Whew! I am pooped! I volunteered to work extra hours helping assemble 4500 bag lunches for the Chancellor's Convocation for the freshmen. It was a long day, but it wasn't all that bad. I worked with people from my work (server in the suites at Camp Randall), people that work in the kitchen, and people that work in catering. One girl I worked with today is from my work and it turns out that she's in Crusade and lives with a couple other Crusaders right behind my apartment! We found out that we'll be working on the same floor in Camp Randall, so that'll be fun to work with her. I also met a girl from catering...we were made designated experts in putting the bag lunches in the carts we were storing them in by one of the assistant chefs! :P The chefs I worked with today were all really nice too, so all these people definitely made the job more pleasant!

I'm so excited! Our first Crusade event is tomorrow!! I might go and help put together Freshmen Survival Kits (bags with info on Crusade, a Bible and/or book, etc.) and later in the day there's a little get together to catch up with everyone and then we're handing the FSK's out. It'll be really nice to see everyone again.

Finally, this goes out to everyone who knows something about computers...lately my computer has been shutting itself off and giving me a blue screen that says there's a hardware malfunction and it has to do with something that I recently installed. The last major thing I installed was my wireless network adapter, so I have a feeling that's causing the problem. I went to Netgear's website for troubleshooting tips and I tried both things they suggested, but I'm still having problems. It's really frustrating! So, if anyone has any possible solutions, they would be greatly appreciated!! Otherwise, I'll probably just call DoIT which isn't always a pleasant procedure, but hopefully someone can fix my computer!

Have a good day/night! :)

So, Thomas from project had this picture and I was SO excited to find it! This is probably by far my favorite picture from project. It's me with Jeremy (left) and Shawn (right)...I don't know where my life would be without these two guys! And it's probably the cutest picture in the world!! :D YAY!!

Anyway, I talked to Jeremy briefly online today and he mentioned how he's really been missing everyone from project and he wishes he could be as close to his roommates from school as he was with those from project. I totally could relate. Last night was kind of a wild night in Apt. 5 with lots of drinking and drama. I'm not even really sure what all the drama was because I wasn't really around it, but the party alone was enough to really make me miss SDSP. I've never experienced such a close-knit community like I did this summer and I wish SO BADLY that I could experience it here too. Not to say that I'm not close with my roommates, because we've definitely been through a lot together and I love them all, but I just feel like our some of our differences stick out and cause separation sometimes. I feel like there are times (such as last night) that I stick out like a sore thumb, mostly because I'm one of the "religious" ones. Anyway, it makes me really miss the feel of a close-knit Christian community sometimes, where everyone can relate to each other, build each other up in their faith, and just love on each other no matter what.

So anyway, I've been meaning to share this song with you guys because I think the lyrics are so powerful. It's "Simply Nothing" by my new favorite singer, Shawn McDonald:

So hard to fathom the pain in Your eyes
As You're watching Your children, doing what You despise
In pursuit of our own
We just go round and round
Another nail to our cause
We continue to pound
What are you, man, if you do not learn love
What are you, man, if you do not learn love

So hard to fathom, oh, the feelings inside
As You're watching Your people choosing to die
You called out a warning
To all that would hear
Saying come to Me, come to Me
And I will draw near
Learn love
I must
Learn love

Wow, good stuff...that's all I have to say! It's so true and I wish more people would realize it. I think it would totally change the way we live if we realized what this song was saying, turned to God, and learned to love. With that said, I should end this for now. Later! :)

Hey guys! My internet wasn't working for a while (well, my stealing internet wasn't working :P) but I'm finally on again! The cable guy came and hooked up our cable and internet, but I still need to wait until we get our wireless router here so 3 of us can use the internet we have upstairs. Hopefully that'll be soon!

