Mindlessly Listening

How many songs do we listen to and love on the radio but we have to admit its a bad song because of the topic or the message of the song. And sometimes you don't think about it until you know the song backwards and forwards. How often to you hear a song and just mindlessly sing along? I had a few songs that I absolutely loved, then I really listened to the lyrics and decided to never listen or sing it again because of the message in the song. I surprised myself by what I had been mindlessly singing for months!

Now lets leave songs alone and switch to mindlessly listening just in life.

We go to church every Sunday and sit in the pew for an hour or so and then hurry home to eat dinner before it overcooks. When you go back to church that night, can you remember what was preached on that morning? Most often you can't. We just mindlessly listen to the Word of God, not putting anything into it.

Do you mindlessly listen to your friends? Do you just sit there and nod your head as they ramble or do you actually listen to them? I think we're all more guilty of mindlessly listening then we would like to admit.

Here is a challenge for the week. Listen. Whether you're listening to your boss at work, your teacher at school, your Pastor in church, your friend at Starbucks or even your kids. Actually listen to what they are saying, actually pay attention to them. Once you get down listening to the people that you can actually see and be with physically, try this with God. Its harder with Him because we can't really hear His audible voice, but He still speaks to us.

Lets try to really listen, not just zoning out. You might be surprised at the things you learn about people.

One Month Update

So I've been here a month! In some ways it doesn't seem like I've been here that long and others I feel like I've been here forever. Right now I'm procrastinating some homework while waiting for the season premier of Castle. Next Monday we don't have classes because the school is hosting something so we all have cut classes. It would be nice to take full advantage of it but I'm going to be out until late Saturday evening because I'm going to be on a field trip with some other students for our major.

SO! Here's a general update.

Contrary to popular belief, having one of my best friends as my roommate has not caused the campus to explode and we're getting along just fine. Community bathrooms aren't to bad, its just like being at camp though everyone takes showers at different times so we don't have to wait for the other girls to get mud off. We go to bed at the same time and I normally wake up around the time she goes if she's up first and she just sleeps through me getting ready when I get up first.

My classes are going fairly well, I'm in the school Opera now instead of voice class for chorus in the last scene. I'm going to miss voice but being back in a theatre setting is something to look forward too.

As far as social life goes I guess its pretty good. I have some friends in different classes and my dorm. I'm not a hermit who sits up in my room all that time like I was slightly scared I'd do. I spend a lot of time with my roommate, but not all the time. I'm getting more and more out of my comfort zone which is great for me. New experiences, new friends, new things, just new everything and I'm loving it.

I still have some problems that I'm working through, I still have bad days and there are days when I really don't want to do anything. But overall its amazing here and I'm so glad that I'm here! I"m going to go now because I'm watching Castle finale before the premier on another computer with some friends and I have a feeling we'll get sucked into that.

Laters everyone, until next time.

I Feel Infinite

Today 20 of us from school went to the beach. It was one of those “hey lets go to the beach this weekend, just spread the word and whoever shows up shows up!” things. It was really fun though. Easy drive and it wasn’t too crowded and the water was great.

This was the first time I can say I’ve been an actual trip to the beach. Every other time we were in the area and my family decided to just stop by, so it doesn’t really count. It was really fun with all of us. After passing around the sunscreen (we all are slightly burned anyway) we headed into the water. We went really far out and I’m about 5’5 and never lost my footing. We played out for who knows how long, flipping people, having chicken fights, girls (and a few guys) squealing about different things touching their feet in the water, and just talking about different stuff. We felt crabs, fish, saw a jellyfish and one kid got stung as well as your normal seagulls and pelicans.

As the day went on we split into groups of 3-8 people at a time and did different stuff. Frisbee was almost always going on, a few kids would go out real far (but never to deep, the water only hit our knees for a really long way) some would stay on the sand talking or reading or building sandcastles and some would just be crazy. Some of the boys kicked around a soccer ball seeing how long they could keep it in the air. I really enjoyed playing Frisbee in the ocean, it was nice to be able to jump and dive for the thing and not worry about hutting ground and putting myself in a lot of pain. 2 of the guys took the soccer ball into the water and started playing with it. I got roped in as the ball fetcher and throwing it around for the boys to do tricks too. A third joined in and then I got involved a bit, they convinced me to try and head butt the ball. I am proud to say that I did it! It wasn’t good, it wasn’t pretty, my head hurt for a while after it happened, but I had fun and did it!

