Phenylalanine has a Benzene ring...

A Soup for Stormy Nights

2009-02-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

I ran across this recipe on Allrecipes.com a while back. It looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a try. Last night, I finally made it. It was delicious, so I'm recommending it to you :)

Apple Bacon Tomato Soup

Ingredients

5 slices bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
2 cups beef stock
1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 medium apple, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, coarsely chop, and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute white onion and garlic 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in beef stock, pinto beans, tomatoes, celery, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the apple in the red wine until soft.
Mix bacon, apple, and remaining red wine into the soup mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until well blended.

I changed the recipe a little. First, I doubled it (the recipe says it feeds 8, but all of the reviews said it will only feed 4 or so). Instead of sauteing the onion and garlic in olive oil, I used the drippings from the bacon. And I sauteed the celery too. I used a can of pinto beans and a can of kidney beans (both undrained). And instead of the stewed tomatoes I used two cans of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano (no salt added). When I did the apples, I used one Red Gala apple and one Granny Smith. I cooked them in probably 1 1/4 cup of red cooking wine and about half a cup of apple juice. The cooking wine has a lot of salt in it already, so I used beef stock that had no added salt.

It was yummy. And the reviewers and one of my friends who took some of the leftovers said it's even better as leftovers! :)

Video of the Day - Patrick Henry Hughes

2009-01-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

I spent this weekend in Louisville with about 3,000 high school and middle schoolers from around the state of Kentucky at a convention known as Winter Blitz. This young man spoke and played for us on Saturday.

And I thought I had problems...

South Africa - Video

2009-01-23T21:38:00.001-08:00

Africa - Hearts of Compassion

2009-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

The Midlands area (Estcourt and the surrounding communities) has a population of around 200,000 people - mostly of the Zulu tribe. 70% are HIV+. 70% are also unemployed. This has caused there to be a lot of poverty, pain, and sickness...with no way for the people to escape. In 2002 Midlands Christian Center launched a ministry called "Hearts of Compassion." The purpose of this ministry is to reach out to those needy families, orphans, and the sick. They deliver food, clothing, blankets, and medical care. The goal, however, is not to just provide, but to help these people to become self-sufficient.

This is Erlo Driemeyer, one of main leaders of Hearts of Compassion. We worked closely with him while we were in South Africa. His story is very interesting. From what I understand, before he became a Christian he was a hermit and a racist. He lived alone in the mountains and only came down to get food. I don't know the story of how he actually was saved, but it's enough to say that God got a hold on his life and radically changed it. Erlo now spends most of his days in the villages, among the Zulu people, preaching the gospel and providing for their numerous needs. His vision and passion were very inspiring. He obviously loves these people, and they love him back. As he told us several times, it is important to get to know people and their culture before you try to share the gospel with them. He has spent enough time in the villages to earn the people's trust and respect.

This is Deli Xaba. She also works very closely with Hearts of Compassion and was with us every day we went into the villages. She translated for us (most of the people spoke Zulu and very little English) and is completely on fire for God and passionate about spreading the Word to her people. She is a Zulu woman who grew up in situations very similar to the ones that we encountered in the villages. God grabbed her heart and now she is a living testimony to God's power and love. It was such a joy being around her. She has this crazy excitement about life and such a compassionate spirit....she shares it with everyone she comes in contact with (whether she means to or not!). This picture was taken while she was singing to the other van...

More about Hearts of Compassion's work later...if you want to know more go here :)

Africa - the beginning

2009-01-13T13:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I posted last...just haven't had all that much to write about, I suppose. But I went to Africa this December, so now I do have something that is blog-worthy. :)

The trip was adventurous from the moment we got off the plane in Johannesburg. There were twenty four of us, so Darren (our fearless...except when five of his students were in a tree, more on that later...leader) rented three 10-passenger vans. When we got to the parking lot, there were two 14-passenger vans waiting for us. These 14 passenger vans are a lot like the big vans in the US - no trunk space. So, we had to find a way to get all of our luggage and 24 adult-sized people into these vans. Long story short, the guys did an amazing job packing the vans and only three people had to sit on the floor in each van for the 6-hour drive to Estcourt.