Like I said in my last post, I started a new job. I'm going to be a server at Camp Randall Stadium in the suites for our home football games! I've had my orientation meeting and one day of training, and both went well. The day of training was a little overwhelming because they basically just came at us with all kinds of information and how things are done, but they assured us that it isn't as bad as it sounds. I'm working on the 6th floor Varsity Club in section 5. On my floor, there are about 7 sections, with about 36-48 seats in each section. Almost every section (except the 1st and 7th sections which are smaller) have 2 servers, so I will be working with one other person every week. My partner is this middle-aged woman, who seems very nice, but judging by the amount and content of her questions, she may not catch on right away. Hopefully I'm wrong though! Each game day, we have to be there like 3 1/2 hours before kickoff, so most games (which start at 11 am) I'll have to be there at 7:30 am! Kind of sounds like my schedule this summer at Sea World! It's crazy how God works like that...had I not worked that kind of schedule this summer, I definitely wouldn't be prepared to start that early for classes and work this semester! Anyway, we're usually there for about an hour after the game ends, cleaning up and eating a free meal (we get to eat all the extra food from that day!). Plus, they told us the tips are pretty good because we serve mostly the same guests every game and they're usually not afraid to tip well. Sounds like a good deal to me! :)

My last 2 roommates moved in this weekend, so the apartment is finally full! After living with 12 girls this summer, having only 3 of us here (with 2 working most of the time), it was pretty quiet and lonely here! We still have things to put away and figure out, but with all of us here, that can finally get done soon. I'm really hoping and praying that this year will go well. I'm not afraid that it won't because we've all lived with each other before in one way or another, but I just hope we don't form alliances against each other like we've been known to do in the past. We have somewhat of a personality spectrum between the 5 of us and sometimes it causes some of us to side with certain roommates more than others. I'm definitely guilty of this myself, so hopefully it can be something we all work on. I realize that it's a natural thing to do, but being aware of it can help a lot and can solve a lot of problems. From this summer, I also learned about the importance of speaking truth to people instead of pretending everything's OK and then going and telling someone else your true feelings. This is definitely something I'm guilty of, mostly because I hate confrontation and I want everyone to like me. But if we tell eachother the truth right away, and make a habit of it in the beginning, I truly believe it can eliminate drama. But I'm excited about what this year holds in store for us! I think it'll be fun to have all 5 of us in one place for once!

Well, I think that's about it. We still have little less than a week before classes start (a week and 3 days for me!!), so if you're in Madison, give me a call or IM because I'd love to hang out!! :) If you don't live in Madison, then you need to move here! Haha, just kidding...although I wish that were true! But if you're not from here, then I miss you a ton and hope to see you soon (especially you Missouri folk...you know who you are! :D)!!

Well, I moved into my apartment in Madison on Sunday. It's nice to have a change of scenery from home. Don't get me wrong, it was nice being home with my family, but I was SO bored!! It's really nice to be living with my roommates again (well a couple of them for now...the other 2 move in this weekend) and to have all my stuff moved and set up. I missed being with my roommates from home over the summer, so it's nice to be with them again. I just hope they don't get sick of my talking about summer project! :P

So I checked the mail today and I got a letter from Katie Souza, one of my roommates (a fellow old lady!) and my accountability partner from project! It was the sweetest letter and she also included a card that her Bible study leader gave her a couple years ago to put up and read every day. It says:

I am God's Child (John 1:2)
I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am a citizen of heaven (Phil. 3:20)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3:16)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:3)
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13)

I really like this because my discipler from the summer, Gracia, stressed a lot about looking at who I am in Christ and I think this list hits a lot of important points. Anyway, that letter just made my day! :) I also got to talk to Jeremy on the phone yesterday, which was refreshing because we've only talked briefly online since being back from project and I had forgotten how much I missed him and like talking to him! And hopefully I'll get to talk to Shawn soon...I think we just keep missing each other online and haven't had a chance to talk on the phone, so we haven't talked in a couple weeks. :( But he left me a message online today saying that he'll call me sometime soon. :D

Well, I suppose I should get ready for bed. I start my new job on Thursday, so I'll fill you guys in on that soon! :)

Realizations

Being on project, constantly surrounded by so many strong Christians, it was really easy to get into the mindset that we were all invincible. And coming home, it was easy to carry that mindset with us, thinking that we're on this high that can fight anything. I came to the realization today that we're not invincible and Satan is still out there trying to attack us and bring us down. If anything, he's trying to attack us even more now that we're "on our own" and not with everyone from this summer. I've struggled with falling into becoming the same person I was before project and I don't want that. Not like I was a bad person, but I learned a ton this summer and I want live out what I learned and be a different person in many aspects of my life. But Satan has made it hard to resist falling into a rut of going back to my old lifestyles and I've been reminded of how human I am and how much I need God for strength. I hope and pray that my transition back to school will be a good and positive one. I would like to say that it will be easy, but I know it won't be, for many reasons. But I also pray that I will rely on God's strength more than ever during that.

