The Adventure Continues! Spring Break Day 4

So I'm a day late in posting this but I was too tired to post when I got back last night. I'm going to regret staying up to post tonight, but I know if I don't, I'll forget things.

Day 4 was our big adventure/shopping day. Despite the rain, we headed down to Broadway at the Beach, a touristy place in Myrtle Beach with boutiques, restaurants, and other entertainment. It took us a while to get there, because we got a little lost on the way. Surprise surprise. What day is complete without us getting lost, especially if I'm driving? Once we finally arrived, we hit up a few stores, then decided to grab pretzels at Auntie Anne's before heading to the mall to make the most of our time and limited money. Since it was a rainy day, there were a decent number of people at the mall, but not crowded. In the food court, I made a wonderful discovery. I found Chic Fil A!!! This made me very excited, as I was lamenting the loss of chic fil a fries while away from school. (Side note: if zombies ever attack UMBC, they better leave Chic Fil A intact). We managed to browse a variety of stores before the mall closed at 2100.

Once we were done shopping, we called for directions to the house in North Myrtle Beach where we knew some of my friends from UMBC are staying this week. Upon arriving on their street, we drove up and down for a bit, but found the house. Apparently in South Carolina, they don't believe in posting house numbers in visible areas. Go figure. In any case, we hung out there talking to the guys and playing games till around 0130ish. We said goodbye, headed back to my grandparents' and went straight to bed. We grabbed our electronics and other valuables, but left most of our shopping stuff in the car since we were tired and just wanted to sleep.

That about sums up Day 4 of our wonderful adventures. More to come! As always, video diary of the trip is being continued on youtube if you search Stephanie and Devon's Spring Break Adventures.

Quote for the day: "No tienes nada!" ~Me and Steph

Peace y'all.

P.S. Common Sense Life Lesson for the day: Put numbers on the house where they're easily seen by day or night from the road, not from 2 feet away.

Perspective

I'm realizing I've been getting caught up in petty things lately. Everyone tells me how I'm so mature for getting over the breakup so quickly, and that's good I guess. To truly care about someone is to let them go, without knowing if they'll ever come back. To truly care about another person is to want what's best for them more than your personal ideal situation. That's what's made this easy for me. My greatest desire is for him to be ok and happy with his life. Am I over the breakup? Yes. Am I over him? Just about.

I have so much for which to be grateful. God has blessed me beyond anything I could have ever deserved or wanted, starting with Christ's sacrifice on my behalf. Think about it: God gave up his only son. He gave up the person He loved most to save people who had no regard for Him. That really is love. I could never do that. I could never be so unselfish as to sacrifice the people I love most to help someone who didn't care about me, with no guarantee that my sacrifice would move any sort of response to them. That's just...wow. Beyond comprehension.

I've been complaining about school so much lately. I need to take a step back and realize school is a privelege, not a right or something to be expected.

Some things I can be thankful for: My parents are paying for me to go to a great school. I have an amazing family, some of the most wonderfullest awesomest friends anyone could ask for. My life is relatively drama free, I'm healthy, my family is healthy, we live comfortably despite the tough economic crap. I really am spoiled, and lived a semi charmed life. So my classes are boring and easy. All the more reason to do well! I have the freedom to worship my saviour wherever and whenever I please without fear of persecution. Billy and I are still friends, and the breakup was not ugly or drama or forcing anyone to pick sides. I have everything I need for life without having to do hardly anything for it. I never have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, or if I'll be waking up tomorrow, or if I'll have clothes to wear.

So many people have so much less, and are still making the best of their lives without complaining all the time. I knew two girls in high school who lost their mothers to cancer. They were both two of the sweetest girls I ever knew, and I never heard either of them complain. I met a friend of a friend the other day, and he seemed like a chill kid. He seemed content with his life, and happy to be who he was. He's a cool kid. I was reading his blog earlier tonight, and discovered that this seemingly happy go lucky kid has experienced some of the worst things life can throw at you, and is on the verge of another tragedy. It amazed and inspired me so much. You'd think anyone who'd had such a sucky life would be jaded and bitter, but this guy is exactly the opposite. His situation reminds me yet again of how much I've been given in life and how much I've been blessed.

Thank you, my new friend, for your example. You are an inspiration and an example. You are in my prayers every day. I am praying that God sends his angels to comfort you and give you strength. Many hugs!!

Peace y'all.

P.S. Common Sense Life Lesson for the week: When traveling to an unfamiliar destination, plan extra time to account for getting lost and trying to figure out how to get there.

Unity is Coming!!

I'm super excited!! Echo and Intervarsity are finally starting to hang together!! This is what I've been hoping for since I got here!! There is so much disconnect among the various Christian groups on campus, and this semester it looks like we're finally starting to form some cohesion. Echo, now called OneU, isn't doing much this semester so their leadership has been encouraging us to just keep finding other Christians to hang with. On Wednesdays during free hour, we have United Prayer, which is where all the Christian groups on campus meet to pray with one another. It's led by a different organization every week, such as Intervarsity, OneU, Korean Campus Ministry, etc. This is new this semester, but seems to be going a long way towards bringing the various groups together. After all, we're all one in Christ, so why should we all be our own little cliques on campus? How are we supposed to spread Christ's love all broken up and disconnected? So I'm quite excited and can't wait to see what the future holds for this :)

Off to play Apples to Apples!

