Sgt. Ashbacher? Beleive it or not...

About a couple weeks ago, I decided to check out the benefits for the army and get a little bit of information. Last Wednesday, I found myself on a bus heading to Des Moines. That night I took the exam called the ASVAB which qualifies or disqualifies you for the job you want and the following day I was examined for everything under the sun that could be wrong with me and took my physical and swore in. The categories on the ASVAB include: general science, arithmetic reasoning, word knowledge, paragraph comprehension, mathematics knowledge, electronics information, auto shop, mechanical comprehension, and assembling objects. Most of the questions on the test are rather questions of common knowledge. I did very well for a junior in high school. The average is about 35 and I scored a 71. The test took about 2.5 hours. After that we headed back to the hotel to eat and get some sleep. They told me that I could qualify for any job that I wanted. Everything seemed to happen to me so sudden. I could believe that I was actually at MEPS, making everything final.

Patience is one quality about my personality that came very useful in Des Moines at MEPS. I felt like all I did was wait, wait, and wait some more. Everything was so secure and safe. I never thought that I would ever do anything like join the army. Wake-up call was at 4:15 on Thursday to get ready for the physical. We ate breakfast and were on our way. When we got there, we had to line up and take attendance. We then met with our sergeants about the plans for the day. We then started our physicals.

I learned that if something wasn't that important about your physical history, just not to say anything about it. The less you say the better. My sergeant told me my favorite words are no and never. I felt bad not telling them, but just wanted everything to go quicker. I had my blood drawn to test for AIDS and other diseases, used a breathalyzer, had to take a hearing and eyesight test, peed in a cup to test for drugs (primarily marijuana), took a pregnancy test, had an interview with the doctor, had a head-to-toe examination, and perform exercises in front of a doctor and a nurse with my undergarments on to test my muscle capability.

All of that took about five hours. I was tired and felt violated with everything I had to do. Next, I met with a guy to discuss my job availability. He told me that the job I wanted, Health Care Specialist, was open and was the last spot available. I was very relieved. Seeing that I won’t be leaving for a while, there aren’t too many jobs to pick from because the date is so far ahead. He set up all the paperwork and I had to sign an endless amount of papers. The next eight years of my life are planned. Just saying that makes me nervous. I can’t believe I committed to such a big thing. I was fingerprinted and then had to take a survey.

My day was almost over, but before I left the most important part still remained; swearing in. After all the paper work was signed, my physical was over and done, I had to memorize a phrase that I had to say with my right hand raised in front of other members of the military. Swearing in meant that this was it and there is no turning back from here. I currently leave for basic on June 30, 2010. Wish me luck.

El verano esta viniendo!

Summer is almost here and with that said many parents are worried that they won't be able to handle the expenses. During the summer, kids in elementary school, middle school, and high school tend to rack up the parents' bill with camps and summer activities. For kids that are still fairly young, not being a daily attendee in school takes a whole new impact on parents. This means that they have to have constant supervision by them or someone else. Babysitters are often needed when in this situation, but most of them aren't cheap. Some charge up to minimum wage or charge per child. Parents might need to rethink whether going out for a night together is actually worth it, considering the total price of everything.

For high school students, it's a whole new story. They run up the bill with things like sports camps, hosting get-togethers, money for going out, pool passes, and things like such. In high school, there is a lot of competition between sports players and who's better and that's why more teenagers hope to go to summer camps so they are ready for that sport before the year actually starts. Summer is also a time for the reverse affect to occur. Getting a job during the summer is something that every teenager should have to do to reduce the cost of everything.

Summer is a prime time for families to take trips to places with each other. It's really the only time of year where they have enough time to do whatever they want without worrying about time. Now with limited budgeting within families, they are debating whether to go or not. They are now searching for places closer to home where they can do similar things, rather than spending the money to travel (especially considering the money it takes for gas money these days).

If you find yourself in a tough position as a parent, there are ways to tell your children that there are other options. They may be disappointed, but assure them that everything is okay and for them not to worry. Many kids love to go to the local pool so you could buy a family pool pass, which assures that you all could have a lot of family time. Another option is to offer a trip to a local theme park once or twice. It may not be as nice as the one you normally attend in a different state, but they are sure to have a good time regardless.

Superior Relationships 101

Finding a stable relationship is something most everyone struggles with. Any highschool relationship is normally pointless and inane. Sorry to break it to you ladies and gentlemen, but most high school relationships don't last more than a week. According to suite101.com, there are seven terms you need to drill into your brain about any relationship.
· Freedom
· Respect
· Commitment
· Trust
· Healthy conflict resolution
· Support
· Equality

Unfortunately, relationship usually don't last very long becuase people fail to sustain them. There are so many distractions that can keep you from having a long-lasting relationship (friends, family, work, addicted to only the physical part of the relationship, drugs, basically anything). A relationship should not be revolved around giving. Doing something for him or her is something that should happen in a relatioship often. Something as simple as buying flowers for them or setting up a date sometime can often spark the relationship and prevent the flame of love from burning out.

