From the perfect day to ick, all in one week

Have you ever had one of those days that's just amazing and perfect and you don't ever want it to end? Well, I was lucky enough to have THREE of them last weekend. And let me tell you, crashing back down to reality has NOT been fun.
Spring break was well-deserved for me, an oasis in the midst of a grad-school desert. The last three days of spring break were AMAZING. I got to attend an art exhibit with my wonderful friend, Meghan, play two hours of Trivial Pursuit circa 1981 with James and Katie, go to Avila beach and take pictures with Katie, watch "Blades of Glory" with Laura, sing karaoke, attend church at Five Cities Vineyard, and spend a wonderful day at Santa Margarita Lake with the Tierney family. *sigh* And then, I had to come back to Sacramento. Some part of me right now is rebelling at the thought of being in school. I don't want to read, don't want to grade, don't want to be responsible or do my laundry. I just want to go back to those three days of paradise I had before the real world so harshly re-introduced itself to me.
So I have to wonder, what's wrong with me??? I usually love school. I love to write, love to read, love to explore new ideas. But right now, all I want to do is pull the covers over my head and sleep until the semester is over. This is not good. It's crunch time. I should be writing papers, reading journal articles, filling out paperwork, etc, etc, etc. So why is it that at the most crucial point of the semester I just can't seem to pull things together?
For some unknown reason, something inside of me has just decided to quit. For example, yesterday I slept in until 2 p.m.!!! I don't think I've EVER slept that much in my life! Today was almost as bad. I didn't wake up until 11 a.m., and even then all I did was watch a movie. It's now 4 p.m. and this blog is the only semi-productive thing I've done all day. Granted, I did get up, get dressed and all that jazz, but the work that is waiting to be done is the LAST thing I want to spend time on.
Ick. That's the word of the day. Ick. It's how I feel. Ick. It's what I want to escape. Blech. I hate feeling ick.
Easter is tomorrow, though. It's a day of renewal and hope. I'll be praying for Jesus to overcome the ick so that I can be successful for the rest of the semester. Right now, I can use all the prayers I can get.

Reasons I heart Spring Break...

Rodin sculptures at the Stanford Art Gallery


Meggie Poo


Random Pictures


Fun times with Katie


The beach, even when it's foggy :)

Debate + Oklahoma = craziness

Two words: CEDA Nationals.
That's where I have been for the past six days. All the stress, strain and seriousness of an entire year's worth of debate work come together in one fantastically long weekend of grueling competition. There can only be one winner, and it definitely wasn't us.

Nationals this year was in Norman, Oklahoma, home of the University of Oklahoma (O.U. to those who know better). Oklahomans seem to be a bit fanatic about O.U. They label everything with the O.U. logo, from t-shirts to sun catchers, debate timers and water bottles. That's right. This weekend, I got my fill of H2OK Sooner water.

Additionally, I had the enjoyable opportunity of staying at the Sooner Legends Inn, complete with an O.U.-worthy crimson and cream color scheme and a biography of a famous Sooner football player in every room. It was so overwhelming and amazing that I seem to have completely forgotten the name of the football player in my room....I'm sure I'll remember it someday.

Favorite memories from my visit to Oklahoma:
- the visit to Van's Pig Stand for lip-smackin' good barbeque,
- relaxing in the student union in an oversized leather chair with free wifi and coffee,
- singing "Friends in Low Places" during karaoke at the Sooner Legends with a debate friend from San Francisco,
-judging USC versus US Military Academy (I voted for USC...the Military Academy was advocating plan-plan debate, which didn't really work), and
-getting to spend an entire day in Oklahoma City visiting my four favorite Oklahomans: Emery, Chris, Ezra, and Joel.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of pictures. However, I've heard tell that some of my debate friends did. I can't wait to see photographic evidence of the Oklahoman madness. Our team didn't win (we didn't expect them to), but it was a great learning experience for everyone involved. To help you better understand debate, here is a link to a website that explains all the basics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy_debate

All in all, the trip to Oklahoma was a blast. Sure, there was disappointment, sleep deprivation and frustration, but in the end I got to hang out with some fabulous people. Until next time, go exercise your brain!

Andrea