To live boldly

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena...who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in worthy causes. Who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement and who, at worst, if he fails, fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt, quoted in Let's Roll, the story of the life of Todd Beamer of Flight 93 on 9/11

For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ...
-Philippians 1:20

These are four of my old classmates and some of my best friends from high school: (l-r) Daniel, Ben, Andy, and Emily. We went out tonight to eat and then went to Coffee Bean for a drink and to play cards. It was fun! 

Here's Daniel, Ben, Andy, and Emily again...two seconds later when Ben and Andy "fell asleep." I think they were mocking me because I'd gotten so tired that I started closing my eyes during our card game... 

Fine Arts, Friends, Faith

Hey everyone! I hope you've all had a wonderful day of worship today. I know we did. I got to sing on the worship team at our church this morning with my mom, which was really neat to get to do again. The service was great...but before I go there, I'll recap on last night.

Last night, as I mentioned in picture's caption below, was Lindsay's Fine Arts Concert. The choir, concert band, vocal ensemble, and jazz band all played. Lins plays flute in the band and also sang in the vocal ensemble; she did a great job in both. It was neat to see Lindsay sing with the vocal ensemble because I was part of the founding ensemble my senior year in high school. So I was part of the very first vocal ensemble, and now my little (though taller) sister is a part of that same group almost three years later. It's neat. It was also fun to see all my other old friends who performed that night, too, such as Than and Christi (pictured below). Christi was actually one of the two girls who took my place in vocal ensemble when I had to leave in the middle of my senior year. Than sings and plays drums, and I remember when he was just starting out to help play drums for the worship team at our school...it's neat to see how far he's come, and truly, he's come a long way 'cause that boy can PLAY the drums.

Anyways, after the concert, I went out with the other members of my old class. Daniel, Ben, Emily, and I all went to the food stalls after the concert before heading over to Emily's apartment. At the food stalls, Daniel bought four movies, and we had to decide on one to watch. Then we headed to Emily's apartment while her parents went to get us pizza for supper. Andy met us there later, along with Kara. So all six of us, former members of the class of 2003, had a great time eating pizza and watching a movie. I had to leave early because I'd promised my dad I'd be home by midnight; Andy was kind enough to leave in the middle of the movie to give me a ride home on his motorcycle.

This morning, as I mentioned earlier, I got the privilege of singing with the worship team. I had done that before I left Malaysia, so it was great to be back on it. I love getting to sing with my mom and harmonizing with her. The service was wonderful; our pastor talked about faith, specifically in reference to healing, but I took more away about what he said on faith specifically. There are several things I'm having to learn faith in this summer, so it was a good message for me. I also realized afresh the implications of James 2:17: "...Faith that doesn't show itsef by good deeds is no faith at all--it is dead and useless" (NLT) or "Faith, by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead" (NIV). There are several areas I'm having to take a step of faith in right now, and God was reminding me that if he's given me a task to do or a promise to claim, I must have faith and then act on it--taking that "step of faith."

If you give what you do not need, it isn't giving.
-Mother Teresa

I went to my sister's Fine Arts Concert tonight; she played in the Concert Band and sang in the vocal ensemble. This is a picture we took after the program: (left-right) Nathaniel (Than), Christina (Christi), me, and Lindsay. Christi also sang in vocal ensemble with Lins; Than was in every aspect of the concert: choir, concert band, vocal ensemble, and jazz band (he's a great singer and drummer). Christi and Than are both really special to me--they've both been like younger siblings. I knew Christi in Indonesia, so I've known her for almost ten years. I've known Than for about five years. They are both seniors now and will be graduating on June 1. 

Here is a picture I took of a beautiful sunset on the beach right by my old school...this is why I love being by the ocean! God creates great beauty, doesn't he? 

Bonds

It's been so good to see so many of my old friends again. Last night, one of my best guy friends from high school, Ben, arrived, and he, Andy, Emily, and I all went out to eat at the food stalls. Ben went back to school early, Emily left a little later, and then Andy and I went back to school to find Daniel. The three of us sat and talked for a while, later joined by Ben, before heading home. I've been loving getting to ride on Andy's motorcycle!

