Research and double dates

So, yeah, after researching the entirely wrong Gulf War (which I claim is due to my teacher's lack of historical understanding as well as his failure to specify which Second Gulf War he was asking for), I finally got the right one and started researching that. Well, I waded through news articles online (2,000 of them, though I didn't look at them all) for 3-4 hours and finally saved about 40 of them to use. By the time I had finished with all that, I had actually hoped to be done with the whole paper, but I wasn't. At this point, I was completely brain dead and sick of the whole thing--besides the fact that it was soon time to meet Rachel and Daniel for supper--so I quit and headed out to the lobby to meet Lance. He let me vent on the frustrations of research and why there had to be any wars in the first place, and then we drove over to meet Rachel and Daniel (they're the ones getting married in July). We ate supper together and discussed the financial aspects of Lance living in their apartment for May-June, and then we went to get ice cream and hang out. That was fun. Then we returned to the lobby and found Kirstin and Nick (Nick had driven in for the weekend). They were planning to go see a movie, Robots, so they invited Lance and me, and we went. It was a really cute movie. It was kind of fun, having two double dates in one evening.

So now I'm back in my dorm room, getting ready for bed. I enjoyed the double dates, but not the research part, of today. And I still don't know why there have to be two "Second" Gulf Wars. Honestly.

This is Lance holding his new niece, Addi, for the first time when we went to visit last weekend. The picture's a little grainy, but I thought I'd put it up anyway.  

This is me holding Addi last Friday when we went to visit; Lance's sister, Leslie (Addi's aunt) is standing by me. Isn't Addi cute? There is nothing like holding a newborn baby! 

"Life for me ain't been no crystal stair"

This is a poem I read in my literature book for English class, and I really loved it. I thought I'd share it with you. Life isn't a "crystal stair," and it can be hard. But we have a God who stands by us and teaches us to keep climbing.

"Mother to Son"
by Langston Hughes (1922)

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor--
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now--
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Winding down

Yay! I just figured out that I only have 5 more class periods left this week before finals. And one of those is just a show-up kind of deal, and another is to actually take our final. So then I only have three finals next week--I can't believe it's almost over! It'll be my first time since my junior year of high school to complete a full year of school, uninterrupted by some kind of trauma. Fun, fun! I'm excited.

Today was an ok day. I got a little stressed out about that paper/presentation due in lab, but it all got done fine. Then my day was over after that, and I did a little bit of homework this afternoon. Lance took me out for supper at the Olive Garden for a spontaneous date, and then we played tennis.

Also wanted to mention a prayer request. My aunt, uncle, and cousins went to Indonesia a while back, and my cousin Kaleb broke his arm. They thought it had set ok, but have recently found out it hasn't. They write:

When we took Kaleb to the doctor to get his arm x-rayed and cast changed, the xray showed that his bone is not healing properly. Consultation with the doctor here and a USA doctor shows that surgery is necessary as soon as possible. Since the break was 4 weeks ago, they will have to rebreak the bone(s) and this second operation will be riskier and there could be nerve and muscle damage. The doctor said if this operation has any problems, that it would be a serious problem. They urged us to get it done as soon as possible.

We looked at our options and could not get our tickets to the USA changed for another two weeks and feel like the Lord closed that door and opened the door to a highly recommended doctor in Singapore. We are going to Singapore today and have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning. Pray that we can get scheduled for surgery as soon as possible.

Anyways, please pray for them. I know they'll really appreciate it.

This is Lindsay and Ben on the "catwalk" on their way to the bus that would take them to JSB. Again...doesn't she look great!? 

My gorgeous sister, Lindsay, and her date, Ben--aren't they cute? And doesn't Lins look beautiful?! 

Lindsay's JSB!

Oh, I almost forgot: my sister had her Junior-Senior Banquet this weekend! She and her class have been working super hard all year to put this together for the seniors, and now it's finall over with. I'm so proud of her! I got to see pictures of her (RIGHT AWAY, right, Dad?!) and she was SO BEAUTIFUL!! I have a gorgeous baby sister...except she's not much of a baby anymore! Wow, I just can't tell you how great she looked. The program I used to post pictures hasn't been working lately, but as soon as it does, I'll post some of her from that evening. She really did look amazing. I can't believe she'll be 17 this summer!

