the road to recovery

as you all know, i am recovering from a black eye. i guess i would not really call it black anymore though. now it looks like someone with a really big mouth just kissed me on the eye because it is only a little maroon below my eye and on the lid.

a kiss sounds nice, but i did not look "kissed" at all last week. i looked more on the battered side. saturday, you saw, and i was snowboarding so most people just thought i had done some crazy trick and wasnt so lucky with the landing (however, there is still respect for trying).

sunday it looked like this...



i tried makeup that day, but it hurt to put on, and i ended up crying it all away. i would walk outside and have to squint or wind would blow and my eye would water.
i kind of banked on the fact that it looked like a birth mark, so people didnt really ask questions at church.



monday was a different story though. i opted for no makeup cause it hurt to put on, i dont like the feeling of makeup, and it all would come off anyway.



i got alot of questions that day, but the thing that was worse than being asked "what happened" over and over again and having to tell people that i was playing catch and didnt catch it, was the fact that i had counseling that night. yes i have counseling every monday night. im supposed to go for a class i have. i got the most blatant stares the second i walked in the place. i wanted to wear a sign around my neck that said "ill break up with him tomorrow."



here are the pictures of tuesday, and you can see that i still definately had a black eye (i thought it would have been healing a bit better by then). my cheek was the part of my face that actually got hit with the ball, which is made more evident by that lovely yellow tint. i think the blood in the eye has a nice effect also.






















finally, on wednesday i was able to use makeup. and things have just gone uphill from there.



you know what, it wasnt so bad. my face hurt, would be really swollen in the mornings, and i got stared at alot, but i totally got used to the fact that the left side of my face looked a little droopy. but really, its kind of fun and now i have a good story and pictures

o my heavens

i have not blogged in a while due to internet issues. the internet is completely a blessing and a curse.
well last week was not too bad, the weekend was wonderful, and i anticipate this week being even better. half of that will be up to me, but i think i have done pretty well so far. i think i set a new record last night by laying down in my bed at like 10:30. i woke up when the roommate got home (at which point i actually got under my covers) and then a bit later to take out contacts and brush my teeth, but basically i got 9 hours of sleep. that is 3 hours more than the usual goal for the night. and, another blessing, the black eye is almost healed!
i have pictures of the weekend and the eye that i will post later when im not sitting at work.

spice up your life

well im not sure i can handle much more spice cause things are pretty crazy right now.
i did get more sleep this week than i did last, but six hours is sadly still the goal. however, homework is not the only thing consuming time this week, thankfully. tuesday i went out to dinner at the Macaroni Grill and we colored all over the table paper. we came back to school to catch the end of a basketball game and then they had karaoke night.
ashley, lori, tot (lauren), and erika did a lovely preformance of the Spice Girls.











last night erika and i went to Bakers and then sat in her car for probably an hour taking pictures and talking. here is one of the many famous "car shots"

youre looking at it

i went snowboarding in so cal today. we went to mountain high, which is like the Wolf Mountain in the area. though its bigger, its not a ton better. but i was prepared for that. plus i was in good company, so we had a few good runs and many laughs.
the weirdest part was driving up, my mind didnt know if it was getting prepared to hike or board. we actually did see hikers on the hill opposite ours, as the snow is only located specifically on the runs, not even in the trees under the lifts. i wore a thermal and a tee shirt and was hot multiple times.

basically, all of the runs fit in this picture.




and yup, you can see my black eye. here it is, up close and personal. it was a bit worse today. though it wasnt that black and blue when i woke up, it was much more puffy. i couldnt see out of it very well. hopefully it will be better tomorrow for church.

shiner

so one time, on a friday afternoon i decided to go outside and play a little catch. the weather was beautiful, so i threw on shorts and a tee shirt. before you knew it, i had a mit on and some friends and i were displaying our sweet skills. mind you, the mit was borrowed and on the "too big" side of the scale, but i made it work. we were running around in the grass, laughing and talking.

after we had been playing a while, the ball was once again thrown to me. everything seemed normal, but as the ball fell into that oversized glove, my little smokies just couldnt maneuver well enough to keep the ball in the glove. yes, the ball bounced right out of the glove and landed on my cheak.


