smoking kills, folks

today is a beautiful day outside. a little windy, but i'll definitely take that, considering how bright the sun is shining and how blue the sky is with its fabulous white, fluffy clouds. ahh, springtime.

i found out this morning that the science center has all the supplies i need for refertilizing my bonsai tree. bonita shall have a new home soon, hoorah. my new bio prof directed me to where i could find everything i needed. at the same time, we had a discussion in spanish. it was crazy. i think he was better than i was. (he lived in venezuela for a year and has visited puerto rico seven times; geesh!) definitely good stuff.

i have a confession to make. i skipped chapel this morning so i could get some things done in my room before the conference starts tonight. i felt really badly about it-- i really wanted to go-- but there are just too few hours available to me today, and i had to drop something (and i didn't want it to be a class, although i did consider skipping written comm ii). at least i did get a lot done during that time.

speaking of written comm ii. when i walked into the classroom, it totally wreaked of smoke. sure enough, hollace's pack of misty lights or whatever the heck they were (cigarettes nonetheless) were sitting there on her desk. she had probably just gotten inside from smoking. oh, how considerate of her. i really wanted to say, you know, i'm pretty sure there are some studies out there that say smoking really doesn't do much for you........ except kill you. hmmm.

ok, time to work. happy, productive day to all!

color jacuzzi

at the ra staff meeting tonight, for staff development, we did a "color jacuzzi." basically, it consisted of colors with questions about ourselves. allow me to enlighten you.

red-- the stop color-- what is your biggest turnoff?
orange-- the motivation color-- what motivates you?
yellow-- the inspiration or creativity color-- what's the best idea you've ever had?
green-- the money color-- what do you plan to do for money, or what's the dumbest thing you've ever done for money?
blue-- the sky's the limit-- what's your favorite fantasy about your future?
indigo-- the odd, or different, color-- what's the most daring thing you've ever done?
purple-- the color of royalty-- if you were ruler of the universe for a day, what's the first thing you would do?

we shared our answers and had some pretty good laughs (as usual-- i love staff development meetings w/ the swope ra's-- always lots of laughs and good times)! i realized, though, that i'm a really boring person (though i think i sort of already knew this before). what's the most daring thing i've ever done? visited harlem by myself. now come on, surely i can do better than that-- i mean, that didn't even scare me. hopefully sometime soon i can add hitchhiking in argentina or skydiving or hanggliding over open water or something semirandom to that list. as for what i plan to do for money? i plan to teach. that'll bring home the bacon alright.

well, that's all for now, but since i'm on such a roll with this blogging stuff, and have had tons of thoughts in my head today, i might be blogging again later tonight. yes, you'll be hanging on the edge of your seat waiting for another entry, i know.

i'm edna. who are you?

Which Incredibles Character Are You?
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what kind of coffee are you?

You're a Cappicinno!


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return of the killer ladybug things

*argh!* those awful ladybug creatures are back to taking over northwest iowa!!! my windows are currently being adorned by them, if one could be so optimistic about the situation. go away, ladybug things! be gooooooooooone!!!!!!!!!

i appreciate good family conversations

yes, just a couple of my favorite easter family get-together conversations:

grandma: (concerned look on her face, leaning close toward me so only i could hear her, but speaking loudly enough for the neighbors down to road to hear her) "leisha, you look like you've been gaining some weight."
me: (oh-so-pleasant smile on my face) "yes, actually, i have gained weight, as it's been a very stressful semester for me; thank you for noticing."
g-ma: "well i thought it'd looked like you'd gained some weight."
me: (another pleasant smile; can you imagine?)

great uncle bill: "leisha, do you have a car?"
me: "yep, i have a car."
gub: "is it the same car you've had?"
me: "yep, it's the same car."
gub: "you mean you haven't wrecked it yet?"
me: (a sort of "what??" look on my face) "nope, i haven't, why do you ask?"
gub: "well i just thought you'd be the first to wreck your car by now..."
me: "nope, haven't wrecked it, thanks for that vote of confidence though, uncle bill, i appreciate it."

