School is for the Birds

I need to find me a career. Here are my qualifications (gifts from God): I am good at math, I am good with people, I like to be organized, I LOVE office supplies (pointless), I am not really an indoor kind of girl. So, if you know of a career that deals with this, please forward the info to me. If you do not know of a position, please pray that God will give me a direction to go. It is going to become a big deal soon.

My classes are going okay so far, I really like Statistics; and hopefully will fully understand Advanced Calculus soon. I am reading the chapters thoroughly on that one. Senior Seminar is very interesting. Oxford Tutorial takes a lot of time and reading which is not my forte. World Lit II is horrible. My professor is extremely nice, but all the classes I am taking outside of it say to read the book for a general concept. Not in World Lit, no no, we must remember every little detail in the book so that we can really analyze the book and understand it. Woo hoo! I am not very good at realizing a monkey represents the mind, a Buddhist priest represents spiritual impulse, etc.

I figured out today that I am only going to need 2 classes this next semester. American Nations or US Government and Thesis for honors. I am excited about that! If I would have been smarter in my course selection throughout the history of college, I could have graduated this December. Oh well! I get to be with Russell for at least another semester. Either that or he has to deal with me for a few more months.

Well, I am out of time for now. I have class in about 2 minutes. It is just next door though. I love you all! Bye!

Midtown...to Downtown

So, the Lord took care of everything and I got my room like I was supposed to.

I then embarked on an exploratory mission. I left the hostel and 1 block later arrived in Central Park. Very neat place!

My computer won't upload pictures right now, so I apologize for that.

Hopefully you will all get to see my pictures at some point.

Anyway, I walked 61 blocks to Times Square and rode the subway back because of tired feet and pouring down rain.

Anyway, going to Statue of Liberty and a Broadway show (Monty Python's SPAMALOT!) tomorrow.

Over and out.

Gotham City

I am currently en route to New York City. I'm travelling there and back to D.C. via bus. Woke up at 0450 this morning to make sure I got up to Reagan National airport to catch the subway to my bus stop. I ended up getting there over an hour and a half early. Oh well, right?

Currently I am in New Jersey watching the bus driver make his way through unending traffic all the way in to Manhattan. Supposedly I'm going to be there around 1330. We'll see about that.

Other interesting news: Just received an e-mail this morning from the hostel I'm staying stating that they've cancelled my reservations. How is that possible? I don't know. I called to confirm yesterday and the man at the front desk said that, "As long as you've received an e-mail, then you are fine." So I believed him.

Who knows what's next?

Not me.

I'll try and update this once or twice a day for the next 3-4 days.

Over and Out.

WOWZA! I was on TV!

So, I have not written in a little while. My days are somewhat hectic. I spend almost every day at the Graves. I love them so much. They are the coolest folks ever! Faith came in last night. That was really exciting. Her sister came with her. Together they drove from Orlando, FL to San Diego in 2.5 days! That is pretty incredible. I am super stoked. Last night our episode of Celebrity Family Feud aired. The back of our heads can be seen several times. I attached the link. You will have to go to the full episodes. We were with the Office, American Gladiator, and My Name Is Earl. It is a very funny show. Today, we are going to the homes of some of the people who have come to the events CrossChurch has put on. Tomorrow, we are going to Los Angeles for the Live show of So You Think You Can Dance! on Fox. Maybe some of you can watch it. It is on at 9/8c. Also, we are going to a Dodgers game after tomorrow night. I am really excited! That will mean I have been into 4 stadiums. I have a few more to go to be able to see them all.

Also, I was told via e-mail that if I am out past 11 then I should not go home at all! Lovely. It is a wonderful idea. Let me tell you, God is working in Cindy's life. Please pray for her. I don't want to tell the details on here, but it is big! I hope that you can watch one of the shows that I will be on. I am ready to come home. I mean, I love being here and I absolutely love the people, but nothing compares to my family! I have missed everyone so much. I cannot wait to see you all. I am going to go, so that I can start working again. Please, again, pray for Cindy! She needs the Lord and his love!

