Day 407

The last three weeks I have felt like the sermon at church was for me. The first week was about coming out of darkness. I went forward and let people pray over me and I felt much better that day. Last week was about the devil's tools and how he deceives us, tempts us, and accuses us. Today the sermon was about Rivers in the Desert. (I'll admit, I was really annoyed that a river video was looping in the background for the entire message. But now, thinking about it, it's just funny.)  Too many people don't know about the river, many only put their toes or maybe their ankle into the water. Most people won't go waist deep and even fewer are willing to dive in and let the current carry them.

As Pastor Bud was talking about the river I had three songs come into my head.

1. ♫ I have a river a river of life flowing inside of me and it never runs dry ♪
2. ♪ ♫ Wishing I was knee deep in the water somewhere (I do not endorse this song, it simply crossed my mind)
3. ♪♫ I'm diving in, I'm going deep, in over my head I want to be. Caught in the rush, caught in the flow, in over my head I want to go! The river's deep, the river's wide, the river's water is alive! So sink or swim, I'm diving in! ♪♫♪♫

I thought after the first Sunday I went to Crossroads things would be different. I let them pray over me, I felt different, things were gonna be better. But today I realized that I am not in the river. Heck, I'm in a land-locked place right now! I haven't let go and I'm still resisting surrender. Miss T and pastor Bud both prayed over me, but it's gonna take more than that. I have to surrender! It's not easy though. It means letting go of what I want. It means following God instead of earthly things. It means not doing some of the fun things I enjoy. I drove the speed limit the whole way back (very uncommon for me!) I unchecked all of the songs on my iTunes today that don't honor God. Notice that I didn't even have the strength to just delete them and remove them from my life? I still want to watch my Grey's Anatomy and How I Met Your Mother but I know those shows aren't good for me. I tried to justify it and say I've seen over 8 seasons of each show and I am only going to watch the rest of the current season, but is that really what is best? No!

I am so torn right now. I have lots of decisions to make. I know what the right thing to do is, but actually following through with it is harder than it sounds. Of course, school is still going on and I have to keep up with that. When I get overwhelmed, like I have been this weekend, I want to shut down and do nothing. That's when I should be relying on God! But it's not really my first instinct. I feel like I have been asking for prayer a lot, but I really need help. If you want, a text, a call, a note or letter, or anything really to let me know you are rooting for me in this fight would really be encouraging. Please pray for me. I'm sure my roommate would appreciate it because she has to live with me and I'm kind of all over the place right now.

Day 406

So you wanna read about my day huh? It sucked. Yep.

The prospective student who was staying with me left before I woke up. I shouldn't have slept in though. I have way too much homework due next week. Monday alone requires a Powerpoint, Invoice, Paper, and Map for just one class. Tuesday has a take home test, economic assessment paper, and a trucking paper. The only thing I got accomplished today was the Monday stuff and caught my blog up. I am super stressed and getting overwhelmed to the point of wanting to just quit.

The highlight of my day was when I went to El Sombrero with Lisa for lunch. We went because I was out of meals because I had breakfast this week. It was super yummy, even if the tortilla maker was broken.

It's now almost midnight and I need sleep. My brain is fried and I still have so much to do. Prayer for strength, productivity, motivation, and peace would be greatly appreciated!

Day 405

I heard about a summer internship at Samaritan's Purse last month and looked into it. But I didn't do anything about it. Last week when I stalked Jessica, she asked me if I had applied yet. I told her that I hadn't and she could slap me today if I hadn't done it yet. When I took her ice cream today, she didn't slap me, but she did get on to me. I told her that I would do something about it this weekend. I sat down after dinner to start working on it. At 1:00am I gave up because I was totally upset with the whole process.

