Things about me #81-100

81. I love sleeping with the window open, fresh cool night air is amazing. However I could do without my noisy neighbors.

82. I am a flip flop girl. I love my reefs and wear them all the time. Thankfully I live in Southern Cali and can wear them year round.

83. I have severe allergies. If you give me something with almonds in it, I will need to be rushed to the ER before I can no longer breath.

84. Butterflies and rainbows make me smile.

85. I love classic movies. Roc Hudson, Doris day, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon, Jimmy Stewart need I say more?

86. I speak French. I'm not fluent, but I still practice and read in it as much as possible.

87. Growing up I loved to babysit, I got to play with kids and make money.

89. I write poetry, but am not brave enough to share it with anyone.

90. I have found a new love of coupon cutting, it is amazing. I save $5-$15 per shopping trip just by spending 20ish minutes a week cutting and organizing. TOTALLY worth it!

91. My bible is one of the things I cherish the most, it has tons of markings in it from the last several years.

92. Technology (much like social networking) has made my life easier and more challenging. Sometimes I think the amish have the right idea

93. I have always had a fascination with secret passageways. Someday I want to design my own home and create hidden passages and rooms.

94. I love inspirational quotes. Well some of them, others annoy me greatly, and you never know which ones are going to be which.

95. My "little" brother is 6'10'' a full foot taller than me.

96. I think that the idea of community is wonderful, however living with people isn't always the easiest.

97. I love sports, but rarely participate any more.

98. I love internet communities, but often I participate as an onlooker.

99. My blog is called "There is something about..." because originally my plan was to make random observations from my mind.

100. I love my blog, and wonder who all reads it...

Randomness about me #61-80

61. I love chocolate. I mean REALLY love chocolate.

62. Children's Ministry is the most rewarding and challenging calling.

63. I'm so sick of being pregnant. Really, I totally am.

64. Being prego is one of the most amazing, frustrating miracles ever.

65. I have no idea how people can look at the beauty around them and think that it happened by accident. Seriously, I really don't understand it. It really makes no sense to me at all.

66. I love eating veggies and salads, but I don't do it very often. Mostly because I have the hardest time finding good produce as well as a husband who refuses to touch the stuff.

67. My husband is the most amazing person in the world.

68. Disneyland is one of my most favorite places ever. It is my happy place.

69. My engagement ring is the most expensive thing I have ever worn.

70. I love being crafty, but what I make NEVER matches what I want it to look like in my head or the picture I'm trying to copy.

71. I have a really bad habit of listening into others conversations while in public. I'm not sure why but I think people are interesting the way they act.

72. My favorite color is hot pink.

73. I have recently found a fun new hobby of playing online poker.

74. I have been in three car accidents. All as passengers. I still freak out if I see tons of break lights, as well as have occasional panic attacks.

75. It really bugs me when people break the rules or abuse the privileges they have, and totally get away with it.

76. I yell at other drivers who are being stupid. Sometimes out loud.

77. I don't bite my nails, I peel them. It is a horrible habit and the reason that unless I have acrylic nails they are super short and ridiculous.

78. 95% of the time I wear a dress or skirt to church. Not because I have to, but because it is how I grew up as well as something that inside i feel is "proper" for me.

79. I multitask way to much. Sometimes I do it so much that it is distracting. Other times I find the perfect combination to get tons done fast.

80. I hate spiders. I REALLY hate black widows. I don't like the idea that something that small can do so much damage.

Things about me #41-60

41. I totally have a slight form of OCD. But I am OCD about my OCD, and refuse to give into it, which means that I leave things messy on purpose sometimes just so that I have to deal with it. However, when I'm stressed out, I will realize that I have organized things in my OCD way without realizing it.

42. I went to counseling for 2 years while in college. I spent a lot of money on it (when else can you get counseling for $12 an hour), but it was totally worth it and changed my perspective on myself.

43. I love being outdoors. Parks, beaches, mountains, desert you name it. I find beauty in God's creation, and enjoy being in it.

44. I have a love hate relationship with shopping. When I need to find something I can't, and when I'm "just looking" I spend money I don't need to spend. Why is that?

45. Growing up I wanted to be just like Nancy Drew and solve crime.

46. I have a fascination with mysteries. I love watching any crime drama show/movie and many books about it. I don't know why.

47. My family is a little bit crazy, but I love them anyways!

48. I hate being asked what my favorite movie or book is. I don't have any one favorite, I love far to many to have just one.

49. I'm not a music person. I enjoy music, and know there are some things that I don't enjoy, however I could really take it or leave it.