Fun Plans

So, I've been trying to think of some fun things to do on weekends for the rest of this summer. Tomorrow, for Independence Day, myself and the DeVenuto/Kilmans are going to cook out and shoot fireworks. (On the subject, you can't by firecrackers, M-60/M-80's, bottle rockets, etc. in VA--it's absolutely unpatriotic.) I think on Saturday I'm going to head down to Virginia Beach to chill out for the day and drive back to Spotsylvania that night. The next weekend, I think I'm going to go to a Washington Nationals/Houston Astros game (thanks to Becky's family for getting me interested in baseball :). ) Another weekend, I'm going back to king's dominion theme park. Another weekend, along with some excess leave time, I hope to venture up to NYC for a couple nights and chill out again. Another weekend, go down to experience OBX (Outer Banks, North Carolina). Another weekend, camp/hike in the Shenandoah Valley/Appalachian Mtns. That leaves me with one or two weekends to still plan something. I'm sure I'll think of something!

I'm not really ready for the fall yet, except of course to come see Becky, family, and friends. I'm slated to take 19 hours in the fall and probably won't be available much for fun times (but I'll force myself to regardless.) For those who are reading, how are things on the homefront? Any cool adventures in life right now?

Oh, and everyone who hasn't should check out my dad's/my family's blog link on the right sidebar of this page and check out the bear video from my brother (David)'s camping trip. Amazing film, let me tell you!!!!


TTFN!!!!!

My Summer Mission, July 1

Boy, oh boy, do I have a lot to talk about. This past weekend I got to hang out with Cindy for a day or so. We had dinner on Friday night and we went to watch Wanted on late Saturday afternoon. It was my first experience of, I think, with Greek cuisine. It was delicious. I ate a gyro (which is lamb), falafel, spanakopita, a greek salad, and baklava. Everything was absolutely delicious. The movie on Saturday was neat, but it had TOO much language and a two sexual scenes. I had read the review on PluggedInOnline.com before going so I knew that it was going to happen. I suppose I was hoping for a better situation. I figured Cindy would like it though. Anyways, after the movie we headed out to dinner. We ate at Tony Roma's which is becoming my favorite place to eat at here. Anyways, after dinner we walked back to the house since we walked to the theater. On the way back home I started talking to Cindy about her beliefs and thoughts on her spirituality. It was very interesting. I told her about some of my experiences as a Christian and told her a condensed version of the Gospel. Of course she did not pray to receive Christ that night, but maybe she will think about it and change her mind.

We were told at Austin trek that 30 days after we left, our group leader would call us and check on how we were doing. Well, Angela had called me about a week or two ago, and I could not talk. So, I have been trying to call her back and finally got in touch with her on Sunday. It was great to get to talk with her. She is a very cool woman. One of my goals was to tell 3 people the gospel by the end of the summer. I told her that I have gotten to share with 2 people so far and I have been doing my quiet time with the Lord everyday this summer.

Also on Sunday, I met the mission team that came in from First Baptist Sprindale/Pinnacle Hills Church. The team only has about three members, Luke Harper, Brad Mayes, and Alyssa Stewart. Russell knew the latter two. They are all very good people. Sunday night after church we all played Rock Band for several hours pictures are on facebook, and also a game called the "Name Game" where I won twice!! Woo hoo. On Rock Band, I am good at the drums, that is about all though....no singing or guitar for me! We should all play the Name Game sometime when there are a lot of us.

I have really been thinking about the trip back and how it is going to work. I have a possible route and itinerary. Here is the Summer Itinerary Google Map. I was thinking that we leave Friday, July 25th at about 4 pm. We would arrive in Vegas about 10 pm. Stay two nights and leave at 8 am on Sunday, July 27th. Drive 30 minutes to the Hoover Dam, look at it for about half an hour. Drive 4 hours to the Grand Canyon, stay and be inspired for two or so hours. Leave and drive again for 4ish hours, take a picture at the Four Corners monument. Keep driving until Farmington (which is about an hour away) or until we get tired. On Monday, July 28th we could drive 12 hours (through Santa Fe) and stay the night at Oklahoma City. Finally, Tuesday, July 29th drive and finish off the trip.

