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Happy birthday to my favorite twin cousins! It's not technically your birthday here, but it is there.

One More Thing :)

I was made to love You
I was made to find You
I was made just for You
Made to adore You
I was made to love and be loved by You
-Made to Love, by tobyMac

Bittersweet

Finals week: This week is stressful, exciting, sad, wonderful, hard work, fun, and exhausting all rolled up into one. It's a bittersweet feeling.....so nice to have classes over with, but so sad to have to say goodbye to everyone.

Let's recap the past few days:
Last Friday (not technically a part of finals week, but whatever): First part of the Cell Biology Final Exam: the Essay *ominous music*. We just had to sit down and write about the Central Dogma of Molecular Genetics (if you really care to know what that is, ask me about it sometime. I'll tell you waaaaay more than anyone should know). I wrote for nearly 3 hours on this thing. But it was a relief to have it over.

Saturday: Collapse, hang out with friends, etc.

Sunday: 3 fire alarms (false alarms) in about a 17 hour period: 2 a.m., 4 p.m., and approximately 4:30 p.m. The two afternoon ones involved standing outside in the pouring rain. Also, tornado warning! Definitely an interesting day, weather-wise. Unfortunately, it was never bad enough that we Kansans felt the need to go down to the basement (i.e. we never saw a tornado on the ground heading our way)

Monday: Reading Day - Rachel spends a good portion of the day sleeping.

Tuesday: (today) 2nd part of Cell Bio final- multiple choice. Also, Receiving-of-the-Final-Grade-for-Cell-Bio, because Hugo is very prompt in his grading. I got 58 points out of 60 on that huge essay (super exciting!) and an A overall in the class! YEESSS!

Looking ahead:
Wednesday: No finals for Rachel. Relax, finish up chemistry lab reports, and study.
Thursday: Chemistry and Speech final. Speech is pud, hopefully I'll do well enough on the chem final to keep my grade at the borderline A it is now.... :/
Friday: No finals for Rachel!!! Woot woot! Hanging out and packing up.... :(
Saturday: Back to Salina for SVHE graduation. Then back to Hesston for last night with my family here :( :( :(
Sunday: Hesston's graduation. Saying goodbye to everyone, some just for the summer, some til who knows when....maybe forever. Sunday is going to be the first time I've seriously cried since my last basketball game, which was over a year ago. :'(

lyrics

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
-Give Me Your Eyes, by Brandon Heath

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom....

Indescribable, Uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name
You are amazing God
All-powerful, Untamable
awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God!
-Indescribable, by Chris Tomlin

I will dance, I will sing
To be mad/ for my King
Nothing, Lord, is hindering
This passion in my soul

But I'll become/ even more undignified than this
Though some may say it's foolishness
And I'll become/ even more undignified than this
Leave my pride by my side
-Undignified, by Chris Tomlin

I've been spending way too long checking my life in the mirror
and bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer
but my breath fogged up the glass
so I drew in a face and I laughed
-I'm Yours, by Jason Mraz

And I'm acting as if
this blue sky's never gonna rain down on me
And I'm telling myself
this true love's never gonna leave me lonely
Unless there's something I've missed
I'm acting as if
-As If, by Sara Evans

So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You can stand through the pain
You won't drown
And someday what's lost will be found
if you stand in the rain
-Stand in the Rain, by Superchic(k)

While cleaning out old files on my computer, I found an old random writing by me and Sarah. So I thought I'd stick it up here...

THE INSANITY SHOW

RACHEL: Welcome to 'The Insanity Show! I'm one of your hosts, Rachel, and this is your other host, Sarah.

SARAH: Hello everyone! Today we will be interviewing some of the characters from Star Trek. Say 'hi' to the camera, everyone!

SPOCK: *raises eyebrow*

KIRK:*combing hair* What? Are we on? *looks up* Hello!

DATA: 'Hi'

PICARD: Hello.

SARAH: So...hi. What's up?

SPOCK: The sky, the clouds, the ceiling, the s-

SARAH: Maybe I should rephrase that. How are things going for all of you?

DATA: What things?

