Life is Good

I hate that it gets dark so early in the evening now. It's strange that it's dark at five now. Super strange.

Today was my cousins husbands fathers funeral, and I spent the majority of the day helping my mom set up the dinner that they were going to have following the ceremony. The dinner itself occupied the majority of the day.

Following that we traveled back to the house where we've proceeded to sit in the living room and watch movies. For the most part it's been a productive day, at least to some extent. Tomorrow we plan on going to visit Riley, something that I definitely have to do before going back to school tomorrow evening.

Hopefully that situation can work itself out.

To some extent though going back to school is exciting. I am really excited for the month ahead. In the next two weeks the semester will wrap up and in the week that follows I will nail down my final GPA. I think I'm going to finish this semester strong, and as a transfer student that is a major accomplishment.

I'm also super excited to get to go back to work over break. I've missed it more than I ever really could have imagined I would. I miss the people that I worked with, and to some extent I miss the work that I did. I was on top of things when I worked there, I had two years of experience and therefore felt competent at my job.

It's exciting to get to return to that. Over this break I'll get my new drivers license and I'll have the opportunity to hang out with some of my best friends. Life right now, despite any stress or pressures I may be feeling, is good.

Writing Style

This seems to be a common problem. I think about the fact that I need to blog, and then fail to do so when I'm thinking about it, AND THEN midnight rolls around and I've failed to blog. I've done this enough times now, that you think I would have learned my lesson by now.

Apparently I'm a slow learner.

I finished reading Mitch Albom's latest book, "Have A Little Faith". It was so good. Although honestly I adore all of his books. He writes in such a straight-forward manner that it is easy to let yourself get lost in the story. His writing style is similar to Anderson Cooper's. Each of them write in a very clear and simple way.

They say what they mean to say without being overly showy about the way that they say it. That is the writing style that I strive for in my journalism career.

It is officially Saturday morning. I have gotten all of my letters asking for support in my trip to Mexico put together, and just need to mail them in the morning. At some point today I'll be blogging again, in penance for lessons unlearned.

Thanksgiving Day

Today was Thanksgiving, and it was an interesting day to say the least. In fact it could have been less interesting and that would have been fine with me.

As usual we had Aunts, and Uncles and Cousins over for the usual family dinner. We watched the Detroit Lions lose, at a delicious meal and just generally enjoyed each others company. However, unlike most family dinners, we had the weight of my nieces disappearance on our shoulders. Her other grandmother dropped her off at her friends house last night, and then this morning she wasn't there and wasn't answering her phone.

At one point this afternoon I drove into Tecumseh to see if I could find her at one of her friends houses there, and didn't have much luck with my endeavour. Thankfully she finally turned up this evening, though really the trials are just beginning. For the moment we are praying for the strength to weather this present storm.

In other news, I have now determined that though I can drive on empty for sixty miles, seventy-three miles is clearly too far. I most definitely ran out of gas as I was driving to get gas this evening. Dad had to bring me gas, which didn't end up doing the trick, so we then had to use the mini-van to push my car to a local gas station.

It has been an interesting day. At the moment we're watching "My Sister's Keeper", and just taking it easy in general. We shall just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Awesome is the Word

Today was awesome, I love being at home!

By coming home from school last night, I skipped my classes this morning, but I could definitely afford to do it. The prospect of extra time spent here at home was just far too enticing. Plus, the way that I figure it my GPA is in good shape at the moment and so there's nothing to worry about.

This afternoon Sarah and I planned to go to Cabela's but first I stopped the The Book Abby, a local used bookstore. I picked up one of the two Mitch Albom books that I'm missing. Hopefully at some point while I'm home I'll manage to pick up the other one at another used bookstore. Maybe I'll finally go visit the one down in Toledo that I've been planning to visit.

Anyway, Sarah and I went to Cabela's and it was awesome to get to see everyone. I really do miss working there. It's strange to find yourself at a place in your life where you are content with where you are, and yet missing what you had. I frequently find myself caught in that conflict.