This morning I went to work out with my parents. On the way home, we saw Ben, Andy, and Daniel at the bus stop. They had tried to call (but obviously hadn't gotten me since I wasn't home); anyways, they were planning on going to the movies to see Madagascar. So I went along with them and we met up with another old classmate, Kara. The five of us went to see the movie and then headed back toward school. Kara went home, and I watched part of a movie with the guys. The school musical was on that night, so Ben went to watch it, and Andy, Dan, and I went to the food stalls for supper, since we had already seen the play once. We came back and went to the musical during intermission. Then I finally came home shortly after the musical got over at 10:00 (long musical!). Anyways, it was a fun day, and it's been great being with old friends. There are some bonds that never fade.

Just living

Hi everyone! It's been a few days since I last posted, but life's been going well for the most part. I've had some good times with friends; Andy and I went out Monday night to eat at one of my favorite Indian restaurants and to go see Kingdom of Heaven. After the movie, we went to get a drink (lime juice) at some of the local food stalls and ended up talking for several hours. It was really nice to catch up, and we had a good time (even though I got home a little late...). Tuesday night, Andy came with my mom, sister, and me to the school's musical. There, we ran into Dan (a different Dan than the previous one I've mentioned), another former classmate. The three of us had all been close friends, so it was really good to see him. He had just gotten in from his long trip from the US with his family, so we were impressed he made it through the musical. Afterwards, Dan...actually, we'll call him Daniel to differentiate between him and the first one...so Daniel is the one who's my classmate. Anyways, Daniel, Robert (Daniel's brother), Than, Andy, and I went to the the stalls to get lime juice. Andy took me home later on his motorcycle (fun!).

Yesterday was a pretty ordinary day. I spent most of my time reading at home. My dad has several books by Dan Brown (author of The DaVinci Code), and I've been reading some of those. I finished one yesterday and started/finished another. So yesterday was pretty slow.

Today my mom and I went to eat breakfast with another lady and her daughters; they were nice. Right now I'm talking with Lance on the phone, which is really nice. I'm not sure what else I'll be doing today...so I guess I'll close off for now. God bless!

Worship

It has been a wonderful Sunday. It was my first time back with my church since I left last summer, and it was so good to be there again. The people there are wonderful, and I've never enjoyed worship more than I have at my church. We sing and worship for close to half of the the entire service. It's just an amazing experience, and the worship is so free. It was wonderful to be back and worship in an atmosphere like that. I had a lot of fun seeing everyone again, including everyone in the youth group, the pastor, our worship leader, and all my other old friends. It was a great morning. We had a guest speaker who's a pastor from Michigan, and his sermon was excellent; he spoke about us being overcomers in the Lord.

After the service, we went out with a Chinese-Malaysian family that's very close to us as well as three young people from the States. Two of them are married to each other, and the other man is married to the first guy's younger sister, who stayed home with their fourteen month old daughter. Anyways, they are going to be moving out here soon to begin ministry, and it was really neat to get to talk with them. The younger man (with the wife at home) was about 25, and the other two were probably just a few years older than he. It was neat to see young couples who are fulfilling God's calling on their lives.

The rest of the evening has been pretty relaxing, mostly spending time together as a family. Oh, and my evening last night with Andy and Dan went really well. It was great to spend time with them, and I, of course, enjoyed seeing Star Wars III again. :-)

That's most of my news for now. I hope all of you had a great day of worship. God truly is so worthy of all our praise. He has done so much for me over the years, and sometimes I can only pray that my faithfulness to him could ever come close to half matching his faithfulness to me. May he teach us all to be overcomers, living fully for him, in every area of our lives.

Family and Friends

Right now I'm sitting listening to my sister practice flute in the other room, and I'm chatting online with one of my friends about seeing a movie tonight. It's so nice to be home!

It's been a good, relaxing day so far. I actually managed to sleep fairly late (I think close to 9:30 or 10:00?), and then I got up and spent some time with my family. We enjoyed watching a couple of episodes of Gilmore Girls, a show I thought my family would really enjoy, which led me to buying the first season of it on DVD. And I was right, they like it! So that's been something fun to do. My dad also helped me hook up a wireless internet connection on my computer, so I'm able to type this while sitting in my room on my bed. Sweet, huh?

