Currently Listening God Save America By Jerry Falwell God Save America see related

I'm tired.

Why am I tired? I've been going nonstop since....Wednesday, I think. Thursday morning I went to get fingerprinted at the Santa Clara County Sherriff's Office (requirement for all adult camp staff--now Pastor George can sleep at night because he knows I'm not a wanted criminal with a resounding record of child abuse). Then I opened a checking account so I can transfer money from my account here to my bank in Florida. That evening, after a busy day at work with no dinner, I ran over to the choir rehearsal room. And what do you know, Mrs. Goodall (production director) hands me a binder and asks if I'll be her assistant for the program! Of course I said "Yes, yes, yes!"

Friday morning Shane and I went out hanging doorhanger flyers for the Patriotic Tribute in our neighborhood....covered a few blocks, but not as much as I'd like. Shane took one side of a given street and I took the other so I could keep an eye on him....but he was awesome! He went right up to people who were in their front yards of his own accord and started talking to them! Very proud of him.
Then there was this tiny, friendly, well-groomed dog that had been following us for a bit. He would run back and forth across the street between Shane and I....then, as I was talking to one lady about the Tribute, we heard a loud bang and a yelp. I spun around in time to see the little dog fly clear from the car, bounce on the pavement, scramble a step or two, then collapse in a heap in the middle of the road. The car didn't even slow.

Other cars were coming, though at a very slow speed when they saw the dog. I ran out and touched the little dog--he was still breathing and shaking. He had tire marks along one side, and then he tried to get up when I ran my hand down his side. I carefully picked him up, carried him off the road, and laid him on the grass of the lady I had been talking to (she was extremely concerned about the dog). He presently sat up, still shaking, paced back and forth a few times, then (not to be indelicate) relieved himself in every way possible. He seemed to be ok, other than he was obviously scared out of his mind. Just then, Mommy drove up to pick Shane I up (she didn't know about the dog), so we laid the dog on the blanket in our van and drove back to the street where we had first seen him following us....thankfully some neighbors helped us find the owner, who was very sad that his dog had been hit, but very thankful that we'd taken care of him. Soooo, I was a little bit late to work that day. But Pastor George forgave me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a memeber of PETA or anything (unless it's People for the Eating of Tasty Animals), but I think God had a reason for making us the "stewards" of the Earth.

THEN, I spent most of Saturday at Dress Rehearsal for the Tribute....that was an adventure. I was there three hours after everyone else had left, working things through with Pastor Ray and Mrs. Goodall and the tech guys....and learning a LOT in the process.

This morning, we looked out our front window. And there, where our big, beautiful American flag had hung the night before, was a scorched flagpole with a sooty American Eagle on top. Two charred and tattered shreds hung from it, over a pile of ashes and a few more unburnt shreds of the Stars and Stripes....it was like looking at a martyr. We promptly hung out old flag over it......then bought and hung another later today.

Why would someone burn our flag? It really bothers me how blind people can be sometimes.....it reminded me of this song we've sung before in choir:

Somewhere there's a soldier
And he's looking at a picture
Of his little girl, how he wishes he were home
And somewhere there's a a soldier
And he's reading a love letter
From his wife, how he feels so all alone
And somewhere there's a mom and dad
Who cry late in the night
For a son who isn't coming home
A son who gave his life
Freedom isn't free
Oh, can't you see

It has always been the soldier
Who has made the sacrifice
Standing strong and proud in battle
Willing to lay down his life

To the angry man who shakes his fist
And burns the Stars and Stripes
That same flag drapes the coffins
Of those who gave their lives
There's no other place that you will go
Or you have ever been
Where the blood of soldiers gives the right
To burn the flag again.....

And this morning was the Tribute.....wow, it was way too awesome for words. It has to be my absolute favorite Sunday of the year.....possibly excepting Easter. I was on my feet alllllll morning running mics back and forth, giving cues, solving problems when Mrs. Goodall was playing in the orchestra, organizing people to pass out red and white carnations to those who have loved ones, alive or not, serving in the armed forces, getting the kids out for their enterance during the grand finale, tracking mics, keeping pace with the tech crew.....keeping track of my keys.....
Then after service I hung around the Children's Ministry Counter in the lobby with Kaitlyn, Mr. Boyden (camp director), &Co. and assisted in Camp Sign ups.

AND, that's not the half of it. Between Kari being gone (though I am very glad she had a good time), Daddy being sick, and our numerous plumbing problems in the past couple days (leaky sinks, massive clogging in drains, hot water pipe more or less exploding in the Master bath...). Not to mention that I'm on a diet and exercise program to loose weight (I gained about seven lbs this spring....yes, it matters because if I gain too much I'll have to get a new wardrobe and that would not be Fun).