RACHEL: *slaps forehead* I told you we should have stuck to humans...Anyway, on to the first topic. Ahem. *pulls out script, reads* 'How Kirk Is Pathetic Without Spock.' Interesting.....

KIRK: WHAT!?!?!

SARAH: That's what it says.

KIRK: I'm not pathetic!

RACHEL: The polls disagree.

DATA: Based on the fact that I do not know either of the two, may I be excused from the discussion?

SARAH: Certainly. The lobby is down the hall and to the left. *Data leaves* You too, Picard?

PICARD: I'll stay.

KIRK: Yes, stay and join me in the glorious battle against offensive blond sadists!

PICARD: *to Sarah* Where did you say the lobby was?

SARAH: *repeats directions* Back to the discussion.

KIRK: I am NOT pathetic!

RACHEL: Oh yeah?

KIRK: Yeah!

SARAH: Then how come in The Search for Spock, when, I might point out, he is not around to correct your mistakes, you blow up your ship?

KIRK: Um....

RACHEL: And, in the one movie he is entirely not in, you die! Twice!

SPOCK: *looking interested* Is that medically possible?

KIRK: Shut up, pointy ears!

SARAH: Actually, I like the ears.

RACHEL: So do I.

SPOCK: This could be the first time that someone has.

KIRK: No, there was that giant bug-thing from Devil in the Dark.

RACHEL: Do you have a point?

KIRK: *nods head* That only freaky bugs and geeks like the ears.

SARAH: Watch it, fat boy!

KIRK: I'm not fat!

RACHEL: For fear of losing one or more of our guest stars, I think it's time to end this discussion.

--------COMMERCIAL BREAK------

RACHEL: Well, we're back, and after 10 minutes of assuring Kirk that he is neither pathetic nor fat, we will be resuming the discussions. So....next topic: 'What Was Your Least Favorite Episode?' Kirk?

KIRK: Probably A Private Little War.

RACHEL: And why is that?

KIRK: My hair got messed up!

SARAH: You also get attacked by a giant poisonous monkey-thing, if I remember correctly.

KIRK: Yes! That was how my hair got messed up!

SARAH: *cough* egotistical *cough* And your least favorite episode, Spock?

SPOCK: Same here.

RACHEL: *sarcastically* What, did something happen to your hair, too?

SPOCK: No, I was shot.

SARAH: That sucks.

SPOCK: Every time I beam down, there's always something lurking around down there that says, ' I'll aim for the Vulcan.' Everything always seems to happen to me.

RACHEL: That's probably because things can happen to you that would kill humans.

SPOCK: So, basically, I'm a reusable target.

SARAH: With cool ears. At least you're not an extra.

SPOCK: A what?

RACHEL: An expendable crewman.

SPOCK: Huh?

RACHEL: You know, a redshirt. One of those guys that you beam down that never beams back up.

SPOCK: Oh, them.

SARAH: By the way, you've survived about twenty things that would have killed some of them.

KIRK: What about me? Am I invulnerable, too?

SARAH: No idea. Spock is always around to save you.

KIRK: WHAT!!!!

SARAH: Er...I appear to have offended you again.

KIRK: Have you forgotten the episode where he tries to KILL me?

RACHEL: You're right, McCoy probably saves you in that one......

KIRK: WHAT!!!!!!!!!

RACHEL: Your ego is very easily bruised, I see. End of discussion! *sigh* And will someone please get Data and Picard back in here?

-------COMMERCIAL BREAK-------

SARAH: And we're back, and by now it seems that Data and Picard have decided to show up. *glares at them*

PICARD: What?

DATA: That mechanism in the lobby refered to as a 'vending machine' is most interesting.

RACHEL: What a coincidence, our next topic will discuss an interesting machine as well. Ahem. 'Did The Enterprise Look Better In The Old Movies Or The New Movies?

KIRK: Old.

PICARD: New.

KIRK: No, old.

PICARD: New.

KIRK: Old!

PICARD: NEW!

SARAH: STOP IT!

(Kirk and Picard cease fighting to look at her)

RACHEL: Can either of you give us a reason why it looked better either way?

KIRK: The old one is a classic. The new one is all .... weird.

PICARD: Just 'cause yours doesn't work doesn't make mine weird.

KIRK: What do you mean, doesn't work?