One thing that does annoy me is how often guys think girls can’t do stuff and only throw to each other etc. At one point it was 3 guys with a Frisbee and myself and I stood there for about 5 minutes before one of them stopped the trick throws and threw it to me. Before we left we decided to have a small football game to burn off whatever energy we had left and try to get dry before leaving. I wanted to play, but I figured it would be guys only and no one would ask, but as I was drying off I again got asked to play. It was fun! I managed to block one pass and I scored the last touchdown and we won (We played best 2 out of 3 touchdowns, everyone was to tired to keep going).

I love playing sports and table games such as ping-pong and pool. I never really had access to anything like this on a regular basis and I always wished I had. I like playing Frisbee and playing around with soccer etc, but since I really don’t know what I’m doing I don’t like just jumping in. Today was super fun because I could play the sports stuff with the guys and didn’t feel like I was expected to lie out tanning, just wade around or sit there and look pretty. Honestly I’ve always preferred actually doing stuff.

Today was incredible; it was like some freedom for the first time. I’ve never really had any experiences like this before, not only am I learning stuff in school, but I’m learning to step outside my comfort zone and do stuff.

A week or so ago I read the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. At one point the main character, Charlie, is riding home with two of his friends and a song comes on the radio. They all listen, really listen, to the song and the main character turns to his friends and says something. Today it wasn’t quite the same, but the point is still there.

We left the beach to drive back home and as we pulled out of the parking lot for once we found a good song on the radio, Owl City’s “Good Time”. We rolled down the windows and turned it up, the five of us singing along with the voices. I stuck my hand out the window as we headed back towards school and I found myself thinking exactly what Charlie had said, “I feel infinite”.

I know its crazy and stupid, but in that moment I felt like we could go on forever. I knew the feeling of being above everything, that nothing could harm us. In that moment, after a fun day of goofing off without a care in the world, being with some people that I’ve really grown to care about, spending hours on the beach and in the ocean, the feeling was almost indescribable. I felt infinite.

We all grow old someday, youth will pass and won’t last forever, but its days like today that will stay with us forever, that really are infinite.  

The Joy of Being a Music Major

I think the best thing about being a music major is that I have access to the music building whenever I want. Whether its 9am, 2:45pm, 9:28pm or Midnight. My school ID is programed to get me into the building whenever I want. Some of us used it last week to hook up a computer to a projector and watch Batman! I can get in and practice the piano whenever I would like, its turning out to be fairly handy!

That and I get to use the little door on the side of the building and don't have to walk all the way to the middle front to get in. That's just me being lazy, but it was annoying passing that door and not being able to get in! Like I would have to walk from my dorm, around the building, pass the smaller door, go in the front then walk back in the direction I had come to go up a flight of stairs into my classroom. It was just annoying really and I hated doing it. But its all fixed now and I can be slightly lazy again! I don't worry to much about it because I have to go up and down 3 flights of stairs multiple times a day. SO, I think I'm allowed to be a little bit lazy on this. But the nice thing is if I ever get bitten by the work out bug late at night all I have to do is go walk up and down the stairs several times and I'll be good!

Laters!

Power of Love Between Friends

Power of Love Between Friends.

That was the title of my Bible devotion today. It was about David and Jonathan, an example at how we should love our friends. In todays world, I can see how (sadly) this would be taken as something completely opposite as what it really was between the two of them. They were best friends and nothing ever stood in the way of that friendship. Not even Saul who tried to kill David. Jonathan saved David's life and David would not kill Saul because he knew that Saul was the appointed king and also that he would hurt Jonathan if he killed his father. 

That should be the extend of our love between friends. So often we let petty arguments destroy something wonderful and lasting. Friends look past outward appearances and see what's on the inside of us. Even though you may fight and argue, you still love each other. One minute you could be yelling at each other, both are in tears, and then 20 minutes later you're talking/hugging it out then go sneak candy into the theatre at a kids movie. That's possible because of the love that you have for each other. Its not romantic, its a tie thats stronger than fleeting feelings. 

