Letter C Vocabulary Word

Word of the Week: Conundrum

It means riddle or mystery.  I like this word because it's so different by has a simple meeting.  To pronounce it, break it apart into three separate sylbols Conundrum: co-nun-drum (easier to pronounce when you break it down).

Sentence: Jesus spoke in a conundrum which makes it hard to understand the Bible sometimes, ya know?

How would you use it in a sentence?

It's Time to Dream

Traditionally I HATE going to chapel, like I really hate it, but oh am I glad that I went this past Friday.  Dr. Rutland, current ORU President, spoke about the concept of "dreaming".  It was pretty timely as the Inauguration, Celebration of Dr. King's birthday and anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
would be celebrated a few days after chapel service.

I'm not going to steal his thunder, but essentially the message was that it is ok to dream and never allow anyone to stop you from accomplishing the dream.  Although chapel was a few days ago, the topic of "dreams" has consumed my thoughts since hearing the message.  I must confess, there are things that I use to dream about and longed for, but stopped.  I don't know exactly why I stopped dreaming....maybe I was sold a bill of lies and didn't believe that it could come to pass....maybe I realized the amount of work necessary to accomplish the task was more than I was willing to assert....I don't know why.  Do I even know what a dream is?

What exactly is a dream?  Is it an idea that floats around your mind while sleeping?  Is it a strong desire for or too accomplish something?  Is graduating from college a dream or just something to do?  Personally I feel like it's the stepping stone to do what I want to do, so does that make it a dream?  Is the idea of getting married and having kids a dream...or something that I'd like?  When Dr. King spoke about the life that he would like for his children one day, was he speaking about a dream or was he hypothetically speaking about something from his perspective that would never happen (no disrespect)?  

So I'm left with a few questions:
 - what is a dream?
 - how do you do it?
 - what keeps a person from taking an abstract dream and transforming it into a reality?

.......TBD cause I have homework to do...

Letter B Vocabulary Word

This is what gas looks like in our intestines

Word of the Week: Borborygmus

I would be the one to choose this word, borborygmus as it means, "A rumbling noise caused by the movement of gas through the intestines".  So ya see, just because you may hear noise coming from your stomach, it doesn't mean that you hungry, it could just be the gasses moving around inside.

Sentence: The borborygmus coming from my neighbor was distracting.

How would you use it in a sentence?

Yesterday was FANTASTIC!!!!!

I wait all year long for January 13th to roll around.  It doesn't matter what is happening in my life, January 13th always brings me great joy.  For that one day, I LONG for time to stand still, but unfortunately it does.  Traditionally I get my hair done, wear a new outfit and have some festive party to celebrate, but this year I didn't do all of that.

I did do my hair, but I didn't have a new outfit to wear and I didn't have a big party but boy did I have a fantastic celebration.  My day went like this:
 - Church Service: while here in Tulsa, I attend The Church (www.thechurch.at) where Pastor Alex talked about the tithing principle.  Essentially the points were to give God the first of your week, the first of your day, the first of your consideration and the first of your finances.
 - Sushi Date: a friend took me to a sushi restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious sushi lunch.  It was actually the first time that I've had uncooked sushi.
 - Loops: I'm really into crocheting and I want to learn how to potentially knit.  There is this store in New York that has fantastic yarn and when I heard about Loops here in Tulsa I could only hope that it was similar.  My visit was slightly disappointing.  They have yarn, but it didn't have the volume of selection that I was hoping for.
 - Target: as my birthday present, I wanted to get a new DVD to add to my small collection.  I ended up getting Bridesmaids because it is super funny and it was super inexpensive.
 - Cupcakes: one of my friends from school ended up coming over and we made cupcakes and just talked.  I love talking and she loves talking so it was a very lively conversation.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted.  I receive an abundance of FaceBook posts, Tweets, Text Messages, Phone Calls, Emails, etc....it made me feel like I wasn't far away from home at all.  I don't know if I can wait until next year to celebrate.  I had a thought though...dogs get to celebrate seven times a year, why can't I?

Birthday Eve

The eve before any major holiday, families and friends come together to celebrate the occasion and each other.  January 13th is not a major holiday recognized by communities around the country, but it is a day that I celebrate with robust delight.  It's a day that I celebrate life....my life.  My life that should have been snuffed out before it even started.  Snuffed out from the multiple suicide attempts during my early teen years.  Snuffed out from the host of bad decisions and choices I've made that have had a negative impact on my body and even my soul.

Staying stuck in the past is not beneficial to anyone, but choosing to learn from the past and even celebrating the future is where victory happens.  This year I'm celebrating triumph and victory over my past and celebrating hope and possibility over my future.  Tomorrow is the dawning of a new year for me, a new year that holds a great deal of promise and adversity.  Tomorrow is my birthday and I will be 35!!