Sometime this afternoon, one of my old classmates called out of the blue. His name's Andy, and he was probably my best guy friend in high school. He's back in the country visiting with his family, so he gave me a call today. He's the one I'm chatting with about seeing a movie tonight. I think we might get a bite to eat beforehand, too. We're trying to get a hold of Dan (mentioned in the previous post) to see if he wants to come as well. It will be good to see Andy; I think it's been at least a couple of years since we've seen each other, because I'm pretty sure I didn't see him last summer. So it will be nice to catch up. Goodness, all the catching up I will be doing!

Well, I'm going to go get ready for tonight now. I hope all of you have a blessed day with friends and family--they are some of God's greatest gifts to us. God bless.

Home Sweet Home

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's taken me a couple of days to post again; I'm getting settled back in and, of course, adjusting to the new time-zone (hey, it's only a 13 hour difference, no problem, right?). My trip here went really well; flying by myself wasn't as hard as I was afraid it might be. I'm pretty familiar with the airports, and getting around most airports simply involves common sense, being able to read signs, and asking questions when you aren't sure of something. So the whole trip went well and fairly quickly. The Lord was so good and took care of me every step of the way, even giving me really nice people to sit by each time. My flight from Singapore to Malaysia got delayed a little, but it wasn't too long. Then I was stepping off the plane, going through immigration, getting my bags and then...seeing my mom!! It had been ten months, and getting to see her again was amazing. My dad was away on a temporary trip, but he moved his flight up so he could get back earlier that afternoon to see me. I also almost immediately got to have Coffee Bean!! Coffee Bean is sort of like Starbucks, although in my opinion, Coffee Bean is better than anything else, hands down. I was super happy to have that again!

Afterwards, we made it home, and I almost immediately got ambushed by one of our neighbors, a sweet Indian girl named "Bee." It was good to see her. Mom and I sat down and talked for a good long time once we got home since my sister had vocal ensemble practice (the same group I was in here) after school and wouldn't come home until 5:00. I also got a call soon after I came in from an old friend of mine named Dan, who is a year younger than I and is also back for part of the summer with his family. It was nice to say hi, and we said we'd try to catch up soon.

Then at 5:00 my sister called and asked us to come pick her up. Well, we headed that way (the school is only about a kilometer, or half a mile, away from our house) and actually found Lindsay already making her way toward us! She decided to leave school and walk to meet us because she said she didn't want any of the other kids at school to spend time with me before she got to. :-) I thought that was cute. Anyways, it was so great to see Lins again!! She's gotten so grown up, it seems, and she looks great. It's always funny to me how my "baby" sister is actually three or four inchess taller than I am; my nickname for her is "Shortie." Tongue in cheek, of course.

So she got home and we had time to catch up and talk. Dad was soon home from the airport as well, and it was so great to see him again. Finally, our whole family was together again! We had a good evening together, and I actually managed to stay up until a decent hour before crashing.

The next day Lins had school, of course, but Mom, Dad, and I decided to go see Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith (Lindsay was going with friends later). Yes, I have to admit it, I am a Star Wars fan. I love the original three, and the first two were ok. This third one was really good! Much darker, it's true, but it was good; definitely better than the first two that have come out in the last few years. So that was a lot of fun. Then we went to school to pick up Lins, and I ended up staying to see some old friends of mine. I went down to the chapel where they were rehearsing a musical and got to see some of the students that I had known before, especially three seniors that I knew well: Robert, Than (short for Nathaniel), and Christina. I got to see one of my old classmates, Emily, whom I've actually known since I was about 6 or 7. Dan was also there, the one who had called me earlier; his mom was the one directing the musical. So I stayed for a couple of hours to talk and catch up, as well as watching parts of the rehearsal. Looks like it will be good.