However, I am excited to go back to school. I've been extremely bored here at home and I'm excited to be surrounded by people again! I'm excited to start up Crusade again and see everyone and to start serving on the SpEv team (Special Events) with Lia and Dustin leading. Although it won't be the same kind of community as living with 121 college students was this summer, I pray that I will be able to experience a similar kind of close-knit community within Crusade this year. It's so easy to get lost in the crowd there and not connect with people, but I really want to make a concious effort to not let that happen this year. I would love to find an awesome upperclassmen Bible study this year of women that I can just grow close to. One thing I wish I would've done more of this summer is grow closer to the women I lived with, so hopefully I can do that this year.

One of the last things Dan Allan (our project director) told us this summer was to live this coming school year with a project mindset, constantly comparing our walk with how it was this summer - constantly growing, being built into, and close to the Lord - and to strive for that. It only makes sense to do that so I pray that I would be able to strive for a walk that is always growing this year.

Anyway, I've babbled long enough! Thanks for reading! :)

BORED!

Hi everyone!

I'm enjoying this blog because it gives me something to do! It's been hard going from always having plans with so many people to not having anything to do sometimes all day!! In the next few days, I should work on getting my stuff packed up to go back to Mad-town, but I feel like I don't have all that much stuff so it shouldn't take too long. Having a lot of down time has been kind of nice though, because I've been able to sleep in (something I hardly did ALL summer!!), and I've also found a new appreciation for reading. I've accumulated so many books or heard about so many books that I've been dying to read, but never really had the motivation to read. This summer, we didn't have any TV and had limited access to the Internet, so we had to find other ways to fill our free time. We all read a book called "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper for our Bible studies and I found it pretty relaxing to just sit on one of the patios or on the beach and read. Since being home, I started reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. It's pretty much this guy, the author, talking about his life and the highs and lows of his faith. I'm just a little more than halfway through it, but I love it! I love the way he writes and it's cool to read about someone else's walk and gain insight on different aspects of spirituality and Christianity. So, I definitely recommend it! :)

Well, I don't have much else to say, so I'm going to save you guys the agony of reading my blabbing. Have a good morning/day/night! :)

My summer -- WARNING this is a long one!!

So I thought I'd start out talking about how my summer was. As my profile says, I spent 10 weeks living in San Diego, CA with Campus Crusade for Christ. I had no idea what I was getting myself into before I left, but I felt like it was something God wanted me to do. There were 121 other college students and about 40 staff there from all around the country. Luckily, I went out with 3 girls from the UW, so that definitely increased my comfort level. It was tempting to all just want to stick together once we got there, but we knew we needed to branch out. In my condo (condo tres represent!!) I had 12 roommates! It was such an awesome experience because one would normally think 12 girl roommates = major drama! But I experienced the complete opposite! I was so blessed with the girls in my condo and we had a chemistry that only God could put together. We knew how to laugh and have fun (and be loud while doing it!) but we also were real with each other and spoke truth when it needed to be spoken, which is what I think took away the drama.

