Professor Grandma . . .

I really have no idea what brought this on but I wrote this about my grandma about 10 minutes ago. I hope you enjoy it :) I may make some changes to it but this is what came out in the first draft.


Professor Grandma

It’s my senior year of college and I’ve found myself looking back a lot these past few days. I asked myself the other day which professor I had learned the most from. Perhaps it was Dr. Strong with all the guidance that she has given me. Or maybe it was Dr. Wright who managed to show me what I DON’T want to do in life. But then I had to ask myself another question. What is a professor? Well a professor I concluded is simply a teacher. So who is it then that has taught me the most important lessons?

She died 8 years ago. But she taught me so much

She taught me ingenuity: who else would have had the creativity to make a band aid out of scotch tape and a cotton ball when she couldn’t find one in the medicine cabinet?

She taught me the art of debate: Don’t back down even if you are wrong and never say you’re wrong and pretty soon no one argues with Grandma.

She taught me my first political science lesson: Clinton was the best President since Kennedy and we should have left his personal life out of this.

More importantly she taught me the true meaning of the phrase Actions speak louder than words: Grandma rarely talked about how much she loved you she just showed you by always making sure you had snacks to eat when you went her house. She never told me to be kind to others she just made grandpa fire up the grill while she slaved away in the kitchen so she would have food to take to a family at the hospital.

Yes I think I have my answer I may have learned the high theories of International Relations from Dr. Strong but I think I’ve learned even more from Professor Grandma

Falling behind

Oh wow I've got to get back into the regular habit of blogging!! I hate falling behind in things. I suppose a blog should be the lowest on my priorites list and if that is all I've fallen behind in then things aren't so bad right? I've discovered the wonderful world of Twitter and I have once again fallen in love with podcasts. I wouldn't mind starting my own weekly podcast but I obviously don't have the time.

School is going great so far I have a feeling that graduation is going to be here before I know it! I'm so excited to finally be graduating from this place!!!

Well I'm going to update my layout and add some new features talk to y'all later!!

My not so subtle reminder . . . .

That I'm the one who fixed your internet! :)

(to all my blogger friends. I FINALLY fixed my families internet so it would work at their house on all the computers. When I did I changed their homepage to this blog so they would know who to thank LOL)

Summer School, Heartless, and Beer Summits

First of all allow me to scream for joy as I have officially finished summer classes!!!! THANK GOD!

Second of all I've been listening to Kris Allen sing the song "Heartless" and I find myself wondering if Kanye West hates his guts for doing a much better job than him.

and finally does anyone besides me wish that Obama would focus on more important things than two adults who chose to act like children? That situation should have never become the national issue that it did and the two certainly shouldn't have been invited to the white house of all things!

Ok that's my little rant for the night.

Blessed

A few weeks ago I got a phone call saying that one of my residents from Royer hall had been killed in a car accident. Her younger sister was alson in the accident and the doctors weren't sure if she would live because of some swelling in her brain. Nicole the one who died was only 21 years old. It was a very sad situation. Her sister Ashley was so badly injured that she was unable to attend the funeral. Tonight I logged into facebook and I saw Ashleys facebook status. I was moved when I read it. It said, Ashley Won't Complain! I've Suffered From A Broken Back, Dislocated Elbow, A Fractured Vertebrae In The Back Of My Neck, Fractured Bones In The Front Of My Neck, Fractured Wrists, Swelling Of The Brain, And Cuts And Bruises, After It's All Said And Done I Can Truly Say "I AM BLESSED!" I Also Want To Thank Everyone For All The Prayers And Love You've Shown! God Bless You All! -Words From Ashley- ♥

I am always so encouraged by the strength of people like this. I am sure that her heart is breaking but yet she still has the strength to say I am blessed.

I just wanted to share this with you all. Let it remind us how truly blessed we are!

It's been a long time . . .