and then i proceeded to travel to cool crest to play the worst game of miniature golf in my life. even my grandma beat me (the other grandma-- the one who'd probably find a much more creative way to tell me i've gained weight-- God bless her soul). oh, good times with the reynolds family.

it's like "rat race" deja vu

i'm going to assume that everybody reading this has seen the fabulous movie w/ whoopi goldberg and cuba gooding, jr, and the mr. bean guy in it. and the scene where cuba becomes the bus driver for an entire coach bus full of a million women dressed as lucille ball.

well, i had a similar experience yesterday at the missouri repertory theatree. when we first walked into the building, there were a few "red hat ladies" (if you don't know anything about the red hat ladies, either look it up or get off your darn college campus more often!) sitting, playing cards. now i'd seen a lot of books about the red hat ladies and i'd seen a lot of hats for sale in different places, but never had i seen any real, live red hat ladies! exciting!, i think, up to this point. well... i walked into the actual theatre... and those "few" red hat ladies seemed to have increased their numbers-- from a few to ONE HUNDRED TEN of them!!!!!!!! all up and down the right and left-hand sides of the theatre were ladies dressed in the reddest of red hats and purplest of purple outfits and even BOAS! i couldn't help but to have this look on my face that said: whoa. yes, the classic joey-lawrence-on-the-fabulous-tv-show-"blossom"-WHOOOA. they definitely ruled the repertory theatre that afternoon. and then, afterward, getting back on the bus, i watched all of them going back to THEIR bus and couldnt help but think of the bus driver. i wonder if he'd ever seen "rat race" before? i wonder if he was thinking the same thing i was? i wanted to get on the bus and take a picture......... man........ guess you just should've been there... but definitely, long live those red hat ladies.

i walk at the senior citizen's center

yes, that's right, this morning i got my walk on at the senior citizen's center in town. it definitely rocked, and i definitely burned some calories with my mad walking skills. however, i never could catch up w/ grandma and laura (note: both 80 year-old women). geesh.

after that, grandma and i had breakfast at patricia's, the newly located grocery store/deli/place. we share an omelette that was heavy-laden with butter and cheese and wheat toast (yum). ok so the omelette wasn't heavy-laden with the wheat toast-- that came on the side. in case you were confused. that's ok. i get confused sometimes, too. so anyway. during breakfast, grandma and i sat with a lady and talked w/ her and we ended up talking about kim jones' experience during her semester in madrid and how amanda grubb is currently studying abroad in india-- wow!!! she's studying women's rights/justice and planning to go to law school. that's just awesome. so... that was a great conversation (yes, that was convincing, i know, but just trust me on that one).

i finally got to see kiel yesterday!!!!! and lauren. and the whole hallerud family, including prince (no, not the artist prince, but the dog prince). i also got to see paula and the gang at 2nd pres (had lunch w/ them and then visited w/ paula for quite some time) and then headed over to westport (i'm becoming quite the westport fanatic!!! gotta love those quaint little shops and artsy fartsy places!!!) and spendttwo hours in jane's store (central american textile company-- GREAT place!), talking w/ her... ended up buying a scarf (from guatemala-- all of her goods are brought straight from guatemala on the trips that she makes there twice a year) which i hope to eventually buy more of over time. i've gone into her store so many times w/o buying anything, each time saying "someday i will be able to." figured i may as well start. goodness, w/ the time i've spent in there, eventually i should buy out her store or something... and i wouldnt mind that, if i had the money; her items are so, so, so beautiful and richly designed... oh, latin america...

on the agenda for today: lunch on the plaza (isn't that just fancy schmancy), seeing "little women" at the repertory theatre, and then... i'm not sure.

have a super great day. :)

currently (pt. 2)

getting a kick out of somebody's profile on hotornot.com. here it goes: "no sense of humor, totally devoid of it. my idea of a perfect evening is never having to give up the remote. love slumping over and falling asleep on the couch. i'm exciting about every ten years, so i'm due if your lucky. feeling lucky? well do you?"

hmm, sounds like a guy every woman would want to take home to mom.
ok so really... that's awful... and i'm definitely going to be spending some time in the underworld for enjoying the website so much. i don't normally rate people-- i just get a kick out of seeing what different people have to say about themselves. there are some very, very interesting people out there.

also... currently
eating a veggie burger (yum yum!!!) w/ baked beans and green beans.

thinking i might need to get some homework done before i leave for home. tomorrow at noon... woohoooo!

yeah, that's all for now.

currently

surfing the 'net to find my dream home (ahem.... dream arizona home) while wearing hot pink banananana socks. oh, while doing laundry, as well.

so here's a play-by-play of what my "spring break" has looked like so far.