Today, I have been feeling really bad. I had to not go to the Graves and stay in bed all day. I had a fever for a portion of the day. I did not like it. That is all of today for you! I can't wait to see everyone.


OH YEAH! I almost forgot. The Celebrity Family Feud is on Tuesday nights at 8/7c. The episode that I went to the taping for will be on next Tuesday (July 8)

Weekend Amusement

Today, me, along with the DeVenutos/Kilmans (my host family here in VA), went to an amusement park called King's Dominion. Enjoyed lots of fun riding some roller coasters and other high flying rides as well as a stop at the water park. Btw, my favorite ride was the Anaconda!! Turned out to be a pretty good way to spend a Saturday.

Today is 14 months since Becky and I started dating-which is very noteworthy (at least to us)!

I'm also looking forward to the upcoming 4 day work week. Should be a quick and relatively easy week. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do for the holiday. I might go watch the fireworks display in D.C. or I might try going to one of the beaches. We'll see.

I've also decided to go camping around late July/early August in the Shenandoah Valley, part of the Appalachian Trail. I'm thoroughly excited at the prospect of that as I really like hiking and the Appalachian trail is one of a few hiking/camping Meccas.

This really is a very nice part of the country to live in. I've described to most people that VA is a lot like NW Arkansas except all the trees are about 15-20 feet taller. But everything else is very similar geographically.

A semi-rotten day

So, today has been a very odd day. I woke up early and decided to run for a bit. Somehow during my run, I hurt my knee. It has felt really tight all day. Hopefully tomorrow it will feel better so that I can run again. While I was driving down to the Graves' house, I could not focus on the road no matter how hard I tried. This caused my car to veer into other lanes on a very busy highway. I was very scared. Thankfully, the Lord kept me safe. Once I arrived at the Graves' home I could not focus on what Becky was saying. I was trying to so hard, but my mind would simply not focus. I probably should have taken a nap. Oh well! After a few hours, Becky received a call from Kristi Salazar and her family is moving this weekend. She is very pregnant and could not easily bend over to pick up or move things. Becky and I helped her box some things up. She seemed very thankful. I was glad that I had the chance to help her out. After we came back to the Graves' home, I spoke with Russell for awhile and then we sat around and talked about all the options for the church in the summer. I want to ask everyone to pray that the Lord opens a door for CrossChurch for a summer location that would best suit the members of the body.

After some time, Brad decided that he wanted to take the boys to go see Wall-e! I was invited but decided to go back to San Marcos and spend some time with Cindy and Kim. Cindy and I hadn't eaten and decided it would be good to get some food. We went to the restaurant called Daphne's Greek Cuisine. It was delicious. I am pretty certain that it was my first time to eat a gyro (lamb meat). Definitely my first taste of falafel, spanakopita, and baklava. Everything was delicious. Once we finished eating, Cindy and I played a game of Scrabble. I won!!!! Woo hoo! It was a blast. I am glad that I am going to hang out with Cindy tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun. We are thinking about going to see Wanted tomorrow. So, if anyone wants to go see the movie with us, just go see it sometime tomorrow in your respective areas.

I miss everyone SO much! I cannot wait to see you sometime soon! I love you!!

Just pictures

Here are some pictures from Coronado!

On the bridge that goes from San Diego to Coronado. This bridge is so high. It has to be tall so the navy boats can go underneath it.

A big Cargo ship beside the San Diego skyline and some sailboats.

The hotel of Coronado. This picture only shows one out of 4 sides of the hotel. It had little houses or suites that you could rent out or you could stay in the actual hotel part. It was very big. I cannot stress that enough.

Me in front of the hotel!!!

The piece of land in the background is a military base with a lighthouse on the edge of the cliff. it was super cloudy.

Recently

I am very much ready to go home. I love it here, but the closer July 24th gets, the more excited I am to see my family. This summer has been rough. I have been almost depressed at the beginning of summer when I could not find a job and all I did for the day was hang out at the house by myself for 11 hours. I'm definitely a people person! I thrive on being around someone. It could really be anyone! I also found out that I am extremely good at Freecell. I hadn't really thought about being alone anymore since I started really working for the church until Tuesday. The mission team and Faith left, so we decided to take the next day off. I sat on my air bed mainly all day! BORING!!!