PICARD: It can't go three episodes without a transporter malfunction, or a major power loss, or something blowing up! Now, it could just be that you have a horrible chief engineer-

KIRK: My chief engineer is better than yours, thank you very much!

PICARD: Your chief engineer goes home and gets drunk!

KIRK: Oh yeah? Well, your chief engineer goes home and reads kiddie books for a children's program!

PICARD: *stands up* Say that again, you miserable little-!

KIRK: Come and get it, Baldy!

(They lunge for each other)

RACHEL: Picard, Kirk! Calm down! There's no shame in kiddie pro-aaaagh! *she ducks a flying chair* Spock! Data! Please control your, um, emotional friends!

(Spock and Data sigh, get up. Relative chaos ensues)

SARAH: Commercial break! Commercial break!!

---------COMMERCIAL BREAK---------

(Sarah and Rachel are back in their chairs, looking very disheveled. Data and Spock are sitting calmly. Kirk is unconcious, complements of a Vulcan neck pinch, and Picard has been duct-taped to the wall.)

SARAH: That was..... exciting. *nods to Spock and Data* Thanks, guys. Spock, are you sure humans can't learn to do that neck- pinch thing?

SPOCK: Positive.

SARAH: Darn, it'd come in handy if we ever do something like this again.

DATA: Now what?

RACHEL: Now, we either get two magic markers and some lipstick, or we lock them in a room full of overenthusiastic Trekkies.

PICARD: *with his mouth duct-taped shut* MMMMMMMM! MMMPH!

RACHEL: Fine, I'll relent. I need a knife....or better yet, a phaser! Fun! *steals Kirk's phaser and points it at Picard* How do you aim this thing?

PICARD: MMMMMMMMMPH!!

RACHEL: Oh, here's the button. *phasers off duct tape* Cool!

PICARD: *falls on floor* Mmmmph!

SARAH: Can we be a little more mature from now on?

PICARD: Mmmm-hmm.

SARAH: *removes remaining duct tape* That'd better be a yes, 'cause we still might use the Trekkie idea.

PICARD: Mercy!

RACHEL: Get back in your chair, Captain. No, ex that. Go get me some ice water.

(Picard goes into lobby, comes back with a bottle of water)

PICARD: Will this do?

RACHEL: *takes bottle* Perfect, thanks. *pours water on the still unconcious Kirk*

KIRK: *wakes up* Gahhh! *pats his head* YOU KILLED MY HAIR! Do you have any idea how long I worked to make it perfect?!?

SPOCK: Two hours, eleven minutes, and seventeen-

SARAH: Spock, have you ever heard the expression T.M.I., meaning Too Much Information?

SPOCK: I am not familiar with that phrase.

SARAH: I didn't think so. Anyway, end of discussion!

-----------COMMERCIAL BREAK---------

RACHEL: Now, this is almost over, and we're just going to ask a few more questions. As a precaution, we've duct-taped Picard and Kirk to their chairs.

KIRK: This is so undignified.

SARAH: Tough luck. Okay, the first question is: What is the most annoying thing that has ever happened to you?

KIRK: This interview.

PICARD: Same here.

RACHEL: Wimps. Data?

DATA: Coping with emotions for the first time was 'annoying'.

SARAH: I'd call that traumatic, but, hey, whatever works for you. Spock?

SPOCK: I am incapable of experiencing emotion.

RACHEL: Fine. If, God forbid, you were human, what would annoy you?

SPOCK: Out of curiousity, what makes you think I'll tell you?

RACHEL: I still have Kirk's phaser.

SPOCK: !!?!!?!!?!! Are you an interviewer or a villian?

RACHEL: I'm an interviewer who's tired of not having her questions answered.

SPOCK: So you're a villian.

SARAH: Well, if you're too chicken to answer the question...*grabs Kirk's communicator and opens it* Hello, Enterprise?

SULU: *from communicator* Sulu, in temporary command of the Enterprise, here.

SARAH: Send Dr. McCoy down .... with a HAPPINESS SYRINGE!

SPOCK: No! I'll answer!

SARAH: You just did.

SPOCK: Not fair.