But, I did get it set up so that I can go back to work after finals. Call me crazy if you like, but I'm excited to be going back to work. It'll be awesome!

Resources and Advantages

I definitely didn't realize how close I was cutting it to my deadline tonight. I guess being at home will do that to you. I delved into Mitch Albom's new book earlier today, and I think that I'm going to take tonight to finish reading it. It is a really good read, although in general Albom's books are so really it's not that surprising.

I got the chance to talk to the parents about doing Spring Break in Mexico, building houses. In general the response was the one that I was expecting. I asked Dad if he'd be opposed to the idea, and he said that I was old enough to do what I wanted.

Therefore, I'm planning on going to Mexico for spring break.

It's an excellent opportunity to use the resources and advantages that I have to help someone else who doesn't have those same resources and advantages. God put us here to help and love each other, and I think that 's something that we often forget, or choose to forget.

It's important to remember to be thankful for the things that we have, and prepared to help those in need. It's easy to complain about the things that we don't have and wish we did, it's more difficult to be aware of how fortunate we really are.

Day Trip Mission

Saturday was awesome. A few of us from His House traveled to Detroit, and spent the day interacting with the homeless population there, offering them food and clothing, as well as prayers and encouragement.

We went there in a capacity to offer them comfort and a helping hand, but ultimately they ended up teaching us some valuable lessons to. It really was an eye opening experience, because it put a face to the blight of homelessness. It made the issue more personal. Being there and in the moment made the issue clearer I think.

It became less of an abstraction and more of a rooted reality at least in my mind.

When you consider homelessness you understand it logically as being a horrible circumstance, but when actually confronted with the reality of it you come to realize how much we really have and how often we take it all for granted.

It puts our struggles into perspective.

We first met at the mission that we were working through with the group that had come from Central, and once we had all met up there we caravanned to Comerica Park. As we were making our way there, at one of the corners we were driving by there was a homeless woman standing on a corner.

It was amazing to watch the group in the car ahead of us hop out and give her one of the bags that had been brought to hand out. Her face lit up, she was so happy to get that bag. It was really beyond words, and most definitely the perfect way to get started.

Once we met up by Comerica Park, we got into a circle and prayed together before splitting into smaller groups. With maps in hand we split up, and began to comb the streets of downtown Detroit.

We were there to pray for them, and yet the first group that we spoke with wanted to pray for us. They were so appreciative of the fact that not only were we there to provide them with what resources that we could, but also that we were willing to acknowledge them. We took the time to speak with them, and lend them our ears.

The first group was a fairly large one, and so we left the majority of our bags with them. We then walked some more, and met with a woman who we offered a few sandwiches and some water. She wasn’t interested in being prayed for, but we were more than happy to be helpful in what ways we could.

Our last bag we gave to a man as he was riding by on his bike. Unfortunately we weren’t able to speak much with him because we were standing in the middle of the street.

Once we had handed out all of our bags we met back up with the other half of the MSU group as well as the few from CMU that had been out with them. From there we went and got something to eat, and were able to talk and watch a portion of the MSU v. Penn State game that had just started.

It was going on four thirty or so when we started back to the parking lot to meet up with everyone else and get ready to leave. The walk back was really amazing. We were making our way back, and had one bag left among us, and a man from across the street called out to ask if he could have the bag.

So he came over and we gave him the bag, and then a few more people came over and though we didn’t have any more bags a few people in the group had just enough leftovers to provide for them.

Then one of the men came over and said that he had heard that we were offering to pray for them and he would like us to pray for him, so we all got in a circle and joined hands to pray for him and a second man that came over to be prayed for.

It was just really touching to be able to be there and see what a difference it made in their lives for us just to be willing to be there and speak with them. You really get a sense of how often people walk by and don’t think about it, they are so caught up in their own world that they aren’t aware of the suffering of those around them.

It was eye opening, and most definitely something that I think I’d like to be a part of in the future. This is the kind of issue that I want to be able to champion and make people aware of. I think I’m starting to get a greater sense of what exactly it is I need to do with this education that I am pursuing.

