Anything Could Happen

It is winter break, the grade reports have been released, and I am home. This break could have not been more necessary than turkey on Thanksgiving. It needed to happen and I am glad that it did. The semester of non-stop working (whether in the Art Building or in Admissions) had worn me down to a small nub of a person. I had no social life, no will to continue on with school work, and definitely a lack of patience the closer it got to the end of the semester. On top of that I got mostly B's this semester and that did not help my GPA at all. I realize that there was more I could have done for a couple of my classes that would have gave them the grade boost I needed but at the time I decided against doing what I know I should have done for sleep and a social life. For instance in Theatre History 1, I could have easily read the plays that we were supposed to and got better grades on the quizzes for them. I also could have perhaps worked more on my final paper and presentation for Theatre History 1, that definitely wouldn't have been a bad idea. For Intro to Computer Graphics I could have thought more about the tape I was using for the final presentation and gotten a much better grade than I did. As for Painting I, I would be surprised if more than two people got an A in that class. I worked so hard for that class until I just could not stand seeing the paintings anymore. Regardless of my final grades, I learned so much this semester and probably have received some of the best education that I could possibly imagine from Sterling College. Also, I remind myself that there is always next semester. Hopefully, next semester will be easier as well, that wouldn't hurt my feelings.
This was a semester filled with fun, friends, and soul searching. The fun more so towards the beginning of the semester, friends making a tighter bond at the end of the semester, and soul searching throughout. For the better part of the semester, when I had no social life really, there was a lot of life questions running through my head mostly about the friends I had made at Sterling and how none of them had really cared about me and through God's grace I found that more people than I thought truly did care about me. I finally found friends who will text me occasionally just to see how things are doing and to hang out. The sensation is overwhelming to say the least. Something I have searched for practically my whole life is finally panning out before my eyes. It is great to finally know that I have friends that I can turn to about pretty much anything going on in my life. This is where I end by saying that anything could happen in my life right now and it looks to me that it is going to be a bright future someday.

YouTube & Oppurtunity

YouTube has informed me that two of my videos are apparently not up for monetization because they are questionable if they are mine. I am not sure how I am suppose to support the fact that they are completely and 100% mine. They don't even contain anything remotely questionable. They came straight from the device I recorded them on to my computer. They contain nothing from a movie or television show. They contain no music (of any sort). They contain no graphics or pictures. They definitely don't contain anything about a video game or anything along those lines. It is just strange how they ever questioned them in the first place. Now, I am waiting on YouTube to see if they will change their minds about my channel's videos. If  you, the reader, would like to check these videos (The BWP - Campus High Thespian Edition & Kacie Being Creepy)  and tell me what you think or any of my other videos, here is my URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/codegreen04

On a completely different note, I was just called by my Sunday School teacher and I was asked to teach the class for when he will be gone (next Sunday). I am just so unsure about this offer. I have no confidence in my teaching ability or even my ability to lead a simple discussion. The reason he said that he called me was because he was looking for a reliable person who is on time and comes on a weekly basis. While I am all of those things, I still don't even have the book that we are discussing in class, Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I just don't know what to do.

This Life Is Crazy.

It all started tonight around 8:30 p.m. that my great day all came crumbling down. I always knew that the smallest things can change a day completely but never did I think that the small things could come in a chain. My sister called me, she was frantic and after the day she has had no wonder. Her boyfriend was thinking about breaking up with her, so he was at his relative's house "thinking it over" on the very same day that she had a miscarriage and got yelled at all day by my father. So, she was in tears. She asked me to come home. Even though I was out with friends I felt it was necessary that I come home, only to find that I am not needed anymore. The boyfriend made his way back over to our house and they made up (for now). While I sat around  after coming home and having nothing to do, my mother tells me that my dad had a conniption fit tonight. He went around yelling, screaming, making threats, and slamming doors. My mother then also tells me that my father told her he has contemplated suicide. Never have I had a shock go through my body like that when I heard my mother say those words. I could not believe it and it was all about how much money he has been giving my sister. He feels like he is getting none of it. My mom then also discloses the fact that before my sister and I, he was going to attempt suicide because he was having a hard time finding work and such. So knowing that he has a previous history worries me even more. I told my sister when her and her boyfriend came upstairs to be extra thankful and careful. I then decided to write my father a letter about all the unsaid thanks and gratitude I have for him because now more than ever, he needs it. I closed in a verse from Joshua.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
- Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

He isn't a religious person (at least anymore) so it should be interesting how he takes it.

