Fake

An entire generation wants to grow up to be the next Twiggy or the next Tyra Banks, but all I see is faked eating disorders, photoshop, and 13 year olds that worship HotTopic just for the sake of it. Girls nowadays go to bed praying to Paris Hilton at night. It makes me want to vomit for them.

I tell myself they'll all grow out of it, but all I see is roots showing through piece-of-crap dye jobs and extensions that you could point out three miles away. Every bit of the foundation that gives you the bone structure you know you don't have is dumbing you down. Bit by bit the odor of your makeup from Walgreens is catching up with you. And it reeks.

Your fake pearls are going to get cracked by the insecurity your try to cover up with your fake ego. It's hanging off of you and rotting. Your eyes used to speak for you but now you can hardly keep them open because of all the cheap mascara you piled on this morning.

Move On Already.

Am I really the only one who is tired of hearing about Michael Jackson? Yes, he is dead, will be dead for a while.

I am tired of always hearing about Michael Jackson. I will say that he was a talented and inspiring artist, and I still listen to his music. His death is tragic, but it is time to move on. The media moved on when Robert McNamara died, only really saying, “And today former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died today at the age of 93. He is famously known as the ‘Architect Of The Vietnam War.’ Coming up is more information on Michael Jackson…” They did the same for Karl Malden and Ed McMahon. Granted that they all died of old age, while Michael Jackson was only 50.

But if age is the factor of making Michael Jackson’s death a bigger deal, then how about Billy Mays. Billy Mays was 50, I don’t hear anything about him. He was a great pitchman, and when I think of advertising, Billy Mays usually pops up in my head. However, when I think of great musicians, I don’t immediately think of Michael Jackson. I can name a bunch of other artists who are significantly more talented than Michael Jackson. I guess Billy Mays doesn’t get media coverage because he wasn’t accused of molesting children.

It is time for the news networks to move on from the old and start covering something new. Isn’t that what the news is for? And if you want to still make a big deal about it, don’t worry he’ll be back. I will guarantee you his name will pop back up when the US government has to bail out California because they forked out millions for his memorial service.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

So, it has been a while since I have updated, so this might be a lengthy post.

Things have been a little crazy around here on campus. I have been super super busy. This past week I had due: 3 tests (statistics, history, psychology), a speech, a debate, and a psychology research project. It may not sound like a lot, but trust me, it is a big work load. So, once I got through my workload, I had a little time to hang out with my friends.

Emma came home this weekend. Emma is my best friend ever. She and I have known each other since we were 3 years old. So, Emma came home for the Girl Talk concert and we got a chance to hang out, which was awesome. I miss Emma the most while I am at school. It's really sad :(

On Friday night, my cousin was supposed to be induced into labor. I went over to my aunt's house to spend the night with the kids. My 4 year old cousin, Jordan and I slept together in a king size bed. It felt like heaven. Seriously. The next morning she had to go to dance at 9. Obviously, I slept in. I was woken up by my 16 year old cousin Alex, telling me that he wanted to watch Borat. I got out of bed and we started watching Borat. We left around 11:30 for our annual family Easter egg hunt. We have a little kids easter egg hunt, where they hunt for chocolate and change, then we have an older kids hunt where we hunt for cash money. I ended up racking about $70 bucks from my aunt, my grandma and the egg hunt. It was a very welcome suprise.

Enough rambling for the night....Anna and I are watching Superstar. I will post some more ramblings tomorrow.

Doozy of a Day

Today has been a crazy one!!!

I woke up like normal, head to English at 9:00. We were split into two different groups and were told to start formulating a debate about legalizing gay marriage. Fair enough. I can do that. So, anyway, after English, I come back to my room and take my usual nap from 10am-12:30pm.

My mom wakes me up at 12:15, telling me that she is the best mom in the world for waving my overdraft fee at the bank. Fair enough....30 bucks is a lot when you are a college student!!!!!!

I head to Psychology at 1pm. We talk about psychological disorders...like why people pee on themselves and weird stuff like that. It was quite entertaining. After psychology, I go to computer science at 2pm. My comp. sci. professor is from China and is sooo hard to understand. We reviewed for our exam on Friday. Nothing out of the ordinary.

When I come back from class, Carmen said that she got her "package." We have been waiting on a package from Petsmart for the past week. It is a chemical called Methylene Blue, used to clean fish. Supposedly, it will turn your pee blue. We were gonna spike John's drink with it, but we wanted to try it out on me first. I put the meth. blue in a bottle of water and drink it. I immediatly throw up in my sink because apparently, this stuff is toxic. I pour it into my diet coke and drink the can of coke. I go into my bathroom with Carmen and lay on the floor. I decide that drinking the stuff wasn't a good idea. I throw up four more times, then I feel a bit better. I go into John's room and tell him about it. Then, I proceeded to pee, and sure enough, it was blue.