Anyway, I'm tired. I watched Spiderman II this afternoon with Shane, talked with my family, talked to Martin for an hour, talked to Kaitlyn for an hour (planning for Jr. Camp).

Someone remind me why I'm not in bed.

Currently Listening Hit Parade By Audio Adrenaline Big House see related

*singing* "Come and go with me to my Father's house...."

ok, here's another update I sent out from school.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Greetings, Salutations, Et Cetera.  And anything else you might want to hear (and that would be from me, right?)  :)

Piece of Advice for the Day:  When your roomate asks if she can use one of your 3x5 cards for the 1,000,000,000,000th time, say yes, of course she can (like you did for the previous 999,999,999,999 times).  After she takes the blank card out of the package of about 100 other blank cards, exclaim quite anxiously, unexpectedly and with much emotion, "Wait!  Wait!  That's the wrong card!"  Enjoy the confused look on her face before laughing merrily and giving her a Very Much Owed Explanation of Yourself.

(not that I would ever do that)  ;)

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Last night I went off campus with Jessica and Lisa (they live in the room next to mine). We went to Chili's for dinner because Jess had a gift card there....then we went to University Mall where I bought a necklace and earring set for Fine Arts tonight and Jess bought a pair of silver shoes for tonight, and then we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a whole list of things for Rebecca. :) We had a lot of fun.

Today has been a farily relaxing day....and we have Fine Arts tonight.  :)

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Last night was the Valentine's Banquet and Fine Arts night. Martin and I went together. He gave me two beautiful lavendar roses. The dinner was sooo good--including, but not limited to, steak, chicken, vegetables, and cake (I think it was rasberry cake--it was good), and there was a candle and rose on each table. The Fine Arts performance was put on by faculty.....'twas interesting.  Lots of hidden (or not-so-hidden) talent came out. We had seats near the front of the balcony, so we had a good view of everything. We had a good time.

Monday, February 13, 2006

The Rockets: Game or no game? That is the question...

Scene 1: Monday afternoon. I'm sitting on my bed doing homework.  DJ comes into the room.

DJ:  Veronica, do we have a game tonight?

Me:  I don't think so...we were supposed to play the Timberwolves this Wednesday, but the announcement said the game was postponed. Maybe we have practice?

DJ:  No, I don't think so....Christina (a mutual friend on the Rockets basketball team) knows we don't have practice, but she heard something from Rebecca about a game.

Me:  I don't know....I guess I'll ask Rebecca if I see her when she gets back from class.

Scene 2: Dinner at Four Winds. Lisa, DJ and I have just left Line 2 and are carrying our trays to find a table. We run into Christina and Katie (another friend on the Rockets basketball team).

Me:  Hi Christina, hi Katie!

Katie: Hey girls!  We're going to win tonight, ok?

DJ and I (nearly dropping our dinner):  What??!!

Christina:  We have a game tonight!  Didn't Rebecca tell you?

Me:  Noo...I haven't seen her all day...

Katie:  Well, we have one at 8:30. Hope Chardae knows about it... (Chardae is our coach...)

Me:  I'll try to be there....I have an english paper to finish and another one to start research on tonight...

Lisa:  If you girls are going to play, you better hurry and eat!  (hint, hint)

So we ate fast, I made a record trip to the library to get the books I needed for my research paper, and we all somehow managed to find each other and the team we were playing at the Sports Center by 8:15.  It was a good game, though we were beat and for some strange reason Chardae (who found out and showed up at the last minute) forgot to put DJ and me in.  So we got to be the cheerleading squad for the night.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Happy Valentine's Day!

EVERY girl on campus was in red, pink, and white today.  Except for the ones in black, who professed to be in mourning (which, in my humble opinion, is not having a very good attitude).  I won't tell you how many times I heard, "Well OF COURSE you like Valentine's Day! You have a guy friend!"  And I'm sitting there thinking, "Excuse me, but I've liked Valentine's Day for as long as I can remember...." It's always been a family day for me....and you can bet I missed them.

I got a box from home, FULL of chocolate and cookies and other good things.  Nana, Mrs. Brittingham's mother, sent me a sweet Valentine with a bag of chocolate hearts, and Martin sent me a little note and bag of jelly beans.  Between me, Rebecca, and Jaytee, our room is absolutely overflowing with chocolate and gratefulness.  :) 

Today, I got an A on my speech quiz.  I got an A on my Spanish quiz.  I got a D on my English quiz (I usually don't get *that* low...usually in the C-B range...).