First, I set up an account and began work. Part way through, I left a field blank because it said "* Pastor" or "Spiritual Mentor." I filled out the spiritual mentor part though. The application warns you that if you leave a *required line blank you will lose all progress on the application. I should have known better, but I tried it anyway. Bad choice.
I started the process over and filled in every line. I worked up to the point that you are supposed to attach a resume and cover letter. I wanted to make sure the other parts were correct, so I went back and looked at them. As I worked backwards, the information was there, but then I went forward and it disappeared. I was more than upset. I may have cried. Mind you, it was past my bedtime at this point.
Third time's the charm! I worked through and didn't go back at all. I tried to write a cover letter and was stumped. I wanted so bad to finish it tonight because I didn't want to lose my progress, but I didn't want to turn in something that was less than par. After a while I decided to give up. I logged out and took a deep breath to release some of my stress. I logged back in just to explore the site a bit. When I did this, there were all three applications I had started. UGH!!! The frustration was for nothing! What a relief! Annoying to not know sooner, but I was still super excited when I saw it! After I get a chance to meet with Laura to go over my resume and cover letter, I will submit my application. Prayer would be appreciated. I really want to go to Boone, NC and I need some experience!

Poor Heritage Competitor! She went to bed about 9pm and I was still up at 1am. I turned off most of the lights and I was quiet, but I think she woke up a couple times.

Day 404

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Heh okay, enough of my nerdy humor. This morning while I was at work, Timber asked me to work on a project of alphabetizing the boxes of archives. It's a huge project because there are well over 300 boxes! Each box varies in weight, but most are over 20lbs. Some weigh 30lbs or more. Picking these up and lifting them above your head for half an hour is a nice workout. Too bad I wasn't expecting it and I got sweaty. Whatever, not a big deal. It's better than some things I've had to do before.

Something that was a big deal was my test in Intermediate Accounting II today. This was the first test of the semester and I am pretty worried about it. If you recall, I came very close to failing the first class. I have been doing the homework and I took some practice tests and I studied, but I am not sure about this class. The first part of the test is theory, which we did today. We have a take home portion for the second part that will be due on Tuesday. It is more problems and research. It should be easier than other tests I've had, but I am still kinda scared about it.

Also, for the first time ever ...drum roll please! ..... I had a previewer/Heritage Competitor! Woohoo! She was a nice, young woman from Oregon. She arrived this afternoon and we had a lovely chat tonight. I didn't get my homework finished, but that's okay. I hope she comes to LeTourneau. Partly because we need more female engineers, but mostly because she is a really sweet girl and I think she will like it here!

Day 403

Have you ever had a class where absolutely nothing about that class made sense? You walk away after each class period wondering, "what exactly did he try to teach me just now?" That is how I feel after Advanced Managerial Accounting every week. We cover so much material and sometimes it is hard to understand exactly what the point of it all is. This week was different. We talked about flexible budgets and flexible budget variances. I know all about these and everything made sense! Due to a miscommunication last semester, Mr. Foy taught us about that and I remembered most of it pretty well. I wasn't happy last semester when I realized we didn't need to know that, but it actually paid off for this semester!

Funny Story: We wrote a paper last week for this class about "Saving the USPS" and today the front headline was "Postal Service to End Delivery of Letters on Saturdays." No one in our class recommended that, so I hope they know what they are doing!

Day 402

When we first received our itinerary for the trip to England, everyone noticed that Friday had some open time. A couple people asked about visiting London for various reasons. I wanted to so that I could meet up with a friend who lives there. Tonight when we met to discuss where we are at with the workshops, Dr. Jacobs told us that for an extra $100, we could take a train to London and spend the whole day there! This was exciting for sure!

I am working with 3 other students to prepare a workshop for business owners in Preston. We are discussing how to write a business plan. The difficult part about this project is that you spend an entire semester learning how to make a Marketing Plan which is only one part of making a Business Plan. So, in theory, we could teach them for 2 semesters... our workshop is 2-3 hours. How do you simplify a business plan and still cover everything that is important?! Did I mention that we have two freshman who know nothing about making a business plan? This is gonna be an adventure...

Day 401

I'm so glad that I didn't have anything due today. I was definitely dragging. I still got up and worked out with Anna at 7am despite being super tired. But after a shower, it was back in bed until chapel! I haven't been keeping up with the chapel schedule very well, so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in and the band was on stage and they played for the entire chapel. Praise and worship chapels are my favorite! Followed by when musicians comes to preform.

