Let the Year Begin!

It’s so weird standing on the opposite side of the fence this year when it comes to school. For the past four years I have been the student, looking up to the staff for guidance. Now I am the staff and these freshmen are probably looking at me the same way that I look at Leslie Whitehead my freshmen year. She was so much fun and a great leader. I looked up to her so much! This new position that I hold is exciting and scary at the same time. I know that God wouldn’t have put me in this position if I was not qualified for it, but I just need to keep reminding myself this. I just pray that I will be an example to these girls of a woman after God’s heart through living life with them.

Well, orientation has begun and all the freshmen have moved in. I am now at the point where I do not have to run around all day getting things done or events ready. Therefore I have more time to hangout with my RAs and the freshmen girls on their halls.
The Simmons Hall RAs this year are seriously the best group of girls I could have ever hoped for. Each year I think that my staff couldn’t get better and this year has topped it off. I’m also really excited to be working under Katrina. She has so much to offer when it comes to leadership skills. This year I really want to use her in developing me into a better leader.

I look forward to this next year and the relationships that will grow deeper in my staff.
The late night runs to In-N-Out and 7/11 slurpees have already begun. And of course one can’t forget American #2! I love the fact that I graduated last year and I get to start all over again and relive my freshmen year in the dorms.

Sorry for such the delay in my blog. I’ve had so much to write about yet so little time or energy to do it. So, I’m going to try and write more often . . . but don’t hold me to it.

People always ask me what I am doing now that I have graduated and I say, “I’m back living in the dorms.” Not the typical answer, I know. But I absolutely love it. This year I will be a grad assistant for Katrina in Simmons Hall. I’m really excited, even though nursing school was on my top list of things to do next. I can see now why God allowed me to get such a late acceptance into Western.
So I moved in about a month ago and still working on settling in and calling this home for the next 10 months. Once I finish up decorating and painting I will post pictures for everyone.
RA training is now in full swing. It’s nice to be in the background of training and helping out, rather than sitting through it all. We have a great staff or R.D.’s and G.A.’s this year and the Simmons Hall RAs are amazing. It’s been crazy busy, running around trying to get everything ready, but I look forward to September where consistency will kick into my schedule and I can hangout more with the girls and get to know them more. It’s going to be a great year here in Simmons!


James left about a little over a month ago for Arizona. I’m not very good at good-byes and this one was definitely harder than the norm. With his life packed in a truck, I cried as he drove off. Even worse was watching Sarah Paulus crying as he said Good-bye.
Selfishly I want him here with me, but on the other hand, I know that God is going to be using him in great ways at GCU. He has so much to offer and GCU is blessed to have him.
As a little going away present, I got him a web cam. He doesn’t know this, but I really got it for myself ☺
It’s amazing how advanced technology has come. Every time we login I stand in awe at how we can see each other through a computer screen and hear each others voices while states apart… well, one state to be exact. We have our little web cam dates every night, which is the one thing I look forward to everyday. With RA training underway, we won’t get to see each other till September, but September is right around the corner!

All in all, life is good and God continues to bless me with more than I could have asked for!

We see in part; God sees the whole

Proverbs 16: 9
“A mans heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps.”

It’s so true and yet time and time again I forget how great is the God that I serve. Why is it so hard for me to trust God with my future? I’m constantly trying to map out my life and have every little stone in place and yet every time God comes along and starts shifting through the stones and throwing them out one by one and replacing them. I don’t even know why I plan my future out! It always seems to change.
God has never given me the raw end of the deal. His plans are always so much better than mine, yet in the process of figuring this out, I get frustrated and loose faith.
It’s been a struggle lately in seeing why God is doing what He is doing. I question why timing between James and I are finally on the same page and then God places him in Arizona or why nursing school never worked out this coming year. I know that God is teaching me faith at this time and trusting in Him to direct my steps.
It’s easy to put this all in perspective when I sit back and remind myself that God is the creator of this universe and yet here I am, little me, questioning God. So, I will continue to strive in trusting God for the future!

