CUTE!!!

My cousin Riva's baby

Shots

To go to places like Central America, one's body needs to be prepared for the onslaught of microscopic horrors. Resulting in my impending trip to the doctor. I'll need a typhoid shot, a hepetitis A shot, and malaria (anti-malaria, that is) pills.

I can't say whether I prefer the shots or pills. Pills are annoying in that the comprise one more thing to remember to do everyday, for at least four weeks, I think. But then again, it is all part of the experience, like:

wearing the goggles.... to do chemistry experiments
NOT eating poppyseeds.... to take a drug test
donning a spacesuit.... to go to the moon
taking malaria pills.... to go to Honduras

Taking an exotic type pill just makes this experience that much more removed from daily life. So I don't think I'll mind. I've also been told that garlic pills keep away the bugs. But then,

Shots are exotic too, especially when they're for things like typhoid, a disease I've only experienced while playing Oregon Trail. But they are kinda ichy, you know? I've gotten so that I can be calm under the needle, and honestly, it doesn't hurt very much. It's afterwards I mean, when the muscle aches and stings with that funky foreign substance that has been pumped into it.

I'm also going to the eye doctor and the dentist in the next couple weeks. My whole body will be overseen by professionals!

O the saviness

I'm in a computer class, feeling quite geeky as I'm the only one who's used their school web space before (though shamefully and shabbily). And with my new Dreamweaver skills, my new website will add a touch of professionalism to my slowly developing architecture skills!

In other news, I'm taking Yoga this quarter with Raeleen

And... I'm quite humbled as I start to prepare Bible studies for the college ladies this quarter. I get all intellectually excited about the theological side of things and how much it's going to change everyone's life. Then I realize that I haven't even applied the information to myself. O teacher, instruct thyself!

eh?

I took the country quiz that Katie Ferguson recommends, and tried two different answers to the question "Are you social?" Sure, I love meeting people and spending quality time, but sometimes I need space. So I choose "Go away" the first time, leading to the conclusion that I am Switzerland. Cold, reserved and neutral.

Good grief, I was implying that I enjoy cold climates on that other question!

So then I took it again, declaring myself to be quite social, and I ended up as Canada. Wacky, caring of other people, etc. Also cold, but in more of a hemispheric sort of way. More me? P'haps.

Yeah! Blogging while sitting on Ben's lap! :P

School starts, more or less obviously, on the morrow. So I'm not terribly excited about all of this school type stuff going on-- I was really starting to get into that break thing. But I guess I don't have much to complain about, being as I don't have a job that demanded my attention, or some sort of exhausting vacation. Mostly, I think, I'm not terribly excited about getting back into the architecture studio environment; the way it reminds me somewhat of high school, the way I don't have much in common with everyone else, and the way that not many people seem interested in getting to know me. Do you think maybe I'd be cool if I used a different shampoo?

So I'm in Four-Per, our extended room at UCU, for the third quarter. Only the 1st time, it was just me and Holly Hicks in a four person room. The second time it was me and Marissa and Holly Olds. And now with four people actually living here (Holly Hicks, Hannah, me and my sister Kate!) it seems quite crowded! And strange! Between the gollum statue, the brilliant glowing candy cane, the cow calendar, and the coconut painted like a head it looks kinda wild in here. I personally suggested a rearrangement of the furniture that left everyone feeling happier and more social, and saved space! Putting those design skills to use!

Ben says that this is a good length entry, so I concur, feeling happily concluded!

My chance for stardom!

So Pete has this grand scheme of doing a UCU gala-type night to raise money for new sound equipment. And even though he's graduated and living in Tacoma, he's determined to carry it out. In lines of this he's making a recording of a couple songs for promotional purposes, and as he recently discovered that I play the flute decently enough, he asked me to record part of a Jars of Clay song. So tonight he and Allen and I (dragging Ben along) will rendevous at the deserted UCU. I'm a bit nervous as I'm more than a little rusty and I've never been stellar under pressure, but as these are patience guys, it should be fine.

