Friday Night Freedom

Tonight's movie night. Meaning less study time. Last friday looked like this:

Believe me, it was tons of fun.

I've had a stressful day and it's time to unwind, is how I look at it. Everything's going pretty well, however. I need to get some cleaning done...and lots of homework. But I got this. I started a project of drawing stingrays and the Psalms scripture "Be still, and know that I am God." It's pretty cool so far, and gets rid of that terrible white expanse behind the tv entertainment center.

My fantastic aunt and uncle bought me a new bike, so I will be getting some exercise and biking to class in the mornings, especially when mission term starts in January. What is mission term, you ask? Well, it is a two month-long period where we, the AIMers, must not use our cars, text services, video games, movies, or any fast food providers. So we will be walking and busing (and biking) to classes, to the grocery store, and anywhere else we happen to want to go. As you can imagine, we will lose quite a lot of weight from the additional exercise and the lack of quick-and-easy food. Considering that I have been living off fruit and vegetables, and my roommates off of vienna sausages and spaghetti-O's, I don't believe much cooking will be done. Hooray for preparation to be a missionary!!
I got my passport application today, so that in February I will in be in Mexico!

Classes have gotten tougher, but I've been acing my tests and staying caught up (soon to hopefully get ahead), so it's not so bad. I've learned more about Christianity in this week and a half than I did in years of halfhearted personal study, so it feels pretty great. However, it's time for me to put away all the stuff that has accumulated on my bed. Much love and God bless!

AIMing from Lubbock,
Katie

AIM Chapel 8/16

Kaitlin has chapel every morning before classes. You can watch it live at Ustream or you can watch recorded broadcasts at any time.




Video streaming by Ustream

In the Beginning...

Well, here it is. I'm in AIM; it's my third day; I'm going to chapel in about forty minutes. Waiting for my roommate Dana to get out of the shower. Excited that today we get out at noon to go run essential errands instead of having more  orientation until 4:00 (only so many times you can cover the rules). Still nervous, just like the first day, that I will mess things up and either make an enemy of one of my classmates, or get Kris and Pat (AIM Director and Asst. Director, respectively) watching me like a hawk. It's not that I expect to mess up, but man-oh-man I'd hate to do it.
So I do believe I have been running off about five hours' sleep every night for four nights. It's murder. So I went to bed early last night (a little earlier. An hour. Every bit helps), and we'll see how that works out for my heavy-lidded eyes this morning.
I built a cheap entertainment center yesterday and felt quite...independent. I also bought the thing because my tv, Playstation, and dvd player are not going on the floor (and we are incredibly short on large pieces of furniture), meaning I lost twenty bucks' worth of food. Which is essential, because even though we're all pitching in for groceries, my two roommates and I, it still stings mortally when somebody steals the last apple I bought. However, I love my roommates. Dana flew in from North Carolina, and boy, are her arms -- nah, I'm playing. Anyway, she's a doll. She's absolutely hilarious and has the sassy wit of any pretty Palestinian pretending to be Bon Qui Qui. Heather, the lucky ducky with the single bedroom (and coincidentally lots of space...), is sweet as pie. She's our roomie and parttime chauffeur because she brought a car. Big mistake ;) But it's okay; we're pitching in for gas money. Anyway, this is update one, in the early morning, and I must go because I still have boxes to unpack and figure out where I can hide its contents and pretend I'm still a swell person. Which is totally neato burrito.
-- Katie