e-harmony

Again, I'm in lab and not paying very much attention, but life is so busy right now before spring break that it might be the only time to catch up about anything.

My new haircut turned out to be not much different than before, except for the bangs (which drive me crazy, by the way) The experience was well worth it and was quite impressed with the salon. It was mind-blowing to go from small-town private salon to a big city professional chain salon. I got suckered into buying the outrageous shampoo and conditioner. Next time I know to stand strong. I'll put up a picture soon.

Next matter of business is Sunday night's concert. It was awesome. My school finally did something worth talking about. Lots of people from around the community came. There was Shane and Shane, Bethany Dillon, Starfield, and speaker, David Nasser. All are my faves. Love them. But what is cooler than seeing them perform in my school gym is getting to pick David Nasser up from the airport, an hour away. I tried so hard not to be star-struck, and I did an ok job. But I definitely wanted to be his best friend. David is my roommate Michelle's favorite speaker and since she had ties to Student Activities, they called her to pick him up. I sat in the back seat, and I'm sure he forgot my name soon after I said it. But so cool!!

I will say that it was hard to sit at the concert surrounded by couples. Literally, one on every side. Halfway through, and I'm not really sure how or why the cute guy from my class came and sat down right in front of me (the couple had left). Talk about distracting. I tried to stay focused on the concert and to not look too much :) This leads me to my next point....

My roommate signed me up for eHarmony!! Without my permission!! I was sitting on the couch beside me on her computer, and I wasn't paying attention to her. Then, she started laughing and I asked her what she was laughing about. She told me that she signed me up! I watched her go through the whole process, and I didn't give her input at all! I don't know how acurate it was, but we have lived together for 3 years now. In the end, I had 8 matches. Interesting. It made me wonder what kind of guys would put themselves on eHarmony? Especially at my age.
I mean, I shouldn't be desperate for at least another 5-10 years. I'm not sure what prompted Michelle to do that for me.

I am overwhelmed by school right now. This is my hardest semester, and it's proving itself. My grandparents are spending Saturday with me, I was supposed to work 3 days this week, and I was supposed to have 2 midterms. God always knows how much I can handle, and I got one test moved to next week(which is a little bit better) and two of my three jobs were cancelled due to sickness(one of which I still get paid for, b/c of late cancellation). How can not praise Him? I'm so thankful for all that God does in my life.

..."O praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead"...

Live life, live free!

Now I'm really out there. I have posted my page up on facebook. I'm gettin a little crazy! Who knows what'll be next!!

Today I had to write a quote for my school's yearbook about my mission trip to the Philippines last summer. It got me thinking about how amazing that trip was and how amazing God is and how amazing the world is. I'm sure you're thinking, "woah carrie! that's a little too much amazing for one sentence," but it's true. I learned so much on that trip, and it made me want to really see the world. Once you get to see outside of your own little cultural box, all you want is more. More and more.

It really saddens me when I see high school student after high school student stay so close to home and everything they know. I really try to push people to their limits when choosing a college. It's so hard to be away from home. I would never lie about that. I love my family. I love my friends back home. I love my state. But if that's all you ever know, you have no choice but to be narrow-minded. You don't know anything outside of your own little world.

And the world is huge!! I don't want to claim to know all of it, because that is very far from the truth. But I now have a different lens with which I can view the world, a much broader one.

I ran off on that tangent a little too quickly, but I come from a place where people most likely will stay there their entire lives. You'd think it was paradise or something! All of this to say that the Philippines was a most remarkable experience for me. I got stretched a lot. My favorite part (since I don't have near enough time to write about all of it) was getting to work with Compassion Intl. and the children who have been sponsored by blessed families all over the world. Those children took a piece of my heart. I'm sure of it. Every day we had lots of free time, and the kids would come from all over and spend time with us. I got particularly close with this one nine year old boy named Carl John. He had so much personality, and he had such a big heart. He always stood up for his friends, and I remember seeing him just sit with one boy who was crying and not say a word. Everyone on my team loved him, and I wasn't sure if the two of us really had a special bond or if I just felt like we did because he was so friendly. On the last day, a Saturday, we were waiting on Ernie to bring the van back to take us to the airport. All of the Compassion kids had programs they had to attend on Saturdays so they were all there. Carl John had just finished his Bible lesson where they made a bookmark with Romans 10:11 on it. With everyone around, he could have given it to the first person he saw, but I watched him as he kept looking over at me as the other girls ooo'd and aaaahh'd over his bookmark. Looking a little embarrassed he made his way over to me and gave me the bookmark. I felt the tear forming in the corner of my eye, and I read it. In sloppy, child-like writing and words misspelled, read "I miss you Carrei. Carl John" It was the high-light of my trip.

I had been so impressed with Compassion's ministries, and to see what they had done for this little boy who lived in the poorest of conditions, changed me. They do so much. Our money goes so far. I've even thought about working for them sometime in the future. What I would stress to anyone reading this is that if you can sponsor a child, do it! The rewards are far greater than the cost.

What a terrific day looks like

So far, today has been incredible! First off, I got up early to go work out, which of course makes me feel like a million bucks. And I had a test today, but think I did alright on it--not too hard. After the test my group for my research project met outside Jazzman's. Of course, they are all my friends, and we have a blast together. Not to mention the weather was beautiful outside today. I felt like a princess. I will say that I had a hard time working on our project with the cutie from my class sitting at the table next to us. And with the day being as perfect as it was, I felt hopeful that the perfect opportunity would open up soon for the two of us to become friends. We’ll just have to see.