Break Time

I think I've managed to round up all of the information for my third out of class story in JRN 200. Now it is just a matter of sitting down to actually get the piece written for Tuesday.

I've got time. I'll get it taken care of.

Lit/Cultures was actually kind of interesting today. Mostly it was interesting because people actually participated in the conversation and there weren't as many awkward silences. Although there were a lot of people absent today, so the class being smaller probably had a lot to do with it.

Most likely that's the case. Thankfully though the semester is almost over. I'm really ready for this Thanksgiving break. I'm a little burnt out on school and continual deadlines. I finally managed to finish reading "Liar". Now I just need to get a review written and posted for the SpartanEdge. I'm going to make my quota of three post this week and that is exciting.

Same Old Story

So I'm definitely glad that I checked the syllabus for my Lit/Cultures class. Apparently there was some reading to do for tomorrow, and the movie needs to be watched for next week. Or one of the next few classes anyway. Unless he combined some of the lessons and I misunderstood.

That's possible of course.

At any rate I have managed to get half of the reading done, and will hopefully have the other half read before I decide to get some sleep. I think I've studied enough for my JRN 108 exam in the morning. It's all multiple choice, so it should be fine.

In fact, I am very close to having things squared away for the break. I think that by Monday night I should have everything caught up to a degree.

Laundry definitely took longer earlier than I was anticipating. Thursday seems to be a popular laundry day. But at least I've got that out of the way. I just really want to have things caught up before going home for Thanksgiving. I'm excited about getting to go home and hang out with my family, especially since last time I was home I was so sick.

That was awful, though I guess if you're going to be miserably sick that home is the place to be.

No Homework?

My goal is to be caught up with homework to the point that I won't have to bother with it over break. The idea of being able to go home and not have to give school a second thought is incredibly appealing. Especially since it is so hard to get motivated to work on homework when I'm at home anyway.

As I write this I'm sitting in Lit/Cultures and am so lost. I miss calculated what I needed to read in order to be prepared for class today. We're talking about subcultures, but the way that the prof is trying to present the idea isn't very effectively spurring conversation. That is the way that class usually goes though, so I'm not certain why it's surprising every time.

Thankfully all we have to do for Friday is watch a movie. That will be simple enough, or at least it should be.

When I wrote the above earlier I didn't know yet what I wanted to write my final out of class article on for my JRN 200 class. I just finished filling out the tip sheet though, so hopefully that goes well. At any rate I've written down an idea. I'm much further along than I was.

Things To Do

I bought the new FlyLeaf CD earlier today! It is awesome, I'm really enjoying it.

I seriously need to get some reading done for class tomorrow, but it's reading for Economics so I'm really not motivated to go about doing so. Then of course there is the continued drama at home. Can I say, for the record, that my sister is being a moron.

You can not throw around the fact that you are thirty-seven years old and then act the way that she is. It is not acceptable to act like a juvenile and then expect the people around you to take you seriously. Not to mention that she is completely taking for granted everything that Dad has ever done for her. Dad has done nothing but support her and she's throwing all of that support down the drain.

It is unbelievably frustrating. I need to read.

High Drama

The drama is continuing to unfold at home. Sometimes I really don't understand my sister. I can't understand the way that she thinks, and I definitely don't understand where she got this example from. Why?

I'm not going to be specific here, but I will say that sometimes it is possible to still love someone but be incredibly frustrated. Sometimes it is easier to love someone than it is to like them. As usual everyone at home will be in my prayers tonight, they'll just be a little more specific.

I worry though. It's difficult to be so far away at times, especially right now. I worry about my oldest niece. She's nearly at an age where she will be thinking about graduation and entering a new stage in her life, and where is that going to lead? What tools has she really had?

Something needs to give, she needs some kind of guidance and with things as they stand right now I don't see that happening. Maybe I'm being too candid here, but then again you can't say that I'm not being honest. Sometimes the truth hurts, but that doesn't make it any less true. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be home for Thanksgiving. I just pray that I can do something to help the situation, that I can understand the role that I need to play here because something needs to give. A resolution is needed here.

