Boom Town

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how

infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and

admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like

a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,

to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—

nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

~Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2

Day after Christmas...recovering from the food coma, taking inventory of your gifts...working? Yes, I had to work today. Which, I suppose, in a way, was good for me. Four hours of mindless, communicationless (is that a word?) time to think...think about where my life is, where it's going, how fast it's going, where I want it to go, and at what pace I want to go there. A very big realization came to me today as I was watching Doctor Who. You see, a sort of seed had been planted in my mind yesterday...maybe I really wasn't as ready for a relationship as I thought...maybe that portion of my life was going to fast...maybe, I just needed to focus on school for the time being and let God sort everything else out in His time, not mine.

It may seem like a weird time for a revelation, but everyone who knows me knows that the piece of flair on my facebook that says "Do not disturb me while Doctor Who is on" isn't just a joke...it's a serious statement. Someone sent me that piece of flair for a reason...it's my favorite show and it's one of my biggest pet peeves to be interrupted while I'm watching it. I was interrupted tonight.

"What a piece of work is man" Alas Shakespeare you've done it again. You've put the actions of man into words which none can do better. As Hamlet questions why his Uncle could kill his father...I use his words to question my life actions and the actions of those around me.

As for my Christmas, it was great. I got 4 Shakespeare plays (Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth and Hamlet), money for cowboy boots and 6 month of netflix. I loved spending time with my family and just flat out having a ball with just the four of us. This will be our last Christmas like that. My sister's getting married in May, so soon there will be a fifth to our clan. I'm ok with that...it's hard not to want a relationship while I see my sister and her fiancee...but I am thankful that they have each other and I know that I will find my Mr. Darcy/Phantom one day...that's just not for me right now...I have already decided a New Year's resolution...to blog at least once a week...now before all of you fall out of your chairs...I'm going to put it in my computer now so that an alarm goes off every Saturday at noon for me to blog. Merry Late Christmas to all and withing you and yours a prosperous new year!!!!

The Doctor Dances

Florizel:

"When you do dance, I wish you

A wave o' th' sea, that you might ever do

Nothing but that."

"A Winter's Tale" (Act IV, scene 4)

Ahh, the start of my first college finals...today marks the first study day for final...i.e. no classes, just study. I have a Physics exam on Friday, a Math exam on Monday, and a German exam on Thursday, and then I'm home free!!! Today and tomorrow have been set aside for Physics studying, Saturday and Sunday for Math and Tuesday and Wednesday for German. I can't believe that my first semester of college has flown by so fast. this means that 1/8 of my college is done...that seems so weird to me.

So I went to my Math teacher's office today to turn in some extra credit and there was someone sitting at one of the desks, thinking it was my teacher I proceeded to tell him that I had my work...well, then he turned around...it wasn't my teacher...yeah...So I bumbled that I was looking for Ryan Clark's office and the guys told me that it was his office and I could leave my work on Ryan's chair. OK, so then I stammered out of the room apologizing and the guy was just like, "it's really OK". But then, as I was walking down the steps, who should be walking up but Mr. Ryan Clark himself. Yeah...that was embarrassing.

Anyway...then I went back to my room and proceeded to clean it. I had so much trash and recycling that I had to make a run to the trash room to empty out both bins. Then I studied for Physics which I will continue tonight and tomorrow. After a little studying, I went to choir practice and then a Christmas party. Now I am Skyping with the fam for our Christmas Devotions that started yesterday and will continue through Christmas Day. It is complete with advent tree and paper ornaments. :-)

The Empty Child

Richard:

"So wise so young, they say do never live long."

King Richard III (Act III, Scene 1)

So. I finally get to update this thing. College has made my life so busy, crazy, fun and stupid...all at the same time.

Since my last post...half a semester has come and gone. One of my classes, Business Administration 100, was only a half a semester long, so it's already over. It was a really fun class and I miss it.

German 101 is kicking my butt. I'm working really hard and its starting to pay off, but I keep wanting to put Spanish words in there, I don't know how people who speak like 5 different languages do it. Also my TA in that class is a Carolina fan and he has been very helpful since he found out that I am from that area. :P

Physics 101 is really boring and I hardly understand the teachers accent...I think its Russian. I actually think that I learn more by reading my book than her teaching...but I still go to class.

Math 142 I kinda boring because everything we are learning, I've already learned before. I really have to work to stay focused and do well.

Tennessee Sport Legends (yes that is a class) is awesome! I love my Professor and I think that I am one of his faves :) Like, the other day I was walking back to my dorm from the library and he happened to be walking out at the same time. We then walked back most of the way back to my dorm talking about all kinds of random stuff then he split off to his office and invited me to come by sometime hahaha and I proceeded to my dorm.