I walked home afterwards and then spent some time with family. I talked with Lindsay about a lot of things; the end of the school year had been really stressful for her. She is so tired...and I hate that. Of course, I remember I was the same way. It's just the way our school was and is, for better or worse. Anyways, it was a good evening, and again I managed to stay up till a good hour (10:00) before going to sleep (staying up later, even if you're tired, then helps prevent waking up super early, like 4:00 AM, because of jet-lag). So I slept till about 5:30 this morning but then went back to sleep till 8:00. Now I'm over at my parents' office, and we're getting ready to go have lunch and look for a couple of things at the mall.

Well, I hope this has been a newsy-enough (but not boringly-newsy) update. To all my friends and family in the States: I love you guys! All of you are in my heart and prayers. It's been so good to be back home here with my family, even though I miss ya'll. I wish all of you a wonderful week, full of God's love and blessings and growth. Until next time!

"I'm leaving on a jet plane..."

Hello everyone! In about 7 1/2 hours, I will be waking up to get ready for my flight back to Malaysia...I can hardly believe it! It's already here; I can't wait to get on that plane. Actually, to be more accurate, I can't wait till I get off that last plane when I arrive in Malaysia. I'm also tired, and the "break" of travelling (gotta love those 13 hour flights) will provide some good time to read, think, write in my journal, and even sleep (what a thought!). And at the end of the journey...home and family!

Today has been a good day of worship. The service at my grandparents' church was really good; the sermon especially was moving and motivating (you can read the post below this for my thoughts on the sermon). Then I came home and began to finish packing while Grandmom and Granddad taught Sunday school. After they came home and we ate lunch, my loving and amazing granddad helped me repack my bags. I was running a little low on space and couldn't get everything in. Fortunately, my grandfather has got to be about the best packer I know, along with my dad. Well, and I did also weed out some extra clothes that might not be crucial in my trip overseas for the summer. So we got it all packed, and I couldn't thank Granddad enough for helping me!

Since then I've been taking care of last minute stuff, getting ready to leave in the morning. I can hardly believe I'll be going home! Truly, I have so many emotions inside of me that I could hardly put into words. To all my friends and family, those I'm leaving behind for a time and those I'll finally be seeing again after so long: I cannot express my love for you. Know how much I love you and how much I thank God for each of you.

Well, I will be heading off to finish putting away some things and then getting ready for bed. May God bless each of you! He is so awesome, so amazing. Mom, Dad, and Lins: I'll be seeing you soon!! I love you all.

The time is now

I began writing this in the above post but decided it was lengthy enough on it's own, so I am posting it separately.

The sermon today in church was very moving and motivating. The pastor spoke about the universal human questions: Who am I? and Why am I here? He stated that for the Christian, those questions have already been answered. The pastor told a story of a mentor and his new student. The student, beginning his mentoring, waited all through the night as his mentor sat there, and the student wondered when his mentoring would actually begin. Finally, as dawn approached, the student burst out, "Well, when do we start?" The mentor calmly said, "Now." The student sat blinking. "Well, where do I go?" he asked. "Anywhere where there is no path," the mentor replied. The pastor said, like the student, we often sit waiting for God to tell us to begin and what it is he wants us to do--when really God is waiting for us to begin, because we've already been told what to do and because the time to start is now. The pastor spoke of the needs around the world, giving statistics such as the fact that while thousands, even millions, may die each day from starvation, the United States spends $8 billion dollars a year on pornography. The United States spends more in a year on trash bags than 90 countries do on everything they own. As I pondered the need around the world, I had to ask myself what we as a church--what I as a Christian--were doing about it. I realized it is so true: so many of us, including myself, sit and wait for God to tell us what it is he wants us to do. We've already been told! God is the one waiting on us, waiting on us to begin the task he's already set out for us to do: we are to love God with all we are and to love our neighbor in the same way that we love ourselves. And the Lord doesn't say to wait until we're "grown up" or "mature" enough to begin: he says the time is now. If I am to begin loving God with all I am, that means cultivating a passionate love relationship with him every day. Loving my neighbor as myself means being concerned about the needs of my fellow human beings all over the world. It means feeling grief over the starvation and disease and poverty so many face; it means anguishing over the millions who die without Christ each day. And then it means being willing to do something about it.

The time is now; let us obey and be faithful to what God has already called us to do.

