Sooo considering it is the last week of February, and I am two months into school, that means I have two months left of my second year of college. It is mind blowing to me, where did the time go?! Okay. Focusing back on the middle of the semester type issue here...would leave me to tell you, that sadly, this week is midterms. I think this is the most exams I have had in a week. There are FOUR big ones. I'm not just talkin 'studying the night before and cram kind of exam', I'm talkin 'essays due at midnight the night before to go WITH your exam kind of deal'. It's exhausting to say the least, and what do I decide to do before my biggest test of the week? Procrastinate and surf the web. Okay, well maybe not surf the web, but I do get on youtube so I can put a little laughter in my life before I bore myself with the six civilizations of the ancient world. I think I might be on the verge of a breakdown, but I tend to work myself up over silly things like tests or grades in general, so it's normal. Then, I try to remind myself, "Oo it's college, who cares? When will I ever have the chance to live life the way I am now?", but that only works for a second because I can never free myself from actually caring A LOT about how I do in school.
On a side note, we got FIVE NEW GATEWOOD YOUNGLIFE LEADERS!!!! Praise the Lord!! I am so excited. SO excited, our family is growing so big, and it makes my heart so happy. We already have a weekend getaway lake trip planned to have bonding time. More on that later...
Before my friends & I went to see what leaders were placed at what schools, my funny friend showed me this hilarious one year old baby interview. I mean, I'm not sure if your humor is the same as mine, but I found it really funny. I just think pretty much anything to do with kids is funny/adorable, so I'm sorry if this was a waste, & I'm sorry so many things on my blog so far have to deal with babies and kids, but what can I say I just melt! Enjoy this sweet video.
I'm on a hair kick. For some reason, recently, there have been several hair conversations between me and my girlfriends. I'm talkin' SERIOUS hair conversations. Yes, there IS such a thing as a serious hair conversation. Well it's serious in my mind...only because once one thing is brought up, I tend to wonder off..and when I say wonder off, I mean my mind just gets so excited about all the opportunities you can do with hair that I tend to lose focus on the conversation. whoops.
I've always been infatuated with hair. I'm not sure if it was because I had untamable hair when I was a child, and I've always wanted to be able to tame it or what, but regardless I love it. From the ages of about 3-13 I had no idea what to do with my lion's mane. I'm not quite sure my parents knew either. One thing that I learned from old pictures is NOT to brush curly hair...it is...um...interesting if you do. I did some crazy things with my hair that I'm not sure why my mom let me out of the house. I wish she had documented each hairstyle though, because that would have been epic. Actually, I did some crazy things with my outfits as well because my mom was a cool mom and aloud me to be creative from a very early age..Here's a vision..
My hairstyles consisted of: hair-o-gami (and one day at school it got all tangled in my hair and my teacher spent a good 30 minutes trying to get it out), butterfly clips, tiny braids (that I thought made me look like I just got back from an exotic beach), and countless other numbers I did to my hair. There was also an endless supply of options I could do because...well I forgot to mention, but my first real haircut wasn't till 5th grade...so I had a lot to work with. It wasn't to the floor. gross. I know that's what you were thinking.
Now that I'm older and much more wise with how I treat my hair, I've come to the point where people actually let me do THEIR hair! crazy huh?! I think it is, but I enjoy it so much. I've spent countless of hours on the computer just googling hair. Maybe I shouldn't admit that, but it's fun!!! Seriously. There so many different cuts, styles, colors, and shapes someone can do with hair. One of my roommates and super close friend of mine has gotten braids before and it was AWESOME. here's a pic so you can bask in her coolness with me.
I will, at some point in my life do hair for a living, and it will be a dream come true. I can't wait for it. But for now, I will just be happy my hair isn't untamable anymore...well for most days.
Last May I went on a study abroad trip to San Ignacio, Belize and taught 2nd grade. For two weeks, I invested in these students lives inside & outside the classroom. While being in 90 degree heat with a humidity of most likely 99%, we taught these students what we knew. We brought in these ways of learning that they had probably never even dreamed of seeing. We showed them exciting and fun ways to learn instead of sitting in their seats and copying word after word from the board. After all, they were only 7 years old. I learned so much throughout these two weeks that I never could have imagined learning in this time span. It was hard, it was tiring, it was hot, and some days I didn’t want to get up and stand for 7 hours in a classroom with zero air conditioning, but it was worth it. These kids were smart. These kids wanted to learn, and showed me that schools can have no resources, and yet they can still learn. They were still as smart, and maybe even smarter than the students in America.