I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother, you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. -2 Samuel 1:26

That isn't meant to be taken in a homosexual way, any more than 2 girls sharing a chair might be or 2 guys hugging. Too often friendships are treated as something they aren't. Two girls can't be super close best friends because people might start whispering about them. Two guys can't be super close because people might wonder what exactly is going on. A guy and a girl are best friends? Oh, they must be dating! To often things are twisted into what they aren't. 

But real friendship doesn't matter. You put aside the whispers, the rumors. You take your stand that what you're doing isn't wrong and then you go on, let people think what they want. A friendship is to important to throw away. 

Today I'm going to encourage you to call up your best friends and tell them how much you love them. Don't ever take them for granted. I've had fights with some of my best friends, things always work out in the end. I've also done the hard thing...I've lost a best friend. Now that they are gone, I can't even begin to describe how much I miss that person. I knew that if they left I'd miss out on some things, but I never thought the pain of losing that person would hurt as much as it does. 

So call up your friends, tell them how much they mean to you. Maybe you're currently fighting with a friend, call and apologize and ask them out to lunch or something. If you're truly best friends, then your love for each other will win in the end. 

"Poor are those who must define all love in terms of romance alone. Rich indeed are those who can say, 'I have a friend-we love each other.' In these friends' confident love every sunrise is welcomed, every crisis is easier, every pain has counsel, and every midnight is safe."

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. - Proverbs 17:17

Monday Mornings

Most people hate Monday mornings.

I guess I can understand that. You've just come off of (hopefully) an amazing weekend, you have to go back to work or school or both and you probably stayed up late the night before and don't really have a reason to be happy because freedom is an everlasting week away!

I've never really had a grudge against Mondays. Especially now that schools started and I find out what I get to start my week with every Monday morning at 9:30.

My major requires me to have so many practicum hours of working with different populations and I'm got signed up for the elementary school practicum! So that means that I get to sing songs, play games etc with them and without them knowing start working on their problems. Mostly I will be observing them but sometimes I will get to lead activities. We can help them with rhythm, hand-eye coordination, following directions etc. I'm still not sure exactly how everything works.

I'm not sure I'm going to stick with Music Therapy as my major. I'm still learning about it and even though it sounds fun and it is a bunch of things that I like combined, I'm not sure I want to spend my entire life doing it. I'll probably know by the end of this semester because I'm taking an Orientation to Music Therapy class which prety much goes over everything that we will be doing with this major. So in about 7 weeks I'll know for sure if this is what I'm supposed to do.

But no matter what happens, I'm really happy with how I get to spend my Monday mornings. I miss my daycare kids back home and just working with kids in general. These aren't "my" kids per say, but they have just as much energy, smiles and love as mine. So spending an hour with little bundles or joy and energy is a pretty awesome way to start the week.

Just After Midnight...It's A New Day! That Means a New Blog!

Today was pretty awesome.

First, the not so awesome part was the fact that I slept until almost 11:30. I just could not get myself to roll out of bed. But that is the latest I've slept in for months so I don't feel to bad for it, everyone needs a lazy day.

The fun part of the day began when me and two of my other friends decided to throw a small surprise party for another friend. We ran to Wal Mart to pick up a small cake, candles and some clothes for me that I need for school. My best friend messed up her foot really bad earlier this month skating so she'd hobbling around on crutches. So my friend and I convinced her to sit in a cart and we'd push her around. She hit me when after finding my clothes (that was the fastest shopping trip EVER) when I bounced up to the cart asking my friend how old his little girl was and that she was adorable. It was pretty funny watching her glare at us as we ran through Wal Mart. Lots of people stared, but hey whats life without making a scene?

So our friends dad ordered the pizza and we just had to pick it up. While waiting in the car, we had a jam session to Call Me Maybe and a few other fun songs on the radio. Might I say, the radio stations here are horrible. Anyway, on the way back we remembered we had to hit another Wal Mart because we had nothing to light candles with! So we pulled into Wal Mart and my friend got out of the car and I jumped in the drivers seat to go park it.