I LOVE YOU, LINS!

Weekend, learning to relax, papers & projects, tennis...randomly life

Hey! I've been so busy and have meant to post sooner, but I never got around to it. It's late, and I'm going to bed soon, but I thought I'd put up a little note.

This last weekend was a pretty fun one. Lance and I got to go see his new niece, Addi, and she's adorable! It was really great to get to see her. I've been getting kind of run down lately, so the break from being at school was nice. I was still pretty out of it, though, when we got back--I could tell my resources were running low--so I tried to take a relaxing Sunday afternoon/evening. I missed Rachel's bachelorette party to do it, which I felt badly about, but I seriously could tell I needed some down-time. I slept some, read my Bible, skimmed a couple of other books, wrote in my journal, and then had DQ for supper with Lance and watched a movie together in the lobby. It helped just to relax for a few hours. I'm still working on that. I was pretty tired today as well, so I didn't get as much homework done as I would've liked. I got pretty stressed out because I had to finish this paper/Power Point presentation for a class tomorrow, and my partners and I never got a chance to get together and work on it. I ended up putting most of it together, but at least it's done now, right? Well, almost. Anyways, I got stressed about that, so Lance took me to play tennis for an hour or two. It helped a lot, and I can tell we're both getting better. It was actually a lot of fun.

Anyways, now I'm pretty tired and will be heading to bed. I hope all of you are doing well in your various parts of the world. May God bless you with a refreshing of your spirit this week. My love to each of you!

Addison Landry

Guess what, everyone? Lance's niece, Addison Landry, was born this morning at 12:43 AM, and she's doing well! Lisa's delivery was slow, and they eventually had to do a C-section; but both Lisa and Addi are doing well.

Here's Addi's information:
Addison Landry
Weight: 8 lbs. 11 oz.
Length: 22 in.
Head Circum: 14 in.
Born: 12:43 a.m. April 20, 2005

We are so excited! Lance and I will get to go see Addi on Friday. Just wanted you to all know the great news! I posted a picture of Addi below...isn't she cute?!


Watch out world--here comes Addi!

Other bits of news (or "Life Other than Choir Tour")

There's more to my life than our choir tour, so I thought I'd throw in bits and pieces of my life's happenings in this post.

I've been pretty tired since tour, but not too bad. Monday I did get to sleep late since my first class wasn't until 11:00. I finally got my Critical Thinking paper in, which was a huge relief. I finished my Life Science paper last night and turned that in this morning, another great feeling. Now I just have one final paper which is due the day of my Critical Thinking final, May 4th. Other than that, I don't have any major tests or papers until finals week. Actually, for most of my classes, I only have three class periods left! We just have the rest of this week and then next week before finals the following week. Woo-hoo!!! Amazing. Where has this semester gone? It seems to have dragged on forever, but it also seems like it shouldn't be over yet. Crazy.

Fun news: I got to talk with my sister this morning on the phone! That was such a treat. It was really really good to talk with her and it just made me miss her all the more. (I can't wait to see you, Lins!) She was telling about this guy who has asked her to her school's Junior-Senior Banquet. I am so happy she got asked, and I think the guy she's going with, Ben, is pretty sweet. He asked her by dressing up, getting down on one knee with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, and saying, "Will you go with me to JSB?" How awesome is that! I'm so excited for her, and I just know she'll look beautiful. I wish I could be there to see her! But since I can't, I'm going to insist on my parents sending me pictures the moment they have them. Anyways, that was an awesome treat, and it made me so happy the rest of the day!

Another neat piece of news: Lance's sister, Lisa, went into induced labor this morning at 9:00! I just called Lance's mom to ask how Lisa was doing, and she says it's going slowly but well. Please say a prayer for her that God would protect her and help the delivery to go quickly and smoothly. Lance will soon be an uncle again! (He says this is the first one to really count, because you can't truly appreciate being an uncle when you're 5) I'll let you know how that goes as I get more news.