The ride got even more fun about 4 hours into it when there was a blow-out on one of the vans. The guys had to unpack the van in the picture above (both vans were packed like this, by the way), lift the van by hand to get the jack under it (picture to the right), change the tire, and repack the van. All before the thunderstorm that was following us caught up. They succeeded, of course :)

After a 3 bathroom breaks, a few more stops for a couple people to be sick on the side of the road, an in-the-car, over-the-radios New Year's celebration, and being yelled at by truckers for singing loudly and obnoxiously over the radios, we made it safely to Midland's Christian Center around 1am (South Africa time) on New Year's day.

Midlands Christian is a beautiful facility, with trees and flowers all around. There is a preschool and a soccer field. There are two houses, the Agape house (where the boys stayed) and the discipleship training house (where the girls stayed). We had beds and hot showers...it was very nice. I loved the swings in the playgrounds. They were made out of old tires! Brilliant!

Look for more ZA posts later!

Azusa and Africa

2008-09-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

I submitted my application to Azusa Pacific's graduate program this morning. I talked to them last week and was informed that the program is already full for Fall 2009. I applied anyways...there's a chance I can get on a waiting list and still get in. So it's in God's hands now. If He wants me there, He'll get me there. I've done all I can.

In other exciting news, I may be going to South Africa on a mission trip in December. Honestly, I don't have much of an idea what we're going to be doing...I know it will be working with orphans, some medical stuff, water purification, things like that. We had a missionary come and talk to us at CROSS tonight and she mentioned this trip. When I heard about it, I thought, "I should go." So I talked to her, and we're going to get together tomorrow evening to talk about it. She already called the boss and found out there is still room on the team. The only problem is that I have absolutely no idea where I'm gonna get the money for it. She said not to worry about it, and that if I'm supposed to go, I'll go. I guess this is another "I'll do what I can and the rest is up to God" deal.

Song of the Day

2008-09-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

I Knew You Before
Dustin Kensrue

You were once a sweet little girl
so innocent and pure
Your eyes were open and sure
anyone could look right in

I followed closely your gaze
you looked up towards the sky
But I watched your face drift away
other things had caught your eye

The magazines and media supplied you with their plastic protocol
And maybe music television really is the devil after all
But all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
before you grew up, before you gave in

You dream of sharing your heart
Instead you share your bed
And your heart beats empty and cold
With all the tears that you have shed

You dream of baring your soul
Instead you bare more skin
And you wear dark glasses to keep
Anyone from looking in

The magazines and media supplied you with their plastic protocol
Oh, and maybe music television really is the devil after all
But all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
Before you grew up, before you gave in

And all you want is to hear the words:
"Dear baby I love you"
So you hike your skirt higher still
'Till their eyes are all on you

You drive in fast foreign cars
The color of your sin
And you tint your windows to keep
Anyone from looking in

Oh, and all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
Before you grew up, before you gave in

And all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then

You could be beautiful again....

If We Are the Body...

2008-09-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

I worked with this really amazing lady over the summer (for privacy's sake, I'm not going to provide a name or any specific details). She was born with a genetic disorder that causes her muscles not to work. In a nutshell, she has limited movement of her head and right arm and hand. And that's it. No walking, no doing anything that requires the use of two hands, nothing. Understandably, this frustrates her to no end. She is a wonderful woman trapped in a body that essentially doesn't work. The thing that amazes me about her is that she doesn't let her condition drag her down. So many people would be bitter and angry over their situation, but she usually is able to maintain a positive attitude. She holds a steady job, is fun to be around, and lives her life as normally as she is able. Her view is that being angry and depressed is only going to make people around her not like her or want to spend time with her. And what good would that do?