Peace Y'all.

Just a quick note...

So my life has a way of turning itself upside down and inside out when I least expect it. There's a pattern I've noticed--when school is going nuts, my social life is all good. Once I get school figured out, my social life kicks into high gear and tends to do all in its power to throw me for a loop. This pattern has continued over the past week. I've only been back to school a week but it feels like it's been at least two weeks because so much has been happening.

The week started out with scheduling and classes doing all in their power to frustrate me and then some. Monday and Tuesday were very very long. By the end of the day Wednesday I had most of that figured out, so it would figure that
my social life would choose then to start flipping itself all over every which way. For once I'm not unhappy about it. There's alot to still be decided and discussed but I'm becoming more sure every day, that no matter what comes of this, everything will work out for the best. :)

Also: umbc fails at snow and ice removal.

Peace y'all.

P.S. Common Sense Life Lesson: Heels and ice are not a good combination. Then again, since when am I the one to choose practicality over style?

How are you?

So the title of this post is something that you hear alot. You pass someone you know on the way to class, or you stop briefly to chat with a friend you haven't talked to in a little while. This is a generic question, one that, for me at least, is not often answered with complete honesty. Often it's simply because things are generally ok and I don't have the time to stop and explain every detail of my life's activities. Other times it's that I don't know the person well enough to feel inclined to describe how things are going. Many times it's that I'm not sure myself what to make of my life. Sometimes I feel bad talking with someone I don't know particularly well or haven't talked to in a bit and having nothing to say outside of "How are you? How are your classes?" I've realized recently that taking time to ask more specific questions can help people feel like you genuinely care about them and their well being. So the next time someone says "Hey, how are you?" and I'm not rushing off to class, I'm going to take a minute and say something beyond "Fine", "Good", or "okay, tired, busy".

The busted elbow is getting much better, it seems I didn't do nearly as much damage the second time around. Sling use has been relegated to sleep time, which isn't a major inconvenience. I acutally don't mind, because often by the end of a busy day, my arm is tired and needs the rest and the support. According to my friend's father who is a doctor, the ligaments take six weeks to fully heal, and I'm sure two dislocations in one month doesn't aid that any.

School is going to be very very busy this semester. I am taking six classes, 19 credits total, 17 of which are academic. I like the work and the classes so I'm more motivated to do my work (which is what I'm supposed to be doing right now). I enjoy being busy, and so long as I stay on top of the work, stress should be minimal and the workload not terribly difficult.

This past week was very eventful and interesting, in several ways. I have discovered/reaffirmed something I knew but didn't know: I have some amazing friends. I am reminded of the Tracy Lawrence song "Find Out Who Your Friends Are". The song talks about how when your life is going well, you have alot of friends, and alot of people who say they care about you and will help you if ever you need it. It goes on to say that when your life sucks, and you fall flat on your face, that's when you find out who really is your friend. It's the people who are there helping you up when you do something really dumb, when they could easily have left you to your own devices and the consequences of your actions.

This past Wednesday evening, I was with a group of people at a small party/get together we were having in the interest of getting everyone together before work and school and social commitments took everyone their separate ways. I decided it would be a good idea to consume what amounted to about 7 shots of Vodka and Cointreau over the course of about 25-30mins. BAD BAD BAD IDEA!! My body mass does not tolerate that high of a concentration in such a short period of time. This I discovered very quickly. Once I got about halfway through the second martini, I started to realize what I had done. For the next hour or so, three of my friends were taking care of me, talking to me, cleaning me up, and doing their best to keep me from the prying eyes of the rest of the group. Thinking back, I can only imagine what a sight I must have been. Words cannot express my gratitude for the three guys who proved their friendship and took care of me when they would, I'm sure, have much rather been enjoying themselves with the rest of the party. I don't know if I will ever have an opportunity to show them a kindness on a similar level, but I will forever be indebted to them for taking care of me. <3 those guys so much!

On a lighter note, this week should prove to be entertaining and interesting, as classes get into full swing. As school gets busier, it'll mean my social life simplifies, which will be nice. Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend part of CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) and see the movie "Cloverfield". CPAC was lots of fun, very interesting speakers and panels. For anyone familiar with the Washington D.C. metro system, the green line is not a place you want to be after dark. "Cloverfield" was not worth $8.50 of my money. It wasn't a terrible movie, but it wasn't all that great either. It was a mildly interesting way to kill and hour and half. I recommend either seeing it at a time with a discounted rate, or waiting until it comes out on DVD, or catching it at some small town theatre that only charges a few dollars for a movie. I know at a Loewe's theatre near my family's house, they only charge $5 for any movie you see on Sunday mornings before 12pm. My friends and I did this after church one day and got a great movie for a good price. More money for popcorn :)

So that's pretty much it for now. Now to go make something of my day and actually get some work done.
Peace y'all

P.S. Common Sense Life Lesson for the week: Don't ask your friend for directions to the nearest train station when they have been drinking, even if they swear they're just buzzed. This will result in wandering around the city for a good hour or so, until you wind up in a not so great area of town.