Oh, and the news is in that I'm going to Honduras for sure! To design a church for some indigeous people. :) With team leader John Linquist, and a mechanical engineering student named Ivan. I've never met anyone named Ivan before. I used his email address to do a bit of snooping, and traced it back to the university he attends: Cedarville, in Ohio. It looks to be quite similar to Seattle Pacific University, actually, of similar size and persuasion, although probably less ridiculously expensive. I suppose I could continue in snooping, but I think instead I'll simply email him and say "What's the deal, yo?"

In other news, I passed all of my classes. It looks by the way that my GPA keeps lowering almost microscopically that I will just scrape by on a 3.0 by the time I graduate-- not bad, you may say, but that's the lowest GPA I can get away with in applying for grad school. Unless I suddenly excel next year, that is. Who knows. God continues to show that he will sustain me in the way I will go without giving me too much fodder for my pride:) I think my sorest spot is in the studios (the training grounds for design and the practice of architecture), where I slave away only to receive B-'s overall. Well, at least my mother thinks that I deserve more like, what did she say? B+'s, I think. Maybe I can dub her the representative of the People and claim that at least the public approves of what I do.

Whew! I think that this time off from school has truly recovered me. I've got to spend some quality time with Ben (we went to Port Townsend yesterday! Where I bought tea.), see my friends, and generally herd those ducks into a shape that is aesthetically pleasing if not exactly a row. Also, read the book of Romans, prepare Bible studies which will be taught along this quarter, and finish a novel that was truly enjoyable.

Toodles!

Well, the bunny in the front yard turned out to be a rock

But everything else is spiffy. Except that I just realized that there are people who wrote me emails last fall who I haven't responded to yet. Oops. But Spring break gives you a second chance at things like that! Also, my bonzai tree that I'm trying to grow from a seed hasn't sprouted yet. I thought my sister, who knows the latin names of half the plants we pass on the street and owns about 20 plants, would be able to help me out, but apparently she never grows them from the seed, just takes clippings from old plants to start new ones. So I'm on my own. I keep giving it water like the instructions say, then worry that I'm drowning it, and I look for little buds every day. Is that a sprout? No, it's a long piece of dirt. Darn.
But yeah, everything else is spiffy. Love spring break. Just enough stuff to do to keep me busy, but not enough to stress over-- besides, most the stuff I'm doing was stuff I should have done earlier, but didn't have time for. Now, I do:)

Jis keeping it real

My goodness. I don't set my alarm, and I end up sleeping 11 hours a night. For the past three nights. I can tell I'm quite worn out.
But my parent's sun-filled, quiet house is a great place for recovery. Everyone else is in Yakima; it's just me, my dog, and my sister's dying gourami fish. Right now, my laundry's churning, the dishes are clean, and there's a bunny napping in the front yard.

Thursday I went shopping with Tara. Well, first we went to coffee, talking a mile a minute the whole time as is our custom. Then we went looking for very specific business type clothes. Tara's dilemma is that while she is the possessor of many striped and brilliant items she can only wear muted shades of solid colors in her new workplace. My dilemma is that while my internship this summer specifies "business casual," all my summer jobs in the past have involved outdoor grubbiness. Unfortunately, my body type didn't quite work with the types of stores we went to. I did end up with one decent black cardigan-type thing. One more step towards resolving my wardrobe.

Things with Tara were good-- I was a bit worried about tension, the sort of awkwardness that sometimes occurs when a friendship is faltering. But either Tara was in her element or our relationship is the type that endures periods of silence-- or hopefully both.

Then Kate, Ben and I saw Starky and Hutch, meh, it's a pretty good movie. Afterwards we went home, where we found that my mom had cooked chicken in addition to halibut to feed Ben, while reassuring him that she would have cooked the chicken anyway and she didn't want him to feel obligated to eat fish here again.

Yesterday Ben, Raeleen and I went out to lunch (I should have known that Raeleen, given the choice, will always pick Red Robin). Whew. Another long lost friend reclaimed. It was interesting later at my house though, with Raeleen periodically insinuating that if she was being an imposition she could leave (that one, she too often feels unwanted), and Ben whispering that he could leave if need be in my other ear. The whole thing seemed ridiculous, because while I always enjoy seeing Ben, time with him is not nearly the rarity that Raeleen's time is. I had worked hard to get that evening with her. So Ben ended up playing the video game he had been eyeing the other night (from the table, where he had been forcing into the daunting Triple Yahtzi with my parents and I) and later joining Rae and I's comfortable conversation on the couch.