• lots of duty phone-answering and running up and down the stairs to open the doors for people whose id cards were not activated for some silly reason or another. great exercise.
• got a call from a guy who lives in pierce (why he called the swope phone, i have nooooo idea) so i got to walk over there and open the door. gosh, this ra thing... there's a lot of power in this id card, let me tell you.
• watched "13 going on 30" which is an absolutely adorable movie. (we'll forget about me trying to hit "open" numerous times on the vcr... when the movie was actually a dvd and i really wanted to open the dvd thingajig. geesh.)
• my knee went out while trying to stand up last night. didn't feel too purdy.
• woke up at 7:30am on a saturday morning for no reason at all. had a phone call from a resident needing to be let into the building at 9:30, so it was just as well.
• semi-shaved my legs. did a really pathetic job of it though so it's really nothing to get too worked up about.
• went to subway, ate (which is typically what people do at subway, unless they're working, which i have done a number of times, but sometime during the course of working at least some eating is involved), went to wally world, got lots and lots of food w/ the fabulous $ given to me for being on break duty. got tons of fruit, a thing of milk, more fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, more fruit, a bag of light chips (i plan to make this bean dip stuff so i figured i may as well have some semi-healthy chips to eat w/ it), more fruit, and applesauce (fruity). gosh i am such a fruity gal.
• prior to wally world, we (jodes and i) drove by two young men dressed in black dress clothes. "why don't we pick them up?" i asked jodes. jodes basically ended up saying that they were jehovah's witnesses and i, facetiously, said something along the lines of "yeah jody, but they're cute jehovah's witnesses." not exactly within my nature to say something like that, but the idea of the two of us picking up two jehovah's witnesses (let alone young male ones) sort of cracked me up. wonder where those conversations would end up.
• went to salt & light and looked around for a little while. gosh i looooooooooove christian bookstores-- there's nothing like them. it's a refuge and a ministry and just a home away from home.
• got busy doin' laundry.

oh and it's warm outside today. yes, a blizzard yesterday, and warmth today. for some reason i am just not surprised. it's almost like being in mexico. speaking of mexico, on tv last night (yes, i actually had the tv on for a little while!!!-- watched one of the spanish stations, mostly, *smiles*) there was a spring break in cancun dealybob on... made me want to sort of be there... well, not necessarily at cancun, but perhaps acupulco, or playa del carmen, or isla de mujeres (it's right by cancun, but is a little more quiet and definitely cheaper but still w/ a great oceanside view!), or... i'm probably forgetting a million places. mexico in general sounds good. some of my japanese friends will be going to tijuana for a day (they're staying in san diego) over break which sounds so wonderful to me. i taught them how to say "i don't speak spanish" en español just in case anybody would think otherwise. (haha!) who would've ever thought that i'd love tijuana!? but i'm so glad i went on the trip last easter w/ the bv group. gosh. mexico. hmph. want...to...travel. would also like some money with which to travel but i can't have it all at once, now can i. oh well. that's what an imagination is for. i shall walk outside and imagine that i am in mexico on a beach. which really wouldnt be too far from the truth considering storm lake is 50% hispanic and there's a lake w/ a semi-itty-bitty-quasi-beach right by campus and all along town. but that'd be pretty optimistic to think of, methinks.

well now that i've updated you on my exciting spring break so far. back to working on this religion & culture quiz. oh, memories of shields' ap english class junior year of high school... talking about transcendentalism... shields encouraging us all to drop out of school and go live out in nature for the rest of our lives. we'd be much better off that way. gosh that was a great class, and definitely the greatest teacher i've ever had and, i think, will ever have... memories...

welcome to iowa

12-20 inches of snow is expected for northern iowa as of tonight. what a way to start spring break!

welcome to iowa.