This one little girl captured my heart while I was there. Her name was Hayley, and she was beautiful. She lived in a small village a little ways away from the school and always brought new things in to class to show me. One day, she came in with new tennis shoes that lit up, and I could just see in her beautiful green eyes how excited she was about them. She had the coolest crayons, and always seemed like she was ahead of the game in fashion (they also wore uniforms, but I just had a sense about her fashion). This is Hayley.
We taught the students about the food chain, and made a game out of it. We made alliteration frogs, and taught them a silly fruits of the spirits song during Bible that they loved. What was extremely interesting to me was that many of the teachers at Bishop Martin didn't have teaching degrees. Belize is in such dire need for teachers, that they allow people with degrees that don't necessarily have to do with teaching. Not only were we given the opportunity to teach the students, but we had afternoon lessons where the teachers learned different creative lessons. On the weekends, we were given these opportunities that were crazy. I honestly have never felt so adventurous in my life. We went to the mayan ruins of Xunantunich and climbed all the way to the top. We also went cave diving! Let me just explain what all that entails..We hiked 45 minutes through this mountain and came across a water hole. We stopped, and had an interesting lunch (the tour guide provided lunch), and jumped in the freezing cold water with helmets and a light. We swam through an opening in the cave until we got to a place where we could stand. We were walking, swimming, & climbing through this cave for 2 and a half hours. I think I went through a lot of emotions during this period. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of doing certain things where I'm not sure whether or not I will come out alive..I don't know but that's just me. We climbed this cave, and as we made it to the top, we had to take off our shoes and put on socks from our dry packs. We were taken through this historic part of the cave where the ancient Mayans had their rituals...yes people...sacrifices!!! I saw real human bones of a girl that was sacrificed!! It was a little creepy to say the least, but awesome at the same time. We also got to swim in a 75 ft waterfall which was pretty awesome as well.
After the two weeks of teaching and exploring we flew to an island called San Pedro which was off of Belize. We stayed there for the weekend and snorkeled in the Belize Barrier Reef!! I will admit, I cried the whole time, while my sweet friend Rachel held my hand. haha I'm just a little afraid of sharks...and we swam in this place in the ocean literally called "shark & stink ray alley." But hey. I survived, and I'm extremely glad I did it.
A week after I came back from Belize, I received an email from Hayley, which made me so happy. I miss these kids so much, and I wish that I were able to go back and see them. This was the email I received : Mrs perez I am doing good and you? I am having fun are you having fun? Mrs perez how are you doing?
so sweet!!
Here are some pics from the trip:
Maybe one day I'll be teaching your little ones :)
Starting my first blog, I wasn't planning on writing my first post on Valentine's day...and yet here I am...staring at my computer trying to take in all of the facebook statuses, tweets, & instagram pictures of everyone out there who has a valentine. Then we have people who fall under the category of not having a valentine, which is fine too. I personally love the statuses of people who don't have valentines and say things like...
"Some call it Valentine's day, I call it Tuesday", or my personal favorite... "Valentines Day. #stillsingle #willbeforever #ijustwantaboyfriend #guessIcanbemyownvalentine #firstgradersgetmorepresentsthanmeandtheyareafraidofCOOTIES #wt#EFFFFFF."
Thank you, Taylor Forester, for that one. Honestly, I'm not huge on this whole day. I mean the concept of it is sweet and fun. But overall, I think it's just one of those holidays that many could do without (like the one's who make those pitiful statuses). Maybe if there wasn't such hype on everything, I would enjoy it more. I feel as if any holiday now, is becoming too big to handle. These holidays become blown out of proportion, and not many people sit back and allow it to sink in. But then I thought, Valentine's Day, doesn't necessarily have to be about a certain special someone. Valentine's Day is a day of love. A day of reflecting and showing others how much you care and appreciate them. So if you don't have the typical "valentine" that so many people are all mushy and gushy over. Stop and think. wait. I have friends right?(lets hope so) I have a family? or even someone I remotely care a little inkling about. Then show them how much you care for them! Express to them how much they mean to you, because I'm pretty sure everyone who's anyone loves to feel cared for & appreciated.
And if you're wondering about me? well yes, I have a Valentine, but sadly he's working out of town, so this little one will have to do.
