I'm a Boring Copycat

'Tis the season for good blogging apparently. Who knew my friends were such great writers? Not I, but I have been inspired to start writing on this thing again. How long this will last, no one can be sure of.

I'm in camp world. I'm sitting in my room in Gardner (old school) staring at the pile of camper's room keys that I spent all day Monday labeling. This means that soon, middle school and high school girls will be here and my third summer as a camp counselor will officially officially begin.

Other jobs this week have included planning devos for my middle school girls, imparting all my wisdom from past summers onto the new counselors, and maybe my favorite, picking up Bob's prescription from Wal-Mart.

I'm learning that my relationship with procrastination is ongoing rather than seasonal. Unfortunately, it's not something that's reserved for the school year. I already have at least five things that I should have done by now (well by last Sunday). As always, I'm waiting for the perfect moment to tackle each of these projects. Otherwise it's not as fun.

Hopefully the right moment to tackle my next blog post won't be another 6 months...

What Will I Do Without 5 AM?

Thanksgiving was everything I dreamed of and more.

I have a gut feeling that I won't write on this quite as much next semester, considering the only time I actually write is when I have to sit at a desk for four straight hours doing essentially nothing. Add to that the fact that Amanda is the only one who reads this. Who knows though? Maybe I will keep going strong.

Everybody seems to be so incredibly busy this week. I completely understand, because I should probably be just as busy. Being a procrastinator, I am constantly telling myself that I have plenty of time. This week, I have just enjoyed the company that comes from being in the library. At some point in the semester, I would jump at any chance to run home, even for just a few minutes. I've finally realized that I've reached the point in my ACU career where I can walk into the library and almost always find a familiar face to pass some time with.

The only dilemma is very little productivity. If I do homework at home, I usually end up falling asleep (yes, we all know I'm an old woman). At the library, I socialize. I've just come to the conclusion that I have the rest of my life to stay at home and fall asleep reading. Now, I'm finding any excuse to spend as much time with the people I'm able to spend time with now. I always get depressed when I think about the fact that the days of calling up just about anyone to hang out within the next 15 minutes or randomly sleeping at someone else's house in the middle of the week are not going to be here forever. Sorry to have now depressed you too Amanda.

I just really like where I am right now as far as friendships go. I know that sounds so corny and I generally try to avoid things/phrases/topics that have to do with someone's "place in life," but now I've said it and we can move on.

I will now try to go back to the homework that I have again been procrastinating. However, it will most likely now be accompanied by an episode of Friends, as I now own all 10. Props to Black Friday for new movies/tv shows and $10 Snuggies!

Living for Thanksgiving

Living for the weekend is pretty much the story of my life this semester. I generally feel like I start Sunday night at 9:00 pm and go until Friday at 3:00 pm without stopping. I know this isn't exactly the case, but man I really like weekends. But they sure do go by fast.

This weekend, I'm really hoping we'll get the Christmas spirit started, regardless of Rachel's silly "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rules. This means waking up tomorrow and making a delicious breakfast, decorating our stockings, and trimming a tree, all with "Elf" playing in the background.

I'm excited for this weekend, but I'm even more excited about THANKSGIVING. It is most definitely one of my favorite holidays for a lot of reasons I won't go into, but a lot of it has to do with the focus on my family and yes, delicious eats. My Uncle Rick is a Thanksgiving Master.

Every year, we trek down to The Woodlands to spend Thanksgiving with my mom's sister (PoPo) and her family (Uncle Rick, Cat, and Liz). I hear so many stories about people who aren't very close in age to their cousins, and therefore not very close to them at all. One of the things I'm thankful for is two girl cousins who sandwich me in age. I've always loved family gatherings with them. When I was younger, this mostly revolved around the fact that I would finally have girls to play Barbies with. My brother, shockingly, never seemed to get the hang of it and saw it as a prime opportunity to push my buttons. For many Thanksgivings, me and "the girls" as we have so lovingly dubbed them, would wake up and dress up as pilgrims, which usually meant wearing any black clothes we could find with white trash bag aprons.