'nuff said.

happy spring break to allllllll!!!!!!!!! i shall go enjoy my trip to... the bathroom... or the lounge... or somewhere not quite as exciting as arizona or mexico or san diego. but it shall suffice. mmmm... for being an ra here over break i get free hawaiian pizza tonight. now c'mon, that's totally worth it all. :-D

what are you doing for spring break?

i'm spending the first three days of break on duty here in the res hall, sleeping and getting over this really icky cold that's been bugging me for a few days!

gosh, go away, cold.

oh well, it could be worse.

how about you??

wordage

found these on methodx.net-- a great site for young adult christians! :)

coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon
flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained
flatulence (n.) the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller
balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline
pokemon (n), a Jamaican proctologist
oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions
abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach
esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk
negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absent-mindedly answer the door in your nightie
lymph, (v.), to walk with a lisp
gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash
rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you
circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts
frisbeetarianism (n.), the belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there

hmmm

woke up at 6:50 this morning-- alarm-less. threw on a hoodie and baseball cap (i sure wasn't leaving my room w/o something over this thing one would call really bad morning hair!) and slippers and waddled my way down to the servery for breakfast. the sun was rising over the forum lawn which was just beautiful. got inside and realized-- wow-- i don't have class until 11. what in the sane heck am i doing getting breakfast before the 8:00ers are? geesh. oh, take that and add a really pathetic cold to it. i look pathetic, haha. i'm considering just going to class like this! *sigh* more sleep actually sounds good right about now. no, i have to read and study. geesh. does it ever end? oh well. it's going to be a beautiful day... now if this cold would just leave me alone... hoorah for smoothjazz.com. not that that was a random thought or anything. happy day, friends!

life is good

indeed, life is good, as it is a gift from God!

i just got back from working out and i feel like this is just the perfect time to blog. my body feels good and my mind feels even better, like i'm just full of this happy energy that you can really only get after running for a couple of miles and torturing your back muscles by trying to utilize them after very long periods of nonusage. oh, good stuff. should do it more often... gosh... i miss the old cross country days where it was 5-7 miles a day and i went home every day thinking "MAN that rocked!" (yeah, but sometimes i went home thinking "oh my gosh i can't believe i'm still alive"... but that was energizing too, no doubt.) i'd like to be a cross country coach some day. i don't think i've mentioned that on my blog before, but it's true. i had a really great cross country coach in high school whom i felt very encouraged by. not to mention the sport itself just rocks. it's an individual thing, yet teammates are always pushing and encouraging and supporting and pushing some more. the season-- fall-- is the greatest time to be running cross country, b/c you hit extremely hot weather at the end of the summer, then perfect fall weather, then really cold weather as the season ends up. sort of takes your body on a trip, lol. races are great, although i'm sooooooo not competitive. trails are a blast to run on. working toward nothing but finishing and sometimes toward gaining a new p.r. oh man... why am i not running cross country here at bv? well, i started out that way. lol i ran a whole race and then decided it wasn't for me. actually, i'd decided before then, but the coach still needed me to complete the women's team for that race. i really would love to be back on a running team. some day, some day! i'm gonna run a marathon someday... just have to get in shape first. at least i think i should. i don't know, what do you think? ;-)

wow, my fingers are just typing away.

i have a biology test tomorrow morning. it's the last classtime of the semester and the last grade available in the class. i sort of feel the pressure b/c i need to do pretty well to keep my grade. yikes. i'm just not a science person.

tonight during my night class i did some googling online and came up with arizonaeducationjobs.com. yeah, definitely a sweet site. found at least 10 different job possibilities/opening in the field of spanish/esl for this year, all in the phoenix az area. makes me think i'll have some pretty sweet chances of making it after college if i ever move down there. gosh how i'd love to. i can never shake the awesome feeling i had when i was running through the neighborhoods of tempe last spring-- there's just nothing like arizona, nothing. the midwest is great. i love kansas city and wouldn't mind living there for the rest of my life. my family is there and i LOVE my family, so there'd be the greatest struggle for me, but... well... God will take care of it. i will go wherever God intends for me to go. who knows? that might even be out of the country. i'm leaving that up to God.

gosh i feel like i have a million things to say. i may just have to spread it all out though. *sigh* today was a beautiful day-- i wore flip flops-- but definitely shouldn't have. my feet said, "brrr." on that note, it's time to go study.

new bulletin board, anyone?

anyone have any good ideas for a new bulletin board in my hallway? i'm open to anything... appropriate, that is.