Yesterday I went back to the Graves. It was fun. I organized the church stuff in the garage. It was pretty fun since I like doing those types of things. Then, I helped Dave out with the church's website! It is going to look very cool once we publish it. I want to go to San Francisco sometime before I go home and so we all got into the conversation how that bridge is the number one bridge for suicide. Then Dave said that the Coronado bridge was the second. I asked where was that bridge. They were all shocked that I hadn't been there yet. We all were going to take a trip down there, but the Graves went out for dinner for Brad's birthday. Dave and I still went. There is this gigantic hotel there called Coronado Hotel. The place was pretty, but I was more interested that it was so close to Mexico that you could see some of the land. I tried to take a picture of it, but the clouds were in the way. Sometime, I want to go to MEXICO!!!!

Well, today we have no big plans. I had to stay at the Graves last night because we were all playing Rock Band on XBOX. I am a rocker on the drums. I am not the best of course, but I can play on the medium level! I called Cindy this time, too! So, she should not get mad at me. Alright. I guess I rambled on enough for today. Thanks for reading if you got this far! I love you all! Mom, please give my broken now fixed dad a hug for me.

First post, not the last

I realize now that you have to most more often than...never. Anyway, for those who do not know, I'm in living this summer in Spotsylvania, Virginia. I am working for the U.S. Navy (USN) and interning at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) program, known as MDA/AB. Recently we've made the news with the satellite shoot down on February 20 (my birthday, no less). Look at this site to see video clips: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/video-pentagon.html

Anyway, I'm traveling a good deal with my job (as Becky can attest to) and enjoying life. I've been to Washington, D.C. many times already for both work and tourism. For anyone reading this who's never been, you are definitely missing out. Even if you aren't a history buff, you will just be amazed to be around everything. Recently I've visited the Battle of Fredericksburg sites, Monticello (the home of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the USA [POTUS]), the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and many other places.

Anyway, the purpose of this blog is for Becky and I (or I and Becky, to get equal name time!) to share our day to day/week to week experiences from Atlantic to Pacific. Also, ask questions if you want to know more about anything. I'll try to post every day or every other day from here on out.

Until you read again,

Russell (Rusty, Russ, son, etc., your pick)

Family Festival...Possible Itinerary for Road Trip Home

Yesterday the church had a Free Family Festival for the San Diego community. It was super cool. I know that I have told a few of you about my news, but for everyone else. I led someone to Christ last night. It was absolutely amazing. I think God knew that I was needing a little push to go and talk with Cindy and Joey. I am not really sure about how it is all going to go, but we will see. Anyways, the little boy's name was Kevin. He came up to my craft table and asked if he could make a necklace. I said, "Of Course!" I asked him if he knew the story that went along with the necklace. He said no, but told me that he wanted to hear it. So, I told him what each color bead represented:

Black- for our sin
Red- for the blood this cool guy named Jesus shed for us
White- for after we accept him we become white as snow (instead of black) to God
Blue- for us being washed away from our sin and becoming baptized with the Holy Spirit
Green- for growing as Christians
Purple- for being children of the King of Kings (which meant he was a prince)
Yellow- for the streets of Heaven and its glory

He had a lot of questions so another church member took over my table and I took the boy aside and answered each one of his questions completely. Finally, we discussed what prayer was and I asked if he believe in everything that I was saying. He told me yes. I asked if he wanted me to help him in his first and most important prayer ever. He said, "That would be nice." So, we both bowed our heads and he asked Jesus to be his king and savior. PRETTY COOL! The best part was that later on I saw him walking around the festival talking quietly to God and holding his necklace.


That was the end of my story for today. God has a purpose for my life and me being out in California! Okay, on the way back, I was thinking that we go to San Diego Zoo on the Thursday. The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing at their stadium on Friday, July 25th at 7:40 pm if we want to catch a game there. I would not mind. Every other field that we would drive by, the teams are going to be out of town!!! What luck! So, we could watch the game then drive to Las Vegas for the night and stay a day or two. Then stop to see Chelsea Simpson in AZ and off to the 4-corners for the day/part of the day. Next go to Grand Canyon. Finally, Santa Fe! I cannot really think of any more cool things to go see. Let me know what you think!!!