2013 Bucket List

I go back and forth regarding New Years Resolutions.  I think they are beneficial as they help you foci on accomplishing a particular task.  But I think they are sort of a waste of time at the same time based on my own track record of not accomplishing the resolution that has been set.  Not accomplishing it makes me feel like a failure/looser which further perpetuates an endless cycle.

Over the past few days I've been thinking about things that I would like to accomplish before I die.  We never know when our eyes will close on this side of heave never to open again, so why keep putting things off?  Some things just can't be done immediately.  Like I can't go on a 10 day excursion in Switzerland because of school and money, but there are things that I can work on and accomplish now.

So, my Top 10 Bucket List things that I'd like to do this year are:
1. Expand my vocabulary by learning a new word a day. (I'm wondering if this is practical, maybe it should be a new word a week - that is more realistic).
2. Take a 30mile bike ride along the Riverside Trail here in Tulsa.
3. Take Karate Lessons (I think that this will be so cool!!)
4. Be in a TV Commercial or photographed in a Magazine
5. Complete 100 push up continuously
6. Create my own superhero logo and character (I feel like a superhero sometimes, I should have an image to go along with it)
7. Learn to shoot a gun (I live in green country now and everyone has guns)
8. Take a few sewing classes.  By the end of 2013 I'd like to know how to sew my own skirt, dress and slacks (this will be totally awesome!!)
9. Learn to play the bass guitar
10. Complete a 400 meter swimming challenge

So much to LEARN!!

My spring semester started this past Monday.  I have 6 classes (16 credits): American History, Hermeneutics, Health, Local Church Outreach, New Testament Introduction and Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment.  I'm waiting to see if I can enroll in one more class (fingers crossed on that one).

Thus far I've learned that I don't know anything!!!!  I thought that I was prepared with have a pretty solid foundation on biblical knowledge, but boy was I wrong.  My professors have already started quoting dates and various occurences in history that I had no clue about.  I knew that I didn't know much about history, but there is so much within Christianity that I just had no clue about.  Actually, it's probably good that I'm taking the classes that I am because I'm able to see how Christianity (and other religions) has developed throughout history.  Today, for example, we learned about Islam and the picture that is painted for us throughout media images is accurate.  I LOVE LEARNING!!!

The class that I am most excited about is Local Church Outreach.  We have a project to complete where we will develop a plan of action to demonstrate kindness meant to impact the local community of Tulsa.  Not only will we be responsible to develop a plan, but we have to implement it.  That is exciting to me because I will be putting to practice what I'm learning now verses years from now.  The class that I'm most hesitant about would be Health.  The class is broken up into two parts - Lecture and Lab.  The Lecture is simple, just show up and listen but the tests are brutally hard.  Although the tests are hard, your grade really comes from how well you do in the Lab section of the course.  My lab is today at 1:50pm and we have to do a 1.5 mile field pre-test.  Our run/walk is timed and we will repeat the exercise at the end of the semester.  Our grade is determined by our age and how fast we complete the run/walk.  The conflict is that I don't know if I feel like putting in the necessary work, ya know?  I know that putting in the work is necessary to do well in the class, I just have to make up my mind.

It's Official

I had to wait before sharing this news publicly to ensure that nothing fell through the cracks.  But it is official, I HAVE A JOB!!!  I have been hired by Oral Roberts University as the Assistant Building Manager for the new student center that is opening up on campus this coming February 1st.  I applied for the front desk attendant position because of the hours, not because of the position.  Since being here I've applied to nearly a hundred different jobs but to no avail, nothing would materialize as I'm either over qualified, not what they are looking for or my school schedule conflicts with the needs of the company.

This position is in the evening which will not impact my school schedule (which, by the way, requires A LOT of reading!). I am doing almost exactly what I did in my previous position at home, minus the scheduling aspect.  How do I feel?  Like an Oreo Cookie. Fear and Excited are sandwiched together with the delicious cream of being amazingly Grateful.  I'm not scared of the job per say.  I think I'm a little hesitant about balancing both school and work together with the intensity of my classes - will I meet the challenges that both will bring and do well?  I'm excited because IT'S A JOB!!  I feel like I triumphed.  Hard and difficult situations didn't get the best of me - even though I wanted say, "Screw it all!!" (I actually wanted to say more choice words but I signed an honor code).  I'm excited with an extra shot of excitement because working on campus will help me build relationships.  That just makes me happy inside.  Then I'm amazingly grateful to be in a position where I will be able to financially support myself.  It has been killing every aspect of my pride to have all aspects of my life dependent on others but grateful that there have been people in a position to support me (totally a catch 22).

Training doesn't begin until January 18th and the New Hire Orientation is on January 22nd, so I won't start working working until probably January 28th (probably) and won't get a check until February sometime.  But, God has been faithful and provided up to this point, I'm confident He will continue providing.