Today is the first day of my last year of undergraduate study at Azusa Pacific University. And as I sat in my last “first chapel” of the year, I couldn’t help but reminisce…

Three years ago today (Sept. 8th), it was Monday of the first full week of classes…my first year in college…I was living in Engstrom Hall, “on my own” for the first time in my life. I had just changed my major from Vocal Performance to Political Science. I had basically NO idea what I wanted to do with my life, except that I wanted to be Governor of California someday.

I didn’t know that in three days the world would change drastically (Sept.11). I didn’t know that I would change so much over the next three years. There was a lot that I didn’t know…

But what I did know was that I had chosen the best school for me…I knew that I would have the opportunity for immense growth in many different areas of my life…and I knew that I would never be the same again.

I have set several goals for my senior year, and I have every intention of reaching these goals. I am NOT looking forward to all the reading and class-attending that must happen this year, but I know that it is necessary to prepare me for the rest of my life. I am ALMOST DONE!!

Just a few thoughts…I tend to be a bit sentimental at times. 🙂

First off, if anyone can figure out how to order back issues of TIME magazine, please let me know. I’ve been searching their site and using Google, to no avail. I really want to get my hands on about 10 copies of the August 30th issue!

My audition went fairly well this morning…problem is that the director informed me that the tour is from mid-June to mid-July, not May…SO, even if I make call-backs (I’ll know tomorrow), I can’t participate in the group because my first priority is youth ministry, and that is the time of summer when everything is happening. So I’m bummed, a bit, but really, when it comes down to it: Chamber Singers or youth ministry? There really is no choice in my mind.



Other than that, nothing exciting is happening. Life is getting crazy! Being a student supervisor now is going to increase my responsibilities at work, and I’m working about 20 hours per week this semester. It is exciting, though. I love having things to accomplish!



Back to trying to find last week’s issue of TIME…

So, I just found out that the article I have been waiting for (for 5 months) was in the August 30th issue of TIME MAGAZINE! And I am totally in the picture! It’s about young Conservatives in America, and it is in the exact center of the magazine. Pick up a copy if you can still find it! I’m going to get as many as I can! 🙂 WOW! I cannot believe this!

Life is back to “normal” here on campus…there are a few thousand students on campus again, bringing life back to the atmosphere that has been so quiet for the past 4 months. People are getting settled, buying books, taking care of business…and it feels great!

It is so awesome to be a senior…to know that I am almost done…that I have persevered and will soon be a graduate of APU…I am SO excited!

Classes start Wednesday, and I’m not all that excited about that part of being at school. But, I have motivation now to continue to work hard: I need to boost my GPA by .9 in order to graduate with latin honors, and since I want to go to seminary now, I need to have my GPA higher so that I will qualify for more scholarships. 🙂

Tomorrow I am auditioning for APU’s Chamber Singers group…I didn’t decide to do so until this weekend, for many reasons…but tomorrow morning I will be auditioning. The big draws for joining the group are these:

1–I miss singing in a group, and this group is the most difficult/elite group on campus…so IF I make it in, it will be an honor, and it will be a challenge–which I need in order to stay motivated to practice and all that jazz.

2–The May tour for this group is to New Zealand and Australia…enough said.

If the Lord wants me to be in this group, I know that the audition will go well. If He has something better for me, I know that He will show me that as well. All I can do is go prepared to the audition, and do my best. 🙂 I am not nervous, because I know that His Will will be done.

The Lord is continually changing me in intense ways, and I am so excited to see where His hand will lead me. Life is definitely busy right now–but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I forgot to mention that I still have 5 invitations for Google mail…I LOVE it! 1000 MB of storage says it all. If you want to try it, leave a comment and I’ll email you the invite.

(It’s a beta service right now, which is why they are having only a few people try it for now…it’s great!)

Huntington Beach

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Beautiful red flowers at the Getty

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To recap my week with my best friend:

Sunday: Dinner party with 11 of my friends. I made my “creation” and it was (again) a hit! 🙂 YAY!

Monday: Wisdom teeth extracted. Spent day in recliner, sleeping and trying to get anesthesia out of my system.

Tuesday: Slept. Still no significant swelling. 🙂

Wednesday: Went to the Getty Center and viewed art collections and the beautiful gardens. Worship team practice (Yes, I sang, though my jaw got really tired and sore after that!)

Thursday: Went to The Huntington (Library and Gardens) and spent a few hours strolling through beautiful gardens…absolutely an incredible place! Such intricate patterns and detailed designs. I love that place! The Library also has many extremely rare pieces of art and various manuscripts that are displayed.

We then went to Huntington Beach and spent a few hours on the beach. My friend got in the water, but I tried not to! 🙂 We found many beautiful shells, including sand-dollars–which I have never seen in Southern California! We then had dinner at Ruby’s on the pier, which is a great place…but the best part was that we were seated in the best booth in the restaurant for sunset view! It was awesome!

Friday: We just relaxed all day–since I wasn’t feeling very well. We watched EVERY Strong Bad Email (112 of them), which was a first for me (watching them all in one day). It was SO fun to just laugh and relax with my friend. And then, the best part of the week, probably…

We saw Nickel Creek!!!

We went to the Hollywood Bowl for an evening with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Nickel Creek, and it was incredible. That place is amazing! Basically everyone brings a picnic dinner, and there are several spots to eat that are lovely. The Bowl is in the hills, so you are in a natural amphitheatre that has incredible sound, and you forget that you are in Los Angeles. It was incredible. It was actually chilly last night, but we decided that was better than being hot.

It was such a great week…I am totally fine as far as wisdom teeth go. I was only slightly swollen for 2 days, and I’m healing just fine. The Lord is SO good! I had a wonderful week with my best friend, who I don’t get to see very often at all…and it was a wonderful week before the craziness of my Senior Year begins (next Wednesday)…

Thank you, my dear friend, for coming down this week! It was so awesome!

Just wanted to let you guys know that I am doing wonderfully. I have not had to take vicodin yet, and am only taking mega doses of Motrin. I can talk, I’m not bleeding anymore, and I’M NOT SWOLLEN!

I have been praying about this for six weeks, and so have many people in my church and my family…thank you! I think I will recover well!

Something gross: they gave me my two wisdom teeth to keep…WHY?! That’s gross! 🙂

Anyway, I’m doing well…be back next week!

I check my site stats each day, and I am always amazed at how new visitors find me.

But lately, it has made me laugh. At least 15 a day come to my site with the google search “How to beat Peasant’s Quest.”

Amazing how many people are (1) playing that game and (2) can’t beat it on their own! 🙂

I played it again today and it took me 30 minutes to beat the game. 🙂 First time took 3 hours!

Anyway, just thought it was funny…hopefully these people keep reading my blog! 🙂