These days, we're satisfied with waking up and snacking on biscuits and coffee while we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It seems like every year, Uncle Rick suggests we go to the Houston Thanksgiving Parade, but we are lazy and that would require leaving our pajamas. Finally food is ready and PoPo puts on whatever new Christmas music she's bought at Starbucks to go with our meal. Thanksgiving night always means going to a movie.

And then it's Black Friday. We always say we're not going to go or we'll go for just part of the morning, but it almost always turns into an all day affair of spending way more money than we'd planned on. But Christmas gifts are a go.

Wow, I'm getting excited just writing about it. I really love Thanksgiving. The food, the traditions, the relaxation, the leftovers, and even just hearing about how others celebrate.

For the record, my favorite is the stuffing.

Bring It On....when the time is right

My life is just a little too easy most of the time. I'm thankful for what I've been given, but where is that dividing line between blessings, and just being spoiled? I think I may have accidentally crossed it a while ago.

I wonder what would happen if I was called to leave it all. Though I consider myself to be a pretty low maintenance gal, I'm not so sure I could make that switch so quickly. I always wish I was more adventurous than I actually am. I say it's because opportunities don't present themselves, or I get really close and then back away. The fact is I'm just plain scared. I'm scared of seeking out those opportunities or even taking advantage of those that are staring me in the face. Even worse than being scared, I'm lazy.

There are quite a few things that need changing before I'm ready to hear and accept God's call. I have a good feeling He knows that too. While it's scary now, and there's a chance I will chicken out when that day comes, just as I chicken out on so many things, I can't wait to find out what my adventure is, because I know that by that time, I'll be ready.

So, so bored.

I'm sitting at the Gardner desk bored out of my mind. I have a Spanish test today and brought my stuff to study, but finished all that business about an hour and a half into my shift. Sometimes I underestimate my intellect.

So now, after drinking all my coffee, facebook stalking just about everyone I know, and completing my USA Today Crossword, I'm writing really just for the sake of writing. I generally talk about how busy this semester has been for me. Sometimes I think I'm exaggerating, but then I realize I'm not. Between taking 15 hours (2 classes with labs), peer leading for a U100, working 20 hours, and staying as involved with club as possible, there is little left to do at the end of the day but crash. Especially considering I usually have to start all over again in roughly 5-6 hours.

I am so, so, so excited about my lineup next semester. I'm only taking 12 hours, which will make working so much way more bearable. I'm also hoping to volunteer somewhere that could really teach me a lot about a possible job field. Not to mention, SING SONG, which is probably my number one favorite thing about ACU (waterball is a very close second). Overall, I'm really looking forward to a semester that will probably be just as busy, but hopefully a more fun busy, rather than a wake up at 4 a.m. busy.

Next semester? Check.

Which only leaves summer... I've already been asked quite a bit if I'm planning on reprising my role as counselor at Kadesh and MPulse. While a summer without camps seems incredibly hard to imagine right now, I can't help but feel like it may be time for me to move on. Moving on to what is the problem. I've talked about looking for internships, but more recently I've been questioning whether or not I should stay and work in Abilene. Yes, Abilene is boring to many, but I can't help but smile at the thought of spending a couple of restful months with some of my favorite people. Camp is in Abilene, but I'm rarely given the opportunity to just take it easy. After two and a half-ish extremely busy years of college, the thought of just hanging out sounds just blissful.

I have plenty of time to think about it, which is mostly my way of saying I just don't want to think about it right now. Until further decisions must be made, you can more than likely find me at the ACU pool watching whatever waterball game is underway.

Blogging is Clearly My Forte

....so I suck at blogging. Big deal.

Fall Break has come and gone and I wish we could have one every weekend. I had been looking forward to that glorious Friday off for weeks on end. Finally Caroline and I set off for the big D/FW.

