Busy, busy, busy

Hey all! Sorry it's been a bit since I've posted. I actually have free time today...the first time since Saturday! So here's what's been going on lately... :)

For those of you who received letters from me regarding St. Jude's and Up 'Til Dawn, the final party was last Friday night. We found out how much money Culver-Stockton raised...over $41,000!!! Pretty sweet, huh? And all of that was just from people at Culver sending out letters...we only have like 800 students total and not everyone participated! Everyone was very excited!! :)

Sunday, I did homework all day...go figure. Sunday night we had a meeting, and then an event after that, which lasted until about 11:30pm. Monday was my craziest day. Ready for this?? I had an 8am class, then I had to pick up 3 packages, then a class at 10:20, then lunch. Then I came back to my room, organized the hoodies that were in two of the packages I received, then headed off to a 12:45 class and a 1:55 class. Then I went back to my room, finished up with the hoodies, figured out what my part was for the event that night, then headed off to band. After band, I went to supper, after which, I headed straight to my 6pm class. Class got over at 7pm, at which time I came back to the house, showered, changed, and headed downstairs to prepare for the event (in which I had to have stuff memorized that I hadn't looked at yet). So I worked on memorizing my stuff and figuring out who was supposed to do what when, and then we conducted the event, which went great, by the way. Then I went to the CP and got food (good thing, right?) and then came back to my room and worked on stuff until 11:30pm. And then I crashed...like literally. I was in the middle of working on something that didn't have to be done the next day, but I was afraid I would forget about it. It got to the point where I couldn't concentrate and I was getting frustrated with every single little thing (like if my computer didn't do exactly what I wanted it to do exactly when I wanted it to do it). Soo...I made a smart choice and went to bed. Whew. It was the longest day of my life, I think, with very few breaks.

Okay, so then Tuesday (yesterday) wasn't quite as crazy as Monday, but still pretty busy. I babysat, then went to a Greek-sponsored Chapel, then tutored. Then...I went downstairs and helped set up for Initiation and worked on memorizing the parts I needed to for that night. Then I rushed back upstairs, showered, changed, and then headed back downstairs for Initiation itself. It went well, and didn't take long. But, after it was over, I was completely exhausted. And it was only like 8pm. I watched a movie, and then went to bed at 10:30pm...which is early for a college kid, but I couldn't function anymore.

Today has been pretty laid back...except I almost forgot about a meeting over lunch. Thankfully, Angie reminded me about it...yay!! :) But anyways, I don't have band tomorrow, and no class on Friday, which means the rest of the week is going to be pretty laid back and easy! I am looking forward to it :)

Can you believe March is almost over??? It boggles my mind...I mean, wasn't it just February like 2 days ago?? Only two weeks of classes left, then finals, and this part of the semester is over! So weird!!

Oh, and another thing that happened in the midst of my crazy week! I got nominated to be a Junior Marshal at graduation this year!! Woohoo! :D And, of course, I accepted. :) I had to be there anyways for band...so it works out perfectly!

Well, that is all for now...I think. More to come later...

Spring is a coming...

I am sure you all will agree with me when I say Spring is most definitely welcome! Just a few more days til Spring is "technically" here...and I know we could still get snow and cold weather since we are in the Midwest...however, I won't let that dampen my spirits!! I am feeling good! :)

Yesterday was my first day back to school with classes and all. It was a very good day. :) I just got back from babysitting Coleton. According to his mom, Sara, he talked about me the entire spring break...how sweet! Apparently he somehow knows when it is Tuesday and Thursday (the days I watch him) because on Tuesday and Thursday of last week, he kept asking his mom where "Miss Kendra" was. She explained to him that I was in Iowa and then Texas. He didn't believe her because his response was, "No, Miss Kendra (is) up the hill." (they live in the part of Canton that is down the hill from the college, so I live "on the hill".) Pretty cute, huh? I can't believe how big he is getting already! In only a month, he will be 2. I started babysitting him when he was 5 months old...crazy!!

Anyways, about the rest of my break. I flew to Dallas early Wednesday morning (arriving at 8ish). Heath, Kristen, and Ainsley were all there to greet me. :) We took Heath to work then Kristen, Ainsley and I drove home. I played with Ainsley for a little bit, then she went down for a nap...and I did, too. I ended up sleeping for like 3 hours...wow. But, remember, I had woken up that morning at 4:15am so I was pretty beat. The rest of the day I just hung out with Ainsley and Kristen, until Heath got home. The rest of my time there was much the same...minus the 3 hour nap...but I did take some cat naps, I think at least 2 a day. (I got spoiled ;) ) We had some AMAZING food made by my sister. Did I ever tell you how AWESOME of a cook she is?? Well, I am telling you now. I don't remember the name of the dish she made Wednesday night, but it had chicken and rice and it was good! Thursday night we had pork...with some type of glaze on it...don't remember exactly? But also with cooked apples, and it was really tasty! Friday night was pizza night! Woo hoo! Again...amazing. Then Saturday night they took me out to eat at Olive Garden...yummy! It was definitely hard to come back to school food yesterday...