Something is definitely wrong with the picture when you consistantly get better grades in Spanish than you do in English. 

Thursday, February 16, 2006

So, today I did my demonstration speech.  I demonstrated how to prepare a flute for performance....I got a B on it, so I'm content.  I really like my teacher, Mr. Harris.  He was in my performance hour last semester (which is like a class--he's a grad student, and they often have graduate students teach undergraduate classes), so it's a little different having him for a teacher.  But I like the class. 

Lately, God's really been working on my life in different areas....it's a growing process, but it feels good, even though sometimes I think I don't like it at the time.

ok, I think it's time to send this out.  It's taken me long enough to write it...  ;)

Missin' y'all,

Veronica (who is unsuccessfully trying to deny that she is picking up Southern mannerisms....)

Currently Listening Talk About It By Nicole C. Mullen When I Call on Jesus see related

Hi y'all!

I have GOT to shake this Southern accent (no offense to all you Southerners, but I happen to be a 4+ generation Californian....not to mention a Speech major).

Anyway, I've been rather xanga-incappacitated the past couple weeks......*ahem* yes, I KNOW I'm out of school. It's just that when you're out of school, everything else happens.

Like floor-to-ceiling cleaning. Or Domestic White Glove. Or whatever you want to call it....it happens. And it happened at my house (which, actually, was a good thing.). 

Then, I started work at the Home Church of Campbell......my beloved home church that I have sorely missed while away at school.  I work in the Children's Ministry Office under Pastor George....he's an awesome boss. There's nothing like having a lifetime mentor, teacher, and co-minister being your boss. He's the kind of boss that I can teasingly salute and say "Yes, Sir!" to as I walk out of his office with a new assignment.....the kind of boss who often has to remind me to turn in my time card at the end of the week--"Paycheck? Oh, you mean I get paid for working here? Who woulda thought it..."--yes. He's also the kind of boss who has known my dad for 26 years--so basically, I HAVE to be good.    Not that I would ever dream of doing otherwise. 

What do I do? I register kids for Jr. Camp in the database and keep it updated.....make lots of phone calls telling camp staff how much money they still owe, how many forms they still have to fill out....been reorganizing and cleaning out the upstairs Sunday school Resource Room in the Liberty Center this week. I can just see the YES Kid teacher's helpers coming in to get stuff for the kids' classes tomorrow morning: "Hey, who messed this up? Nothing's where it's supposed to be! I can't find anything!" hehe, sorry guys, but orders are orders. There's more I do....but enough for now.

Oh, and guess what happened after I started work? I got my wisdom teeth out! All four of them, solidly impacted. That put me out for pretty much a week. 

The Saga of the Wisdom Teeth...

On Friday, June 9, 2006, the Big Green Dodge Ram Van (aka the Burley Transport) pulled into the parking lot of Dr. S--. Veronica, who was feeling quite "out of it" due to having nothing to eat or drink for the past 12 hours, follows her mother into the office.  The doctor's assistants lead her back to the operating room and have her lay down on the table. They ask her about life, job, school, and compliment her on her Southern accent (it can't be that obvious, can it?!).

They then lower a mask over her nose, telling her they are giving her oxygen first, then nitrogen, and then....*shiver*....laughing gas.

So Veronica lay there and breathed all that in. At first the assistants were all laughing so much she thought that they should have been the ones who were breathing laughing gas.....soon she realized in a panic that her thoughts could not follow a logical pattern. So she (troublemaker that she is) stopped breathing through her nose and started breathing through her mouth (which was not covered). After a few minutes she felt her mind clear a little. And the first logical thought that popped into her mind was that she was wasting all the money her parents had paid for her to go through this operation comfortably. So, with a sigh, she succumbed once more to the laughing gas.

A little while later Dr. S-- came in and told me he was going to pinch my arm so he could put me to sleep. I told him the needle was no problem because I'd given blood before (that's a story in and of itself....maybe I'll tell it later).  So the world blacked out--

Hold it right there! You know how in the movies they always show the mask coming down and suddenly the person's out? It doesn't happen that way.....I don't even remember going to sleep. 

I do remember waking up, though. The first thing I was aware of was vasilene (sp?) on my lips. The second was that the mask was being taken off, and then I was being lifted into a wheelchair. They took me out the back door, and I managed to get into the van. I thought I was moving somewhat normally at the time, though maybe a little slow, but afterwards Mommy said I was moving in extreme slow motion. I was pretty much drugged for the rest of the day....I hated that more than the pain that came after the heavy medication and novacain (sp?) wore off. I would've gone off the heavy medication after one dose of it, but Mommy made me stay on it for the rest of the day.  The novacain made it impossible to tell whether anything (like water, pill, blood, etc....) was in or out of my mouth...and of course the medication didn't help much with that.

