Rock O'Donna

My friend Angela's four year old called Barack Obama, Rock O'Donna. How funny is that?? I'm still an undecided voter at this point and thanks to Matt (who I think is a great political teacher) I'm becoming much more educated this week. I am proud to say that I've seen all of the key speeches during the Democratic National Convention so far. I've seen Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden, plus a few others. I plan on watching Barack's speech tonight and I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. Weird, I know. I used to think this stuff was kind of boring. I'm a registered voter and not registered as a democrat. However I plan to vote for whoever I think will do the best job. I'm still not sure who that will be yet. I know these conventions are all choreographed to be as inspirational and moving as possible, and I have to hand it to the speakers I've seen so far... they've inspired me to actually care enough to get educated. I've voted in every election I've been eligible for, but I can't say that I've been very knowledgeable in the past. I mainly just voted for whoever I thought my grandpa would vote for. My grandpa's a smart guy and very politically knowledgeable, but I'm sure even he would rather I did my homework and made my own choice. So, next week I'll tune in for the Republican National Convention and then I'll make my choice. McCain or Obama? I'd like to believe that they will both do everything in their power to make sure our country starts heading up instead of down, it's just a matter of which one has the better plan and the ability to inspire our country to keep moving forward and keep the American dream alive.

Today's Song of the Day

Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Tears for Fears

So cute!

Here's another cute picture of my nephew!

Today's Song of the Day

Just Dance
Lady Gaga

Definitely download this one. It's a good one to get you going for the weekend!

Five things I wish I knew before college...

My little brother is going to college. He moves in tomorrow. I can't believe it! I can still remember my fourth grade teacher pulling me aside to tell me that she got a note from the office that said my mom had a baby boy, my brother. Weird! I remember when he went to preschool, when he broke his leg jumping off my bed, when we used to sing the theme to the Loveboat because we heard it on Sister Act 2 a million times, when he started tee ball, and when he started high school. I can't imagine how my parents must be feeling because I'm only his sister and I feel like the time has flown.

I'm so proud of him. He's been such a great kid from day 1. He's stayed out of trouble, done an unbelievable job with his grades, and put so much time, effort, and heart into being the best he could be on and off the field. More than that, I know he's been a truly good friend to people and that really impresses me.

So with Kyler getting ready to move to Grandview tomorrow, I started thinking about what I wish I knew before I went to college. Here's what I came up with...

1) You should come home for dinner once in awhile. You won't miss anything at school. Your friends will still be there when you get back. (Or you can bring them with you.) It's just for a couple of hours and Mom and Dad will be really happy you made time to come home.

2) Just because you're on your own and you can do whatever you want, whenever you want... don't do whatever you want whenever you want. Maintain your discipline with school and work and sports. Just because you can stay out all night doesn't mean you should. It's true that not much good happens after midnight.

3) Don't let anyone talk you into doing something you don't feel 100% comfortable with especially if it can't be undone. Some things you only get one shot at getting right.

4) Enjoy everything and every minute of your time in college. And I mean EVERYTHING! Enjoy being broke. When else is it cool to scrounge and scrape to get by? Enjoy being able to wear sweats every day if you want to. Enjoy random times hanging out in your dorm with your friends doing nothing. Enjoy staying up late and studying. The "real world" isn't nearly as flexible as college life and some of the things that seem crappy like studying and having no money, seem like a great trade off when you have to start getting up for work every morning and you can't stay up too late or hang out all afternoon with your friends. So enjoy it... all of it. It goes way too fast.

5) Lastly, don't be afraid to meet people. Don't be shy. Be yourself. People like people who are authentically themselves. You don't have to be like everyone else for people to like you. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Most people are just as self conscious as you are and they'll be relieved that you were the one to approach them and say hi.

Those are my words of wisdom. Nothing really original in my words, but all things I wish I would have thought about before I started college. My brother's cool...he'll be just fine.

Today's Song of the Day

What If
SafetySuit

One forward out of a hundred...

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

Someone forwarded this to me today and I loved it. I thought it was worthy of posting. I wish I could have been there to see the rainbows in person.

Great Quote

I found this quote this morning and I love it...

When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it. - EW Howe

What a simple, but profound statement. I can look back and hear myself a thousand times asking people, "What can I do for you?". Why didn't I just come up with something and do it? Sometimes I get a little caught up in thinking that whatever I could do wouldn't be enough (depending on the situation of course). I just decided I'm not going to do that anymore. Even if I do the smallest thing like pick up the phone or send a note, it's better than not doing anything and never acknowledging that I saw the person needed some love. At church last weekend they talked about an organization called "To Write Love on Her Arms". There's a very cool story about how it all got started and it fits perfectly with this quote. I recommend googling it and reading about it because it's worth knowing... but I'll sum it for you here. There was a girl who was at the lowest of low points in her life and her friends stepped up to save her from her own self destruction. They didn't ask what they could do, they just did it. And they helped save her life. Pretty powerful stuff.

The Hills are Alive...