Saying goodbyes

Well, time is counting down and my flight back to Malaysia is only a day or two away. Amazing. I have to tell you, at this point, I am just ready to step on that plane and go, right now! But it will be here very soon...and then, I'll be back with my family!

Yesterday, my granddad drove me to Ft. Worth for my doctor's appointment, which ended up going very well. I got enough prescriptions to last me for the summer, which is great. Then Lance picked me up from the doctor's office, and we went to get something to eat before renting a couple of movies that we watched. We had a great time together and also got to spend some good time with Lance's family. It was good to be with Lance one last time, just to have some time to talk and hang out. It was pretty sad to say goodbye to him...I have to admit I cried a little. I know the summer will go by quickly, but 2 1/2 to 3 months being apart can seem like a long time. Even so, those months will be spent with my family (whom I haven't seen in 10 months!), so I know they'll be worth it. But anyways, we said goodbye, and Lance brought me back half-way to Dallas today, where we met Granddad. I spent a good time this evening with Grandmom and Granddad; we got to eat at Cici's Pizza! Yum. I was also happy because I found birthday presents for my mom and sister today when I ran errands with Granddad!

Now I'm going to start getting ready for bed--I'm pretty wiped out. Between the last couple of weeks (finals, packing, getting ready to leave for Malaysia, saying goodbye to Lance), I'm about beat. But I can't wait for that flight on Monday morning, to get to go see my family! I can't express how good it will feel to be home. I just have some small packing to do tomorrow, and then I'll be ready! I'll post one more time tomorrow before I fly out. I hope all of you have a wonderful day of worship tomorrow. The Lord is so good and so faithful...and he's definitely worthy of every ounce of worship we have.

Productive, in a busy sort of way

Today's definitely been a little busier than the last two. As I mentioned earlier, most of yesterday was spent at a museum looking at the China exhibit; we rested that afternoon and then went to church at 5:00. Today, however, I've been all over. Well, not entirely. Grandmother and I didn't leave the house till a little before 1:00, although I was up at 9:30 (a little earlier than my sleeping-in days). We ran lots of errands, picking up some things my parents wanted, running by Family Christian Bookstore, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, Sears, and so forth. Once we got home, Grandmother and I were just beat, so we both said we would take a nap...well, neither of us did. I spent time fiddling on the computer trying to find a new look for my blog that I liked (and am still not sure I've found...); Grandmom did her own thing. Granddad had been working in the yard for part of the day, so he was tired, too. Once I finally pulled myself off the computer, I started reading a new book (I love new books!). I had just finished Ted Dekker's book Obsessed yesterday (excellent) and started Frank Peretti's new book Monster--these are two of my favorite authors. (And a thank you to Aunt Eloise, because she bought me the Peretti book as an early birthday present!) It's been so nice to have time to read now that school's out, and I'm taking advantage of that. Anyways, so I've been reading some. We ate supper (my Grandmom makes great soups) and then I went ahead and packed my trunk I'm taking to Malaysia. I have another bag I'll need to take, but I'd say 80% of what's going with me is now packed. (That may be a high or low estimate...I'm never good with estimates. So in other words, I've packed...I don't know what I've packed! But it's close to 80%. Anyways, I'm rambling!)

Now I think I shall read some more and then head to bed (if I don't start fiddling with the layout of my blog again...). Tomorrow morning I have my doctor's appointment in Ft. Worth, and then Lance will pick me up after the appointment for us to spend a day or so together before I leave. I know I'll be sad when I say goodbye to him...but I am also very happy to get to see my family. Most events in life come with mixed emotions, I've decided.

So, those are the events of my life at the moment! Hope you are all doing well. Have a great week! As Dekker wrote of in his book I read, may we all realize God's incredible obsession and passion for mankind...and may we find the holiest, most righteous, and most incredible obsession we could have: the obsession of knowing Jesus Christ.

New Look

Hey, in case you couldn't tell, I'm trying to experiment with a new look for my blog. I'm looking around at different ideas. I found the template I have currently at a site with free blog templates (click here for the site). Let me know what you think of the new look! Any comments are appreciated. Thanks, and have a great day!