That can be embarrassing.The next morning I went on Iboprofin (sp?) and STAYED on Iboprofin. 

ok, you all probably don't want to hear every detail of me having my wisdom teeth out, so I'll spare you. I should probably go to bed, anyway.  G'night!

I send updates from school home every so often, and my mom forwards them to everyone on a list that I compiled before I left. That is what I'll be posting (so for some of you, this will be old news, but you can still comment on it!). If you have not been getting the updates and would like to, let me know and I will get you on the list. Here goes....

Feb. 1, 2006

Hello everyone!

Time for another update from room 3209 of Bradley tower on the Pensacola Christian College campus in Pensacola, Florida.  How are y'all?  You're doing well?  Glad to hear it!  ;)

Well, I had a wonderful Christmas break and saw SO many people.  It was so good to be back among my family, church family, and friends. 

On Friday, January 13, Kari and I flew out to North Carolina to visit the Brittingham's for a little over a week.  This visit was such a blessing, and I was able to grow even closer to the entire family.  God was moving.

On Sunday the 22, Kari flew back to CA while I flew to Pensacola.  My flight was delayed, and so I didn't get on campus till about 12:45 am....needless to say I slept in the next day.  :)  Registration was a breeze, praise the Lord, and I got all the classes I wanted, along with a wonderful schedule.  One of my roomates, Laura, has been moved to another room on our floor because they needed an APL (Assistant Prayer Leader) there.  So we miss her.  But it has been so good seeing all my friends from last semester. 

I've been getting lots of exercise recently....Rebecca and I started playing on my collegian's basketball team.....for some reason, people seem to think that if you're tall, that automatically makes you a good basketball player.  ahem...No.  Doesn't work that way.  ;)  But I'm learning. 

(I had never played an official game of basketball before I joined the team.....sure, I've played around on the court before, but never in an actual game...the same was true of a lot of the girls on the team, so we had a crash course in "Basketball 101" about thirty minutes before our first game....that should give you an idea of what was going on.  But we're improving!)

I also have a schedule where, much as I like my teachers and hours, I have to do a lot of rushing between classes.  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have a morning class on the fifth floor of the AC (Academic Center).....then I have just under ten minutes to get from my seat in history class to my chapel seat.  No big deal, right?  Right.  Between those two said seats are five flights of stairs, a walk (run?) form one side of campus to the other, then aproximately four stories worth of stairs from the lobby to the back of the Crowne Centre balcony.  I get enter the auditorium, then go down a 2 story flight of stairs to my seat in the third row of the balcony.  Getting out of my chapel seat and right back to the fifth floor of the AC for Spanish is a story entirely in itself....so I'll spare y'all.  ;)

Then I have to go to the fifth floor of the AC again later in the day for Child Growth and Development.  And guess what?  With all that running up and down countless flights of stairs, I do just fine.  However, I somehow managed to twist my ankle by merely stepping off a curb on my way to church today.  You'd think I'd know better....

I like all of my classes.  For my Spanish class I was able to get Mrs. Gwillim, who taught my Spanish class last semester.  She is an excellant teacher, and probably my favorite this semester.  :) 

February 2, 2006

Room 3209 is FREEZING.  As in Cold.  Not Hot.  Not even Warm.  But Freezing. 

My nose is running faster than a student who's late to class.

My throat feels like I've just come from cheering at an Eagle's basketball game.

Fortunately I only had two classes today, at first and second hour (eight and nine am) and chapel at ten.  Rebecca's been making sure I get enough rest and water and tea and blankets and Tender Loving Care.  :)

It also rained reeeeally hard this morning, with lots of thunder and lightning.  I am so thankful for the boots Grandma and Grandpa Appling bought me for Christmas (not to mention the wonderful jacket they bought me for my birthday), because now I go anywhere in the rain without my feet getting completely soaked! (that happened a lot last semester)  Now my feet stay warm and dry.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!  I love you both.  :) :) :) :)

I loved the teaching last night at the midweek service by Pastor Schettler....it was on belief in a six literal day creation.  *steps up on soapbox*  In short:

We believe that God made the world in six literal days because the Hebrew word used here in this passage for "day" literally means "one 24 hr period".  If God had meant that each "day" was millions and billions of years, there is another Hebrew term that He could have used just as easily.  God is not a God of confusion.  He wants us to understand His Word.  If He had meant millions of years, He would have used a term that would have communicated that to us.

