Learning

First of all, super big CONGRATULATIONS to Mandy and Brandon on the arrival of Andy Earl! The cell phone picture from Christen was so handsome and I can't wait to meet him for real!

After graduating college, I returned home to a new and different world. Few of my friends are around Dallas, and the ones that are here (for summer or live here permanently) have drastically changed in ways that I didn't see from Lubbock. Maybe I've grown up and changed. Or maybe I haven't changed and they have. I don't know, but I don't like it. I'm lonesome around here. But that will quickly change because...

Adrienne is coming back home! She gets here on Thursday! Yes. Finally.

I finished my first week of EMT classes on the wrong side of the teacher. Whoops. It is one of the easiest classes I have ever taken. I guess after Genetics of Microorganisms, most stuff will feel like a breeze!

Clinton is getting married this weekend. Weird. I grew up thinking he would marry Christen (ha) and he has found the perfect woman for him... Courtney! Congrats. I will be making the horrific drive to Midland with Christen and my fam... yep. Eleven hours of wedding bliss. But I am happy to go for a great friend!

So I'm considering not going to UTEP in the fall and moving to the border to do mission work. I will have my certification so I could work in a clinic or a hospital or on an ambulance crew. Whatev. I could take classes online to get my Masters... I just don't know. Part of me just isn't ready to start my graduate career yet, because once I move to a place where I want to go to med school, it's at least a four year commitment. And I'm single, not a parent, and only 21. So if I'm going to do something drastic and completely different for a year, now is the time to do it!

To end this saga for now, I'm summer job hunting. So if you hear of anyone hiring for nights and weekends let me know! Please!

Off to study and cough out a lung (bronchitis for the third time this year) -Viv

Donesky

Tech=0. Vivien=5, almost 6

I have begun my final semester at Texas Tech University, and I am taking absolutely zero science classes. My schedule goes like this... feel free to be completely jealous :)

Tuesdays/Thursdays: 9:30 Gendered Lives with my boss as the prof

11 Intro to Creative Writing, Service-Learning Edition

12:30 Business and Professional Communication (glorified speech class)

2 Intro to Drama 

Wednesdays: 1 Karate... yep, I'm serious. 

Annnnnd that's it! I only have one final to take during finals week. Oh leaving easy classes for my last semester has been one of the best decisions of my life.

I'm taking the GRE on January 30th and then, hopefully, will be going to UTEP in the fall for their International Public Health masters program. I"m super excited but am also still looking at other international PH programs around the country... maybe I need to get out of Texas for awhile? El Paso is as far as you can get and still be in the state, but I'm keeping my options open!

I am counting down the days until the Denver conference. My project is going to be really neat. I will post pictures, I promise!

Also happening in April... the Walk for Lupus Awareness! It's the last Saturday in April and is a 5k in Farmers Branch at 9. My team is Vivien's Valiant Voyagers... much to Amanda Brock's dismay. I think it is cute and very me, so whatever Mandy! Get over it! Anyway, anyone can join the team, walk, donate, or walk and donate! My team's website is here, and you can either sponsor me, my mom, whoever else joins between now and the time you donate, or the team in general. Or you can join the team and get other people to donate! It's whatever! I would love for you to walk with me and my family and friends. Plus, you get a t-shirt! :) Amanda said she is the chief financial officer... so I guess if you have questions I would ask her! Love you Mandy.

I miss Gabriel and Carina and Axel and Lily and Johnathan and Andrea and Sander... and everything else that is Guatemala to me. Two of my greatest friends are not in the US right now, and I just feel so jealous of them. I know Christ has me in the states until He has prepared me for wherever He tells me to go, but sometimes I wish He would tell me already and give me an open door to get there. And if He is going to tell me to stay put, I wish He would go ahead and tell me so I can begin the heart-healing process. Ahh, I've just been thinking about the future so much since I'm about to be a college grad! I still can hardly believe it.