:)

two words: hotornot.com, baby!

i posted a pic on hotornot.com. hahaha! watch my ratings fly sky high! hahaha!

yeah...

if you don't know about hotornot.com, it's the perfect distraction for a college student. i mean who wouldn't want to waste time evaluating other people based on something as shallow as physical appearance from a single picture?

ok so in reality, my ratings won't really get that high. why? b/c i'm not showing cleavage. apparently, in order for a female to get 10s across the board, there must be lots of cleavage. hmm. too bad for me.

hotornot.com, good times nonetheless, baby!

quick study break!

saw this on a marker board whilst doing rounds:

"smart is NOT a four-letter word. that would be 'smar.'"

hmm, yet another piece of evidence that we're all getting our money's worth here at bv.

also overheard this by a friend tonight:

"NO! baby, you got the game twisted...i'm not cheatin' on you, i'm cheatin' on her."

oh, good times.

viva japan! :)

me and japanese gals after ahls
Originally uploaded by LeishaJo.

spent last night w/ maria, anna, and kyoko-- oh, and shaun, too-- we went to la juanita's to eat tacos at midnight (tons of fun!! and sooo delicious and cheap!!) and then we played "scene it"-- a really cool game by disney. made it back to my room before curfew at 2. gosh what a cool night! :)

a wonderful day it was, indeed

ways in which my day just rocked the casa:

1. was told that it'd be ok if i didn't get my cuba paper in until monday.
2. about 6 emails were received from an ed prof this morning in an email conversation-- she started out by asking if i would be interested in being her aa next year (huge honor!, unfortunately i can't b/c i'll be gone for a semester), and then we got to talking about traveling.
3. got my first religion in the news essay back, complete w/ a grade and comments. the prof definitely wrote: "we've GOT to talk about getting you to seminary!" after class he said he really wants to just sit and talk b/c he really sees me going in that direction... he does know that i've thought about it since early high school (and more in the past couple of years). incredible. God has a crazy way of reinforcing things. for instance, beth wrote a letter to paula a few weeks ago that said she really hopes i go into the ministry someday. yeah, there's definitely a reason why i'm here at bv... God can work in ways that would otherwise seem unlikely (at such a secular school; who'da thunk??).
4. got back my spanish test grade. was definitely the lowest a i've gotten in his class on a test, haha... but an a nonetheless, and on a subject (or rather, novel) that i basically had not even the slightest clue about (even after reading it and taking notes on it).
5. talked w/ sally and scott-- told them of my definite acceptable into the isa's multi-country program... also talked w/ dixee, the study abroad coordinator. oh, that so rocked.
6. spent like 30 minutes or more trying on bv baseball caps in the bookstore w/ shaun-- in various ghetto ways (yeah, i definitely look like a dork w/ a hat on sideways, haha! word!). had a fun time talking w/ him as well... then went to the cent room and hung out there for more than an hour. had dinner (salmon!!-- hoorah for the servery on fridays during lent!!), then did talking and reading. was a fun time.
7. walked to grand central at 8 w/ a couple of freshman gals... had a very yummy and very hot vanilla chai latte and an all-too-delicious warm cinnamon scone. played taboo. enjoyed good conversation on the way back.

right now, "dirty dancing" is in the vcr and "havana nights" is anticipated for later viewing purposes. 3 people are occupying my futon and seem to be enjoying either the movie or each other's company or their laptop conversations, so... good times for all, i think.

thank God for good, good, good days... and for fridays.

blarney stone

don't know what the heck the weather is trying to do today. this morning: snow on the ground. two hours later: no snow. then: sunshine. then: raindrops. then: random snowflakes. now: a quiet little wind-blown blizzardish thing is happenin' and who knows what else. welcome to iowa, gosh.

