History Facts

1984: Holly R. (11 Days) gets heart transplant

1982: U.S.S.R. preform underground nuclear tests

1981: Belgian Senate accepts laws against racism

1966: England beats West Germany 4-2 for soccer's 8th World Cup in London

1956: U.S. Motto, In God We Trust, authorized

1944: Heavy battles at Tessy-sur-Vire and Villebaudon Normandy

1913: Conclusion of second Balkan war

1909: Wright Brothers deliver first military plane to the army

1898: Will Kieth Kellogg invents Corn Flakes

I could go on but I'll stop there...
Found all at www.brainyhistory.com/days/july_30.html

Operation Christmas Child

Update, at HEB there is the school supplies on sale for like 25 Cents rather then 2-3 dollars so I bought some stuff so I needed to update my list :)

I remember doing OCC with Girl Guides growing up and I have kept up the tradition of doing 2-3 boxes. This year I want to do 6, one for each age group for both a boy and a girl. Here is my list so far. I have already started collecting things because it get expensive buying all the tings at once during the holiday season. I have 3 boxes partially done and still haven’t started three. I read on Samaritan’s Purses site that you can send in boxes year round so if I finish early I will send them in before October. Here is what I have so far on my list. Feel free to comment if you think there is something else that would work for any of the age group and gender. I am open to suggestions since I still have lots of space.

Things still needed for OCC (Operation Christmas Child):

1 Hairbrush

3 Bars of Soap (Packs of 2)

3 Toothbrushes

1 hand towel

3 Toothpastes

3 Hot wheel Cars

2 Coloring Books

2 Blank (lined) Notebooks just need one more

2 Yo-Yo’s

1 Pack of Receiving Blankets

3 Stuffed Animals

1 pack of Hair Elastics

3 Bags of mixed Candy

3 $7 donations to cover shipping for each box

1 Play dough set

3 Toques (A.k.a Beanies)

Have 1 boy 6-9

Have 1 girl 10-14

Have 1 boy 2-4

Thinking of doing

1 box boy 10-14

1 box girl 6-9

1 box girl 2-4

Would then still need

1 Pack of receiving blankets

3 stuffed animals

2 toothbrushes

2 toothpastes

2 bars of soap (packs of 2)

2 Blank (lined) Notebooks just need one more

2 boxes of colored pencils

1 box of crayons

2 sharpeners

2 packs of 20 pencils

2 notebooks

2 Packs of Hair Elastics

3 bags of mixed Candy

3 $7 donations to cover shipping for each box

3 Hand towels just need 1 more

2 jump-ropes

1 Play dough set

3 toques (a.k.a beanies)

They have updated there picture section to reflect what they have been doing around the world.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/In_Pictures/

College

College life (I use University and College interchangeably, both mean the 4 year public institute in which I am studying):

It is not all that it is cracked up to be. But I don’t have the typical experience either. I live at home with my parents and walk to school, as it is less then 10 minutes of walking distance. My freshman year I socialized a lot and I had a ton of fun but at the expense of my studies (which is the reason I am going to University isn’t it?). I ended up with good grades but I wasn’t happy with how much extra studying I had to do by finals to get the grades I did. My sophomore year I cut back on hanging out with friends (which they weren’t too happy about) but over compensated in the work area (Because I was doing a summer semester in Germany…SO worth it), so my grades again suffered actually ended up with 3 C’s that year (2 from the same History professor for different classes, He was a great teacher I just couldn’t pass his tests to save my life and in Economics, again great teacher but Economics is something I have resigned my self to never understanding). Germany summer classes were easy and I enjoyed the experience of a whole month in a different country. I was a little home sick by the end but totally worth it. That part of College I recommend if at all possible if it is offered. My Junior year of College was good, I worked and balanced out friends, but my Spiritual life suffered, I was working in my church’s nursery so often that I never got to go to a sermon, so having learned about balancing I changed up my schedule so in the Spring semester I at least got to go to body life (our small groups that meet Sunday evenings at church members homes). Going into my Senior semester of University I have learned that the stereotypical college experience isn’t all that great because most students grades suffer, which is fine if they don’t have personal and parental expectations of all A’s and B’s (from having a dad that did Undergrad and Graduate degree in 3.5 years at 4.0). But I don’t like have any C’s (even t though I do have 3 that I worked my tail off for), so my goals going into my senior year are to study hard early so by the time finals roll around I don’t have to worry as much but try and balance all three aspects of my life. I do have to worry about doing my GRE and applying to Grad school and applying for scholarships and student teaching in the Spring, but for now I’m just trying to focus on one thing at a time, right now studying for my GRE coming up in less then a month.