Splendors of China: the Forbidden City

Yesterday, on Wednesday, I went with my grandparents and friends of their's to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the Splendors of China: The Forbidden City exhibit. It was a really neat experience! Made me a little homesick, too. If you'd like to learn more about the exhibit, you can click on the following link to go to the website for the Forbidden city exhibit at Dallas Museum of Art.com

Productive, in a laid-back sort of way

Hey everyone! Today's been a good, productive day; like I said in the title, though, it's all been laid-back. I slept pretty late and then spent some time talking with my grandmom before we ate lunch (Granddad was running errands). Then I took some time to get a lot of little things done: making some phone calls for my dad, a call I needed to make, several e-mails to write, filling out some insurance forms, checking through mail my grandparents had accumulated for our family, and a few other little things. It was nice and relaxing, just getting through stuff at my own pace.

By the way, I went to Focus on the Family's movie review website called Plugged In Online to look at the review for the new movie Kingdom of Heaven, a movie depicting the Crusades. I haven't seen it yet but thought I'd be interested in seeing what they had to say. They included some really cool quotes from the movie, so I thought I'd close with those:

What man is a man who does not leave the world better?

You cannot stand before God and say that I was told to do this or that, or that virtue was inconvenient.

The main woman of the film says, after watching Muslims pray, Their prophet commands them to submit. [Islam means “to surrender” or “submission.”] Jesus says, ‘You decide.’

Replying to comments

Hi! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments lately; I can't tell you how much those make my day! I appreciate the time you take to drop me a note. When you ask questions in your comments (or if I just feel like replying), I will leave you a note in return and will do that in the comments section. So if you leave a comment and want to see if I've replied, just look under the comments link where you left your comment to see if I've left you one in return. Thanks so much!

Catching up on the weekend

Hey! I finally have a bit of time to write a little more than just a few sentences. I'm in Dallas right now with my grandparents, and it is so good to be here. Seriously, I walked in to their house, and it just felt so nice and relaxing to be in this house and with them...I love my grandparents!

Well, to catch up on life...the last several days have been spent packing and moving. As you may have been able to tell, packing is super stressful for me and one of my least favorite activities. It took me a few days, but it got done (I have way too much stuff...). Lance was a major blessing in all of this time; since my family wasn't here to help and most of my friends were gone, he was my sole source of help. He actually came in and helped me organize--I was completely overwhelmed, and he just walks in and says, "Ok, here are two piles: one for stuff to store, the other's going with you." Then he just starts going through my piles saying, "Where do you want this? What about this?" Having him there helped so much. And then of course he helped me carry everything out to the car and move everything to storage...so he was my God-send during all of that.

Friday night (May 6th) we did have a nice date to celebrate the two years since we had started dating. We had a nice dinner and then saw a movie later that night. So that was a nice break in the midst of everything. We finished moving everything on Saturday and then checked out early. We'd planned to stay through Sunday, but decided to go ahead and drive back to Ft. Worth that evening. We surprised his family and also got a pleasant surprise to see that Lisa and Addi were in for the weekend. Addi's about two 1/2 weeks old now, almost 3 weeks, and she's adorable!! (I don't know how many times I will be saying that) I got to hold her for a long time that night while she slept and while Lisa was out shopping. We also got to be there for Addi's baby dedication in church the next morning, on Mother's Day. It was precious! We spent some time with them after church and then went back to Ft. Worth.

This morning, Lance's mom took me by the airport to change my tickets for my flight to Malaysia, and then she dropped me off by my grandparents' because she was heading into Dallas herself. It's been really nice to be here with Grandmom and Granddad; it's so good to be with them--they're always so great to talk with. So I'm here for the next week and will finish packing, running errands, and other things. I have a doctor's appointment in Ft. Worth on Friday, so that'll be when I get to see Lance for the last time before I leave for Malaysia. Lance is actually back near the college we go to so he can continue working as the music intern there; he'll just come up Friday to say goodbye to me.

I talked with my mom and dad tonight--I can't believe I'll be seeing them soon! Also, although it's a little late, I wanted to publicly wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day! She's a great mother, and the Lord has blessed me richly through her. I could not begin to tell you everything she's done for me and all that she's gone through with me. She has been my strength and encouragement during many rough times in my life--thanks Mom! I love you, and I'm blessed by God to be your daughter.