This was the creepy part of the day and I was very glad we had a boy with us. Just across from us and 1 car over was this black guy squatting on the ground smoking and he was giving me some looks, and they weren't really nice. My friend was taking forever so I texted him to hurry up because I was getting really creeped out. Then said creeper walked over to the car next to us and started talking. I noticed the car wasn't locked so I quickly did that because he was still giving me looks. Finally my friend came out and as he passed the creeper, creeper gave him a look. He got in the car, I shifted to the passenger seat and was very happy to drive away. I love going places with guys. I was with the same guy friend a few weeks ago when a small group of us went to Wal Mart. It wasn't super late, but the store was pretty empty but for the workers. We passed a group of male workers and I linked arms with my guy friend until they were outta sight. Boy friends (Boy. Friends. Not boyfriends.) are a really nice thing to have around.

Anyway, we got back to campus and surprised our birthday boy friend and had a great time. Then we went upstairs, watched some Castle then went back down and finished Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

So I got some homework done which was good, we throw a pretty good spur of the moment surprise party, and I can't wait for the Hobbit to come out! And I can post this as a new blog for a new day because its 1am, which makes it a new day. Hurray!

Laters peeps!

Party Like A College Student! (Cool One's)

Its Friday night on campus, and what do we find ourselves doing? Sitting in a dorm lobby doing homework then watching a few episodes of Castle. Suddenly, the guys behind us start causing a ruckus. Turning we find them throwing Jelly Beans across the room trying to catch them in their mouths! So for about 20 minutes or so we watch them doing different tricks with Jelly Beans and then eat them all, no matter how many times they hit the floor or their feet. It was gross but entertaining non the less!

Later that night, I went outside to read a book when a group of people who had been playing hide and seek came by and invited me to play Apples to Apples in the Music Building with them. So we use my card to get in the building and went up in the choir room. A few of us hid and scared the others coming up because we kept all the lights off.

So we were up in the choir room until after midnight playing the game. I've never played with such a large group of people and normally I play with 8 or 9 year old's, so the game is never as entertaining as last night was.

I'm really loving college life. Random get cookouts, movie nights, games, meeting new people, Frisbee games, its fun! I'm still getting my school work done, but even that is enjoyable because there are places outside for me to go and sit for an hour or two and doing work. I'll be sad when it gets to cold to do any of that, but it shouldn't be for awhile.

Off to do some homework, I think tonights going to be another movie or Castle night.
Oh, and the best part about our partying? We remember what happened in the morning!!

Laters!

Latin and Spanish

So for the first time ever, I am required to sing a song in Latin.

I know how to sing, I can sing a high soprano, give me a song in English and I can learn it pretty fast! But hand me a song in Latin with a high soprano part that just moves and moves VERY quickly, I'm completely lost. I'm just making sounds and so when I go up high it sounds horrible and I know it. I have no clue what I am singing and it bothers me.

But for once of our performances we are singing a song in Latin, so I might as well suck it up and learn it!

I understand why they would have us do something like this in choir. It really is a beautiful language when its sung and when the basses sing certain parts I get goosebumps, but it really is annoying. I thought Spanish was hard!

Speaking of Spanish, I met a kid here who lived in Peru for 7 years and speaks Spanish fluently. The other night I came across him studying a textbook and I asked what he was studying. "I'm studying for my Spanish test tomorrow". Turns out Peruvian Spanish is different from the Spanish he was learning slightly. He gave me an example. He told me a Spanish phrase and told me what it meant to him in Peruvian Spanish. Basically it was I don't care. Not his exact translation but you get what I mean. But in the book, the literal meaning of the phrase was "I don't give a darn". For some reason that just made me laugh. He showed me, that is the exact wording from the book. I need to have him teach me that phrase in Spanish.

Well thats enough for now, laters!

Never What They Seem

How many times has something happened that you never saw coming? Something seemed fine but to late you realized that its not, its completely screwed up?

That happened to me this last week. There was a situation that I knew wasn't perfect but I thought it was beginning to work itself out. Things were going fine, as well as they could be expected with how the situation worked. After spending all summer wondering if fixing this situation was worth it, I was lead to believe it was. God kept throwing Bible verses at me, lessons, reminders. I decided to not give up and keep moving on. I figured things would get easier, and they started too!

But then everything came crashing down in a way that I never would have expected. Suddenly, I felt like nothing I had done mattered because the very thing that I was fighting to keep fell apart, instigated by the most unlikely source I imagined.