Real Life

Currently Reading:

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey

And the Bride Wore White: Seven Secrets to Sexual Purity by Dannah Gresh

Lonely Planet: Brazil by Gary Chandler

I do have another (like 10) on my wish list on Amazon for my Kindle which I will get to once I finish the three I have going right now. They are all great informational books that are educating my in different areas. I will write longer posts on each book.

Currently should be doing:

Studying for my GRE

Cleaning my room

Really...I should be cleaning it is a huge mess because my parents are away for a week so I commandeered the living room and dining room to organize my stuff but now that it is out of my room I don't know how I fit it into my room in the first place....

I should post pictures and I may still but they definitely represent the reality of not having enough space and having too much stuff.

Pictures

Just some random pictures from my trip to B.C.

Jumbled

So I have been neglecting my blog...again.

Nothing much going on in life, just working, hanging out with the niece and nephews and studying for the GRE, which is not going very well. I am also going to be taking it a lot sooner then I though I was going to be taking it but oh well.

My nephews and niece are great! I love hanging with them. We went swimming and J, was showing off how well he could swim and B actually put his face in the water. N, clung to her mom most of the time but that was okay. She got brave towards the end.

Work is still there. My bosses are great and very relaxed. I wore the wrong dressy shoes and butchered my feet, so for 3 days I would walk to work and then talk off my sandals till I needed to go help someone or until the end of the day it was great. My feet healed really fast.

I love my Kindle, though I now have to figure out how to budget impulse book buying into my budget, didn't take into account how Easy it would to just by a book and not think about the amount...

But thats okay, its a good problem to have.

I have decided I need to change how much the world influences me in every aspect of my life so I am making some changes. I will blog more about that separately in a day or so.

decisions, decisions

Okay, a update again.

Sam is doing well, and he even got his hair cut! I'll take his picture later for proof.

I'm same old, same old.

Okay, preface, Some people seem to think I just come up with stuff off the cuff but that is soo not true of me, just because I talk/write something doesn't mean I haven't thought about it for at Least 3 weeks. I just don't let others in on my thinking process. So the next statement means I have been thinking of doing either option for a while. One for 2 months and the other for about a month and a half.

I've been thinking of what I want to do the summer after I graduate and I have two thoughts. I'm kind of torn because they are both the complete opposite of each other and the prices are very different also. I wanted to voice them out and see what other's thought about each option. Emailing me would be great (it would prove that I have people reading...since no one comments).

Option 1: Cruise, around the Caribbean, $700 but have to add in price of either gas to drive to Tampa, FL or a plane ticket so probably est. $300, so $1,100 in total ish, before excursions, which I don't have prices for. It would be for 7 days and 6 nights.

Option 2: Volunteering in Brazil (I am fascinated by the culture and the country interests me is the reason behind this country). For a month it would be $3000 not including Airfare, which is $900-1,100 depending on the time. A lot more expensive but more worthwhile use of my time and I want/like to help people. I would be going through crossculturealsolutions, and helping in an orphanage.

So what's the verdict?

Obviously I am going to have to fundraise if I do the second option because of the price tag but it is for a month. The first one I can swing by saving for the next few months. I have a little time before I make a decisions but I want to have a firm plan in place before september.