Time Flies

Oh, blog.  I’ve neglected you…  Lo siento.  I’ll try not to let it happen again (read: it’ll probably happen again because lucky me, my internet at my house isn’t working).

Anyway…

This is my last semester of college…  That’s weird.  All this time, I’ve just been focusing on almost being done and getting out of school, but just recently, it hit me that this is my last semester of college.  There is no “spring semester.”  There is no “next year.”  Whatever I wanted to do while I was in college, I need to do now.  No more holding off.  No more procrastinating.  As our dear Gopher football team likes to say, “THE TIME IS NOW!”  So, for the next few months, I’m going to make it a point to do the following:

1. Visit/Study in my favorite place on campus* (which I won’t get to do once it gets cold because it’s outside).
2. Visit/Study in various coffee shops on and near campus.
3. Visit my old place of employment, Dunn Bros., and get half-off drinks.
4. Go to at least two Campus People Watchers events.
5. Go to church more and get more involved.
6. Go to West Bank and St. Paul at least one time each.
7. Successfully feed a squirrel.
8. Finish my Honors Thesis (though it would probably help somewhat if I actually started first).
9. Go to at least two concerts (on- and/or off-campus).
10. Go to Gophers After Dark at least once.
11. Go to the Rec Center at least three times.
12. Actually go to campus events and get lots of freebies.

I guess we’ll see how successful I am at accomplishing these things.  I’m sitting in Espresso Expose right now, so #2 is off to a good start.  And I was just at my favorite place on campus yesterday, so again, that’s another good start.

Anyway, Espresso Expose just started playing The Beatles, so I’m really distracted right now.  That’s okay though ’cause I think I’ll end this here and continue listening to The Beatles.

*more on that later

So… I woke up in Denver…

Yep. I’m here.

I arrived Sunday morning, and I still can’t believe I decided to go on the mission trip. But you know what? I’m glad I came.

Anyway, to commemorate the fact that I’m blogging from Denver and not Minneapolis, I’ve decided to write a list of some of the highlights/lowlights/randoms of the trip so far.

1. Denver is absolutely gorgeous, and I kind of want to move here. Not to mention the “dorm” that the girls are staying at is amazing. Seriously. Rifrickindiculous.

2. I’ve only thrown up twice so far. Yes!

3. I really enjoy the company that I’m with as well as all the new people I’ve met. Everyone’s been pretty nice, and it’s just cool to be surrounded by all these godly people.

4. I made a special friend! While walking down a street and sticking flyers [fliers?] in people’s doors, this cat came up to me and started rubbing against my leg. So, not one to turn away the affections of a cat, I invited Kitty to come along on my flyering adventure. She followed me up to each house for about a block before deciding that crossing the street was wandering too far away from home.

5. We have three outreach projects going on this week: Religion Is A Lie, I Will Listen, and Crosswalking. So far, we’ve run into a few setbacks, but I would still consider each outreach we’ve done to be a success. We also had a Memorial Day BBQ at a park, and a good number of people showed up. It was actually an eye-opening experience to see who came to the BBQ. Some of these people, who were invited by my small group leaders during RIAL, were teenage runaways basically living on the streets. A few of them were very receptive to talking about Christ and possibly getting plugged into a church, but others just refused to see Jesus Christ as being something they need. It was really sad to hear that. And then it rained. Oh well.

6. I had a dream the other night, and Luke, one of the guys on the trip, was in it! I dreamt it was his birthday and to celebrate his birthday, my sister, Luke, and I went on a tour of old beer factories. Yeah, don’t ask me how that came about. Coincidentally, Wikipedia says Denver is “home to a large number of local and national breweries,” some of which offer tours. Also, did you know that Denver hosts the annual Great American Beer Festival in the fall? Yeah… Wikipedia makes dreams make sense.

7. During RIAL today, Luke rescued me from this Muslim guy that I think was trying to intimidate me. The guy didn’t really scare me, but I’ll admit I was worried about not knowing how to respond since he kept throwing out all these things about Islam that I didn’t really know much about. With that, I was so glad when Luke came up and pretty much took over for me. The best part of the conversation (and possibly the highlight of my day) was when it started to get a little heated and Luke was recommending some books the guy should read (i.e. The Case for Christ). Then the guy says, “You know what book you should read? The Qur’an.” And Luke goes, “I have.” Then I giggled and did a happy dance. In my head. Luke 1, Guy who kept looking way too hard at me when he talked 0. Joking aside, it was cool to see how surprised the guy was when he heard that Luke had actually read the Qur’an. I hope that hearing that made an impact, and he does pick up some of the books Luke recommended.

8. Some old guy winked and smiled the creepiest smile at me while I was doing RIAL.

And on that note, my list comes to an end.

Accomplishments for 03/18/08

1. Went internship searching. I picked out a few internships that I want to apply to. Now all that’s left to do is update and send my résumé, land some interviews, ”grease someone’s palm,” and pray that I get something.

 2. Bought an umbrella! I’ve always wanted a bubble umbrella like this. I searched high and low, but could never find one until now. But just wait. Everyone is going to buy one now ’cause y’know… I’m a trendsetter*.  Just kidding. But seriously, they’re selling them at Target, and everyone shops at Target. Still, I’m muy excited about my new umbrella! It’s pretty much the only reason I decided to write in my blog tonight.

3. Finally bought my sister her birthday present. (FYI: Her birthday was over a month ago.)

4. Read Leviticus… Okay. I love the Bible. No, seriously– I do. I may not be as well-versed in the Bible as others are, but I still love it and get a lot from reading it. Now, I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this, but can I just say that I think [most of] Leviticus is kinda, sorta, really boring…? ‘Cause I kinda, sorta, really think it is. That’s all.

5. Watched Labyrinth tonight. A classic. I first watched Labyrinth when I was probably six or seven years old, and at that age, that movie scared the shtuff out of me. I mean, I liked it, but certain parts were just weird and creepy. Ever since then, that’s the impression of the movie I’ve held and I’ve been too scared to watch it. But tonight! Tonight, I faced my fears and watched Labyrinth con me hermana. And you know, it wasn’t too bad… So my enduring childhood fear of Labyrinth is pretty much gone. Next project: Congo.

P.S. David Bowie’s pants were uncomfortably tight– uncomfortable for me.

*More on that later.