Competitive Much?!

For as long as I can remember, I've always been SUPER competitive. I blame it on an entire childhood spent playing sports and the fact that I'm the youngest of four, but to be honest, it effects pretty much every area of my life. Recently, I've been trying to figure out appropriate situations to express my competitiveness...here's what I've come up with so far:

Good Times to be competitive:

1. When sizing up strangers to see who I could defeat in a random (but necessary) street fight.
2. When playing sports with other competitive people...not to be confused with playing sports with non-competitive people.
3. When showing honor (as long as your motives are pure and you don't lose sight of the ultimate goal).
   
4. While doing random things that don't matter (aka "who can finish washing their hands first", or "who can write the funniest thing on the birthday card", etc)
5. When saying outrageous things in the appropriate context.
6. When trying to get some much needed work done.
   

Bad Times to be competitive:

1. When eating. This is a really bad habit to form! Ha.
   
2. When playing sports with people who aren't competitive, or are just really bad.
3. When saying outrageous things in INAPPROPRIATE situations (still working on this one).
4. When no one else wants to compete.
5. When doing something that no one else cares about (like writing a paper or doing office work).

Typically, when I'm competing with people, they are completely unaware. I will just have a running tally in my head of what's going on. But sometimes I compete without knowing it...Marie is pretty good about calling me out on this one. Ha.

So what are some other situations/times that make it ok (or inappropriate) to be competitive? I'd love to hear from some other people on this one...

Oh hello, SUMMER!

So summer has officially started! Woop! I started interning on Tuesday, and so far I LOVE IT. It's my first time really working in children's ministry, and Stephanie (the CM) is keeping me really busy and is really good about explaining why she does things and the logistics of everything, etc etc. I'm totally eating it up.

Wednesday was our first event, and it was a really good one to start out on since it was the end of the year party...and since my life is one big party, it was like having two helpings of awesome ;)

There is just so much I want to learn this summer! Gah. I just hope I retain it all and God uses this to help me in the future.

This weekend should definitely be a fun one. Tomorrow I plan on sleeping as much as possible, then potentially a movie with people that night. Saturday I'm going to a wedding, then a grad party. Then on Sunday I have my first experience in Kidzone! Ha. I'm a little late, but it's better late than never, right? Anyways, I have every intention of blogging regularly once I settle in to a schedule, but I have no idea when that might be. There will definitely be some basketball posts in my immediate future...just a warning ;)

True Story

The other night I got to go on a late-night adventure with some friends...I don't know if I can fully convey the awesomeness of that night, but I'll give it a shot.

Let me start by saying that for the last couple of days there has been this HUGE fire off I20 (the highway we take to get anywhere and everywhere) and as far as we could tell no one knew what it was or why it was there. The first time I saw it, I assumed it was the beginning of a forest fire because it's surrounded by trees on all sides, but considering it hadn't spread in a couple days, we knew it had to be something else.

Monday night some girl friends and I decided to go grab some coffee around 11, and on the way back to campus we decided we were feeling adventurous and wanted to find out where this fire was coming from. It took us quite a while to find out where it was coming from, but we finally found the road that led to it...only problem was it was REAL sketch. It was a one-way dirt road with really tall trees lining each side (basically the same type of road they use in every horror movie). Needless to say we had come too far to give up, so we decided to call some burly "man" friends to come and help us finish out our adventure...something about just the three of us girls going down a dark road in the middle of the night didn't seem quite right ;) ha.

I kind of thought we were going to stumble upon some type of KKK rally complete with a huge burning cross...but I'm a sucker for an "adventure" so I just pushed this thought to the back of my mind. Well once the guys arrived we all hopped in to the back of one of their trucks and headed on our way (picture 5 college students hanging on for dear life). Anyways, we finally made our way back down that path and we could actually FEEL the heat before we could see it, it was that intense. Then, after what seemed like forever, we reached this HUGE clearing and saw what looked like a GINORMOUS birthday candle*. So there we were, standing in awe of this tunnel of flame, when we noticed a truck on the other side of the clearing making its way in our direction very quickly. Ha. So we ended up having to maneuver our way out of there ASAP.

It ended up being a pretty exciting...mildly anticlimactic, but overall it was definitely an adventure to be remembered.

*Apparently they were burning fossil fuels

SUMMER? Yes, please.

So my plans have changed...yet again. Ha. But now they're even better than if I would have tried to plan them myself.

I just found out (kind of last minute) that I am going to be able to intern after all! I was dreading not being able to intern somewhere, but felt like I had to do summer school all day, so I didn't have many options. I even turned down an internship earlier in the year because I felt like I HAD to do SS. Thank Goodness God had different and better plans in store for me :) I'm really looking forward to interning in a children's ministry (especially considering that's what I'm thinking about doing for the rest of my life. ha) and I'll still be able to go to Boston/NY with Marie (woop woop!) AND take a summer school class online! Gah. It's perfect.

And as if that wasn't enough, I got offered a new position at work that is pretty stinkin sweet! It's going to mean 30 hour work weeks, and working full-time during our breaks, but it will more than pay for itself. Seriously, it's like the best position you can have on campus as a student :)

On a related note, I'm starting to realize I need to loosen the reigns a little bit. I have my life so tightly mapped out that it's getting a little ridiculous (can I get an Amen from my fellow control freaks?!). I'm sure my little plans make God chuckle...well I guess it's either that, or He is going to smite me for my false sense of independence! ha.