I honestly don't remember anything notable about this day....sorry

Day 400

SUPERBOWL ..... something in the forties right? XLVII = X(10) L(50) V(5) I(1) I(1) so either 47 or 67. Meh, who cares! No one will remember who won until the next time either of those teams plays. Don't judge me. I just don't care a lot about professional football. I think that it is similar to movie stars, we have created such a demand for them that their price tag is unbelievable and it makes me sick to think how much they make per game or per movie. But the superbowl, as we all know, is about commercials and the half time show, not the actual game! Sadly, the half time show was not about music... I wasn't really impressed with any of the commercials either.

Remember how I came back this morning at 4:30am? I went to church and was awake by 9:00am. Then, I went shopping for food for our superbowl party with some of the girls on our floor and never took a nap. I was exhausted, so I ended up leaving the Nelson's house after the end of the 2nd quarter. I am glad I did because I was back and asleep before 9pm, I didn't have to watch the awful halftime show, and I missed the blackout!

Congratulation to The Ravens and Michael Oher! If you don't know who Michael Oher is, you need to watch "The Blind Side"!

Day 399

When most people think about weekends, they think about the fun that they can have in their spare time (time not spent at work). But for college students, weekends are a time to catch up on homework. I spent the early part of my day reading about environmental science before leaving for Dallas. I took my laptop and a few things I deemed necessary and headed off to see Elise. Today is her birthday you know! I turned on the movie Cars on the way there which made me want to drive really fast! But I already do, so what else is new?
Once there, I had a "skype date" with Patrick as Elise got ready. She was supposed to talk to him, but it ended up being just him and I talking about stuff. I left Longview thinking that we were going country dancing, so I brought my boots! But we ended up going to Main Event instead, so I got to wear my awesome new superman t-shirt! Dinner at Lava 10 was delicious. Out of 8 people, I am the only person who ate cooked food... Everyone else had sushi, Elise's favorite. We played some games while we waited for bowling lanes to open up. Then we proceeded to play 3 games. Each of us won one game! I had a lot of fun hanging out with Elise and the others!
I left Dallas around 2am and arrived back in Longview at 4:30am. It was a long day for sure! On the way back, I played Finding Nemo. Man I love that movie!

Happy Birthday Elise! I hope you know how special you are! It was awesome to see you!

Day 398

Friday is the best day of the week. You are finished with classes, you might get paid, you have two whole days until school starts, you can stay up late if you want (or go to bed before 10pm like we did). But a lot happened before 10pm!

7:00am Awake, coffee, started reading for Environmental Science
8:00am Post tweet condemning the breeding of stupidity, begin feeling guilty about thoughts to not have medicine to create a strong more 'fit' human race and realizing that many people I know wouldn't be alive without medicine.
9:00am Finished reading chapter, went to Walmart with Erin to find a pH testing kit which they didn't have (bummer) and a desk calendar which they also didn't have (double bummer).
10:00am Bought Beef Jerky Steak in the check out line because I was hungry.
11:00am Sitting in chapel listening to the cutest little children from Uganda sing. Mwangaza Children's Choir was awesome!
12:00pm Wrote blog postings instead of paying attention in Environmental Science.
1:00pm Falsified documents in Accounting Systems and cheated the government out of money that they rightfully deserved (hypothetically). My company is doing fairly well I must say. Too bad everything will end for Sanchez Garden Supply next Monday when we start work on MS Access.
2:00pm Lunch from the hive was a lame burrito that was severely lacking due to the large number of students who arrived before me. I got my package from the USPS and I came back to my room. Turned on Grey's Anatomy and ate my burrito.
3:00pm Opened the package and checked out the new blades. Tried them on and skated around the dorm. Roommate assured me that they were good and I could take the tags off. We went to ice cream and I didn't fall.
4:00pm I skated over to visit Sarah and she told me to take a picture if I "biff it." Why I am not familiar with the term 'biff it' or the song 'MMMBop' is beyond me, but apparently I missed out on some things. Took Abby home after I got back to my room.
5:00pm Swung by PETSMART looking for a pH testing kit and the woman assured me that I didn't need one. So much for Terrill's advice. Then I got gas because the little light came on.
6:00pm Met Tim and Chrissy for dinner at Panda Express. We walked up to PETSMART and wandered around.
7:00pm Stalked Jessica at Old Navy. Bought Superman shirt.
8:00pm Watched some Last Man Standing and just decompressed for a bit
9:00pm Hung out and tried to figure out whether to stay up longer or go to bed. Got ready and slept.