50. I'm really trying to figure out if I can come up with 50 more random things. It's more challenging than it looks.

51. My extended family are in a feud on my mom's side. It really sucks. We used to have 20+ people over for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now, everyone is refusing to come over and making other plans. It really sucks that my baby will not get to experience that.

52. One of the coolest trips I ever took was a 5,000+ car trip w/ my grandma. We drove from southern cali, to Seattle to Montana, to South Dakota, to Colorado and back in 3 weeks!

53. Growing up I always wanted a cat. When I finally got one in 8th grade, she didn't like me at all.

54. I have always wondered why people find gossip mags and celebrities lives so interesting.

55. Social networks make my life easier and harder at the same time

56. I totally am a total Mac geek now. I love my mac book pro and my iPhone. I would love an ipad, however they are expensive and it is something I can't justify.

57. Matt and I don't have internet or cable at our apartment.

58. I am a hopeless romantic.

59. I LOVE to go antique shopping. Even if I don't buy anything, I love looking at old stuff.

60. Someday I want to have really cool view from my home. Mountains, beach, desert doesn't matter, just something that I can look at God's creation every day.

100 things about me #21-40

21. I have lived in Southern California my entire life. Born in the OC, raised in the Palm Springs area, went to college in LA and now living back in the desert.

22. If you don't count layovers for international flights, I have never been to the east coast.

23. Growing up I had protective parents. I still to this day have not seen the movie Titanic, and pretty much most PG-13 movies that came out before I was 16.

24. Many Saturday mornings growing up, my parents would take us garage sale shoping. We usually got a dollar or two to spend. Let me tell you that dollar or two can go a long way when toys and books are $.10 0 $.25 a piece!

25. Some weekends we would ride our bikes to the local donut shop, less than a mile from our house. The only problem was this huge hill we live up. Going to the shop was easy, until I was 10 I had to get off my bike and walk it or have my dad help push me because I couldn't petal up the hill.

26. When I was in fist grade, my parents gave us an early Christmas present. The week before Thanksgiving, we got a Golden Retriever. Best gift ever!

27. I was in some sort of choir from Kindergarten until 5th grade. Then nothing, I think I realized that I can't really sing.

28. In elementary school I had a ton of extra curricular activities. I played tennis 2-3 days a week, I took piano lessons, played volleyball, did Awana's and participated in school plays. I was one busy kid.

29. Growing up, I thought that my house was the coolest. I still do.

30. When I was in 1st grade, I got the coolest fish bed spread. It was Hawaiian and had amazing colors in it. My dad painted my baseboards a hot pink color and matched it to my blinds. It was pretty awesome.

31. I always thought I was going to die before high school. I don't know why, but I really had that feeling growing up. It was really weird, and totally morbid. I even mentioned it multiple times in diaries.

32. I loved my birthday parties growing up. My parents always did amazing themes, games and cakes. It was totally AWESOME.

33. When I was in 5th grade, my elementary school got uniforms.

34. In middle school, one of my favorite teachers was the teacher everyone hated. She could be mean, but that was only if you didn't do your work and gave her attitude. I will totally admit to being teacher pet and always going above and beyond in her class. I also learned a lot doing that.

35. I wanted to be a teacher for almost as long as I can remember.

36. I was a total fish growing up. I spent the entire summer in the pool swimming, and loved it.

37. I will admit that I collected American Girl dolls until I was well into high school. I am so sad that they are retiring my favorites, but thankful I have them so that someday any daughters I have can play with them.

38. Vacations for us growing up were car trips to far away places, and involved many hours in the car cramped next to my brother. I loved it, and all of the many memories we have because of it.

39. My brother and I spend endless hours building empires out of blankets, furniture, books and sheets. I only wish we had pictures of the epic forts that we constructed in our living room and backyard.

40. Growing up I wanted to be a missionary and live in a far away country. No this does not conflict with #35, it was part of it.

100 Things about me #1-20

Since my 100 blog post is coming up, which I feel is a shame considering I have been writing on this thing for 5 years now (oops!), I am going to be sharing with you all 100 random things about me. Some are silly others are serious and most likely more than you would like to know. But I feel that this will help any of the readers who do read this, connect with me better. I will post #100 as my 100th blog post. Here is #1-20:

1. I love reading but hardly get or even make the time to do so. One of my favorite ways to read is to have my wonderful hubby read out loud to me. It is the best!

2. I love cooking and baking, but hate doing the dishes and feeling "trapped" in the kitchen.

3. I love desserts. I mean LOVE them. Way more than any girl should

4. I love traveling. If I had a ton of spendable money, I would use it to see the world and experience new cultures and ways of life.

5. I love my alma matter Biola University. I am so thankful for the time I spent there, the things I learned and the relationships I made

6. I hate that I am lazy about things. No really, I'm super lazy about things I shouldn't be and it bugs me, but I'm too lazy to do anything about it.

