More happy happenings

This meme pretty much sums up my week.
Monday we hit a high of 81 degrees,
Tuesday we had a tornado watch because of a cold front moving in,

Wednesday we only got up to a high of 30,

Thursday was torrential rain,

and Saturday was a sunny and beautiful high of low 60's. So you never know what weather you will get in Oklahoma!
Saturday and last Monday I got out to take a walk in a tank top and worked on my tan a bit. I have the slightest humorous hope that maybe working on my tan in February will be enough to help me in Africa in May.

We had "open dorms" on the 27th where the guys are allowed to spend a few hours in the girls dormitory. I got a text to come to a Lord of the Rings marathon, and when I got there, I was greeted with brownies and "SOME" popcorn.
I admit I had quite a good laugh with this picture.

This past week was homecoming week, so there were lots of festivities to enjoy.
Saturday night was the homecoming basketball game, and there was a dance afterward, each of which I had a blast at!

My hilarious friend Jake didn't know what to do at the dance, so he just did what ever move came to his mind.
Half the battle at a dance is just trying to look like you know what you're doing. Ha, I'm laughing again!

Midweek a new student center opened at ORU, as a massive hangout spot with games, tvs, computers, food, and more. Some of us celebrated the opening by playing the old fashioned video game Mario Cart.

And speaking of games, how could I fail to mention, the big game! A group of about 20 ORU students all piled into 3 cars and we went to an ORU alumnus's home to watch the Superbowl on their gigantic in home movie theater. I am not a big fan of football, but anything is more fun when watched on a massive screen in a comfortable chair, with good food.

This crazy weather tells me that spring is in the air. With spring comes tornadoes, tans, and tanktops.
I first visited Oklahoma in the spring, and I can't wait to live here for the season. Lots of good picture ops.
Infact, here's a rather "springish" picture of me!

Why I love this church

I've been going to Church on the Move now for 5 months. I first discovered it while online in Oregon trying to find Tulsa churches I would like to try out when I got there. I loved watching the online services, but there were a few other churches that impressed me online as well.

When I got to Tulsa, I liked the first few churches I visited, then at the end of September I went to Church on the Move for the first time in person. The atmosphere, worship, and teaching had me sold after one visit and I decided it was the church for me.

Going to this church is the first time I have ever experienced having a sermon that I thought about a lot during the rest of the week. I know the feeling from different powerful church conferences, but I used to listen to a normal Sunday service, and not remember much about it afterwards. That changed when I started going to this church.

One thing I found really different and I really like, is that the tithe and offering is taken at the end of the service. To me, it feels more right. ~We give you this really good lesson, instruct you and challenge you to improve yourself, and then ask you to help us continue our work.~ That's the logic I see.
The church is very big, but they are good about giving it a small, tight knit feeling. After hurricane Sandy, the church took one offering in all 3 of their services, and were able to send $35,000 to churches that were helping victims.

One time back in October, pastor Willie George talked about tithing. I still think about it every time I am hesitant to give money when I feel the notion to.

"Sooner or later, you are going to come to a crossroads, where you have to decide if you are going to put God first in your financial life....Worrying about money is serving money instead of serving God...The more you trust God about money, the more he will trust you with money."

When I got back to Tulsa, after Christmas break in Oregon, my savings was almost totally gone. I knew I needed to get a job, and got very nervous when I found out that not even Walmart was hiring. I had put in several applications at local businesses, and it had been two weeks without hearing a peep.
2 Sundays ago, we were singing in church, "Lord use me,take my life, and lead it your way." With money on my mind, I again thought of the sermon back in October. I knew it was God, telling me to give an offering of my money. I was really hesitant to, because I have such little left, but I remembered those words, "You have to trust God about your money, for God to trust you with money."
I put $5 in a tithe envelope, and wrote a little prayer on the lid, "Lord, I trust you with this money, and I ask you to please help me find a job."

Last Tuesday I was so touched when I logged on to my email, and found I had been contacted by Church on the Move pastoral staff.

Hi Anna, We want you to know that we’ve received your prayer request and we’re standing in faith with you. In Matthew 18:19 Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” So we join our faith with yours and believe God for you to find favor in the hiring process so that you’ll get the job that you apply for. God bless Anna, and if you have any requests don’t hesitate to let us know.

I was amazed, and could not stop smiling the rest of the day, that they had looked up my email from my "new member card" I filled out in September, and wrote me to let me know they were praying with me for a job.
Then to top it all off, Wednesday I got two calls for interviews, and Friday I was hired on the spot for a waitress job!

