Monday, February 22, 2010

Power Yoga and Freshman at Purdue

I don't think I have blogged about my power yoga class, yet. At the moment, it is kind of difficult to type because my left hand is still tender from last night's class. I started this class two weeks ago because I figured it was a good use of my Christmas money. Last night we had a sub, and I really enjoyed her teaching style. She really emphasized deep breathing which helped make the class flow easier. Don't get me wrong, the class was challenging! I did a new sequence of plank pose that I didn't even think was possible! Even though I have to work hard in the class, it brings a lot of peace to my life. For the 50 minutes that I am working on yoga poses, the stress of my week just seems to melt away. I can really focus my thoughts on positive things and refocus on my life. Last night at the end of class, my instructor turned off the lights and we were laying on our mats stretching out. It was very quiet, and I was overwhelmed with God's presence. It was so cool being able to praise God while doing something I love.

Today started the Purdue's For Me tours at Hilltop Apartments. I am one of the tour guides, and I lead a group of 15 parents and their students around Hilltop. I love seeing incoming freshman so much! It wasn't that long ago that I was in their place. I remember being so scared and wondering what I had gotten myself into. Fortunately the rain held off for our tour, and I think they really enjoyed it. Most of the kids were pretty quiet, but the parents had some good questions. These tours continue for the next month or so, and I am looking forward to meeting lots of different groups of freshman.

They are calling for another arctic blast to come through this week. Hopefully this will be the last of the bitterly cold air. I am ready for spring to come!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Oh, it's February

I realize that it has been a while since I have blogged...if you are a regular follower, I am sorry. It's not that things haven't been happening in my life because they have. I have kept a fairly accurate record in my journal, no worries. It's just that February is always a rough month for me. It has nothing to do with the holiday on the 14th, or what the groundhog has to say. I just always feel very hmmm....depressed? sad? during this month. Blame it on the lack of sunlight.

Consequently, I am super unmotivated to keep up this blog. But that is rather selfish of me, so I am going to try and relate some insights from my life. Let's see...I started my power yoga class last week. It is definitely challenging! I am enjoying it a lot, and have been trying to get back into the yoga swing of things this week. I love yoga so much! Even when it is challenging, and not so much relaxing, it still brings peace into my life.

Work is going about the same, it's nice to be making a paycheck. Classes are more challenging this semester, but it is nice to keep busy. Other than that, not much is new. Purdue is For Me (Freshman Days) are starting up, so I will be giving a lot more tours in the near future. Hopefully the freshman won't be too scared, and they will enjoy their time at Purdue.

I will try to write again soon!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Loving Others

My mom has been telling me for the past few weeks that I really needed to watch the sermon by Pastor Dan in which he pretends to be Mr.Roger. I had the best intentions of doing so, but I kept on forgetting. This morning I finally watched it because I determined it to be too cold for any living creature to be walking around outside. Let me say, I am very glad that I watched it. 

The topic of the sermon was aobut loving your neighbor. Seems pretty simple, right? How many times have we heard the golden rule? It has been drilled into our heads since we were old enough to say "mine". Even though I have always known the golden rule, I guess I have never really considered its implications.

For me, college seems to be full of narcissism. To be honest, a lot of people are focused on what they can get out of school, what they want, etc. I fall into this trap of thinking, again and again. Don't get me wrong, college is a great time to be exploring yourself and what you want out of life. There is nothing wrong with trying to be the best that you can be. Yet I know for myself that I often use this as an excuse to miss out on loving others.

In his sermon, Dan was talking about being a good neighbor. There are so many Biblical references to being a good neighbor--it's kind of astonishing. Basically it all boils down to, are you a neighbor that you would want to live next to? This really struck me. There are so many opportuntities for me to love others and treat them the way I want to be treated. I live with two roommates, how often do I consider their needs before mine? I go to class everyday--how often do I think about how my actions affect my classmates, my TA's, or my professors? At my job, do I really consider those around me? The opportunities to love others overwhelms me. Yet I feel as though I have been blinded by a what-about-me attitude. 


After listening to this sermon I realize that I need a reality check. It's time for me to truly start loving other and treating them as I would want to be treated. It's not all about me, and it never has been. I need to start asking myself if I am someone that I would want to live next to. And maybe I can start to be a good neighbor to those around me.

If you want to listen to the sermon, click on the link below and select the January 24th teaching.
FSBO Sermon

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Calculus Exams and Snow

I have my first exam tonight of the semester. Well, I had an English exam last week, but that didn't really count. English is one those subjects where you can usually work your way through an exam even if you don't have any idea of what is happening. Somehow, calculus or math in general, doesn't work that way. Either you know the info or you don't. And if you don't know it by the time of the exam, well...good luck. Haha. I am actually not that nervous about the exam. I am trying to keep a positive attitude.

This week has been super crazy! I have had a lot of assignments to get done and my test to study for. Now the week is nearly over and it's dear time to relax. Tomorrow I have to be work early...hopefully getting that changed soon. Nothing against getting up early in the morning, it's just that my Thursday nights tend to be late with exams, meetings, etc. I need my sleep here!

Yesterday I signed my housing contract for next year! I am pleased to say that I did get in the building I wanted to, and close to the floor I wanted to be on. Now it's just a matter of my dear friend get accepted into Purdue and then we will be on our way to success! Thankfully there will not be a massive hill to hike next year...just three flights of stairs. I will take the stairs over the hill any day.

The weather man is calling for a snow storm this weekend. Let's hope it snows lots! :)

Monday, February 1, 2010

Weekend!

It's so nice to be able to go home for the weekend. I get to see the best people in the world (my family!) and I get a chance to relax (but not really). Friday afternoon my mom came down and picked me up. Everyone knew that I was coming home except for my sister. We were going to have a surprise sixteenth birthday party for her, and I was going to be part of the surprise. There were many issues that came up, such as Allison not going to school on Friday. Somehow we managed to still keep it a secret. My dad took her out of the house around 6:30 and we had about 30 minutes once we got home to get the whole party started. Our house was crazy! Fortunately, Alli has great friends and they helped us out enormously! When she came back to the house, she was surprised to see everyone, including me. The house got really loud, and that's about the time I hid elsewhere. Don't worry! I came back for the cake and presents :)

Saturday Alli had a show choir competition in Churubsco. My grandparents came down so that they could see her perform. She did a great job, even though they did not make it to the night show. After that, we went to lunch. I got my haircut on Saturday...finally! I had gone since Thanksgiving, and let me tell you, I was a mess! Just in case there wasn't enough going on Saturday, we also went to my brother's basketball game. He is such a cute basketball player and he is really improving. My mom, sister and I left at halftime to go back to Churubusco. One of the girls that I work with was performing, so we went to watch her. We also did not know if Alli had to be there for the night show or not, so we stayed for the awards ceremony.

Sunday I went to church, and then it was time to head back to school. Wooo! What a weekend!

My grandma gave my cat this blanket...he is so spoiled!