Thinking about her makes me wonder if God sometimes feels the same way she does. If the church is the body of Christ, with Jesus at the head, does God feel like He's trapped in a body that doesn't work? When His people don't do the work He intends for them to do (like feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, helping the orphans and widows, etc), I wonder if He gets frustrated just like my friend. He wants so badly for His hand or His arm to reach out and comfort the hurting...but for whatever reason it won't go. Is the church so caught up in political or financial issues that it has...paralyzed God? Now I realize that God is God and He can do anything He wants...but He has chosen to work through His people and His church at least most of the time. And when His church and His people don't do His work....His body doesn't function. It doesn't work. Just like my friend's body. Does God get frustrated or discouraged? And if He does, am I part of the cause?

If We Are the Body (chorus only)
By Casting Crowns

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way
Jesus is the way

Skunk Harbor

2008-06-10T21:05:00.001-07:00

Jess and I and a couple of her friends spent the afternoon at Lake Tahoe today. It was a beautiful day for spending at the beach...70ish degrees...mostly sunny, except for the only cloud in the sky that decided to park itself directly under our sun for a while....light breeze....and the fact that we were the only ones on the entire beach. Jess and I decided last night that it would be fun to take Quita with us, so we searched online for Tahoe beaches that allow dogs. We found this little beach called Skunk Harbor. It's a mile or two hike off the highway, and well worth it. It was fun playing in the water, laying on the beach, and climbing on the rocks...all completely alone with nothing except each other and the lake for company.

It also seemed as if we picked just the right time (or wrong time, depending on how you look at it) to go. Along the entire beach, just at the edge of the water were thousands of lady bugs. It was crazy. There were really big ones and really tiny ones, and every size in between. Jessica and Richelle didn't like them much because there were so many of them and they kept crawling on us. Eventually we found a little corner of the beach that didn't have as many lady bugs, so the girls were happy. Being a Biology major, I was a little interested in how and why they were so concentrated in that particular spot. After a brief, 10 minute Google search, I have yet to find an answer. Therefore, I am just going to assume that for whatever reason (possibly the vegetation, lots of water, relative lack of disturbance by humans, etc) the area was perfect for mass reproduction. :)

I'm sure we'll be back :)

Going to Minnesota

2008-06-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

I really want to go to the family vacation ("tribal gathering") in Minnesota in a couple weeks. With Mom and Dad gone on their cruise this week, I've already noticed how incredibly lonely this house is without other people. And if I don't go to MN with everyone, I'll be the only one here for the week. :( Besides that, I've only been on 1 of the last 4 family vacations. So I really want to go and see everyone.

The problem is that I'm only home (and working) for the summer, so I don't know that I should take a week off. And my savings account has a whopping $50 in it, so I don't know if I can afford time off. And it doesn't look like it's gonna get better any time soon seeing how the entirety (plus some) of my next check is going to rent. Grr. I hate money.

What should I do??!?!?!?!!?!?

Summer Reading

2008-05-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have found it a bit frustrating being home...simply because I have yet to start working anywhere (but good news! I start training at Advanced Home Health Care on Monday!) Not to worry though, I haven't wasted this time off....in the three and a half weeks since I took my last final, I have read 12 1/2 books (ok, ok, so that isn't the most useful thing I could have done, but seeing how I can't read during the school year, it was nice to be able to read what I want). This list consists of the entire Harry Potter series, and the five book series about events leading up to the tribulation by Joel C. Rosenberg beginning with The Last Jihad (apparently, we don't have an underline option...). The Rosenberg series is excellent...usually I don't like political-type books, but I couldn't put these ones down! Currently I'm in the middle of Stephen R. Donaldson's The Mirror of Her Dreams, the first book in a two book series known as Mordant's Need.

In reading Jenn's blog, I was introduced to Ann's blog, on which she has a bookshelf (along with some really good, thought provoking posts). I liked the bookshelf, so I got one myself. Now you can keep up with what I'm reading! Aren't you excited?! :)

All Done!

2008-05-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yay for no more finals!! Yay for getting an A in Immunology!!! :)

Yay for summer!!!

And The Countdown begins...

