Shiny Pink Gems With Silver Stars

"This one was from my great-great-great-great-grandmother," Olivia stated pulling out a beautiful antique gold necklace with amber and emerald stones. 
"Really, Olivia?" I said with a smile. "I can't believe you got to meet your great-great-great-great-grandma!"
"Well..." Olivia paused. "She's actually just my great-grandmother."
"I see," I stated. Then I paused and looked at her searching for the real meaning behind her over-exaggeration. 
"Now close your eyes!" I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to not have seen the stunning gold ring with yellow semi-precious gem. "I must emphasize AGAIN," clarified Olivia, "that you must be very very D-E-L-I-C-A-T-E with this." As she said this, she pulled every syllable of the emphasized word out as if mysterious stressors were hiding in-between the alphabetical symbols which lacked the power she sought. "This is my favorite ring." "Oh, and you can look now," Olivia said. 
"Wow! I love this!" I exuded. "Did someone special give this to you?"
"Oh, probably."
"Olivia," I whispered. "What is this beautiful necklace?" I said as I pointed at a Hobby-Lobby-style pink necklace with tiny pink plastic beads intermixed with translucent clear star ornaments. The tape at the end of the pink string indicated it was probably a unique Olivia original. There could be none others like it.
"This is my favorite necklace," Olivia said with glowing pride. "I made it, and I call it! Look, it has shiny pink gems with silver stars," she said with a smile that was cramped for room on her face. "That's what we'll call it; shiny pink gems with silver stars." 


Needless to say, I adore Olivia. She is the new girl I nanny five days a week early in the  morning. I make her breakfast and take her to school. She's a sweet girl, but somewhat detached. I already can tell I will love her. I'm looking forward to starting my job tomorrow morning bright and early at 6:30!! Just pray that my alarm will go off every morning and that I will wakeup regardless of how stubborn I want to be! If I do things right, I may have this job for 4 years! This is seriously a blessing for God and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to get close with a family in NY and hopefully bless them in return. I appreciate all your prayers as I explore this journey. Everything is going by quickly and I get a bit consumed in my work and forget to just have fun. But I'm avoiding homework now, so perhaps that counts as living a normal college life? Anyway, thank you for following me and I will keep posting as long as you're interested! 

A Weekend in the Woods


First of all, thank you so much to everyone who follows me and keeps up with what the shenanigans of 9C. I appreciate the love, support, and prayers greatly. It's always an encouragement to me!


This weekend was the 2011 Fall Retreat for King's Students. It isn't mandatory for anyone to go, but highly recommended mostly for freshmen. Very few upperclassmen go. I was not planning on going because it cost $35, and as a broke college kid, I don't even want to spend that little on something that isn't mandatory. But President Dinesh D'Souza was gracious enough to grant me a scholarship for the trip and I paid nothing.


The Bus Ride: I won't hesitate to tell you that the bus ride to upstate new york was HORRENDOUS! Someone had the bright idea to play a Star Wars film at full volume on all the little tvs in the charter bus. I not only didn't want to see or hear the movie, but because of that, the overhead lights are set to stay off meaning I couldn't study whatsoever. And if you ask my roommates, I'm defined by my ability to overachieve and push myself to my limits. :) So, I attempted to sleep, but that didn't turn out too well.


The Arrival Fri. Night: I stepped out of the crowded bus and a gush of cold air nipped at my cheeks. Oh no, I didn't enjoy that. I. Hate. Cold. So I bundled up in Josh's blanket, grabbed all three of my bags, and booked it to my room. I'm sure I was a sight to see as I frantically set the heater high and buried myself under all the provided sheet and blanket I brought. I spent the next few hours studying and chatting with my roommates (current house scholar, Gabbi, and former house president, Katie). Between Gabbi's smelly feet and Katie's overwhelming laugh, we had a fantastic time! I spent the rest of the evening up in the "White Hall" (aka student activities building) and read and played on my computer. Oh, and I have a strict rule of never sleeping before 2 am :) I'm sure that makes you proud, mother. 

Saturday: While I hadn't been looking forward to the trip initially, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the things camp Taconic had to offer. Despite everyone else's high standards for camp food, I loved almost everything they made for us, especially the salad bar. I didn't much enjoy the morning session, I skipped the afternoon session to do homework, and I read through the evening session minus the worship part. The lectures were basically centered around the triune love that God the Father, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit offer us as well as ways to balance everything in college while fulfilling the King's mission. 
My favorite part of the evening was the bonfire! It made me terribly reminiscent of times at the Crews' house where we would make a fire in the pit, talk, pray, worship, goof off, and make memories that I cherish to this day. But it was wonderful to remember those things and make some new memories. Kacey and I stood on a picnic bench to the side after s'more-making and joined in all the ridiculous group singing. The house of Churchill boys started the night by singing "My Girl" to the house of Barton (that's us, and we're they're sister house). We refer to our relationship as "Barchill." Then we spent the next hour or so just singing everything from Jason Mraz and Taylor Swift to old church hymns and worship songs. 

Sunday and the trip home: I didn't do much of anything exciting on Sunday. We had two meals at the camp and just did homework until the bus left. On the bus I engaged my seat-mate in conversations about what highschool was like, what I'm doing in NYC, and various other philosophical topics. 



