As It Turns Out...

I am a bad blogger. Sorry 'bout that...

But I just haven't had the time or inspiration to post anything! However, I will say that this year has been flowing along smoothly. SRT is going well (tours are actually pretty fun!), and Howard College Ambassadors is getting off the ground. I talked to some great prospective students yesterday at the academic fair, one of whom was really excited about Samford and the JMC department (broadcast specifically! Yay!). Foundations Peer Mentoring is another great thing in my life. I know that working with freshmen and prospective students is what I'm supposed to be doing with my time here. It is so rewarding, and I love all my little freshmen.

I've also developed a love of writing random notes of encouragement to friends and popping them in the mail. I love getting mail, but I rarely get any, so I know how much it means to college students to get mail, especially mail you weren't expecting.

Mostly I write to people I don't get to see often, but I also try and write to people I know who are going through stressful times. I have no idea why I started to write these notes, but I love thinking about the smiles on their faces when they read them. If I can make just one girl's day with my notes, I'll be thrilled (yeah, I've only written to girls so far. Guys don't care so much...and they check their mail a lot less frequently).

God is working in silent but powerful ways this semester, and I hope that my work is a part of His brilliant plans.

Also, NOTE TO SELF: Buy more notecards : )

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust.

~Jackie

I Can't Think of An Entertaining Title For This Post Because My Brain Hurts

Really, I am just tired right now. Not physically, but mentally, I'm exhausted. Thursdays are killer for me this semester. My day isn't over until 5 o'clock, and then will come homework (thankfully I did mine in advance, so none for me today).

Just to let y'all in on my life now that I'm back at school, I'm taking three classes, one that includes a two-hour lab, and I'm Peer Mentoring a Foundations class, too. On top of that, I'm again working at the radio station, giving tours twice a week (and on some Saturdays), and hopefully writing for the Entre Nous (the yearbook).

[NOTE: All of those last three things involve me getting paid. Cha-ching!]

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are pretty static. Contemporary Math at 10:30, then JMC Writing and Editing at 11:45. I'll be in the radio station some on Wednesdays to record voicetracks, but nothing too stressful.

Tuesdays are fairly boring. 8:00 AM Fiction and Film class, then maybe Convo if it's Academic Lecture or Faith Development (the two categories I still need to fill up). After that is a tour at 11 (there won't always be a tour, but 11:00 is the popular time slot, so we'll probably have a tour 99% of the time). Then I'm done on Tuesdays (and some radio stuff will happen then, too, but again, not enough to stress about). Shiloh is that night, too, so I'm really happy it's on my easy day.

Thursdays are PACKED. It starts the same as Thursdays (minus any radio work), then I have until 1:45 to eat/change clothes (if I get really sweaty on the tour) before my Foundations class. As soon as that ends at 2:50, I head across campus to the JMC lab for my two hour lab at 3:00 (if you astute readers noticed, that means ten minutes to get across campus and get a snack from the food court if I forgot one from the room).

Wow. I don't even like talking about my Thursdays. At least I can sleep until 9:00 the next day.

So that's pretty much all the patience I have for blogging today. My head hurts.

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust.

~Jackie

Lazy Days...Though Not By Choice

I'm not a bad blogger, I promise. It's just that nothing is going on in my life right now. The World Cup was the most interesting thing occupying my thoughts when I got back from Spain, but now that's over (Spain won! Viva Espana! I did a major happy dance...) and I'm back to boredom.

It kicked in a lot faster than I thought it would. I'm looking for any excuse to not go back to ths house because I know once I get back to the couch, I'm pretty much not getting up until many, many hours later...like around bedtime.

It's kind of nice to have a lot of flexibility, I guess, but I just want something to DO. My hope for a job at the radio station isn't going to pan out, and the people who want regular babysitters already have them. I'm working Praise Week right now, but that'll be over Friday (on a related note, I get to play a GPS named Carmen. All my mockery of my Garmin will finally be worth it!).

Urghhhhh.....