so i went to the goodwill store to look for 1) something for gretchen's birthday (since we ra gals decided we'd each get her a little fun somethin' from there and then put them all together as a big gift) and 2) travelish clothes. i guess i was just getting antsy to see what was there, i mean, b/c i really don't need travel clothes yet. well i tried a ton of stuff on but luckily only ended up buying a maurice's button-up, earth-tone-ish top (pink and greenish-- which will go perfectly w/ my green wrinkly pants) and a t-shirt that has a pic of a skier dude that says "oh, this is vail, IOWA!!" and then "we have the snow, but not the slopes"... i thought it was cute. :) b/c it's true... i've been dying to ski all winter long but there just hasn't been any opp to do so. i miss winter park, colorado.

ok, so after the goodwill store i ended up inside the old-fashioned bakery along the main drag. how this happened, i have no idea. and how a very delicious blarney stone ended up in a little white bag in my hand, and then eventually in my mouth, i also have no idea. all i have to say about this is grrrrr. leisha, you know better!

so now i'm back and i'm thinking that a nap sounds very enticing to me.

so, nap time. hope you enjoyed this very intellectually stimulating blog. plenty more where that came from, gosh.

sleep

mmmmmmm, sounds good.

was a good day except for hearing about my bro's news. :( love you andy... hang in there, something great is coming your way.

had a spain meeting tonight and talked mostly about packing. am pretty sure we've spent hours talking about packing. the conversations never get old. am pretty sure that i'll be living for a month on like two outfits and a toothbrush. come on, who needs more than that, anyway.

took a walk tonight before midnight, w/ jody. made our way out to the lighthouse on campus... was so beautiful to stand there/crouch there and just overlook the lake and the lighthouse's spinning light that shined on the lake every few seconds. so peaceful. oh what a wonderful feeling peacefulness can be.

to bed i go, i'm a tired gal.

watch out for the gerbils

Your Superhero Persona by couplandesque
Your Name
Superhero Name	Mullet Man
Super Power	Incredible Stamina
Enemy	The Disgruntled Mailman
Mode Of Transportation	Skateboard
Weapon	Attack Gerbils
Quiz created with MemeGen!

minute-long tangent

"Many progressive religionists think they can build a movement of people of faith that ignores those issues and concentrates on the 1960s agenda of antimilitarism and the eradication of poverty. They seem annoyed that issues like abortion rights, teen sexuality, gay marriage, stem-cell research and shared power between men and women take up so much space—space they are excluded from because they will not take straightforward, honest positions on these issues." --from an article entitled "sex and the clergy"

wow... so i guess caring about those in poverty really is a "thing of the 60s." gosh, i should really get "in with the times" now shouldnt i?

i wouldn't mind having a little conversation w/ this special person. of course, i say "special" b/c it probably isn't right to say what i'm really thinking.

though it's not that i have any strong feelings about any of this........

did you know?

"now, that obviously works better if you've got two or more things to compare..."

--hollace drake, leading the class in a genius lecture on comparison/contrast papers.

gosh, now i feel like i'm getting my $26,000's worth of an education.

thanks, sherlock.

shoutout

just wanted to take the time to give a shoutout to my good buddy jody who is having a rough time w/ things. you can do it, gal... you know it! love you, jodes!

que estas haciendo en tijuana!?

leisha in tijuana
Originally uploaded by LeishaJo.

umm... viva mexico!

people-watching in the library

usher's song "yeah" makes me want to bust out some really awful white-girl moves! moves even worse than on the movie hitch... but w/ a smile on my face of course, b/c i tell you what, if i'm going to dance horribly, i'm going to dance horribly w/ style!

hmmm... am sitting in the library now in a really comfy chair that has more of a soothing, relaxing quality to me than a "hey, get to work" quality. and maybe that's why i'm blogging right now while i should be writing this paper that's due tomorrow at noon. but there's one great thing about where this chair is-- i can totally people watch-- and i'm pretty sure that about a quarter of the class is in here just getting started on this paper. frickin' a! at least i've already sat down to work on it, huh! never mind the fact that i haven't gotten any farther than typing my name on a word document... but at least i have that. pretty sure some college students even forget to do that much. so i'm pretty on top of things.

