So it dawned on me as I'm killing time before going to take an exam, that I haven't blogged in a while. Although, truth be told, the only people that would possibly read/respond to this would be people that I talk to on a regular basis.

*Hey guys!*

Anyway the basic scoop is...I'm still working like a mad woman with one little kid who is...driving me nuts. Yeah that seems like the right way to phrase it. When he's good he's so cute and super fun. But when he's bad...oh man is he bad. Monday I spent 4.5 hours with him. His sessions are supposed to be 3 hours long. But if he's tantrumming we have to stay. He tantrummed for 4 hours. That was one of those days that kind of makes you go..."Am I REALLY supposed to be doing THIS for the rest of my life?" But it's getting better...

I hope.

On top of that, I'm attempting to figure out what's going on with grad school. I was hoping to have 6 months off from April-September and then start the internship program in the fall. But there are some course requirements that I have yet to meet so I then was looking at cramming them in this spring/summer. However, I'm fairly certain that would cause me to have a nervous breakdown and it's just kind of discouraging. So I'm looking at maybe just taking one class in the spring, working a lot, saving up a bunch of money (I hope), and then taking some more classes in the summer so I can start at least CLOSER to the internship in the fall.

I'm also looking at moving to North San Bernardino so I'm closer to work/school.

The BIG news though is that, as of this very moment, I am 21 DAYS away from being finished with UCR. Amazingly, I am actually slightly sad about this, as it ends a very important section of my life. Yeah, I know I'm still going to be going to school but UCR has a lot of meaning for me. I learned a lot about myself, about people, and about the Lord here.

But I think that's going to have to be another blog....I'm off to "fail" a test.

My throat is so sore

I don't want no more

 I want this mean cough to go away

I've had too much cough syrup

I think I might throw up

And I shouldn't have gone to work today

My Dr. says I'm fine

But I'm still gonna whine

Because my throat hurts really bad

 Yes coughing is yucky

 Being sick is sucky

I think that I'm going mad.

*This is my poem.* COUGH COUGH COUGH 

I was struck with a thought today.

Christians need to learn to love each other before they can expect to have any impact on the world around them.

I think that means loving people that are Christians, not just loving people that are part of our particular group of Christians. I know that recently I have experienced both. I have experienced being loved by the group of Christians I am most often associated with and it has been a marvelous experience. This morning I experienced being loved by a church that I am not usually a part of. Unfortunately, I have also experienced what it is like to feel isolated from a group of "Christians". What is even more painful is that for a while I too was part of that group. But due to different circumstances, including what I felt to be the Lord's prompting, I became less involved. There were hurtful words spoken, unneccessary rumors started, and I was not exempt from participation in any of it. For that I am truly sorry. Unfortunately, I have tried to reconnect with some of my friends only to be met with...nothing. This saddens me worst of all because I know that these people want to spread the Gospel all over their sphere of influence. I hope and pray that it is possible for the Gospel to reach our campus, our city, our state, our nation, and the world but I have one question:

How can we expect to win souls for Christ, when we don't love each other like Christ loved us?

Sorry this thing is like weirdly formatted and whatever, but the pictures were too good to lose. Also, see bottom for commentary from your truly.

Guard dog rips head off Presleys $75,000 toy in stuffed-animal rampage

AP Security guard Greg West and his Doberman, Barney. A $75,000 teddy bear formerly owned by Elvis Presley was one of the bears destroyed when the guard dog went on the rampage on Tuesday.  View related photos ..>var hasRelatedPhotos = 'false';if (hasRelatedPhotos=='true'){var vRPL = document.getElementById("viewRelatedPhotosLink");if (vRPL!=undefined) vRPL.style.display = "";var vLRPG = document.getElementById("linkRelatedPhotos");var vLIRPG = document.getElementById("linkImgRelatedPhotos");if (vLRPG) {if(vLIRPG) vLIRPG.href=vLRPG.href;}}..>

..>getCSS("3088867")..> .. href="/default.ashx/id/3088867/" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>

Updated: 5:18 a.m. PT Aug 3, 2006

.. language=javascript> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n... = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('632902042950900000'); ..>

LONDON - A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a childrens museum.

He just went berserk, said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney.

Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff.

..>ad_dap(250,300,'&PG=NBCMSN&AP=1089');..> <[[iframe]] id=dapIf4 src="about:blank" frameBorder=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=250>

---

The collection, valued at more than $900,000, included a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936.

AP Mabel, a teddy bear once owned by Elvis Presley, is shown before its unfortunate encounter with Barney.

The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis, Tenn., and had loaned it to the museum.

Ive spoken to the bears owner and he is not very pleased at all, Medley said.

A security guard at the museum, Greg West, said he spent several minutes chasing Barney before wrestling the dog to the ground

 

**This was really funny to me. It's like the dog was like, "Why am I guarding a bunch of stupid bears? Stop LOOKING at me Mabel! Alright, that's it! I shall EAT you now." And now he's like, "Take that, you evil bear!"

Part A

I quit Beaver! I am currently on day 10 of working at one job or the other and decided it was time. I was too exhausted and beginning to hate life. So I am now only working for BEST services 5 days a week. I came to the realization, as sad as this is, that I think this is the biggest step of faith I've ever taken. Apart from salvation of course. I will still be able to pay my bills and everything but financial stuff always worries me. This is actually interesting because I am attending a money lab at church and we were just discussing how people sometimes think that money will solve all our problems. I think it takes a lot of faith and strength for me to live peacefully in the realization that God is my provider, and He knows my needs before I do.

Part B

So yesterday was the 4th of July. We (Paul and I) went to a minor league baseball game and then watched their pretty impressive fireworks display. It was an enjoyable time, but we were both struck by something kind of sad. Obviously, many people had the same idea to go to the game and then watch the fireworks show. So there was a pretty long line for will call and then an equally long line to get into the stadium. We got in about halfway through the first inning. No biggie. We were hot and tired of standing in line, but so was everyone else so why complain. Unfortunately the people all around us did not feel that way. All we heard, before the game, during the game, and even during the fireworks were complaints. Complaints about how ridiculous it was that the lines were so long, how silly it was that it was taking a long time for the sound system to work, how horrible the sound system was, and even how there were a lot of green fireworks. I found myself thinking, "What is the 4th of July supposed to celebrate?" It's not about BBQ, baseball and fireworks, although those are fun things to have to help the celebration. The 4th of July is about celebrating the freedom that we have in this country, even the freedom to complain about it. The most appalling was that during the national anthem people were talking, laughing, one man even refused to look at the flag. I understand that there are some people that for religious reasons don't celebrate holidays, and that's fine. Although my gut instinct tells me that this man was not part of that category. I also understand that some people don't necessarily agree with the politics in America right now, etc. BUT, is that any reason to be disrespectful towards the country? I don't think so. As I sat there watching the fireworks explode over my head (I love fireworks) I thought about the men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and so many other places, that are watching bombs explode over their heads in an effort to help those people enjoy some of the freedoms we have. Furthermore, I thought about the men and women who have fought and served in so many wars in order to ensure the freedom that we enjoy here. It makes me sad that there is a generation of children that are being raised to think it's ok to complain about everything, no matter how small, and who can't understand what it means to have freedom. God has blessed America. May we thank Him for His blessings.