Well, I am headed to bed now to get some good rest. I hope you all had a great Mother's Day--I hope you told your moms how much you love them! My love and prayers for all of you. May God bless in a very special way this week and meet all your needs.

Here's "Uncle" Lance and his niece, Addi, on her dedication day. Aren't they both cuties? :-) Lisa, Lance's sister and Addi's mom, can be seen in the upper left corner of the picture.  

Over and Done With

Just wanted to drop a note: I'm out of the dorms, packed/moved/stored (largely thanks to Lance), and I'm in Ft. Worth! I get to go to my grandparents' tomorrow, and then I leave a week from Monday for Malaysia--woo-hoo! I get to see my family!!

Sorry this is short, but I just wanted to update. Will write more soon! Love to you all.

This is Lance and me at church last Sunday for our final University supper. It was yummy! 

Packing

Well, let's see, what have I done today? Hmm...well, I packed...then I packed some more...then I packed...well, ok, I think I packed pretty much all day. Except for eating lunch and going to Dr. Wright's choir party, which we were only there for about 3 hours. Yeah, other than that, I've been in my room, packing. It's pathetic; really, you should see it. It's like a disaster area.

Just please pray that I can get all this done in the next day or so...and without killing myself. Thanks!!

I'm Done!

Quick note as I get ready for bed--I'm done with finals! My last exams are over with, my last paper's turned in...this semester is over with, baby! Yay, I'm so excited. Now I get to sleep as late as I want tomorrow and then pack the rest of the day. Just wanted to share my good news with you! God bless.

Calvin and Hobbes

In honor of school being almost over with (I just have one final left at the moment!), I decided to include this comic from Calvin and Hobbes as an appropriate conclusion to the year. I can't draw it for you, but the words should speak for themselves.

Calvin is standing in front of the classroom holding a small box in his hand. He says: "Today for show and tell, I've brought a tiny marvel of nature: a single snowflake." He looks at the class: "I think we might all learn a lesson from how this utterly unique and exquisite crystal..."--looking at his box with the snowflake--"turns into an ordinary, boring molecule of water, just like every other one, when you bring it into the classroom." Calvin says, throwing the box over his shoulder as he walks towards the door: "And now, while the analogy sinks in, I'll be leaving you drips and going outside." (Cavlin's teacher yells in the background, "CALVIN!")

Note: the opinions of this comic do not necessarily reflect the views of the school-loving Katy; however, Katy's evil twin, the summer-loving Katy, at the moment might enjoy the joke about the classroom a little bit more. Have a lovely day!

Day #1 of finals week: so far no finals!

It's the first day of finals week...and I haven't had any finals yet! It was nice, to have the whole day to myself. I slept late, and then got a call from Kirstin to say she and the other girls (Melissa, Rachel, Ashley) were going to go lunch eat in the Cafe. So I went with them and then came back to do an hour's worth of homework. Then I met with Rachel, and we went to talk with the Dean of the liberal arts school about our Critical Thinking teacher and some of our concerns about the class. I think the meeting went well; it may not benefit us any, but maybe the classes after us will be a little better off. So by the time we finished our meeting with him and I looked over Rachel's paper, it was close to 3:30. I needed to study for my psychology exam tomorrow, so I hit the library. I found a nice back corner, pulled out my text book and notebook, and proceeded to study 8 chapters, plus my notes, from 3:30 to 7:30. I felt very productive! :-) Afterwards, I went back to my dorm and called Lance; we got to eat at Scholotzsky's for a late supper, which was really nice. It's gotten cold again here (!), so a nice warm Scholotzsky's sandwich was perfect. Then we went and browsed at Hasting's (which is so much fun!), and I found a book I wanted to give Rachel as an engagement/wedding present. After that, we headed back to the dorms, and now I'm in my room, getting ready for bed.

