Summer Time

I know what you are thinking. I should be studying and writing my papers, not blogging. Well lets just say I am somewhere that I can't study but also don't have much to do so I am writing a blog. I have 8 days left until the end of the semester and I am super pumped about it. I am ready to move on and do something different. Plus I am really looking forward to the summer.

My summer plans are as follows. First I am going home for almost a week. It has been since January since I have been home and I am ready. I have not been missing it because being in CO got me used to not going home much, but it is time. I am ready to sleep in, not worry about making meals, run errands with my mom and just chill. I might even get a massage! Sadly I have a couple of books to read over the week, but that's ok.

After home I have a week long class that I think I am looking forward to. Even more exciting is that the Lukkasons will be in Abilene. (They are a couple on our mission team that are moving here from OK.) After my first class I have a week off to read another book and then take another class at the beginning of June. I don't know what to expect there either.

After these two classes I am pretty much free. I know I will have work to do, probably 2 research papers, but there will not be much of a schedule. I plan on filling my time with fun, relaxing, uplifting activities. I want to read some real books, lay outside in the warm sun, swim, go to exercise classes at the YMCA (I am getting a membership for the summer), and probably work a little bit at my job.

The only other actual planned activity for the summer is at the end of July when I go to Waltonia with my family. I always look forward to that. Eating good food, playing outside, swimming in the river, reading, playing games. This is my favorite week out of the entire year. Another trip I am HOPING to take is the Grand Canyon. I REALLY REALLY want to go and I have a friend who said she might could so I am going to work hard to make it happen. I tend to come up with great ideas that don't get carried out, but I am going to carry this one out if possible. I can just imagine us trying to camp out there. My camping skills are ok, but just in case I think we should bring blankets and peanut butter. :)

Then as soon as I know it, the fall semester will be here. This has been a good, but rough semester so I hope the fall is better. So, that's my summer plan. I am excited for it.

Feliz Cumpleanos!!

Well my 2 weeks of birthday celebrations are officially over. I don't think I have ever had a b-day last so long. Before sharing what went on I would like to reminisce a bit about memorable past b-days starting with last year.

For my 23rd bday my friend Jeremy and I went camping. It was only a little bit after my knee surgery so I had to be careful but we did some hiking, some night hiking, and invented a few games of our own including Orange catch and knock the apple off the log. That's what happens when you forget cards. It was totally chill and a blast!

See the apple? It was hard!

Before the night hike. See my head lamp?

For my 20th bday I was studying abroad in Uruguay. Those of you who do not know much about S. America it is nothing like Mexico and the food is nothing like Mexican food. We heard there was one Mexican food place in town so we searched it out and found it! I remember the food as pretty good for Uruguayan Mexican food and I got to wear a Sombrero. After we went to the bus stop and waited, and waited, and waited but no bus ever showed up. We were watching our watches anxiously because if we did not make it back for curfew we would have to sleep on the street for the night. Finally we gave up on the bus and tracked town a cab. We told him rapido and I think that was the fasted cab ride I have ever had. We made it home just in time!

Wow I looked so dorky back then. Remember the cool initial shirts?

Ok well I could go on for a LONG time because I had super cool bdays as a kid. I don't have pics for those though. Just picture my dad sitting on the swing set and letting us throw water balloons at him!

This year my parents came up the weekend before my bday because the weekend of I had a ton going on plus a paper to write. So we hung out, ate at Abuellos, played on the trampoline, opened gifts, planted some plants, and saw Leatherheads. Almost every year for my bday (minus the two I shared about) I have had a cookie cake instead of real cake since I don't like it so much. This year was no different.

The next weekend, my actual bday weekend about 10 of us girls in the GST program dressed up, had a potluck dinner and went to an ACU theater production. It was a blast to hang out with them and be girly. I look forward to more times like that. On my actual bday I studied and then went to a dinner for all grad students. It was out at this restaurant in the country with beautiful bluebonnets that Rachel and I took pics in. It was a beautiful night!

And last, this weekend my BFF came to town. We watched LOST together, along with Wes, Ellen and Reid (awesome episode as usual), hung out, ran errands, watched Enchanted (that she got me for my bday), ate some good food and laid on the trampoline and looked at the stars. It was another wonderful weekend. I am so lucky to have so many people who love me. Thanks for everyone who called me or sent me a message.

Now it is serious paper writing time. I have less than two weeks until my first semester of grad school is over. I am excited but I have a TON to do. I probably will not write until it is over.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Has anyone ever heard of this movie? I just saw this on someone else's blog. How interesting!

Schedule is of the Devil

I woke up this morning at 8am, just like I do every Tuesday. I got ready, ate breakfast and went to work for 2 hours, just like I do every Tuesday. After work I ate lunch, studied and went to class at 3pm. Now I am home to study a bit more, before going to hang out at a friends house tonight, just like I do every Tuesday!

Ahh! I hate doing the same thing over and over and over again. I have been doing ok this semester because at least my days differ in schedule and events but today it got to me. Today I looked back on my Starbucks/Campus ministry days and missed them. As hard as it was sometimes to not fit the schedules of most working adults, I absolutely loved not know my schedule for the next week and even when I did it was never the same as the week before. Yea I had a couple of things I did regularly but most of those involved church which I am used to.