That may not seem like much to some of you, but it felt like a long day to me. Eli is still alive. Day One as a Fish Owner = Success!

Day 397

Laying in bed this morning I thought about the effects of me not going to work. Of course I went to work, I'm not going to be that person! It's a good thing I did. I work from 7:45 until 11. At 11, Chad is supposed to come in. He didn't come in though. Micah was supposed to cover for him. But Micah had somewhere more important to be. So then I was supposed to cover for them from 11 until 12. The only problem is that I had already agreed to cover for Matt from 11:30 until 12:15. Instead of getting my lunch at 11:00am when I was hungry, I waited until 12:15 when Matt came to work. I don't really care to work alone for over 4 hours. Whatever, it's over now.

Okay, so more interesting story. I went to Walmart tonight with a couple friends and I bought a fish! Eeeek! I'm so excited about my little Eli. I am going to move him into the tank tomorrow, but I did take a picture of him in the little tub I bought him in. I showed him off to a bunch of people tonight as soon as we got back. I hope that I will be a good owner, but there is apparently a lot more to raising a fish than I was aware of. I am nervous about this in a similar way to parents who take home a new baby. I'll keep you updated on his progress!

Day 396

It's more of a birth week than a birthday! I got two key lime pies Saturday, John made key lime pie on Monday, Tuesday mom got me a cake, and today Jackie and Audrey came over and brought me a second cake! I ate a big piece of the yummy cake. I even licked the plate clean it was so yummy! That's not normal for me because I really don't like cake that much. This was a great way to end the day though because I was really stressed this morning. A paper that I was supposed to write over the last three weeks was due at 3pm and I started writing it this morning.

I have really felt loved this week! But my birthweek won't be over until at least Friday....that's when my roller blades are coming!

Day 395

In several countries, birthdays are not celebrated. I am happy we celebrate them here! Today was my birthday and what a splendid day it was! While I was at work, I received an email telling me to come by an office because they had something for me. It turns out that my mother ordered me a birthday cake despite me having two key lime pies in my fridge. She told me that it was to share with my floor. I spent the whole day trying to get rid of it! I still have a corner left (about 1/16). I don't really like cake, so I haven't even had a piece. She ordered marble, which I prefer if I have cake, but they made vanilla. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

After lunch, I was working on evil Intermediate Accounting II homework when Jims and Rio came to my door. Rio held a plate of cookies! Abbs ate one and only two are left. I would tell you how many I ate, except that I lost track after 4... Behind her, Jims held a box. I opened the card and was scared when she said that, "this reminded me of you." Too my surprise, it was a Batman mask, cape and "Batarangs" (Bat-Boomerangs I guess). Of course I put on the mask and cape immediately! I grabbed my Batman boxers and put them over my shorts and I put on a black shirt. I walked around campus dressed like that, including going to classes, until dinner! You only turn 21 once, so you might as well have some fun with it! Some judged, others laughed, still others were concerned/disgusted/jealous!

Day 394

God has an interesting way of coordinating events. The first day that I decide to read my Bible before I start the day I read Mark 1:35, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." I thought that was great because Jesus set an example for us to start our day off by having a quiet time and that was what I did this morning. Then, in Mark 2:17, the pharisees condemn Jesus for eating with sinners and He responds that only the sick need a doctor. I thought this was great because for so long I said that I would clean myself up before I went to God and that's not how it works. What an interesting way to start the day!