We started in Fort Worth to visit some of the funniest people I know, Tyne, Claire, and BC, who many know as Elaina. I really like Fort Worth and am thinking about moving in with them. Their apartment is just down right cozy and they have excellent taste in TV. Which basically just means they watch a lot of TV. Which means we get along just fine.

Friday morning, Claire made us a nutritious breakfast and we went along our merry way. Our next stop was the Allen Outlet Center. Tired of our lackluster wardrobe, we stocked up. After said stocking, we made our way to Cara's apartment in Addison. Cara is my brother's girlfriend and is just as precious as a peach. If you don't believe me, you're a fool. She just got Lily, a yorkie puppy, who I wish would've liked to cuddle a bit more, but was still fun to play with.

Saturday we slept in. And by that, I mean I watched TV while Caroline slept in. For some reason, my body just doesn't agree with me wanting to sleep past 9. I really wish I could do something about that. We realized that we maybe hadn't stocked up quite as much as we could have, so we went to a nearby mall and stocked a little more. *Note: Stocked is a very different word than stalked. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

We waited around Addison until my brother got into town and the four of us went out to dinner. I wish we could have spent a little more time with Jonathan, but it was time to make our way to THE Dallas. Miss Suzanne Langston, EOX president emeritus, was waiting patiently at her apartment for our arrival. Kylie and Amy Jo had better things to do, but I have no hard feelings as they had really good excuses. According to Caroline, no Dallas trip is complete without a stop at Yogalicious, so naturally we made a yogurt run. If I'm being completely honest, I don't really know the difference between ice cream and frozen yogurt. I wish I did, but the fact of the matter is, they're both pretty tasty, so I'll settle for either anyday.

After church and lunch with Suz, we made a run by another mall (no stocking here; I don't have a problem) to visit Amy Jo at work. I love the Paper Source and wish Amy Jo could come make pretty cards for me all the time. I absolutely loved staying with these three, as they are three of my favorite Siggies in the world. I'm thinking of packing up and moving in with them as well.

That was my weekend in a very large nutshell. I'm very excited about blogging more often. Once again, if you don't believe me, you're a fool.

Goals

I'm on the verge of completing my third Welcome Week. Each year has brought a new role and while I'm a little more apprehensive about this year's, I'm mostly excited. Mentor group leading last year was a breeze. One week? Piece of cake. Welcome to camp. This year, however, I will be devoting at least two hours a week to my kids. Hopefully more, if I do my job right.

A lot of times this week, I feel like I was probably talking my kids to death. I learned this summer that I'm not so great with the discussion leading as I am picking a topic and going with it. I also learned this summer that it's really easy for me to talk without backing it up with my own actions.

I told my kids this week that it is important for them to set goals for their first year of college. If they're aware of their expectations of ACU and the amount of time and work they're willing to put into their first year, they'll be more likely to fulfill those expectations. I said this mostly because that's what the Welcome Week curriculum told me to say and I will honestly never know if they even heard what I said. However, I gave up setting goals for myself for a while and began to settle for coasting through. Not good. So here they are. My new school year's resolutions.

1) Work hard.

I want to do everything this year to the best of my abilities. AKA: not slack.

"Now whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." -Colossians 3:17

2) Love others.

I hope to fulfill this goal in any way possible. Whether that means being kind and patient with the people I'm around every day, or reaching out to those who I've neglected in the past.

3) Act upon my ambitions.

It's about that time to stop talking about what I'm dreaming about doing with life and start finding the path towards doing it.

4) Use my time wisely.

I wish I could add up and know how many hours I've wasted on the computer, but it would probably be too embarrassing.

5) Strive to evoke "...the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

I fall victim to the god of humor all too often when I should be better about keeping my mouth shut.

6) Never settle. For anything.

This goal is pretty much my goal for life and a blanket to all the other goals.