at least thats the story im telling people. what really happened was i got in this fight with some burly girl who tried to steal my banocca, and when i told her to step off, she said that Biola's girls football team was better than CBU's! the nerve! i took her out, but as she crashed to the ground she got a swing in. however, that story is not nearly as cool so i think ill just stick with the baseball one...


it actually wasnt too bad last night

long days and lack of time

since the last time i posted i have gotten about twelve more hours of sleep. 2 1/2 the night i posted, 4 1/2 wednesday night (though that was a bit weird since they were not consecutive) and last night i got 6 1/2 fabulous hours (i was so excited).

overall, the week was fine though. I was super busy, but i somehow never got truly tired. I was a bit worn out but i didnt really have a problem keeping my eyes open. I made time to work out and be one-on-one with God, went to all the meetings i had and still spent time with some amazing people, and now im finished.
ill admit though, this week is in the running for the longest weeks ever, and im glad its over. im sure i wrote about one of those last semester but this one puts up some good competition. i kept thinking how it was going to fine cause the end was near, but the days blurred together and passed so slowly. yet i never had enough time. so ironic.

at our 3 hour Rwanda meeting (okay that time didnt pass so quickly...) we talked about how the people there have such different agendas and priorities.they are never on time. some of our leaders were just there, and a man explained to them that we have watches but they have time. going there will be such an experience. i cant really describe it more specifically than that right now.

sorry for being all over the place but today was wonderful. partly because it wasnt yesterday, but partly because it is 77 degrees outside, i got to just sit and talk to different people throughout the day that i havent had time to see lately and because i do not have to finish all my homework tonight. ill be boarding tomorrow but for now i think i am going to join the people i can see out mind widow who are throwing a baseball around... i live in california...

marathon

surprisingly enough, i did not fall asleep in any of my classes today. shocker, seeing as i went to bed at 3:30, putting me at about 4 hours of sleep.

too bad i have so much homework this week that last night will have to be repeated a few times. and yeah your thinking that i am a procrastinator right now, but yea, i am not! I truly did lots of homework this weekend, but with work and meeting etc. its difficult to find much time.

so here i am, drinking my only hope for making it through the week. had one last night and it got me through, and it proved to be faithful once again. that and i think God is giving me a bit extra endurance...












yessss...
























and this will be buzzing in 3 hours and 10 minutes (well less than three hours by the time i finish this). o joy.





















o well is probably more appropriate.







goodnight, goodmorning, whatever, im off!

Winter Wonderland

i talked to my sister for real this weekend. i have heard her voice a few times since being back at school, but i had really no idea what she was up to/ how she was doing. i found out that she was doing pretty well; still not the biggest school fan, but still a big thomas fan. also, she was loving the snow. yes, the loads of snow that she was going to board on because she has a season pass. o jealousy!

i do not have snow. in fact, it has been quite sunny lately.
this is my winter wonderland, ill give you a little tour...


this is what i look at when i walk to class in the morning. normally the fountain is running. not sure why its not. maybe they stopped it because they didnt want all the water to freeze in the January weather (or the more likely issues: someone put soap in it again or its just plain broken).



















ahhh, the good old James Building. not only do i work here, but i get to go to the third floor for my Principles of Design and Color class on Tuesday's and Thursday's. Im usually late to that class, but i always have my sketch pad and supply box!























this is another shot of the building.

















now if you were to walk with me to work or class we would go through the archway, cause its pretty, and we would see this little quad to the left. i rarely see people in there though. occasionally a teacher will decide to teach out there, that is, weather permitting of course.
















now we are in front of the James building right by the front lawn. this is the part of the building you can see if you are driving by Cal Baptist.















you cant really see the windows, but ill take take you in the front door to the first room on the left, which is a little sitting room that i do homework in quite frequently. its more comfortable than the library and no one every goes there. love that couch! ill admit ive unintentionally napped as well.















okay, there is not much else that is interesting about the James Building because it is old and most people spend time in the Yeager Center. o, that was a lie! there are catacombs below it because it used to be a hospital for the mentally ill, and when people died, the staff were not allowed to bring the desceased out the front door. you have to sneek into those though, so i have no pictures. maybe we can work something out if you come visit me for real. so now we are going to go back out the front door. look towards the right and we will see Palm Drive. the entire thing is lined in those trees and its even cooler if you are actually walking down the path.














and now im going to do homework, so well walk to our left, and take a left, heading back towards the quad, which is the basically square plot of land that has grass surrounded by sidewalk surrounded by the James building, library, Wallace Theater and the Yeager Center. In about 10 mintues i will be sitting at my computer checking people blogs.

