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My life lately (ft. Instagram)

Megan Saturday, December 24th, 2011

This past semester has been a whirlwind of growing, new experiences, surprises, and so much joy. It has FLOWN by so fast and the reality is hitting me that I only have three semesters left. Needless to say, I am making the most of every single day that is left of college.

I am currently at home for Christmas Break trying to fill myself up with things to do and people to catch up with, so that time flies between now and being back at school in a little over a week. I MISS APU. I am so not used to sleeping in a room alone with no one to talk to at 1am when I can’t fall asleep. I am so not used to showers with pressure, full size beds, cable television, and my MOMS home cooked meals (I can’t complain about any of that though haha).

Anyways, here is my recap of what these past few weeks have looked like for me:

Alpha banquet marked the end of an experience I will never forget and I will hold so close to my heart forever. My beautiful AC leader Taylor (the one on the right) is literarily a God-send and has blessed my life in so many ways. The whole night was exceptional and such a blast seeing everyone so dressed up and getting to have our last spontaneous dance party all together. It is crazy to think of my life in July without this whole experience and all these people that have so greatly impacted my life.

The good news is though… dun dun dun… I was given the position of Alpha Coordinator for the 2011-2012 Alpha Leaders. WOAHHH. I basically have to pinch myself daily about it because I am still in shock. After lots of screams, happy tears, and freak out moments, I am blessed and blown away that I can say that my Alpha experience is surely not over with yet! And now I get to witness a bunch of incredible soon-to-be alpha leaders grow in community, relationships, and most importantly, with the Lord. HOW LUCKY AM I? I will have the honor to lead 10-12ish Alpha Leaders throughout the next year. I never thought that this whole opportunity would come up, I had other plans that I was pretty set on because I thought that the position of AC was too out of my comfort zone, and too difficult to get (a ton of really incredible people applied). However, God (in typical God fashion) gave me the thing I was the most uncomfortable with and I can truly say that I have never been more thankful that God’s plan much prevails my own. I am nervous, anxious, but so completely filled with joy and excitement about whatever God is going to do with my future.

My two wonderful roommates and Santa Clause hanging out at Christmas Chaos (the annual event thrown by RezLife before all the crazy finals begins).

What happens when its 11pm, your craving In-N-Out, and you have way too many finals to study for? You beg your roommates to go to In-N-Out with you and you bring your books, notes, and laptops. Boom. Life of a college student.

The best way to take a long (and much needed) break from finals- go to Starbucks, then go with your AC group to a street of homes decorated beautifully for Christmas, then finish the night off with Chipotle and the greatest group of people. I mean, if you are going to procrastinate, at least make it memorable :)

Last thing to do before I leave APU for Winter Vacation: go out and eat Sushi with my roommate. Check.

Last thing to stick in my car before driving home: MY PET FISH. I received him as a gift from my lovely alphie when my last fish died prematurely, I named him Al- suits him well. You can see I am enjoying not driving home alone… I just wonder if Al is.

 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I sure am excited to celebrate the best (and my most favorite) birthday of the year! God bless.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” Proverbs 19:21

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Note to Self

Megan Monday, November 21st, 2011

I could reiterate this fact a million times, as much as I have said it plenty before, the statement stands true that I could not imagine myself anywhere else besides right where I am. As we are nearing the end (sort of) of the Fall semester I am still astonished at how fast this past year and 3 months has FLOWN by. I feel like it was just yesterday I was stepping into a university (and a whole ‘nother world it seemed) of things that were so new to me. I thought lately about what I would tell myself 15 months ago as I was nearing move in day at APU, if I knew what I know now.

This post is pretty out of line of what I usually post, more deep perhaps, but nonetheless I felt it may be beneficial/exciting for those that are thinking about coming to APU or maybe even JUST found out they got accepted to APU for next school year (Congratulations by the way!) Know that everyones experience here differs, I tried to encapsulate the fact that I would not be myself without being here, yet it hasn’t always been the easiest of times. Life is life, after all. I do know though that if you end up here by the hand of God, view it as a blessing on the daily, and seek out why He wants you here, you will never be disappointed. NEVER. And you will be like me in the fact that you will never go a day wondering how life would have been if you ended up somewhere else. You will never have wanted to end up elsewhere.