Church

The sermon in church today was really good. It was all about how society tells us it's natural to rebel and how that idea is false. While we may be inclined to rebel to authority, it is actually God's wish that we be submissive. I liked how he made the point that that it is possible to rebel in a submissive way.

For instance you can break a rule in order to stand up to it, but when it comes time to receive punishment for breaking that rule it is important to than accept that punishment. In this way you are following and abiding by the law and yet at the same time pointing out that it is flawed.

Overall it was just a really interesting lecture. I think I like the idea of calling it a lecture more than a sermon. The word sermon just feels like it has a negative connotation associated with it. It seems to exude the idea that someone is preaching at you or down to you when that really isn't the case here.

Anyway, after church I hung out over at the girls house and then we ran some errands. I have a vague sense of what needs to be written for my paper, so we'll see what I can come up with tomorrow. It's due tomorrow at five but I'm really not overly worried about it. I'm doing well enough in that class I think.

Really that's my attitude at this point in the semester. I am doing well enough. Hopefully my estimation of the situation as it stands is true. Fingers crossed!

I've Got Time

Yesterday was a strange day. I definitely ended up sleeping much later into the day than I would have anticipated, but if I was that tired than it was needed and therefore a good thing. I managed to get my article for the SpartanEdge written last night, and sent it off this morning.

That was probably the most productive thing I did all day yesterday. But that is alright, sometimes you need days like that.

This morning I’m going to go to church with a couple friends, and then maybe tackle some of the reading that I’ve been putting off. I’ll manage to finish it eventually anyway. At least by the end of the week. Minimum.

Sarah told me yesterday that I’m not allowed to buy any new books between now and Christmas. That won’t be hard to do, since I already kind of told myself that I couldn’t. I have other obligations that have to come first.

Especially if I want to go to Mexico during spring break, like I said before I think that would be a really amazing opportunity. Most definitely a good use of my time.

Anyway, at some point I have to start writing my paper for my Lit/Cultures class to. Although he did cancel class for tomorrow, so… I’ve got some time.

Lack of Concentration

I haven’t managed to get anything done in the nearly three hours that I’ve been sitting here. This lack of accomplishment isn’t for lack of making attempts, albeit rather weak ones.

I’ve nearly finished writing the review that I want to get posted to my SpartanEdge blog tonight. I’m still working on reading ‘Liar’. My paper for my Lit/Cultures class is due on Monday, so I suppose it would be a good idea to get that started this weekend.

Although the professor cancelled class on Monday, so at least that buys me some extra time. Which of course translates into extra time for procrastination. Part of the problem is it is that point in the semester. While on the one hand the semester is nearly over, it’s not quite over.

It’s important to keep grades up right now, and at the same time it is difficult to maintain the concentration that is key to keeping grades up.

I’m definitely failing at NANOWRIMO this year, but that’s all right. I should have known better than to add another writing project to the mix this year. Especially in November. Maybe I’ll attempt to make something of a comeback before the month is up. Maybe.

Opportunities

I went and covered a lecture given by Karl Gude tonight for the SpartanEdge. I’ll set to writing the actual story tomorrow afternoon. I probably could have done it tonight, but my intention was to get some reading for class caught up.

Notice I say that was my intention… I let myself get a little distracted with the Internet. As helpful as the Internet can be at times, sometimes it is imperative to disconnect in order to get things accomplished.

I’ll get the reading that I need to do done; it’s just a matter of timing. I need to sit down with the intent to finish it, and then follow through on those intentions. It’ll happen, just not right this moment.

For the moment I can live with that reality. It’s my only option. Momentarily.

I’m considering going to Mexico for spring break. To phrase it differently, I would really like to go, but I need to discuss it with my dad. In general I am an adult, I can do as I please, but I feel like this is something that I need to get my parents used to.

It’s not just an idol visit to Mexico though. I’d be going with the group from His House, and we’d be building a house for people who don’t have one. It would be really similar to the mission trips that I went on in middle school, and in general it just sounds awesome.