So It's been FOREVER since I've blogged! I haven't had time. I've been doing the summer school thing all summer and that ends this Tuesday THANK GOD!!! I'm sooo tired of school. BUT there are only 286 more days until I graduate. Yes I am counting already! I'm still not sure where I'm going after that but I'll figure it out soon I'm sure. I don't have a lot of time today but I wanted to say hi and say that after Tuesday I plan to catch up on my blogging. I'm headed to my sisters house in Osceola for Praise Break and a much needed break from school. I'll be there for 10 days and then it's back to UAM for RA training. Lots and lots of fun! Anyway I hope all is going well for you all! Can't wait to talk with you again and share all that has been going on in my little world.

Priorities People!!!

So I was browsing through a few news websites this morning and I noticed something that just amazed me. Right now in the world today there exists problems with North Korea, an election in Iran that was probably rigged, Obama is about to try and mess up the health care system even worse than it already is, Americans in a terrible economic depression and I'm certain that somewhere in the world last night a murder took place. Do you know what the most popular story is on CNN? "Hillary Clinton Fractures Elbow." You can tell what Americans really care about here.

A bit of political ranting just for you . . .

So I haven't quite finished my London journal but I've been sick with strep throat since the second to last day of the trip. I'm safely back inside U.S. borders and I'm back to rolling my eyes at the latest headlines and political news breaks.

First of all lets talk about the Presidents date with his wife the other night. If you're upset that he took his wife on an expensive date that cost the taxpayers money GET OVER IT!!!! I mean come on people. First of all 24,000 is NOT that much money. It's less than a penny per tax payer. Second you do realize that it costs tax payers way more than that for a lot of transnational flights the president has to take on almost a weekly basis right? Second why the devil are people making such a big deal! Is he doing that good of a job that we have to find that small of a thing to gripe about? I've come to realize that we are in fact a nation of complainers.

Now let's talk about something that actually means something. GM announced their plans to file for bankrupcy. Big suprise there right? I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that the government will have a 60% interest in the country when the company is restructured. Yes I realize that GM was a major part of our nations economy so I don't dispute the need for government intervention but do we really need a majority interest? Basically Barak Obama now controls GM. People say it is neccessary and in a way I agree but I'm afraid this is just going to open the door for more and more government control in areas I feel the government needs to stay out of. What do you think?

I could go on and on but I'm starting to feel like total crap again. Hopefully the medicine the doc gave me today will start makin me feel better.

First Video Blog

Sorry I accidentally stopped recording about 2 seconds too soon!

Daily Journal

Hey guys!!

I found a way to make sure that you all get a daily update on my trip to london. I have to keep a daily journal since this trip is technically a class. I've decided to do it in the form of a blog. I wanted to keep it seperate from this blog so I created a new one. Yvonne Goes to London, will be my daily account of everything that goes on while I'm London. This way at the end of the trip all I have to do is send the link to my professor! This also insures that you guys get a glimpse of my trip to London!

Love you guys!!!!

Yvonne

High Tea and Castles

Yay! I'm so excited. I leave for london in less than 48 hours! I can't wait. I probably wont be doing the whole high tea thing because it's crazy expensive but I will see lots of castles!!! I'll be "trying" to post pictures here every day but I make no promises. You may just have to wait until I get back! I'll be gone until the 26th :) I'm all packed and ready to go! I'm heading to Conway tomorrow and from there I'll go to the airport on Sunday.

Pondering . . .

I like Adam Lambert. I really want him to win American Idol. I like Kris Allen too but I just think that Adam is better. However the other day I was having a conversation with someone about this very thing. He is a Chrisian as I am but he said something to me that kind of upset me. He said and I quote so please forgive the harshness "I can't believe you would support a faggot". I hate that word. Anyway I was a bit upset with him but I didn't say anything. I just started pondering his statement. Adam has never come out and said yes I am gay but he has offered clues to suggest such a thing. He said kissing girls might not be his preference. There are pictures of him making out with guys. So yes there is a good chance that Adam Lambert is gay. The thing that has me perplexed though is how do Christians deal with the homosexual community. We can't deny its existence nor should we participate in that lifestyle. However I don't think that my liking Adams voice is me showing support for his lifestyle choice. I have several gay friends on campus. They all know that I disagree with their lifestyle choices but I still accept them as friends. So because they are gay should I just not associate with them? A better example would be the gay professor that we have on campus. She is an amazing professor but according to my friends logic I shouldn't take her classes and I shouldn't like her teaching because she is gay. I have to say I disagree. But then again according to him I'm a left wing wacko liberal so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