RACHEL: Okay.... next question. What is one thing, like a belief, concept, or theory, that is always true and relatively universal?

KIRK: My good looks.

SPOCK: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

RACHEL: Psh, clearly neither of you have watched Star Trek III. Both wrong.

DATA: E=mc2.

SARAH: Wow, that was original. Picard?

PICARD: Interviewers are annoying.

SARAH AND RACHEL: We try.

SARAH: And here is the final question: If you could have one wish, what would it be?

KIRK: To get out of this #&$%#@&#! chair!!!

RACHEL: Language, language! What wishes would everyone else pick?

DATA: To be a real human.

SARAH: Thanks, Pinocchio. Picard?

PICARD: I would wish for....HAIR! *sobs*

SARAH: Jeez, and I thought Kirk was bad.

RACHEL: You, Spock, would no doubt wish for something logical?

SPOCK: Indeed.....

SARAH: Well, what?

SPOCK: I wish the interview was over. Who knows what trouble the ship's gotten into while we were down here!

RACHEL: Wish granted!

SARAH: See you next time, folks, on 'The Insanity Show!'

KIRK: And somebody get rid of the tape!

A Facebook Conversation between Bekah and Rachel

Bekah's status said : Bekah Loewen and Mandy would be very good at reforming heretics....if we had any heretics to reform.

Rachel: you can reform me

Bekah: are you a heretic?

Rachel: for you I could be.... ;)
I'm a member of the church of the Deity-ness of Facebook
I constantly spend time with Facebook and I don't believe
anything is true unless Facebook tells me it is

Bekah: that sounds pretty serious

Rachel: I could go on a holy war and kill MySpace users if you want....

She squeaked......

A random story:
Hesston College was hosting a dinner with a guest speaker on energy conservation. Hugo, our Cell Biology professor, told the entire class that he would like it if we would go.
Me *raises hand* : Hugo, could we get some extra credit for going maybe?
Hugo: *for some reason finds this extremely amusing* Oh, Rachel! There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, huh? Well, alright, since Rachel was enterprising enough to ask, if you go you can have 3 points extra credit.
Me: Could we make it an even 5?
Hugo: *still chuckling, pats me on the back* Don't push your luck.
----------later that week, at the dinner-------------
Tara (who is in Micro Biology instead of Cell) : So Hugo, I hear the Cell students are getting extra credit for this. What about us Micro people, huh?
Hugo: *looks at me and Tara and chuckles* The squeaky wheel gets the grease. She squeaked. You didn't.

Now my entire Cell Bio class calls me "Squeaks"




A random quote:
Kari *writing a chemistry lab report*- "I would call the color of this chemical 'grape-Jolly-Rancher-after-you-spit-it-out' purple."

Rachel's Book of Quotes

I’ve realized that a lot of my favorite quotes are from Calvin & Hobbes, Peanuts, or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I find that fact slightly amusing and it also makes me wonder if this is indicative of something. Oh, well.

MY VIEWS ON LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING

LIFE:
“My life has no purpose. My life has no direction, no aim, no meaning. And yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out! What am I doing right?” - Snoopy

“Reality continues to ruin my life.” - Calvin

“You live and learn. At any rate, you live.” – Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

“Life gave me lemonade and I can’t imagine why.” –from Lemonade by Chris Rice

"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you items you never asked for and don't always like." - Lemony Snicket

COLLEGE:
“I’ve learned that your college friends become a kind of family. You eat together, and have movie all-nighters. You laugh, you cry, you fight; you do absolutely nothing together until you cannot seem to remember how you ever lived your life without them.” – a Facebook bumper sticker

“I'm learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life ... Procrastinating and rationalizing.” - Calvin

“Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.” - Calvin

"Hesston College is like a shoe factory. They bring you in, fix your soul, and send you out in pairs." - overheard at Hesston. Not sure who first said it.

(subcategory: Drubers) Charlie Brown: Let's go to the doughnut shop.
Snoopy: What a coincidence! I knew I heard a doughnut calling me.
CB: I hope the shop isn't closed.
Snoopy: Doughnuts never call from behind locked doors.