Becky....June 21, 2008

So, today was the Ladies' tea which was very different....but fun. I had to pretend to be all proper the cool thing was though that I knew the answers to the etiquette questions when Mrs. Burton (the tea lady) asked them. Anyways, they had an assortment of little finger sandwiches, cream puffs, lemon bars, brownies, fruit, and homade biscuits (kinda). Everything was delicious, except for the tea. It was peach carmel flavored, which may sound good but it isn't. It was hot, unsweetened tea. The cool thing was that everyone was dressed up. The pictures do not really do our outfits justice. We took a group photo of everyone wearing big hats and feather boas. So cute! The other lady helping out as well told us, "do not to match because it makes a better photo!" Anyways, after everyone had finished eating we had a quick devotional about being friends as women. That was really nice. Then we headed out to "Old Town." The name definitely describes the place well. It was basically a flea-market that vendors set the prices so high and then "marked off" 30%!!! What a buy! I was going to buy dad this sign, but then I could hear mom say, "now, where are we going to put that?" I would reply, "By the cardinal!"

Well, California is a very beautiful place. There is not a flat piece of land anywhere. Running is TOUGH!!! I am not feeling it to want to live here permanently....but it is a wonderful vacation spot. I do like the weather here unless it is really hot! No humidity. No one has air-conditioning here. Which makes sense because the weather is only really hot for like a week or two.

I am really connecting with Becky and Faith (Faith especially). One of the women today thought that Faith and I were related. Brad, Faith, James, Dave, and me all went to see Get Smart in the Theatres last night, and James and Dave are the worst two people to go to the movies with. They have never heard of a whisper, but it was funny. Just to let you know, Brad is absolutely HILARIOUS!!!!

Becky and I figured out that Noah has a crush on me. It is pretty nifty! I don't think that a little boy has ever had a crush on me. Everytime I say something to him, he blushes. If I go to hug him, he runs away. When we do things he always asks me what I am doing. It is very comical. Don't worry, Russell! He is WAY out of my league!!!

Sorry if you think that I am rambling. I guess I will sign off for now! I love you all! You will be reading from me real soon. I am going to try to post the proposed itinerary for the trip back to Arkansas!!!

Becky's first blog contribution

Hello,

I really don't have much time to type, but I do want to say THANK YOU, RUSSELL, FOR SETTING THIS UP!!!! It has been a really tough summer until about two weeks ago. I have been away from everyone I love or even know. I had no job....no money... no anything! Now since we have this set up, I will go into more detail as I get time to. Things will be fresh on my mind. I will eventually tell you everyone I have met...their personalities...their beliefs. Well, today we are about to go to the beach with the girls from the mission team. This is the second team that I have been around. The following are going to be the names of the people I am around and a very brief description of who they are, so you know a little about who I am talking about.

-Cindy - My Second Cousin, once removed
-Kim - Cindy's partner
-Joey - Cindy's son
-Brad - CCSD (CrossChurch San Diego) Pastor
-Becky - Brad's wife
-Faith - other girl intern....from Florida
-Dave - summer intern....also from Florida
-James - CCSD college student...lives in San Diego
-Nathan and Noah - Brad and Becky's nine-year twins
-Matt ???? - CCSD college student
-Nicole ???? - CCSD college student
-Jill - CCSD member (She worked with Maranda at the College Program)
-Tyson - Jill's husband
-Mark - CCSD member (cool family)
-Kristi - Mark's wife, she is pregnant
-Shadrach - Mark and Kristi's two-year old son
-Rick - CCSD member, bass guitar for the church
-Feion - Rick's wife.....and one of the coolest ladies ever
-Lisa - CCSD member, lady I babysat for
-Ben - Lisa's husband
-Jake and Max- The ~2 and ~4 year old boys I babysat for

So now you know about the people in case I ever mention just their first names in later blogs.

I will try and type again soon....We are off to the beach!!!

Becky

New Blog

Welcome to Becky Nichols and Russell Cline's new blog. Enjoy your reading!