Valentines Thrift Dance!

Tonight I attended the Valentine's Thrifty Dance for Campus Life. It was definitely awesome. You had to dress in the best outfit you could find from a thrift store like Goodwill or Salvation Army. There were some pretty awesome outfits I must say. My friends and I went to Goodwill before to get our clothes and we had so much fun. Then we got there and danced the night away. It was a great way to take your mind of the idea of not having a valentine when all your friends do :) Although I was dreading this day, It turned out to be a great Valentine's day with lots of fun, friends, and dancing!

Impassioned Sunset

In the painting “Waterloo Bridge,” Andre Derain reveals an exuberant scene depicting a view of a river leading up to a city at sunset. The vibrant and energetic colors express a lighthearted and cheerful mood. The sun beaming down on the river develops a static and jovial movement, suggesting that the sun is setting. The intense texture and use of constant stippling portrays a majestic explosiveness, almost as if the sun is bursting out onto the city. Derain’s passionate and whimsical use of color, movement, and texture collectively come together to illustrate his enthusiastic and cheery view of the city of London.

Ana's Story page 24-46

Although Ana and her sister Isabel don't live with their father, they get to spend time with him during the week. Ana feels safe with him unlike she does at her grandmother's house. Everything is an adventure with him and they have great times when they are together. In his world she was safe, in her grandma's world she felt vulnerable.

Her grandma never wanted to talk about AIDS to Ana so when was ten, she took her to a children's hospital to the nurses could teach her what she needed to know. At school she heard her friends making fun of others with AIDS and she felt ashamed. She didn't say anything though because she was afraid of being rejected and losing her friends.

Ana's grandma lived with her boyfriend Ernesto. He is described as looking like Humpty Dumpty. When he came home from work he stripped down to his white tank top with his gut hanging over his belt buckle. He had black greasy hair and heavy eye brows. Ana and Isabel did not feel safe whatsoever around him. They were always afraid to be left alone in the room with him. Many nights their grandma and Ernesto drank heavily and smoked, ending up in big fights with doors slamming and screaming. The girls would stay in their rooms afraid of what was going on. As time went on, Ernesto became more and more scary to the girls. Sometimes he would pull them close and touch them in bad areas. It got worse and worse as time went on. Ana didn't know what to do or who to tell. She finally got the nerve up to tell her grandma what he was doing to them. She did not believe her. She told her to stop lying. The next time she saw her dad, she told him about it. He became angry and said if it ever happened again he would hurt Ernesto. A couple days later, Ana woke up to the sound of a slamming door. She sat up and saw Isabel leaning against the door sobbing. Her hair was tangled and her skin was red and blotchy. Next Ernesto walked into the room and threatened Ana. "Tell your father and you'll never see him again," he said. She screamed for her grandma but she was not there.

Ana's Story pg 9-23

I finished the book Crazy Love and so now I have started a new book called Ana's Story. This book was written by Jenna Bush, the daughter or President Bush. The story is told in the perspective of Ana, a young girl who was born with HIV. It is a real story about a real girl. When she was very young, her mother died. Her sister and her were sent to live with their grandmother because their father was too young to take care of them alone. Ana never knew why she had to take a pill every morning that her grandma gave her, but she did it anyways. Finally one day she was told why. Her grandma told her she was born with the disease HIV but that she was not allowed to tell anyone. It was to be kept a secret. From then on, Ana worried about the way people looked at her and was scared they knew. She feared the secret was bad and something to be ashamed of, so she never told anyone.

So far this book has been interesting to me. Most of all it has been sad. I feel bad for any young girl that is going through so much and is so ashamed of herself. At that young of an age you shouldn't have any cares in the world. Unfortunately for her, she has a lot to deal with. Her home situation and her disease are keeping her from enjoying her childhood and just being a kid.

Profile of the Obsessed

Obsessed: To have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic.

This chapter of Crazy Love is about being obsessed with God.

It starts off by talking about lovers. Only loving the people who love you back will get you no where. Of course everyone loves their friends, their family, and the people that love them back. Even non-Christians do that. There has to be more to our faith than friendliness, politeness, and even kindness. In Luke chapter 6 it says "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even "sinners" love those who love them. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back." Francis Chan says that "True faith is loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out." Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for them. He commands that we give to people without expecting them to give us something in return. People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly, without censure. They love those who hate them and who can never love them back.

Next he talks about risk takers. We are so consumed by our safety and make it our highest priority. Often times we pray to God and ask him to keep us safe on this trip or drive. In the words of Chan "we have elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God's best is, whatever would bring God the most glory, or whatever would accomplish His purposes in our lives and in the world." People who are obsessed with Jesus care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.

The humble. Too many people in our society today who have faithfully served Christ and praised by others and start to believe they are really important. What is more important than anything else is giving God the glory. Without Him none of it would be possible and through HIM we can do all things. Pride and selfishness is something that keeps us from being the best we can be and giving Him everything. I find myself struggling with this a ton. If I do something good or praise worthy, I first think of myself and how great it was. In reality, I should be giving all the praise to God because without Him, I am nothing and can do nothing. A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that sin of pride is always a battle. They seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known.

Teenagers, Friends, and Bad Decisions

This article about teenage driving is very interesting but not very surprising. It is no surprise to me that teenagers are bad drivers. I see it every day in the parking lot at school. When teenagers get around their friends, things change. Everyone wants to look "cool" in front of their friends and be a risk taker. Obviously this is getting people nowhere. So many car crashes and deaths are caused by teenagers these days and their reckless driving. This article reinforced the idea that teenagers are influenced greatly by their peers and friends. Our driving changes when our friends are around which is not a good thing at all and is making the roads less and less safe.

Ski time!

I'm in the airport right now waiting to board the plane to Utah! I'm so excited to go skiing for the weekend in one of the most scenic places ever, Salt Lake City. The mountains, the snow, the trees, and everything else about it there is beautiful. My dad is taking just me skiing for two days and I'm so excited to spend time with him! I'll try to put some pictures on if I get a chance!