I just don't think its very christian to speak with disgust about someone just because they choose a lifestyle that we disagree with. Yes being gay is wrong no I do not support the gay lifestyle. I just like Adam Lambert and I like really good English teachers and I happen to have gay friends. However I'm very clear on how I feel about the lifestyle. I'm just not rude about it. I believe in the saying, "Hate the sin not the sinner"

One more year . . . I think I can I think I can

I'm feeling horribly trapped and I think that is part of my problem. I have grown to dispise Monticello and I'm so ready to leave. However I have to stick it out for one more year. I think I can, I think I can . . .

That's what I'm going to have to keep saying for the next year. Oh well I'll get a bit of a break and somewhat of a new routine over the next few months. I'm off to London in less than two weeks. YES!!! This summer I'll be working as a summer RA in a different dorm all summer and that will be something new to look forward to.

Anyway I'm going to get back to pretending to work now.

Have a good day.

Because I had a Bad Day.

Today was not the best. I found out that I am for sure not getting the GA job in the dorms and it upset me pretty bad but I didn't make a big deal out of it. I understand the reasons. I totally disagree with the reasons but I understand them just the same. Then a little bit ago I got a phone call that made me cry and I hate crying. However I caught the tail end of American Idol and Adam Lamberts song made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside so I'm all better now *grin*.

I'm so ready to be out of Monticello though. I'm tired of pretending to be happy here so I can't wait to move!!! I'm going to miss some people but I'll keep in touch with the important ones and forget about the rest.

I think London will be good for me and so will living across campus in the other dorm over the summer. I guess my boss felt bad about not being able to give me the GA job so he gave me the Summer RA job which is fine with me. Either way my summer classes are being paid for. :)

So even though today wasn't the best I'm still smiling and life will go on. I've decided I'll just be the best RA ever next year even though I didn't get the promotion I wanted. Things in my family may not be the greatest but they aren't the worst they have ever been either. Life is still good.

Washington DC #4

I have a little bit of free time before my terrorism class so I thought y'all would enjoy some more pictures of my trip to DC.



This is Zach. He is a UAM graduate who now works in DC and he acted as a great tour guide for most of our trip.

This is the first picture I took of the whitehouse. It didn't turn out so great.

This is us at the oldest pub in DC. It's now a nice restaraunt. We ate here with another UAM Graduate who is now working in washington as a lobbiest.


Us at old Eberts again.

I'm sitting at Congressman Mike Ross' desk.

Ok I'll post more later!!

Struggle

I hate that I'm being emo and blogging about this crap but I'm struggling right now. I'm not happy with certain areas of my life so I'm looking for a change but I feel like I'm being pulled away from things that have always been a constant in my life. I'm so ready to leave Arkansas and start a clean new chapter in my life. I'm ready for a place where no-one knows my name and I can make a brand new life.

I hate the fact that I dont enjoy going to church here anymore. I love going in Conway and other places I just do not enjoy going to church in monticello. It just doesnt feel like home anymore and it makes it so easy to find reasons not to go. I need help I do know that. I just hope that when I move I can find a place that I truly enjoy again. I feel like I'm in such a dry desert in my spiritual life.

Just pray for me that I make the right decisions in life over the next few months.

On a happy note: 3 WEEKS TIL I LEAVE FOR LONDON!!!!!!

Excitedness (yeah I totally just made up a word).

