The Hunt Is On

Being back in school is great. I love my schedule, love meeting new people, love learning and love being challenged. I feel like I am doing something useful and contributing to my future mission work. The down side of being back in school is studying. Grad school has a lot of studying. Reading, writing, researching, commenting, presenting, spiritual disciplining, and note taking. So I am on a hunt for the perfect studying spot.

In undergrad I had to study but not that much. I usually either studied at home or if I was serious I went to the library. So being back now I am hunting to figure out a good place for me to study. I know sometimes I will have to use the library because I need the resources and it is super close to my house, but I am wondering if a coffee shop might work for other times.

There are a ton of coffee shops in Abilene. The ones I have been to so far are Peets, Monks, Tuscanys and I am currently at Java City. Coffee shops offer a much more relaxed atmosphere than the library but it is easy for me to get distracted by the people, music and goings on. But they also get me out of the house where it is also easy to get distracted. What to do! I guess I will just keep searching around until I find my niche.

On another topic, this weekend is PreMAC which means the beginning of missions training. Hooray! I am so excited! We are going to a retreat place and spending half of Friday and all day Saturday together and with a few others. The Lukkasons are driving in from Oklahoma and our entire team will be together, fully formed for the first time. I am more excited about that then what we will actually be doing. Probably because I don't know what we will be doing. Ha! I seriously never know what is going on. I just go and do what I am told and love it. I will give an update on the weekend when we get back.

Just decided I probably wont come back to Java City. They do not have bottomless coffee and I think they overcharged me. I am too much of a pushover to say anything.

Brrrr It's Cold Outside

Man it's so cold out
It makes me want to complain and shout.
My poor feet are numb
And it's even hard to hum.

Oh Abilene cold is the worst
I might have to leave in a hearse.
The wind blows off my face
And I don't have a fire place.

How many layers can I wear
so that people stop and stare.
Oh winter please end really really soon!

Thank you, thank you, please hold your applause. I know my song is awesome and everyone has been missing my excellence song writing skills. I was on a break, looking for some inspiration. But this super cold day in Abilene just got to me and the words poured out. If you could not tell, it is to the tune of Blue Skies and Rainbows.

To Grow or Not to Grow

That is the daily question. Do I continue to let my hair grow out or do I cut it off? Huge deal! : ) But really, I probably have not had my hair this long since jr. high and every day I wonder if I should snip snip.

I have a lot of hair and the longer it gets the more and more I have and some days it just drives me crazy. I usually just end up putting it in a pony tail anyways. So whats the point?!?! But then some days I wear it down and it just looks so pretty and curly and I get lots of compliments and so another day goes by where I do not chop it.

On one hand, there is a lot you can do with long hair (although I don't know how). You get to save money from no hair cuts and long hair is the style. But on the other hand it just gets in the way, makes my face look super long and some days it just looks blah. So what do I do? Please help my desperate situation!!! Look at my sopapilla pic and the pic below. Which one?

Embarrassing Moment

Grad school has started off pretty good. I have been to two of my three classes and I think they will be challenging but in a good way. I have met some nice people, reconnected with old friends and though overwhelmed, I am doing ok. I did have a nice little embarrassing moment the other day that I would like to share.

I was trying to be early to my Philosophy of Religion class (yes it is as hard or harder than it sounds) so I got there about 8 minuets early. I knew one of my friends would be in the class so when I got to the room I looked inside, saw her and others sitting down and so I walked in. As soon as I got in the door I realized the teacher was in the middle of lecturing so I quickly sat down. I was pretty worried, wondering if my class had started earlier than I thought.

Then I noticed that everyone, including the teacher were looking at me and giggling quietly. The professor proceeded to inform me that I was in the wrong class and that I was the second person to have done that in the past few minuets. He told me to stay because he was almost done. He also took the time to comment that my face was as pink as my hot pink poofy vest. Thanks a lot sir.

So I waited till the Greek class was over, apologized to the professor and laughed at myself. But man was I embarrassed. I don't get embarrassed really easily, but I am not feeling confident about everything right now. I am trying to make a good impression so no one thinks I shouldn't be here. Oh well! Just gotta laugh it off!

Sopapillas!!!!

