Please click on the Ann Taylor model pictures for a closer look at the details of the dress.

This called the Eyelet Shirtdress from Ann Taylor. I think I must be short because all the pictures of it online have the dress coming several inches above your knee and this hits at just my knee level. I really like the length. I am glad I am not any taller. Anyhow, I bought this dress today and I'm letting you all decide if I should keep it or not. It is made out of cotton. The whole dress buttons down. I guess that is why it is called a shirtdress. I don't know. I love the top part of the dress. Oh and there is a tie around the middle that you tie in a bow in the front, but it sort of blends into the dress in this picture.

So comment and I pretend that you all went shopping with me and we had a blast!
I have a good imagination.

Heh. I went shopping to cheer myself up today. Shopping alone isn't quite as depressing as eating dinner by yourself (especially when you go out to Applebees alone - that had to be one of the most depressing nights of my life). Tonight makes the fourth night in a row that I have eaten dinner alone. It is very sad, my friends, very sad! Okay, back to schoolwork.

Want to see all the satellites that are spinning around the Earth?

This is really awesome.

You can click on them and they show the orbits and you can ask it to update every 1/4 of a second and you can see them actually move.

It is sweet!!!

I know most of you don't have facebook accounts, so I am going to tell you about this club started on facebook in support of Jason Ray (the UNC mascot). Basically it is a bunch of us (from all over the world - many different universities are represented) that pray for his family. There are people on there that knew him very well and some of us who never met him, but would have liked to. It is amazing how the body of Christ works. I can't explain how neat it is to see people posting Bible verses and saying that they are praying. It is very beautiful.

Jason Ray's funeral will be held on Saturday in Carolina at his home church. People who live in the area are offering to host families who want to come for the funeral and offering to drive people that don't know their way around. I was touched at how friendly and helpful people in the church can be. I don't know why this makes me so happy... but it is just neat to see people working together to glorify God. I am glad to see a little bit of how glorious heaven will be.

This is one thing that I miss about SU.
They have really amazing flowers during spring time.
UMD doesn't seem to invest as much time in their flowers.
It made me very happy to walk outside every day and see these.
I found these wonderful pictures on Joy Isaacs's webpage and I thought I would share them.

Photos by Joy Isaacs

Jason Ray, a North Carolina student who performed as a mascot for the school's basketball team, died three days after being struck by a car hours before the Friday NCAA tournament game. He was 21. He was going to graduate at the end of this semester in Business Administration and Religion.

This has made me extremely sad. The more I learn about him, the more sad the story becomes. However, there is hope. Jason Ray was known for leading small groups and participating in Intervarsity at UNC. Please pray for his family and friends. It doesn't make earthly sense. I don't even know this kid and I am very sad about this. Maybe it has something to do with him being only a year older than me and being so close to graduation. I just seem to take my life for granted. I suppose that I will keep living, but it isn't guaranteed that I will make it through the next few minutes.

He seemed to have touched so many lives. So, I didn't get the chance to meet him on earth, but we will meet one day. Life is so short. This has reminded me to make every moment count. Don't sweat the small stuff, but give it over to God. God is love. He has a plan.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

"Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Even youths grow tired and weary,

And young men stumble and fall;

But those who hope in the Lord

Will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

They will run and not grow weary,

They will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31

* Today I have to come up with a few multiply choice questions for the exam in the class I am grading for. They need to be finished by tomorrow.

* I went to advising and my advisor won't be returning to the country until Friday, which means he probably won't be in to his office until Monday. I need to have my schedule set my Monday.

* I am trying to get project work finished, but none of my teammates are around or responding to email.

I haven't had lunch yet. I think I'll go buy something.

Happy Birthday, little sister!
I love you, Hope.

Sorry, this is the only photo I could find of you on my computer.

It's her 21st birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAYLEY!!!

Wishing you as much fun as I had on my birthday watching POTO. WOOHOO!

Greatest birthday gift ever!

We should go again!

Miss you.

18

Update on job interviews:

I had two interviews for internships this summer yesterday (both were paying intern positions...woohoo being an engineer and making money!!). First off, I forgot all of my dress clothes when I came back home on Friday. So all I had with me was two pairs of jeans and a few t-shirts. So on Saturday I asked Jared to go shopping with me for a pair of dress pants and a nice belt. We found both. Thankfully, I had remembered to bring my dress shoes and Anna let me borrow a button down shirt. Woohoo for having sisters that are your size.