Basically in a nutshell (a large nutshell!) evangelism and personal growth were the main focuses of this summer. We had different things going on with our group about every night, such as Bible study, team meetings (we all were part of different teams that helped with different aspects of project -- woot woot training team!), women's/men's time, etc. For our women's time, we studied Proverbs 31 and what it means to be a Woman of Excellence. It was an awesome study and really opened my eyes to things I should strive to be as a Godly woman. One day a week, we went to local college campuses to do outreaches and to familiarize the students there with Crusade and to just get a feel for what people believe. I went to UCSD every week and it was a good experience to familiarize myself with different outreaches that can be done on campus as well as just getting comfortable with talking to people about what I believe. Another huge part of our summer was working at Sea World. Me and my friend Marc were the only two people from project that worked at a place called the Hospitality Center, which promoted Anheuiser-Busch beer (they own Sea World) and housed a deli. It was pretty much a sucky job because all we did was bus tables, but it really opened my eyes up to how we can create good relationships with co-workers that can eventually lead into sharing the Gospel, my faith, or just inviting them to church or Crusade. I never really saw the workplace as a place to share my faith, but it makes so much sense now. I learned a lot of little things over the span of the 10 weeks, but one main lesson was just learning to make God the #1 focus in my life and to glorify Him in all I do. Before project, I would get so caught up in trying to figure out and worrying about what God's plan is for my life. I love to plan and know what is happening, so I hated not knowing what God has planned for me. But, throughout the summer, I really learned that God's main will for my life is to love and glorify Him above all things, and everything else will stem from that. If we are focused on Him and Him alone, our path will naturally run alongside of the Lord's. I was so comforted to learn that!! As long as I am focused on God, I don't need to worry about missing His plan for my life. Other things I learned were the importance of being real with people and how far and deep a friendship can go if we're all real with each other. I grew closer to some of the people on project than I am with friends that I've had for years. Crazy!!

Speaking of friendships I made this summer, at times since I've been home, I feel like part of me is missing because I'm not with my friends from project. Like I said, I made some amazing friends and it's been so hard going from spending every single day with them for a summer to not seeing them for months. And although it's nice to have the Internet or phone to talk, it's just not the same. I feel SO blessed to have the friendships I took away from this summer!! Don't get me wrong, I love my friends here in Wisco, but my project friendships are on such a different level sometimes. I had a small group of really good friends from this summer: Shawn, Jeremy, Tiffany, Brad, Bruce, Jamie, and Drew. We loved hanging out together and always had a good time with lots of laughs. My two closest friends from this summer are Shawn and Jeremy. I feel like I just click with both of those guys. Jeremy is such a people person and he's so real with everyone. He's a great friend to laugh with, but he's also great to delve into a deep conversation with. I'm amazed with where he's come and where he's going and it's so encouraging! :) I've told him this before, but he's one person I feel I can trust with anything. And then there's Shawn. I don't even know where to start. We grew so close this summer and it's been really really hard being away from him. He's such a goofy guy, but he always can make me laugh, and I love it. We didn't really become good friends until about a month into project, but we just clicked when we did, and I can't really describe it. Throughout the summer, I grew to really like him and I have a huge respect for him and how he's been intentional with sharing his feelings with me. He's totally a man after God's own heart and it's awesome to see him grow in his love for the Lord. I've learned a lot from our friendship. We've basically decided to seek the Lord to see what God wants for both of us, and for me, it's been a cool experience. A few days ago, I was looking back through my prayer journal and I was able to see how God has already answered even little prayers I had during the summer. It was encouraging and has helped me to be consistent in praying about what He wants for me. I've never really prayed about a guy before, so it's been really cool so far to just give everything up to God -- all my emotions, feelings, and thoughts. It's still pretty hard being apart from Shawn, but I have confidence and comfort in God's timing and plan. Saying goodbye to Shawn and Jeremy was one of the hardest things I had to do (lots of tears!!), but like I said before, I feel so incredibly blessed to have both of them as good friends of mine. :)

Sorry this post is so long, but I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my experiences this summer. This in no way sums it up completely -- I could write 50 pages just about this summer! But these are just some of the things I took away from summer project that I wanted to share with you all. I'm sure I'll share more stories in the future!

To my SDSPer's -- I miss you guys so much and I can't wait until reunion!!! (72 days!!) Love you all! :)

The gang -- Me, Shawn, Jeremy, Drew, Jamie, Bruce, Tiffany, and Brad (left to right, back to front)

Well, I caved and decided to start a blog. I guess we'll see how often I update it, but I've been enjoying reading other people's so I thought it would be fun to start my own! I'll post more later, but in the meantime, I'm going to try to figure this thing out. Later!