i'm pretty sure that this morning was another one of those "God is really too good to me" mornings. just w/ the way classes went and how things worked out. i'm finally caught up-- not that i don't still have a ton to do-- but at least i'm caught up from these past couple of crazy, crazy weeks. and dang, it feels good.

yesterday was the most beautiful day in the history of storm lake, at least in my opinion, based on the whole year and a half plus a couple of months that i've been here. 70 degrees, beautiful sun shining... oh it was fabulous. i soooo walked to church (w/ maurita, even-- so that was fun), totally wore a fun springtime-ish skirt (yahooooo, skirt season!!!!), and white tennis shoes. w/o socks. boy am i a crazy gal! anywho-- totally wore the capris later in the day... one thing though... was stuck on duty until 5. ick. but... still got in a walk w/ dawnielle before dinner... so that was good stuff. and wow... i'm a really boring person. so let's see here.

i answered a question correctly in special topics today. i thought that was reason to celebrate. so here goes: hoorah! also enjoyed talking online w/ jon during that time. ha, ha! blame it on the wireless laptop program... i swear it's not my fault.

lots of thoughts today about arizona. had a conversation entirely in spanish w/ somebody from there, actually... that was a blast. sure did a great job of acting like i knew what i was doing, talking (or rather, typing) in spanish. hoorah for mad spanish b.s.ing skills.

tonight was the international fair after my night class and i enjoyed numerous conversations w/ friends and acqaintances... mostly about traveling and studying abroad. turns out i have three good friends who will be studying in japan next semester. so wow... bekah, suzanne, sarah, aaron, shaun... just a few of my friends who will be studying abroad in the fall. i can tell there will be LOTS to talk about when we get back for second semester. craziness, i tell you... craziness. i can't believe it's almost here. oh... and my friend mari will be doing the multi-country program right after me in the spring, as well as another girl who just got back from a semester in spain... yeah... i'm pretty sure she just wants to go back and enjoy the nightlife over there while earning some more college credits... but to each her own, right? she'll be enjoying her 5th year of college here at bv as tuition increases about 5% per year... haha. good stuff. but anyway-- seriously-- traveling. can't say enough good stuff about it. a swope ra friend of mine said that when i get back from studying abroad i'll probably be really laidback and stuff from traveling so much and just adapting to new things all the time. i said i hope that's true b/c i don't want to be all uptight about finding a good place to live on campus and/or a roommate and whatnot... i really don't think i will be though. for once i will be absolutely cool w/ just whatever happens along those lines.

talked w/ my friend kiel today-- man has it ever been wonderful to be talking w/ him again. we used to be the best of friends in high school-- now we hardly ever see each other. spring break though-- we agreed that we'd get together and live it up a little bit. yay!

paper time. more later.

tgif x 10

am i ever glad that it's friday.

got a luxurious 3 hours of sleep last night. stayed up late w/ dawnielle writing the bio papers and ended up dead tired by 2:00. our course of action? blasted some tunes and danced around the room. being the genius that i am, i got out the digital camera and we proceeded to create some incredible home dance videos that will one day be on b.e.t. i am sure. if you are just itching to see them, let me know. b/c seriously... they're really works of art. and, let me tell you, i've sure got some mad moves. (you're jealous, i know!)

mommy and me

mommy and me
Originally uploaded by LeishaJo.

just taking time out to say that i really love my mommy and i miss her a lot! :-D (spring break is almost here--- hoorah!!!)

i am an ra

ra staff after meeting
Originally uploaded by LeishaJo.

be afraid, be very afraid.

ok so there's really no need to be afraid. i'm not really a good one. (haha!)

this was taken last night after the all-campus ra mtg. :-D (that's me in the back leftish area)

albino

big cheesy white smile
Originally uploaded by LeishaJo.

fun times w/ college friends. gotta love 'em.

and smooth, clear skin... gotta love it. ;-)

gooooooood morning

it is sooooooo beautiful outside! i mean, i haven't been outside, but the sunlight shining in my window once again tells a story in itself. yahoooooooooooo! spring is almost here!