Anyways, I just figured I'd throw an update out there. I know you guys live and breath for this stuff ;)

Tuesdays are for...

...stealing molly's idea's ;)

I feel like blogging (which is rare these days) and since my brain is complete mush after these last few days of nonstop homework and work, I figured I'd just list out some current faves for you guys...but to be original, I'll do lists of four! ha. Enjoy :)

Boy Names

1. Noah
2. Elijah
3. Micah
4. Caleb

Girl Names

1. Grace
2. Delilah (don't judge me)
3. Rebekah
   
4. Bethany
   

Phrases

1. come get some! (said in my best ghetto voice)
   
2. hey boy, hey! (compliments of my RA)
3. thebomb.com (usually preceded by "we are...")
4. better than ever (because 19 feels SO good ;))

Short-term Goals

1. Do well on ALL my finals
2. Maintain my GPA
3. Sleep at LEAST 6 hours a night (this one probably won't happen)
4. Figure out my summer situation

Long-term Goals

1. Graduate (duh)
2. Work in ministry somewhere...anywhere
3. Marry and procreate
4. Be everyone's favorite grandma

Things about DBU

1. My classes
2. The wonderful people I've met
3. Having prof's who care enough to invest in students on a personal level
4. Campus

Things to do

1. Talk to people (what can I say... I'm a talker ;)
2. Sleep
   
3. Watch random movies (this one is hit or miss with me)
4. Procrastinate.

Musicians

1. Ernie Halter (my #1 for 3 years now, and he's STILL not getting old! ha)
2. Amos Lee
3. Frank Sinatra
4. Jeff Johnson

Songs

1. Arms of a Woman- Amos Lee
2. Hosanna- Hillsong
3. Darlin' I- Tony Lucca
4. Feeling good- Michael Buble
   

Things to talk about

1. Biblical Womanhood and scripture v. evangelical feminism ;)
2. Other people's love stories
3. My future
4. SUMMER

Blessings

1. DBU and being able to study something that really excites me
2. My job (as much as I complain about it, it has been steady and SUCH a help)
3. Having an amazing family that is supportive and willing to challenge me
   
4. Awesome friends that bring me so much joy :)

Most Interesting Classes (so far)

1. Old Testament
2. Educational Ministry of the Church
3. Intro to Christian Ministry
4. New Testament (sadly, this is in spite of my prof)

Movies

1. Fireproof (because it challenges me)
2. A Beautiful Mind (because it's my classic)
3. Far and Away (because Jeremy finally chose one I'd like ;))
4. Arranged (because I love learning about different religions...and an arranged marriage is REAL tempting these days! ha)

Foods

1. Soup...even though it's not soup weather anymore :(
2. Mocha Maddness ice cream
3. Really good bread...like the German Dark Wheat wholegrain bread I have stashed in my room.
   
4. Cheese Enchiladas (because #1. they're delish and #2. I only get them when I am home, so they always go along with me and my rents "debriefing from college" talks :))

Things I miss

1. My parents
2. My friends from home
3. Big Love *sigh*
4. My bed

Things I need to do more of

1. Prayer
2. Cardio
3. Studying
4. Sleep

Random things I want to do over summer

1. Go camping...unchaperoned just cause I can.
   
2. Go tubing...because it's thebomb.com.
   
3. Cooking and Baking...on a regular basis.
   
4. Watch movies...lots of them.
   

Pastors I listen to

1. Mark Driscoll
2. Matt Chandler
3. Josh Patterson
4. John Piper
   

Productivity...

I am finding it increasingly hard to be productive. I'm just counting down the days till the end of this semester :) I am overdue for a little vacation. But before that I'm taking Christian Doctrine in a mini-mester, which I am REALLY excited about! woop woop! I think it'll be better if I just bullet my thoughts at this point...

• I starting to enjoy Christian rap. Yea. Judge me if you must.
• I have my first (and hardest) final Thursday! Yikes!
• I am SOOO ready to be out of college and in ministry somewhere (but that is a subject for another blog...)
• That being said, I still love my classes and the things I get to learn. It is such a blessing to be at a Christian school learning about the things I'm most passionate about!
• I have a new favorite ice-cream. Me gusta Mocha Maddness.
• It is ridiculous how many sermons I've listened to and books/articles I've read lately on the relationship between husbands and wives.
• Speaking of husbands and wives, I totally aced my research paper on Ephesians 5:21-33 :)
• I love babies (Just in case you forgot). And I am real excited about spending time with my precious niece over summer!!
• Oh, I am super-dee-duper excited about starting greek next semester. but I am also a little nervous that it's going to eat my lunch.
• The Spurs are already out of playoffs. It was tragic, BUT I am glad they get more time to rest and start rebuilding the team before next season. I feel a post about them coming up in the near future ;)
• I can't wait to reunite with BD over summer!! woop woop. Nothing like being home with besties!
• I've had a strong urge to play sports lately. I think it's because I've been couped up indoors writing papers and such.
• If I have to write this many papers every semester for the rest of my college career I would probably consider dropping out.
• I am really bad at procrastinating. Case in point, I have 7 papers/reports due tuesday and I've only done one of them.
• I pulled my first all-nighter last week...well almost. I ended up going to bed at 5am and waking up at 7am, but I still count that as an all-nighter. ESPECIALLY considering how much I like sleep.
  
• I am really sad I'm not interning anywhere this summer, but I keep reminding myself that this is only one season of life, and hopefully I will spend the rest of my life working in a church or being a part of ministry somewhere :)
• Verse of the week: "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5