The Environmental Science test today didn't go as well as I would have hoped, but it's over and there is nothing I can do but study better next time! Accounting Systems was cancelled because Mrs. Bellamy had somewhere else to be. So, I had some to clean out bad music from my phone and delete dumb Pandora stations. It was hard to let it all go, but it is not worth it to put that stuff in my mind. That's not to say that I deleted them from my computer, no, not just yet. But it's still progress.

Day 393

I thought that this year I was going to a new church and it would be New Beginnings. While I did go there the first Sunday, I have attended Crossroads Community Church the last two Sundays. Today, I took notes for the first time in a while. Not just fill in the blank stuff that some churches give you, but I took my own notes.(I pay better attention that way, rather than waiting for the next word and trying to guess it beforehand) The passage we looked at was Mark 9:14-29. I could tell you about this passage, but I would rather that your curiosity be piqued and you would investigate it for yourself.

I just want to share a couple of notes that I made during the sermon:

• It is tragic when disciples of Jesus have an inability to deal with people's darkness.
• The disciples were called in Mark 3:13-19 and had cast out demons before.
• Jesus dealt with:
• Deception
• Demons
• Diseases
• Distress
• Those who are desperate seek Him! If they aren't desperate, they aren't looking for help.
• God's desire is for [Crossroads] to be a place to deal with darkness; a place that can change people's lives!

When I realized what the sermon was about, I made a deal with God. Yeah, I know it's dumb and childish to make a deal with God, but I did it anyways. I told Him that if someone said something like, "I just feel like there is someone here that needs to come out of darkness today," I would know it was me and I would go to the front and receive prayer. It didn't happen early on, so I thought I was off the hook. But when a woman said that she had been set free two years before and that she knew there was someone in the room that needed to be set free, my heart began to race. I knew that I was supposed to go forward and I wanted to, but my body was fighting me and I had to let go of my pride. I had to keep up my end of the deal, too. Finally, I was able to stand up and walk to the front and Jackie was right behind me. Jovita and Hannah both came over as well and all three of them just began to pray over me and it was incredible. I was crying and shaking and somewhere in the midst of everything I just stopped. God calmed me and my breathing was normal, my leg quit shaking, and I quit crying. I felt God tell me, "It's okay Jamee, I've got you." Once all of the girls finished praying, I thanked them and hugged them. Then, I went over to the woman whose testimony I had responded to. She wanted to pray with me too and asked what she could pray for. In my typical style, I was vague about my darkness. She gathered her troops and surrounded me again in prayer. Ms. T was among them and she was a real encouragement to me! Crying is not my favorite thing, but I did a lot of it today. When I stood in the middle of what I can guess was about 8 or more women and asked for prayer, I am pretty sure they all knew what I was trying to hide in my vagueness. But that is okay. It is important to be vulnerable and "pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Hopefully, I will have the courage to be honest and not vague in the future.

I walked out of church today feeling refreshed and free for the first time in 7 years or more. God wanted me to be at Crossroads today and set me free because He wants what is best for His children.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

Day 392

I slept in this morning which was nice. I rushed to wash my clothes and sheets, wash my dishes, research roller blades, dry my clothes, workout, shower, make my bed, fold my clothes, and be ready to meet my family at 12:00pm, they got here at 12:45pm though, so I had some extra time. I didn't want to drive home this weekend, so they came out and we celebrated both my dad and my birthdays.

For lunch, I picked El Sombrero which was fantastic! We all could have eaten just chips, salsa, tortillas, and queso and been quite happy. But, I now have Fajita leftovers! Once we came back to campus, I opened presents. That was fun! I had to move all of my movies so I could add Cars in it's correct spot since I like them to be in alphabetical order. I had just moved all the DVDs after G because I forgot to add Gulliver's Travels when I bought it and I wanted to send the case home with my family. So it was annoying to go all the way back through the process. After opening the gift from my parents, I figured we should play all the games!

Apples To Apples (Arby's edition) was pretty funny (*Mom/April). Spoons was fun (*Mom)! Farkel is a classic with our family (*April). Pit was freakin' awesome (*Jamee)! Settlers of Catan is a good game (*Jamee)! Poor Daddy didn't win a game...sad day! Somewhere in the middle of all those games, we ate Key Lime Pie which was delicious! I shared with a lot of people because I can't have too many leftovers or I will eat them all. There were two recipes and my mom brought both. I preferred the cream cheese one to the baked one.