Avoid arguments and fights as much as possible. They can only lead the relationship in the wrong direction.

Tearing down the projects of Chicago

Due to low income many chicagoans families have lived in trashy, public housing, but now due to the poverty in Chicago, the city has been having to demolish them because they are getting too overwhelming. Instead of having poor, low-income housing, the federal government is making better quality housing for people. By making Chicago look like a wealthier city, they are tearing down the projects in order to have land to construct million dollar houses. Due to the raised price in housing, Chicagoans are now moving out of the city to similar cites nearby, such as Cedar Rapids. There was a drive-by a couple weeks ago in downtown Cedar Rapids. The shooter's name is "Derrick Roberts who was arrested Friday under suspicion of attempted murder, intimidation with a weapon and willful injury", says the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

That shooting might be a sign that more violence is arriving in this city because of the new Chicagoans. This was something that would go on anyways, regardless of whether the Chicagoans are moving here. I think that violence is something that Cedar Rapids needs to pay more attention to. Even though it is hard to stop someone before they are about to kill, it can be stopped and I believe that it should be. I feel as if demolishing the projects of Chicago is something that the government shouldn't do because when they replace it with one person's house they aren't doing things in order to please the most people as possible, which is what they should be doing.

To see a slide show of some of the largest projects in Chicago, check out this link.

http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF00989E1E001700992665/

OH no! Got swine flu?

As many people have heard, a breakout of a type of influenza by the name of Swine influenza has been traveling around part of the United States, Mexico, and parts of Europe. Not only is the swine flu very popular and growing in Mexico, but it is heavily spreading around in the United States. There are currently nineteen states that are either expected to have the flu or are for sure at least one person has it in the state. The most effected state is New York with 50 confirmed cases. There have been an incredible number of 68 deaths in Mexico already and over one thousand people infected. The swine influenza was raised to a level 5 pandemic on April 29, 2009.

Swine flu is usually diagnosed only in pigs or people in regular contact with them. The majority of the cases are occurring in people from age 25-44. I think that this is something that people need to take in and realize what kind of damage it can do for our country. Yeah, sure, the news cast does exaggerate a lot of stories in order to make money, but these kinds of pandemics could tear up the entire United States, just as the "black death" did in the late 19th century during 1347 and 1351. It is considered one of the deadliest pandemics in American history. It was spread around all of Europe by fleas and with the help of the black rat.

If anything, there is one thing to look forward to during this whole time of sickness; if one gets sick, they cancel school! I know we are all looking forward to that, hoping not to be the one that gets sick. You would think that more people in Iowa would be retracting the flu because we are all farmland and own so many cattle. There has not yet been one person with the flu in Iowa. I think that one of the reasons that the news overstresses the pandemic is to scare Americans into being more careful and sanitary than they have to be in order to stop the spread of the flu.

The last time that America has seen any traces of this flu was in 1976 when David Lewis of Ashley Falls, Massachusetts had been killed during his army training. After he caught it, 500 after him retracted the flu and died. Before that there was a massive killing of the swine flu in 1918 that killed 500,000 Americans and two million people world-wide.

There are some very simple ways of avoiding the swine flu. Since influenza spreads between humans by sneezing or coughing or people touching something with the virus on it and then putting into contact with their own mouth or nose, the easiest way to avoid it is to wear a face mask around pigs or other people with the flu and/or just simply don’t be around them. Scientists and researchers have not yet found a cure for this pandemic, but they are very close to one, possibly finding one within the next week. BE CAREFUL, please.

Mexico- the other follow-up

Over the few days we spent outside building the house, I got to know the family pretty well. I was one of two people out of 22 that could actually have a conversation in Spanish. Conversing with the family was one of the most memorable experiences during the whole trip. There were three members of the family: the mom, the dad, and one son.

The son was very sweet and had a very cool personality. The sun was so hot when we were working. We finished the house very fast compared to previous mission groups, so we got to have a lot of chill time. Getting to know the family was something I cherished, but the friendship I made with them was so hard to leave behind. I found out later that we have no way to connect with them after we leave the work site. I actually cried when I heard the news.

We stayed at one church during our stay in Mexico; Jesucristo es la respuesta, which means Jesus Christ is the answer. We were told that the church we stayed in was one of the nicer ones in the whole town. We even had the chance to attend a Spanish church service. One of the most memorable moments during the service was during worship when a song that both the Mexicans and the Americans knew. No matter what language you’re speaking, God always knows what you are saying.

The ride home was treacherous. I had such a hard time sleeping because I was too busy recalling all of the cool experiences I had during the trip. Going to Mexico made me realize how much I have compared to people of other areas.

