Red Tape...

I am getting more excited about the One Day Without Shoes.
I have gotten a whole slew of people interested in participating. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette and the Times & Courier are interested in coming to campus to cover the story next Thursday. I am super pumped.

But then the bureacrats and the red tape are begining to take over. Apparently I didn't go through the proper channels so the person in charge of PR for the college is being pissy.

Now I need to set up meetings with The Head of Security, The School Nurse, and The Vice President of Student Services. Also I need to email the person in charge of marketing. I do not actually understand what marketing has to do with the event. In addition, I need to come up with a waiver, a press release, and some sort of kick-off thing.

Ahh the Red Tape of raising awareness!

TOMS

So APril 8th is TOMS A DAY WITHOUT SHOES.
The idea is that people will go the entire day (or as much of the day that they can) without wearing shoes. What is the purpose of this you ask? we spread awareness about the impact a simple pair of shoes can have on a child’s life.

I am organizing an underground TOMS movement on AUC's campus. I've gotten a bunch of people to sign up adn I am hoping even more will before the 8th. I decided to share the information with President Wendth. I wonder if I can get him on baord. My real hope isn't so much that he too will go barefoot (though that would be amazing), my goal in sharing the information with him is to make it so that the students (and staff) that decide to participate wont be told that they have to put shoes on. I want to spread as much awareness as possible!

Here's the details:

• Fact #1:In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help.
• Fact #2:Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
• Fact #3:Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
• Fact #4:In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
• Fact #5: Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by wearing shoes.

I'm going to make myself a t-shirt as well to spread awareness. Hmm maybe I should contact the newspaper?

For more info check it out: http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

oh AUC...

One of the (many) things that AUC neglects to do is inform student, upin registration, that in order to graduate in four years you must take a full course load of 16 credits every semester!

These means that If I go at my current rate I will not be graduating on time. This is unacceptable! I will not spend more than four years here! I refuse!!!!!!!! pls I am headed straight to seminary (or at least that is the plan) and that starts int he fall.

What's a girl to do? Once I get my tax refund I am going to enroll in some distance courses to make up for the missing credits. Probably Louisiana State University, because that is what Ryan is using. I WILL GRADUATE ON TIME!!!!!!!!!

Do you think they will let me count elements of Dairying as a physical science class?????

rings and stones

Two posts in one day! Aren't you lucky??

Well the first post of today was written in my head a few days ago but I never got around to writing it down. This post on the other hand I am coming up with as I type it. Yes, I am that good!

What with some of my friends getting married and others getting engaged I have got rings on the mind. While looking at rings with a friend I started thinking about the different type of rings. While there is the princess, round, oval, pear, marquise, emerald, heart, trilliant, radiant, and cushion cut, this is not what I am talking about. The different types of rings I am thinking of are the unique ones. One of my friends proposed with an opal engagement ring. New! different! unique! I know of another friend that is using a ring that has been passed down through the generations. I think this may be my favorite type of ring. A family heirlom. With that ring you carry your family. The past comes along with you as do the people who have worn it previously.

I think my next favorite type of ring are ones with unique stones. Who needs diamonds? They are so expensive. I think it might be more economical to look for a different type of stone. Plus with a different gemstone you get to be special. Everyone has diamonds but not too many people have a ruby engagement ring.

That brings me into gemstones. I love rubies as an engagement ring stone. Rubies are red. Red is the color of Love and passion. Makes sense to me! But okay, rubies can be a bit expensive as well. EMERALDS! I love love love emeralds. I don't know if it the whole Irish thing and maybe I am genetically programed to like emeralds, but I love them! They are unique and amazing and heck Green looks good on me :)

That's just my brief thoughts on rings and stones. I could go on for ages. But I will leave you with this for now. Engagement rings do not have to cost you an arm, a leg, and your first born. Start with an inexpensive but beautiful ring and then a few years down the road when you have real money buy a more expensive ring if that is what you want.

the hardest part...

Death can be really hard to handle. I know this from experience. In the past two years I have lost both my father and my grandmother. As it was often said at my grandmother's wake and funeral this past week, "We really need to stop getting together this way." I think that this past week throughout my grandmother's wake, funeral, and internment I believe I held it together pretty well. But I realized that there is one thing that sets me off and launches me into tears.

Let me first explain this:
On my father's side of the fmaily, I was the first born granddaughter. There are two male cousins that are older than me as well as my brother. I was the only female granddaughter for almost 10 years. (I believe I was 9 when my cousin Anna was born). So after me came five more grandsons.

That being said I have come to realize that one of the hardest things for me is to see these strong men cry. After my grandmother's funeral I was doing well until I looked over and some my cousin who is 6 months older than me crying. This instantly sent me into tears. Having never seen most of my cousins cry before this past week I think made it even more difficult.