So I had my first interview at 8:30. It was at AWB engineers. I have really really really been wanting this job since I heard about it. They only hire one intern a summer, so I don't know yet. All I know is that this is the coolest place to work out of all the places that I have looked into. Most places just have you filing paperwork or getting coffee or doing random odd jobs. Here I would be getting to design some of my own stuff and learning the computer programs that they use. I like learning things this way. It seems like a waste of my time to sit in class and learn all sorts of things that I will never use. I like learning how to do things and why I am doing them. I like to know the best and fastest way to do things. I had the oppuntunity to talk to the owner (who is good friends with my neighbor that I used to cut grass for) and one of their mechanical engineers (who also went to University of Maryland and was in the SU 3-2 program) at the career fair a few weeks ago. After talking with them I wanted the job even more. And now that I have had my interview and met with everyone in the office and had the tour of their building and seen what they do, I REALLY REALLY REALLY want the job. If I get this job, I would be so excited! It is such an amazing oppurtunity and it could lead to my real job after I graduate. So, this is the internship that I would love to be able to have. I can't express how excited that I would be if I got this! I would work there for very little pay, just for the great experience it would be and because the place seems like an awesome (and even fun) place to work. Granted, I would be the only women (besides the secretary and office manager). But, I am used to that. :) heh. I think I actually perfer it that way. Plus most of the guys who work there are Christians. Matt Smith (from church) is the president. Yeah, I didn't know that either until a few weeks ago. But I wouldn't be working for him because he isn't an ME.

Anyhow, I think the interview went well. They said they will make their decision within the week and get back to me. Click on the picture to see their website.

Second I ran downtown to go to another firm. They shall remain nameless because the woman who interviewed me is very sweet and has been very helpful. But I got there at 11:15 and my interview was at 11:30 and the secretary tells me that my interview is at 1:30. I have the email to prove it was at 11:30!!! So anyhow, it is pointless to go home because I wouldn't have enough time there before I had to head back downtown. So I called Jared and he was working in Salisbury (thankfully - he rarely works in Salisbury). So we ate lunch together and went to Ritas for free italian ice. Then I went down to SU and visited my old office. They are such nice people. I am sorry that they are not an engineering office. I would work there again otherwise. Then I went back to this place and arrived around 1:15. I sat there until 2 before seeing anyone. My interviewer at AWB was a few minutes late because he was right in the middle of something, but he sent two other people to talk to me while I waited and I learned a lot from them. Here, I just sat, by myself in the waiting room. This job would have been a civil job, so it wasn't really what I was looking for, but a few of my contacts in Salisbury (old professors and stuff) suggested this. So there I sat for 45 minutes. Like I said, I can't cut them down too much because the lady who interviewed me was really nice and she has tried to help me find other jobs in the area. It was just annoying to be made to wait 2 hours and 45 minutes after your scheduled interview to be seen. I think we both agreed that I don't really fit at their company and frankly, I would have hated it there. The job describtion was either 1) spending my summer in the basement filing papers, printing copies of things, running to different places like Georgetown or the Sussex Courthouse to drop off or pick up papers, or buying food and stuff or 2) surveying (aka standing out in a field with a pole). And either one of those for the glorious pay of 7 dollars an hour. I make better money and gain more experience at Chick-fil-A! And on top of it all I would have had to park downtown, which means I would have had to pay to park every day! BLECK. So goodbye second job interview!!! I won't be working there.

I am praying that AWB internship works out and they don't have anyone better than me applying. :)

If it doesn't work out, God has something better planned for me.

However, I hope this is the best that he wants for me.

I found these in an old folder of pictures, from last May, after my awards ceremony, at SU.

I'm happy.
woohoo.

Two job interviews today.
Please pray.

This post is dedicated to the beardless Jared, who will someday return this summer. :)
Jack's Wedding
Six Flags
I don't know.
Random Jared.

Colossians 1:3-6,9-14

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins!"