DO NOT TAKE THIS AT HOME. It makes you feel like you are drunk. I literally could not function. Carmen took great care of me and made me dinner. It was not a fun night.

On top of being sick from the methylene blue, my knee keeps clicking. It is really uncomfortable. I just decided to skip my communications class tonight. I just couldnt bear going to class.

align="justify">Instead of going to class, everyone on the hall had family fun night. Every single girl and about 6 guys put mud and mint masks on their faces. We all took a family picture in the study lounge. It was great. My favorite was Nate. Nate is the lone black man on the hall. hahahaha! We put the mud mask on him, so he looked like Michael Jackson.

Some of you have been asking about my knee. Things are going ok. I am still using my crutches occasionally, but I HATE them. I should be on them for another week if everything goes well. I wasn't originally going to do it, but I have decided to have a MRI done. (For those non-English majors, it should be A mri, not AN mri. I thought it sounded weird too!) My kneecap has started clicking now when I walk....and I decided that it wasn't good, so let's hope that everything turns out normal with my MRI.

Well, my pee is still blue and will be for a couple of days. It's about 12:10am, so I think I am going to work on some homework for next week. Can't wait for the weekend!!!

Blessings in Life

I am writing a speech for my public speaking class on the 1996 United States Women's Olympic Gymnastics Team. Anybody remember it? Kerri Strug's gold medal vault?


Yeah. I am sitting on my bed remembering. I was six years old, watching Kerri Strug do her world famous vault in 1996. I remember jumping off the couch, screaming and crying when her results were posted. Being a gymnast myself, I know how much work, tears and dedication it takes.


So, then I started thinking about the blessings in my life that have lead up to the present. My biggest blessing in life has been leaving the United States and going to Brazil. Although I was sick for a large chunk of the trip, I was still blessed.



For those of you who don't know, I was given the opportunity to travel with Voices of Youth, an all-state United Methodist mission choir. We traveled to Nova Almeida, Brazil, for a month and worked at the Shade and Fresh Water, a day camp for children ages 2-14. Here is a testimony that I wrote on the plane home from Brazil. I shared this testimony during a concert our choir did on a tour through Virginia. Here is my testimony:



My life has been forever changed. God has shown me so much since I have been in Brazil and since I have been home. Seeing the way people live, in the kind of poverty that they do, made me realize how grateful I am to live in America and to live the way I do. Voices of Youth has been such a blessing in my life and I contribute most of my faith walk to the experiences I have had while on Voices.

Our final destination in Brazil was a small village called Nova Almeida. Nova Almeida is home to the Shade and Fresh Water project, a day camp for children who are left on the streets after school hours. The S&FW project uses Christian-based education practices to teach art, music, dance, and includes daily devotionals as well as a nutritious meal for the children. The camp is home to approximately 180 children between the ages of 5 and 14. These children have nothing. Most of them only own the clothes on their back and a pair of shoes. These children are dirty and hungry. Despite their circumstances, the children at the camp are loving, generous, and hospitable. Even though these children were young and naive about their circumstances, they knew we were there to help, even though we looked and acted differently than they did.

One child touched me in particular. His name was Jesse. He was 4 years old, and loved to take pictures. That is all I know about this child of God. We could not effectively communicate with each other because of the language barrier, but we shared two things in common: we could communicate through the universal language of music, and we were both children of God. When we arrived at the Shade and Fresh Water project, Jesse was the first child that I spotted. He ran up to me and hugged me so tightly that I could barely breathe. He said something in Portuguese and proceeded to hug my leg again. He spent the whole week with me and would not leave my side. I became so attached to this little boy. I wanted to wrap him in my arms and never let go. The thought of what was going in his home tore my heart to pieces. This young child of God, so innocent and perfect, was being torn apart at the seams. Things at home and things in his country were all so terribly wrong. I wanted to hold him forever and tell him how much God loved and cared for him - and that is exactly what I did.

During the final night VOY was at the camp, we had a fiesta with the children. We shared dances, food, and great fellowship. Jesse was also there. He came right to me and hugged my leg again. I picked him up, and he hugged me and would not let go. Even though he couldn't understand me, I leaned over and whispered in his ear these words:
"You are a special child of God and nothing can ever happen to you, as long as Christ is the center of your life."
A giant smile came across his face and he wrapped his arms around my neck and hugged me. It was at this moment, just for a moment, that I felt we understood the same language and he was trying to tell me the same thing.

Having to say goodbye to Jesse that evening was very emotional. The fiesta came to an end and the staff began escorting children to the gate. This night in particular, Jesse had to walk home. This small 4 year old boy, walking alone in the dangerous streets by himself. I couldn't bear to think about it. I knew it was time for Jesse to go home and I had been dreading it all evening. I bent down to his level, and looked him in the eyes. There, in the twinkle of his big brown eyes, was a small tear. I told him to never forget me and to never forget the things that I had told him. He hugged me and tears formed in my eye. As he walked toward the gate, a calm swept over me. I knew it was God telling me not to fear, that Jesse was safe in his arms and nothing would happen to him. I sighed and watched him walk out of the gate for the last time.