And today, I stay at home and read my books and do all the little things there's not time for during finals week.

Done.

I know I have to go back to school in a week and a half, so why do I feel so relieved? Maybe just because I'm reminded that everything ends eventually, which in most cases is a beautiful thing.

Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life."
Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Oh, and a quote from A Journey to Victorious Praying:
:We are surrounded by relationships, but driven by accomplishment. God is the opposite. Though surrounded by His accomplishments, He has given Himself in relationship. Though not in need of interaction, He has chosen to pursue it. For God fellowship is the goal:
--Victoria Brooks

More beautiful random things:
Even though my prof didn't see me the other day when I said hi to him, he remembered my work on the midterm when asking how my final went.
Everything is clean! I'm moving to a new desk in the architecture studio, and a new room at UCU, so everything is being wiped away, and... I'm reminded about how much stuff I own. Sad.
I get to spend time with the long lost Raeleen over Spring break! Yah! Now if only I can get ahold of the long lost Hillary...
Tomorrow I'm going to cut my fingernails, do my laundry, send out the eMi letters, and all the other things I haven't had time for during the past three weeks or so:)
Becky (an unexpected computer science engineering major--not unexpected because she's fluffy, but because she's not strident, only quirkly odd) invited me to her room to study last night. Yeah, it's in UCU, but sometimes hanging out in someone else's room is like visiting their house. Comfortable guest, but a different environment. And it just reminds me how we're close, even though we don't know each other super-well, when she went to sleep for the night but told me to hang around as long as I wanted.

Yeah!! God bless compassionate teachers! My prof gave me a little extra time to make my presentation more... presentable. It won't be as spiffy as I'd hoped, but at least the jurors will be able to tell what my building looks like. Giving them more to work with than asking me questions like "Now does that stair go up or down? Where's the floor plan of the upper level?" the whole time.
BTW, I think it was food poisoning. Cuz now I'm absolutely fine (albeit tired) and most illnesses last more than 16 hours. I did have some funkyish tuna (which someone at UCU might have left out on the counter for awhile) a couple of hours before I got sick which may have been the culprit.

Tomorrow is the LAST day of architecture architecture. I do have a final Wednesday, but that's a textbook/sit-down-esconced-in-a-pleasant-coffeeshop-somewhere type of final, for which studying will be relatively nice. A definite change of pace, if nothing else. But tomorrow is 9 hours of presentations to listen to, interspersed with 3 or 4 hours of me desperately finishing up my drawings. Then, it is almost finished! Yah, Spring break!

Man.

Yesterday, I suddenly became ill. Not a happy thing, as usual, but I was in the middle of working on a project due tonight. Foolishly or not, I went out to coffee with a friend whose mother died about a week ago. I probably would have cancelled, only I had no idea when i was going to see her again (she lives in Bellingham) and I really wanted to be there for her. We had a great and meaningful conversation. Then I got sick again. And slept about 6 hours. Around midnight, Ben came over to help me work on my project. I thought maybe I could handle it if someone handed me things and kept the mood light (it unfortunately easy to become utterly discouraged and depressed when feeling ill and being stressed out at the same time). But whenever I tried to do anything, I'd start violently shaking or running off to the bathroom. So Ben, having cheered me up but not removed the germs, went home to get some sleep. People have been praying for me to be well and it hasn't happened; so I have no idea what God has wrought in this situation. Anyway, I've just slept another 8 hours and feel quite a bit better. So hopefully I can now get something done.

Growing up in the 80's and early 90's

Some of you have probably seen this forward, but it's worth posting. Actually, I'll just post the parts which I especially relate to and personally notate it!

You know you grew up in the 80's and early 90's when:

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE."

Yep. Still do, occasionally. It amuses me:)

4. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish.

yeah... but people I know did this through early high school, which was getting past the early nineties. It's actually a really good idea, because you don't have to worry as much about what happens if your skirt rides up.

5. You yearned to be a member of the Babysitter's Club, or even to start a club of your own.

Oh yeah. Those girls were so cool. They were babysitting professionally at 12! How grown up can you get? But then after I was 14 or so I realized they were actually really really annoying. Just like Nancy Drew.