It was pretty late by the time we finished all the games and it was dad's turn to pick dinner. Outback Steakhouse was packed tonight! We waited 40 minutes to be seated! Our waitress, Sara, was a very nice, young lady. It was a great dinner and a good experience! It didn't feel special when they sang happy birthday to us though. Three other people were celebrating birthdays tonight and had already been sung to before we were in the spotlight.

Mom bought me roller blades online when we got back to campus. I had to say goodbye because they needed to leave for home. They won't be home until nearly 2am and I feel bad for them, but I am so happy that I got to spend time with them all day! I love my family!

Day 391

Things I've done in sets of three today:

•  Drove to the North side of town:
• To walk with Kim
• To take Abby home
• To visit Jenni
• Eaten:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Chick-Fil-A to satisfy a nugget craving
• Eaten Ice Cream:
• Friday YAC
• Because Abbs brought me some at dinner
• Because I wanted a Cookies 'n' Cream milkshake
• Thought about working out and didn't:
• Before meeting Kim
• Before taking Abby home
• After dinner
• Sat for long periods of time as required by my school
• Chapel
• Environmental Science
• Accounting Systems

Day 390

Today is just like any other day. I had class, I worked, I ate, I socialized (but I'm not a socialist) and now it's time for bed and I'm too lazy to write a long post about anything. I have to say that I'm really impressed at how many people read this all the time. It means a lot to me that so many people want to read about my life. I think some people read it just to see if I do something stupid and write about it so they can laugh. No exciting life stories or funny things today. Just another day.



"My hope is built on nothing less than your great love, your righteousness! I will not walk another way, I trust your heart, I trust your name! I'm holding on, I'm holding on to you!"

Day 389

I have told the story about the accident so many times that I felt like I had come to terms with it. I could describe the entire situation without emotions welling up in me. But today when I went to the funeral, those emotions came bursting out! I sat through songs that made me tear up and stories that made me laugh and cry. I was doing pretty well until I passed in front of the casket. Seeing the lifeless body of this incredible man made it real. I hadn't fully accepted that he was gone. Reality hit me so hard that I had to more less run out of there before I exploded. I only made it to the back of the room before I had to sit down because I was shaking and crying so badly that I couldn't walk or think straight. I am not a fan of crying, let alone crying in public. So that wasn't fun.

As much as I hurt, I know Erin has to be hurting so much more! That is why my phone now has an alarm set for 9:42pm so that I can pray for her everyday. (The random time came from a story someone told about Jason today)

There really wasn't much to this day outside of the funeral. I called some friends to let them know how much I love them because you never know when their time, or even your own, will come!

A girl from LeTourneau saw the whole incident and she is very shaken up by it. Please keep her and everyone else involved with this situation in your prayers. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of need. I pray that He will comfort everyone and give them peace!

Day 388

I have never been so proud of a freshman in my entire life! I went to visit a friend on another floor and as I was leaving I heard girls talking in a room. At first I was confused. But no, I hadn't heard them wrong. They were talking about sex!

•One girl grew up in a home with two adults that lived together for 23 years but never married. She didn't see the point of marrying someone if you didn't like having sex with that person. So of course you had to take a test drive, or two or fifty.

•Another girl grew up with a mother who had never been married. She didn't think it mattered how many people you had sex with because as long as your spouse doesn't judge you for not being a virgin, it didn't matter.

The biggest reason neither of them wanted to "do the dirty" was fear of contracting STDs. In my opinion, sex shouldn't be called dirty. If you have sex, it should be inside a marriage. In which case it is not dirty, it is beautiful!

The last girl, a proponent of abstinence, grew up in a home with two married parents that were open about their mistakes and wanted their children to avoid those same mistakes. Listening to this young woman share her values and opinions, ones I agree with, pride and respect for her grew in my heart!

Our first basketball game was a fail... We had to forfeit because no one was able to/wanted to play. Lamesauce!