Anyway, some little things have happened lately. I got my final grades from Spain, and they're both A's! I still have my 4.0 GPA! Even though that's what I had all through high school, it's so much more satisfying to have that after a full year (plus a summer term) of college. Also, my church had a prelim meeting about our new college & career/singles group. It was a small, but good, group, and we had a lot of fun. I kind of hope we end up calling the group J-ello...I really like J-ello (both as a name and a food)

On that note, pudding is better than J-ello. I had the choice of which to make today, and I chose pudding. Of course, you can make pudding in five minutes. J-ello takes hours. I do not have that kind of patience.

All right, I'm getting weird due to tiredness. Later.

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust.

~Jackie

Viva Espana!

I have never been a fan of soccer. Never. To me, there's not much action, it's low-scoring, and there are no commercial breaks, so if you have to get food/go to the bathroom/etc., you might miss something. And with my luck, that would be when the only action happens.

(For example, I am currently waiting on the Spain vs. Germany game to start. I am also waiting on a phone call from a potential employer for the summer. I am 99.9% positive he will call during the game.)

However, seeing as I was in Spain when the World Cup started and Spain is still in the chase for the championship (!!!), I am way too into this tournament than I normally would be.

Now I am insistant that I watch all of Spain's games, I wear my jersey to watch said games, and I can actually hold a conversation about the World Cup with people I know who love soccer.

Go me! Go Spain! Viva Espana!

Only an hour until the game. Viva La Roja! Beat Germany!

(BTW, the above picture of of my favorite Spain player, David Villa (#7). He is Spain's star player, having scored 6 of Spain's 7 World Cup goals this year. Villa, Villa, Marvavilla!)

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust. (And La Roja!)

~Jackie

I Know I've Been Horrible About Updating...

...but this week has been SO crazy. I'll recap when I get back home (in less than 48 hours!), but I have zero time right now. We have to be on the bus in an hour, and I still have to get dressed and the rest of my stuff packed (which is not much at all) and eat breakfast.

It's hard to believe this is our last full day in Espana. It's been such an incredible journey, and I am so grateful that God put each and every one of the people on this trip in my life. I'm still not fluent in Spanish, but as long as they don't speak like they're running out of breath, I can understand, and if you give me a minute, I can respond. I've definitely gotten better, I know that for sure.

For the twelve of the group headed to Salamanca today (class again tomorrow...enjoy!), I am praying for you and I love you and I miss you. Post pictures all the time and Skype me when you can : ) It's going to be weird not having you around after we get back to Madrid.

We've got one more thing to look at in Granada before starting on our six hour drive back to Madrid, so hopefully I'll get some sleep.

And when I get home, I WANT SOME PEANUT BUTTER!

Hasta luego!

(Or until I get home!!!)

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust.

~Jackie

As I Am Very Tired, I Shall Only Post a Short List

(This list consists of the various and sundry thoughts I have accumulated during our two days of the Andalucian tour)

• Windmills. They're awesome. And pretty.
• I swear, Coca-Cola just tastes better over here. And Fanta Naranja (Orange, for those of you who need to brush up on your Spanish) is DEFINITELY better.
• Did you know that buses have a certain amount of time they have to rest over here, as required by national law? It's pretty intense, but it's cut down tremendously on the amount of bus accidents.
• I really do love fans. I'm going to be that quirky girl with the fan sitting at Samford football games, I really will. I love them.
• I also have a really bad habit of collecting scarves. They're pretty, cheap, and light. Therefore, perfect items to pick up while traveling.
• On that note, my suitcase WILL be under the weight limit. I can actually pick it up now.
• I miss my big bed, I really do.
• First thing I'm making when I get back home: PB&J with a glass of really cold milk.
• I have now seen the Spanish Bradley Cooper, and he can flamenco dance. Life. Complete.
• I had piping hot, fresh out of the oven bread for dinner tonight, and it was the best thing ever.
• This morning, I ate bacon...in the Jewish Quarter of town. Oh, the irony.
• I'm still looking for a beach hat.
• Even though I complain about it, at the end of the stairs/ramps, I am always glad I climb up really tall towers in historic places.
• Horses smell.
• Birds don't aim their poop very well. Or maybe they just target girls in white shirts. (Thankfully, it was our last stop before the hotel and the majority got on my arm and not my clothes)
• Magnifying mirrors make you aware of how desperately you need an eyebrow wax.
• On that note, I NEED A PEDICURE.
• I'll sleep on the bus tomorow.
• My, this list was longer than expected.

