freshman flash back.

my room is almost clean.
while i was sorting through papers in my room i found a paper from focus.

i had to take a strenghts quest test (personality test).

INDIVIDUALIZATION

People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.

EMPATHY

People who are especially talented in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others' lives or others' situations.

IDEATION

People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

STRATEGIC

People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

INPUT

People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

What are your strengths?

SO basically this is so true about me, "Empathy can be challenging because you may become overwhelmed with all of the emotions you can pick up in a day" its true. i feel so much.

and sometimes i wish i could just take a break. like i wish i could just be numb.

no water.

The water at my house isnt working. Its shut off for some reason. So i brushed my teeth with a water bottle.

and im implementing "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down."

and now im off to clean my room. it's a never ending task. And i just really want to have it in pretty good shape before i move back to school. I have like hal fmy stuff moved in and i just want to stay there.

saturday i listed a bunch of my old textbooks online at half.com and so far two of them have been purchased. so i made over 100 dollars on two books when cbu was going to give me about 40 for all of them. so i learned that it is always better to sell your books on the internet rather than back to the book store.

im going to go play some guitar hero, and clean my room.

then tonight im going out to dinner with 3/5 of my louisiana team.

oh and (its kinda a secret) most starbucks have pumpkin spice flavoring back in stock!
yay i love fall!

I (kinda) have a job.

i am a ChaCha guide.
no, i am not a dance instructor.

i work for ChaCha.com, a human powered search engine.
people can text any question to chacha (242 242) from their cell phone. and then people like me are sitting on our computers and reserching questions and sending answers back to the cell phones.

its totally free to use (standard rates apply).
and i get paid 20 cents per answer i send.
if you want to sign up list me as the guide that refered you. (rachel.weinstein@calbaptist.edu)


once i go back to school im getting a real job, but this is fun for now.

i almost know michael phelps.

as some of you may know i was on the swim team in high school.
here is a picture me with the senior girls after league finals.

also on the swim team at my hs was junior scott (tyler) clary.
we were not friends and he probably doesn't even remember me, but this is just my shameless name dropping.

he went on to swim and Michigan University where Phelps is a assiastant coach. Scott also tried to qualify for the olympics finishing third (only the top 2 go).
and apparently scott and michael are friends. like michael picks scott up from the airport and stuff like that.

so that is how i almost know the great michael phelps.

some of my struggles.

its crazy that i have been back from louisiana for over a month. crazy.
i am constantly reminded of those six weeks of my summer. which is good. and i hope it lasts.

becuase i love these girls so much.
and i love my team so much. (plus ben who isn't in this picture.)
but i have this terrible habit.
i move on and forget. i learned so much, but i already know i have slipped back into my routine here. but is that such a bad thing?
do i place too much emphasis on walking away from a situation totally changed?
often when returning from a mission trip i say "i went expecting to give and serve (the mexicans, chileans, homeless, cambodians...) but instead they served me and taught me so much."
but it always seems to be the same lesson. isn't once enough? or do i really need to keep relearning the same stuff?

desitini, one of my girls just myspaced me. she said "hey i miss you so much. are you coming back next summer!!!!!!" (yah no question mark, just a bunch of explanation points)

and i told her i don't know if i will be returning to louisiana. its something i always struggle with.
after chile i really wanted to go back. but i didn't. instead i took an opportuinity to go to cambodia. and it was amazing. and i really wanted to go back there. but i didn't. i went to louisiana.
this was our staff picture. i would love to be a part of that team next year. i just have no idea if thats where the lord will put me.

it started 8-8-08.

my first olympic memory is of the 1996 ATL olympics.
i watched a lot of gymnastics that summer and i even got an olympic gymnast barbie.yah it was pretty legit.

so basically i love the olympics. they are just so exciting.
i love watching sports that only get media attention every four years.
i love turning on the tv and getting to watch a water polo game.

the mens 4x100 relay tonight was so exciting!!!
seriously, does it get any better than that?

ahoy matey.

this past weekend we went on a last minute family vacation to long beach.
we stayed aboard the queen mary. it was fun and relaxing. my fave part of our suite was the hardware. check out the knobs for the bathtub: it says: hot salt, hot fresh, cold salt, and cold fresh.


on sunday we went to the aquarium of the pacific. i cracked up at the sign above the toilet.
kinda blury, but it reads : flush up for #1 (liquid waste) and flush down for #2 (solid waste)maybe sea world in all its amazingness ruined my opinion of aquariums. but i was totally board. i mean how long can you just look at fish behind glass? there were two otters and some cute penguin. but im over it.

the sea horse was my favorite tank. they are so funny looking. who decided this looks like a horse?

and now back at home we are working on re doing the front room.
but tomorrow when most of the painting is going to be done (by jacob and riley) i will be at the beach with junior highers.

cro magnum

"friendships in college are sort of like like cro magnum men:
they either evolve or they become extinct.
their success depends on how much energy you put into adapting" (greek).

i am afraid of change. i have a hard time translating friendships from one stage of life into another. i categorize people: high school friends, mission trip friends, church friends, etc.
when those situations are taken away from me its hard to retain the relationships.

have i invested my time into too many surface level friendships? should i just limit myself to a few really good friends? i have a bunch of really great people in my life. and i feel so blessed to know them. so i don't want this post to sound all emo and whiny. i don't even know what im getting at here.

i guess i just want to say that i feel like through the grace of god i have really grown a lot this summer. and i am excited to go back to school in a month. i know i screw up friendships. i know im stubborn. i know i am terrible at keeping in touch. a lot of times i think giving up is easier than working it out. as much as i want to see all sides of a situation, it is hard. i am sorry. i am not even close to perfect.

i have high expectations. i want perfect friendships. but how can that happen when you take two imperfect people and put them together?

and on the topic of evolution, i just found out one of my friends is the new grounds keeper at the giant dinosaur museum things in cabazon. and i think thats awesome. (operating from a creationist standpoint)