Ah yes, the time has come for our “favorite” week of the year…

At least APU has some great traditions for us to enjoy, to take a much needed study break.

Tonight was the semi-annual “Midnight Breakfast”–which ends at midnight, doesn’t start at midnight…weird, I know. Anyway, it is a free breakfast (with homemade stuff as well as donuts from our beloved “Donut Man”), where the faculty and staff serve the students, and many professors come for the entire time to help students, answer questions, etc. It is so great! Everyone is in PJs, and it really is a community builder…even our campus pastor comes in full nighttime attire–even a hat! Anyway, good food, good fellowship…

A tradition with my friends is to go out the Sunday before finals, and in the past we have dressed up in formals and gone out to dinner at various places (Duke’s at Huntington Beach, etc…). Today we decided, since we are all busy and poor, to go see a movie and then cook dinner. We went to see “13 going on 30” and then had spaghetti and salad. That movie is REALLY cute…despite what some have said. It is good, and it really did have some valuable lessons in it! Since I work with this age group (12-15), I saw many lessons that I can apply in my work with them…it was great…makes me want to find my childhood sweetheart! 🙂 LOL–just kidding. Casey wouldn’t go for that! 🙂

It was just a good day…church was great, and God used a few people to make me feel better about not being offered a chapel worship team position. They really appreciate me,and they make it known, which means so much to me…I don’t sing up there for recognition at all; so when someone comes up and tells me that my God given gift has touched them, it means the world to me to know that God is using me!

I got my Medieval Europe paper done at 2:30pm, so that was a great relief. I am going to turn it in tomorrow so that it is out of my hands! After that final I can really breathe…though I have three more after it.

I can’t express how much I am looking forward to this summer…it looks like I will be in the apartment by myself for a couple of weeks, which will be wonderful because I could use the time for reflection and relaxation. I am going to be reading about 15 books this summer, for Fall classes, and I can’t wait…Plato, Aristotle, and plenty of Post-Modern material. I love dialoguing with people regarding intellectual things, and this will give me more topics to discuss, and I can’t wait. I just want to be able to read and learn at my own pace…no tests, no papers, just me and my books and my thoughts…

Not much longer…:)

Sorry–this deserves its own post.

As I read the program this morning at CBU’s graduation, I noticed the qualifications for Latin Honors in the program. I assumed that the standards for these were universal; however, at least at CBU, this is not the case.

At APU, these are the standards:

3.7–Cum Laude

3.8–Magna Cum Laude

3.9–Summa Cum Laude

At CBU, these are the standards:

3.5–Cum Laude

3.7–Magna Cum Laude

3.9–Summa Cum Laude

Now, this poses some concerns in my mind.

First of all, why are they different?

I just keep thinking that it seems “unfair” for someone to have to work harder for their honors than another. I mean, for example: a potential employer looks at your diploma from APU, and sees no latin honors…but a competing applicant from CBU has graduated Cum Laude, and even though the standards are lower, they will be seen as being a hard-worker, more intelligent, etc., even though they had the same GPA as someone at APU.

I don’t know if that makes sense, because I am having a hard time verbalizing my thoughts. It just kinda doesn’t set well with me, knowing that I have to work harder for my Latin Honors (if I even get them!) than someone else at another school…

I don’t know…it just bothers me. What are the standards at other schools? I’d be interested to know.

Sorry for the rant–just wanted to get some other views!

I learned a very valuable lesson today–if you are going to apply sunscreen, apply it EVENLY! LOL!! I was in the sun for about 4 hours today, for a friends graduation from California Baptist University…so I put sunscreen on my arms, face and neck…well, I got home, looked in the mirror and noticed that parts of my shoulders are totally burnt, as well as one oval-shaped spot on my neck/chest…yeah, this is really attractive! HAHA. Anyway, the lesson being to apply it evenly, because you can end up with a really ridiculous looking sunburn.

I am on page five of my Medieval Europe paper, which is good. It is a 6-8 page minimum paper, and I want it done today! All I need to do is add in sources, and smooth it out a little because it is really rough.

It is 6pm, with no phone call from Chapel Programs…so I have decided that I will not be offered a position on a worship team. And that, honestly, is totally fine. My confidence is in no way affected (for those of you who know me well, you know that singing is one of the only things about which I am extremely confident!), for I know that God must have other plans for me. I am content to be on worship team at church, weekly, because I am with such a great group of talented musicians who seek to honor God first and foremost…what more could I ask for? This school is filled with talented musicians, and I am happy for those who were selected for this position. 🙂

Anyway, back to feudalism…I finally figured out the answer to the question the prof posed for this paper:

“The History of Medieval Europe in the period between 500-1000 AD may be described as the negotiation of ‘tensions’ between three systems—the Germanic Warrior Code, Christian values, and Roman principles of governance. In what ways was the tension between these value systems resolved, if at all?”