Mexico- the follow-up

This is the end to the last Mexico trip blog I posted. It felt like it took years to finally arrive at the border. One thing that really shocked me was the lack of security they had when entering Mexico. We rolled down the windows to the Excursion and held our passports right next to our faces. Without checking the dates on them or really paying attention to the connection between the picture and our faces, they let us pass through. It was obvious that they didn’t care about what passed through there. The thing they cared about most was us entering back into the United States. We passed about 300 cars trying to enter into the U.S., most of them Mexican.

The change between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico was such a downgrade more than I can even explain. You would have to see it yourself to believe me. It seemed as if everywhere you looked was the “ghetto”. Buildings were run down, small, and had graffiti tattooed all over them. There were Mexican people trying to make a living out of selling pop and miscellaneous items on the street corners or on the median between going and coming traffic. There was more poverty in that one city than I had ever seen in my entire life. Overall the scarcity, deficiency, and poverty Juarez was so beautiful.

I felt so much of their pain throughout the four days I stayed there. Little things like not being able to use the tap water, taking cold showers, surviving the awful wind and sandstorms, the dreadful beating sun, the violence, and scarce materials really made me think of how much better life is for me, yet I still complain.

The house that the family had already was made out of cinderblocks, a material that acts like a freezer in the winter and a sauna in the summer. I felt so bad for the family. Their bathroom wasn’t connected to the house and was made out of plywood and duct tape, barely standing up. It looked like random scraps were holding it up. Since the family didn’t have running water anything other than a liquid put down the toilet was to be washed down with a bucket of water.

Too fat to fly?

United Airlines is currently charging "extra-wide" passengers for an extra seat. Now the flight attendants will be on the plane looking for large passengers who can't buckle their seat belts or put their arm rests down completely. This is something that should've been paid more attention to earlier. They are doing this because the weight of one person may be the weight of two, which cannot happen or the weight of the plane won't be evenly distributed throughout the whole plane and could cause problems, especially when the bad whether kicks in because there could be uneven balancing.

If the plane is full, the overweight passenger is to wait until two seats are available that they can purchase. The passenger either has to choose from buying a whole extra seat or upgrading to a cabin seat. One of the reasons companies are doing this is to try to make the goal to make sure that the majority of the passengers are happy and comfortable while still making a profit on the discounted seating.

This will also solve any of the problems with neighbors having to deal with 'crowded space'. A lot of overweight people do not feel that this is right for them to have to pay for being a larger person. They think that it would be more sensible just to have to pay a little extra. Now that United Airlines has issued this new "law" more and more airline companies are starting the new trend as well.

Purchasing a second seat comes in helpful also for the passenger, however. Most say that it is very uncomfortable if you don’t and one seat makes you very sore after you get off the plane. It used to be that the airlines would just offer you a seat out of politeness, but now they are charging passengers because they were losing too much money considering 35 percent of all United States citizens are obese ( according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

In my opinion they should either make the seats wider, or keep charging passengers double the original price, making them very angry. If I was riding on the plane and the flight attendant approached me telling me that I am too big for just one seat I would feel very embarrassed and humiliated. That is why I would ask for a second seat even before I boarded the plane so that wouldn’t happen.

Airlines are even scrapping unnecessary items such as magazines, telephones, and occasionally life vests to make up for overweight loads. Another way to make up for people’s weight is to decrease the size and weight of their carry on bags.

Smokers can increase cancer chances by consuming fruit?

Yes it's true. On Wednesday, a new scientific study says that smokers could increase their chances of contracting colon cancer by eating fruit and vegetables as oppose to non-smokers. Consuming fruit actually helps non-smokers from catch colon cancer.

"People who eat 600 grammes or more vegetables and fruit a day appear to have a 20 to 25 percent lower chance of developing colon cancer than people who eat 220 grammes or less."

- Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

Protection against colon cancer through the consumption of fruits and vegetables all depends on the amount of smoking the person does. I think that this should be a wake up call for smokers. If someone loves fruits or vegetables, or better yet is a vegetarian, they would have to pick between the two, or risk the chance of contracting colon cancer.

In the Netherlands, colon cancer is the second most popular type of cancer right below breast cancer. The conclusion for the research about this project took approximately eight and a half years and questioned about 500,000 people about their smoking and eating habits within ten European countries. It was the first study conducted that examined the effects of fruits and vegetables on smokers versus non-smokers.

...on a sad note..

A man from Maryland is being accused of having stabbed and shot his wife and three of his kids to death before taking his own life with the same gun. Stories like this are the ones that make me question the very existence of human kind. How could someone do that to their own family? I mean he killed the ones that he made.

Despite the note the cops found telling them he had "psychological issues", there is still no reason for any of this kind of negative action to go on. Coming from someone who has dealt with violence her whole life, I say that the signs are very easy to see. If you are close to the person, it’s your job to get help for them because most of them won’t do it for themselves. A lot people with "psychological issues" tend to keep it to themselves and don't tell anyone about it. You have to be the bigger person, realize their problems and connect with them, and take them in to get some help. I can't even begin to count how many occurrences have been in relation to this one.

