BOWLcoming 2010

 

ready for burning.

aka Homecoming. This week was fabulous. Well, mostly Thursday-Saturday. It just upped how awesome I think Baylor is. Seriously. Baylor really knows how to do Homecoming. Everything started Wednesday with a worship service. Robbie Seay Band led that. There were also random speakers, like this alum from the 50s named Milton. I liked him. I don't remember everything he had to say; he just hit us with some good stuff in the moment. I wish I could remember stuff like this better. Anyways, so after Wednesday's worship night, there was Thursday night's Freshmen Mass Meeting. We met in Waco Hall[where we have chapel] late at night, 11 pm. The night began with a ceremony of sorts honoring the immortal 10. They were 10 basketball players who died in a bus/train accident in January 1927 on the way to their first road game in Austin. After that whole ceremony, which was really cool, the freshman torch bearer was picked and we all sang "That Good Ol' Baylor Line". I still don't know the words. Oops. We left Waco Hall and walked with candles across campus through paths lined with luminaries. We gathered in Fountain Mall, where there aren't actually any fountains, and began bonfire building! We all carried these large wood pallets to a prepared area with sand and stacked them all up into a huge pile of awesomeness. Andrea, Katie, and I stayed later to help paint a big, purple KSU[we were played Kansas State] to go on top. Friday evening was Extravaganza, a carnival complete with a ferris wheel, pep rally, fireworks, and the massive bonfire. That was crazy. The fire got so big, so fast, and was SO HOT.

just chillin' by the fire =)

 It was windy that night so it was semi dangerous, but no worries, everything was okay. Nothing burned besides the grass and some of the blockades around the fire. ha. So that was a fabulous night. Then Saturday was the parade in the morning...sadly Katie and I missed seeing the beginning [which was things I feel like should be the end.] where they carried the torch and that sort of thing. Bummers to waking up late. But there were some really sweet floats, like this one that won Judge's Choice..it had a working ferris wheel and roller coaster on it! After the parade, we went back to sleep until we got ready for the GAME!! EPIC.

packed under the stands waiting out the storm.

 The game was AWESOME. First off, when we got there, there was already a lightning delay. So we didn't go into the stands. A good hour later, after being crammed under the bleachers with everyone because of a crazy, windy, thunderstorm, the game commenced. SO GOOD. It went back and forth between Baylor being ahead, then Kansas State getting a TD and getting ahead. But in the end, Baylor WINS!!!! This win meant we were eligible for a Bowl game! Hopefully we will get to play in one! Pretty sure if we beat UT this weekend, we'll be for sure getting one. We are ranked for the first time since..1986? Yeah. So legit. We got to rush the field after the game too; that was so fun! Everyone was so stoked. The game was definitely the greatest part of the weekend, then helping build the fire. Baylor sure knows how to do Homecoming big and has the sweetest traditions. SIC EM.

WIN!!!!

the weeks are long, weekends short.

I've noticed lately, how quickly the weekends go by. Time flies, yet it seems to move slowly at the same time. I've been here 2 months already. That seems forever long, yet quite short for all that I feel has occurred in such a time. I feel like I'm drifting away from home; I miss my family and friends, but we're all so far away, friendships are harder to keep and they just feel different. I don't feel like I have a lot of friends here; I have a close bunch, and that's it, so if no one's free, then I'm left alone. I don't really like it. Sometimes it's nice, but usually when no one's around, I wish someone was and when everyone's around, I don't mind being alone. Maybe it's the whole, I feel 'safe' because I know they're there? Who knows. It's weird. I've been consistently going to lifegroup every Sunday night and it is so unique and awesome. I've never been around so many people who are just like "Oh hey, God's totally going to rock our world right now and oh hey, yeah I just got a picture from Him or a word from Him and I'd like to pray over you". It's cool. But I can't help and wonder, how are they so on fire? What am I missing? I'm doing this project for my Health class where we had to pick a behavior we want to change and then make goals for ourselves along the way. I decided to do reading my Bible more because let's be honest, I don't. Rarely. So I was like sounds good to me; I'll start with 5 minutes a day, then 10, then finally 15. That seems like such a long time. It's been the first goal: 5 minutes a day. In fact, tomorrow I'm supposed to start into 10 minutes plus like journal about it. I've been failing miserably. So this could be interesting. I figure it'll be better, since I have to journal about it. Granted, what I turn in journal-wise only has to be like "I fulfilled my goal today." or "Today I didn't because I was busy all day" or something like that. So that's that.
This week is going to be a long one. But maybe it'll surprise me and go by quickly. I sure hope so. This Friday starts Fall Break and my mom's coming! YAY! =D

the light meets the dark

jason and jeff from tenth ave north, with katie and holly and i. =)

 There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide

She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was.
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Tenth Avenue North is my new favorite band. Seeing them for free last night was so awesome and so good. They're so legit. Great songs, great guys, great time. =) The lyrics are above are a snippet from the song "You are More" from their "The Light Meets the Dark" album.