Love is a Battlefield...

Erika, with her new bangs, looked a bit on the 80's side when she was getting ready the other night. When i told her that, she looked in the mirror, grinned and started using her brush to project her rendition of a Pat Benatar classic. lets just say, she rocked it.

words

i could have/ should have been reading them for the last few hours of my life. instead i just exchanged them with a number of different people. sometimes its necessary. not always the most practical use of time, but definately the most meaningful. while im a bit sad that i will be getting up early to read, im more disappointed that i did not even get to talk to everyone i wanted to! if you are reading this, you are likely one of those people. i love you...

long overdue

so i have a good friend melissa, who probably had some time on her hands due to her friends mono and the NFL.
she basically challenged some of us to a vanity fest, as we were instructed to take/ post pictures of ourselves. while i was not the photographer in every one of these pics, i think i still fulfilled the vain requirement because i made others stop what they were doing and take time out of their days to focus on me and my needs. also, the pictures were taken over the span of this past week, which shows that not only did i take the time to think about capturing yours truly for a period of 10 minutes while snaping pictures of myself, but i was on my mind all week! here goes:

where it all began, sunday, january 15th.



okay, so i was a bit occupied for a few days, but i was right back at it thursday

















that night i went to a birthday party that was "baller" theme, which as you can see from the sweater i was wearing all day, baller is not my typical dress code. i think i pulled it off okay though, right?















a bit closer, so that you can see the pounds of eyeliner on my "dont mess with me" face.




















finally, friday. this is the emo look, since i was not quite finished with classes yet.

















this was me excited to be done with my classes and be able to lay on my bed because i did not have to go to work!

































and the perfect end was going to a volleyball game, then making the typical starbucks run with a few friends. i thought those cds would make a nice background...













and i want you to know, i did try the whole "my space" look, but i am horrible at it. i think ill just stick to blogging thank you very much.

they DO actually have a purpose

im sorry that i have not been a faithful blogger, and im sorry that i have been apologizing more times lately than i have been posting.

the three day weekend was fabulous. not too busy but not boring. i just give you a few of the highlights:
friday, my girls and i went to see Tristan and Isolde, which is a chick-flic, romeo and juliette style, but during midevil times. ill admit, though some of the girls were completely satisfied just by looking at Tristan, i needed a bit more for my viewing pleasure. the fighting scenes were pretty good and Tristan is quite attractive, plus i was with my girls, so we had a good time overall.
Erika was even less pleased with the movie than i was





o and i got paid to eat a worm when we got back; definately not as bad as youd think actually. i know that some of you are a bit appalled right now, but calm down please. i made Garrett wash it off first.

Saturday, i bummed around, did a little homework and laundry, and went to a basketball game. then we all took a trip to starbucks, where i got a free cup of coffee. once again, i ask you to calm down, because i looked like hell in a handbasket, and they were out of the first two things i ordered so it was free.
erika was it a bit of a better mood for this picture.




Sunday i went to church, brunch, and at the moment i cant remember what else...

Monday i did more homework, contemplated taking every Monday off, and by around 4 oclock i was walking around the hall trying to find a pair of uggs to borrow. yes i know, i am usually one to voice my opinion that uggs have no business in so cal, but i found a place where they are appropriate. and the answer is: the beach, when its cold, and dark and cold.
i think every female that went with us was wearing a pair, and i for one was thankful that i found a pair to borrow. sand doesnt get in them and they keep you nice and warm during the cool January weather.
i love it, its January and i went to the beach for a bonfire.
the girls stopped at In-N-Out first for some nourishment




and then we were off to Huntington.
i should have more of that fun in photo form by tomorrow. of course i will still be playing catch up on a few other things that happened this week, but well get it all straight soon.