Isaiah 55: 8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

RwandAMAZING!

Sorry I haven’t updated everyone on my trip to Africa. I find it really hard to talk about my trip at times because no matter what I say or how I word it, people will never truly grasp what I experienced or the feelings I dealt with while in Rwanda. I knew coming back home that this would happen, but for some reason it seems harder than other times. But, all in all, I think now that I have been able to process a lot of what I have been internalizing these past few weeks, I am ready to share my story with the blog world.

The country itself was absolutely beautiful. The definitely don’t call it the “country of a thousand hills” for nothing. Hills surrounded us and everything was green, which hit me how brown southern California is when flying back in.



The people were friendly and so welcoming. As we walked down the dirt road, on the first day, everyone was running out of their homes to greet us and shake our hands. I felt like a celebrity! I honestly don’t know how those people do it everyday. I have more of an appreciation for what celebrities go through everyday. I was sitting in a taxi on day and a group of business men were sitting around me and I could tell they were talking about me. Later I was talking with our translator and she was telling me that they found it such an honor to be sitting next to a white person. It’s so crazy that me, a simple person like me, is viewed so highly in Africa. Americans are so blessed and I don’t think we realize how much people envy us, all over the world, for the opportunities we possess.



Living conditions were rough for some of us. I love camping, so it was pretty easy for me to adjust to no running water, no hot showers, and little food/no food at times. For three weeks, I lived off bread rolls for breakfast, and rice/veggies for lunch and dinner. If there was one thing about this trip that I appreciated the most is that we took on every aspect of their culture. We could have easily living in a hotel down the road with hot water and great food, but we choose to live lives like Africans for three weeks.



Our time there was not wasted by any means. We were business most of the time varying from working with street kids to widows. We taught in the classrooms of a primary school and played games with them at recess. The street kids and orphans were heart breaking. We were able to tend to their spiritual and physical needs. One day we set up a medical clinic and cleaned wounds and picked fungus off the tops of heads. We spend several times with prostitutes, encouraging them to seek the love of God and not humans. These women were being taught how to make crafts and sell them so that they couldn’t sell themselves off the streets, which is so common in Africa. HIV and AID home visits were tough at times. We traveled all over Rwanda, literally, to encourage these people who have lost hope in living. One woman, Diane, had AIDS and had taken in five children, off the street, into an empty home the size of my room. One kid just got there a week before and has AIDS as well. After losing his parents at AIDS, we was rejected by his relatives and thrown on the streets to fin for himself till this woman took him in. It was heartbreaking as I sat there with tears streaming down my face as she shared her story. Lastly, the widows, my favorite! There were over 100 old women who traveled for miles to see us. You could see the hurt and pain in their eyes. I just hope that we were able to encourage them. I can’t imagine witnessing the death of my husband in the genocide and more most of them were raped right after.



Cleaning wounds for kids living on the streets


One of the prostitutes


The kids stole my heart!


It definitely has not been an easy road, adjusting to the land of opportunity. We have been so blessed to live in America where we have everything… and more. I pray that I will never take the small things for granite. I don’t know why God placed me over here and those children over there. I don’t know why God blessed me with great friends and family. I don’t know why God blessed me with a house over my head and food at every meal, but I do know that there is so much that I can be doing to help tend to the needs of those less fortunate. So, with all these things that God has blessed with me, I pray that I will turn these blessings back around and tend to the needs of those that are less fortunate. I thank God each and everyday for blessing me with all that he has, which is more then I even will need!

See ya June 29th

After months of preparation, Im taking off for Africa. Tonight I will be boarding Kenya Airways and heading to Rwanda, Africa to work with kids who have lost their parents in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Definitly not looking forward to the 24 hour plane ride but I guess that will be some good resting time before we hit the ground running for the next three weeks.