POLITICS:
"It is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." - Douglas Adams

Lucy: “You can't drift along forever... you have to direct your thinking. For instance you have to decide whether you're going to be a liberal or a conservative. You have to take some sort of stand. You have to associate with some sort of cause.”
Linus: “Are there any openings in the lunatic fringe?”

PEOPLE:
(from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog)
Penny: “He's a really good looking guy and I thought he was kind of cheesy at first.”
Dr. Horrible: [under his breath] “Trust your instincts.”
Penny:“But, he turned out to be totally sweet. Sometimes people are layered like that. There's something totally different underneath than what's on the surface.”
Dr. Horrible:“And sometimes there's a third, even deeper level, and that one is the same as the top surface one. Like with pie.”

“I love mankind! It's people I can't stand!” – Linus

(subcategory: guys) “Idiocy is the essence of the male mind.”- Calvin

THE UNIVERSE:
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” - Calvin

“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” – Douglas Adams

MYSELF:
Hobbes : "What are you doing?"
Calvin : "Being cool."
Hobbes : "You look more like you're bored."
Calvin : "The world bores you when you're cool."

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward." - Kurt Vonnegut

~~~ Care more than some think is wise~~~
~~~ Risk more than some think is safe ~~~
~Dream more than some think is practical~
~Expect more than some think is possible ~

“Know what I pray for? The strength to change what I can, the inability to accept what I can't, and the incapacity to tell the difference." - Calvin

FAITH:
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

"That tomb was empty so that your lives don't have to be!" – Dustin Galyon

“A girl's heart should be so lost in God that a guy has to seek Him in order to find her.” - unknown

“God promised He wouldn't give me more than I could handle, sometimes I just wish he wouldn't trust me so much.” – Mother Theresa

RANDOMNESS:
“If you are bored, then you are boring.” – an HC professor’s nine year-old son

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a rather long, involved story so if you'd like you can just skip to the punchline and get the exciting part without the boring explanation. :)

Over the past month, Hesston College has been going through the process of choosing RAs for next year. The RA (resident assistant) is a sophomore who is in charge of a mod (section of about 8 rooms). They plan mod activities, provide leadership, advice, spiritual guidance, and assistance to all the girls/guys in their mod, especially new freshman. Sometimes they have to be the bad guy too, and enforce Campus Lifestyle Standards. My RA, Tessa, is amazing! And so is my good friend Abigail, who is also an RA. Seeing them in action made me really want to be an RA next year. So I underwent the application process. You had to fill out an application and have an interview with Resident Life staff. They also evalute you and talk to your RA and other people about you. I applied, but I wasn't sure if I would make it. I felt qualified and I knew the Resident Directors all liked me (an important factor), but I also felt like maybe I'm not a big enough voice on campus. I'm not a student ambassador, I don't play a sport or sing in Bel Canto, etc. So I thought I might get lost in the shuffle - especially since twice as many girls applied as there were positions to be filled. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Friday they sent out the letters telling you whether you were selected or not. I didn't dare to open mine at first. But then Kendra, one of the RDs, asked me if I'd checked my mail yet. She had a big smile on her face. That made me wonder....so I went up to my room and opened my letter. And literally shrieked.

The punchline (in case you didn't want to read all that stuff before):
I'm RA of 2CN (the name/location of the mod) next year!!!!!!!!!! That's the mod I'm in now and it was exactly the mod I wanted! And my amazing roommate, Laura, is the RA of the mod across the hall from me, my sister mod! It could not have worked out any better.

Now here's a cool thing: I hadn't been feeling excited about coming back next year. Many of my close friends here are sophomores and won't be back next year. Other close freshman friends are transferring to other schools. I was depressed and slightly jealous all week. I felt like I was being abandoned and was not looking forward to coming back to school "alone" next year. But the whole time, I could never bring myself to consider anything but Hesston. I felt....I feel....like I am supposed to come back next year. So I asked God to help me with my depression and jealousy and to help me be excited about being here next year. And wow, He does not dissappoint! He answered that prayer in a huge way! Now I can't wait for next year!!! I'm so excited to be an RA and hopefully make as big a difference in my modling's lives as my RA friends have made in mine.

And that is my semi-exciting (if long) story.

LOL

Ah, it does my heart good to know that painful irony is still alive and well.