I have a lot of things to be excited about in my life right now. First of all the end of the semester is almost here! That means I have ONE YEAR LEFT!!!!1 I'm sooooo happy. I am so ready to leave Monticello. I'll miss my little 16x16 ft home of 4 year but I'm ready for a bigger place with a kitchen and a bathroom. I'm also ready for a drivers license from another state. Second I leave for London in 25 days!! I'm so glad that I'm taking advantage of these trip opportunities. Third I am now the chairperson of the student activities board here on campus which is totally awesome. Fourth I just love life wich excites me! Now I'm off to work to share my love for life with everyone.

Yvonne

P.S. please pray for my car. The fact that it is being dumb does NOT excite me.

Apparantly I'm not a fan of marriage (I titled this after I wrote the blog).

Well the conference is over and I did OK. It wasn't my best presentation but it certainly was not my worst. Now I'm sitting in my room about halfway done cleaning it and I really really don't feel like finishing it. I HATE cleaning my room! I would rather scrub a dozen toilets than clean my room. If I ever get married my husband will be in charge of keeping the bedroom clean. I'll do everything else but he can do the bedroom. However I don't plan on getting married so I can have a messy bedroom all I want. Now don't condemn me for saying this but I wish it were OK to just have long term relationships instead of marriage. I hate the whole idea of marriage sometimes. I think it's because I have serious authority issues or something. I hate the thought of being accountable to some guy just because he's in love with me. I know my logic is totally screwed up but that's OK it's my logic not yours. I'm serious though I'm semi dating a guy right now and I love the fact that we can be best friends, have great conversations, and go out and have fun, but at the end of the day I don't have to plan my life around him. If our paths happen to cross and we can make time for a date great if not nobody gets upset. I don't have to tell him every time I leave the house and I don't feel bad about going to the huddle house at 3:00 AM because guess what we don't live together. We aren't super romantic and mushy we have just entered into a relationship of sorts. Yeah there are those soft sweet moments where I feel all special and stuff but it doesn't make me want to change my last name to Janisko. Sorry I know all my church friends probably think I'm horrible but I'm not. Bottom line: I don't want to get married! At least not anytime soon. Anyway I have NO idea where all that came from. I'm going to get back to the dreaded task of cleaning my room.

Nervousness Abounds

I have been working my butt off on a paper for the last 6 months or so and tomorrow I get to present my research at a conference (actually it's technically this afternoon). I am so nervous I can't sleep. Wish me luck! The paper is called, The Path to Europeanization: Opposing views of Havel and Klaus. I realize that means absolutely nothing to most of you but it is a fun topic. I wont post my abstract here which would help you to understand the paper a bit better but they are publishing these papers in a journal so I need to be careful about where I'm posting it until after publication. Anyway I'm basically comparing imposed communism to imposed democracy we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Pray for me and wish me luck!!

Yvonne

Some people anger me.

I'm highly angered as I read the news today. I see where people who are miserable insist on making everyone else's life absolute hell. We have three instances and probably more in the past few weeks where people have decided to kill themselves but decide to take a few people with them on their way. I'm not talk about suicide bombers either. They at least have false justification for their actions. Please note that I am not sympathizing with suicide bombers but they usually aren't the father of the people they decide to blow up. It's usually a random target and they feel as if they are doing Gods work. I promise you this man that all five of his kids because he was mad at his wife was not doing Gods work. Nor was he fighting for some cause that he felt was worth fighting for. This crazy insane person was so screwed up in the head and so miserable with his life that he shot his own children WHILE THEY WERE SLEEPING!!!! I get so angry when stuff like this happens. I want to question and ask why and I want to demand an answer.I realize that God isn't going to give me one and I will be totally honest there are days when I struggle with that. However in the end I always know that God is still God and he is still in control and I need to just let him do his thing because he knows exactly what is going on. He certainly didn't cause that man to shoot his children but God still knows what's going on.

OK that's my rant for the night sorry about that I'm just upset.