It sounds like a worthwhile way to spend spring break, and I have said that I want to start getting into more volunteer work. Like I said, I’ve just got to approach my dad about it. I know he worries, and I’m not saying that he doesn’t have the right to, but the opportunity here… It would be an amazing opportunity, I guess that’s what I’m saying.

The Same Old

I have to decide what book I want to write a review on and post it to my SpartanEdge blog. I'm considering writing something up on one of Maureen Johnson's books. "13 Little Blue Envelopes" is a very good candidate...

I'm also hoping to have 'Liar' finished by Saturday afternoon so that I can write up a review of that and have it be my third review for this week. It's all about budgeting time, something that I have been struggling with lately. But I think after being sick this past weekend I can move forward and use my time wisely.

I took the time I needed to start feeling better, and now it is time to jump in and get this semester wrapped up. The semester is almost over, can you believe it? Sometimes it's hard to believe, but certainly welcome. I've hit that point in a few of my classes, where it was fun but now it's a kind of drudgery. I'm looking forward to doing something different.

I'm really excited about getting back to work during break. I really miss all of my co-workers and it'll be great to get to see everybody again. Even though holiday shoppers aren't the nicest shoppers, it'll still be fun.

What is it about the holidays that brings the worst out in people anyway? You always hear that the holidays are supposed to be about joy and whatever, but the majority of people that you have to deal with at a retail level are anything but. I understand that they may be stressed, but that is certainly no reason to take it out on the people at the store. They are just doing their jobs.

Lame

I have been awful about updating this lately. It was plenty early when I remembered it last night, but I was already in bed and honestly I needed the sleep more than I needed to blog. This coming weekend should go much more smoothly than this past weekend though so I'm not too worried about.

I'm finally feeling better, though I'm still left with some congestion. That I can deal with however. The presentation yesterday went really well. Unless you were a part of our group, I really doubt that it was obvious that we went into it without having all previously met.

Ultimately the project appeared more planned out than it actually ever was, and that is awesome. I would have preferred it if we had had better communication through-out the planning stages, but it ended up working out okay. The whole group seemed to be glad to finally have the project out of the way. It's a liberating feeling.

Flyleaf's new CD came out today, which is really cool, but then it's not because I definitely can't afford it right now. We'll see how things go next pay day as far as that is concerned, though I'm really excited about the new CD. From what I've heard of it it's really good!

I have a newspaper to read, and then I'm getting some sleep. I'm hoping to lose the congestion within the next few days. That would be amazing!

NANOWRIMO Fail

NANOWRIMO started last week, and I definitely haven't managed it very well so far. In my defense the last week or so have been rather busy.

Sarah came up to visit for a few days, and between the concert we went to, my classes and work schedule, fellowship and just hanging out I didn't get a lot of writing done. Then of course there was homework to do. I don't think I even really thought about writing.

Then of course I came home on Friday and have been sick since I walked through the door. Saturday is a blur quite honestly. I slept most of the day away. I feel better now, although I'm still not feeling great.

Soon I'm going to have to head towards school so that I can be ready to go to a group meeting at the library, and of course get back to my dorm at a decent time. I'm not a big fan of the time change. It gets dark entirely too early now.

Maybe this week I'll be better about budgeting my time. Hopefully. I'm going to make that my goal this week, better time management.

Sick Weekend

I definitely fell asleep last night before making a second post, which considering the return of my fever isn't all that surprising. I will make an attempt to make three posts through-out today.

As of this morning my fever was gone, although I will probably take my temperature again today before heading back to school just to make sure it is actually gone. If not I'm going to have to make arrangements to go to the doctor tomorrow after giving my presentation.

My group definitely thought that we were supposed to give out presentation in out Intro to Mass Media class on Wednesday, but it turns out that we are set to present tomorrow morning. It's stressful, but I think we're going to be fine.

My headache is starting to come back, and I've got a cough that won't go away. It's already looking to be a long day.

Fever

I drove home from school yesterday, and the moment that I stepped out of my car I was incredibly dizzy. Thankfully I wasn't dizzy at any point during the drive itself. I did have a headache that got progressively worse through-out the day.