I'm starting to run... which is something I have loved in the past but haven't been able to in the present. It feels so exhilarating the day after, when your muscles are sore but you feel good about yourself for actually increasing your healthiness! My knees are killing me though, so that's the only downside. Oh well.

Doctor appointment on January 28th. Hopefully everything will be okay. My meds aren't working right now, so yay for an increase in toxins entering my body after that day!

Well, it's journal time... yes, I have to journal everyday as part of the creative writing process. Haha I don't have anymore ridiculously hard science classes but I have tons of busy work! 

I'm going home the weekend before my birthday, so if you are going to be in the Dallas area let me know! 

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Strawberry Chapstick

I should be finishing a 15-page paper right now about auxiliary chromosomes... whatever.

Spencer is married. No huge blowups or family meltdowns occurred that weekend, which was a miracle. I didn't get to run around the bases or sing karaoke, but that's okay. 

I'm applying to UTEP's Masters program in Public Health, with an emphasis in International Health and Border Issues. Sounds right up my alley, right? I cannot wait. I know absolutely no one in El Paso so it will be an adventure!

School is difficult, and I have two classes that I'm close to failing. I've never been in this position before, where a final can make or break me. If I do fail those two, Molecular Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms, I will have to retake them in the spring = I won't graduate on May 9th. Once again though, God is control. If I need to graduate in August instead then that's what I will do. It will suck but I can handle it.

The lupus monster is kinda out of control right now, which is terrific around finals time... but maybe that is why he is disrespecting my body so much! Ha. I started on a low dose on methotrexate, which is a weird form of chemotherapy, and it should help me feel better... the week AFTER finals. Meh, I can deal, especially if I have plenty of strawberry chapstick on standby.

I got my senior ring last Monday, and my mom and little brother and friends from back home came to the ceremony. It was great. And as soon as I put the big clunker on my finger I finally felt some distant love for my future alma mater. It was strange. Tech is growing on me, which is sad since I'm about to leave.

I got invited to present at a conference in Denver in April, which I am so so so pumped about. I have never been up there so should be interesting. People keep telling me they think I belong in Colorado, so I guess I will see if I do in April!

I TALKED TO AMANDA BROCK today. She has been starving in the jungle for too long. I'm so glad she is back with a toilet and a working shower. Love you Mandy. And yes, it is true that I voted for John McCain, but only because Obama is okay killing innocent babies. That was the breaking point for me.

Alright, happy thanksgiving and merry Christmas everyone. Don't spend too much money on my present... :)

You are the light that is leading me 

to the place where I find peace again.

You are the strength that keeps me walking, 

You are the hope that keeps me trusting.

You are the life to my soul, You are my purpose, You are everything.

How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?

Would You tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, You give me rest.

You hold me in Your hands, You won't let me fall.

You still my heart, and You take my breath away.

Would You take me in, would You take me deeper now?

You're all I want, You're all I need, You are everything.

-Lifehouse Everything

L-O-S-T

No, not the show. 

After praying about CEM, picturing myself living in northern California (which I definitely can) counseling girls that have gone through so much pain and suffering, thinking/worrying about not getting paid for a year even with a bachelor's degree... that door has closed. It is an amazing program and the work they do is so important in the kingdom of God; however, if I am really trying to find God's will and follow it, I don't think it leads me to CEM. And I"m trying to be okay with that.

I wish I could be an EMT and work overseas for a year. Or work at Parkland for a year and live at home until I leave for med school. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do, and that sucks. And I need to figure it out before december 1st, when tons of grad school applications are due. That means I have exactly 2 weeks to decide so I have time to asks profs for letters of recommendation... go ahead and shoot me now! Actually that might work, if someone would shoot me in the left knee and i could go ahead and that one replaced and save me tons of pain! Ok, that's the new plan for now.

I'm ready to leave Lubbock/Tech behind, but not the people I know and love that will still be here after I graduate. I think maybe that's why this is so hard. I am having to decide this way before any of my friends are, and again, it sucks. But whatever, another lightbulb might turn on in my head and this time it will be God flipping the switch instead of me searching for a quick answer! That sounds mature right?