Dear Self,

You are stepping into the future that you yourself never had planned in your wildest dreams, it can only be said to be God’s hand at work instead of your own. You had your own plan for your life, God said no, and as much as it didn’t make sense and it was tough to release your grip on your own life plans, it will make sense in a couple months time as to why you are at APU and not anywhere else. As nervous, anxious, and overwhelmed as you are, rejoice and yet be still because all that nervousness will fade once you truly come to grasp how great of a blessing God is about to place in your hands.

You are entering into a world of self discovery, growth, leadership, incredible friendships, and learning. You are going to step into the school as one person and step out of it another person entirely. God is going to use you in ways that you cannot even fathom right now. You are going to struggle, fall short, endure hard (and sometimes long) trials, but at the other end is such a hope and restoration found in Christ. He is going to bless you with a community of friends, of sisters and brothers, of FAMILY, that will never let you feel like you are doing life on your own. They will encourage you, uplift you, motivate you, inspire you, and love on you endlessly. You will be poured into at this university more then ever before, and you will be given amble opportunities (that you will take) to pour into others.

You will learn the definition of success that turns out to be one you could have never foreseen it being. You will live out that success by experiencing true joy and developing even more of a genuine, real faith.

You will allow yourself to be vulnerable with people like never before, you will serve until you have run dry and then serve some more, you will travel the one place you never planned to (Africa), and you will see sides of California that you never thought existed through a leadership position you never would imagine you are about to be blessed with (Alpha).

God will teach you what a woman of God looks like, what a man of God looks like, and what your life may look like in the end. You will be overcome with stressful exams, tough classes, endless projects, and long essays. But you WILL look back time and time again and realize how blessed you are for the education you are receiving. You will be blessed with an incredible roommate freshmen year that only God could have hand picked for you and you will be blessed sophomore year with two incredibly Godly woman to love and pour into your life. Why you ever stressed out with who you were going to live with is beyond me.

Please make the most of your time at home, days that you are stressed and miss your family you will wish you did. Please eat a lot of home-cooked meals and build the high school friendships you desire wholeheartedly to keep. Please don’t stress out about making friends, because when you set your two feet on APU’s campus you will never have to worry about who to sit next to at lunch or who you can come to during hard times. You may grow distant from high school friends you never ever thought you would, but you will grow immensely close to the most incredible friends that you could not (even in your wildest of dreams) have picked out for yourself. You will never have to sit at lunch alone (expect random people to sit next to you because they will here) and you will rarely even have to open your own doors (thats what happens when your surrounded with men that know the name of Jesus).

Please pray that your stress and anxiety would be replaced with peace. There is no use in stressing out about being about to enter into the most incredible, life-changing years of your life.

Love, Self

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An Overwhelming Blessing

Mallory Monday, October 17th, 2011

Hey everyone! This is my first blog post of this school year and it’s about time if I do say so myself!

Well I’m not a freshman anymore! (Not that there is anything wrong with being one..) It’s just that reflecting on “last year” (or 5 months ago), it was about time to be called a Sophomore! :)

Looking back at my Freshman experience, I am amazed. My last blog post included some of the events that we did throughout the year! To be honest, I do not know how I did it all! Freshman year is just like the one in high school, yet you are 5 years older and 5 years more experienced! You come trying to figure out where you best fit, trying to gain every single person as your best friend, and of course trying to find that “man” so you could get a ring by spring! Oh and of course, trying to balance that all with academics! But somehow I did it all… Except the ring! Still trying to work on that.. :P Looking back even know, I realized a lot of things I took for grantide. If I could give you advice, I would definitely recommend this. Engage in your classes. Make your fifty five minute to an hour and a half classes worth something to you. The pain of waking up for a 7:15AM or 8:05AM class will only last the semester.. but there could be worse! I engaged in some yet I regret not in others. So please take this advice to heart! Be eager to go to each and every one of your classes! Want to learn! Your brain is a powerful tool, utilize it!

So summer has come and gone as well as 5 or 6 (?) weeks of school!