After the glorious time in front of Jazzmans, I had my Paul class on the beach. Can you imagine?? How many people can say they have had class on the beach? It was the most amazing and fantastic idea ever. And my teacher!! I just love him. He’s like this lovable granddaddy figure. It was all his idea, and I love him for it. It is by far my favorite class this semester. And with a semester full of classes I don’t like, this is a huge breath of fresh air. The teacher plus my awesome classmates make the whole hour and fifteen minute classes fly by.

After class, Kayla and I made yummy bars. I let her in on the secret recipe, and we had a great bonding time. I really wish I spent more time with her. She is a precious girl to me. Not to mention, yummy bars are my favorite thing in the universe. So they added to the greatness of the day.

When I got home from Kayla’s, Brittany had called me to go to Chik-fil-a, another great thing in my life. My friend’s and I ate there and came back to watch a little TV and hang out. We were having so much fun.

Now, it’s time to go to bed, and I’m exhausted. I’ve had quite the full day, you know? As I fall to sleep tonight, I will be sure to count my blessings two times over!... “This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. "

I'm back.

I think it's funny how I write these things as if someone were actually reading them. I haven't even shared this with anyone I know. My thought was that if I died today (God forbid) someone could see what was actually going on with me. Day by day. Exciting and dull moments.

But back to my hair. Things change so much in my life. Earlier, I said Saturday was haircut day. Well, Michelle actually called and we couldn't get an appointment at the same time until next Wednesday. And we definitely want to do this together. Both of us have pretty much had the same hair stylist our whole lives. So, this is a pretty big leap of faith for both of us, especially since we are going to stylists that are new and straight out of cosmotology school. Hey, we are college students, ok? I hope trying to save a few bucks doesn't turn out to be a huge mistake.

The point of the story (however shallow talking about hair is, there is a point) is that I did not and still do not know my face shape. I've heard time and again that you should choose a hair style based on what complements your face shape. I always thought it was round, but didn't really know. So, I googled and took a bunch of face shape tests, and I found that I supposedly have a heart-shaped face. Every picture of a person with a heart-shaped face contradicts this. My chin doesn't come to a point like all of the pictures I see of celebs with heart-shaped faces. I guess I'll never know. I'm going to ask my stylist next Wednesday though.

Just so you know, I'm not going for a really drastic change. But I want to be noticed. I'll have to put up before and after pictures. Should be really interesting. To be completely honest, I've been especially concerned with impressing boys (or should I say men?) this semester. Quite honestly, I view it as a plague on my contentment. Some days, I think "boy, this is fun!" Other days, I think I should pack up and call it quits. Most of my guy friends have girlfriends(who are also my friends) so as much as I don't want to, I have to go outside of my group of friends to find a guy who would perhaps want to take me out. And that is proving to be hard...in every way.

Sometimes, I'm literally terrified to talk to boys. I don't what to say, do, or think in front of them. It all just gets so jumbled. And there is this one boy that I have been joking around with my girl friends about how cute he is. It's just been so fun to be silly with them about this kind of stuff. But I missed a great opportunity to talk to him last week, and I can't seem to get back in the game since then.

Should I even mention that next week is Valentine's Day? Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think I've ever been one of those sulky singles who hates the mere mentioning of the love holiday. I look forward to my dad buying me roses and my mom sending a card and some candy. But I can't block out of my head completely the reminder that I am failing in that particular area.

All this to say that I'm hoping for the best in my new haircut. I think I'm even springing for side-swept bangs. Maybe it will be just the thing I need to push through the Day of Love!

Hair

Ok, I know I said I'd talk about friendship on my very next blog, but right now I'm in class. I really don't think I'll be able to concentrate on important matters such as friendship and pay attention to my professor. So, I'm gonna talk about face shapes and new hair cuts.

Last night, I was sitting on the couch with my roommate, watching the votes come in (yesterday was Super Tuesday), crossing my fingers, and discussing hair and politics with my roommate. Now, I'm not normally a very good multi-tasker, but for the sake of keeping up in this fast-paced world, I'm practicing. I really don't like politics, so I'm not going to talk about the presidential candidates for fear of looking ignorant...because I am.

Michelle, my roommate, was saying to me the other day that her hair was getting to "the awkward stage,"and she wanted to find a hair stylist here, where we go to school. My hair is in the awkward stage too...We decided Saturday was haircut day.


...I type too slowly. Class is over. Wait anxiously for the rest of this story.

So you wanna know about me?

I don't know what possesses me when I start something like this, putting myself on the internet for the world to see. I guess it's that thing in all of us that wants to be known. Some days there are no words that come to my lips when I need them. Writing can take as long as the words need to come. Right now, I'm sitting on my couch in my dorm watching American Idol and hoping I don't lose my wireless connection. It always amazes me that so many people do not have honest friends in their lives that would keep them from embarrassing themselves on live television. The people who show up for American Idol baffle me. I pray that my friends are always honest with me. I live by a policy of speaking the truth in love. Sometimes, if it's not you then who will speak the honest truth to a friend? It shows how much you love a person if you are willing to temporarily injure their pride to save them from others or even themselves. "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses."--Proverbs 27:6. Think about that. It's so true.

Friendship is something I take so seriously. My friends know that. They know that if they needed me at any time, day or night, they could just give me a call. And trust me, I've had my share of late night, early morning calls. I bend over backwards for my best friends, and they know where I stand with them. When I come back I'm gonna write more about friendship. My ideas. My friends...for now it's time for my favorite time of year...Towers All Hall Meeting...or not!