this is a cool picture i took from out my plane window :)
sisters!!! :) on the beach after dinner...fun stuff!
my footprints in the sand...i thought this pic deserved a spot on my blog :)
kenzi's work of art in the sand...
san diego first assembly---my new home church! :)
September 19, 2008
as of right now, my emotions are in check and i have the surreal feel of going on vacation. i did cry the night before i left when i hugged my dad, but besides that, i don’t really feel like this is happening. like i’m going to camp or something. “well of course i’ll be home in a week.” but really, i won’t be setting foot in Idaho for just under three months. whoa.
it’s amazing how adventurous one can feel when one is safely at home living a normal life. but when the adventure becomes real, little bits of “OH MY GOSH THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!” start popping up. Not that that ever happens to me. :)
it was really weird saying goodbye to my friends in the airport…but nattie decided that i’m “still in Idaho, but have a bad case of mono. we’ll all see each other again when i’m ‘better.’” that way, it’s not so sad, cuz i’m not really gone. Good thinking, Natalie! :)
And yet, no matter how weird or sad or even scary this step of my life is, I know it’s right. I have a peace that God has my life planned out and under control—and even in the hard stuff—He’ll get me through. Somebody remind me of that when the hard stuff comes, k? :)
To quote the Fellowship of the Unashamed by Dr. Bob Moorehead (look it up—it’s awesome! :) )—“my past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure…I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.” That’s what I want to do at Master’s Commission—so please keep me in your prayers and thank you for your support!
Okay, so about my first day in san diego…
My mom, sis, and I flew in at about 10:30-ish and then after retrieving our suitcases (and finding one of my brand new, beautiful turquoise suitcases broken by the roughness of travel) we went to our rental car and drove to our hotel. Now, this was no ordinary, simple yet clean hotel. This was like, “hmm…maybe I’ll pretend I’m a hobo for the night and sleep on the narsty (it’s like nasty only worse :) ) bed with the yellow pee (at least I’m guessing it was pee) stain on the quilt and the cute little mini-beastie (a tiny creature that we named Moe with six legs and a beetle-like shell) crawling on the ground…not to mention the thing hanging over my head from the ceiling (I think it was a cobweb…whatever it was, it was very “Halloween-y-ish”). Anyways, after “eww-ing” and “gross-ing” about the room, we ditched it for some lunch at Subway where I ate an amazing meatball sandwich :) and then headed to Walmart for some necessities. That took a while, but we managed to spend lots of money to buy me things like air freshener and laundry soap.
After dropping everything off at our “super 8 hotel” we decided to head for the thing that makes cali so great---the beaches. Along the way, my mom decided to daydream and visit a really nice hotel and just “check the prices.” Well, we fell in love with the idea of staying in a room where we wouldn’t fear being eaten by a horde of bugs in our beds, and so we booked a new room at “Paradise Point.” After our other hotel, this truly was paradise. So, we bailed on the whole “roughing it for the sake of money” thing, and moved into our beautiful new room…and guess what. No pee stains. :)
September 20, 2008
Well, today was move in day…and I absolutely love where I’m staying. :) my roommates are awesome—we are five all together. First there’s brindy. She is WAY nice and looks kind of Kate Hudson-ish… then there’s Kim. She is from New Jersey and has a carefree, total surfer air about her---I really really like her!!! Stevie is our house mom…she’s in charge of cooking and shopping for groceries. She is a little quieter but loves to laugh. I like her a lot too!!! :) lastly, there is my roommate and fellow bunk-bed-buddy: Melissa. She’s twenty and is super nice and not really talkative. I can tell we are going to get along very well—the perfect amount of talking and quiet. I hope she doesn’t snore!! :)
So, I am a top-bunk girl…but that’s okay. It has little prison-like bars all around the edges just in case I happened to be prone to falling off. :)
After we got all of our stuff moved in (it took me a long while cuz, believe it or not, I brought a lot of stuff :) ) kim, Melissa, Kenzi, and I went surfing! It was so much fun, but being the brilliant person that I am, I grabbed the sharp thingy on the bottom of the board—the little fin thing—and sliced my finger open. It started bleeding and I had a moment of panic because I thought “wait…sharks are drawn to the scent of blood.” Yeah, I got out of the water after that. But we’d already been going for a good hour and a half, and so I was getting pretty tired. I’ll bet I’m good and sore tomorrow. :) I could definitely get used to this California lifestyle…
Oh! So mom, Kenzi, and I all ate lunch at In N Out Burgers for the first time—the verdict? It was delicious!!!!!—and I got a t-shirt. :) For pre-dinner we had PB&J and dinner was burritos at Taco Surf. Um…I’m thinking we eat really well, very often. But as our obesity preventive measure, there is TMT: Temple Maintenance Time. That is the time that is required for all those in the Master’s Commission to be devoted to exercise. All the girls agreed we should try my turbo jam dvd’s together; can you imagine five girls rocking out to a work-out video in the living room??? I think this may bring lots of laughs and plenty to blog about.
I found out a little bit more about the program, too. We memorize four Bible verses a week, and fill out a questionnaire/personal essay about the passages. We also take classes that are “foundational.” Basically, they teach us about ourselves. We read books like Battlefield of the Mind, and The Five Love Languages, and even take personality tests. I’m super excited for all of that, but it gets even better…
We are doing human videos and dramas, plus worship team stuff. I’ll get voice lessons and keyboard lessons…and one of the things I’m most excited about? STOMP. It’s the rhythm group that does way cool beats and drum things on garbage cans and other random objects. It’s going to be so much fun!
I’m going to be really busy, and they warned us that we don’t get much sleep, but tonight instead of taking advantage of our opportunity to sleep, we are going to watch What Happens in Vegas. I can tell that I’m going to love these girls—and even as they are all squealing in the hall right now, I know we are going to be like a family. This is so awesome and such a gorgeous place. I love the palm trees, beaches, people, and I am so looking forward to beginning my “quality time” with God.