Why?

Death is such a hard topic to deal with. In my Pastoral Care and Counseling class one of the topics we have to learn how to help parishioners and other with is death. I think it it easier to help others than deal with it in your own life.

2 years ago my Dad died. It was one of the hardest things I have been faced with. He was diagnosed with Lung cancer December 5 and then January 7, he was gone. It was so hard to see the rock of my life fade away to nothing and then just dissapear all together. There are still points randomly that I am struck with so much sadness. When I saw 27 dressed I cried afterwards because I will never have the moment where my dad walks me down the aisle.

This morning my paternal grandmother died. Apparently she had been battling Lung Cancer for a while and kept it to herself. I know Rosie has always been strong but why did she keep it to herself? When she had colon cancer a while back she shared that. why not this?

All I can keep thinking is why? why take Rosie? why the same thing as dad? why 2 years after dad? I know God has a plan and he doesn't share the playbook all the time but Why?

Mission Trip

I desperately want to go on a mission trip. I have been on two before and I have this burning desire to go on another.

When I was in the seventh grade, we took a trip down to Harlan, Kentucky and worked with an organization called C.O.A.P. They help low and very low income families fix up their houses. Sort of like a habitat organization except it was centralized just to the Appalachian people. It was a fantastic experience and there was even an article written about our trip in the Christian Science Monitor. Photos from the trip can be seen here: http://www.bdcolenphoto.com/Journalism/A-Trip-to-Harlan-County/8448994_SoYVL#555356633_FZHZk.

My Senior year of high school I went on a mission trip with the Assemblies of God Church I had been attending (there aren't many PCUSA churches around). We took a bus down to Pass Christian, Mississippi. The bus trip was an interesting experience in itself. We broke down numerous times, lost power to the bus (including the bathroom) and then ultimately the bus died somewhere in Alabama and we had to be saved by another bus. Once we finally made it to Mississippi, it was a phenomenal trip. I learned that while Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans there was so much damage in Mississippi that was being ignored. The town we were staying and working it was practically wiped out. The people were living in half destroyed homes or were crowded into other people' homes and yet everyone was so sweet and appreciative of this small little dent we were making. It was an amazing experience.

I want to go on a mission trip. My school has mission trips occasionally but the problem is that they are 99% evangelistically based. Evangelism is not the type of mission trip I am looking for. I want to go on a mission trip and help people whether it be repairing a house, painting a school or doing something with children. I want to help in a hands on way.

I need to find a mission trip to go on and pronto!

my attempt to be an eco-steward

I am trying to make a concious effort to be a better eco-steward.
I recycle and I try to encourage other's to recycle.
I try to shop at thrift stores like Salvation Army.
I've been working on taking shorter showers (this is difficult).
I switched from a gas-guzzling monster to a more fuel efficient car.
I've been making other changes in my life to be more environmentally friendly but things keep getting in my way.

One of my biggest obstacles is my college:

• The heat is blasting year round. I have to keep my window open (which wastes heat) and I have to keep a fan on (which is a constant waste of electricity). I tried not doing this but I open my door and get blasted with a heat wave.
• The electricity- I have already explained how I waste electricity because I need to leave the fan on. Another issue is that all of the lights in the building are consistenly left on. If no one is in the showers room why does the light need to be left on? The same with the bathroom. When I turn the lights off people get angry...luckily they have yet to figure out it's me.
• Water- I have nalgene bottles and reusuable water bottles but I tend to not use them in the dorm. The tap water in my room has a similar taste to that of a pencil. I have tried a brita filter and refridgerating it but to no avail. In the dorm I drink bottled water and I feel bad about it.

I need to work on these things!

eco-stewards

So I have been spending time on the environmental minstries blog, website and facebook page a lot lately. I am so interested in environmental issues but I feel so useless.

At school I have tried to encourage recycling but that only lasted for a little bit because administration wasnt into it. The cafeterian uses styrofoam for everything. :( We had what I believe to be potato starch (decomposible) forks a few weeks ago but people complained and so those disappeared. I am the one who constantly turns the light off in the shower rooma nd the bathroom. I've been told it doesn't matter because the school creates our own electricity. Sorry people, but it does matter.

We waste so much energy. THe dorm rooms and offices feel like they are 1600 degrees. I have my window wide open and a fan on and I am still very hot in my room. They could just turn the temperature down...but no. This dormitory wastes so much and it makes me sad.

I am considering applying for the eco-stewards program. It would be an oppurtunity to be with other people (young adults) that care about the environment and our role as stewards of the earth. I would also learn a lot from some amazing people. Oh and it's also a chance to spend time with Rob, Becky and HEATHER LUCAKS (who I haven't seen in years). I have learned so much from them in the past!