6. You owned those lil Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.

Well... not the dolls, the show.

8. Two words: M.C. Hammer

:)

9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock."

Sigh. Oh, the good times.

10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars.

I didn't learn to ride a bike until maybe 4th grade, and then I rode it everywhere, streamers and all.

11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales."

Yeah. Among other various cartoons theme songs.

13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.

I wore three ponytails sometimes.

15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.

The only computer program I knew how to use. Seriously. Usually I'd put my friends in the wagon, or put in people I didn't like and try to kill them. All in good fun, that is.

17. You played the game "MASH" (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)

All. The. Time.

21. You remember reading "Tales of a fourth grade nothing" and all the Ramona books. Ramona completed in 1st grade.

I read seriously every book available to me in elementary school.

24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.

Red with hot pink. In stretch pants and a baggy t-shirt.

25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off...

Yeah, but at the time I thought he was a white woman.

27. You took Lunch Pails to school.

Boxes.

28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.

Banning?! They were uncensorred where I lived!

29. You still get the urge to! say "NOT" after every sentence.

:P

34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.

Maybe.

35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"

Didn't see it, but EVERYONE said it.

37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were in-line skates.

Skate King still doesn't have in-line skates.

38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.

Not seriously, but those things can be painful!

40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.

I went to a couple. Wait, don't they still do those?

42. You remember Popples.

Yeah. Popples:)

46. "Miss MARY MACK MACK MACK, all dressed in BLACK BLACK BLACK"

She went downstairs, stairs, stairs, to say her prayers, prayers, prayers...

49. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"

We should seriously use that against our enemies, you know?

55. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THRU THE HEART.

I first heard it in high school actually, it was in a lot of drill team routines.

59. You remember when mullets were cool!

Yes, but that was last month's style.

There's an ad on the side of a bus with a picture of a cute Labrador head. It's got a doggie treat balanced on its nose, and the ad reads "There's this really cool trick he does where he prevents heart attacks."
And another has a cat, and says "He doesn't fetch. He doesn't beg. But he does improve your health."

The dog one is obviously better.


Another real life quote:

The other night me, Andrea, Allen, and Pete all went to dinner, for the annual new VP/old VP reminiscing and passing on of wisdom. There were good times, there was consuming of lovely shakes, and then we leaned back and talked business late into the night. But when we were ordering food Pete looked the Red Robin waitress straight in the eye and said "What's the biggest burger you have?"

"The monster burger," she replied.

"See, I told you!" said Allen.

"But it doesn't have bacon," objected Pete.

"Oh, you can add it for 79 cents," she pushed the sale.

"Well... okay. It's worth it," said Pete.

But then as she was leaving the table Pete added...

"Go light on the mayo-- I'm watching my weight!"

No updates of late

So... the next week will be crazy. I know I say that all the time, but to give ya'll some idea of just how crazy this week will be: I'm skipping church Sunday, pulling at least one all-nighter and a few late ones, and I'm only going to see Ben once, just for dinner. Most of this, as you probably guessed, is due to yet another project. This one's due Sunday night. Then there will be 12 hours of presentations on Monday, and a final Wednesday which I will henceforth spend all day Tuesday studying for. I've also got a final this Friday.

In addition, I'm supposed to get the eMi support letters out in the next few days. I've also got Vice president responsibilities! Which will no longer be, next quarter. Andrea Sooter is the new VP! For those who don't know her, she's my lovely twice roommate. She's on crew, but only so that she can spend time loving on other people in crew. Quite the tall young woman of excellent character. But anyway, can we get back to ME?

That was a quote from the Emperor's New Groove, by the way, and meant in a facetious manner. But still, this blog is meant to be a journalish thing, and not a gossip column. But speaking of gossip, have you heard that my sister Kate might be going to Alaska for six weeks to work in a fish cannery for 12 hours a day and earn substantial amounts of cash? It's true, I promise! She thinks it's a superb opportunity. I just told Tara, though, and she was slightly horrified. So... it's all in the perspective.