Day 387

It is usually total darkness in our room at night, but Abbs spent the night elsewhere, so I opened the blinds. My alarm was set so I could get up early and go to the gym, start this day out right! When Abbs came back, I was still asleep even with the sun shining in our window! My plan didn't work. It's both a blessing and a curse to be able to sleep through sounds/lights.

I did go to the gym despite my late awakening. It was empty as per the us. All of campus was empty actually. I think most people left campus this weekend. Not totally sure why I didn't, but it's no big deal.

Shower. Blog. Lunch. Homework. Nap. Homework. Dinner. Homework. Tutor (Not an actual job). Chill. Blog. Bed. No wonder I feel like I haven't done anything today. I have done nothing today! Work in the morning should be quiet. Maybe I'll get some homework done...

Day 386

You may recall that this whole blog thing started after Jeremy finished his year of blogging in 2011. I ran into him for the first time in several years tonight. It was good to see so many faces from so long ago, but the reason for our meeting was not. People told stories of funny memories they had made with Jason and they told about his character and the amazing man of God he was! The time of sharing was recorded so that his daughter, Emily, can grow up knowing how wonderful her father was and how many lives he impacted. Erin, his wife, shared stories with us and I think it was therapeutic for everyone. The Celebration of Life service will be on Wednesday and I plan to attend that as well.

In order to make it to Tyler in time, I had to leave our floor event early. The first thing we did was play 2 Truths and a Lie. This got pretty interesting with what people told about themselves. We laughed a lot during this game, but even more when we played Never Have I Ever! Things got a little more serious when we wrote notes and cards for women at Hannah's House, a local maternity home. The last thing before dinner was a dessert contest! There were 12 ingredients numbered from 1-12 sitting on a table and all the girls broke into 3 groups. Each group drew numbers to determine which things they would be using for their creation. My group got a cake mix, icing with a candy cane, M&M's, and Pop-Tarts. So, naturally, we made cake with a poptart layer in the middle topped with chocolate mint icing! We won, but I only knew through a text and a picture! Rio saved me a piece of the under-cooked cake. It was super sweet and pretty good! I felt bad for Abbs team because they got ridiculous ingredients that were more/less impossible to make anything good from.

With the sharing service, the floor activity, and church this morning, I didn't do any homework today! I ended up going to Crossroads because I didn't want to wake up for New Beginnings. I sat with Tim and Chrissy and we had 5 Guys for lunch. Super yummy! I was distracted by my thoughts during church, as I tend to be all the time, but what I heard of the message really spoke to me. Every 1 matters to God! I am not sure where I will go to church next week, but God knows and that is good enough for me!

Day 385

It is with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart that I write this:
This morning I received word from a former counselor that a mutual friend from Rockin' C Ranch had been killed in a wreck last night. I was completely taken back. I didn't realize I still had her number, but I called her and she told me the devastating story about what had happened to our friend. He was helping a woman who had been in an accident when he and another man were struck by a third vehicle. That was what Jason did though, he helped people. I remember talking to him both as a camper and later as a junior counselor. He was a good man and the world will not be the same without him. Amber was kind to inform me so that I didn't find out online about his death. When Heather (one of my counselors from RCR) had a brain aneurysm and passed away suddenly almost 3 years ago, I found out through Facebook. I was devastated that she could just be gone with no warning. Today would have been her 29th birthday. Both were incredible people and made my childhood great! I'm not sure why they died when they did, but I have to trust that God has a plan for those of us who no longer can enjoy their presence with us on earth. Please be in prayers for Jason's family. He leaves behind his wife and infant daughter.


On a significantly lighter note:
The first Chai Party of the year was tonight! Before heading over, I went to the Easter in January Easter Egg Hunt that YAC was having. I won gum, fruit snacks, and slim jims. I don't eat slim jims, but Abbs does! So that worked out well. I also gave her a pack of the double mint gum to cover the smell of the slim jims when she eats them! I tried to get her to go to Chai Party with me, but she is too studious to have fun on a Saturday night. Summer came to fetch me from my dorm and I went over with her wearing sweats, tennis shoes, and a jacket. After conferring with Tim and Chrissy, I began to get rather chilly. I traveled back to my abode to change into jeans, boots, hoodie plus Carhartt, and a hat. Abbs likes chai, I'm not sure why, but I brought her back some after my second visit to the Burklin's house. I told her that I don't like chai and asked her if she knew why. One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, because I don't like milk and it has a large percentage of milk in it.

