HOME!

So...finals have been over for a few days and I made the trek home with my sister, brother-in-law, and two fellow Washingtonian friends from school. Finals were actually really easy this semester. My first two finals were O Chem and German at seven-thirty and nine-forty five respectively...yeah. O Chem was actually easier than I thought it would be. I really like German and the final was nothing special. My theater project nearly cost me my sanity, but I did well.
The trip home from California to Washington took us seventeen hours!! Being crammed in the back of our car was not fun, but being home is worth it.
It is so cold here in Washington! Twenty-eight right now. I am going to freeze my butt off!
Being home is great but I forgot some of the little pet peeves that go along with being home. I feel really bad when something makes me angry because I should be grateful to be home but instead I am being negative towards my family.
I realized as well how much has changed in the past few months. As I was very involved in school, church, and with my friends and now, after being gone for three months, it is almost like people have expected me to be changed so they treat me differently. It was really awkward going back to church. Especially because I have really grown apart from the people in my church and I don't necessarily agree with what my church teaches or how they run things. I have experienced so much after leaving this Podunk little town that now I feel myself being less tolerant of some people and things in my life that annoy me.
There is one person in particular that has the pleasure of being the only person I know that I truly hate. I don't know what it is about this person, but everything that person does annoys the heck out of me. That person is away somewhere and I couldn't be happier. That person being away makes my stay at home much more enjoyable. I am trying not to specify that person's name or gender because a lot of people would be mortified if they knew that I hated this person. All I can say is that I am very good at hiding how I truly feel and putting on a happy face for the audience.
Now that I have fallen into being cynical, I should end this musing...

Last day of the semester!

Today was the last day of the Fall '08 semester! I have thoroughly enjoyed my first semester away at University. I was really nervous about it during the summer, but it has been a great experience. Living away from home has not been as big of a deal as I thought it might be. I call my parents once or twice a week but I am busy enough that I don't think of home all the time. There are those moments, however, when I see some one that looks kind of like a friend of mine or I catch a whiff of something baking, and I think of home. I am excited to be going back for a month. By this time next week I will be in my old room sleeping in my old bed!
So, yeah...I'll stop now before I start rambling!

Missions

I am going to the Czech Republic!! On a small scale it was decided for me that I was a member of this team, I was still considering another team, but the deadlines are coming up to quickly for there to be time for the other team to get the information they need from me so... I am going to the Czech Republic!
I am so excited to be fulfilling what I really feel is God's will for me.
When I think of missions, the first thing that pops into my mind is hard work and uncomfortable conditions. This is not what my mission trip is about. Yes we will be working hard and yes it will be uncomfortable, but it will not be the physical labor, sleeping under mosquito nets, not being able to drink the water kind of mission trip that I thought a mission trip had to be in order to be legit. I bet that this is another way for God to yell at me "Andrew...stop putting me in a box!!"
Even though I try my hardest to not define God or unconsciously give Him limits, I always prove myself to be human and end up limiting God some way or another. God works in any and every situation!!
The mission trips that I first wanted to go on were all high intensity, high risk, and high stress, I guess I always thought that it had to be dangerous and foreign and extreme in order for God to be able to do great things. I am so excited for Him to prove me wrong!!
I do not know much about my trip but I kind of have the basics...I think.
The gist of it is that we will be teaching conversational English to a group of Czech youth for about two weeks. We will be provided with a curriculum but we will also be interacting with the kids through drama, art, and athletics.
I am so insanely excited to be apart of this mission trip! God is going to move me in amazing ways that I never expected and I can not wait for my mind to be blown away and my lifestyle to be completely changed!!

Intro

So, the intro to my blog. I guess I started a blog just to say that I had one. It is kind of a thing now to have a blog. It will now serve as a net for my thoughts.
I do not think that I am an especially good writer so I apologize before I start anything for any ramblings or nonsensicalness in any future blog. As you can see, I make up words sometimes, so do not worry if you get confused.
I know, I really started this for my family. So that I have one if I go on a trip or have a big adventure that I want them to read about. Just keeping people updated on the happenings in my life.
I wonder what I should say in this thing...