Now that I'm home, things are pretty much back to normal! Just plugging along and working hard. Thank you for all your prayers and references about the Nanny job! I will start next week and work 5 days a week early in the morning. Unfortunately, I have to work through most of my breaks, but this is an answer to prayer for my loan money to be payed off. Just keep praying that I will keep the job and that hopefully more scholarship money will come in so that this job can be spending money in the future! 

College Needs!


So, I'm thinking that this may become a bi-weekly or monthly post, but as a broke college student, my roommates and I have needs! (Go figure) And while we'd love to fantasize that we will all of have well-paying jobs that can support our needs, supply our wants, and pay off our loans, that's a bit impractical and highly unlikely! So, I'll be posting some things that we need (and want!) every so often and if you can spare to send some care packages our way, we'd love that! But honestly, don't feel like you need to contribute because we know EVERYONE is on a budget right now :) If all you can do is pray that we get what's on our list, then you'll be doing us the greatest favor of all! For those of you who do feel like you can contribute, our address is:
990 Avenue of the Americas, Apt 9C
New York, NY 10018
Ask anyone, I hate being a mooch, but I'm also practical and I believe in the generosity of others. This is a bit uncomfortable for me, but my pocketbook just can't do it all! Much love from the girls in 9C (Kacey, Chloe, Hope) <3


Needs

• PRAYER!
• money for laundry 
• paper towels
• 80-100 watt lightbulbs
• easy mac, ramen, anything non-perishable 
• restaurant gift cards (q-doba, tgif, mcdonald's, subway, olive garden, etc.)
• printer paper
• amazon giftcards for textbooks
• trader joe's or kmart giftcards

Wants

• movies
• keurig coffee pods (chai latte, cappuccino, and dark roast blends are our favs!)
• clothing store giftcards for warm weather clothing (express, macy's, forever 21, urban outfitters, american apparel, jcpenny's, american eagle, etc.) 
• anything red and black that would be cute to decorate our apartment with.

Prayer

• That Kacey's boyfriend will be able to afford traveling to NY for thanksgiving
• That I would get the nannying job I applied for
• That Kacey's new job at Starbucks would go well
• That Chloe would have an easy time settling in and getting comfortable with a group of people
• That all of us will stay safe, find good church homes, and affectively be good witnesses for the Christ :)

Thank you so much for following my blog and subscribing to me! I appreciate the love and support I have from all of you. 

The B Train Back To Texas

       After an hour of suspension in mid-air and some people watching, I am finally at the Brighton 5th Street stop. Gum wads speckle the concrete floors like spots on a Dalmatian. To my right appear rows and rows of roofs with little to no spaces between them. I feel like Mary Poppins in the scene with the chimney sweeps, only, I wish I could clean these rooftops. Suddenly, I am unequivocally aware of my bare shoulders as water drips steadily on me from the railings above. I intentionally did not bring an umbrella. Today is all about letting Brighton throw each of its unexpected elements toward me.

As people stare at me for my obviously un-protective wardrobe choice, I feel the crisp air. While markets cook food and trash litters the sidewalk, the ozone somehow smells of clean rain only edged with a little smoke. I keep walking, and the rainbow canopies of the shops reflect a myriad of colors like a prism for each raindrop. Almost all of the stores are markets and pharmacies. Do the people here love to eat and frequently become ill? While I ponder this question, I hear the squeak, squeak, squeak of tennis shoes and bike tires. I find it strange that I have not heard a train overhead yet.

Look here! A homeless woman approaches me mere pink crocs and a worn old gentleman’s suit. (Oh, there is the roar of that blast’d train!) Well, she asks for a dollar which I do not have, so I feel full of guilt as I pass her back toward the subway. 

This is little Russia. The thick accents take me back to the nights of whining to my dad that twelve times was most certainly enough views of his favorite film, The Hunt For Red October! Now, today, I wish that B train downtown via 6th avenue could make me watch it just one more time.

I Can Reason! from the last row in classroom 4


I came to college absolutely certain that I would fail any attempts at mathematical equations put before me. I wasn't wrong...
...at first.
On a lovely New York morning I was given an assessment test which was supposed to be an easy way to gauge my abilities in the areas of history, english, logic, and mathematics. I. Failed. Miserably. 
Suddenly my confidence was shattered and I was sure college would be an endless duration of classes in which I would undergo the most humbling coursework of my life until now. Then, God showed grace on me!
(I feel I should note here that I mean this to be no farce or mockery of the powers that God has to provide and care for His children when they are in DIRE need, so please pardon my occasional religious humor.)
So, here I am now in my fourth day of my Quantitative Reasoning class totally baffled at the condition of my brain for it is not in mush! My teacher began the course by informing us all that this was merely a revised pre-calculus class which would not fulfill the institution's goals which were the reasons we all chose this "easier" credit. No doubt, this caused a great fear in me and I have been terrified that this would be the end of my high GPA aspirations. But today, in class, we are discussing prime numbers.
Yes, really, just prime numbers.
We've divulged in various theorems involving prime numbers and tediously taken the time to prove them, but it's nothing more than simple addition. Amazingly though at this ivy league competitive university, several students are asking the most basic questions about mere number sequences and the believability of such proofs. 
For now, I am one of the smartest in the class with only the skill set of a lowly 540 on the math section of the SAT. I don't know how this has happened, but THANK YOU, LORD! 
I am thrilled with this turn of events and I must say, my confidence has once again been restored (knock on wood).