Day 384

This morning I was so sore that I didn't want to get out of bed at all. So I didn't, until Abbs came back from her first class. That means that I didn't work out this morning. But never fear, after chapel, two classes, and lunch with Abbs on the berm, I did hit up the gym! I figured that would be a great opportunity to watch the new episode of Grey's Anatomy! It worked out pretty great because I multitasked and used my time wisely. My exercise was ruined/wasted though. 3:30pm Fridays is Ice Cream in MSC1. Oh well! I would have eaten it either way, so the exercise just offsets some of the calories.

I tried to do some homework tonight. I only got one problem done. Don't think I'm some lazy student out partying on Friday night. I was freakin' dedicated to that one problem! It was 3 parts and even though I got 2/3 on it the first time, I had to redo it twice until all the numbers were right. There were no check points like you have in video games. If I died, I didn't just get to restart at some point other than the beginning. No, I had to redo all of it with new numbers. I don't think Abbs appreciated my perseverance with that problem.

I told her that we could watch a movie after I did one problem. It was over an hour later before we sat down to watch her favorite movie, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium! I don't think that I've seen it before or it's been so long I forgot the entire movie. Either way, I really enjoyed it! After a shower, oddly enough, I wanted to take a walk. I covered my wet hair to keep from getting sick and left the building. After a quick visit to see Kate, I discovered that our fire alarm was going off again in Gilbert Hall. I went over to the meeting place since I was close by and laughed at Abbs because she didn't want to walk with me but she ended up outside anyways. She didn't think it was funny.

But yeah. I'm fairly decent at multitasking. In fact, I wrote this entire blog while walking around the loop! That's 15 minutes I don't have to stay up when I get back to my room. But this totally defeats the purpose of the walk which was to clear my mind from the long and stressful week! I am so glad that we get a 3 day weekend. Thank you Martin Luther King, Jr. for being so important that you had a day named after you and now we get a holiday. I need to get ahead on a couple classes and catch up on a few others. Maybe some sleep too!

Day 383

BodyPump hurts. 'Nough said.
Why did Jamee go to BodyPump? She isn't in good enough shape for that?!
You gotta start somewhere right? Well that is not the best place for me to start. I will probably stick to the gym for a while until my heart can keep up with my body. I was dying in that class. My legs were shaking as I tried to squat and lunge. I was afraid I was going to collapse near the end.

But the real question is why was I there in the first place!? Welp, funny story. Steve said him and Cortney would be there and that they would be late to the Themelios dinner. Sarah told me I should go with her, and since I had nothing better to do, I said sure. By the time class started, Steve and Cortney were no where in sight. I realized that I wouldn't be one of three stinky people, I would be the only stinky one. So, at that point I knew I would have to sneak out a little early to shower. Half way through the work out, I was ready to quit. My body wasn't happy with me and I was questioning why I ever thought I could do something so intense. I did leave early, but not early enough to be on time for dinner. I wanted to run back to the dorm, but two steps later I realized that walking straight without falling was a challenge in itself and there was no way that I could run. No one was upset that I was 10 minutes late.

The biggest issue I have with working out is that I get hungry, super hungry! It's not a problem in the morning as much because I hate breakfast so I don't overeat. But working out right before dinner when I love dinner means I'm going to eat way too much food.
I ate the 7oz Roasted Garlic Sirloin (250 cal), sauteed onions (45 cal), seasonal veggies (35-60 cal), red potatoes (150 cal), and Erin's left over piece of fish (350 cal). Then I wanted chocolate. So I went to the Yogurt Bar and got some fro yo! That's another 250 calories.... I sure hope I burned at least half of what they say you should burn at BodyPump because otherwise this meal just ruined my diet!