7. I hate that I am so far away from many of my dearest friends. It is hard to have heart to hearts over the phone.

8. I hate that I suck at finishing things. I'm really good at starting projects, or having awesome ideas but the follow through is something that I need major improvement on.

9. I hate that I am not challenging myself enough. This is mostly due to numbers 6 & 8 above. But it is so true. I need to be challenged by others its like if I don't have some big motivation I don't care.

10. I hate that I have dumb addictions to things. They are seemingly little things, but I really can't seem to stop doing them. They aren't bad either, so I have practically no motivation to do so, but still it bugs me.

11. I am generally a happy person.

12. I tend to look at all of the problems and reasons things can't be, before I see solutions or ways around them.

13. I have the privilege of having one of the most amazing jobs on the planet.

14. I am excited to start my new journey of being a mommy, but mostly scared. Not because I don't feel qualified or like I'm going to fail. It is just the weight of realizing that a little one is going to be dependent on me for EVERYTHING. It is a sobering and slightly horrifying but wonderful though.

15. I have a horrible habit of telling white lies. Stupid things that don't matter at all, but I do it and I'm really not sure why, I really am trying to stop myself.

16. I am living in my home town. The place I swore that when I grew up, I would NEVER live. Life is funny like that.

17. I have an inner-monologue going on in my head pretty much at all times. Occasionally I will catch myself saying it out loud, typically at the grocery store, where I get many funny looks then realize I am saying it out loud.

18. I feel like a failure most of the time. I know that I am not, but still sometimes I can't shake the feeling that somethings or someone would be better with out me.

19. I want to actually succeed in some of my goals this year for once.

20. I am a sports fan. I enjoy watching baseball and basketball. I can't stand football (either version). My favorite sport to watch though is beach volleyball.

Warning, TMI - Pregnancy story

So last night I felt a "gush". I knew my water hadn't broken, but I felt like it may be leaking. I thought it a fluke and moved on. I went home, laid down for 30 min and then stood up again, I felt a little fluid. So I tried it again, and then we ended up deciding to go get checked out just incase my water was leaking. We went to the L&D (labor and delivery) department of the hospital and they hooked me up on some monitors. I was contracting every 2-4 minutes. Which I had been feeling but they weren't very strong. Then they did the exam and I found out I was 3 cm. At 4cm they keep you. They tested the fluid and it wasn't amitotic fluid which is a good thing, meaning I don't have a leak. I was given the option to stay, but I chose to go home. The contractions weren't strong enough. Basically, I have been contracting every 4-7 minutes for the last day. However they are not strong, which means I'm not really in labor, but I kind am. It is really frustrating. I want them to go away, or I want to go into labor. PICK ONE! I am so not a fan of these stupid contractions, but I know that I have to have them, so it would be really nice if they were productive. Matt is convinced I'm going into labor this weekend, but I'm not to sure. It would be really nice to, but at the same time, I really don't want to get my hopes up but at the same time it would be nice. Who knows when it is gonna happen maybe this weekend, maybe next but for sure by the one after.

It's day 3!

Well so far it has appeared that I have made it to day 3, still very pregnant but alive and well enough to blog about something that has bothered me for a few weeks. A few weeks ago, I was skimming my google reader, and stumbled across a picture that broke my heart and wreaked me in more ways than one. I couldn't believe it, so I tested it out for myself and sure enough it is true. Here is the picture:

Test it out for your self. (or go to the link the here to see more). Go to google, and start typing in the phrase, "why are Christians..." See what you come up with. This KILLS ME.

Why doesn't it say Christians are happy? We have the most reason to be!

Why doesn't it say Christians are loving? Aren't we called to show love to others in radical ways?

Why doesn't it say Christians are different? Shouldn't we be living in a way that makes others ask that question?

As Christians we have been labeled; "stupid", "judgmental", "mean", "hateful" etc. THIS SHOULD NOT BE. It breaks my heart that this is the popular opinion of us. For the non-Christians out there who have formed this opinion of us, I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart, this is not what my faith is about. For all of my brothers and sisters in Christ, I challenge you to shine your light in a different way, and I leave you with this scripture:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)

In honor of today's election

I found this article very interesting. Here is the actual article below from the National Journal by Lindsey Boerma, with my own commentary at the end.

"What recession?

The lousy economy may be hurting most Americans but the politicians and consultants hoping to win your votes are enjoying a boom economy.