Hasta luego!

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust.

~Jackie

Two Days of Relaxation and Random Sightings

So for the first time in this entire Spain experience, we had TWO complete days where we had nothing to do. I guess technically we had that during our free weekend, but seeing as how we had to explore a city in two and a half days, I don't count that.

See, Friday we finished our classes (hip hip hooray!), and Saturday we had our last excursion to El Escorial and El Castillo de Manzanares. They were both incredibly gorgeous, but I think we were all kind of over excursions by that point. We just wanted to get the Andalucia trip started!

Sunday (yesterday), Karin and I woke up early (only out of necessity) to go to El Rastro once more for the last of our souvenir shopping. Yes, I am competely done. If I have forgotten you, I am sorry, but you can live with it (I'm only kind of kidding...if you were that important, I wouldn't have forgotten you).

After Rastro, we came back to the house and packed a bit while watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (we rented it on iTunes). I had to convince Karin it was worth watching, and I guess she finally came around. Haha. However, I've had the "Sabine Women" song stuck in my head ever since. That, and "Goin' Courtin'."

We wanted some chocolate and churros in the worst way, so instead of a "real" lunch, we took off for Sol and La Chocolateria San Gines. Of course, being as directionally challenged as Karin and I are, we got lost. No surprise, huh? However, we got to explore Sol a little bit (well, the streets around Sol. Sol itself was full of those darn protesters again. On a Sunday of all days!) and I found an even better souvenir for one of the people on my gift list, so it was good.

We finally made it to La Chocolateria, and while we were enjoying our delicious chocolate and churros, we saw the guys who sell the knock-off bags and pirated DVDs running/speed walking through the street we were on...with two police officers chasing/corralling them on their motorcycles. It was really weird/intersting to see. However, what's REALLY interesting is that we saw the SAME guys and the SAME police officers about ten minutes later doing the same little routine. That time it was just straight up funny. Karin and I cracked up about it for a good five minutes.

We then headed to Retiro to walk around a bit. We got some Fanta Naranja and sat down to watch the boaters in the lake. A woman with her friend and her three young kids sat behind us. The oldest boy started poking me in the back, so I turned around to talk to him. He was SO adorable. I spoke to him in Spanish (he understood me!), and his mom had him practice some of his English on me. Too cute. His name was Lucas and he was 5. His younger brother (who I also spoke with a bit), Matteo, was 3, and they had an infant sister whose name I can't remember. It was the sweetest thing to sit there and talk with them for a few minutes.

Our most random sighting in the park was this little girl just carrying around a little white bunny. It doesn't seem like it would be that random, but when was the last time YOU saw someone just carrying around a bunny in a giant park in Madrid?

After one last loop around the lake, we headed back to the house for a much-needed nap. When we woke up (well, I woke up and then made Karin wake up), we mostly finished our packing. After dinner with our madre, we chilled out at the house for a bit before headed to bed (a lot of the others in the group go out at night...Karin and I just can't get into that. After dinner, we just want to go to sleep!)

Today (Monday), we slept in. Those three words are heavenly, no lie. We haven't done that since I don't know when. When we woke up, we took our time eating and getting ready to go out and go shopping on Gran Via. I think we went shopping on jus tthe right day...almost all the stores had massive sales going on! I'm talking 50%+. Unfortch, the one thing I was shopping for was in the one store with no sales. However, I'm VERY happy with my cute rose-red romper (say that five times fast). I'm glad I am, too, as it's the only thing I bought today (did not find a beach hat that was too my liking anywhere today).

Right now we're just relaxing in Starbucks (our WiFi spot) for a bit before dinner with madre. Our last one! We bought her some flowers yesterday at Rastro as a thank you gift. When we brought them to her, she looked at us and said "No es mi cumpleanos!" (It's not my birthday!). She was really pleased and put them on the dinner table in a cute vase.

Not much packing left to do. I'm SO ready to go to Andalucia tomorrow. It's my only vacation this summer, after all...haha.

Hasta luego!

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust.

~Jackie