2008-04-18T14:37:00.001-07:00

Only 6 more days of classes!!!!!!!! And only a week and a half until I'm done at Subway!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Life Happenings

2008-04-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

Mi vida has been pretty crazy lately....here's some of it in a nutshell:

Still working at Subway. Whoever thought up this stupid $5 footlong sale should be shot. We've been so busy and they've begun scheduling twice as many people to work each shift as normal. But they haven't hired anyone new. So all our hours are pretty much doubled, which would be a good thing, except I really don't have time to work full time and go to school full time. It sucks. And Eric doesn't like it much either.

Speaking of Subway, it amazes me how often people come in and ask stupid questions. Like, "What's on a Veggie Delight?" or "What comes on a Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich?" Well....if you think about it for half a second, I'm sure you can figure it out. Veggie Delight = Veggies. go figure. And our typical answer to the second question: "Well, chicken, bacon, and....ranch."

I've been looking for a job at home for the summer, preferably at the hospital. But I haven't had much luck (ok...not any luck at all). It's a little bit frustrating how unhelpful everyone I've talked to has been (except Mary Scott, but she's not in a position to actually give me a job). The job I was going to apply for at CTH is no longer on the website, so I can't apply for that. I'm thinking I may have to just volunteer at the stupid place and work at Subway or something for the summer. Joy.
Allison and I got an apartment. Then got another apartment and gave up the first one. Long story short, the lady that runs the first apartments was a jerk. She lied to us, changed her story, yelled at Allison, and yelled at and hung up on Allison's father. So yesterday we called another place and got another apartment that is nicer, cheaper, and the people who work there are not jerks. We'll probably move in sometime next week or the week after. So if I can't get a job at home, I can get one here (at the hospital...because they are willing to work with college students to get them experience...) and I'll have somewhere to stay. I'd really rather go home though.
I got an 85% on my last Biochem test. Which was ok, I guess. Better than usual. We have one more test and the final. Maybe I'll do ok...
I enrolled in an online Medical Terminology class. All is really is is memorizing definitions. Which is ok, I can do that. But I should've waited a few weeks. Don't have time for it now...I have six months to complete it though, so I should be ok.
Eric gradumacates in a couple weeks. He's been applying like crazy for jobs, but most companies, it seems, want 5-10 years experience, which Eric doesn't have. It's a little bit frustrating, but Eric says he isn't worried. God will open doors eventually....

I guess that's about it.

Off to work....

God With Us (MercyMe)

2008-03-30T10:25:00.001-07:00

Sang this song in church today. I likes it lots

Needles

2008-03-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

I've donated blood three times. The first time I was fine, the second and third times I've gotten really sick and dizzy. I thought it was my body rebelling against losing blood.

Today my biochem class went to the hospital to take a tour of the clinical lab and to get a sample of blood taken so we could do some experiments with it. We each had to fill a little teeny-tiny tube with blood...no problem, right? Yeah...I did the whole get sick thing. again. And I was the only one in the class.

I've decided it's not the blood thing I have a problem with. It's the needle thing. But only when they're headed for me. I have no problem sticking them in rats...

So which parent do I get to blame this genetic abnormality on??

The Kite Runner

2008-03-26T12:57:00.001-07:00

I really enjoyed this book when I read it. The movie is excellent as well. So go rent it. Now. :)

"For you, a thousand times over!"

Biochem

2008-03-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

My biggest hate:
Biochem
The biggest waste of time:
Biochem
The class in which I have given the most effort this semester:
Biochem
The class in which I have the lowest grade:
Biochem
The test for which I studied all spring break and all week before and all day the day before:
Biochem
The test for which I am completely comfortable with the material and know it backwards and forwards:
Biochem
The test in which I received a 74%:
Biochem
The class that I can't drop because the last day to drop with a W was Friday and we didn't have our second test until Thursday and just got the grade back today:
Biochem
The class that I no longer care about in the slightest:
Biochem