Kate sees: "Cool! This is totally related to my major in fisheries. I'd only have to work half of the summer, but earn as much as working the entire time. I'll meet people with similar interests as me and get to travel to the wild lands of wonder! I don't have a problem working hard, and I also enjoy doing strange things to weird people out. Sweetness!"

Tara sees: "*shriek* No time for friends? Spend all, read all, of your time doing slave labor over dead fish? No breaks, boredom, and the wilderness? The horror, the horror!"

Note: these perspectives are based on guesswork mostly, and not exact quotes.

The eMi

Yeah!

Plans for this summer are shaping up! I'm going to be an architecture intern with Engineering Ministries International! It's hard to believe that I actually have a quality job this summer! Well, okay, maybe not monetarily (i AM paying for it) but I'm going to learn so much, and I'm pretty sure it will be fun:)

More news on exactly what I"ll be doing later. For now, I know that I'll be traveling to the project site in a third world country, with a team. Then, most of the summer we'll spend in Colorado doing the design work for the project. I"ll be living with a family, and working right under a professional architect! That is one of the cool things-- the other is that this organization builds for mission organizations who are trying to spread the gospel. EMI looks quality, from what I've seen.

So right now, I'm trying to raise support for this learning, mission venture! If you're interested in praying for me and getting letters about what's going on, or in helping support me financially, please email me your mailing address as of now, and for this summer! My email address: Lmm2@u.washington.edu


Whew! Spring break is in a week and a half! Do you think I can make it?

Architects talk with their hands... and other true myths

They need to draw to communicate. I'm not just talking about how architects use plans of buildings and such to show people what they want to build. Oh, no. Speech can only flow, when discussing design, when a paper and pencil is being used.

I noticed this tendency first in my professors. While teaching, they're constantly tracing pictures with their fingers, and illustrating every point on the blackboard. But I didn't realize I had caught the disease til this weekend. While working on the design competition, we discussed our ideas... with a piece of trace paper in front of us, and pencils in our hands. Our classes? We could talk about those without drawing. Plans for the future? Also, could have flawlessly with our hands tied behind our backs and not a pencil in sight. Yet the instant we begin to talk design, we starting searching for writing implements and madly sketching.

In my class, Kellen might have caught it first. We used to tease him last quarter about how much he used the blackboard when talking. Now we all draw when talking-- AND it works! A point that is vague and fragmentary falls into place with a good sketch. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is so true, not only for beauty's sake, but also for basic communication. Not being able to draw is like being like being dumb, and not being able to understand architectural drawings is like being deaf.

It has its "draw"backs too, though. For instance, yesterday during my desk crit (a one-on-one conversation with the prof about my design), Prentiss leaned over the floor plans I had just spent 2 or 3 hours drawing up, and scribbled all over. Meaningful scribbles, yes. They poured forth as he talked, dots punctuating his points, and lines associating items. Now I can remember what he said by looking at them. But my lovely floor plans are ruined! It took about an hour to clean them up with an eraser; it looked like some child had had a field day. Oy vey. The profs ruthlessly tromp all over, ripping up our models, etc. It helps me to remember, however, not to fall in love with any work I've done.

Another thought: one of my roommates, Heather, went to a Buddhist meditation ceremony this morning. Afterwards, we talked about how so many people just stick to the religion they've been taught as they grow up. One of my friends told me once that I'm a Christian because that's how I was raised. Well... that's true. And it's not. It's easy to stick with how you've been taught. But shouldn't truth surpass convention? It is easier for me them some; I'm really fortunate, I think. But what if I wasn't? Who would I be? I hope that I would pursue truth. My sisters were once jokingly discussing where they'd be if they weren't Christians. Cheryl said she'd be a superficial cheerleader type. Kate said she'd be a total punk rebel. They decided I'd have joined a cult.

Well... I don't know about that. I see myself as too hard-headed and logical to fall for something so... unproven. But then again, I am drawn towards the mystical and ceremonious. Sometimes when I rains too much I joke that I would have been a sun-worshiper:) Who knows? Not me.

Anyway, Heather was reminded about how important it was to get the good news out, and I was reminded of how relativistic people's worldviews are.

Man. I should get back to work.

"...chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."

Romans 11:6


Love the logic.


No, seriously, I do:) It is so simple, yet so profound!