The 7th floor adventure

I have found a fun community here at ORU. There are so many people with the same attitude and likeness as me. Yesterday proved that once again. There is an urban legend on campus. The one building where almost all of classes are, the GC, has a 7th floor which is where Oral Robert's office was in his living years, and where the college president now is. Now and then, while using the elevator in the GC, some very well dressed person will step in and ask, "7 please." and everyone else in the elevator will say with their eyes and quiet gasps, "Oooh seventh floor."
The urban legend is that the 7th floor is where all the important ORU leaders and rich alumni hang out as sort of a "fancy people club".

The rumor is, that when you step off the elevator, there are two security guards, dressed like Men in Black, who ask you for ID, and will have you thrown off school property if you are not on the elite list of names.
Of course, me being me, hearing these rumors and urban legends time and time again, but never meeting someone who had been there, my mind has been screaming at me, "Go! Go! Go!" But I was nervous, very nervous!

I have a very adventurous spirit, but a very non confrontational personality. If I went up to the 7th floor, I stood the risk of facing the men in black if the rumor was true.

Nevertheless, the call to adventure got the best of me. So yesterday, after my last class on the 5th floor, I got on the elevator and hit "7". I wanted to squeal as soon as I felt the elevator start to rise, but I thought if I was going to do this, I had to keep my composure and act like I belong up there.
I heard the ding, signaling that I had reached my destination, and much to my relief, there were no men in black.

Even though there were no men in black, the sight was so beautiful, that I definitely thought I would get in trouble if caught up there. The roof was a colorful oval stained glass, the walls had the gorgeous display of the school's history, and over in the corner I saw the door that said it was the university president's office.
I was very impressed, but still very nervous about getting questioned about being up there. I saw feet coming from around the corner, and I went into panic mode. I saw the fire escape route map on the wall, and tried to hurry to look for stairs I could run down.
Then I felt a tap on my shoulder, and a deep, strange voice said, "Miss, what are you doing up here?"
I slowly turned, then tried to muffle my laughter of great relief, as I saw it was one of my friends.
I asked her, if this meant we were allowed to be up there, and she said, "Oh I have no idea. I just hear about it, so I came up to see it. Been up here a few times, but never seen anyone else, so no one has ever questioned me."

I thought it was hilarious. The exact same time I was feeling adventurous, and exploring a new place I had been told to fear, so was my friend.
We stepped into the restroom which was the fanciest restroom I have ever seen(no we didn't use them, just gawked at them!) We stepped back out and were talking to each other about just how nice the bathroom was, when a man approached us.

I again felt a sense of terror, but he just smiled and said, "First time on the 7th floor?"

He told us a bunch about how it had been renovated in recent years, and some jokes Oral Roberts and current president Mark Rutland had made about the 7th floor.

At the end of the day, I was so glad I went, and I was just tickled by the fact one of my friends followed the urge at the same time as me, totally unplanned!

My new obsession

The other night, a group of us went out for a late night adventure, star gazing in the wilderness. That night, a new obsession was born in me. The sky was magnificent and we were all filled with ooh's and awe's. But my camera is not very good at taking pictures of the vast amount of stars in the sky. However, while trying to take a picture of the stars, I focused in on the moon, then shrieked when this picture came out.

The moon came in clear and close. I was literally jumping up and down squealing, I was so excited and proud that I had just taken that picture. Now I have been trying to take as many pictures of the moon as I can, and it fills my head with wonder, of what it would be like to wander around up there for a bit. Maybe someday we will make family trips to the moon. Until then, I will just continue trying to get as clear of shots of the moon as I can:

Happy happenings

School is in full swing, and so is the fun. The weather is AMAZING. It varies from SUPER cold to decent, but the sky is a deep, rich, beautiful blue, and the sun makes me want to smile constantly.

Two weeks ago I was getting concerned with my Africa fun because I was short $1000 for the February 50% deadline. I put another shout out on Facebook, and in 9 days $510 came in. I still have a lot to go, but I am excited to see how God provides it. Our team has been meeting for a lot of prayer time. Praying for our funds, praying for our travels, and praying for the people we will meet in Uganda. I am more and more excited every day. I dreamed of this trip literally all my life, and I could not have asked for a better way for it to come true.