I love these verses!
Make sure your priorities are in the right order and everything else will fall in place. It doesn't always fall into place easily, but it makes more sense this way! Keep God first. Don't let anything take his place. Relationships and the joy that comes from them should pale in comparison to the joy and pleasure that comes from God. It is often hard to keep this straight. Things on earth are here and now. Press on towards the prize. Thanks to Hannah for keeping me pressing on. Praying for you and love you! Sorry this entry is so scattered. I need to go do some school now. I don't have time to smooth it out.

Psalm 92:1-5

1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,

3 to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.

4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

5 How great are your works, O LORD!

I am going to start celebrating our eighteen month anniversary early!!
It isn't for another six days.
But the thought makes me so happy that I just thought I would start posting about it now. :)

And here is a quote from Thomas Watson, "As therefore we cherish our salvation and the hounour of religion, let us shine in that orb of relationships where God has placed us."

I love being home!
I love my siblings!
I love my parents!
I love my church!

I need to go do some schoolwork, but I thought I would take minute to let you all know how GREAT it is to be home! I never realized how wonderful home was before. I thought it was pretty great, but now it is wonderful! I love coming home! I love being home! I love having a home. I am so thankful for my family and my friends and my whole church. We have an amazing church. I know it has its problems, like any earthly institution, but I love it. I was looking around yesterday at how many different types of people are there and how many different ages. It is beautiful to see so many people worshipping together. I am so happy to be able to spend two sundays here!!! I can't wait for summer!

I don't know if you can see in this screenshot, but I am ranked 13th on ALL of Facebook for my brackets as of right now. The only team I picked incorrectly was Duke not losing. It will all end soon though because I picked UNC to go all the way and they aren't good enough this year to do that. However, I stick by my team!

Go Tar Heels!!

I'm home.

After three hours and ten minutes in the car.
Woohoo for Sarah riding back with me!

Guess who I get to see in concert tonight?!?

This is their tour shirt from five years ago.
I bought it at Creation.
What other band is cool enough to sell English Soccer Jerseys as their tour shirt?!?

This is Martin.
He is English.
He has four kids.
One of his girls in named Indi Anna.
He has an amazing accent.
His band is my favorite band.

I love Delirious!!

This is what I have been working on for the past six hours.

It was assigned Monday.

It is due Friday in our presentation.

Crazy.

And yes, we had to come up with all the imformation inside this "house of quality" by doing testing and taking customer surveys. This is all the information compiled into one place and then you look and see which ones go together and assign rankings to them and such. It doesn't look like that much work. But it is! heh. Believe me. It is.

I have to talk about this part of our project in our presentation on Friday. WOOHOO!! It is the last presentation of the week and then I get to go home and do more work! haha. I will be so glad when this semester is over. I don't think I have ever done this much work (and especially not two days (or even the night before) a project is due). I just have no time. Like I planned to go to RUF tonight, but I went to this meeting with my team at five and when I next looked at the clock it was 8:30. Yeah. No RUF tonight. I came back to the Howards and ate food and went to work on the powerpoint to go along with this. I love engineering still! It is really great stuff.

My favorite class so far is fluids.

I have to get some sleep. I'll blog about this later.

Good night, blogging world.

Happy PI day!

I am very sad and dislike english even more! I just was offered a TA position in my favorite class and I had to turn it down. TA positions are only offered to graduate students, but they needed someone to fill in this semester and were going to change the rules this semester for me. I feel like quitting English and accepting it. Grr!!

I had this great idea last night.

Do any of my siblings want to spend Thursday night up here with me and travel back with me on Friday, so I don't have to drive alone?!? I would love it if any of you are free!!!

"True contentment is a real, even an active, virtue - not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it."

-G.K. Chesterton

I'm listening to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack!!

It is at the part where he transforms from awesome beast (with an amazing voice) to wimpy prince (with a whiny voice, "Belle, it is me."). haha.

The music is still wonderful!

I am pretty sure that Sarah gave me this soundtrack during my finals at SU three semesters ago.

Thanks Sarah!!

Oh and the quote has nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast. I just threw that in there because I read it today and liked it. heh.

Okay, back to studying.

How about those Tar Heels?