Butterfly Circus.

http://www.thedoorpost.com/hope/The%20Butterfly%20Circus/

(So I tried to embed this and it didn't work.  This is just a link to the page. )

This is such a great video. I honestly had tears in my eyes at the end. Thanks to Andrea Garza who showed me the video. It's about hope. Hope is a beautiful thing. I often don't realize how necessary hope is and how it really is always there, you just might have to dig a little to find it. No worries, I'm not feeling hopeless, more hopeful. I've been doubting my major decision so I'm going to get career counseling and am hopeful that things will work out well. Perhaps they won't be what I wanted or thought I wanted, but that's why God's around. He's  got it all under control. He knows what's going down, even when I don't. That's always a good reminder.
So I guess, that's all for now. I'm feeling anxious about getting my future figured out pronto, but at the same time, I'm alright with how things are. I like Baylor, I like my friends, I like getting packages in the mail and listening to classical music and wearing my glasses and eating ice cream, and feeling happy. It's all in God's hands. I'm pretty sure He's smarter than I am. So here's to doing it God's way aka a new acronym, also supplied by my dear friend Andrea. FAITH: Forget About It, Trust Him. =)

endless summer and david crowder

I've decided that living in Texas is basically like summer. all the time. It was nice for like 4 days when it was rainy so it was actually cooler. But it rained all day for 4 days so that was kind of sad. I did get to use my rainboots and umbrella a lot though. Thanks hurricane Hermine!! =)  I think I'm somewhat used to the heat, but I'd really love to wear hoodies and jeans and rock the cool weather cardigans, etc. Supposedly once it hits October, the temperature drops, so I can't wait. =)
     Let's see...what's new in my life. OH. Some of you already know, but since I don't know who actually reads this, I'll let you all know. Monday, I visited David Crowder's house. As many of you also know, he's basically my favorite ever. So I was super stoked to get the opportunity to go to his house for this "freshmen party/gathering". My friend Andrea had to work until 8, so we got there at the tail end. We hadn't eaten, but all the food was getting put away. David asked us if we'd gotten enough to eat, etc, and when we mentioned how we'd just arrived and not eaten, he made us eat. Ninfa's mexican food. Good stuff. I only wished we'd gotten there a little earlier so it didn't feel like we were just taking up space and being in the way of cleaning up. But his house is freakin' beautiful. It's all like old/antique-y but super cool. I should've taken pictures. haha. I took a picture of his porch. It was huge and white and had a swing. AND he had a wooden swing tied to a tree in his front yard!! So fantastic.
    That's all for now, I guess. I had my first Religion and Calculus tests yesterday and today. We'll see how those went...ehhhh.
                                    HAPPY WEEKEND FRIENDS!

one of those days

so I've pretty much done nothing today. it's kinda nice. It's not even dreary out, but it has been nice just staying in and chillin'. There's a game today. It's parent's weekend. I'm not going to the game. But last week's game...our first home game. EPIC. I got to run the "L" flag of "LINE" in "Baylor Line" heading off our freshmen class rushing the field. It was such a sweet experience!! My friends and I painted our faces and everything too. We were full of the Baylor spirit. I kinda love it. But I'm not really into football. haha. The picture is of some of us that ran the flags. The guys were part of "Baylor" and got to stay on the field and run out everytime Baylor scored a touch down, which was a lot. We smoked Sam Houston State, 34-3. SIC 'EM BEARS. =D

Things I've Noticed

Things I've Noticed Around the Baylor Campus:
1. Virtually every girl owns and wears Nike running shorts.
2. Sometimes they'll even wear them with nice sandals.
3. If you're a girl and you're walking up to a door, 99% of the time a boy will be there to open in for you.
4. The dorm rooms and lots of the classrooms are chilly.
5. Finding fun, random stuff to do it a must.
6. There's usually more than one free food event a week.
7. Even though the buildings look classy on the outside[minus the old gym], they're fairly old school inside. aka right-handed and left-handed desks. I usually sit in right-handed ones even though I'm left-handed because the left-handed ones are few and far between and almost always on the very left of the room in the front.
8. We house the biggest climbing wall in our SLC[Student Life Center aka fitness facility] in all of Texas, maybe the US? I'm not positive on that one. But it's over 50 feet tall. Legit.
9. Vegetarian=waffles, salad, cheese, and depending on the dining hall there are actual veggie meals like sun-dried tomato wraps etc. [at least today at Collins there were.]
10. People aren't out late at night. like past 10. They're studying!
11. I like Baylor. =)

                                        just hanging out with "Dad", Judge Baylor. =)