RAM WELCOME!!!

Man, So much stuff has happened over the last couple of days, it's CRAZY! Lets start before Move-In day...
August 17th, 2011; I didn't accomplish anything really. did a 2 mile walk one way, ate, and walked back to my hotel as I waited for my room to be cleaned and available. Then I laid around, dozed, and waited till morning.

August 18th, 2011; I woke up, got picked up by my amazing bathroom buddy; for privacy reasons, well call her Tay. Anyway, Tay is amazing. We got to our dorm, Parmelee Hall, around 7:30. Because we were so early (sign in started at 8) we got to sit inside, while everyone else ended up waiting outside. We were the first people through the line ;) which was amazing. Basically from there, I unpacked the few things I had, and helped Tay and Nic unpack (Nic is my roommate).
That night we had our official "welcome ceremony inside of the Moby Arena.

This is slightly less than half of the Ram class of 2015 and the top left little corner section is where parents and family were seated..


It was a pretty good ceremony. Kind of long, but that's a ceremony for you ;) . Anyway.. this is the same arena I'll be graduating in... kind of weird (I'm assuming they do it by college, cause otherwise there wouldn't be enough room for everyone!!) Afterward was a picnic, and carnival. I did the picnic part and got to know a floor mate of mine, Jess. We ended up playing volleyball for a couple of hours, and then turned in for the night. I got to bed about 10:30.

August 19th, 2011; (yesterday) morning, we got breakfast, then broke off into our individual colleges. I went to the College of AG, of course, and I LOVE THEM!!!! We broke up into majors (mine being Animal Science) and most everyone in Animal Science wants to be a veterinarian. What they did, was have different "booths" that we rotated through to experience different careers. They were things like Reproduction, Meat Science, Food Science, Experimental Research, Showing an/or managing livestock, Dairy Science, and care/treatment of animals. They were all very cool subjects. On reproduction, we learned about the different instruments for ultra sound. Cows and horses are the only animals in which you go in through the rectum. At food science, we swabbed to test areas for bacteria. generally desks and doorknobs are the worst. Experimental Research was amazing!! They had a steer, part of a digestive study, who had a whole in his side, which went to the Ruminant stomach, so they could study him. I was very apprehensive at first about reaching in him, but it was very cool :) . He was warm, and it was.. interesting. We got to see some of the grass under a microscope, and you could see the bacteria eating it, which was the coolest thing I've seen in person.
From there, we went to ARDEC and did some activities... such as..

HOLD TARANTULA'S!! Ewwww right ?? But I'm slowly conquering fears.. slowly...

I have to go for now (again) But I'll be back with a "Cont."

- Lydia S.

18 down, how many more....?

Today, August 14, 2011 I turned 18 years old. My un-planned theme for it was;

The peace sign, and pretty bright pastel type colors. It was funny how it all worked out ;) . So, beside money, gift cards, and cards, I got a few cool things. My auntie gave me a cool peace sign chest with a nice blanket, smelly scents, and sticky whiteboards that are a calendar, and two message boards (one with a peace sign border). A friend gave me a photo strip thing that hangs on a wall, and her boyfriend (my brothers best friend) gave me pepper spray, and the best part..  it was all his idea. I love it when people are amazing with gifts. I fail miserably when it comes to gifts. 

IT'S NOT WHATS "IN" THE CARD, IT'S WHATS "ON" THE CARD!

I am a sucker for inspiration. I was told once by a wise young man (in the FFA, of course ;) that everybody needs love and inspiration, but the most frequent occasion that gives me inspiration is birthdays, on cards. This year was especially inspiring because I'm also leaving for college, and everyone wanted to say those "last, final words" before I'm off to college. It's funny how the most meaningful words come from those whom you love the most... And boy do I love them!! It's crazy to think about life four months, to a year from now. My nephew will be two, my brother another year older, and another year will have come between us and changed us. 

LIFE IS TOO SHORT!!

Live with love, and your life will be dramatically altered. Now, a note to leave you on;

God Bless!!

- Lydia S.

Blog Crazy!!

About a month ago, I would've never DREAMED of blogging. As of yesterday, not only am I in charge and managing this blog, but for some unearthly reason, I created a blog for Joshua's Call, and now it seems that I'm in charge of it also.

How in the world did I go from NO blogs, to TWO blogs???? O dear....

Maybe I should explain Joshua's Call in order for you to understand me a little bit. To me, Joshua's call is turning into my youth group. We want to be there to support and encourage each other through-out college. We hope that with each others support, we'll come closer to God, instead of farther away. I personally am super excited about this. We will do praise reports/ prayer requests, worship night, and many many other things to bring us closer together and closer to Him.

Why "Joshua's Call"??

The story of Joshua is that he had faith and trust in God, so he marched around a town for seven days and seven nights. At the end of those seven days and seven nights, Joshua blew a Rams' horn, and the walls protecting the city came crumbling down. Just like God helped Joshua triumph over his obstacles (the wall), He will also help us if we have faith. By coming together in our faith, we will be stronger than if we simply stood alone.

Well, that's all for now on that front. I am about to have baby pigs tonight apparently.. =/ uh oh...

Lydia S.

Production vs. Unity

I was faced with a harsh reality two days ago.

I've known this very special and talented young woman for an extremely long time. In a way, I grew up with her, as we participated in 4-H together and I followed in her foot steps through the FFA. I was always envious of her, but there was also something that made her slightly difficult to agree with. Two days ago I found out what is was.

The 2011-2012 AK state officer team was holding their "team leadership conference", and I went to visit. Being a past state officer, I was close to a few of the current team members. It was bed time, but before we got that far, we were having a discussion about their team, and its lack of unity and friendship. I talked to the two leaders of the conference, (also past state officers) about trying to get them to open up. One of them agreed, but had no idea on how to go about it. The other, (one I grew up with) disagreed fully. Her reasoning was; "as long as the work gets done, on time, and well, I don't care if they like each other or not."

And this is where I realized the difference between me and her. She was concerned only with production, where I care about unity. The way I see it is as a clock. She's the person that only cares if it works, and that she can read it. I care about the gears, and how smoothly they all run together. In someway you have to only focus on production, but if you can help them smooth out the gears, you need to.

If nothing else, TRY!! You'd be amazed at what you can accomplish by just trying.

Facebook

FACEBOOK IS WHO YOU ARE....

People are a lot of things, but your Facebook resembles the the true, 100%, you. When you post something, you are sharing something about yourself. When you "Like" something, you are endorsing it. When you add or delete friends, you're letting the world know the kinds of people you like to associate with. (Which reminds me that I need to clean out a few of my friends...). 

Mark Zuckerburg created Facebook where you are supposed to have only ONE Facebook, because he dislikes hypocrites. He discourages people separating who they are for their family and work friends, because in actuality, you are one single individual. With one opinion, one past, one view.

Addiction to Facebook is serious!!!

I am coming off of an addiction, but if you can't separate yourself from your Facebook for more than 12 hours, you're addicted. If you check it every hour, you should really fix it. Facebook is a GREAT connection tool, but you need to remember to LIVE LIFE!!!

DON'T MISS OUT ON TODAY BECAUSE OF FACEBOOK!!

Remember you have true friends, not JUST syber friends. You have people that love you, and understand the connections you can make to the community through Facebook. But occasionally they want you to be physically and mentally present with THEM, not somewhere else.

DON'T GET ADDICTED!!!

Lydia S.