The Holidays are Upon Us

In all the business of the season, I find it so enjoyable to see all the beautiful Christmas decorations and the Christmas displays in all the shops. Here in Centralia, the lights are up on the trees along the street. Unfortunately, I haven't heard much Christmas music yet. But, I have put together a sweet mix of Christmas rock. So if anyone needs some good Christmas music (and some really crazy unique stuff) feel free to ask...

A Weekend Home

I ended up getting to stay home for almost a week. I got a half day on Wednesday and I don't have to be back until Monday night. Its kinda nice having some time off from GTC. I end up spending alot of time there worrying about accidentally breaking a rule.
Today, Ri, Mason, and I raked the yard. Boy, that maple drops ALOT of leaves. Kathleen helped for the first while then she had to go home to see her brother before he left to go back to college. Tomorrow, I'm going to play guitar for worship at Bellevue which I'm really looking forward to. Also, I might go to college group which could be fun.

Thanksgiving

I drove home to Seattle yesterday afternoon but within a few hours of getting home, left yet again. This year we went to Spokane to visit my cousins for Thanksgiving. Not wanting my car to be gone when we get back, I took it to my aunt's house until I get back from Spokane. We'll be having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner tonight and then we'll head home tomorrow so that we can spend some time as a family before I go back to Rochester.
Things have been relaxing. It is so nice to not have any homework for a few days. Hopefully nothing drastic while happen during this break. I've been enjoying not having too much excitement this weekend.

A Long Hard Weekend

So, it all started on Friday. I was super excited to go to Seattle and visit my family also, it was blessing partner day which is kind of fun. However, after lunch, there was an announcement made at GTC that my friend had been kicked out of the internship program and would be flying home to Texas the next day. Harsh! Steven was the only other musical person in the program... So, now I'm kinda the loner.
After being released early because of the incident with Steven, I drove home. Upon arriving home, I helped my mom make Zach a cake and ran to the store several times to pick up things which had been forgotten. Then, Sunday morning, I got up early so that I could play on the worship team at Bellevue. My car was parked behind my mom's van so I went out to move out of her way so that we could leave and found that my car had been broken into yet again! However, this time it was much worse. The trim on the outside was ripped off and my dashboard was smashed into many pieces, my car wouldn't start, and perhaps the worst part was that my entire CD collection which was sitting on the back seat was stolen. That was every CD I owned. Over $1000 worth of music. It was one of the few things that I invest money in and now its gone. I'm so mad!
By this point, I had a complete melt down. I handled the last break-in fine and I had managed to hold myself together when Steven left but everything finally let loose in me and I couldn't hold myself together. I'm so tired of all these things happening to me. And, to be honest, it seems like since I made the decision to come to GTC, my life has been slowly but steadily falling to pieces. I need a break from all of the chaos life has thrown at me the last couple months before I lose my sanity.

Going Home

After classes let out today I'm heading home to Seattle till Monday. Then, on Monday I'll bring Ri back with me and she and I will go to class together Tues. and Wed. before going home yet again for Thanksgiving.
I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends. I'll actually get to go to my church this Sunday. Its awkward going to church here, I don't have any good friends.
Tomorrow, I"ll be able to help my mom put on a birthday party for Zeezers which is cool. He's really excited that I'm going to make it home in time for his party. I bought him some Pirates of the Carribean action figures that I think he'll really like.
Till next time,
Dewa!

Its getting close to the holidays

Wow, the last few weeks have been a blur. Things happen so fast here. We're a week into our second Northwest course. We're taking New Testament history which is actually kinda fun. However, I haven't had anything due yet, so that might change.
I'm getting to know the people here in Centralia. On Sunday, Pastor Bill had everyone make a list of people they knew in the church. His goal was for everyone to have 40 people on their list by the end of the month. I had over 40 on the first Sunday. Being that I've only been here a month and a half, I think that's pretty good.
Zeezer's birthday is coming up in a couple weeks on the 20th. I'm hoping to go home for the weekend before Thanksgiving so that I can celebrate with him. If everything works out, I'll come home for a few days and then I'll bring Ri back with me for a couple days before Thanksgiving. It should be lots of fun. Time has been passing so fast.

Microsoft Conference

Sunday through Wednesday I worked at the Microsoft Conference in downtown Seattle. GTC does this as a fundraiser to keep down tuition costs. The pay is amazing, $17 per hour and we were working 16 hour days! Unfortunately, none of this money goes directly to us, but rather to the program.
On Sunday, we only had a meeting during which we were told what the different jobs were and how to carry them out. Three of us were to work on inputting information on computers while the other ten of us were room monitors. As a room monitor, the person hands out and collects surveys and keeps the trash picked up in the room. We also answered peoples' questions and pointed them in the right direction.
Monday I was told that I was one of the lucky three that got to input the survey information. Pretty much we used a spreadsheet program to say what people thought about the speakers. I did that for quite a few hours. Towards the end, my carpal tunnel thing started acting up though so I switched off with someone in charge of room monitoring. In the evening, we were invited to the Microsoft VIP halloween party. Microsoft rented out the Space Needle, EMP, and Sc-Fi Museum. They bought all of us GTCers costumes and so we pretty much enjoyed the party. We even had the private room at the EMP for our use which was pretty sweet. The food was really good and they hired break dancers which was pretty cool.
The next two days we did the same jobs. Microsoft had catered meals for us which were pretty good also. On Tuesday we went to Pastor Steve's house and played mafia which was fun. Pastor Steve made hot peanut butter cookies for us too.

So thats whats been going on with me...
Dewa!