A New Year

Winter break is almost over and I’m sooo excited; who knew I would actually like going to college?! I love having a busy schedule and staying active with things to do; sitting around drives me crazy!! Don’t get me wrong, I do like a break every once in a while but I think my break has been well enjoyed! Here’s a glimpse of my break; I of course don’t remember everything that happened, so here’s what I remember!

My mouth has been watering at the sound of Menchie’s frozen yogurt, so I decided to take the younger kiddos with me and we had a blast!! The little ice cream parlor is so cute and colorful and the smell of freshly made waffle cones radiates through the doors; there are at least fifteen different yogurt flavors and just about every topping you could ever think of! My mouth was craving chocolate, a girl’s best friend, so I made myself a chocolaty masterpiece with everything my childlike heart desired; OMG- I didn’t want my bowl to run out- it was that good! I will definitely be back to try another experiment of flavors!

New Year’s Eve- what a party! My amazing youth group partied literally all night with exciting games like kickball, volleyball, giant dutch blitz, and so much more! My personal favorite was kickball, since I wasn’t quite so exhausted yet! My competitive side came out once again (what a surprise!) and I anticipated every opportunity to dive and steal bases; by the end of my game my knees were bloody and turned pussy and slimy but it was well worth it! Pain is gain! We also played girls against guys in a game where the guys had to try to hold the girls in front of them in their seats in order to keep them from running away to an empty chair; that was quite a riot which ended in torn shirts! Later on we played giant dutch blitz, which is always a blast! I begged to be the runner, so I got to run our cards out as fast as I could to beat the other players; you of course can’t play this game without diving! Midway into the game I remembered that Courtney was going to call; it would be the last time in several weeks, so I called home to see if I could somehow talk to her. Sure enough, she was Skyping my parents an Carson, so they held up the phone to the computer so I could talk to my beautiful twin on New Year’s Eve; that was the highlight of my night! As soon as the other youthies heard me talking to her, they wanted to also, so I put my phone on speaker phone and we all yelled to her. She was so incredibly excited to hear the voices of her long lost youth group and couldn’t stop laughing; I could hear excitement and smiles in her voice, which made me happy!

After deciding spur of the moment to sleep over at the church, I ran home to pack my things. I made myself my second cup of iced coffee, which is extremely rare because I HATE coffee, and grabbed everything else I needed. Once back at the church, we had worship time including singing songs and just standing in awe of the King; it was amazing and enlivening! Then before midnight we had an hour or so to share testimonies of our past year and to come up with goals for 2012; we all couldn’t stop talking and made it past midnight! It was so encouraging to hear from the beautiful hearts of Christians who were real and honest enough to open up the very depths of their hearts in obedience to God; it was a night of boldness! I couldn’t stop thanking God for such an amazing family of believers with such passion and enthusiasm who never cease to encourage me; one thing for sure- I LOVE my youth group!

After our somewhat “reverent” and mellow time, we headed back to the gym, my favorite spot, and played volleyball. By then my energy was in “crash mode”, so I was a little crazy and weird; I’m pretty sure I played the worst I’ve ever played, but hey, it was 2:00 AM!!!  I brought my buddy Brutus, my OSU pillow pet, to lie on while my team was off; I just wanted to sleep! After too many hours of volleyball to count, some of the girls and I headed into the coffee house to play Buzzword; by then I was in “hyper/need sleep mode”, so I’m sure it was quite an embarrassing sight to behold! You truly never know what to expect with me; they laugh because I’m such a tomboy yet “girly” which is such an extreme combination! I don’t mind getting bloody and dirty yet I also like getting dressed up; they especially laugh when I wear a flower in my hair while wearing the most “tomboyish” outfit. What can I say; I just love accessories!  Yes, I am a rare bird, but I love it! Different is what makes this world beautiful!

Anyway, later on we played ghost in the graveyard on the benches in the pitch black sanctuary which was an epic failure; I pictured it more exciting in my head, but we were all almost “dead”. I fell asleep on the “bleachers” and woke up to an abandoned sanctuary! I don’t remember what happened after this; all I remember is sleeping up on the couch in the youth room. Oh, & I took a shower and got ready for church at five or so in the morning; it just felt too good to turn down! All in all it was an amazing New Year’s Eve & day; church however was a little hard to keep my eyes open! I went home and crashed in my bed, which has never felt so good!

On Tuesday I was privileged to be a nurse shadow at Aultman and got to experience life as a nurse. I felt so out of place at first with all of the professionals surrounding me; going into the hospital rooms and helping with nursing duties seemed so illegal and foreign to me! My amazing friend taught me how to do an IV, dispense medicine, chart and document, work an IV machine, and so much more! I had a blast and just tried to absorb as much as I could! I even got to watch a CAT scan! Words can’t even BEGIN to describe my out of this world experience; I feel so unworthy to be called to be a nurse! At times I get so impatient and wish I could fast forward time to actually writing BSN, RN behind my name but then doubt and fear overwhelm me; fear again of my once worst nightmare becoming my reality. Honestly, I am terrified; terrified to poke someone with an IV needle, figure out medicine dosage, run an IV, document and determine treatment and so many more life threatening responsibilities because I’ve been on the receiving end too many times to count. The feeling of an IV being shoved, maneuvered, and twisted into my shriveled veins haunts my mind as I see myself doing this to others. I’m scared, but I will go; courage overcomes fear! I am called to bring hope to the hopeless and to share my own journey through darkness with others; I have learned and hope to live by the fact that this life is not my own nor is it about me. When dread overtakes my mind and fear overwhelms me I remember the faces of the dying and the hopeless whose worlds are shaken beyond belief yet are still standing; I see the beauty that God has called each and every one of us to and I am not content with just sitting around and letting this ever crumbling world go down in flames, taking those who were never given a chance with it. I am not going to sit back and watch the agony of burning flesh and screaming souls when I know that there is a greater power who is able to SAVE!!