Oh Lauren I've missed you and Spencer I've missed being annoyed by you! One of my guiltiest pleasures without a doubt is being addicted to The Hills on MTV. I know it's a complete waste of time and 100% superficial stupid content. And I honestly don't care if it's reality or completely fake, I find it fascinating anyway. Who doesn't want to peek into the life of a totally cool young Hollywood chick who dates super HOT guys and has an endless amount of drama with her girlfriends? Plus, the one liners that these people come up with every week are so great. "Relationship vacation" was one of my favorite terms coined on The Hills. My friends and I got a lot of use out of that one. And who can forget Lauren telling Heidi "I want to forgive you and I want to forget you."?? Priceless. I also love that they pick the coolest songs I've never heard before as the soundtrack every week and they give you the titles and artists at the bottom of the screen. Today's Song of the Day is my favorite from last night. If you are a closet Hills fan, you can come out. I'm right there with you!

Song of the Day

Soasin
You're Not Alone

Girls' Weekend at the Lake

I had such a fun weekend! Kyra hosted a "Girls' Weekend at the Lake" on Saturday and we had a blast. The six of us got together for breakfast at The Port at Lake Panarama for breakfast around 10:30. After breakfast we got the boat loaded and picked up our cute chauffeur, Nate. Nate's the bartender at the Tiki Bar at the lake, but he went in a couple of hours late so he could hang out and drive us around the lake. What guy would say no to being the only guy on a boat with six girls?? For the record, once we dropped Nate off, Kyra did a FABULOUS job of navigating the boat. We did not NEED Nate, it was just kind of fun to have him around:) Girl power was alive and well this weekend let me tell you! We stayed on the water until 7 or so and then we went back to the Port and had some drinks at the Tiki Bar. The weather was absolutely beautiful on Saturday. We stayed until sunset at the Tiki Bar and then headed back to Kyra's condo to cook some dinner. We ended up making the best fondue ever (without a fondue pot) and eating way too much. We had great intentions of staying up all night drinking wine and playing games, but we were so exhausted from being in the sun all day eating and drinking that we fell asleep after we watched Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal. I can remember laughing so hard that I cried about three times, so I consider this weekend to be one of the best ever solely based on that. I got up early on Sunday morning so I could make it back for church and Kennedy's 4th birthday party, but I laughed out loud by myself the entire way home about something I saw on the way out the door. Molly was sleeping in the living room on an air mattress. When I went to bed it was the tallest, hugest air mattress I had ever seen. When I left in the morning, it did not have one drop of air in it and she was sleeping on it in the exact same position as she was when I went to bed she just happened to be flat on the ground.
It was HILARIOUS!!! Hopefully, "Girls' Weekend at the Lake" will be an annual event because we all had so much fun. Kyra is the best hostess!

Today's Song of the Day

Fall Back
Dear Jayne

My Itinerary

Our plane tickets were booked today and I found out our itinerary. We're leaving Monday night 9/29 at 6:55pm from Des Moines. (That means I can work all day and only borrow one day of my vacation time from next year!) We fly to Minneapolis and from there we fly to London. We get a 7 hour layover in London, so we'll be able to get out and see the city a little bit, which is pretty cool! From London we fly to Johannesburg and then it's a four hour drive to Welkom. On our way back we fly from Johannesburg to London, from London to Detroit, and from Detroit to Des Moines. We don't have any long layovers on the way back... thank goodness! We'll arrive back in Des Moines at 4:20pm on Sunday 10/12 and I'll be back in the office Monday morning at 8. (I'm exhausted just thinking about it!)

You can see how far it is when you look at a map, but holy cow it seems even farther when you picture yourself sitting in the airplane seat for HOURS!!! Here's how much time we spend travelling...

Des Moines to Minneapolis: 1 hr 10 min
Minneapolis to London: 8 hrs 25 min
London to Johannesburg: 11 hrs 10 min

Total travel time with layovers: 29 hrs 15 minutes (not including 4 hr drive to Welkom)

Johannesburg to London: 11 hrs 10 min
London to Detroit: 8 hrs 50 min
Detroit to Des Moines: 1 hr 51 min

On the way home our travel time is a little shorter, only 26 hrs and 32 minutes.

Yikes!

I'm so excited for everything God is doing in my life and I'm thrilled to be going on this trip. I'm not as thrilled about the long flights, but I think all of them are overnight, so hopefully we'll be able to get some sleep and it will be kind of dark in the plane. The longest flight I've ever taken was only 4 1/2 hours, so this will definitely be a new experience for me. I've never even used a bathroom on a plane! Oh boy... can't wait for that! And I have another question... do I wear the same clothes for 30 hours straight??? I wish you could all go with me on this trip. I guarantee it will be such entertainment:)

Today's Song of the Day

Africa
Toto

Sorry I had to do it!

If you'd like to help...