People that kill anyone, let alone members of their family, more than likely had problems at home or with their life during their childhood. I just finished reading a book called A Devil in the White City by Eric Larson and it tells the tale of two men who team together to create one of the first massive serial killings the United States had ever seen. H. H. Holmes, the mysterious killer who owned the World's Fair hotel where he killed young women, was very crazy and psychotic and had troubles when he was a kid. Sometimes it's very hard to tell whether someone is dealing with personal issues or not; they could keep to themselves. In the book Holmes keeps his killings as a secret and kept it out of the news for years. He used his charm and incredible personality to lure his victims in to the hotel.

So back to the original story, do you think it’s the family’s fault for not recognizing the crisis and getting the father some help? Or his own fault for not confronting the family or any others about the issues he was dealing with? Well, no matter whose fault it was they all ended up dead, anyways. Check it out at http://www.kcrg.com/

News about Juarez, Mexico has been all over the world. It’s been said that it’s the most dangerous city on Earth. Some parts of me say its true, but I went there this past spring break and nothing appeared to be that harmful. The only thing that really popped out to me was the army soldiers patrolling the area pointing their guns at you, but unless you were directly involved in the drug wars you were not to be harmed. Rumor has it that there are random shootings and stray bullets flying around the border, but in reality, that is not true. You have to be either selling drugs or buying them to be harmed in any way.

So basically what I was told was that the majority of the newscast is false and they are only trying to say those things because it’s their job and they want to make money off of interesting stories. This really made me distressed. Since Juarez is a very run down place and nothing positive has been on the news about Juarez, Mission groups all over have been canceling due to fear of the violence. Do you know what this means for Mexico? Fewer houses are going to be built which means more poverty. Part of the reason why there is so much violence is because the Mexican government just doesn’t care so they let it fly for so long and eventually got out of hand. Going to Mexico was something that I will never forget and violence shouldn’t be something that should stop anyone. Just don’t get involved with the drugs and everything will be fine and dandy.

ps: dont listen to the news.

Mexico first-hand

This last spring break, I went to Mexico with my church, which was 22 other people, in hopes of going on a life changing experience. I have been inspired in more than one way. I have really become fond of mission trips and am considering making a career out of it. I have always wanted to help others, but was never really sure how to get involved. Let me give you an overview of the whole trip.

First of all, we left New Covenant Bible church at around 8:00 pm on March 20. I was so very excited. There was only one other time that I had been out of the country before this and that was to Canada. Most mission groups cancelled their trip to Mexico this year due to all of the violence. The drive took around 24 hours to get to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I can not even begin to explain the amount of sleeping positions I tried. I also became very fond of coloring books and making bracelets. That was basically my life for most of those hours. When in doubt, whip out the crayons and coloring books! I also played some puzzles and games with the people on the bus. I developed a mad skill for the game “catch phrase.” Ever played it? It’s really fun and time consuming.

When we got to the church (Sandia Presbyterian Church) we were staying at in Albuquerque we went to church service. We all took showers in the University of New Mexico; I thought to myself that this wouldn’t be such a bad place to go to college. It felt nice to step in a nice warm shower after being on the road for so long. We arrived back at the church and eventually fell asleep after a couple hours of just chatting outside in the beautiful weather. The background filled with mountains made me stare in awe, for I don’t usually get to see such stunning sites as that. I had never been to New Mexico, or even anywhere in the South West for that matter. We went out to eat at The Frontier, probably the best authentic Mexican food I have ever tasted. You wouldn’t think that the best Mexican food would be anywhere other than Mexico, right? No, that’s wrong and I found the right place.

The next morning we packed our bags and were off to the city of El Paso in Texas, a very populated Mexican town. The temperature was absolutely amazing. There were so many things to look at, I was in awe. The drive to El Paso wasn’t that bad. El Paso was a city right on the border so the view into Mexico was so amazing. Its incredible how close to things can be to each other, yet the amount of difference is still massive. It made me want to cry at the look of the little run-down houses and I wasn’t even in the worst part. We went to a mall called the Kennedy mall. I swear it has to be the biggest mall i have ever been to. My story continues in a new post.

Treachery to the Max

While I was reading through some of the most recent news stories and I came across one about Iowa farmers neglecting their cattle and animals. I couldn't bear to read about this story because my love for animals is so great and I can't understand how or why someone could do that to their own animals. The Plymouth County sheriff's office cased two charges of failing to dispose of a dead and rotting animal, plus four charges of failing to vaccinate the terriers and coonhounds that they owned. By this, I think that other farmers should pay attention to this incident and learn from it because animals shouldn’t be treated in such a way.