Finally, Theatre 100...now I love theatre and drama, but this class is really getting on my nerves. We were put into groups, I ended up being group leader, but mine was split up because we weren't doing very well on our projects and we were changing stuff like 2 days before the project was due. In our new group, there was a different group leader and I was glad because that meant that I didn't have to do as much...HA! Well, turns out that our leader wasn't so good and when I e-mailed the teacher about it, she e-mailed me back asking me to be the new leader...grrr. So I was ok with it, telling everyone that I wanted their opinion and suggestions when it came to our final project. Well, here we are, the project is due in 2 days and no one had told me that they wanted to help or anything...until this morning in class when a girl said that she wanted to change her character's costume...I tried to work it out calmly and she was like "Don't get mad! Gosh you're always getting mad at us!" I told her that she was putting words in my mouth and that's why I didn't want to be leader. To which she responded, "You're the one who asked the teacher to be leader" I told her that that's not what happened, that our teacher put me in the leadership role and I didn't ask for it. Then she told me that I never am open to suggestions. I didn't know what to say, I had included my cell phone number and told them if they had any questions or suggestions to text, call or e-mail me. Really long explanation, I know, but I can't afford us doing a bad job on this because I need a good grade in this class. This project is worth a big portion of our grade, it's in leu of a final. I wish I knew how to handle this...

On a lighter note, I'm going home this weekend and I'm going to be a leader for D-Now, which is like a church retreat, but staying in town. I'm pretty excited.

I also found out that I won't get my car back from the shop until probably Wednesday and I leave on Thursday...

God is really teaching me something, I just wish I knew what it was that He's trying to teach me.

Father's Day

"My father—methinks I see my father—"

~Hamlet, Act I, scene 2

I moved into college this past Saturday, to the school of my dreams...It's everything I expected, and more. But in the same way, it doesn't seem real. Getting ready for classes this morning was easier than I anticipated...partly because I was so ready to get into a routine, partly because my roommate gets up earlier because she has an earlier class, but mostly because this morning, our coffee maker exploded. Yeah you read right, exploded...not in the traditional sense of the word, but what else to you call 4 cups of somewhat coffee/water and 2 tablespoons of wet coffee grounds all over our vanity?

So while Hannah was up, getting ready for class and all that, I was in bed contemplating whether or not to get up. Then all of the sudden, I hear "Oh no!" and I lean over the edge of my bed to see Hannah frantically trying to get all her stuff out of the puddle of coffee flavored water. I said "Oh snap!" and jumped out of bed to help her clean it up. Needless to say, it was hilarious!

I also had my first class this morning, German 101, it was, well, German...I think it went well, but it's gonna be hard.

When I finished my class, I call PJ Harrison and talk to him for a bit and we talked about...you guessed it...FOOTBALL!!! It was really good to talk to him, but at the end, I was at the verge of tears...anyway...good day at the University of Tennessee!!!

The Long Game

So farewell—to the little good you bear me.

Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!

This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls as I do.

- Henry VIII, Act III, Scene 2

Nothing about games...good grief Shakespeare, you're letting me down...

Me at the WWII Memorial in Amsterdam

So...my trip in a nutshell...doubt it's possible, but here it goes.

So on June 20th I flew from RDU airport to ONT airport in California to join up with the rest of the Global Surge 2 (GS2) team. The rest of the team came on June 21st to the California Baptist University (CBU) all of them were from that area and I was the only one who had to fly in, therefore I had to come a day early. We then spent 3 days training for our trip. With lectures and simulations and games, they taught us about different cultures and how to react when we're in them.

We actually chased the sunrise for a while on our 10 hour flight

So on June 25th, we flew out of LAX airport on a 10 hour flight to London Heathrow where we were supposed to have an hour and a half layover which turned into about a 3 hour layover because our connecting flight was delayed. So when we finally were on our connecting flight we flew for about 2 hours from London Heathrow to Dusseldorf, Germany. Then when we got there we checked into our Hostel and just sort of chilled for a few days.

The building across from the tram station in Dusseldorf

While in Dusseldorf, we went through more training, the field workers gave lectures that were almost like the ones we had at CBU except that they were from the field workers point of view. We also had a night that 4 Christians formed a panel, 2 from Holland and 2 from Germany we were able to ask them questions about being a Christian in a post-Christian society. They told us how hard it was but rewarding for those who they ministered to.

Windmill in Amsterdam

On June 28th, we took 3 trains from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam. One of them we had reserved seats and therefore kinda had our own space for the first leg. But for the other legs, the trains was so crowded that we had to stand for both trips. I've never ridden on a train before (lots of firsts on this trip, first time west of the Mississippi, first time out of the country, first time flying by myself and first time on a train) Then after we got there and checked into our hostel we pretty much had a free day. Then, for the rest of the week we had zones that we walked around and kinda scoped out what kind of people were there and to try to build relationships with them. We did that at different times during the day and we also had some training while we weren't walking our zones. After a week of that, we had a day that we changed Hostels to one across town.

The Muslim woman we had tea with

During that first week in Amsterdam while we were walking around, we saw a woman standing in her window so we went up and talked to her. When we asked her if she spoke English, she said said "nee" which is Dutch for no. We tried to make simple conversation using little Dutch phrases and hand motions. Then she invited us for coffee on the terrace. Through that coffee, we learned that she had 3 sons, 2 granddaughters, one of her son's lived with her, he was a taxi driver, and they were Turkish. I also got to tell this story along with some encouraging words to a Dutch church and it was translated from my English to Dutch. That in and of itself was a surreal experience and I was more nervous talking to them than I would be talking to any other group of people.