If there is anybody reading this and you are a follower of Jesus Christ, please pray for this family. We need it and it is all that I ask.

Traumatic Experiences

I keep telling all my friends about the night that it stormed till most of Wichita was flooded, June 9th, but I don't think any of them grasped how freaked I was about it.

Recollection of that day:

I go over to Bre's house and its a normal day. Really hot and not looking like there was a drop of water in sight even though my mother warned me that it would rain that night and to be prepared. All I thought it would do was shower. So Bre and I are sitting around her house watching Brig-ham play 007 Private Eye on Nintendo 64. After awhile we got bored and we moved downstairs to play Spyro on her PS3. She got bored watching me play so we started figuring out what we were going to do till 10 that night, as it was only 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I decide that we should kidnap Jessica and go to the mall. We do and as we are in JC Penny's going down the escalator (where I cut my leg) we hear an associate tell a fellow employee that the tornado sirens are going off. All of us were like "Its whatever we live in Kansas!" but the associate said that we could either leave now as the mall was shutting down or we could stay in the women's dressing room till the sirens turn off. Before we could make a decision they said we HAD to stay and shoved us into the dressing room. Everything was chill and we had a nice conversation whilst in there for approx. 30 mins. Since it was around 7 by the time this was all done and they were shoving us out of the mall we were hungry so we decided to go to McDonald's to grab a bite to eat. Right after we got our food the sirens go off again and the manager there says we have to go to the basement NOW. I was surprised to find that a McDonald's has a basement. The manager noted that this McDonald's was one of few in the state to have one. Nothing major happened and the sirens turned off around 8. We were done with our food and had even began watching Bo Burnham off of Netflix when we got told we could leave. The first thing I do is look outside and the street is flooded but West Street is known for bad drainage so I didn't think to much of it. So we leave and I head to drop Bre off at her house and the roads aren't that bad. I just had to stay towards the middle and be super cautious whilst it was dark, raining hard and flashing super bright lightning into my eyes. I drop Bre off and everything is dandy. The rain lightened and the roads weren't getting worse by much. But as I continued down 31st I discovered that the drainage is even worse there then on West Street. I couldn't see the bottom of the road or any of the lines. I saw cars pushing through just fine so I thought my little car would be fine as well. I was wrong. About hundred feet from the intersection I needed to turn right on to take Jessica home (which wasn't flooded), my car stalled. Just my luck! I open my door just a crack to assess the situation I was in and the water came up to the bottom of my door. That freaked me out! I shut the door quickly, called my parents to figure out what to do (and boy was that stressful!). I told Jessica that we wouldn't be able to open the doors but had to push my car to get it out of the water. So, in the pouring rain, we roll down my windows, crawl out of my car NASCAR style and start pushing in knee high water. It was windy, cold and dark. We were not wearing enough clothes to keep us warm at ALL. We finally got my car to the corner, with some strangers help, where its still in water about ankle deep but enough (I thought) to get it where it would start again. The engine never could turn so we get out of my car, cold and shivering, to try and move it to higher ground in a parking lot right around the corner. It took us awhile but it finally happened with some more help from random strangers. While waiting for my car to function we get a call from Bre. Jessica's mom texted her three times and even called Bre because Jessica wasn't home yet (Jessica's phone was dead). I try my car one more time and the engine catches while I pumped the gas to get it going. My car was back in business but my windows were all fogged up so we had to wait another 20 mins or so for that to clear mostly up. We finally get out onto the road and start driving in the HORRIBLE weather again. I can barely see the road in front of me but magically we make it to Jessica's house. I then book it home and still make it before 10:30 (the time my parents wanted me home) Lets just say I am glad I am alive and that this probably doesn't express how traumatic it actually was but only a small portion.