out of control

that is how my week has been. no time to call friends, no time to post blogs filled with pictures of myself for a good friend who happens to be ill, no time to even tell you the few good things that have happened. this is ridiculous. maybe tomorrow...

not in kansas anymore...

dashboard is playing as loud as my computer can muster, im eating sour patch kids for breakfast, and its gloomy outside.

i feel like i dont know how to read a syllabus. like i cant figure out what my assignments are. i dont really want to read over them all right now. probably the root of the problem. i dont want to read the big long book sitting next to me either.

i am almost out of the chocolate cookies that my mom and i made at home. those cookies are melt in your mouth comfort.

i wish i could go out to coffee to just sit and talk with some people, but most of those people are in different states right now.

hopefully my greatest feat for the day will not be the completion of a blog. ehh.

"back"

well im back, but not quite back into everything yet. four day school weeks are beautiful, especially when i have not really had a ton of homework yet. some reading, which will probably be consuming my time for the rest of the semester, but for now, its been quite peaceful. no work and no homework frees up alot of time, so ive gotten to nap twice, watch a movie, have some great talks, and go to bed by midnight. ahh fabulous.
we even played a game of kickball the other night. just out on the grass between the dorms. tricky, since we used those balls that are kind of light and are meant more for sitting on or bouncing; as a result, they float and move in the air once kicked. however, with newspapers as our bases and pretty long grass as our field, the wrong sort of ball didnt bother us that much. if anything, it was a catalyst for more laughs when watching people miss it when they were up to the plate, or paper that is, or watching people try to estimate where it was going to fall back down.
eventually ill fall back down into the normal routine, but for now, im going to enjoy the calmness. plus, its three day weekend!!!

I've Got Sunshine

it was anything but cloudy here today. it wasnt even breezy. though the month is january and the season is "winter," i feel like its fall. there are leaves on the ground, and it was really sunny today, to the point that i was hot walking back from class.
we had to break out the heavy duty sun glasses... we mean business.




let the record state, i do not actually own a pair of sunglasses like those.

nectar fizz

i know its kind of ghetto to stand in the store and try on all the makeup that they have out for sampling. then again, i am back in riverside. dont fret, i used q-tips. the final verdict was that nectar fizz was my color for lip gloss.
by the by, its not the color im wearing in the picture and janelle does not normally look that cross-eyed. heh.








as you can tell, im back safe and sound. to be honest, i wasnt too excited when i was riding back to campus yesterday. everyone was in shorts and tee shirts, i had to unpack, do some laundry and i just basically had to re-program my mind to cali life, as i had definately gotten used to my normal utah routines. once i started to see everyone, i was in a much better mood though.
today i spent way too much on books, then went to target in my tee shirt with the windows down and country music blasting.


ps. this was supposed to be posted yesterday, but our lame internet has been down.

P.S.

if you didnt notice from the pics. 6 1/2 inches are gone.
from this








to this.
and that is still how i feel about it. im sure ill get used to it. and it grows back right?

the big ONE-NINE

while buying cigarettes could have been an exciting way to celebrate my 19th birthday, i instead did a little shopping, baking, and packing with my mom. then some friends and i went out to dinner. you know people love and support you when they are willing to shamelessly embarrass you because, you see, in the process, people end up staring at them just as much as they stare at you.
i had a balloon tied to my belt-loop, and a "its my birthday" sash drapped over my shoulder, miss america style.
after dinner, we went galactic miniature golfing, and though i was able to lose the balloon, i was still sporting the sash. i did okay, but ill admit, i think i got some birthday girl grace when it came to the score keeping.






of course, the score didnt really matter with my team because none of us were very good, but we were pretty fun if you ask me.




kelli, micah, kimber and matt



i finished the night with some good girl talk with kelli, claire and matt, and then i got to bed around 3 in the am. easily the latest i stayed up all break, but i needed to get prepared to come back to school. and here i am, blogging at 1:30. on a roll.

belief

the name of one of my favorite gavin degraw songs. but also this tricky little thing that affects everyone's life.
some really great guy i know always says that "what you really believe you live by."
so what do you really believe? what are those core beliefs that guide your actions, attitude, and faith? i thought i knew my answers to those questions... i do. but the "why?" is sometimes just as hard, if not harder, of a question. "why do you believe that; why is that true?" its hard to ask yourself and its hard to ask others.
the answers, or the answering process, for all those questions can be really frustrating.