Well, you should have lots to read today, with this post and my "choir tour" post. Hope you are all doing well and that God is blessing you greatly!

Choir tour

Phew! The last few days have been busy, so I'm sorry I wasn't able to write before now. Most of this post will have to do with choir tour. Man, it was a fun weekend! I was initially dreading it, but I ended up enjoying it. It was a little tiring, but we had a good time and really did a great job in all our concerts. And we did have a lot of concerts! We performed 7 times between Thursday-Sunday. Phew again!

Friday: I woke up a little before 7:00 AM to shower, dress up in concert attire, and finish packing. I met Lance at 8:15 to go to the bus, and we finally left around 9:00. First we went to a high school about 20-30 minutes away and sang there for them. Our voices weren't totally warmed up, but we did a decent job. Then we drove a couple more hours before eating and then going to a college that opened their gym facilities and swimming pool to us. Kirstin and I went swimming for most of it, but other people played basketball, whiffle ball, or worked out in the weight room. Then we showered and got back on the bus for a little more travelling. We arrived at the church we were to sing at, where they graciously gave us supper. Then we put back on our dresses, fixed our hair, reapplied our makeup (or at least the girls did), and got ready for our concert at 7:00 PM. I have to say we did a great job! Everyone loved it. Then we divided up into our host families. Melissa, Kirstin, LaShay, and I all got to room together (sweet!!), and we stayed with the kindest lady. She was so nice, and her house was lovely. She gave us snacks that night and spent some time getting to know us. Then us girls talked for a while before going to bed around 11:00.

Saturday: we met back at the church at 9:00 AM. We said goodbye to the lady who had hosted us--she was so sweet!--and we climbed back on the bus for another couple of hours of driving. We got to visit one of Texas' state parks, and it was beautiful! Supposedly it's the second largest canyon area after the Grand Canyon, or something like that, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. We got to stay in the park for a couple of hours, and it was fun. We played a little frisby football, some of us took turns hitting the whiffle ball, and then we all trooped off to do some hiking. Some people went to the absolute top of the canyon, and that was neat. We only went about 1/2 of the way up, but it was still an incredible view from where we were. After that, we drove on to the next church we were supposed to sing at that evening. They again provided supper, and then we again got ready for our concert (dress, hair, makeup, the works). The day had worn us out, so we were all pretty tired, besides the fact that we had just given a great concert the night before. We pulled ourselves together, however, started off decently, and ended brilliantly. It was a good concert. That night we drove another hour or two (after a stop at Sonic) and then got to our hotel rooms close to 11:00. Needless to say, we all pretty much went to sleep immediately.

Sunday: we sang twice at another church that morning: once for their 8:30 service, and once for their 11:00. We sang five pieces throughout the service, and I think everyone enjoyed it. We were all a little out of it, since we'd had to be at the bus by 7:15, but we did well. They did provide donuts in between the two services. The church provided our lunch at a Mexican food restaurant, and then we drove on then to our final church to sing at. They fed us supper and we again got ready (dress, hair, makeup, the works, again). I have to say...man, our last concert was our best. I think we absolutely blew everyone away. For a volunteer choir, we're actually really good; and I can say that without being too prideful since that reflects more on the rest of the people I get to sing with than on any of my talent. It was such a good note to end on (no pun intended). Then we drove back 2 hours to Abilene, got in around 10:30 or so, and then it was over. It had been a great tour, and I really loved it. It was a great feeeling when it was all over to know that we had given so much of ourselves for these concerts and that we'd done well. God was really with us and blessed us every time we sang. I just pray that he received all the praise from our concerts.

I also have to say that our director is wonderful. He has such a heart and passion for music, but more than that, a passion that the music glorify God. He demands the best from us, but in a good way that challenges us to give all we have; and he makes it clear that we aren't giving our all for him, but we give our all for God, because it is God who gave us our talents. I'm so thankful for our director, and he's the main reason I want to continue in this choir the rest of my time here in college.