Oh, I'm not engaged/dating anyone right now. So, when I get the usual "Oh my, and you're graduating in May?" question/look, it is getting hard to not reply with an "up yours." But, I understand that my view of God, and His ability to not fit in people's little narrow-minded boxes, is so much better than what they think I should do with my life. Do I have to be attached to a member of the male species for God to do work through me? NO. Plain and simple. Thank you, Jesus, for opening my eyes to how much bigger You are than my lack of romance and inability to see why so many Christian women think they are incomplete without a man by their sides. And He is working on me so that I can talk to them without thinking how ridiculous they are and how they just don't get the glory of Christ. Jesus is working in me and I'm letting Him for once, which feels pretty good.

Study time. Biochemistry and Borders, Boundaries, and Militarization. I shall return after the wedding shenanigans and will definitely have stories to tell... get excited!

Becker

In my normal embracing insomnia routine, I turn on the TV... and Becker happens to be on. I used to watch this show with Granny when I stayed with her in Euless, mainly because my parents wouldn't let me watch it at home as a youngster with a morphable mind. I start remembering things from the past and everything I should've done in our relationship. Not go on that camping trip, with people I have no relationship with anymore, the weekend before she died. Drive the 45 minutes to see her instead of taking a nap or going to a stupid soccer practice. Share my testimony with her. Make sure she knew I had turned my life around. Tell her how many things we have in common and and how important I felt when I was around her...

Then I realize all these feelings apply to my walk with Christ. How much time I waste lying in bed watching The Office or rereading my favorite books instead of growing in my walk and increasing in my knowledge of Him. How I should tell Him what a great change He has made in my life, how I couldn't possibly be the same without Him. How He gives me purpose and importance in this life, even when being constantly hounded by those around me. How I should share my testimony no matter how much it hurts for me to tell it. How much time, in general, I've wasted in my life just worrying about what I'm going to do next.

I'm not going to make some silly promise that I'm changing all that business. I'm not naive enough anymore to believe that statement, especially when I think it. But I am going to start taking small steps to re-evaluate my walk with Christ. Let's start with the anxiety...

I graduate in May. I didn't feel right about applying to med school for this application cycle, so I'm waiting to apply until next October; therefore, I have exactly one year from May to do something with my life having a college degree. Of course, that is based on the fact that I will get into med school the first time I apply... which could be wishful thinking on my part. I have been looking at grad school, the Peacecorps, Journeyman, and other international mission trips that would last approximately a year or so. Then I found it- what I want to do with that year. It's like a light bulb turned on in my head and in my heart at the same time. I felt this overwhelming sense of peace and comfort. if I had just trusted in Him the whole time, all this time worrying could have been spent furthering His kingdom... I'm such a loser!

So here it is... Christian Encounter Ministries. I was googling my options and it popped up Number One. Just reading the introduction gave me some goosebumps- no joke. I could intern here for the year, or for 9 months, if God wants me to. I think it would be awesome and would definitely help me in missions later in life. So, if you would like to pray for that, be my guest. It would be much much much appreciated!

Christen, I miss you. I wish I had enough money to come up for a visit but you know how college is on the money front. I'm proud of you for noticing God's plan might not include teaching for you. Thanks for having the courage to tell me that. It's refreshing that you can realize your degree might not be in something you actually end up doing for the rest of your life. I wish I had that strength! Lu and your hunky hubby! :)

I miss Amanda, but she is coming home sooner than I think. And Spencer's end of freedom happens in a little less than 3 weeks... wow. It is coming up soon... I hope I look good in that dress! That also means I will be home at that time, which I am super excited about. When I graduated high school, I was so ready for escape the confines of Mesquite, only to get trapped by the confines of Lubbock... I never would've imagined how much I welcome the site of the first Mesquite exit off 635. It is a joyous feeling for sure!

"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." 2nd Corinthians 4:16-18