Fall Break

Well, last Wednesday morning I got up at about 6:30AM to drive home for Fall Break. I didn't really have that long for break, but I needed to spend some time with my family and so I skipped a couple of classes. I got home just in time for my Dad's retirement party. On Thursday, I had a very god time going to visit my High School. I got to see a lot of people that I haven't seen for a long time, which I always enjoy doing. I also did some shopping. This weekend I got to go see a movie, which I have been wanting to do for a long time. I also got to go to church on Sunday, which was very encouraging. I was very glad that I was able to go home and see my family. One of the most exciting things I got to do was see my niece. She is almost three months old and has changed so much since I last saw her. I got to hold her and she smiled at me :). She is so cute.

Coming back to school was quite intersting. I wanted soem company with me while I was drivign back, so my mom rode with me and was planning on riding the train back home. This didn't exactly happen. The train wass about three hours late, so she decided to just spend the night and go home this morning. So I took her to the train station this morning before class. She finally got on the train around 10AM and then got home around 3:45. We could not believe how late the train was running.

Major Decision!!

Well, today I made a major decision. I have officially changed my major to nursing. I have been attending Career Counseling with our Career Services Office and I took soem test to figure out what I enjoy and what jobs would be best for me. I looked at all the numbers and have come to the conclusion that being a pediatric nurse would fit me better than teaching elementary education. I have much more of a scientific mind than a creative mind. I am hoping to be a pediatric nurse in a hospital or some other setting, like a doctors office. I also may use nursing to go to the mission field. I am really excited about this decision and am still praying about it to make sure that this is what God wants me to do. This is obviously more imprtant than me just doing what I want to do. There some big advantages of the nursing program as well. Hopefully, this will not set me back too far when it comes to graduation. I have an appointment with my new advisor tomorrow morning. Hopefully, this will help me figure out what exactly I need to do to graduate and when that will happen. I would once again appreciate your prayers as I go through this transition and try to decide for sure that this is what God wants me to do. I will keep you updated on what happens.

The Past Few Weeks and this Weekend

The past few weeks have been incrediby busy with school work and other things. I have been kept very busy with projects and papers fro my Education classes. I really never realized how much work went into being a teacher and what all is required of you. Their are so many requirements that have to be met, just to get into the college of education.

Last weekend I went with the BSU to a conference called Getaway. I had a great time and got to know people a lot better. We went to the Tan Tara Resort in the Lake of the Ozarks area. I was definitely challenged spirtually and was convicted of a lot of things. It was a good conference, but there were some things that went on that I didn't totally agree with in how they were done. It was a great time to just get away and reflect.

Today my parents came and visited me. This was so much fun. We went out to lunch and I got my new car theat they bought about two weeks ago. This was so refreshing to me after an incredibly busy week with a whole lot of homework. I will try to put up some pictures of the car sometime soon.

I am still tyring to figure out what exactly God has called me to do. I have begun going to career counselng in order to help me pin point what I want to do and what God wants me to do. It is hard, but I am trusting that God has a plan for my life and that he is going to reveal that plan to me when it is time. you can be in prayer for me when it comes to this. I will keep you updated on what I decide.

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend has been incredible. I have been staying with my brother and sister-in-law and the three of us have had so much fun. I got here on Friday nigth after riding the train home and hung out with my brother. Then on Saturday, I got to sleep in till noon. For the rest of the day, I hung out with my sister-in-law. We went shopping at the mall, went to Wal-Mart, and cooked dinner together. This was so much fun. We got to have some girl time and get caught up because we haven't seen eachother in a really long time. Then on Saturday night,the three of us hung out and got ice cream. Unfortunately, tomorrow am leaving to go back to school. I am not too excited about this. I think this semester is going to be really hard. I am already having some trouble understanding things in some of my classes. In a lot of ways, I wish I could just be a teacher instead of having to go through all of this school stuff. I think I am just starting to get impatient. I am trying to put together my four year plan and I just feel like it is going to be FOREVER before I get to actually be in a classroom. Another problem is that I am just not motivated to do homework yet. I haven't gotten into my studying routine and I am having some trouble doing this.

First Week of Classes

Well, I survived my first week of classes. I have now been back at college for about a week. I moved in on Sunday and Monday. I am taking 15 hours this semester and am excited because I am finally taking classes for my major, instead of just general education classes. This semester I am taking Models of Teaching, Foundations of Education and Field Experience, Composition 1, Begining Bowling, Collaborating with Families with Exceptional Children, and Educational Psychology. So far I have enjoyed my classes and am not too worried about any of them. One thing that I am specifically looking forward to this semester is my field experience that I will be getting. I get to go out and observe and start working in classrooms.
I also wanted to update you about my car accident. I had a whole lot of medical tests done about a week ago and I have gotten the results back. The results show that I am just fine and I don't have any major medical problems that would have helped to cause the accident. This is great news because that means I can drive again. We are slowly working on getting all of the insurance information worked out. Hopefully, I will have a new car in three to four weeks.
I also wanted to give you an update on my church. This week is going to be a big milestone for my church. There is going to be a congregational meeting to vote on the new session. This is very exciting and I can't wait till I find out the results. I feel like all of the candidates will be very good. I feel like a lot of good is going on at my church and that we have gotten through the worst of it all. I will continue to keep you updated on what is going on.

God's Wonderful Grace

Well on Saturday, I was reminded of God's Grace in my life. At about 12 noon, I got in a really bad car accident. At first, my family and I thought that I fell asleep at the wheel, but we are now thinking that something more may have happened, like me blacking out or having a seizure of some sort. Anyways, whatever happened, I veered into oncoming traffic without hitting anyone. Then I ran into a parellel parked car on the other side of the road. By God's wonderful grace I walked away from the accident without major injuries. I got a lot of bruises and scrapes, but other than that, I am fine. I am struggling emotionally somewhat. I am having a lot fo flashbacks and and having some trouble sleeping. Yesterday, I was in a lot of pain, but today I am feeling much better. I have not found out any insurance information yet, but I will keep you updated on what is going on.

Update!!

I am sorry it has been so long since I updated this blog. I have been extremely busy with camp. I have now been here for about five weeks and I am about to end my third week with kids. It has gone very well in general. I am having a ton of fun and this is a wonderful atmosphere to work in. All of the staff are really accepting of me and are nice. I have had three great groups of kids. Some have been more challenging than others obviously, but I have had a lot of fun with them. It has been really neat this past two weeks to work with some special needs kids. Last week I had a girl with pretty severe ADHD in my cabin. This was cool because hopefully I was able to help her out with her struggles. This past week I have a girl in my cabin that is very poor from the inter city of St. Louis. She has ADHD, dyslexia, LD, and mild mental retardation. She has been somewhat of a challenge, but has been a lot of fun to work with. It has also been neat to work with her since I have had quite a bit of experience working with these kind of children. This job is also wonderful experience for being a teacher. I have to teach different activities for the children and I am learning how to better take care of and discipline children. I am so glad that I have gotten this opportunity to impact the lives of so many children. I will continue to keep you updated.