Anyways, that was our tour! I've managed to post one picture from the tour above--the others, however, are being stubborn and refuse to get posted. I'll work on them, though. May God always give you a song in your heart of praise to him; truly music is one of his greatest gifts to us!

This picture was taken after our last concert on Sunday night. These are three of my best girl friends who I got to room with on tour...it was a blast! (l-r): Kirstin, LaShay, me, and Melissa 

One concert down...five to go

Hi! To make up for my lack of posting, I'm actually going to post my second note in one day. Actually, I just thought I'd do another update before we leave tomorrow morning (at 8:30, in concert attire!). My afternoon ended up a little differently than planned. Number one, I didn't end up needing to babysit, which worked out well because I ended up going with Lance to the doctor. His lymphnode gland (I guess that's the name) has been swollen the last couple of days, and it's getting to where he has difficulty swallowing and stuff like that. It hurts to sing, too, which is bad because of the choir tour we're about to go on. So it was really hurting him after choir class, so he and I went to a walk-in clinic here. We ended up being there for almost two hours, during which time I ran by the church to tell our music minister that Lance was at the doctor's and would be late coming to work. When I got back, Lance still hadn't gone in (they were checking something about his insurance). Finally, we did get in to see someone, and they prescribed a medicine which should help Lance. His gland was pretty swollen, the doctor said, and his throat was slightly irritated. Hopefully the medicine will help.

After that fun episode, Lance dropped me off at my dorm, and he went on to work. I went inside to do my own work--school-work--and I managed to get my rough draft of my Critical Thinking paper done with. That was a big load off my chest, since it's due Monday and I won't have much time to work on it before then. Now I can just proof it Monday before class, and I'll be good to go. So once I finished that, I went to eat. Then I took a shower and got ready for our choir concert. It went so well, praise the Lord! We're doing a lot of difficult, acapella pieces, so sometimes we tend to go flat. Thankfully our concert tonight went well.

We leave tomorrow morning at 8:30, as I mentioned, so pray that we have a good trip! God bless.

"Dah dah dah." - from Lance. (Lance says hi)

Choir tour coming up

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately. Things have been pretty busy; most of my free time in my room is spent trying to get homework done. See, I leave on choir tour tomorrow morning, and we don't get back till late Sunday night...and I have two papers due that Monday and Tuesday. So basically I've been trying to keep up with current homework and also get ahead on those two things. Basically, my paper due on Monday needs to be done by tonight. I hate that. Oh, well, it really isn't too bad. Our choir has our concert on campus tonight, and then we leave tomorrow morning. Phew. Please pray for me over this weekend if you think of it. I've been really tired, kind of dragging, the last several days; and as excited as I am about our choir tour, honestly, the last thing I want to do is go on it. But I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun...I just wish I had this weekend to get things done and get caught up on rest.

Other than being tired and having lots of work, things have been going pretty well. Lance has started working at the church this week in the afternoons, so actually while he's gone till 5:00, it gives me time to get more done, and then we get to spend a little bit of time together in the evenings. This afternoon, I think I'm babysitting, so I'm just going to drop Lance off at work, go babysit, and then pick him up when I'm done. Then our choir concert tonight is at 8:00 (I guess that means I have to dress up again).

I've been e-mailing some with my mom and sister, and it's so neat to realize that I will get to see them about 4-5 weeks!! I really can't wait to be back with my family, be back in Malaysia...it will feel really good to be home, even as I know I will miss the "home" and people I love here. I'll get to be back overseas for about 2 months, a little less...I think it will be such a good time.

Well, I'm going to go get ready for class. Just two more classes, and then my day is over. Then I can get some homework done before babysitting. I hope all of you are blessed over the next several days with the love and mercy of God...he is so good, you guys. He is always faithful, and lately he's been reminding me of how very much he loves me. It's amazing.

Quick note on Sunday evening

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd drop off a quick note before heading to bed. Today's been a good day; the church service today was really great. After the service, the music minister invited Lance and me out to lunch, since Lance is working as the new music intern. We went out with a few other couples as well who are involved with the music program. It was a good time. I'm so proud of Lance's new position--he was telling me he even gets his own shared office, with desk, computer, and leather chair! Cool.