I always watch the show ‘Animal Cops’ and learn that the main reason that animals are severly abused is due to lost income or unemployment of the owners. They don't care enough to treat them the way they should be treated, but in the long run cattle may as well be the best thing for them. Cattle provide food for the family and could even rake in some cash if they were to sell them. When animal owners abuse and mistreat their animals or pets, it makes me feel worse and worse about america and how selffish we are. There are people all over the world that would love to take care of them and have them for a food supply, but that just ruins things for anyone who could've had them.

Blogging 101

In order to blog, you probably should have a creative mind. You have to have the ability to entertain an audience and keep them wanting more. I am not quite sure how I am at that because I don’t really talk to others or my peers about my personal blog. I was told to pick a few topics that really grab my attention and that I am really interested in. They have to be topics that you are fairly familiar with because you are going to be telling others about that topic and you want them to be well informed and make them think you know more than them. For me, blogging is something I try to do whenever I can, but most of the time I am just so busy and never have time. I think of blogging as some time to kind of bond with yourself and use you’re noggin a bit more than usual. Blogging is very relaxing and can actually be fun if you make it out to be.

When I first started blogging, I was very full of new and cool ideas to talk about on my blog, but now I have kind of run out and don’t really have a theme. Sometimes when I am out of ideas I search on Google for current events that I could talk about and put my say into it. A lot of blogs that I have glanced at have some sort of theme or main idea to them, but mine doesn’t. I feel that my blog doesn’t really have a purpose so I never really know what to talk about while blogging. When something randomly clicks into my head when I am not blogging, I just write it somewhere so I don’t forget what I wanted to write about.

I think that typing on the computer is way much faster than writing it out in a notebook. That’s one of the reasons why I prefer my blog over my writing notebook. I find myself finding more things to write about when I am on the computer because I always have the choice to use my search engine or not, but when I am writing in my notebook I have to come up with a lot of the ideas by myself. If I am really desperate for a topic I use my surroundings to help me come up with something to talk about.

I am not very coordinated with computers, so when I try to get new gadgets on my blog and other cool applications, it’s rather hard for me to go through with it because I am not sure how to do it. When I look at other blogs it always makes me feel like I should improve my own blog because I am comparing it to theirs’ and I want my blog to look advanced, too.

When I start a new topic for a fresh blog, I always feel like I need a visual, like a picture or something of that nature. I never want to leave my audience hanging so they are not sure what I am talking about. I always try to include at least one picture for readers. I always wonder what people think about my blog when they see it. Do they think it’s cool? Bad? Random? And if you think it’s random, its okay, because it kind of is.

Blogging 101

RIP Tyler

For many years now, coping with death has been something I have gotten used to. Just Tuesday morning, I lost a friend by the name of Tyler Toll. I have known him for about 7 years now with a couple of no contact years in between. Coping with his death has been a struggle for many, including myself. When I heard the news (about 30 minutes after it happened), I started to shed a couple tears. I couldn’t help myself. Many of my Cedar Valley friends texted me and informed me another time about the incident. He died just about 3 months before graduation.

It’s hard to think about that fact you’ll never know when the person sitting right next to you will be gone, just like that. There is a song by The Fray called “You found me” that I blogged about earlier. That song reminds me so much of this incident. It’s so ironic that the lead singer is talking about how he lost someone on the spot with no warnings, and what happened? Tyler is dead. I have had Tyler in my prayers every night since then.

Michael Phelps... smokes marijuana?

Just recently Michael Phelps was caught red handed in some pictures smoking marijuana. The pot-smoking incident, exposed by the ever-so-famous News of the World through a photo taken at a house party in South Carolina last November, isn't the first time Phelps has fallen off his sports hero pedestal. When he was nineteen he was pulled over by the police after strolling through a stop sign and charged with driving while intoxicated (DUI). After everything was let out and he acknowledged the pictures, he posted this on his facebook site: "I'm 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public -- it will not happen again." The interesting thing is that he has never failed a drug test during his whole career and even volunteered to be further tested to determine whether he is taking performance-enhancing drugs.
I feel rather bad for helping publicize his negativity, but I think stories like this need to be recognized. Celebrities sure are great, but definitely not flawless. They probably make more mistakes than the average person. Some may think that posting this is wrong, but I feel that it is necessary for the public to know about his "wrong doing" and hopefully Phelps regrets his experience and learns from his mistakes.

NEW oldest woman!

Did you hear? Uzbekistan has found the new OLDEST WOMAN. According to BBC, Tuti Yusupova was born in 1800, which would make her 128; the oldest woman to ever walk the face of the earth. She is six years older than the previous record holder; Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died on Aug. 4, 1997 at age 122. She says that the only health problem she's came across over the years is that her hearing isn't as good as it used to be, which is very normal for older people. That's crazy. I can't even imagine living to be that old. If I ever get that old, please just stop the life support coming. People that live to be that old must have been very healthy people. Most of the oldest people claim that they never smoked or drank throughout their entire life. Its really hard to find someone now-a-days that can admit to that.

