Loss of Motivation :(

**Warning**
I just read this entry and it's basically me rambling because I feel guilty about not updating this blog in so long. I can sum it up now if you don't feel like reading: Nothing has happened since my last entry. :)

So this past week I have not been motivated at all to do any work whatsoever. It's gotten pretty bad...

Finals are next week. I have a take-home test, a research paper, and another paper due on Monday; a presentation on Tuesday; a test and a portfolio due on Wednesday; and a party for FYS on Thursday. It's that stuff due on Monday that is stressing me out the most I think, though it must not be stressing me out very much considering I have procrastinated so much this week.

I'm not sure yet when I'll be coming home. Honestly, I'm not anxious to be home. I am afraid that four weeks of being home won't necessarily be good for me. I love my family so much, and I don't want to get on their nerves (or vice-versa). We'll see. I'll come home on Friday at the very earliest.

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened recently. It's been pretty normal here. I'm finally done with Social Life stuff for the semester, so that's good. My last OPE was today. I baked the kids cupcakes and some of them drew me pictures. I wasn't tired last night... either that or I just didn't feel like going to bed, so I didn't get much sleep last night. I think I may be getting a little sick, so I'm going to be sure to get more sleep tonight and the rest of this week. Of course it doesn't help that the food in Garlock has been less than appetizing and it's been really cold out lately.

Well, I didn't have anything to say in the beginning... and I have even less to say now, so I'll releive those of you who are still reading. :-P Have a great week!

~ Beth

I know, I know

I know there hasn't been a post in a long while. Sorry about that! Finals are coming up, and suprizingly I haven't yet turned to blogging as a form of procrastination! (Of course, I have found other ways... many many other ways.) I will post an update soon! It's time for class. :)

Pressing On

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't written in a while. This week has been pretty horrible. Schoolwork is bogging me down like never before. I got so behind this week simply because of personal issues and Social Life stuff that seemed to take up all of my energy. As a result, this weekend is also hard. I'm just trying to get through it at this point and go home for Thanksgiving break. I'm so glad there aren't classes after Tuesday.

I have a research paper due tomorrow and a test that I have to do very very very well on in order to bring up my grade in that class. I got an extension on another paper that was due tomorrow also because that was just too much to try to handle this weekend. I don't know how I'm going to do it. We'll see.

Anyways, that's why there hasn't been a new post in a while. I won't go into detail about why this past week was bad, but I have to say that in the midst of it all, I am so very blessed. My friends are pretty much amazing -- and my family is, too. My dad is in town until Tuesday when he's going to bring me home, and seeing him brightened up my weekend! And, as always, I am so thankful for the friends that I have made here at school. They are a true blessing to me. I don't know what I would do without the late-night chats, tickle wars (and snorting - AUDREY!), and the time spent skipping class to talk about what's been going on. I've also been so blessed with a great church here -- and transportation!! No matter how bad things get (or seem to be), the Lord has been looking out for me. I am so thankful for that!

**In the Pictures**

Top Pic -- From back to front

Left: Sarah, me

Right: Audrey, Kelsey, Ashley

Bottom Pic -- From Left to Right

Me, Phil, Ashley, Kelsey

Happy Thanksgiving week!!

~ Lizzy

Weekend Thrills

This weekend was probably the best one yet. I worked hard, and I played hard. I ended up accomplishing my goal: to finish all of my homework for Monday and Tuesday. Horray for time management!!

Besides getting lots of schoolwork done, I made time to play! :) Come on, what is college for?

Friday night Sam and I decided that we were going to hang out, so when she got out of work she came over to my dorm to figure out what we were gonna do. I left the room for about a minute, and came back to find her wearing my clothes. Sam is so funny that way - if you put clothes in front of her (no matter what context) and leave her alone for more than a few seconds, you will come back to find her clothes - along with many of your clothes - scattered across the floor and the items that used to be neatly hung up in your closet will instead be on her.

Anyways, since she was in the mood to dress up and I was in the mood to see a movie, we got all dressed up and went to the dollar theater to see Harry Potter. It was so much fun! I think that one of the strangest parts of the whole night, though, was going to garlock all dressed up like that.

Saturday was going to be homework day, but I didn't get much done. The gang (me, ashley, kelsey, nate, and phil) and gwen, another friend of ours, all went bowling, and then hung out at BTs! That was a lot of fun.

Sunday was probably the best. I went to Northgate as always. The message was good - and very touching - it was about marriage. After church, I got a lot of homework done. Actually, I got all of it done in anticipation of going out that night. After I had all my homework done, Phil gave me a piano lesson!! Horray!! I'm worse than I was last year... and then I went out with some other friends to Spot then a service. Okay, now for the best part of my weekend!! This church service was amazing. It was a candlelight concert at Christ Church Episcopal. I loved it! I want to go every week. I think it was so cool because there was no speaking - there was a pianist and then a (gregorian??) choir. I felt like I was just sitting in the presence of God. It would be so nice to go to a free methodist church on Sunday mornings, and then this Episcopal service on Sunday nights. It was such a nice way to start the new week - just being there in the presence of the Lord. Did I mention that I loved it?!

I am looking forward to this week. I feel like getting so much work done this weekend has given me a good start. I want to do all of my homework two days early, so that the pressure is off the night before something is due. We'll see how long I stick to this.

Well, it's time for me to go. Thanks for reading!! Happy week!

Full Speed Ahead!

