Monday, March 30, 2009

Growing Up...

This past week has been full of new grown-up things...

  • I turned 21
  • Signed a lease for a house for next year
  • Got an internship offer that would send me to Kenya and South Africa this summer
I still have to decide if I am accepting the internship, so please pray for peace and guidance in that decision.

Yay for big commitments :)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

21

Two days ago I was 20. Today I am 21.

Even with 21 years of trial and error, learning, and new experiences, I realized something so sweet and precious yesterday.

Between all the "Happy Birthdays!" yesterday, the thing I heard the most and the loudest was "You are loved and remembered!" Many of my friends went out of their way to plan surprises or make time to celebrate my birthday with me. Many of my residents went out of their way to reverse our roles and show me love. My family went out of their way to celebrate with me. While I didn't get to bed until past 1:30am because I still had to finish a paper, I did not begrudge the steady interruptions. My fear of being forgotten was overwhelmingly stifled by the constant reminders from the people that care about me :) So thank you to everyone who made my birthday one of the best!

Here are 21 highlights of the weekend:
  • My mom was here to visit, so I got to spend a good amount of time with her!
  • My staff made me a Shark cake! (Thanks to CJ for his wonderful cake shaping skills)
  • Disneyland night
  • I was serenaded by a random group of Jr. Highers at Disneyland because I was wearing the birthday pin (still not sure if this is a highlight, but its memorable enough to make the list)
  • $70 Disney dollars
  • Misleading friends who were really planning good things
  • A beautiful staff that set aside time to decorate the office and surprise me Monday night with some cake and ice cream
  • Cupcakes from my residents!
  • The 45 facebook notifications - I had to delete some emails to make room in bubbs
  • Breakfast with my mom and brother
  • A phone call from my dad and sister :)
  • Dessert at Claim Jumper
  • All the implied drinking comments made me laugh...I'm still on contract so I'm not drinking...nice try though :)
  • Dinner at Pat & Oscar's with Amy
  • Many hugs
  • A couple bomb birthday cards
  • The Mario Party and MouseHunt action with the guys from ARK
  • Katie Powell's S.H.A.R.K. acrostic poem
  • The reminder of old friendships
  • A decorated door and fresh flowers
  • Expectations for a birthday that were blown out of the water
I am so thankful for the blessing that all of you have been in my life, both in past years and this current one. As I add one more year to the tally of life, I desire to surround myself with people such as you, who bring out the best in me. Thank you for encouraging me, pushing me, offering wisdom to me and listening to me. I love you all!




"It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are able to live in community with Christian Brethren"
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer



Diamond in the rough

I went to go see a movie with my mom this last weekend. The movie wasn't that great, but we saw this commercial that made me laugh pretty significantly :)



I used to own hamsters growing up, so this may only be funny to me...but I wanted to share anyway!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Perspective on Development

On Sunday our floor participated in the Los Angeles County Breast Cancer Race for the Cure 5K. As the RA's on our floor, my floor partner Meghan and I wanted to facilitate an event that had a purpose that was greater than ourselves. So we chose to lead our floor in running a 5K that supported Breast Cancer research. We later realized how much this gesture meant to people; that we cared enough about this cause to organize a floor event to support it.

So we created a team and signed up! I had very good intentions to be able to actually run the whole race. But let's be honest...that did not even come close to happening. The last time I ran it was racing a friend back to the dorm (darn competition gets me in trouble every time...) I beat her, but it felt like some took a cheese grater to my throat. I wanted to die on the spot. This pathetic example of my fitness is exhibit A in a whole museum of why I do water aerobics and not cross country ;)

All that to say, I walked the 5K. Meghan was gracious enough to walk with me while the rest of our group ran like track stars. Well, on our little walk, Meghan and I just chatted the whole time. Aside from Meghan's Greek flash cards, we had nothing else to do or anywhere else to go. So other than the time I nearly ran over a small child or when a dog tried to clothes-line us with his leash, I essentially had Meghan's undivided attention for 3.1 miles. Because we had so much time to enjoy each others' company, our conversation was able to progress past the usual "weekly update" and get into topics of greater significance and vulnerability. I am a quality time person, so I thoroughly enjoyed spending this time with my friend, but it got me thinking...

I am taking a class on International Development. It is taught from an intercultural/anthropological viewpoint. Therefore, they talk about the influence of culture in a development project more than any of my business classes even think about it. One example that keeps getting brought up is the implementation of a development project that would place a water well closer to a village so that the women who get the water don't have to walk 10 miles a day to the nearest well. The question that is raised is whether or not a closer well is really needed and/or wanted. It is part of their way of life to walk 10 miles to get water. Also, what the developers do not consider is what else is going on during those long walks; women talk to each other...hello! These walks are providing these women with more than just water; they are creating and maintaining dynamic community.

Have you ever had a friend that you don't talk to for a while? When you go visit, you spend many of the first moments updating each other on how life is going and you may not have time to go deeper. I guess my personality craves depth, so I sympathize with the walkers.

However, my business background understands the developers as well. They see the possibility of greater productivity if less time was spent getting water. There is a trend in the developed world to view underdeveloped nations as having cultures that are backwards because they are preventing them from developing in the Western sense of the word. Therefore, development projects are implemented for the purpose of equipping an underdeveloped nation to develop. Economically, this is true. There are many resources that poorer nations do have access to that could significantly improve their quality of life. However, socially, I think those nations are more advanced. They see the value of community, family, and conversation.

So after my 5K walk, the thought occurred to me: maybe we still have some developing to do as well.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Global Reality

This weekend I have been studying for a midterm in a class called Global Business Environment. As I have sifted through my notes and actually read my textbook I was stuck by the reality of the impact of globalization on me personally. A month ago I went on an eBay kick and it got kind of ridiculous...here's why:

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in class with
shoes that were shipped from Canada
wearing peacock earrings that were shipped from Hong Kong
and using a pen that was shipped from England.

All that show, the theories and forces that have driven globalization do matter and do have an impact on individuals.

Epiphany: my education is relevant :)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Home Sweet Home


Today I got a plane ticket to take me to the most wondrous of all places...WASHINGTON STATE!
However, I will not see this one,
which makes me sad :(

But I do get to see the rest of my family and some beautiful friends!

Washington here I come: April 10th - 19th


Thursday, March 12, 2009

A place to pause

Welcome to my place to pause and reflect on the happenings of my life!

Life is crazy, fast paced and never dull. My weeks blow by and soon another semester has passed. So I have decided to start a blog for several reasons:
  1. To keep everyone updated - sometimes I feel like my time in college is spent in Limbo...4 months on California, 1 month in Washington, 4 months in California, 3 months back in Washington. So I want to try to keep as many people on the same page of my life as possible :)
  2. I have found that I learn the most about my experiences when I take the time to think about them. Therefore, this is my pausing place; my place to write down what I have enjoyed, what is on my mind and what currently drives me crazy.

So I welcome you to read on about what I'm thinking when I take the time to stop my thoughts from their acrobatic swinging and write them down.

"It is true that a mirror has the quality of enabling a person to see his image in it, but for this he must stand still." - SørenKierkegaard