All in all a good break! And now I am back at school and suddenly the weather has turned amazing! Even though I have been waiting for spring for like FOREVER, it is still hard for me to believe that it is finally, actually here! Yay!!!

BREAK!

So I know it's been a little while since I've posted anything...so here you go! ;)

I am currently on spring break...yay! I came home Friday afternoon...ended up working Friday night and Saturday night. Then Sunday night, my dad, brother, and I went to a concert in Davenport...with Third Day, Brandon Heath, and Revive. It was AMAZING!!! I know we all had a great time!

Then yesterday (Monday) I got my haircut...woohoo! It's short again! I love having my hair short :). Then I worked again...yippee...not. It wasn't too bad of a night...I guess... Because of how many people called in sick, we originally would have only had 6 people the entire night, with 3 closers. Not cool. The minimum amount of people we like to have there is 9...and that's on a slow night. Which Monday night is a slow night...so that's good. But 6 people was pushing it a bit. So the Cedar Rapids store sent 3 of their people over to help us out for the night...so that put us with 9 people and 6 closers...much better! Oh and I was the only manager there from like 4:30pm til close. So I was in charge the whole night...which was fine...but definitely different. I have been in charge before but not for that amount of time...usually there is another manager there until 8pm. But it was okay...because we were slow, we got a lot of things done early so we were done closing by 10:30pm (the store closes at 10pm) . The night went without a hitch...well, sort of... I had a young kid (probably 4) get sick and not quite make it to the toilet in time, so I had to clean up that mess. Then I had a lady yell at me for a good 5 minutes because her flavor of the day (strawberry shortcake) didn't have enough strawberries in it for her. She told me she wanted to be compensated...and then proceeded to tell me that she means she wants her money back. And I'm thinking...yes I know what compensated means...do I look that young? Anyways, then she somehow brought the bad economy into it all...I don't remember exactly what she said, but she was extremely irate. Anyways, I gave her her money back and gave her a new pint of custard, making sure that every inch of it had strawberries in it...seriously.

So that was my night last night...kind of a weird night. Today I haven't been doing much...laundry and packing mainly. Tomorrow morning (bright and early) I leave to go to Dallas to see Kristen, Heath, and Ainsley...woohoo!!...I am spending til Sunday with them :). Then Sunday I go back to school because classes start again on Monday. Fun fun. :)

"I don't know how to make good people!"

This is what I said to Jessi as we were walking back to the house tonight after our Greek Life Task Force meeting. In our meetings, we have been working on a strategic plan for Greek Life based on 6 areas we felt were the most important: Recruitment, Public Relations, Scholarship, Inter-Greek Relations, Leadership Development, and Community Standards. Tonight we were focusing on the last one: Community Standards, how we hold each other accountable. Bob (the Director of Greek Life) at one point asked us all how our respective sorority/fraternity was founded. We all answered similarly: a handful of people (3-8) got together and decided they wanted to start something new, something that bound all of them together and meant something. Bob's point was that we get so bogged down in the rules, regulations, and policies that we forget the reason we are in our sorority/fraternity. We forget what this is supposed to mean to us, what it meant to our founders.

He then asked us how that is connected to Community Standards. We didn't really know what to say. One guy piped up and said we need to make sure our members know our standards and live them. Bob's next question to us was: how do you live that out? How do you get your members to live it and not just know it?

This really convicted me for a few reasons: 1) Am I living out our standards? Do I know our standards well enough to live them out? 2) What is our house doing to educate our members on our standards and how to live them out? and lastly...as he was talking about this, I felt like he was asking us to make good people, to make our members good people who uphold our standards. Through talking to Jessi about this, I exclaimed, "I don't know HOW to make good people!" While that wasn't really Bob's point, it got me thinking. How ARE good people "made"?

The first thought that went through my head was God. Living for God changes a person, changes how they act and who they are. Yet there are many people in this world that are considered "good" people, not good according to God's standards, but to man's. So how do those people become good? The next thought that went through my head: parents. The way a person is raised has a lot to do with how they act and who they become. Growing up, I heard several people comment to my parents on how good we (the kids) were, how well-behaved we were, etc. I know a lot of this has to do with their relationships with God and the love for God that they instilled in each of us. However, I believe there is more to it than that as well. My parents were AMAZING parents...still are. No, they don't do everything right, they aren't perfect, no one is. But my parents brought up four kids in such a way that has been admired by many. They made good people out of us, with God's help. I can only hope and pray to be the same kind of parent someday. So, here's to you, Mom and Dad, and to all you have done for me and my brothers and sister. Thank you for making me who I am today. I LOVE YOU!