I have made a semi-final decision about my major. I am going to try to double-major in Elementary Education and Religion/Philosophy for a semester. If it is too much work, or I don't like it, or there are other things I want to do which I wouldn't be able to do with the double major, I will go from there. But as for now, I am very content with my decision.

I will be taking LOTS of gen-eds next semester, so I'm not sure that it will actually give me a good idea of how busy I will be with the double-major, but I'll just take it as it comes. Until then, I made the decision to put the pedal to the metal on my academics. I slacked off this week - extraordinarily (for me). I decided that this weekend I am going to commit myself to catching up on readings, finishing papers, and filling my mind with ideas for upcomming projects. I want to get my GPA up as high as possible, so that it is not as much of a concern next semester. We'll see how long this vigor lasts.

I am quite excited about this change. I was so ready for a change of pace. I think that I get restless in El Ed so easily because teaching is not all that I want to do. But over the past week I have realized how crucial a degree in teaching will be for me in the future. Not only will I use what I am learning in ministry, but I will also very likely teach in a school while attending Seminary. Also, it's a back-up plan for if it turns out that the Lord isn't calling me to ministry (I must clarify that I do not in any way doubt my call to ministry, but Jesus has many ways of working, and I cannot ever assume that I know exactly where He wants me or why I feel Him working in the ways that I do).

Sam and I were talking today about where we see ourselves for the rest of our lives (it began with Sam telling me that I have to have at least one girl, so that our girls can be best friends... and then we decided that one of my boys will marry one of her girls. But we have to live near each other for these plans to succeed). I go through stages of how I feel about my future. One day it excites me to think about the uncertainty of where I am headed, and the next I can feel overwhelmed and scared because I don't know where I'm going. There are also the days when I feel like I know exactly where I am headed, and I am so very excited about it; while there are other days that I think about where I think that I am headed and I am scared to death about it. There are so many directions that I see my life going in right now. It can be overwhelming and scary and at the same time feel adventurous and exciting! I think that the two things that are really on my mind the most, though, are getting married (of course) and missionary work. I have mixed feelings about both of these things, but at the same time I am constantly open to wherever God wants to lead me. Now that's a pretty cool feeling!

Well, this got long, and it's past my bedtime. Thanks for reading!

CMC Interview

I just wanted to update those of you who were praying for me yesterday about my interview. It went very well. Actually, I don't think it had anything to do with what I said or did. When I left the room and the MEG Board was deliberating, I told my dad that I really didn't feel like I communicated well at all. But he told me that I did - and I think that was totally God's doing. The board is going to recommend me for Conference Ministerial Candidacy. The next step toward becoming a CMC (no, I'm not one yet...) is to attend the annual conference at the end of May and give my testimony and answer questions about my call. At that time, the conference will vote and I will either become a CMC or I won't.

God is moving - and whether He wills that I become a CMC or not, I know that His plan is beautiful and perfect. I'm not going to worry about it, and I don't want to make a big deal out of it either. If this is where God is calling me, this is where I will be. If not, that doesn't say anything about who I am or whether God will use me. I'm leaving this in His hands. Thank you all for your prayers through this process.

Christmas in October?

I have been in a Christmas mood since yesterday morning. Kinda random. I'm just glad that I had a CD of Christmas music to play (over and over and over again) yesterday, because otherwise I don't know what I would have done with myself!

I'm in the Library right now, and I just finished my homework. I have another hour before I have to do anything, so I figured I would update my blog! I don't really have anything spectacular to report, though. There was an article about LIVE in the Beacon (our school newspaper), and it got a WONDERFUL review! It made me very happy. My next event is the Barn Party, on the 26th. The 26th also happens to be the day that I register for classes! Wow, that came up fast!

I am going to try to double-major. I don't remember if I have mentioned this yet or not, but I switched my concentration to Spanish (from Language Arts). My goal throughout my college career (well, one anyways) is to become fluent in Spanish. I am going to stay in Education with my SPanish concentration, and try to pick up a double-major with Religion and Philosophy. I at least want a minor in Biblical Studies. We'll see if I can end up doing the major. I may stay an extra year, because I really would like this experience.

I got my ears peirced this weekend!! That's what I spent my Birthday money on! :-D I am so glad that I did it... but I'm already wishing I could take out these boring things and replace them with fun dangly ones! Oh, well. I will be able to wear fun jewlery by Thanksgiving - which means that I need to go earring shopping for Winter Formal (which was my motivation to let someone punch holes in my ears in the first place).

I have been invited for an interview to become a Conference Ministerial Candidate! This is the next step in the process to be ordained in the Free Methodist Church. My interview is on Wednesday night, so please keep me in your prayers. I am so very nervous, but I know that if this is the direction that God is leading me in (which I think it is), He will make it happen.

I have been working very hard in my studies. I am getting pretty good grades so far, so I suppose it's paying off. Plus, I'm learning so much!! With El Ed it's weird, because a lot of the stuff that I'm learning seems to be common sense to me, but actually learning it gives that common sense purpose and reason, which helps me make more connections and conciously apply what I'm learning to my teaching strategies. It's funny to learn, for example, how to write a lesson, and realize that I was applying these strategies all summer without even realizing what I was doing or why I was doing it. Teaching really comes so naturally to me, which is a big reason why I feel confident that I could possibly handle a double major. The time commitment is the only thing I'm really worried about.

Anyways, I still have 45 minutes until I have to be done, but I won't bore you with 45 more minutes worth of words. You're welcome. :) Have a fabulous weekend!!