I will never forget Jesse. Not a day goes by that I don't think of Jesse. The background on my computer is a picture of Jesse and me taken at the fiesta. Every time my computer is turned on, Jesse pops up and reminds me of my experiences in Brazil. Although I only knew a few things about him, he touched my life in a special way. He showed me how to love a stranger unconditionally and to appreciate the small things in life.



Here are a couple of my favorite pictures (out of the 800) I took while in Brazil.

Christo Redentor- Christ the Reedemer Statue; Rio de Janeiro

Sunrise in Nova Almeida; 4:40am

Andre Jr. Cutest boy ever.

I have no idea what her name is, but we sat and talked for about 20 minutes about makeup in Spanish. Portugese is the national language, but Portugese and Spanish are very similar. So, we spoke in Spanish to each other. It was so awesome.

Hiking up to Christo Redentor.

I love her chubby cheeks.

Jesse and I, the night that we had to leave each other.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So pretty

Jesee and I dancing.

Voices of Youth 2008

Another shot of Rio


Sign for the Shade and Fresh Water Project: "Methodist Camp"

Millions of favelas or slums

The group shot with the staff at the S&FWP.

Bed Rest for Two Weeks. Ughhhh!!!

Here I am. Sitting on my bed, listening to music and updating my blog.

Well, to start the story off...I was playing in my intramural flag football game Wednesday night. We were playing the Gamma Phi Beta sorority football tam. They were nasty. Their sportsmanship was terrible. So, anyway....I always playing defensive safety. It's just what I do. I went to intercept the ball from the other team, caught it and started running it in for the touchdown. When I was two yards away from the endzone, this girl, instead of pulling my flag, wraps her arms around me and tackles me. My knee hits her shoulder, then hits the ground. I was laid flat out and couldn't get up. She better be lucky that I couldn't get up either because I would have hit her. I threw the ball at her and hit my fist on the astroturf. The EMT came over to look at my knee and told me that he could call the ambulance or I could make an appointment with the Health and Wellness doctor on campus for free. Obviously, I chose to make an appointment. He put ice on my leg and wrapped it up in an ace bandage for the time being. The boys on my hall, also our coaches, took turns carrying me from the field to our hall. When we got to the building, the elevators were out. I LIVE ON THE FOURTH FLOOR!!!! What was I supposed to do? Wayne carried me up the stairs and put me in bed.

So, the next day, I get to the Health and Wellness people and they look at my knee. Apparently, I hyperextended my knee, meaning my kneecap went behind my shin and my came out the back. I am on crutches and can't put pressure or weight on it. I am also on bed rest and can't go anywhere except class. I didn't go to my last two classes on Friday because the elevators were broken. I emailed my professors to let them know that I wouldn't be in class.

I have been sitting in bed with my ice and crutches just hanging out. The girls on the hall have been so great. I filled out a form for them to pick up my breakfast, lunch and dinner. It kills me though. I am such an active person and I am having a hard time just sitting here doing nothing. I feel useless. I just want to clean my bathroom or vaccuum. I got up and made my bed and cleaned my half of the sink this morning. So, that was something.

On a good note, my suitemate Felicia's parents came this weekend to see her play in her softball game today. They are so great. I love her parents. My roomate Anna's parents are coming tomorrow to see her. And I get to see my mom at church tomorrow.

We have a lacrosse recruit in our suite this weekend. Basically, recruits sleep in the dorms for 2 nights and we take them around campus and show them how college kids really live. Our recruit is Grace. She is really quiet, but is nice. She's excited about coming to CNU next year.

This is all for now. Nothing more has happened in my life. Have a great day!

Statistics is the Death of Me

So, I am officially frustrated by statistics. I have two classes on Tuesday and Thursday: History 111, which is Ancient and Medival junk, and Stats. History is death at 11am in the morning. The professor is so monotone, it kills me. Class ends at 12:15 and by that time, the dining halls are SO crowded, that its not worth eating until 1:00. Eat lunch at 1 then take a nap. Sounds like a perfect day huh? FALSE. I have to wake up from my nap at 2:30 because I have Stats at 4. Right in the middle of my day. Because its at 4, I feel so unmotivated to go. Literally, I cannot stand going to the class. I enjoy and it is so easy, but it is such an inconvienence. I want to go to the gym, but I have to sit around and wait for satistics to come before I can go. And, it's an hour and a half class. Which is even worse. I sit there and watch the minutes tick by and I just want to die.

I have stats in an hour and seven minutes, so I suppose I will vaccuum my room or do something productive while I wait.