immediately depressed and went home, determined to figure out how to squeeze into a smaller size. So, I went for a walk and came home and had 2 brownies, then went to dinner with my mom where I absolutely stuffed my face with salad, a huge baked potato (loaded with butter, cheese, and sour cream of course), and steak. After doing that, I of course felt horrible again.

So I was talking to my friend Zeke last night, and he made a really good point: God doesn't want us to feel like this. He doesn't want us to turn to food instead of Him. That when we're over-eating and not taking care of our bodies, we're letting Satan have that hold on us.

I never thought of me over-eating and not taking care of myself as sin or letting Satan have a grip on my life, but, if this is causing me to not focus myself on God, then it's a sin, right?

Zeke was so encouraging, and he asked me what I'm going to do about it, and, as I was eating a very large, yummy bowl of Cap'n Crunch...(lol), I told him I'm going to stop eating as much and so much junk and start working on exercise.

But, I really just needed to turn it over to God. To completely give him my body. I spent the late evening in prayer and just asking, begging God to help me overcome this sin. To help me to become healthier and to help me wake up in the morning on fire and ready to go.

So this morning, I woke up, before my alarm, and I was on fire and ready to go.

God, I just thank you. I thank you for always being here for me and for forgiving me of my sins. I ask that you keep me on fire...not just keeping me on fire for getting healthy. I long to be on fire for You. I long for you to use me in whatever way you want. Help me to bless others while blessing you. Help me to turn to you in all areas of my life, especially in this fight with Satan over my body. Help me to win this battle. Because with you, all things are possible...

Grades

I was just looking back through my old posts and realized that I had asked you to pray for my finals & grades, but I never thanked you or told you what happened...

By the GRACE OF GOD & GOD ALONE,
Astronomy=B
Swimming=A
Water Aerobics=A
Piano=A
Biblical Interpretation=B
Special Studies in Christian Worship=B.

Also, next semester, I'm taking 15 hours (I start a week from today).
Physics & Lab (4)
World Literature (3)
Foundations for Cross Cultural Ministry (3)
Introduction to Philosophy(3)
Supervised Ministry (2)

Broccoli Cheese Soup woes

So tonight at life group, we were having Soup and Salad night, and, originally, I had said that I would bring Campbell's Chicken Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup. But, this morning, I woke up and felt, as my cousin says, "domestic." I decided to make it.

So, after searching allrecipes.com (thanks to my friend Michelle, who always recommends that website), I decided on one and went to HEB.

At HEB, I asked the Cheese Lady where I would find "5 cups of cubed processed cheese." She pointed me over to the little cubes in the bag, next to the string cheese. So I picked up the mild cheddar cubes (as well as a block of mild cheddar to cut into cubes myself instead of spending $3 a bag for 5 bags). I'm sure by now, those of you who cook know my mistake.

Long story short, I got the wrong cheese. So, when i tried to cook it, the bottom 3-4 inches of the pan was full of goopy, nasty cheese stuff. And, the flour I was supposed to put in it kept clumping.

I was very sad at my failure, but after a lunch at Chili's in portland and a trip to K-mart, I went home to try again with new cheese (velveeta this time), new broccoli, new everything.
And let me say, the second time around, it was quite tasty.

So, I now know that processed cheese does not mean mild cheddar, but velveeta.

And, for a laugh for you: I spent $17 today...on cheese alone.

Pierced Ears!

Here they are...pictures of my two-holed ears! :)

Ears

I got my ears pierced today. A second hole. It hurt & I made them do both at the same time. The people laughed at me... :( but, I face my fear and got it done (I've been wanting them done for awhile now...). Pictures once the redness is gone (it's almost gone now, but is just a tad red still).

Audie update.

I had blogged on the 29th about Audie being sick. Well, actually, I copied PJohn's blog about Audie and pasted it into mine....

Anyway, my point is to update you on Audie. She is out of the hospital and doing well, praise God. I'm so excited that I got the privilege of coordinating meals for her and Tim. And, it was really easy...in about 4 hours or so, I had enough meals for almost 2 weeks. And I still have people calling me. :)

Thank you, God for helping Audie to feel better. We still don't know what's going on with her, but thank you God for laying your hands on her and making her better.

New Years Eve '08, New Years Day '09

I had the best time last night at Kyrie's house. For those of you who don't know, Kyrie was my best friend from Kindergarten till ---well she still is. She's one of those best friends that you can tell anything to but she's not going to judge you. She'll look at you, set you straight, and go on loving you. I love her so much and so excited for her new adventures (She's graduating from Rice University in May and already has a job in Seattle at Microsoft!).

There were a bunch of people there (her parents always host an amazingly awesome New Years Eve party). In addition to Kyrie and I, Juillet, Chris, Taylor, and Matt were there.

Anyway, we started the night out playing games and just hanging out. Kyrie and I
Then we hung out outside on the patio, with a fire/heater thing (like they have at Brewster's street when it's cold).
Kyrie and I outside Chris (who is going to med school in the fall!)
At midnight, we rang in the New Year with hats and fireworks and party horns. They even had a cannon. Yes, a cannon. I'm not sure how they managed it (it was somehow built out of plywood), but let me tell you...When the cannon shot off (once around 8 and then right after midnight), I almost hit the floor. Scared the heck outta me.
Juillet and I ringing in 2009...
We sat around talking about everything from high school memories to our boyfriend/girlfriend (or lack there-of) situations, school schedules, alcohol fermentation (how it works), cosin, sin, and tangent (math things...), and many things about the liver (Thanks, soon to be Dr. Chris).
Amber, Kyrie, and Juillet
Then Matt and I took on Chris and Juillet in foosball. And, sadly, they beat us by one point. :(

After Kyrie kicked us out (she was sick and it was nearing 2am), Juillet, Matt, Chris and I stood outside talking until about 245. I've never had such a fun time just conversing. It was nice. :) Chris and Juillet (I was trying to just take a candid picture of them, but they both
turned and smiled... Matt and Chris (being 'gangsta').... Matt, Chris, Juillet, and I. :)

I hope everyone had a great New Year's. I'm looking forward to see what God has in store for '09.
(And nobody asked me about my NYR...)