This blog is long enough, the rest is to be continued.

Dalek

"Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows."
~Trinculo Tempest, Act II, scene ii

So what? My quotes aren't exactly matching my titles...I wanna see you try to find 16th century quotes to match a 21st century TV show!

Well, it's been a REEEEALLY long time since I've posted anything and part of that reason is...hmm let's see, since my last post I've graduated, gone to college orientation, went to California, then Europe (Germany and Holland), then came back and had knee surgery, went to a friends wedding, and tried to organize my life before I go to college in 3.5 weeks. Really? It's that close already? Wow...it hasn't really hit me yet.

So, I've posted about graduation, a guy toward the beginning tripped and fell flat on his face. College orientation was as it should be, I am signed up for classes and I feel oriented. I'll keep California and Europe to a separate post because I was there for 3 weeks, it's going to be a lot! My meniscus was torn and so the Doctor went in lapriscopscly and cleaned it up my knee still hurts, but I have physical therapy and my stitches get taken out Monday.

Emily Poling is now Emily Rudolph and that is so exciting because she has sought after God and what he has in store for her and He has blessed her with Mike and 3 kids. 1 of the kids is already married which I think is somewhat humorous, the kid being married longer than the parents. I can't wait to see what God has in store for this wonderful family in the future.

College....wow, I am a college student. For those who have known me since I was 5...I made it! I'm sure there were times that you didn't think I would, good grief, there were times that I didn't think that I would...especially this past year. High school is said to be the best time of you life, well whoever said that lied. Yeah, I'm going to miss some of my friends, but we can get together again. I'm so glad that I'm out of that drama-infested school. Looking forward to not having the same classes every day, having more than 5 minutes between classes, having 15 hours of class a week as opposed to 35, and most of all, I'm looking forward to being back in Tennessee. I will miss NC, but I'll be back for holidays and summer and D-Now. But I love the mountains, the football, the orange, and the tradition.

No great sum of wisdom can I share,

Just a hope beyond compare

A hope that you will run

Run long and hard to glorify the One

The One who endured a harsh a painful cross

So that we can count all our gain as loss

Press on toward the finish line

And know his love so divine

World War Three

"All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages."

As You Like It Act 2, scene 7

I've always loved this quote...I see it as a challenge to live our daily lives out like everyone is watching and learning from us. I never liked the idea of everyone watching everything I do...especially being a small town associate pastor's kid...not fun...like living in a fish bowl, and I can't breath underwater (just to let you know).

As I approach my last day of high school...ever...I seem to think that I'm going to miss it...even though I only got to be there for two years, it seems like Wake Forest-Rolesville High School has become a very real part of me that I don't want to lose. They're gutting our school next year and it seems like they're gutting part of me too. Those hall are full of memories, not only for the class of 2009, but all the way back to the class of 1959.

Over the past two years I've gone to public school for the first time in my life, met AWESOME friends that I hope to keep forever, met some jerks, was the center of a few incredibly stupid rumors, gone to actually school play that I was friends with the main characters, not just the chorus members, seen people come and go, and some come back, thought one thing about someone and then found out that I was completely wrong (both good and bad) and been disappointed and lifted up. ( I totally know that was a run on sentence, but who says this has to be grammatically correct?)

I only wish that high school had more of the good times, and not all the drama junk.

When I see all of the friendships that I've made and rekindled in the past two years, I can't help but think that I'm never going to see some of these people again. As I look toward the next stage of my life and take the leap of moving to a different state for college, I see all the people that are staying here. When I wear my Tennessee Orange, I remember those that are wearing Carolina Blue, State Red, App Black and Gold, High Point Black and Purple, Duke Blue (yuck hahaha), Pembroke Yellow (or is it gold?), and Wilmington Teal. How will we look back on this time in our lives? Will we learn from it or ran away, not daring to look back for fear of what we'll see? I hope that it is the former, that we will boldly step out into this world wanting to change and learn from our past. Like in the Lion King...

Adult Simba: I know what I have to do. But going back will mean facing my past. I've been running from it for so long.
[Rafiki hits Simba on the head with his stick]
Adult Simba: Ow! Jeez, what was that for?
Rafiki: It doesn't matter. It's in the past.
[laughs]
Adult Simba: Yeah, but it still hurts.
Rafiki: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or... learn from it.
[swings his stick at Simba again who ducks out of the way]
Rafiki: Ha. You See? So what are you going to do?
Adult Simba: First, I'm gonna take your stick.
[Simba snatches Rafiki's stick and throws it and Rafiki runs to grab it]
Rafiki: No, not the stick! Hey, where you going?
Adult Simba: I'm going back!
Rafiki: Good! Go on! Get out of here!
[Rafiki begins laughing and screeching loudly]

As so many life lessons are...Walt Disney has taught us well :) !!!

I wish I had some piece of wisdom to share, but alas, I am not wise...I wish I could impart some knowledge, but still, I know nothing...I wish I could give you joy, but it is you're job to find that...I wish my words could form wings to lift you up...will you allow me to?