Saturday night my roommate Lauren and I prepared dinner for our team and they came over for the evening. For dinner we had this awesome taco ranch soup and then for dessert we had something special. Sopapillas!!!

I got this brilliant idea while laying in bed that morning trying to decide what to make for dinner. I decided on the soup but wanted something fun for dessert. I had never made them before which is all the more reason to try. I love cooking experiments! So I got a recipe off someone elses blog, got the ingredients and Lauren and I went to work.

In the end we were successful but it took a few tries to get it right. The way sopapillas are made are by cooking them in hot hot oil which can be a little bubbly and unsafe. We had no idea how hot oil needed to get and had no thermometer so I said we should just wait until it boils. So we waited, and waited, and waited and nothing happened. We were tired of waiting so we stuck some dough in and within a second or two the entire side was black and burned and smoking. Oops! Guess it was too hot.

So being very careful we disposed of the trial one sopapillas, poured out the scalding hot oil, and started over. This time we did not wait so long and just tried it and it worked! It was so fun to watch and figure out the science of these little treats. You just lay the dough in the hot oil and the poof up really fast! The hotter the oil the poofier the dough. We made a bunch and they were a huge hit. Another success for kitchen experiments! See some pictures below!

Back to School

Today I finished my first week of grad school and man it was a long week. The regular semester starts on Monday and I was taking a short course this week which means cramming a whole semester into one week. We had class from 8-5 and usually stayed in the library after to do work. During the rest of the semester we also have some papers and assignments due, so the class isn't over yet!

The class was called Intro to Grad Studies and it was good because it helped orient us to the library and all of the tools needed in our program, which is a lot. There are so many books, commentaries, dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, bibliographies and other things out there and I had no idea. I still kinda don't. We took in a lot of info in a short time so I will be happy to remember half of it.

I did make an interesting observation over the week. Grad school is still and quiet. Seriously! Every day in class we sat and listened and then worked on our assignments and were quiet and still. It wasn't that none of us had personality or anything to say but it just was not the place. I wanted to be my loud, fun self but felt like I needed to make a good impression on the students and the teacher. And library tools are not really a loud and wiggly topic so it made sense but it was driving me crazy. I wanted to go outside and play and laugh and yell but I had to sit calmly and quietly and keep to myself. I wanted to make funny comments but it felt inappropriate. Is this being an adult? BORING!!!

Anyways, this week was not awful but I am glad its over and will be glad to start my regular classes next week. Maybe they will involve a little more discussion. Crossing my fingers!!! But now it is the weekend and I plan to be productive and have some fun too. Saturday night is mission team hang out night and I am sure we will be wiggly and loud!!!

Long Time No Blog

Man it has been a while since I have blogged. Hope I still have a few readers left! I am sitting on my couch watching the BCS Championship Bowl and LSU is winning. Which couch you may ask? Colorado? Houston? Nope! Abilene!! I am back in good ole' A-town and am pretty settled in. All my stuff is in my room and I started grad school today. Can you believe I am a grad student? I cant!!!

My first day was a little overwhelming but I think that was how everyone felt so that made it better. This week is a short course of Intro to Grad Studies and then next week begins regular weekly classes. I am nervous but excited and looking forward to those. I think my biggest fear is writing research papers. Do you know how long it has been since I have written a research paper? At least since high school. That is a long time and I know that paper will not compare to anything I will write here. When I write it comes out like my conversations and those do not exactly sound intelligent or grammatically correct. I will have to work on that!

But what else am I working on besides this blog while I sit on my couch? My Missionary Biographical Information Form which is an 18 page, 3 essay, 1 personality test application our mission team has to fill out before beginning training. I have been working on it for a while and it was actually due yesterday but I am getting close. I need one more reference and one more essay and it will be done. My goal is to turn it in on Wednesday.

We begin training this month and I am super excited about that. I really don't know much about training or what we will do or what it will look like but I am excited to do anything besides talk about missions. This is the first step in the process. Also exciting news is that a new couple has decided to join our team. Welcome Chad and Sarah!!! I should call you! That brings our team total to 7 people. Hooray! I think that is a great number.

Well I am going to finish the game and get ready for bed. All day classes entail a lot of sitting and I do not think I have sat that still, quiet and concentrated since undergrad so it took a lot out of me. Whew!