2007 ACC Champions!!!

I went to Mary's church tonight for family night. I was a nice break from my studies and the busyness of life. I almost didn't go because I have been sick and then this morning I had to go on this field trip to Dewalt, which should have been fun, but wasn't. I was looking forward to this trip all semester. We were supposed to get there at 7:15 and leave at 7:30 on charter buses. Well, we stood outside, in the cold, (real good for a cold) until 8:00, when we took metro/shuttle buses to Balitmore. Have you ever ridden in a shuttle bus? The seats are all sideways, forward, and backwards and their are poles all over the place to hold onto. The seats are formed plastic and squished together to fit more people inside. So, we finally get on these disappointing buses at 8:10ish (note: we've been standing in the cold for almost an hour now - we were all looking forward to sleeping on the bus). Well, when we got on the buses, there were more of us then they thought. So we actually had to cram into the seats on the bus. It was so tight sitting on the bus that we couldn't all sit straight up because our shoulders didn't fit. This was all very amusing when we first got on the bus. But after being stuck in traffic for an hour and a half, in these conditions, I was about to start complaining. I mean, I was jammed between two people I didn't know and forced to ride over an hour and a half to Balitmore at a crazy early hour. Not what I was looking forward to at all.


Let me explain these pictures before I go on. They were two shots I took with my camera on my phone. They aren't that good. But you can sort of imagine our bus ride. The top one is the bench accross from me, on the way up. The guy on your left is my American Indian friend and group member. He is hilarious. He works at the post office and cracks safes as a side job and goes to school. Ha. The guy in the middle I don't even know his name. And the guy on the right is my Ethiopian taxi driving friend. He hates the movie Collateral because Tom Cruise isn't a bad guy. He has a great accent! It is so thick I can barely understand him some times. But I love it!!

Okay, bottom picture....
You see a few parts of people sleeping and then you see my oddly funny genius Iranian/Brazilian friend. He's a nut. I'm not on any teams with him, but I wish I were. He is insane!! As you can see from the picture, he is enjoying himself by working on homework, while everyone else is trying to sleep around him. Note the two guys next to him. I don't know who they are either. Haha. But as you can see, it was a great ride, all crammed in there. These pictures don't do it justice, but they might give you an idea of what the bus sort of looks like...

Then we get to Dewalt and we want to stretch out legs and walk around and tour the test labs (I mean, how cool is it to tour a test lab, right?!?). No, instead we are seated in "conference room one" and made to listen to, what would have been interesting lectures given different circumstances (mainly if we hadn't gotten up so early, if we had eaten breakfast, and if we hadn't been stuck in traffic on a shuttle bus for over an hour and a half), but at the time seemed to go on forever. We saw some really interesting software for their computers. It is called Catia. It is sweet stuff, man. I would love to get my hands on some of that stuff. heh. But I wouldn't really have a use for it. And we also heard this guy, who had an english accent, talk about the art design people. That was the coolest part of the day. Accents win out over anything. I am serious, I listen to accents! heh. Especially guys in dress clothes and hip glasses talking with an english accent. It was the highlight of my morning.

After all this, around eleven, we took a real quick, run through tour, of the test buildings and labs. It was really interesting. We saw where they test sounds in this awesome sound proof room and where they run the drills all day long to see how long they last. We saw where they made their prototypes and how that is done. And then we had to leave. We pretty much ran through the tour and then ran out to the bus. And I was stuck with a backwards seat on the way back. I had only had a banana for breakfast and a few handfuls of golden graham because it was so early in the morning and I have been sick and not hungry. So anyhow, riding backwards on a bus, stuffed to the rafters with guys, was not where I wanted to be spending another 45 minutes of my Friday. My head was killing me and I felt so sick. Oh, and did I mention that the bus driver liked to have the heat on full blast?!?! Yes, in a packed full bus, driving down 95, with the heat blasting. It made no sense.

So yeah. My tour wasn't as awesome as I thought it was going to be because of the circumstances that surrounded it. They need to rethink the whole design plan and recreate it. Haha. Think through the four fs and make it more enjoyable for the students. :) So now I am just going through lots and lots of problems for my exam on Monday. I am going to learn this stuff if it takes me all weekend. I also have to write the final draft of a paper that is due thursday and start planning my oral presentation for Friday and maybe start on my other project I seem to be in charge of as well. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Well, the pile will never get smaller if I don't start.