The answer is: Yes, by the Crusades. That is all I will say, for I know that no one really cares about medieval history!

Six days until Chicago, and cooler weather…:)

I will find out Saturday (at some point) whether or not I have been selected for a position on a chapel worship team next year…and I’m getting a little anxious! I’m not worried, for I know that God’s Will will be done, and if He wants me to do it, it will happen…but, at the same time, I really want to do it, so I’m nervous.

The worst part is that they are going to call only those who made it; those who didn’t make it won’t know until midnight really–if they didn’t receive a call by then. I wish they’d call everyone, but oh well. C’est la vie. 🙂

Thanks for the prayers! I really have appreciated them!

Just a few things:

First of all–the weather here is psycho! Yesterday and today have been “cold” (60s), and it rained this morning…this, after two days of 90s and two days of 100s! 🙂 But, I am not complaining this time, because I LOVE it!

Secondly–EIGHT DAYS UNTIL CHICAGO!! I am SO excited! I got my tickets yesterday, so now it has set in that I am really going. YAY! 🙂

Thirdly–I have three classes left of my junior year…unbelievable…oh, how I wish this were my last three classes EVER…alas, it is not so. 🙂 I have two more today, and one tomorrow…then the stress REALLY begins! AHHHH! LOL.

Also–for those of you Olivetians who are “Keen-ites”, he spoke in chapel last week, and it is up on APU’s Online chapel site (link on the left). Just FYI.

Alright, just wanted to say those things. 🙂 Have a great day!

One thing to say for today:

IT IS TOO HOT FOR APRIL!!! It was 100 degrees today…no kidding. Broke records. Tomorrow will be hotter, and then it is going to drop 25 degrees by Wednesday! This weather is NOT very conducive to studying…LOL…our apartment is like a SAUNA! Yuck…anyway, that’s all I wanted to say for today. Oh, and please say a prayer for Michael…read his blog for more info. Pray that God will reveal His plan for Michael.

Today has been really great! Paige’s bridal shower was really wonderful–it was very small, making it SO special! There were about 6 or 7 of us, which made it much more open and fun. It was so awesome to show Paige how much she means to us!

When I got back, I realized that I wasn’t going to get anything done here, so I decided to IM Bethany (my best friend of 15 years) to see if I could drive down to her place (Riverside) and hang out/study with her…so we had a really great time visiting, eating and studying together (along with some “Trading Spaces” and “While You Were Out”…It was so good to see her, considering the fact that we never see eachother anymore.

I had two or three (maybe more?) really good conversations with Michael today…realizing more and more just how excited I am to go see him (12 DAYS!)…we’ve both been so busy lately that our conversations have been limited and short…and, of course, phone conversations are no where near as good as in person conversations…so I look forward to being able to look him in the eyes (which are quite lovely, by the way) while we converse…when I was in Chicago in February, we had some incredibly deep conversations, especially while driving back to Illinois…we had great ones the entire week he was here in California…and I know that we will have MANY more this summer, since we should be able to spend about 3 weeks together this summer.

Anyway, enough about him 😉

OH–one more thing about him. He took the Foreign Service Exam today, for the State Department, and I KNOW that he did well. He is so intelligent (brilliant, really), and he is very knowledgeable about all realms of policy…I know that he did well! I am so proud of him for even taking that 6 hour long test…he is too awesome!

It was a very laid back and productive day for me! I was able to start on all four of my papers that are due next week…so I feel confident that I can accomplish all that lies ahead…

This is good…

Had a really good time with Leslie today, shopping for bridal shower gifts and for apartment stuff…we made a side-trip to IKEA (which is an AWESOME store) and we both found bookshelves that we want…some other time!

I need to get SO much done this weekend!

I have a bridal shower tomorrow (Paige’s)…

then reading…

then packing…

I am so motivated to just pack up and get out of here! Unfortunately, I am not leaving for two weeks (actually, 13 days)…so I can’t pack everything. I took everything off my walls today, which was sad, but it makes me feel as if I have accomplished something. 🙂

Sunday will involve more homework, more packing…my goal is to get two papers done this weekend, but that all depends on how my allergies are doing (because when they are bad, it affects my mental clarity, which makes it so hard to accomplish anything academic)…

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. 🙂

Oh, by the way, since I know you all have been SO curious as to where I am going in two weeks: I am flying to “Sweet Home Chicago” for Michael’s graduation…:) Good times!

So, provided all goes well on Sunday, and I am able to obtain a ticket that was offered to me, it looks like I will be flying somewhere two weeks from Friday 🙂 I’m not going to say where yet, but I am very excited about the possibility! So say a little prayer for me, please 🙂

YAY!