There have been a few people that I had classes with last semester, who I have been hanging out with a lot this semester. We discovered a share love for spontaneous adventure. On one of these adventure, one of the guys led us down and around different stairs and halls, and through a delivery tunnel where.......we discovered ORU's Area 51! This discovery was EXACTLY why I love spontaneous adventure.

Right after this Area 51 discovery, I made another cool discover....Cristina! One of the guys I was with was talking about tornadoes, and one of his other gal friends had joined our group sitting drinking coffee. She spoke up, "Man, I don't get that in Oregon." I gasped and turned to her "What did you just say?!" Christina is the first Oregonian I have met, and she only lived about 10 minutes from me! We looked each other up on Facebook, and we know a bunch of the same people!

Christina has joined our posse of adventurers, and I am JUST about to venture out with them again. This evening our adventure is, driving out to the wilderness to star gaze! :) <3

I'm gone...and back.

I am back in Tulsa, sitting in my dorm, wrapped in my electric blanket, with Madea on in the background(thanks Jodi!). It's weird for me to think, this morning I was home in Oregon, this evening I am home in Tulsa, and tomorrow I will be back sitting in class.

I feel a strange sense of homelessness. Every place I call home, is all just a sort of visit. Tulsa is my home now...for most of the year, but come May I will be kicked out and not welcome back until August. When I go to Oregon, I say I am back home, but in the same sentence I refer to Tulsa as home. I relate better than ever to the Carrie Underwood song "Temporary Home". Every bed I sleep on, is very temporary. I have never been a fan of change, and every time I have to change living spaces, I feel a strong and stronger desire for something that will be permanent. I am ready for my own bed, my own home, my own family, my own pets. I am SO so looking forward to the day when my life has settled into the long term. Moving to Tulsa was a very good change for me, but I am ready for things to stay the same again.

Visiting home reminded me of why I wanted so badly to leave Oregon. I saw the sun once in 3 weeks, I had to drive if I wanted to go anywhere and everywhere, and there was really not much to do most of the time. I watched so much Netflix that I even started watching foreign films. It was nice though, taking a break to do almost nothing. Overall, I had a good visit, but I am sure of my decision to move now more than ever.

I got to visit most of my friends but not all. I went dancing for the first time with my good pal Laura.

I had a hilarious adventure with my friends Lydia and Lexy, when we tried going to see Monsters Inc 2, then realized it was Monsters 1, so snuck into Django, then had to leave because I forgot to pick up my mom from work.

I went to see my friend Kaya and her baby Rose. Rose is 7 months old, my favorite age, and laughed the ENTIRE time I was there. There is nothing that compares to the thrill of spending time with a giggly baby!

I also went out to lunch at my favorite local restaurant with my oldest friend Emily. Visited my friend Heidi in Gresham, and she and my brother decided to try to stay in contact with each other.

I spent an afternoon with my aunt going to meet her stepmother Mary. Mary is a retired pilot who is now an expert dog agility trainer and competitor.

My last day in Oregon I spent with the family at the beach. I loved it so much, especially because it's been 5 years since I've seen the ocean. With all the fun I have had visiting family and friends, I am ready for life to get back to the semi normal state of school.

Looking back, and ahead

My first semester at ORU is finished, and on top of that, 2012 has come to an end, with very little to show for it all on this blog. So much has happened everyday since I moved to Tulsa, but I am so, so bad at remembering to type it all up here.
That is one of the things I plan on working hard on this next year. But before I get into all my goals for this next year, it's best I sum up this year.

This time last year I was a third of the way through my first work experience in a professional setting, interning at DHS. Since then I have finished my internship, finished at Clackamas Community, moved 2,000 miles away, and now have finished my first semester as a university student, with a 3.0 gpa I might add!
In Tulsa I volunteered at a shelter, for abused children, once a week. It has been a great way to get involved with the community, and reminded me of my fond memories of my internship. In late November I put in an application to get a job there, but will not hear back until after the New Year.

When I met my roommate, I quickly found out she had been to Africa last summer. I told her that Africa had been a life long dream of mine, but I didn't know if I would ever get there. She told me to at least try to go with the school's missions program. It seemed impossible to me at first, but now....it's happening!! :)

I made some fun friends, some do crazy things with me like making dancing music videos, others go on random late night pointless car drives the way I love to do, and one of my favorite past times is going with a big group of buddies to get Mexican food and sneak it into the theater while we go watch scary movies. One time when our movie going group got Mexican food, I had to wait 10 minutes for the chicken to cook, so I got a 5lb burrito for free!
I found a super great church in Tulsa that I simply LOVE! They will be opening a new building next year, and I hope to get involved there.