My psychology final is tomorrow at 10:30, and then I'll have the rest of the day to review for my Critical Thinking exam and my English exam, as well as finishing up that Critical Thinking paper. Once Wednesday is over, I'll be done with the semester! Then all I'll have to do is pack up and move things. And soon I'll be headed to Malaysia!! I can't wait to be back and see my family.

Good night now...God bless!

Update on Kaleb

I mentioned a prayer request for my cousin Kaleb the other day and wanted to let you know how that went. He had surgery for his arm on Thursday night in Singapore; my uncle wrote to let us know how it went:

Kaleb got operated on at 9:30 last night and came out of surgery at 12:30 midnight. I stayed at the hospital with him last night. The doctor felt good about the operation and Kaleb’s arm looked a lot straighter. He was released from the hospital about 11 am and are now back at the S____’s apartment (we are very grateful for their hospitality). Kaleb is somewhat in pain when he moves his fingers but doing OK. We will go back to the doctor Tuesday to see if everything is OK and then look at having a fiberglass cast put on Thursday and our family will head back [to Indonesia] Thursday or Friday.

Thanks for your prayers for him.

Finally: Finals!

Woo-hoo! I have three finals between me and the end of this semester. It's a great feeling! Well, I do have that huge Critical Thinking paper...but I finished my rough draft of that today, too!! I still have to edit and tweak it, but for the most part, that paper is done. What a great feeling! Isn't God faithful?

This weekend has focused a good deal on that paper. I spent hours researching on Thursday, re-researching on Friday, outlining Saturday, and writing today. I've studied a little for my actual tests in the meantime, but not as much as I would've liked. Fortunately, I have all day tomorrow with no finals, so I can spend all day studying. Which I know I won't--I don't think I could stand 12 hours over the books--but I'm sure I could get in a good 6, 7, 8 hours if I needed to. Let's see, what else have I done this weekend? Friday night...oh, wait, I already talked about Friday night. Well, let's move on to Saturday. I slept late on Saturday and then hit the library at 1:30. That's when I did all my outlining for the paper--it took a while to figure out how I wanted to structure what I wanted to say, and then how to support it. I did a little bit of other studying, too, and finally got back to my room at 4:30. Later that night we went out to eat with a whole bunch of people, sort of as a goodbye party for Ira, since this is her last semester. Our group included: Christina, Kirstin, Nick, Lance, Rachel, Daniel, Megan M., a sweet girl named Kristen that I met, Ira, and me. I wasn't feeling too well, so Lance and I just went back to the dorm after that to sit around and talk a little. Oh, and he also drove me by Sonic to get a grape slush! :-)

Today at church was good. We had a lot of people in Sunday school today, which was really great. After the service, we caught something to eat (ok, we didn't literally catch it--we ordered it), and then I went to my room around 1:30. I started writing my Critical Thinking paper and then got on such a roll that I decided not to stop until I finished it. I finally got the last bit of it written around 4:45. Then I had a wonderful surprise: my mom called! It was so good to get to talk with her. I told her the wonderful news about finishing my paper, and then we talked some about my plans for this summer. I will most likely stay in Malaysia until late July, and I'm really excited about it. It will be so good to see my family!! Then my mom and I discussed things about storing my stuff over the summer--it turns out that Amber, a really sweet girl from church, said I could put my things in her room over the summer since she will be gone on a missions trip. That is such a God-send, because it saves me the cost and time of finding a place to store everything in my dorm room. Isn't God good?!

Then Lance, Kirstin, Christina, and I all went to church for our last Sunday night supper of the semester (*sniff*). It was kind of sad, because it was the last time for one of our friends, Melissa, to be there; she graduates in December, so she won't be in the University group anymore. Amber took pictures tonight of us, so I'm trying to upload them (if my program works!) so maybe you can see some of those on here shortly.

After supper, Lance and I played tennis (great stress reliever during finals!) and then drove around some talking about things. Then we headed back to our rooms, and then I had a dorm meeting at 10:30. I just got back from that, and I will soon be heading to bed. Yay! I can sleep as late as I want tomorrow since I have no finals, but I do want to be up in time to spend a good part of the day studying. I hope all of you are having a wonderful week! May God bless each of you in a special way this week with his goodness and faithfulness--and may we be faithful to him in return.