back to reality!

Wow its been a long time since I have written a blog. Many things have happened since the last one. the largest is that my MEDIA CRIT paper is finished and turned in. Tom Carmody is in charge of it now, and will bleed green all over it. But the fact that its done causes me to turn my attention back to the reality of life. I have taken the last 2 1/2 weeks off of life and school to focus on the paper that has been previously mentioned. But I am back and graduation is closer and I still have no idea what is going to happen. all that to say, I'm done and feel like i am officially a senior and graduating after all...

Life after May...

So I have been thinking a lot about what is going to happen in my life after I graduate from Vanguard in May, 2008. I have a few options: I can tour Europe for a while immediately after graduation, then proceed back to the beloved town of Moshi, Tanzania. Or I could just go straight to Tanzania, or work and enter Grad school in the fall.

All of these options are amazing and I love all the ideas that are there, but they are scary and I don't know what to do. I would love to live in Moshi at TOA, but Lord knows that does not look like a possibility for me at the moment. I think that I will spend the summer in Africa, then come back to grad school in the fall. But all in all, I sorely miss my babies and children that I left in TOA. I can truly say that I left my heart in Africa. Those children stole my heart, and I want to leave them with it, but at the same time, I need it back here....

ON A COMPLETELY SEPARATE NOTE...

but kind of the same, my heart need to be here with me, so that I can find someone. Many people (including my mother) have been nagging me almost non-stop about dating someone, and yes i think that would be nice, but it would have to take the right person and be the right timing. I agree that my timing may not be the right timing, and that I need to learn to be in God's timing, but it would be nice to have some one like that to share things with...and like that much, in that way...


So that is my rant for the night...i guess it was kinda a boring homework night, and I was doing a lot of pondering on life today...

TRUE FRIENDS

So this goes out to all those people that I can consider TRUE FRIENDS:

a true friend:

-returns phone calls
-texts back when you text them
-invites you to their events
-is honest about attending said events
-if they can't there is a good reason
-they will let you know what that good reason is
-sleep and homework are not really good reasons
-make the time in their lives to hang out with you
-will answer the phone at 2 AM
-listen to you vent and cry when needed
-will call you to vent
-show up on your doorstep, cuz they know you will be there for them
-will be there for you if you showed up on their doorstep

So thank you to all my friends that were there when they said they would be, and to those that were not, its ok...maybe our friendship was not meant to be. I know who my true friends are...

LOVE MY LIFE...

Well ok some of my life, other parts just kinda suck right now...the fact that I have been doing research since 9AM today with only like 2 hours of break all day- sucks! I still feel like there is so much to do for this class, Media Crit that is..It seems like thats all I have to say to people and they give me that, "OOHHH, I get it." Its not like its that bad, if you space it out and not wait til the last minute, you should be fine...so I am told by those that have gone on before me. BUT, last night on the other hand...SO MUCH FUN!!! went to Disneyland with Kelly, Carly, Perry, Rob and Brandon. Best group to enjoy the magic that is the Disney. I think that we should all go together again some time! And I'm pretty sure that its gonna happen! I think that I better get back to the work and the life that is...A senior Communication Major at good ole VUSC! thanks for reading my rant!

Godspell

The Vanguard production of Godspell is AMAZING...I have no words to describe the greatness in it.  The cast was near flawless.  They evoked the correct responses out of the audience: laughter (at times a little too much...see previous blog) sadness, humor, and just straight up understanding the Gospel (get it godspell...gospel) of Christ.  

THis play did 2 other things for me, (1) reminded me of how much I miss musical theater in my life.  As many know, I was the theater dork, I was the theater major freshman year (shout out to Gaby).  I thought that theater was going to be my life forever.  Then I came to Vanguard and all that changed, but this production reminded me that I still love to perform, I love getting up on that stage night after night and giving it my all.  Seeing and hearing the responses from the audience gives me a huge sense of joy and accomplishment. I have decided, with the help of my friend Rob, that we are going to audition for shows next semester, since it is our last chance to be in Vanguard show.

The second thing that this production reminded me was of the LOVE that Christ shared with us.  That he was not some whack job that went around preaching himself all the time.  He understood what it meant to be human.  He knew our pain, our suffering, our joys, our laughter.  He was a creative, loving, funny guy that walked the earth just like us, with ONE HUGE exception: HE WAS PERFECT! He did not sin, yes he was tempted, but did not sin.  He came to save us from our sins, to love us, to teach us how to love others the same way.  He died so that we didn't have to.  That is how much God loved us.  It was a very real and tangible reminder that God loved us to send his son to die for us, and then rise again 3 days later.  

All in all the Vanguard production of Godspell was stunning, beautiful, amazing and emotional (to say the least).  I recommend that everyone take the time to go see it, its TOTALLY worth the $10 student tickets.  Heck maybe I'll go again and see it with you!

i realized

That I have one of the most obnoxious laugh ever...between me and a few of my friends, that will remain unnamed, we are some of the loudest people in the world, and our laughs are even worse...you know who you are that I am talking about! Anyways, I love to laugh, I just an understanding that some people may not love it when I laugh.

A wise person once told me that if "life was a roller coaster, we need to ignore the coaster and focus on the people that are riding it with us."  We need to pay more attention to the relationships and the people that surround us every day of our lives instead of focusing on the noise around us.  We should make every interaction intentional and not take the people for granted.  So much of the time we just blow through life...AKA school and Vanguard bubble...and not take time to, as the cliche goes, stop and smell the roses, we miss so much.  The first thing that gets missed often times is the people that make an impact on us, and that we impact every day.  

In this season of life, things happen at such a fast pace that we get caught up in the noise and the activities that happen around us, we forget to take the intentional time to sit and work on our relationships with the people on the roller coaster with us.  So just remember the wise Nic Lauten and forget the roller coaster for a while and focus on the people riding it with you...