float

thats what i did today as i rode down the mountain on beautiful, white, fluffy powder. the days at snowbasin have been disappointing, snow-wise, thus far. but today everyone was back in school and we got some 17 inches of fresh snow in the last day or two. it was fabulous, and relaxing in a weird way (even though my body will feel it tomorrow). plus, i was with my parentals and this kid i havent hung out with in probably 12 years. good company.
however, this wonderful day has made me a bit nervous about bringing the board to Cali for fear of dreadful disappointment. it just wont be the same!

the season pass

i dont have one. and you dont know what you have until its gone. but i really really wish i did because now i have to put all this thought into whether or not i should go up on the mountain. you have to actually use disgression because you dont want to pay $50 if no one will be there or if the snow is going to suck because you cant just leave if those things turn out to be true.
so now i just have to lean on the safe side and go shopping/ errand running with my mom today. yipeee.

sore

sadly, i am not sore from my wonderful day of snowboarding yesterday. my shoulders are sore, though, from sitting at a computer all day typing! o brother. but at least i have a job that i semi-enjoy.
of course, i enjoy the mountains the most.

look at these!




o my heavens!

the big day

better late than never they say...
so Christmas was wonderful. got up around 9:00, went through the stockings, ate some pancakes, opened the presents and then just relaxed with the family. It was nice to have a day to truly relax (as ive been working and boarding in my spare time, no complaints) and specifically recognize God's grace that was sent to earth.

sarah and me, looking our best with some of our gifts. i got stickers, which i am quite excited to use to decorate letters!












one of the most interesting gifts the family got was an umbrella. pandas and elephants and tigers, o my!


but the most interesting part was when some friends and i went to see The Family Stone that night (its definitely a feel good kind of movie for those who are interested). As we exited the theatre, a man dressed as the Grinch was just chillin in the mall. a bit creepy if you ask me; i think the expression on Jesse's face says alot about the situation.

all a glow

so every year we have certain Christmas Eve traditions. Though the order is not always the same, the events are. We go over to our old neighbors' house, one of the sweetest couples in the world, and we are told how grown up we look and are fed lots of candy and chocolate (there are also presents somewhere in there). then we go to the Collins' house. We eat food (the artichoke dip being my personal favorite), and my sister and i get told numerous times,once again, how "grown up" we look or if youre sarah, how skinny you are and pretty youve gotten (i just get more and more grown up lol). We also go to a Candle light service at church, and the service is ended with everyone singing Silent Night, no music, no lights, just lit candles in everyones hands. its beautiful. The night always ends with us driving up behind Weber State University, to drive past a house that has a ridiculous amount of traffic due to their outrageous display of lights that can be seen from miles away (im not kidding).

im not complaining now, but this year has been a bit different. i forgot to mention that snow is normally on my lawn, but its too warm outside for that right now. also we did not go to the old neighbors, and that house, with all the lights, must have fallen of the mountain (or the electric bill was too crazy, or the people moved). there were no lights to drive past. but the most comical difference came when i walked into church and was handed a glow stick instead of a candle. can you believe it?!?! yes, a neon yellow glow stick. ill admit it, i was a bit upset, but i just had to laugh when they started playing Silent Night and we were all waving glow sticks in the air like we were at a Rolling Stone's concert. Well good thing Christmas is about Jesus' birth and not traditions eh?
so though i was a bit thrown off, i am so blessed to be able to go to church on Christmas Eve and have a wonderful Savior and family, so i think i am going to go spend some time with them right now.

Merry Christmas!!!

Visions of Sugar Plums

im not really sure what those are, but they sound sweet and delicious. not quite as delicious as the treats we made today, of course. A bit of chocolate, peanut butter, salt, and pure sugar. that pretty well covers every craving that people have but know they should not pursue for their figure's sake.
but at christmas time, that nonsense about dieting is left out in the cold, while indoors, people dine on the delicious treats they make and receive.













sarah and i made a few special ones, cause you know, not all reindeer are the same. i dedicated this one to those korean, jewish, christian reindeer.