Candidates for Congress have spent more than $3.6 billion on this election so far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and they're still burning through the cash. (American Crossroads makes final $6M ad blitz) (DCCC purchases $21.6 million worth of air time)

Since all of them insist they're for helping average American families, the National Journal staff was curious to know how else they might have spent all that money on our behalf. How would Americans feel if, instead of attack ads, slick mailers and robocalls, our politicians lavished us with:

1. Tuition for 62,548 students at America's most expensive university

Forbes recently listed Sarah Lawrence College as the nation's priciest school, with a tuition rate of $57,556, including room and board. That's a lot of higher education.

2. 3,973,510 monthly mortgage payments

The average monthly mortgage payment, according to analysts at Freddie Mac, is $906 in principal and interest. $3.6 billion would buy one month's reprieve from the repo man for almost 4 million Americans.

3. 48 million bleacher tickets for a World Series game

Hey, the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers kick off the annual baseball classic tonight. Cheap seats cost $75. Wouldn't we all like to be there?

4. Annual salaries for 83,116 high school teachers

Payscale.com pegs the median high school teacher salary at $43,313. Don't we need more math and science experts in the classroom?

5. 1,323,529,412 school lunches

The U.S. Department of Agriculture pays $2.72 for every free lunch provided through the National School Lunch Program. For $3.6 billion, a lot more kids could eat — or the ones who already get free lunches might be able to eat better.

6. 360 million bags of Halloween candy

Forget the health food; it's Halloween. Why not buy a two-pound bag of Wonka Assorted Candy for $9.99 for every man, woman, and child in the USA — plus about 50,000 extras?

7. 12,286,689 unemployment checks

Unemployment benefits vary widely by state but the national average is about $293 a week. Aren't all those politicians saying they want to help the jobless?

8. 1,440 Super Bowl commercials

Does anyone think we don't have enough already? The most coveted advertising event of the year averages $2.5 million per commercial, meaning this year's campaign spending numbers could pay for 1,440 spots.

9. Annual salaries for 75,263 police officers

The average law enforcement officer's salary is $47,832 says Payscale.com; what candidate doesn't want to put more cops on the beat?

10. A 248-season contract for LeBron James

Yeah, he gets paid $14.5 million a year, but we could afford him. Eat your hearts out, Miami Heat.

11. 7.2 million iPads

The lowest-end iPad offering 16 GB and Wi-Fi runs at Apple.com for $499, which means that $3.6 million would afford the product to 7,200,000 people.

12. Priuses for 526 Oprah audiences

At $22,800 apiece, "You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!""

End of Article (incase you didn't notice the quotations)

Wow, this just blows me away. I seriously would have chosen ANY of these options over having to deal with stupid mailers, and advertisements that don't actually inform voters of the important facts about each candidate or propositions. What if a candidate actually chose to forgo advertising and campaigning in the "usual" sense and spent their money helping their already/soon to be constituents? Would they be elected? Would people notice?

Don't vote based off of what you have seen and heard in the media, do research, be informed and VOTE TODAY!

November is here!

I can hardly believe that November is already here! It is a complete dream, the time has gone by so fast yet so slow at the same time. September and October flew by as a whole, but each day seems to creep by so slowly. I can't believe that this month I will become a mom. I don't know when, just that it will be anytime before thanksgiving. I'm currently 38 weeks, and starting to show signs of "starting the process" but for first timers it could still be another 2-3 weeks. I am so excited to start this new journey in my life!

On a completely separate note, for three or four years now, I have wanted to participate in National Novel Writing Month, where a person is challenged to write 50,000 words of a story from midnight on November 1st until 11:59pm on November 30th. However, with me having a baby some point this month, I just don't think that is realistic. Something else I have been wanting to do, is drum up my blogging. I want to actually write about the things I'm thinking about or things I find interesting and want to share with others, as well as have a place to publicly share what is going on in my personal life in a meaningful way. So, even though I will most likely not succeed due to being in the hospital for a few days to give birth I am going to attempt another writing event that starts today. NaBloPoMo (now that is a mouthful to say!), basically the goal is to post a blog each day during the month of November. Again due to going into labor at some unknown point this month I can't guarantee that I will be able to complete this challenge, but I figure at least it will get me posting a bit more this month. So join me as I attempt to post a blog each day, we will see how far I get!

Date Night!