On the outside, everything was great. But on the inside there were fights going on that I didn't even know or could ever understand. Things were not as they appeared to be, and I'm left now with broken pieces that I don't think will ever be able to be put back together, and now the question is do I want them put back together? If the chance comes to try and put things to right, do I want it?

Today is kinda depressing I know.

On the bright side school is going fairly well and I finally got my books! I actually feel like I'm in school since I can carry around more than just notebooks with paper in them. I'll try to keep updating this more often with more tidbits from around campus!

Laters!

This is Home

So I have completed a little bit more than a week of school and its been fun so far! But that's only because out of a 5 day week we have only had 3 days of school. Last Friday I moved in along with most of the campus, then the weekend was spent making new friends, hanging out with the BSU people on campus and just learning our way around. Sunday we went to church then that afternoon we enjoyed what we thought would be our last free afternoon. Monday was class and the 2 I had seem like they will be interesting. One of them is a once a week class so I'm not sure how well I'll like being in class for 3 hours in the afternoon, but I can handle it for a trimester.

I don't have any of my books because they have to be ordered online and I didn't get my list until I actually went to the class. Its a messed up system. All the music books here must be bought online, we don't have a choice. We get to class and our teachers expect us to have the books and are disappointed to find out that we don't. But we still have to wait days for our books to get in. Then Monday afternoon we found out that Tuesday and Wednesday classes were canceled due to Hurricane Isaac. So Our school drive was completely killed. We didn't have books, we had 2 days off in the fist week and so we had nothing to do. Not how I would have liked my first week of school to go but all over I suppose it wasn't too bad. Though I would have rather had classes on Tuesday and canceled Thursday.

Tuesday is was beautiful! The weather was nice, it wasn't really hot or cold, it was just perfect. So many kids went home that the campus was fairly empty so we could do almost whatever we wanted. Tuesday night was when the rain started though. I played Frisbee outside for a bit in it so I suppose I can say that I played Frisbee in the hurricane, but it wasn't that bad. Wednesday it rained ALL DAY! Thursday really wasn't any better. Everyone was so sick of being wet and cold. My feet are incredibly sore because I (and half of campus) ditched wearing shoes. Why would we want to get our shoes wet? And flip flops are hard to walk in when everything is flooded, so we'd just carry them around in our bags or leave them in our room. Almost every time I walked into my dorm I'd throw my jacked in the dryer then pick it up later when I left.

But we went back to school on Thursday sadly. That night was fun though because the Student Government was holding a free skate night about 5 miles from school! They have those every few months. I had a ton of fun! It's nice to be able to skate without having to worry about running over my little kids. They had races and I won the girls race. I have a feeling that will become a fun thing we do every so often when we need a break.

Theres a Walmart just a little bit away from the school with a Sonic in front as well and right there is also a walk in Doctors office. Why do I know this? Because I spent my weekend cleaning and looking after sick people. My roommate got sick on Thursday and so she went home Friday morning. That night I went into a cleaning mode that had me busy for hours that night. I didn't want to take the chance of getting sick so I washed all her cloths and bedsheets, swept the floor, wiped down every surface and swept. I'm living on the 3rd floor at the end of the hall. No elevator. Stairs are in the middle of the hall. So I was going up and down those stairs at least once every half hour for about 3 hours. Always carrying a basket of laundry or a trashcan. My legs were so sore.

But I got it all done and so I could sleep easy that night knowing I did my best to get rid of the germs. Since I'm not sick I'm assuming that I did a good enough job. Saturday was also spent around sick. My best friend has been fighting a cold for ages and finally he agreed to go to the Dr. So we woke up and I drove him into town. We did get lost a little because I missed the street, but it worked. And now I know where to go if we ever need a dr, so hurray! Then across the street to get the meds, had complications, went back to school, ate lunch, helped with homework (since I don't have any books I can't really do anything), took a nap, then waited around on said sick person to wake up so we could go get the correct meds. 

Since this is long enough I'm cutting it off here, but there is a run down view of my week at school. I really have lost my drive though, so I'm trying to stay busy doing one thing or another so I don't just sit and watch movie on my computer all day. Its felt like more of a summer camp than actual school, but I guess next week (on Tuesday) the real fun will begin. Goodbye for now!