So at any rate by the time that I actually got home yesterday afternoon I was having chills, was dizzy and had a persistent headache. However, at no point yesterday did I have a fever according to the thermometer, though I was incredibly warm.

I went to bed early, and then slept the morning away. Once I woke up, we took my temperature and it was 101.7. Needless to say I wasn't out of bed much today, and I haven't really had much of an appetite. My temperature seemed to be going down, earlier it was 100.4, but in the last hour I took my temperature again and it's back up to 101.6.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel better, but if not then I might be sticking around home so that I can go see the doctor on Monday. If my fever persists than that's definitely what I'll end up doing.

Ick.

I woke up and headed to class this morning, with just a slight case of the sniffles. I didn't really think anything about it, since it was early and rather cold outside.

I started to feel a little worse during class, but again I didn't think that was strange because generally when I'm in the Communication Arts building I have allergy symptoms. I think there might be a lot of dust there or something and that irritates my senses.

By my last class of the day I had a headache that wouldn't go away, and just really wanted to close my eyes. Generally this isn't something you can get away with in class, so I trudged through the class period. Once I went back to my dorm and picked up my things I went about walking out to the lot where my car is kept.

It was windy on the walk, and I probably should have called to see if someone could give me a ride, but honestly it isn't that bad a walk. Generally it's a nice walk.

I felt alright on the drive home, thank goodness, but the minute I stepped out of my car at home I was so dizzy. The dizziness has gone away now, but the remnants of my headache are still present. I think I may have developed a head cold, although hopefully I'm just tired. I would prefer to just go to sleep tonight and wake up feeling better tomorrow.

We'll see.

Laundry Day

I desperately needed to do laundry today. Generally I only have to do two loads, today I had to do three. Yeah, I kind of put it off, but on the bright side when I go home this weekend I won't come back to school with a ton of laundry to do. There is that bright spot!

Sarah went back home this afternoon with Felicia. I'm not sure where I was going with that, other than to state the fact.

Lately my Tuesdays and Thursdays have seemed busy. This Tuesday I had class until noon, and then Sarah and I went to get lunch, before I went to work at two, and soon after I got out of work we headed to the concert.

Then of course today I had class until noon again, and then we went to get lunch before Felicia came to pick Sarah up, and then I went to work before going to meet my journalism project group and then coming back to do laundry.

At this point I have a few pages to finish reading for class tomorrow, and I'll probably go get something to eat. I'm looking forward to this weekend at home though. I haven't been home since the weekend of the retreat. I didn't realize how long it's really been until the other day.

Exciting Times

So blog-wise, I haven't done very well this week updating. Oops. Monday was a case of forgetting. I had an article to write, an SpartanEdge meeting to go to, and Sarah got here to visit for a few days. I was focused on so many other things that blogging didn't cross my mind until after my self-imposed deadline had passed.

I had a SpartanEdge deadline that I was a little more focused on. My article on student voting rights was in this weeks edition of SpartanEdge, so that's kind of exciting!

Then Tuesday was insane, there was a lot to be done and not a lot of time to do it in. I had class in the morning, where we struggled with Internet that didn't want to work, a projector that wouldn't allow us to go over past assignments, and just general technology flubs. We worked on learning to write scripts for broadcast.

I'm fairly certain at this point in time that I don't want to write for broadcast. While that attitude could change, I'm fairly certain that I will stay steadfast in that evaluation.

After class Sarah and I went to get lunch, before I had to got to work, and soon after I got out of work we went to the Anberlin/All American Rejects/Taking Back Sunday concert. It was really good, and a lot of fun! I haven't listened to a lot of Anberlin, but I really liked their set so I think I'm going to have to check them out.

Anyway, as far as blogging, I am now back on track with my weekly schedule and will be doing some extra posting this weekend to make up for my failure to post early this week. The last few weeks around midterms have seemed crazy busy, but I think I'm managing to get things back to a steadier pace. At least, I hope so.