Biggest hate:
Biochem

pools

2008-03-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

I had a dream that I was walking through the forest. Everything was lush, green, and beautifully alive. The birds sang in the trees and sunlight streamed down through the leaves. As I walked I came across a pool. It was full of sparkling, clear, fresh water. The sunlight reflected off of it, making it look like a pool of diamonds. The pool was shallow on the edges, but gradually became deep. People were in the pool. They laughed and played. Whenever someone stumbled or fell, they would immediately be surrounded by friends who would help them back to their feet and encourage them to continue on. The people constantly invited others on the banks to join them and enjoy the pure water. When an outsider would begin to move toward the pool, that person was always joined by a few people from the pool who would help him take his first steps into the water. They would then begin to teach him how to swim. Soon it was if the new person had always been there supporting, inviting, enjoying. With each new addition, the pool became a little larger, making more room for the growing group. This, I could tell, was a place of joy, peace, and belonging. A place that anyone could come and feel welcome and learn to swim and enjoy the deep waters. This was how it was meant to be.

I continued walking, but gradually the scene around me began to change. First, the birds quit singing. Then the grass and flowers wilted, and the trees died. The beautiful forest had become a wasteland, a place of death. I continued walking, curious what had caused this. Eventually I came across another pool. Unlike the others, this one was shallow, only maybe ankle deep. And the water was not clear, or pure, or flowing. It was stagnant, filled with the muck and slime that grows in stagnant water. People were in this pool too. They wandered around with smiles on their faces, but I could easily tell they were fake and this was not a place of joy and love.
There were some people who saw the death that surrounded them and tried to make a difference. They talked with others, gesturing to the landscape around them, but to no avail. The others refused to look up. Eventually those who were trying to bring change to the pool were forced out of it. They looked back sadly on their lost friends and walked away, disappearing into the forest.

One girl in the pool caught my eye. It seemed that she had many friends and moved easily from one to the other. Her smile seemed genuine and she was able to share it with others. As I watched, however, another girl with a bucket came up to her. The bucket girl smiled at the friendly girl, but the smile was not one that showed joy or happiness. It brought a chill to my heart. The bucket girl stooped down and filled her bucket with dirty water from the friendly girl's feet. She then walked over to the friends of the friendly girl and began pouring the filthy water on them. As she did it, she looked back and pointed at the friendly girl. The friends looked disgusted and turned their backs on friendly girl. She went to them, pleaded with them to listen to her, but they all turned away and followed bucket girl. Every one of them refused to look down and see that the water at their own feet was just as filthy and dirty as the water that had come from the feet of friendly girl.

Friendly girl stood there all alone and crying. Nobody came to encourage her to continue on. Instead they all came to her and began to push her until she was at the edge of the pool. One last push by Bucket girl and she was out of the pool, alone on the bank. Crying, she stumbled through the forest, feeling alone and betrayed by all those she thought friends. Soon she came across a man standing in her path. She approached him cautiously but felt no real fear. The man had a kind face and a compassionate smile. He also had a bucket. But his bucket was full of clear, pure water from one of the other pools. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her to a bench. There he gently washed the slime and muck from the old pool off her feet and wiped the tears from her cheeks. He took her hand and led her down a path - to a living pool - one with clear water that looked like diamonds and people with real smiles. The people there cheered when she arrived and she was surrounded by people who led her to the pool and into the water. She learned to swim, and to love again. She allowed the water to wash over her and remove the pain of rejection and betrayal from her soul. Her bright, joyful smile returned. She was home.
This was how it was meant to be.

Random Thoughts

2008-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

First, a follow-up note or two about the previous post (Dear KWC)

Apparently, the IT department got a clue. They doubled our bandwidth last week. Yay :)
Positive change is possibly in the air for the rest of the topics: they fired our president last Tuesday. Gotta love K-dub!

Customer Service Tips for Dummies:

None of the following are appropriate ways to address your customers:

"Hey dude!"
"What's up, man?"
"Whatcha need?"
"Sure, whatever"
or anything else that even resembles these comments. So knock it off. It's embarrassing to you and everyone you work with.