My friend Kyra came up with a brilliant plan to help me raise money for my trip to South Africa. We're having a garage sale! It wasn't easy to pick a date because the trip is coming up quickly and there's a lot going on in the next few weeks, but the BIG Garage Sale Day is going to be September 20th. If anyone has items laying around the house that they'd like to donate, let me know and I'll make arrangements with you to get them over to Kyra's house. There are several people on my South Africa team that need to raise money too. I'm only planning to use the bare minimum of what I need from the profits of this sale and I'll gladly split the rest among the people on my team who need it. So the more items we have, the better! If we knock it out of the park and make lots of money, we can always use the rest to purchase items for the people in South Africa. We found out today that each of us can bring one suitcase for ourselves and then we'll also be carrying another suitcase with items needed at The Pines. Some of the things we'll be bringing with us are clothing, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, and some stuffed animals for the sick children at the hospital. It's so sad how many things we take for granted that are luxury items to people who have nothing. I can't imagine a hospital in America where the children are all alone with no family and don't even have a toy to comfort them.

This is going to be a life changing trip and I already have a feeling that God's going to show me just how many trivial things in my life I spend WAY too much time worrying about. I really appreciate everyone's support as I prepare for this experience. I'm already going through a range of emotions from excitement to scared to death and it means everything to me to have my friends and family cheering me on and believing I can do it. Everything we're doing on this trip is to show the people of South Africa God's love and amazing power to change lives and every time I get words of encouragement and support from the people close to me (and even from strangers), I feel God's love and power too. Thanks for helping me pay it forward.

Saturday Afternoon Masterpiece

Today's Song of the Day

Closer
Ne-Yo

I haven't heard a song yet from this guy that I don't like. He's got some great songs. I spent some time this afternoon making a CD for Matt's sister and I found this song on iTunes. It made the cut. I think I've created a Hip/Hop R&B masterpiece of a mixed CD. (Clearly a matter of opinion I know.) Here's the full track list...

Fast Car - Wyclef
Signs - Snoop f/ Justin Timberlake
What You Got - Colby O'Donis
Green Light - John Legend f/ Andre 3000
Dangerous - Kardinal Offshall f/ Akon
U Can't - One Chance
Bust in Baby Pt 2 - Plies
One More Chance/Stay... Notorious BIG and some other peeps
Don't Turn Back - Colby O'Donis
Go Crazy (remix) - Fat Joe, Jay Z, and some other peeps
Fall Back - Dear Jayne
Closer - Ne-Yo
Only You - 112, Mase, Notorious BIG
You Are - Estelle f/ John Legend
Sexual Eruption - Snoop

I survived!

I just got back from my trip to the doctor to get my shots for South Africa. I had to get three. (Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B and Tetanus). While I was REALLY dreading it, I have to admit it wasn't that bad! I survived! I have to give the nurse a lot of credit though. She was very fast and her technique was amazing, they didn't hurt much. The tetanus shot made my arm hurt a little, but the poke of the needle wasn't too bad. My hands and feet instantly starting sweating when she walked in with needles, but I looked the other direction and I never actually saw them... just felt the pricks. Matt told me to be brave... I think it helped!

Another fear conquered!

Today's Song of the Day

Free Fallin'
John Mayer (check out his new double CD "Where the Light Is"... it's awesome)

Why South Africa?

Here is a link to a video about where I'll be going in South Africa and why we're partnering with the Pines Christian Center. It's pretty cool stuff!

http://www.pointofgrace.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=248&Itemid=236

One step closer to South Africa

Yesterday I finally got my new driver's license and filed for my passport. (While reading this story, keep in mind that in order to get my new SS card, I had to go the SS office three times and the Dallas County Courthouse once.) What a pain! I went to the Driver's License place in Ankeny on Monday... and they were closed. So yesterday morning, I went back to try again. I waited in line for fifteen minutes and when I got up the counter, wouldn't you know it, I was missing the one piece of evidence they needed to change my name on my license! So... I had to go all the way back to Waukee, get the piece of paper and drive back to Ankeny to the Driver's License place. I was so frustrated that I was almost in tears when I left to go back home and get the piece of paper. By the time I got back, I had calmed down and was standing in line (a shorter line might I add) reading a book. Then the coolest thing happened. The guy in line behind me was a guy from my high school who I haven't seen in at least five years, probably longer. For anyone reading this who went to my HS, it was Sam Arpy! He's been in the military for quite awhile and has been living in Italy for a few years. I was hoping to see him at our reunion a couple of weeks ago, but he wasn't back yet. So anyway... I got all worked up about having to go back and forth a million times to the Driver's License place and it all worked out in the end.

Finally, my trip to South Africa seems to be coming together. I have my new SS card, my new Driver's License, and my passport should be here within two weeks. Tomorrow I'm going to the doctor for a physical and three of the five shots I need. I'm sure that appointment will give me plenty to blog about. Giving blood and getting shots are two things that I wish I could go my whole life without doing, so I'm not really looking forward to the appointment tomorrow. But I am looking forward to hopefully conquering my fear. I know the pain will be worth it in the end. I'm going on this trip because I think it will be an unbelievable experience, but I think it will be an unbelievable experience because I'm doing it for God.

Song of the Day

Today's Song of the Day

Only Grace
Matthew West

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKL0QB-_ho0