I couldn't have asked for a better team! We get along great now and we are as sarcastic as you can get. I look forward to the experiences we will be sharing together and watching them as God works through and in them. Above all else, Im stoked that I have this opportunity to travel across the world to share God's love with kids that have never experienced love period. God's love exceeds more than we can ever fathom and my prayer is that these kids will be overwhelmed with the love of the Lord that will be pouring out of us. As i sit here and look at the look I get from my parents, I can't imagine growing up without the love of my parents. I am so blessed in so many different areas! It's going to be so much fun watching these kids get the love and attention they deserve these next few weeks.

As for my friends! I will miss you all so much... especially you, James! It's been a couple weeks of hellos and good-byes for us that I'm looking forward to a few weeks together!

I hope that you all have a great month. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated. I will see you all June 29th or there after!

2007 Graduation Cruise

10 girls on a cruise to Mexico. Need I say more. 9 of my friends and I went on a 4 day, 3 night cruise to Ensenada Mexico this past week. for graduation. We stopped in San Diego, Catalina, and then of course Mexico. We had so much fun just relaxing and enjoying the rays out on the top of the deck of the ship by the pool and walked around the destination sites each morning.

San Diego-


Cataline-


Mexico-


My favorite part would have to be the dinners though. Each night we all got dressed up and when to dinner where our waiter, Jose would bring us more then we really wanted and at times food that we didn't want... LoL. Im hate seafood and each time he would talk me into ordering fish or shrimp which i ended up not eating... cuz I dont like seafood. Lol, why i did that, Im a pushover. What can I say? But, Im working on that.



Im glad all in all that I had this experience w/ the girls that were apart of my college life and hopefully for the future as well. It was sad to say goodbye when getting off the ship cuz the reality is that most of us will not be able to keep in contact w/ each other as much as we want. No more running over to their apartment to just say hi at midnight or going for late night donut runs.
Like my dad always says, all good things much come to an end.
Im not saying my friendships cuz I know that I will stay in contact w/ them as much as I can, but the college life with my friends is over.
Just yesterday I took a job at CBU as the resident assistant director in the dorms. So, I definitly will be experiencing the college life, just in a different way. Im sad that this next year I will not be experiencing some of the traditions I have created w/ my friends but I am excited to introduce these traditions to the new freshmen... like tortilla runs to Albertos at midnight and introducing them to Yogurtland :) LoL
Im going to miss all the girls that I lived life w/ in such close proximities this next year but I know that these girls that you see in the pictures will be close friends of mine for a long time! I look forward to starting a new chapter of life w/ each and everyone of them!

I just got back today from an amazing week w/ 9 of my girlfriends from a cruise to Mexico. While this was a great week and tons of stories, which I will share in another blog, I must say that trips like these become so much harder to go on when there is someone of significance to leave. This meaning James Rogers, my best friend and boyfriend. He has brought a joy to me that I can’t even begin to explain. I have so much fun whenever being around him and he has been such a huge encouragement to me in so many different ways. The saying, “time flies when you are having fun” has never been so true till I met him. 10:30pm always sneaks up on us.
Well, needless to say, these past 4 days have been amazing yet so hard at the same time. I missed him like crazy! Talking on the phone is one thing, but for some odd reason there is no phone service out in the middle of the ocean :P Not being able to talk during the evenings or while in Mexico killed me. I so badly wanted him to experience the fun and excitement that I did while on the cruise. But, now I’m back and seeing him again was priceless. We have only a few more days till he leaves for a conference and will get back hours before I leave for Africa till the end of June. It’s funny how I use to love traveling and leaving to go places, but these days things are a little different now that James is in my life. He takes the joy out of leaving for my trips when he isn’t going to be there. Not that I don’t have fun, cuz I definitely had fun on the cruise and loved being w/ the girls, but I just missed him.
Reality hit hard while on the cruise that him going to Arizona is going to be so hard on me. I knew I was going to miss him, but I guess in the back of my mind I was in denial that he was leaving. I’m starting to get a small taste of what it’s going to be like when he moves to his new job in July. While I’m confident that this is where the Lord is leading us both in our relationship and jobs, its definitely going to hard saying good-bye and relying on the phone for our relationship. His face will be greatly missed!