If your coworker is able to chop 25 tomatoes (yes, I counted) in the time it takes you to make 1 sandwich, you might be working to slow. Maybe you should work on that.
Don't just stand around when there are customers to serve, sandwiches to make, prep to be done, and dishes to wash. People shouldn't have to tell you what to do every minute of the day. Look around and figure it out for yourself.

On that note, if somebody is doing a one-person task, they don't need help. Find something else to do.

Lastly (for this blog anyways), when you have a phone order, don't tell the customer it's gonna take you another hour to make 2 sandwiches. It doesn't matter how busy you think you are, you can get it done. Especially if you figure out how to move faster than a dead snail.

Fun Stuff:

Thanks to Steph's Heroes blog, I felt like I needed to watch the first season again. Yay! So during the weekends (the only time there's enough bandwidth to watch instant movies on Netflix) I've been watching it! And I'm loving it! :)
Jess comes to visit in about a week!!!!! And Spring break is in a week!!!! And I don't have any midterms (except maybe Microbio, but not sure about that one)!!!!!
I'm actually really liking working at Subway (except for stupid coworkers (see above)). It's fun, although not terribly challenging, and I like most of the people I work with
That Netflix commercial about how Netflix is like getting little red presents in your mailbox is so true! I love it! Allison and I get so excited when new movies come in (yes, we're easily excited). :)

I guess that's it for now. Tata!! :)

Dear KWC

2008-02-17T19:33:00.000-08:00

Dear KWC,

Each of your students pays you over $20,000 per year. With almost 1000 students enrolled, that is over $20 million dollars per year. Considering that, I think you can afford to get us some decent food, internet, and laundry facilities.

I recently started working at Subway. I am so glad I did. Now I know I have a decent meal every time I work. In the cafeteria we are lucky to get something edible in the main line (no, I am not exaggerating). The salad bar is generally either wilted or frozen. I've gotten more than my fair share of sour milk. The Ranch usually has pretty good food, if we don't want to use the meal plan that we pay over $3,000 for, and if we want fried food. Because that's all there is. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, double cheeseburgers, buffalo chicken. Sometimes you have salads and some sandwiches, but more often than not it is the same as the caf: frozen or wilted. Yum Yum

About the internet: it should NOT take 48 minutes to download a song off of iTunes. I suppose I can understand not being able to watch instant movies on Netflix, but really. I tried four times to get to my dashboard to blog. And when I finally got there, it took another minute and a half to get to a "new post" page. It regularly takes about 2 minutes to load Yahoo, or any other page on the internet. Basically, we're paying you $200/year for slower-than-dial up internet. You recently sent out an email telling us what you spend our technology fee on. Let's take a look:

48% of our fee goes towards the computer labs. Specifically replacing equipment and wiring. Ok...we must break a lot of computers
14% goes towards maintaining email and panthernet. You need more than $24,000 per year to do that?
Now the one that really bugs me: 12% of the fee goes towards student printing. Do the students really (with our 1000 page printing limit) spend almost $22,000 per year on printing? I suppose it's possible....except most of us have our own printers...
8% for academic software for student (not lab) computers. Great. I haven't seen any of this software...
6%, 5%, and 2% for security and Microsoft on student computers, classroom multimedia, and miscellaneous stuff, respectively. again, haven't seen any of it...
3% for student flash drives. The only students who get flash drives are freshman. Why do we all have to pay for them? surely a couple hundred 250MB flash drives don't cost $6,000....
And Finally: a whopping 2% of our student technology fee goes towards internet. I am paying $4 a year for internet. And it shows....you get what you pay for. I want to pay more. And less for all that other stuff I don't need...

Last but not least. Laundry. You make me pay $25 per semester for a laundry card. It is $0.25 for a load of wash and $0.25 for a dryer. So, assuming I do a load of whites and a load of darks, that is $1 to wash my clothes. The semester is 16 weeks long. So to use all of my laundry money, I would have to do laundry every 4 days. Who in the world goes through clothes that fast??? Basically, I used a whole $12 last semester on laundry. So this semester I started with $47. So I can do laundry every other day! Just another way you're taking money out of pockets....
Another thing: I live in a residence hall with 85 other people. We need more than 4 washing machines.

