haley's great blog of fun

dorm pics

posted by Haley B @ 9:35 AM 5 Comments

foxe's book of martyrs

One of the required readings for Church History class is John Foxe's Book of Martyrs.



Albeit mine's a newer edition, it's still got the same intense stories. It basicallly chronicles all these accounts of persecution against the Christian church, especially during Queen Mary's reign. On one hand, it'll make you frustrated with the Roman Catholic church...which is pretty pointless and dumb. And on the other hand, it puts you in awe of the grace that God gives to us to endure literally anything. I mean, these people were getting buried alive, torn apart in lion pits, thrown into the ocean in a burlap filled with snakes and scorpions, burned at the stake, beaten absolutely senseless...

It'll make you seriously rethink your priorities in life. Or at least that's what it did for me. It's a book of examples of people who were given the grace to put God first, above even their lives.

Labels: books, spiritual, studies

posted by Haley B @ 2:28 PM 2 Comments

surfing extravaganza numero dos

Basically, one of my favorite things to do in life is surf, and I got to go yesterday. I don't have any substantial pictures, so this post is pretty much going to be story time with Haley. For the skim readers I'll just highlight the important words. It's record worthy though. Let me start from the beginning.

My roommate Samantha

is definitely my cohort in extreme sports. She's pretty skilled at inviting herself places, so she managed not only to snag an invite to the coast, but also a teaching session with Kai.

He's from Hawaii, so he's nothing short of pro status.
Well, we met up with Kai, Joey

(the body boardin pizza boy), and Chris

(a first timer, but nonetheless a fellow quarter Jap, which automatically gives him major brownie points in coolness.)

So we headed out around 8:45 in the morning. Sam and I followed Kai in his gigantic manly truck (which for some reason has a personalized tag that says CEO WIF) all the way to Oceanside. We stopped by this house (which I will further allude to as the Hippie Bungalow) to pick up some of the guys' stuff. One of the guys from the two families that live there totally blessed Sam and I with two boards and the wetsuits to match!

Then Nino showed up and helped pick out a place to surf.

He actually played a set in our campus coffee shop last semester, but it took me about 2 hours to recognize him. He's a rep for Truth brand and totally hooked us up with some sunglasses (thanks Nino!) I don't know what's weirder...that he knows another girl from Alabama, or that he asked me if I'd ever heard of Wild Sweet Orange and I got to tell him that yes, I actually remember being on drumline with Chip and laughing at the songs he used to freestyle about Coach Newton, and being best friends with Garret's little sister, Loren, and trying to avoid the whole awkward pajamas in the hallway thing with him. Small world, huh?

Well, we finally hit the water. Sam caught some waves...


But I caught some pretty good ones myself. I cranked an ollie then did a fin throw and rode this one all the way in.


All kidding aside, I feel like I actually got better and more comfortable on a board. Can't wait to try some bigger waves. I remember thinking, "Wow, I haven't done anything today except surf...and all I have left to do today...is surf."

No serious injuries. Besides injesting at least three gallons of salt water, the only other slightly not-fun thing that happened was the almost-concussion. Kai's like, "Haley, catch this wave." So I did, only to tumble over the front of the board and totally eat it, which was normal. Except in the mean time my board was flipping 100 feet in the air (not exaggerating), and as I came out of the water completely drilled and still gagging up salt water, it landed straight on my head and knocked me back down into the water, very much like the gopher bash game, where you mallet the rodent back in its hole. You know it's not good when everyone else is giving the "OOooh" face. I later found out from Nino that that move is called "pearl".

Sadly, Sam got her worst owie just putting on her wetsuit. I won't lie, those suits were dang small, especially when your hips are wider than Texas. Plus, you already feel vulnerable because you're having to change commando in a car. With windows. And one small towel. Taking them off was probably worse. I vocalized how I hoped the restaurant didn't mind wetsuits, because I wasn't going to peal mine off. And Kai goes, "Yes you will." Amazing. Can I just say, that I haven't had anyone tell me what to do as many times as that guy did since Jeanette's been gone. After that it was like, I wanted to take my wetsuit off...

Then we went to eat at Mexico Viejo, near where Joey used to serve pizza. Mistake number one - ordering fish and chips. Mistake number two - ordering fish and chips at a Mexican restaurant. Mistake number three - ordering fish and chips at a Mexican restaurant when I already had a fat headache from board bash. Queeziness sets in. Not sure if the fish and chips were worth it. Decided later that they weren't.

Then we headed back to the Hippie Bungalow and pulled up right behind Paul

and Cody

and Eric

who Sam and I have been calling "barefoot Eric" and "same shirt Eric", because we're pretty sure he only brought two shirts to school and wears them interchangably, and was actually the inspiration behind my decision to wear my Chargers shirt five days in a row. The best part is that they thought Sam and I randomly followed them all the way from campus, probably because we were the most random people to show up that day. But anyways.

It was tyte hanging out at the Hippie Bungalow for a spell. Kai found a Sock'em Bopper and was nonchalantly bopping whatever random thing Cody threw at him. Cody and Kai have this special relationship where Kai just makes fun of Cody, and Cody rips out Kai's chest hair, and they both grease their armpits to avoid chaffing. The rest of the guys just skated around, while Roxy the weenie dog stayed occupied with this turtle that apparently sometimes comes over to play.

Well, time came to put the wetsuits back on. Sam and I went in to change...I looked at the wetsuit...looked at Sam...looked back at the wetsuit...had to pee...looked at Sam...looked at the wetsuit again...and just couldn't do it. I knew if I put that thing back on and got back in the water I was going to have a gnarly blow out. Even though Eric said he throws up in the water all the time, I still wasn't convinced that it was a good idea.

So, lamely, we said our farewells and went back home. Thus was the end to one of the sweetest times I've had at Bible college yet. Kid you not, I had such a blast. Like one of the guys said, even though the sessions might not be tops, the fellowship always is.

Labels: beach, california, fellowship, friends, xtreme fun

posted by Haley B @ 7:42 AM 1 Comments

PCS

Because of the fires and whatnot I haven't been able to see my middle schoolers for a couple of weeks, which is a bummer. These two are Destiny and John.






I've only got a month or so left with them, so please pray for Kevin, Ashley and myself, that we could just love on the kids. I remember how sucky middle school could be, with all the pressure to be "cool" so you would be accepted. I hope that through us they could see God's unconditional love.

Labels: kids, ministry

posted by Haley B @ 12:27 PM 0 Comments

dorm times

Mysteries of the girls dorm:

# 1: bathroom counters.

I am still amazed at the amount of junk girls use in their daily beautification rituals.


# 2: closets.

Okay, I don't mind confessing that everything on the left...is my stuff. Shoes are necessary. Many shoes are necesarry, i.e. the Jesus sandals, the vans, the chucks, the "nice" shoes, the surfer flips, the dance shoes, the workout tennies, and the climbing shoes...all necessary. As for everything to the right side of the closet...I won't name names (Janece).


Here's my cozy study/sleep/lounge/prayer/talk/office/work space. Those ALOHA sheets...are Jeanette's.


And my baby (slash gat).

Labels: college, dorm life

posted by Haley B @ 1:39 PM 0 Comments