Another place in the Bible where the same Hebrew word for "day" meaning "one 24 hour period" is used can be found in Exodus 20.  Verses 8-11 dictate the fourth commandment:  "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."  

Here, God is clearly comparing his 'work' in creating the world with the pattern after which He desires His people to live.  He set the example for us.  Why would God spend a few million or billion years creating the universe, then ask us to follow His example?  It would be impossible, beause we wouldn't even live through ONE million-year day, much less seven. 

One last thing.  Why do some try to say that it took God six "million-of-years days" to make the earth?  According to Scripture He is omnipotent; He could have done it with one thought, in the blink of an eye.  Why do some try to minimize His power?  Why do some believe that He came to earth, was born of a virgin, chose to confine His divine powers within the limitations of humanity, took the sins of the world upon Himself, died that horrible death on the cross of His own free will, and then bodily rose from the dead after lying dead in the tomb for three days, yet somehow can't bring themselves to believe that He is capable of creating the world in six days?  Something is inconsistant here. There is no reason in the world why we should believe that God made the world over a period of several billions of years except that we are compromising with the evolutional theory (notice the word "theory"--though according to standard scientific proceedure it should be a discarded theory since it goes directly against Newton's Second Law of Thermodynamics and there is far more evidence supporting the later than there is supporting the former....).

Some may ask, 'If God is capable of creating the world with one thought, why did He take six days to do it?"  Simply because, as Exodus 20:9-11 states, He was setting an example that we could follow.  Telling us to do all our work in the blink of an eye, then resting for a few millenia would be just as futile as telling us to work for several billion years before we could rest. 

*steps off soapbox*  Oh my, I didn't know I remembered so much of the message.  :)

February 3, 2006

About my different friends here (I'm sure some of you are curious about who I spend my time with):

Rachel--a sweet, sweet girl from Texas and Biology major.  She has curly light-brown hair which she always keeps pulled back in a ponytail, always has a big, warm hug ready for her friends, abosolutely loves reading, is very relaxed, and will talk to anyone who will listen.

Erica--she is a Commercial Writing major, and so of course loves to write and has a wonderful imagination....we get along quite well.  She's a very sweet girl; tall with long, beautiful red wavy hair.  We "just happen" to see each other a lot, and go to meals and Sunday School together.  She's from Washington, as in state. 

DJ (aka Dorothy Joy, but she prefers 'DJ')--she's in my prayer group, lives in the room next to mine, and is in my collegian (Alpha Theta Rho, aka the Rockets).  She's a Canadian Nursing major from Vancouver, British Columbia.  I spend a lot of time with her....we go to breakfast almost every morning, study together, go to church and Sunday School together with other people, walk to and from classes together, eat lunch together, go to the bookstore and look at all the beautiful stationary there that we can't buy because we're poor college students.  She's 5'3" (she just informed me of that today), has dark hair, and is part Filipino, part Hispanic, with a little Chinese.  Her outgoing personality is very unique, but she is very, very kind, sensitive, and considerate of others.  :)

Rebecca--my wonderful wonderful roomate who is an awesome companion in health, takes good care of me when I'm sick, and who I spend a lot of time with as well.  I think most of you have met her....we plan on requesting each other for roomates next year. 

And of course I spend time with my special friend Martin...he's doing well; he switched his major from Graphic Design to Broadcasting, which I think was a good decision.  We do things together like study, go to church, eat meals together.....he's taken me ice skating at the rink on campus a couple of times, and he never lets me pay.  :)  We're in three classes together--Bible, Speech lecture, and English lecture.  Our friendship is going well, trying to stay focused on the Lord.

Love you all!

~Veronica

Currently Listening Dream Goes on By Us Navy Band, Sea Chanters Chorus God Bless the USA see related

I apologize for the cruel, unusual, and somewhat suspenseful entry I gave in January.  I only just got home yesterday from school, then a two-week family vacation. I *do* have a record of what's happened over the past...*counts*....almost year.  Oops.   

But since that would be waaay too much to post, I'll just post stuff from this past semester.

Sound good?

Oh, btw, the reason I haven't updated or anything is because I can't get online at school.  Even the internet is censored.....but the Pensacola DOES have its redeeming qualities, which far outway its faults.

Anyway, after taking PHC online for a year straight, I was beginning to get internet-phobia. 

(all you PHCers, don't get me wrong, I still love PHC!  Oh, the trials of having attended two colleges....)