One more problem I have with you: I don't like how you change who you are depending on who you're talking to. When you're recruiting athletes, there is very little mention of anything religious (unless the athlete happens to be religious...). However, when you're talking to a church (like you did this morning at mine) you're all about being "Methodist" and "related to the Methodist church" and "being so proud of our Methodist heritage." The only reason you keep a campus minister employed is because if you don't, the Methodist church will discontinue their financial support. There is nothing Christian about you except the small minority of Christian Ministry students who are last on any of your priority lists. Quit being Christian in name...you're so fake.

Please consider changing something, anything. I know I am not the only one with these complaints.

Sincerely,
Nicole

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

2008-02-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

Just some fun winter pictures from around campus....
Eric's car....the entire thing was buried under ice as thick as the stuff on the roof. Took about 20 minutes to chisel through.

The library, Ranch, and cafeteria building (The Winchester Center)

The side of Massie Hall (my dorm)

Yu Hak Han Science Center....this is where I live....

My New Current Favorite Song

2008-02-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

Come What May
Moulin Rouge -- Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman

Never knew I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before
I want to vanish inside your kiss
Every day i'm loving you more than this
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time

Chorus:
Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste
It all revolves around you
And there's no mountain too high
No river too wide
Sing out this song I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather
And stars may collide
But I love you until the end of time

Oh, come what may, come what may
I will love you, I will love you
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

When it rains, it pours...or snows...

2008-02-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

Last week we had thunderstorms and tornadoes. Saturday it was 70 degrees. Today, it hasn't reached 25 degrees and we have 2 inches of snow and another inch of ice (within the last couple hours). During the 20 minutes I was in class this afternoon before the professor sent us home, a good 1/4 inch of ice froze to my windshield (yes, I drove Eric's car to the Ralph Center....it's cold and sleeting).

Just keep the people who were affected by the tornado last week in prayer. Most of them lost everything they had, and now even what they do have is buried under ice and snow...

Memories

2008-01-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

I guess it really shouldn't surprise me that the death of a friend's loved one brings back the pain of the death of my own. What amazes me, however, is how much I can remember about her, even a year later.

While I clearly remember her puttering around the kitchen, cleaning the living room, and all the other day-to-day things she did, that is no longer what sticks out most in my mind when I think of her.

I remember the funny curlers she put in her hair every night. I can picture the way her eyes crinkled in the corners when she smiled or laughed. And the way she yelled at the dog to "get out of here...shoo!" She used to laugh at us ("oh, you guys") and hit us on the arm whenever we'd tease her. Her eyes would light up with a child-like joy on Christmas morning, or when we brought a piece of cake to her room. That light in her eyes would radiate through her entire face when we took a trip to San Francisco, Salt Lake, or Boulder City.

When I picture her, I think I will always, always, see her sitting on those dratted bleachers in every high school gym in Northern Nevada. I see her as I did at every game in high school....two or three rows up from the bottom....and far away, because I was sitting on the bench on the other side of the gym. And when the game was over, I'd help her down. Her knees hurt so she had to have an arm to hold onto. She groaned and laughed at every step down the bleachers, as she seemingly tried to pull me over. Once we were safely on the floor, she'd grab my arm, just below the elbow, with both hands and walk, with all her weight on my arm, toward the door.

Even now when I'm home, I still don't completely believe that she won't come shuffling down the hall, excited I'm home ("oh, Nicole, you're home!") and ready to sit in the rocker by the sliding door and talk with Mom about school or Al and Cal or anything else that came to mind.

The Beginning

2008-01-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to blog some for a while, but I don't like myspace blogs much. Therefore I decided to create my own on blogspot and join the crowd of family members who have a blog here and never update it. :)

Don't expect anything revolutionary, witty, or even remotely intelligent from this blog. It'll mainly just be random thoughts and stories that don't merit a phone call or an email but that are fun to share anyways. Like the fact that phenylalanine has a benzene ring in it. It really doesn't have anything to do with anything (unless you're a biology major) but it's still good to know. :)