Matt and I had a great date night on Saturday. It was actually unintentional. On his way home from work, I suggested making pot roast for dinner, with some side dish, and he agreed. We attempted to go to the movies two weekends ago but it was a total flop, I was really sore from a dr.'s appointment and last weekend I full on fell asleep from about 2pm until 4 or so and woke up groggy and cranky. When Matt had come home and taken his shower (he works at a paintball field and gets SUPER dirty at work), he suggested we go to the movies with some movie passes we had. I agreed and we had enough time to get in there at the 4 something showing. We saw RED. SOOOOO good. I loved it. It was the perfect combination of action and comedy. The reason I normally am not the biggest fan of action is because its all shoot'em up gore type stuff, and the story is weak. However RED had some great wit and humor about it that made the movie really fun and enjoyable. After the movie it was almost 7, and the baby inside of me was screaming for food. We ended up at the Red Robin, and just had a really nice casual dinner. My hubby sucks at planning dates (this is something he will willingly admit), however just spending time together spontaneously was nice. My hubby is currently working a temp job for his uncle 2 hours away from me M-Th and then working at his regular job Sat and Sun. So the time with him is nice. I sure miss him when he is gone.

The Phillips Family

Last Friday I had the opportunity to visit with a couple who are very dear to my heart. MY children's pastor and his wife. I have known Brent and Leah Phillips for 20 years (wow, crazy!). Brent was my pastor growing up, and because I was a PK, we had a special relationship. They watched my brother and I for a weekend. I remember visiting Leah when she was on bed rest pregnant with their first. I taught Sunday school to three of their children when they were four years old. Then my Junior year of high school, they moved to Texas. I even visited them when I was in Austin, and spent the afternoon with them. I honestly could go on and on about how wonderful this family is and how big of a blessing they have been to my. I wont, I will just leave it as the fact that I can honestly say that if it were not for Brent, and his ministry, I would not be in Children's Ministry today. Now, God has given them a new path, a new direction. Here is the video they posted to share their new path.

The Phillips Story from Brent Phillips on Vimeo.

Friday morning was a wonderful time to reconnect with them, and hear their hearts for what God has called them to do. Please join me in praying for this incredible family as they go to do God's work in Uganda. They are truly going to serve the least of the least, and change the lives of those they minister to forever. Maybe some day in the next year or two, I can go visit and minister along side of them for a time.

I feel like I have been keeping things constantly in motion. Everything is spinning around me and its all I can do to touch it and keep it from crashing down. I have an overwhelming work load before I go on maternity leave. I don't want things to come crashing down while I'm gone, but at the same time I need to trust that the people I'm leaving in charge will do a good job. I know that they will, but I'm a control freak. My poor hubby has been doing most of the house work, because I'm sooo tired at night after work. We are so busy with things after work hours, it is amazing to me that I get anything done. I have been dropping the "ball" of relationships lately. I need to send some emails and make some calls. They were supposed to be done last week. The hard thing is, I have so much to say because I haven't talked to them in so long that I know I need to set aside at least 30-45 minutes. I just don't have it. I have 3 here 10 there if I'm lucky. Soon there will be a baby to add into the mix. Lord, please help!

Desert Rain

I was awoken this morning while it was still dark by an unfamiliar noise. I thought it was the cat messing around down stairs. What did he do this time, was my first thought. I rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. I don't know if I fell asleep or not before I heard this unfamiliar noise again. I knew it wasn't the cat, but didn't know what it was. Trying to get all of the sleep I could being 8 months pregnant, I attempted to go back to sleep, after my 5th trip to the bathroom that night. Then I heard it again, it was unmistakable. It was the sound of thunder! I woke up my hubby, as I squealed with delight as there was a sudden flash of lightning visible through the skylight in our bathroom. My hubby who was not very happy with me and could care less that it was thundering outside, declined to run outside to enjoy the show. (By run, I mean getting outside as fast as a sore, slow moving, very pregnant woman can). I flung open our front door, and was greeted by my favorite smell in the entire world. Desert rain.

If you have never been to the Palm Springs area when it is raining, (which if you don't live here is highly unlikely that you have) there is this wonderful aroma that floods the air. The conditions have to be just right, the scent happens before it starts raining, when it is only sprinkling. If I remember correctly from a 2nd grade field trip, it is cause by a certain desert plant. It is the most glorious smell in the world. There is nothing else like it, therefore it is impossible for me to describe it to those of you who have never smelt it before. Not only is it an amazing smell, but it has so many memories attached.

Growing up in the desert, it NEVER rained and by rain, I mean even sprinkled. That smell as a kid was the promise that I would see a few drops from the sky. The possibility of jumping in puddles, the possibility of streets being closed because the streets here aren't ready for water, the possibility of catching rain drops on my tongue. Children who grew up in places where it actually rained on occasion, take these simple joys for granted. I used to sit in the sprinklers pretending it was rain w/ an umbrella. Any time there was so much as a drop from the sky, I was outside with boots and an umbrella to play in the rain.