so i just realized that spring break is two weeks away-- i can't believe that!!!!! i really wish i were traveling somewhere for spring break, but i suppose that if i don't travel, then i'll just save money, which really couldn't hurt me at all, now could it. however... i'd so sacrifice that if it meant i could go back to az. wow... spring break and arizona just seem synonymous w/ each other. beautiful.

the supertones' cd, "hi-fi revival," is one of the coolest cd's ever. i'm listening to it to wake myself up right now b/c... well... i'm really tired. also, God is good, you know? chapel is this morning so i look forward to that...

ok, no more from me, b/c my eyes are barely open and my mind is in mumbo jumbo mode. i'll definitely be blogging more later. have a super-extra-fabulous day, friends!

imagine!

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You...you may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You...you may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one

mmmm, be sure to

stop and smell the divine essence of the... meatpacking plant in storm lake.

there are over 100 smells of storm lake. unfortunately, it's been that one "mmmm makes me just want to eat meat" smell today. *choke, cough, gag*

oh well, at least it wasn't raining... ;-)

there's God!

Sky at home
Originally uploaded by LeishaJo.

see Him up there?

no?

that's because He's all around.

just too good to me

God is way too good to me. yes, i really do think so.

first of all, i havent been getting near enough sleep lately, but somehow i'm still able to wake up around 7, shower, get ready for the day, do homework, eat breakfast, and make it to class on time-- every single morning. that's God.

i had to take a make-up test this morning before class at schaller-crestland, about 30 minutes away from storm lake. the drive there was absolutely gorgeous-- farmhouses, windmills, open land, and a TON of sunshine. i got there safely and soundly. and the test went pretty well. and i got to interact with a few of the special education students for a few minutes. that was God.

after the test, nancy (the prof) returned my last article abstract/reaction paper to me. i looked at the very first page, where i'd cited my article, and she'd written "this is not a scholarly journal." immediately i knew what grade i'd gotten... so i looked at the grading sheet... and sure enough. 0/10. she looked at me as though she felt awful when she was handing it to me, and she said she really wanted to give me the points, and she even checked with the other excep learner prof... and as i looked at the grade she kept saying to me "don't panic! don't panic! it's ok!" although i cried when i got back to my car, and felt like it was the absolute end of the world that i didn't do this one perfectly (it was a scholarly newsletter, not a scholarly journal-- what the heck were you thinking, leisha!?!?!? the syllabus says to use a JOURNAL!!!!!), after about 20 minutes i started feeling a little more comforted. more sunshine. and keeping in mind what nancy kept saying to me "don't panic..." -- yeah, i think maybe that was God.

in my religion & culture class we were discussing the 10 commandments statues and the supreme court case that's being tried today. we were all able and encouraged to speak and think for ourselves. just the fact that that's even a possibility for me... for us... that's God, most definitely. (thanks, God, for making me 'me,' and not anybody else.)

at the end of class i decided to check connected learning "just in case" we weren't having class at noon, since it was cancelled on monday b/c the prof was sick. i wasn't prepared for the class AT ALL and was already freaking out, thinking of all the papers and things i have due by friday. sure enough, there was a note from ann saying that she'll be gone all week w/ the flu. so the stuff that i had due for that class isn't due now until monday and/or wednesday. yeah... if that was anything or anybody... that was totally God. i so didn't deserve that.

and so here i am, catching a breather, the sunshine is shining in my room and my fabulous yellow curtains are making the room even brighter. i am reminded of the many gifts God hands to me every single day. little ones, big ones... gifts that i don't even know are gifts yet. and wow.

so yeah... God is really just too good to me.

hay mucha hacer

hay mucha tarea que tengo que hacer esta noche. blech!

jerusalem cafe

jerusalem cafe
Originally uploaded by LeishaJo.

i love greek food! and random trips to kc to hang out at westport and cool places like the jerusalem cafe, arizona trading company, and that really cool vintage store. and super duper awesome friends like dawnielle smith! (love ya, dawnielle!!! thanks for joining me on the trip back home!!!)

kids in church

six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother joel were sitting together in church. joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud. finally, his big sister had enough of his antics. "you're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "why? who's going to stop me?" joel asked. angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "see those two men standing by the door? they're hushers."

:-D