Here is just a few more thoughts. We talked about the empty tomb tonight. Anyone stop and think about that when life doesn't seem to be going your way? Let me tell you how big of an encouragement that is. Jesus is risen, just like He said! He died and rose again for our sins. We are free. It just hits me sometimes how amazing that is. I just wanted to encourage you all to think about it and the wonder of it all. And here are a few verses that I kept thinking of. Well, I was thinking of verses 3 and 4, but then I read the rest of the chapter and had to throw in a few more. :) Good night all. Press on!!


I Corinthians 15
(King James - because I memorized these verses in King James when I was younger and it sounds so neat)

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19I f in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

WOOHOO!!!

I miss Linny too!!
Let's drink Icees and go play on playgrounds sometime this summer.

I miss them!!!

Oh and I stole these photos right off of Anna's blog!

They made me sad that I am not in them.

I MISS YOU ALL!!!

Seven days to delirious!

Ha. You'll never guess who just walked down the hallway in engineering and said hi to me. It was so completely random that is made my day. So, I am just sitting there working on my english paper and my dewalt report. I have my headphones on and my my pile of tissues next to me. And I hear, "Faith!" So I look up and there is this kid standing there. And I am going through everyone that I know at College Park and his face doesn't match any of them. Then it hits me, he isn't from College Park, it is Joey Reed (I think he goes by Joe now, but he will always be Joey to me from when we were kids). ha. Anyhow, he was in CP visiting some friend of his, who is an english major, and he wanted to tour the engineering buildings. So they were wandering the hallways and happened to walk down the one hallway that I was sitting in. And they just happened to see me. See I wasn't sitting along a wall of the hallway, I was sort of tucked back in a corner, where you really couldn't see me. ha.

Life is funny. God does random things to cheer you up. It is like getting a random smile from a stranger on the street. That cheers me up and brightens my day. But when you actually know the person that is smiling at you, that is even better. And when it is some one that speaks your language and actually listens to what you have to say, then that is an even bigger blessing. Praise God for caring for His children. He takes care of us when we can't ourselves. Maybe I'll get my exam back and not have failed it. That would be amazing. But hey, if God can arrange that Joey Reed and I were in the same hallway at 6:00pm on a Thursday evening, he can help me pass a class. heh. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. God, help my unbelief.

Pray for me, please!!

I seem to have caught a really nasty cold. I feel horrible. I ache and my throat hurts. My nose is running and I am sneezing. My head feels like it is being compressed. I don't have any energy. I think I have a fever because I keep getting hot and than cold. And I don't feel like eating anything.

And I have my biggest exam of the semester tomorrow.

Has anyone seen this house?

It was built like a Hobbit hole.

Check it out if you are trying to avoid school.

This weekend has been so amazing. I haven't finished as much school as I would have liked to, but I should be good. haha, I'll let you know when I have to take my first real exam in vibrations on Thursday (prayers for this are appreciated). The Stantons and my family (my OWN dear family - I love them so much!!!! And even better, they love me too!) were sitting around playing games and eating food and laughing and my Mom said, "This is a little taste of heaven!" I laughed at her at the time. But now I see what she was talking about. It is times like these that make me appreciate my church so much. My parents and siblings are the only real family that I have. The church has always been our family. They come to thanksgiving and birthdays. When other people had family come over on holidays, we had church people. I never thought it was weird. I loved it. And we have had many missionaries stay with us and they have also become part of our family. The Stantons have stayed at our house at least five times now. We bought their camper when they moved away. heh. It is always a joy to see them and hear their stories again. It is like a big family reunion.

So, this weekend has been wonderful because instead of coming home to only six family members, that I love, there were five others staying at my house (and my whole great church). I love having such a huge family!!! It has been exactly what I needed to bring joy and hope to my life. I love my family! I love the mission's conference! I love my church! They are a huge encouragement and I love how they all talk to me and make me feel welcome and love me. I still haven't found a church at college where they even talk to you. We were up to 2 am last night and I didn't care. heh. This time staying up until 2 was fun. :)

P.S. My English professor says I sound way to excited when I write. He said to tone down my writings. But I can't seem to get that idea in my head. It sounds way too boring to me. So, I hope you don't mind the enthusiasm. I am so glad to be home!!!