I wish that I could bottle the smell of desert rain, and save it. Yet maybe the reason it is so special is because it is so rare. Desert rain is an old dear friend whom you don't see very often, so each visit is special and dear to your heart. So desert friends, ignore the crazy pregnant lady attempting to jump in 1/2 inch puddles, catch raindrops on her tongue and taking long deep breaths of desert rain.

Drifting

I feel like I'm drifting right now. I am just going through the motions of life. I get up go to work then each night after work complete what ever scheduled activities I have.

For example, Monday = birth class, Tuesday = life group, Wednesday = midweek ministry, Thursday = discipleship/mentorship time then attempting to have a date night w/ hubby. Most Friday's I'm working with an event, I have things scheduled nearly EVERY Saturday. Sunday's for me are a work day and then dinner/laundry at my parents. I am just going through these motions. Week after week after week, drifting.

I feel like I'm spinning around and not making any meaningful connections with anyone. Because of my schedule, I don't have time to hang out w/ friends. I rarely even have time to place a phone call to them. I feel all of my friendships drifting farther and farther away. To the point where there are deep things that I need to talk about, and I feel like I can't go that deep with the majority of my friends any more. Even the ones I feel that I can would be over the phone, and I'm not a fan of those types of conversations over the phone. So much is lost. I'm scared that this is going to get worse when the baby comes and my drifting will just keep going in the opposite directions of my other relationships.

That is where my head has been. My poor neglected blog. Also, I don't have pictures, because I'm lazy and I always feel bad about posting w/o pictures. I need to be better at that.

College

I saw these questions on a blog that I read and thought that they would be fun to answer since my current thoughts are still too jumbled to post, I will post about one of my favorite times by answering these "10 on Tuesday" Questions that I read on Stephany writes, she has a good blog. You should check it out!

1. Where did you go to college?

Biola University. A smallish private Christian University that my parents went to and my brother is still attending. It is in the small town of La Mirada, Ca

2. What did you study?

I started out as an English Education Major, planing on becoming an english teacher, then found out that I could major in Ministry (working at a church). Which is something that I hadn't even considered as a job. I switched majors freshman fall, to Christian Education (now Christian Ministry), and never looked back. I got to study, teaching, development, small groups, leadership and have a rocking internship for two years.

3. Was college really all that it was cracked up to be?

Honestly it exceeded my expectations. I found an amazing group of friends who I was totally blessed with. We had our own group, we ate dinner together every night (there were like 20+ people at dinner) and got to learn and grow together. We mostly hung out in the lobby of our dorm and were called the "Lobby Crew" (shout outs to anyone who reads this from that group, love you!). We even decided to ditch the schools "spring banquet" and create our own. It was AMAZING! I loved college, and the friendships I made there.

4. How far were you from home?

I was about two hours from my "home". I didn't have a car freshman year, so it may as well have been 500 hours, but it was great. Close enough to go home for holidays but far enough away that my parents didn't just show up for dinner.

5. Did you have the same roommate all four years?

Mostly different roommates each year. Freshman year I had a roommate for the 1st semester who moved rooms due to our opposite sleeping schedules. (she was up with lights on and people in the room until 3am, and I had 8am classes). So I picked a friend and we were roommates for the next year in a triple with another friend. Then I moved into the school owned apartments for my next two years, with completely different people. Total over the four (well 3 1/2 for me) years of college not counting summer housing, I lived with 10 different girls. Mind you that some were in multiple bedroom apartments and two were suite mates, but ya, I guess I did live with a lot of different people.

6. Where did you order food from at 2am?

Molca Salsa - a local horribly greasy mexican fast food place that was open 24hrs.

Denny's - many late night study groups took place in Denny's, many time with the food showing up around 2 am.

7. Did you date in college or were you tied down?

In my first year and a half I dated a guy for like 3-4 months? It REALLY didn't work out, in fact we broke up 3 days after I brought him home for a friends wedding and he met a TON of my friends. I was mostly free during this time, and loved investing in friendships. In February of my 2nd year, I started dating this guy. Then we got engaged, and then we got married, and now we are expecting a baby in November! So I was "tied down" for the 2nd half of college, but I am so happy I was.

8. Funniest drunk college moment?

See the thing about Biola is you sign this contract. No drinking while enrolled in classes. So its a dry campus. This doesn't mean that there are many who ignore the contract, it just means there are no drunken parties or open drinking. You may think this is crazy, but I LOVED IT! It was great not to worry about roomies coming home drunk, or there being wild parties while you were trying to study. It was a great experience. So no funny drunk stories from college from me, sorry.

9. Did you make it to class on time?

Yes. I liked being one of the first there, especially in my major classes because you got to chat with the professors and the other kids in the class. It was really great for me to be able to build those relationships. Now I will admit, that there was this one 8am class that attendance didn't count for. So I showed up maybe a total of 6-7 times the entire semester. 3 of them were for tests that I couldn't miss. I managed to pull off a B+ in that one, and while I am not proud of not going to the class, I am proud of the fact that it didn't affect my grade too much.