For Thanksgiving I got to see my cousin Ian, and stayed in the great state of Texas, which I loved by the way. I could easily see myself making Texas my permanent home down the road. Silly, but one of my favorite things about Texas was that every single time I turned on my blinker to change lanes, people slowed down and easily let me in. I was taken back by it every single time! In Texas I got to visit a church I grew up watching on tv, Eagle Mountain church, and I also ate gizzards for the first and last time.

The weather in Tulsa is phenomenal so far, it was 80 the first week of December. But I am told January is the coldest month, so I am in for a treat this New Year. When it gets cold, it's not only super cold, but windy. It makes it so cold it's painful.

Well there's a snippet of my year! My goal for this next year is to journal WAY more. Let's hope it's a goal I can attain!
This next year my goals are that I need to find a job in Tulsa, I want to volunteer more at the children's shelter, get involved with my church, fund-raise all the money needed for Africa, go to Africa, join the ORU Zumba group, join the ORU Spanish club and get better in that language, write more of my stories that I hope to make into books someday, and I want to read more. Yes Mom, you read that right, I want to make myself read more. Reading is such a chore to me, I hate it! I only do it when required to. I want that to change.
Achieving all these goals will make for some fun blog posts. Let's just hope I can keep up the ambition to accomplish all these goals, and the memory, attention span, and desire to write about it all.

It started with 4

Four years old I embarked on a mission. I found a passion and a drive that influenced every aspect of my life. Sitting on my aunt and uncle's floor, I heard the telephone ring. My aunt turned the television on and left the room to answer the phone. This simple action changed my life. When my aunt returned, she found me in tears, terrified by the "monsters" I saw on tv.

What I didn't understand was that I had not seen frightening monsters, but an ad to help feed starving children in Africa. My aunt explained to me that in other nations there is no money to buy food, and kids get so hungry, that they end up looking like the images I saw, skin and bone.

That's when she told me about missionaries. My little world was turned upside down, and I knew from that day on, that some day I would go to Africa as a missionary.

Through out the rest of my childhood, I always felt a sense I was born to be great. Every mistake I made, I felt the conviction that I was letting down the African kids I was destined to meet. My life had a purpose, through all the hardship endured, I told myself that someday in Africa, I would look back on all this and smile because it only made me stronger.

A lot of bumps and bruises, and some downright crashing and burning through the years; no matter what living situation I was in, or what belief I put my faith in, the one thing that remained true is that I wanted to go to Africa more than any other wish in my life.

Summer before high school, I got my heart right with God, and felt stronger than ever that my calling was to be a missionary, and to be a missionary in Africa. By Sophomore year I started traveling the world with whatever opportunity arrived, all with the belief it was prepping me for Africa. Mexico, Spain, Kamiah Nez Perce, and Peru; North America, South America, and Europe; all amazing and irreplaceable experiences and all visited before graduating high school.

Then I started my first year of community college and I was faced with a crisis. I failed all of my nursing classes. It was a soul crushing defeat. I knew I was not meant to be a nurse, although that had been the plan since 5th grade. Then began the quest to figure out what it would take to get to Africa. Things were not working out with every thing I tried.

Finally I thought I should just quit college and go.


The day I determined to quit college, was the day before I saw the video about the fatal flaws in the child welfare system.

http://www.komonews.com/news/problemsolvers/70599312.html?tab=video&c=y By the time I had seen this video, I already knew child abuse prevention was something I felt passionately about, but it was while watching this video that God was able to open my eyes and see that I needed to find a career I was good at and interested in, instead of just doing whatever it took to get to Africa.

The day I learned to fully surrender myself, including my hopes and dreams, to God, was the day everything started to fall into place. I changed majors, again, to social work, and I began to love my classes, then I loved my internship, and I gained incredible experiences then I got a scholarship to a university I loved.

At four I grasped onto a dream. At nineteen I learned to give it up to do what God was calling, and now at twenty one, he has lead me down the road and has placed the opportunity to go to Africa right in front of me.

Four years ago I gave up on my dream of going to ORU. Three years ago I learned to give up all my dreams to God, and trust him that I would end up where I belonged. One year ago I trusted God to try again with ORU.

Today I write, while at ORU, announcing that I finally get to go to Africa thanks to ORU Missions.

