Two Questions

1. Why is it that 12:15 a.m. is a great time to update a blog, and not a great time to finish a take-home midterm?

2. Why can't the blog be due at 9:10 instead of the midterm?

Blast.

To my credit, note the word "finish" instead of "start" used in question 1.

Course Review

Since this is a required course, I won’t start by telling you why to take it. I will instead tell you how I think we can make the most of it. This is a course I’m still in. You’re actually in it too.

After looking it over, you may have found that the syllabus is a little vague. This is for a reason. We actually get to choose the course content. However, take care in your choices. The assignment is graded, and tests come at unexpected times.

Assignment:

The assignment is somewhat of a blueprint constantly under revision. You submit your blueprint however many times you feel you should to the Teacher. He reviews it and gives you feedback. This feedback comes in many different ways:

1. in an immediate response

2. in a delayed response, but at exactly the right time

3. through a given test

Now, this blueprint assignment may seem a little unexplained, and have too few guidelines. This may seem to be the case, but we have resources at our fingertips.

1. We have a perfect record of other blueprints, and we also have the thoughts and experiences of their drafters.

2. We can collaborate with other students working on the same assignment.

3. At a moment we feel is appropriate and right, we can choose a partner and blend our two blueprints forever into one and together create a synergistic design.

4. The Teacher has office hours all day and night, every day and night.

The difficulty of this course lies in three areas:

1. Indecision with how to move forward in creating our blueprint.

2. Forces inside the class that distract us from making the right decisions and encourage discouragement. (This second reason may even explain the difficulty presented in #1). These forces are not only present in other class members and people who come in and pretend to be the Teacher, but also inside ourselves. We must NOT let these forces deter us from creating our masterpieces.

3. The tests are hard. Yet the tests are what improve our drawing skills, so this difficulty is really more of a blessing.

The preceding lists are not exhaustive in the least. This course is unique for each person. These are merely things I have experienced.

Course Fulfillment: Where will this course get us?

At the end of the course, we will be able to look back at our blueprint and say “Though the Teacher had an exact copy of this in His office all along, this was made by me.” Nothing we experience in the process of the course will be as fulfilling as this moment if we make the most of this opportunity we are given.

London! plus CT and St. Patrick's Day

1. Guess who's going to London this summer for 5 weeks? ME! Yep. On a study abroad. To London. Studying English. in England. ENGLAND! I leave on May 14th and come back June 19th.

2. Did I mention I'm going to England?

3. I'm excited to go on a smaller trip this Spring Break to visit my brother Jonathan and his wife Brittany for a few days. They live in New Haven, CT.

4. Also, as you can probably see by the change in my blog (if you haven't given up on me and still check my blog occassionally), I'm excited for one of my favorite holidays - St. Patrick's Day!

Unofficial Poll

If Kathryn were to go on a study abroad within the next year, where should she go?

1. CAMBRIDGE FOR 8 WEEKS DURING THE SUMMER!

On a more affordable note:

2. Mexico during Spring Semester (great for a Spanish minor).

Consider:
1. The clock is ticking, and there's a chance she wouldn't go on a summer abroad program if she decides to serve a mission, or gets married, or finds an internship, etc..
2. She's currently not a Spanish minor.
3. She doesn't have a job.
4. She's currently dating someone.

So. Should she go with something realistic and affordable? Should she set her sights on something she's wanted to do since she drooled over her brother's pictures and try really hard to get it to happen? Any suggestions on programs she could look at that aren't too expensive? Is a study abroad really the right thing for her to do?

All suggestions are welcome and appreciated. :)

Timing

Most of the time I try to wait patiently for things to happen on the Lord's time and not mine. Things such as getting a job, finding out what to study in school, deciding who I want to spend the rest of my life and eternity with and all other processes of decision-making teach me that there is a time and place for everything in the Lord's perfect plan. I may think that a certain time is right, but I am usually proved wrong.

But every once in a while, our merciful God seems to comply with our pleading. In our much-less-than perfect brains, we conceive a certain time and certain way for an event to occur, and it happens. And as we continue to think about it, the timing becomes more and more perfect. The miracles of God are present and endless, my friends. Tender mercies truly happen. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I now believe that the Lord knows when something will hurt so deeply no matter when, how, or where it happens, but the depth may be eased slightly by the event happening according to our wishes. How grateful I am that the Lord answers prayers.

Where I Am:

Can you say "beautiful"?

Lessons Learned at the Ranch - Part 1

1. Socks are an important and essential part of one's wardrobe. When packing to go clean a dusty, dirty ranch, I will not forget to pack this clothing item again.

2. When I talk, I must speak clearly. According to the cook, I have a Norwegian accent.

3. People from the Basin really are different. Ask for details if interested.

4. When I become a parent, I will keep track of my kids and not just sit around with the adults at family reunions.

5. When I am called to serve in Young Women and go to girls camp, I will NOT sit around and play cards with the other adults, but will spend time with the girls and keep track of them.

6. The next time I go to a hotel, I will pack my stuff nicely and not right next to my bed so that the house keepers do not have to bend into unnatural positions to clean my room and make my bed.

7. A spoken "thank you" is nice, but a monetary, solid, substantial "thank you" means a lot more.

8. You know you're exhausted when you're off work and the first thing you want to do is sleep.

9. I will never ever EVER have bunk beds in my house.

10. Among the people in the world that take advantage of the kind services you make available for them, there are a few really genuinely nice people that can change your outlook on the world.