Anyways, I intended to do homework this afternoon, but after my all-nighter on Friday night, I ended up sleeping from 1:40-5:00. Then we went to go eat at the University supper tonight; Christina and Kirstin showed up just from getting in after their time in Ft. Worth. Anyways, it was fun to be with everyone and just talk. We came back and Lance and I watched a movie on TV, and then I did homework. Now I'm off to bed! Sorry this is a bit of a short, somewhat boring post. Hope you all have a good week!

Also, by the way, found out that there was another quake off of Sumatra, Indonesia. It wasn't as big as the others--about a 6.8, it was--and it didn't kill anyone or cause any tsunamis. But I know that the people there are still living in perpetual fear of another tsunami coming and wiping out the rest of their lives. I can't imagine living in that kind of horror, with it just being added to by all these additional after-quakes. Just thought I'd mention it and ask for you all to pray for the people there, that they would find the only One who can take away all their fear...the only One who can promise them a life after death. If you're interested in reading the CNN.com article on it, click here.

Us "kids" at the farm, posing by one of the awesome swings around the property. This was right before we left. Lance and Matt M. are in the back, left to right; Jake, I, and Morgan are sitting on the swing. We all had such a great time together!  

We're back!

Hola, everyone! Woo-hoo for exciting weekends. Well, it's still not over yet, but it's been a fun one. I won't go into all my detail now, but we had a great time with our friends at the farm (M&M&J&M for code names!). Matt, Lance, and I actually pulled an all-nighter last night because we watched four movies and then decided to stay up to watch the sunrise (which was fun!). I did get some sleep later that morning, from about 8-11 or so, maybe a little more.

Anyways, had a wonderful, wonderful visit there. I'll go into more detail about that soon. Also have some awesome, fun pictures to post, but for tonight, I'll just post one. The trip back went well; we arrived safely and all. I was babysitting that night, and Lance had been invited to come and "hang out" if he wanted. I was really glad he came with me. The kids totally warmed up to him, even Bethany (3, almost age 4), who hardly ever talks to anyone outside her family. I gave Lance a hard time 'cause he started getting the kids all hyper--they thought he was "so funny" and would just laugh and laugh at him and run around the room--and I joked about not having been hired to babysit THREE kids. But honestly he was a huge help; the kids loved him; and I didn't have to occupy them completely all by myself. So that was a really fun evening.

Now we're back and I'm going to bed so I can get up for church tomorrow. May all of you have a wonderful day of worship! I'll write again soon.

Off to the farm!

TGIF!! I am so glad it's Friday! Lance, Matt, and I are headed off to the farm for a night--I'm looking forward to it! Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend! God bless.

Busy busy busy busy busy busy busy busy busy: this, too, shall pass

Guess what? Things have been busy lately! What, you already knew that? From the title of my post? Hmm. Good inductive skills.

Yes...well...things have been busy. The weekend my dad was here was wonderful; it was so good to be with him and spend time together! After having not seen him for about nine months, four days wasn't nearly enough time; but I will get to see him again in about 6 weeks, so that's not too bad. He spoke at FBC on Sunday morning and did an excellent job. My dad is such a gifted speaker, just like my granddad. They both seem to have this anointing for it. It's amazing. Anyways, not only is my dad a talented preacher, he's also a very good tennis player, I found out. Lance, Dad, and I went to go play tennis Sunday afternoon before the University Group supper, and my dad is good! (Hehe, especially compared to Lance and me, although we held our own and improved quite a bit even in the short amount of time that we played) That was so much fun. Christina came towards the end to play with us, too.