Now I am back in school and I have about the same schedule every week. I enjoy what I am doing, I learn a lot and am so thankful to be here but I am ready for something different. I am really looking forward to a summer of total unscheduledness and then the fall semester which will be different than this semester. From this it might sound like I am someone who always looks to the future and misses the present, but I like to think of it more as someone who is excited for the opportunities and experiences of both. I just need variety and change in my life. It keeps things interesting.

So, I appreciate the moments of life right now but you also must know that there are 23 days until my semester is over. Hooray!

Something to Chew On

I admit I am easily swayed in my thoughts and decisions. Make one good argument and I will probably agree with you. So writing this blog does not confirm any decision for me because I know this is a big one to make but I just thought I would put it out there.

I am considering becoming a vegetarian. Many of my family members and friends have done it and I think most came out of it also so I am not sure what to do. I think it began when I first heard about cage free eggs that you can buy. "Why would you want to do that" I asked. Because chickens used for laying eggs are kept in tiny cages with tons of other chickens. They can’t do any of their normal chicken things, their beaks are burned off, their feet grow around the cage bottoms and they are given so many antibiotics just to survive. I have heard quoted many times that around half of the antibiotics made in the US are put into farm animals.

So I heard about that and started buying cage free eggs. Fixed that problem right? Then over spring break I stopped in the new cute little book store in Golden and a book title caught my eye. The book is called Skinny ***** and I choose not to use that word. A lot of the book is about eating right and the junk we put in our bodies that are really bad for us. Then the book goes into all the awful farm animal treatment. I won’t go into detail but let’s just say sometimes the animals are not dead when they begin the slaughter process and the ways to even kill them are awful and they scream. A video I watched, some of the cows could not even walk to the slaughter by the time they got there because they were so sick and injured. That’s what we eat. Mmmm!

Once again I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and moved on. Then I read my friend Cris' blog and it put the thoughts back in there. THEN tonight I was making a yummy dinner of salad, toast and eggs (cage free) and as I was cooking them I just looked at them and thought about what I was cooking. I was cooking baby chickens. BABY CHICKENS!!!! Ever wonder if the animals are sad when their babies are taken away over and over and over again. Yes I know animal’s brains are not as smart or large as ours but they do have animal instincts that know they are not supposed to give up their babies.

I started thinking about all this and then searched around on the internet some. I found the PETA website. If you want to stay a meat eater don't go there. They have a video called Meet your Meat. Not so cute!!!! I started crying watching it and had to stop cause I thought I might meet my dinner of baby chickens I just ate.

Now I don’t know what to do. I have never been a huge meat eater but I have always enjoyed a yummy steak or grilled chicken or some fajitas! I never wanted to be the annoying girl who is hard to cook for and offends people when she travels abroad by not eating their food. I also have always thought God gave us the animals and he probably does not mind us eating them. It really is not the eating process that is so awful to me, it is more about how horribly they are treated before and how unhealthy they are.

But then I think about how many poor people there are in the world that have no food and I should not be complaining about the food I do have. But this video I saw said how much water and grain it takes to keep all these farm animals going and that could be going to the poor (so could the money from the war but I wont get into that). But THEN I heard a fact lately that said if this organic thing takes over all of our land will be used for grazing animals and we don’t want that either.

Also, if I do go through with this how far do I have to go? Does it rule out fish? I dont know how they are treated. Milk products? I'm sure that cow treatment is no better, but I haven't jumped on the popular soy train yet. Am I really willing to make this sacrifice? What about fajitas and taco salad? I MUST have ice cream!!!!!

What to do what to do!!!!!!!!! I wish I could write one of my research papers on this. HA!!

Advice anyone?

It's That Time of Year

I am slowly working on a paper right now but really don't want to because I am sick. What do I have? SPRING FEVER!!! Ha! I tricked you! : ) I really am not sure what all spring fever entails but I think it references what animals begin to do in the spring. But have no fear, there are absolutely no dudes here. My spring fever is because I want to be outside playing and soaking up the sun, but instead I am stuck in my room, looking out my windows, studying. Bleh!

Luckily this is only for one more month and then summer time! I seriously got so excited yesterday. It was a momentous occasion in the world of Dee. My first Chaco tan of the year! Hooray! Look out ladies and gentlemen, expect to see an x on each of my feet coming soon. That is a sign of summer coming.

I cannot wait for summer! I have not had a hot, sunny, Texas summer in 4 years and I am ready! I know I will have 2 classes of work to be focusing on and hopefully a job (fingers crossed...anyone know of a job?), but my main objective will be to have fun, be outside a lot (yes I know what Abilene is like, but I enjoy hot weather), and spend time with important people in my life. I had a little glimpse of this life last night and I did not want to return to normal. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it keeps getting brighter.

I must say though, as much as I am anticipating summer, this semester has not been awful. It has been a transition and the hardest stuff is still to come but I LOVE what I am learning! Will it be useful in Chile? No clue! But what else am I going to do with my time? So I just have a positive attitude and soak in as much knowledge as possible.