Now here's all the trip details!
When: May 12 to June 12 2013
Where: Uganda, Africa
Doing what: Street evangelism, remote villages ministry, children's church and school, visiting orphanages.
How much: $3,500 I'll be needing lots of support financially to make it there, so be looking forward to me asking you for help!

"Pitch Perfect" and other happenings

Here is the book behind the movie I saw. The movie was funny enough for me to think about reading the book.

This weekend I went to the movies with a friend and saw "Pitch Perfect". We went to the Cinemax theater, and it was a gigantic theater. Twice the size of Hilltop theater back in Oregon City. They also had a full mall sized food court where I picked up a cheeseburger that was bigger than both my fists.
The movie had me laughing out loud all the way through. Fat Amy with her great one liners was my favorite character, maybe more because she SO reminded me of my good friend I met here, Jessica.

That being said, I don't think I will ever get the first scene out of my head. I don't know how a book could fully capture the hilarity of seeing an acapellla singer up chuck all over the competition judges, and the sheer horror expressed on their faces. Add to that when halfway through the movie the shy Asian girl making the vomit angel. Maybe it's my potty humor but this movie was probably one of my all time favorites.

There's an area on campus called "The Fishbowl" between the guys and girls dorms and is the main place for genders to commingle. I was in the fishbowl with a group watching a movie and met a guy named Darnell. We got to talking and I told him Darnell was my favorite character on the show "My name is Earl" and he said he'd heard that a lot, and he too liked the show. We laughed as we spouted off the different frequent phrases, "Oh snap", "Darnell, get yer keister over here Mister","Awe heck no, Darnell!" A few minutes later I brought my knitting down to work on, and Darnell thought knitting was the coolest thing. He kept watching and saying, "that's so awesome." He was very excited to see the finished product. His fascination has given me a little extra motivation to work on it, so I've gotten a lot done on the blanket in progress.

Yesterday I hungout in the fishbowl again and Darnell teased me, "Why aren't you knitting?!" So I brought my knitting down. Then I met a guy, Tori, who was equally interested in it, and told me he'd be right back. He came back with yarn and knitting needles he had ran to buy at Walmart, and asked me to teach him.

I still can't get over the weather here. In early September people thought I was crazy for being so amazed at sweat running down my arms and legs like half time of a basketball game, when I was only standing still. It was 112 out then, the hottest weather I've ever been in. Now October is nearing an end, and the weather is wonderful. It's been low 80's this past week, and looking to be similar this week. While out walking Friday, I got sunburned. I had to laugh again as I told friends I don't think I have ever had a sun burn in October.

Hello..again

I talked to my mom last night and she told me people have been asking why I stopped updating my blog. Oops! I wasn't sure if people even read this.

I have some very exciting stuff starting just around the bend, but I have to wait until it's all official to talk about. October 25 is the big day when I will know all the details for sure. Anyone who's know me at least 5 years will be very excited when they hear what I'm doing. Ooh don't you love me teasing your curiosity! =D
Last night I went to Cheesecake factory for the first time with a big group of friends. I had my favorite, shrimp and angel hair, and I do believe it's the best I've ever had. I know, that's sad being the best seafood is AFTER I move away from the coast. The shrimp were HUGE, and the plate of pasta was even bigger. I ate as much as I could, and still the to go box was stuffed. Guess what I'm having for breakfast?

A random fact I was telling my mom I discovered here, is that people think I am funny. I'm not used to that! Back home now and then something crazy would happen to me, and if I shared the story in the right context I could make someone giggle. I got here, and without even trying, people laugh and tell me I am funny. When I share the stories of the different pranks I pulled on the public before I left home, people have tears of laughter.

I mentioned to a friend how my cousin married an African American and her first son looked white at birth and got darker as he got older, and she was near hysterical. When her mom told her that was normal, she laughed even more. I realize it's probably odd that I add this into my blog, but I thought it was pretty neat that I found people who laugh at my jokes. Mom said that means I've found where I belong.

This past week I've been on break. I was supposed to go on a road trip to Colorado, but it didn't work out last minute. So I have spent some of my time walking and exploring Tulsa. I found a great 4 mile walking trail along the river, which has been my favorite new find.
I met a friend's mom and we got to talking about how we both have a dream of being authors. At the end of the conversation she was passing my info onto a person who runs a website for christian writers. Long story short, I am now writing a monthly article for them. My first piece was published earlier this month, check it out! http://thechristianpulse.com/2012/10/08/a-simple-song/