Monday my dad got to come to choir again before heading out. I was really sad to see him go, but I concentrated on the fact that I would see him again soon. And our time together was great, even if I wish it could have been longer. As it was, I then spent most of Monday (after classes) doing homework. I had a major Biology test to study for (and you all know how I love those Biology tests) as well as a paper to research and write for my science lab class. I had put off both while my dad was here, and I'd just finished another big presentation/paper right before he got here, so I didn't have time to work ahead much. I worked from 6:30-12:30 that evening, which really isn't too late for a college student. Still, I was exhausted when I fell into my bed. I woke up the next morning, took my test at 8:00, went to my other classes, handed in my paper in lab, and began working on the experiment my lab group is doing. We're trying to make a compost pile, but I'm not sure how that will turn out because we only have a couple of weeks to make it all work. But that's ok. Then, once I got done with that, I worked from 4:00-5:30, ate supper, and then worked from 7:00-12:30 on my big English research paper (something else I had not started on before). Most of my time was spent on the actual research, and then I managed to start writing my paper (5-7 pages) around 10:30 or so. Or maybe it was 11:00. Anyways, I was so tired at the end that I felt like my paper was disjointed and didn't make sense, so I sent it to my mom to see if she could look over it and give me her opinion. She helped make some corrections but said overall it looked good; and actually, once I read it the next morning in the light of day, it didn't seem as bad as it had that previous night. So I went to choir, turned my paper in, and felt so relieved! All my major assignments were over for a while, and it felt so good to finally have a break after all that busy-ness. In fact, I did absolutely no homework yesterday because nothing was immediately due and I felt like I deserved a break. Of course, since I had been in major homework mode for the previous two days, I kept feeling guilty like there was something else I should be doing.

Today's gone well. We got a walk in biology today, so I didn't have to go to class 8:00. I just went to chapel, Psych, choir, and then I was done for the day. I don't even have to babysit today, although I am babysitting for them this Saturday night. So I've done some homework (reading for psychology and my science lab project), and now I decided to update on here.

I'm also excited about this weekend because we (Lance, my friend Matt, and I) are going to visit our "friends on the farm" as I call them. We're just going for one night, but I'm excited about the opportunity. By the way, another thing I'm excited about: Lance officially got the job as music intern at First Baptist! We are both so excited about this opportunity; I know Lance will do a wonderful job.

Well, that's about all the news I have for now. Hope all of you are doing well! And just remember, whenever you're in your stages where life is busy busy busy and ever-so-hectic...just remember, "this too shall pass."

My dad's here!

Hi everyone! Guess what? My dad got in yesterday! I was so excited to see him. He made it in time to come for our choir rehearsal, so he got to hear us all sing. Then we went out to eat at Arby's, and after that we got to see the movie Hitch! I was really excited about that because I've been trying to see that movie forever. It was actually really cute; funny, but sweet, too.

My dad dropped me back off at school and said to round up some friends to take out to eat. So I ended up getting Melissa, Christina, Kirstin, and Nick (who's in town to see Kirstin) to go with us, and my took us all out to Texas Roadhouse! It was so much fun, and he paid for all my friends, which I thought was so sweet of him. I think they all liked him, and vice versa. I was really excited for him to get to know them.

Lance wasn't able to come because he was still feeling sick. For a while, we thought I might have to take him to the ER to see a doctor. But his doctor and nurses in Ft. Worth were keeping tabs on him, and as he started to get a little beter, they said he didn't have to go to the hospital. They did send him in a prescription to Walgreens, just in case. So after we all came back from eating (Dad went back to his hotel), I ran to Walgreens for Lance to get his medicine. Well, they were out of stock there, so they sent me to another Walgreens on the other side of town, and then there was some insurance problem. After all that, it took me about an hour overall to get everything for Lance. When I came back to knock at his window, he was literally starting to head out the door to try to figure out what had happened to me. (He was worried about me, isn't that sweet!) So all that got taken care of, and then he brought his X-box over to our dorm, and we got to play Topspin with Christina. She had just come back from an interview for a leadership scholarship here, so I decided it'd be a good way for her to de-stress after that. I'm sure she did a great job in the interview!

Anyways, so that was my evening, and then I finally got to bed. I slept late this morning, and now I'm about to shower and then go run some errands with my dad. I also have some homework to get done, so hopefully I'll have time for that, too. Hope all of you are enjoying your weekends! And if you talk to your dad today, tell him you love him.