You found me- The Fray

"You found me" by The Fray


I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, "Where have you been?" He said, "Ask anything."

Where were you, when everything was falling apart.
All my days were spent by the telephone that never rang
And all I needed was a call that never came
To the corner of 1st and Amistad

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me.

But in the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who's ever known
Who I am, who I'm not and who I wanna to be
No way to know how long she will be next to me

Chorus

The early morning, the city breaks
And I've been calling for years and years and years
And you never left me no messages
You never sent me no letters
You got some kind of nerve taking all I want

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, Where were you? Where were you?

Chorus

Why'd you have to wait, to find me, to find me?



"You found me" by The Fray is one of those songs to listen to on a really bad day. It surely wont bring your spirits up, but it helps cope with whatever problems you may be having. The main idea of this song is about the girlfriend of this guy and she has been hurt. The guy finally finds God... after the fact that she killed herself. The lead singer says these lyrics are exactly what he would say to God if he met him face to face. The lyrics really touch the heart and makes me wonder who I will lose next in life. Finding God is something that anyone can do, anytime. You don't have to wait for him to come around to find you. You have to go to him if you really need help and he will work in your favor.
I think this song is explaining how he didn't go to God quick enough and before he knew it, his girlfriend committed suicide.
If you search around on m.t.v.'s website they discuss why they wrote the song. One of their points was that the lead singer lost his mom to cancer and even though he prayed everyday for a year and she still died. The reason he sings this song with those lyrics is because he had problems after that and he feels that when he found god that it was too late for any recovery, whatsoever. At the end, he realizes that he has been watched over the whole time and that even though he thought God wasn't there for him, he really was. I think a lot of people misinterpret this song to be way more confusing than it really is because it has a lot of meaning to it. A lot of people could really learn from the meaning of this song.
I was listening to the members of The Fray talk about and explain this song on Youtube. They said that they didn't really know what or where the street Amistad was before someone suggested they used it. They believe that it's a dirt road in the country. This song is, by far, one of their best songs yet.

Here's the video if you care to watch it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obhdTlImFBo

Austrailian wildfire

On February 8, a wildfire broke out in Australia raising the the death toll from the deadliest wildfires ever to strike Australia to 128 people. More deaths are expected to be accounted for as they move to land that hasn't been searched yet. It was the largest and deadliest fire to ever occur in Australia. All of the deaths happened in Victoria state. There were 750 home counted that were destroyed from the wildfires. AOL News says that only five houses were left from one neighborhood of about forty. That ratio is incredible. Just think about it. How fortunate would you feel if your house was standing out of eight other family's' houses. I would feel very guilty and ask myself why my house was standing rather than any others. When I hear about disastrous news from other countries or continents, it doesn't physically effect me. I know for a fact that some Americans will read the title and if it doesn't effect them they will discontinue reading it. From what I've heard from foreign exchange students and other media, Americans are perceived as being very selfish and greedy. Don't get me wrong, but some people are like that and you can find people like that in every country. I actually care and feel sympathy for countries that go through hard times, so I figured I would slip a blog in on here about them and recognize that they do need help. I want countries to think globally and put their care and thoughts more into other countries. Sometimes I wonder how many people from other countries actually paid attention to the Cedar Rapids flood of 2008. I know that the day of the flood, it was top story in Spain for the whole day. With as much snow as we got this year, people are claiming that we are going to get hit with another flood. Just hearing that makes me want to start packing my belongings right this very second. Natural disasters are things that people need to take more seriously. Anything could happen to Earth to cause human life to be gone forever.

love life? Nahh.

Most of my friends have boyfriends, but when I really think about it, it’s not something that I need in life right now. Having someone to hang out with, spend time with, and love everyday would be something very nice, but not essential at this point in time of my life. I also think that getting a good education and being involved in sports and extra-curricular activates is more important than hanging out with a boyfriend. When I hear or talk to older couples or parents of my friends about them being high school sweethearts it makes me wonder how they really did with their high school education. Most of them say they didn’t do very good and I bet it was because they were too occupied with their significant other.

My mom always complains about how she is going to be alone for the rest of her life. She doesn’t really get out too much and has been let down by a couple people online. I always tell her that meeting people online is never a good idea because anything could happen, and I don’t wish that for her. She always tells me that she has no way to meet any guys because there aren’t any good places to meet guys. I believe it has to come natural and you can’t go out and look for them because they will come to you. I am always told that I could get a decent boyfriend, but I never really try that hard, and I’m okay with that because I’m better off right now. Now that I am getting older and smarter, I have realized that having a relationship in college would only throw me off. It's one of those things that would be really nice, but not necessary. I would rather just have really good guy friends that I can just hang out with that won't be a distraction.