10. What was your favorite class in college?

YIKES! I had so many favorites, I really did. Here are my top 5 (in no particular order) and why:

Foundations of Ministry- This class cemented the fact that I wanted to go into vocational ministry as well as the fact that I was the TA for it the following year. The professor was amazing, and I apply many things that I learned in that class in my job right now! Also, this is the class that I meet my hubby in freshman year. So that in and of its self makes it on the list.

O&A - (Organization and Administration of Ministry) - I took this class early (it was a 400 level and I took it as a sophomore), and I was so thankful that I did. I learned more about the brass and tacks of ministry than I learned in all of my other classes combined. It opened my eyes early that this career path I was on was not going to be an easy one, it was not going to be one that was going to make me a lot of money, or be fun all of the time. Knowing that, it allowed me to cement that regardless of how hard it was going to be. This is where God has called me, and it gave me some great tools to use.

Theology 1- I waited to take this class from "the teacher". The one that everyone wants for this class. Its the class that Juniors and Seniors wait to take, so they can have priority and get this professor. SO WORTH THE WAIT! This class pushes you in what you believe, why you believe it and how you should respond to it. I grew so much in my personal faith because of this class, I learned so much about myself. I was pushed to a greater appreciation and understanding of my faith in an academic way that also affected my heart.

Evangelism - I took this class and loved every minute of it. I really can't say why, other than the teacher was beyond amazing. She had us look at things we knew from new perspectives. Challenged our thinking in so many ways. It was a GREAT class.

And last, but not least, I am totally going to cheat and say:

All of my Dr. Anthony classes!

Worship - We got to learn about new styles of worship and engaged our minds and hearts into something that is so essential to faith.

Foundations of Teaching - The second hardest class in the major. This class was mostly about educational theory and how people learned. We had to memorize a TON of philosophies, dates, people and theories about education and how people learned. I was never prouder of a B in my whole life.

Internship 2 - If you are afraid of public speaking. DO NOT take this class ever. You had to speak, every single week. You had to present your assignment every week! Also, in your internship you had to teach 15 times two of which had to be video taped and graded by your mentor AND the professor. There is also something called the "ummm bell". If you said umm, or any "filler words" such as like, um, well you know, etc. the bell would ring and you would have to start from the beginning. I pulled an A in this class. Something that very few people do, it was stretching to say the least.

Dr. Anthony is a true mentor to me. He is the professor you sign up for office hours for just to talk about life. He make even the most daunting and difficult material fun and exciting. He cares for each of his students. He was even going to marry my hubby and I but we had to change the dates, and he had a date conflicting. He is one of the biggest reasons I am in ministry and where I am today.

There is my super long 10 question college post, hope you enjoyed it!

Unconditional Love

The concept of love is something I am familiar with on many different levels. For example there is my love for half baked ice cream. There is my love for my job, for my co-workers, for my friends. There is a love for my kids, even when there are 50 of them going crazy at once on a Wednesday night. Then there is a love for my family, my parents my brother. There is also my love for my husband. Each of these I love in a different way to a different level, in a different way. Then I think about the love I have and will have for my own child. How great of a love is that?

Then I think of the Father's love for me, and how He loves me always, no matter what I do, say or feel. He loves me even when I don't love Him. How great of a love is that. His love truly is deeper than the oceans and higher than the heavens. There is no bounds to His love for me, or you. How amazing it is to be loved for who I am, where I am today. That is unconditional love.

Identity

Someone asked me if I felt like I lost part of my identity when I changed my name after I got married.

I honestly had to think about it.

I have been Mrs. Medina for almost 11 months now, and I wouldn't change it for the world. I love having the same name as my husband. I love that I took his name so that we are united as one family. Myself as a person didn't change really, at least no more than any other person who gets married. I got to add something. The only time that I felt like I was loosing something was a comment my dad said. My dad finally got his hands on a family heirloom that was his great grandpa's, then his grandpa's then his dad's and now finally his. He has been drooling over this particular item since he was 10 years old. It's the riffle he learned to hunt with from his grandpa. He made a joke about making my brother wait until he was 60 to get it, then I made a joke about him not wanting to pass it down to his first born grandson (currently in my oven). His reply was, is his last name going to be _________ (insert my maiden last name)?

At that moment I realized that part of my identity had changed, in my families eyes. Which is a good thing! Matt and I are our own family now. While my parents will always be my parents, my hubby and I are a different family now, our identity is now meshed.