Another upcoming event has really been bothering me; WPA-Women Pay All dance. I don't have a date, but yet I am too shy to ask any guys. One thing that bothers me the most about WPA is that the girls have to ask the guys. This is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. I'm am never really sure who I want to go with and by the time I decide, normally its too late to ask the person I want to go with because they already have a date. Whenever dances roll around, my self-esteem gets really low because I feel like I'm not good enough for any guys because they don't ask me. I guess that is one thing in life I am going to have to overcome.

Plans for college?

For years, I have known about my step dad's involvement with Mount Mercy. He always promised that I would get a free ride to college because he works there. I never really thought about a back-up plan. Just a about a week ago, my mom informed me that he had been fired for being dishonest with Mount Mercy about something. I was torn. I didn't really know what to think. In about a year, I will be registering for college. That's something that really scares me because now I have to choose where I'm going to start off my life in the real world, unlike a week ago.

In a way, my step-dad losing his job was a good thing. Mount Mercy doesn't have any good medical classes. I am looking to go to a college that offers classes for pediatrics, which is the route I have chosen to begin my career. Lately, I have been reconsidering what I want to go to college for. I feel like I need to talk to people about it and what would be the best job for me because it's something that's going to affect me for the rest of my life.

My math teacher told me that he wants everyone to experience the dorm life for at least a couple years of the time your in college. He says it’s a great way to feel like you’re on your own. He told me that the first couple years of his college career, he messed up completely. Seeing that the advisors are nothing like the counselors during high school, you have to worry about yourself because they won’t do it for you. Being alone without my mom kind of scares me because she won’t really be there for me and I will have to rely on others to get my back. I am trying to prepare for college by creating good study habits because going to college comes with a lot of homework and much studying.

A lot of people also tell me that you have to know your limits. When its late Sunday night and you haven’t finished your homework and some people ask you to hang out, you have to be able to tell them no, even though it’s going to be very difficult. Another important factor to help in college is to actually go to class. People think its okay just to skip class because they don’t have to go, but it does indeed affect them because they miss the whole lesson for the day and gradually get behind and struggle to keep up. People that drop out of high school and expect to get a good job and do good for the rest of their life, usually don’t end up very good in the end. I also feel that waiting a year after graduating from high school is a very bad idea because college normally expects you to remember stuff from your high school classes, but people don’t because they don’t use that information during the year they take off.

The New Black President

In my opinion, i see black and white people as one. There is no difference in my mind so having a black president doesnt really effect me as much as it should. I am not one of those people that are getting out of control because its something that hasnt happened before. I really think that Obama was the best choice for Americans because he promises change. The one factor that draws me to him is his way that he connects with his audience. He is a very good public speaker and really gets the point across.

I am not racist or anything like that, but with the new black president, some blacks feel that they have more power over the whites now. Some think that they have more rights and are more important because they are dark skinned. I think that they are more respected, but just as important as white people, so they shouldn't get cocky about it. The day of the inauguration, black people at kennedy were screaming and running around like crazy idiots. Yeah, its exicting, but control yourself, please?

Iowa Smoke Free Air Act

Just recently, the Smoke free Air Act was issued. It prohibits smoking in almost all public places and enclosed areas within places of employment, as well as some outdoor areas. Is this something that was necessary? In my opinion, yes. Lately, my friends have been talking about the third hand smoke deal. They said that its hurtful to young children and others if the smell of smoke on people's hands gets into their system. I'm not quite sure if that's correct, but it's definitely a possibility. The two places i noticed the most drastic changes were bowling alleys and restaurants. It feels so different to walk into a bowling alley and have it not reek of smoke, but it is a really nice change. It is also a pleasure to not have to tell the host at a restaurant whether you want to sit in the smoking section or non-smoking section.


I definitely feel that this was one of the brightest decisions for the health of the human race. The rate of death from second-hand smoke was going up, but hopefully this will be the "saving grace" for the death rate due to smoke. When people are around smokers, they don't realize how much it affects your lungs and health. I am really going to enjoy the fresh air in the places I eat. I wish that we could do something about the not-so-brilliant parents that smoke around their children. I think that the next era of children will have an advantage because the Smoke Free Air Act was passed and they won't have to spend so much time around smoke. I hope in the future that more and more states will realize the danger of smoking and do something about it. A lot of older friends that I have are smokers. I look down upon them because of the recent chaos about it. I always encourage them to quit. I don't think that I could ever start smoking because the thing that makes me cringe is the thought that it's the reason my Dad and Grandmother have passed away. That tragedy has kept me out of a lot of trouble because I want to make them proud and stay out of trouble. I may not be able to see them, but they are always with me watching my every move.