Did I loose part of my identity? No, I am still the same person. My identity changed, I am now part of someone else. It is an addition, not a loss. I gained so much more than I had before. At least that is my feeling.

Btw... I have like 15 unfinished blog posts to make but my prego brain is stalling me out, so I apologize for the lack of recent posts, hopefully my blogging will come back soon, and it will not be overwhelmed by baby stuff, but no promises.

Life

Lets call May the month of failed blogging. Hello long lost blog, I have missed you. My life has kept me away from you, the insanity of not having an office at work and all of my crazy tasks overwhelmed me. But now I am back, and I have so much to tell you. Which means that there will be many posts coming soonish.

Here is what my past few weeks have looked like

Monday:

8:30am - 5:15ish Work with a modest lunch break

5:30-6:30 Dinner and if we are fast squeezing in some grocery shopping

7-10something Game night at our place.

Tuesday:

8:30am - 5:15ish Work with a modest lunch break

Grab a quick dinner and be 20 min away by 6pm

6-8:30/9ish Life Group

Come home and CRASH

Wendsday:

8:30-8:30 Work, with a short lunch and even shorter dinner break

9pm-10pm vegg on couch trying to recover from crazy work day

Thursday:

8:30am - 5:15ish Work with a modest lunch break

After work- date night/ catch up on house / try and have a life night

Friday&Saturday

Laundry, being lazy and unmotivated, catching up from the insanity of the week, sometimes going out of town, being sick most weekends etc

Sunday:

7:15-1:30pm Work/Church

1:30-2ish lunch

2ish-5ish rest my swollen ankles and take a nap

5ish-10ish start to mentally prepare myself for the week and all I need to get done.

When I type it out it doesn't look that crazy, but it sure has felt that way. Now that I don't have my Wednesday night program anymore, things will hopefully feel better and more freeing and I wont feel so overwhelmed. :)

My travel bug

I haven't been to a new place since 2008. Since I was 16 every 2 years or so, I have been off to somewhere new, usually a new country (but not always).

In 2003, I went to Grenada on a mission trip and helped fix up a church that had very bad water damage.

In 2004, my family went on a cruise to Mexico, it was AWESOME. Sorry no pics on my compy for this one :(

In 2006, I went to Ireland for 10 days, and the experience was BEYOND amazing. This is the courtyard of trinity collage.

In 2007, I went to Kenya and served people impacted or infected with HIV/AIDS.

In 2008, I went to France, a true dream come true for me, I had 3 weeks in the French countryside with a few days in Paris At the top of my blog is a picture from the countryside I was staying in.

For our honeymoon Matt and I chose to go on the same cruise to Mexico my family had gone on twice previously. It was convenient with dates and at a price we couldn't beat. While it was fun and relaxing, I honestly didn't feel like I was traveling or experiencing a new culture. I was just thrilled to be on vacation with my Hubby and that the whole wedding was finally done with.

I want to travel, I want to go back to Africa, I want to spend time in England and the rest of europe for that matter, I want to go to South America, or Australia, or anywhere in Asia.

However due to the fact that I am currently on the mommy wagon... it will be a long while before I will be able to go those places, or we would somehow have to figure out how to afford the extra plane ticket. I guess I will have to come up with something else to fix my travel bug. Any ideas?

Random update

Life has been flying by, I sincerely apologize to my readers (do I even have any left?) for not posting as often as I should. I'm starting to get my energy back and hopefully my blog will return to its normal postingness (and yes, it's my blog so I can make up words like that).

My office at work has been under construction for over a month. My desk is currently a folding table, all of my books, desk nicknacks, my pen cup, office supplies, and other essential things I keep on my desk for easy access, are currently buried on another table covered with a paint tarp. My door was moved, so where my door used to be, there is drywall sheets, unfinished. Where my new door is, well it was put on backwards because someone ordered the wrong door frame. So it is still unfinished and I have to wait another week or so for the right door fame so they can do more work, and flip the door. Then I have to wait for a custom build to happen for my desk, because now the shape of my office will not allow for us to just go out and buy one. There is a support pole in the middle of my office, that is part of the structural integrity of the whole building. So did I mention that this is my crazy season at work? Plus my slight OCD, (especially when it comes to my work spaces) = a very difficult to concentrate, slightly neurotic with surging prego hormones me. Such is life, and honestly when this is done, I'm going to totally make this office MINE, and do some fun and unique things to it. Something to look forward to...

In other news, I had my 12 week check-up yesterday. We got to hear the heart beat, which was nice and strong, and see the baby who is growing exactly the way he/she should be. The baby even jumped for us while we were trying to take its picture. It was what made the 2 hour wait worth it.

Have a great week everyone!