Competition @ LINN-MAR

Well as you may know, I am currently in the prep show choir at Kennedy High school. This past weekend we had a competition at Linn-Mar High in Marion. We had one of the best performing times out of all the groups; nine at night. Since we were performing one of the last, we had to take advantage of that opportunity to impress the crowd and the judges that night. I didn't really think we were that prepared for the competition, but I was totally blown away by the outcome. Personally, when I'm on stage performing in front of hundreds of people I get really tense and worry about every little thing I do. It's not that I'm not physically ready, but the mental part of everything gets to me.

The factor that gets me the most about stage fright is that anyone could be "all eyes on you". It makes me wonder how many people actually look at me verses the people that don't even notice I'm there. Being in the front row, I think about how much it would affect the group. If I mess up, chances are that someone behind is going to be looking at me and repeat the same movement as me. After our show was performed and we were off stage, we had some chill time until finals. I couldn't stop thinking about whether we did really good or really bad. From what I had heard we did spectacular, but I wasn't going to trick myself into thinking that so I wouldn't be upset with the results. Sure enough, finals time rolled around and everyone got more and more stressed about how the turnout was going to be. We ended up getting the award for FIRST place. Yeah, I know. It was sweet. Being in show choir has taught me many things. Before every performance, I make sure I go on the stage with an open mind and am prepared for anything that gets thrown at me. I have learned to perform to the best of my ability and no matter what place we get, we are number one in my eyes and things couldn't have gone any better.

One thing I hate about competitions is the way people act differently and sometimes immature. As of a couple days ago, Protege is no longer able to wear Happiness jackets during their performances because a couple of the kids in Protege were complained about by a Jefferson mom and were said to be 'laughing at a Jefferson performance'. I talked to them about it and they said they were only telling each other that Jefferson's show was "legit". One big factor that brought this upon us was the amount of competition between Kennedy and Jefferson. It really aggravates me to hear that we are no longer able to wear Happiness jackets due to a big misconception. Wearing Happiness jackets during their performances has been a tradition for over twenty years and it kills me to see it be taken away.

We were told that this year’s Protégé ensemble is the best one Kennedy High School has ever seen. And to think I didn’t want to be in it at the beginning of the year? I didn’t expect the season to start of this great. I have to remember that the season isn’t over and we still have to face many really good competitors. We need not to get big heads about winning grand champs.

Preparing for college

Looking ahead, going to college is something that can be looked at in both positive and negative ways. Sure, going to bed whenever you want and having the freedom to do whatever you like may seem heaven-like now. In reality, it is a privilege you have to keep strong control of. Tonight at youth group, nine college students came in to talk to the high school kids in preparation for college. Most of them said that getting away from home seemed like such a good thought until they actually went through with it. One girl talked about a phase called 'freshman fifteen'. It's where you're bound to gain at least fifteen pounds by the end of your freshman year due to pigging out beyond control and eating unhealthy foods. This definitely seems like a typical freshman in college. For me, I am not going to Kirkwood, unlike most of my friends. I have a free ride to Mount Mercy College because my stepfather is a professor who teaches computer science there. I am hoping to receive a scholarship to some other out-of-state college so I can meet other people and have more career opportunities. I am planning to go to college for pediatrics, to be a children’s doctor. Seeing as Mount Mercy doesn’t have anything to do with that, I am going to have to take nursing classes for two years and transfer to get my PhD at another college. In order to make the right decisions while in college, I have been told to get a accountability partner. This person must be trustworthy and willing to talk to me at any time of the day. They should also probably be a Christian, so that they know what’s right and what I should stay away from just in case I need them.

StReSsED

Do you ever have those days where everything seems to be going on all at the same time? I have that problem daily. Currently, I am juggling three sports: wrestling cheerleading, show choir, and bowling. For some strange reason, they always schedule practices and games on the same night, so am often finding myself skipping practices to attend another one. Tomorrow, I have a mandatory choir practice from 3 until 6, cheerleading starting at 3:45 until 6:15, and show choir from 6:30 until 9. That would be the story of my life; always crammed with activities. Being a typical teenager comes with the life-outside-school. I have the tendency to argue with my mom and brother, which is where most of my stress comes from. Getting homework done is one of my LEAST favorite things to do. I always find myself procrastinating, putting everything off until the last minute or night before its due. When competition season arrives for show choir (about 2 weeks), I am going to find it extremely difficult to finish my homework. The assignments that get me the most are big projects like posters and presentations. Most times when I get those type of big assignments there’s more than one I have to, for multiple classes. When discussing cheerleading this year, well, its kind of a train wreck. We currently have 2 members on the wrestling cheer squad, Michaela Caldbeck and me. That is putting stress on us because if one of us is ill, there is no hope of any cheerleaders attending the meet because no girl is going to want to cheer by herself. When I am stressed, the method I use to calm me down is just by relaxing and having a hot cup of tea. This assures comfort and helps take cares away, even though it sounds really cheesy. Another thing I do to help calm me down is reading. It takes my mind off of everything.