I’m going to be really honest with you. I wish to be a Freshman again. I thought I would never want to say that! This semester is CHAOS! To start with.. I have enrolled myself in 6  classes (17 units) and I have a job on campus! And that’s pretty normal for a student around here! The problem I did was giving myself 4 BACK TO BACK classes on Tues/Thurs. I am in demanding lecture classes from 8:05AM-2:30PM.

-_________-

The piles of homework stack up each and every week. And it’s not just “busy work, it’s WORK WORK! Reflection journals, exegetical papers, business presentation, statistical analysis experiments, and of course just plain ‘ol health class! I truely am amazed with how I am handling myself. But to be honest, my roommate has the best cure for overwhelming stress, besides screaming out loud.. The best cure for stress is laughter :) And I could not be in a better place than my apartment with some of the funniest gals in the whole school!

Even though life is chaotic and it seems never ending, there is something much more important to look forward too. My focus on God has changed from year to year. Ever since I’ve come to APUit has been for the better! I truely can say that I see God working in each and every moment of my life. My faith has strengthened beyond ways that I never could have imagined! But I am no where even near perfect, or even have a “normal” faith; I still struggle everyday.

-Mal

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Some Last Thoughts

Megan Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Next weeks marks finals week, and the last week of my freshmen year of college. The days keep going by faster and as much as I am excited for what next year and my entire future will look like, I find myself wishing time would somehow go by slower.

So here marks my freshmen year in a nutshell:

So excited to be moving into my new home!

Move-In day almost felt like it was straight out of a Hilary Duff movie (and I love Hilary Duff movies). Absolute madness, but one of the best days of my life. My stuff was moved in in no time and meeting my roommate was priceless.

Alpha Group 35!

My Alpha Group I met shortly after moving in and I had absolutely no idea what an alpha group even was. Come to find out, APU definitely prides itself on the whole Alpha experience, with a very good reason to. In the beginning, being with a group of 8 strangers was awkward (predictably), but by the end of Alpha I found myself wishing it would never end. Now I am going to be an Alpha Leader myself next year and could not be any more excited about it! It is one of the many ways that they help you transition easily to college life and meet new people you might not ordinarily meet.

Such a fun All-Access weekend!

Being an ambassador this year was the first commitment I made when I arrived at APU. It gave me the opportunity to host prospective students multiple times per year and be a part of All-Access weekends. It was such a blessing being able to see people fall in love with APU as I have. I cannot explain how many smiles and laughs I had during those weekends.

Young Life leaders!

Being a part of Young Life first semester was an experience I will never forget. I made priceless friendships and was able to serve God in the most amazing way. It was a new opportunity for me to put myself out there and love on high schoolers that were open to the Gospel.

Then, as God led me to no longer be a part of Young Life He led me toward being a part of the Office of World Mission’s Focus International mission teams. I found out at the beginning of second semester I would be going to Tanzania. I cannot explain how much God has been real to me through being able to be a part of this mission team. It has been without a doubt, one of the biggest blessings of being here at APU and I haven’t even left for the trip yet (it is in three weeks, crazy!). I never in a million years thought I would ever be going to Africa, it was never in my plan. But I realized that almost everything I have been changed by at APU was not originally in my plan. God’s plan is so much greater.

My hall in Trinity, Fourth South has been a huge part of my experience at APU as well. I have made so many life-long friends and I have learned so much by being able to live on my own and be a part of such a great community.

Spontaneous trip to The Hat with 4th South girls!

Last, but definitely not least, the courses that I have taken at APU so far have honestly changed my perspective on education altogether. I have had professors that changed my life because they changed my perspective on things in ways I never knew possible. Also, being a graphic design major, I am finally able to take design and art classes and it has been so much fun! I cannot explain how great it feels to finally be able to be educated in what I love. Also, words cannot do justice for how great of a blessing it is being educated by Christian professors. Each class (yes, even p.e., math, english, etc.) works faith and Christianity into its curriculum, which is amazing.

I think that everyone that knows me would know how much I would attest to APU being the greatest decision I have ever made. This year has been a crazy whirlwind of a year, but I have grown so much as a person and as a follower of Christ that I wouldn’t change it for the world.

If I were to give advice to incoming students at APU it would be to put yourself out there and do things that you never planned on doing. Enjoy living in the dorm while it lasts, because if you make the most of that experience, it will be one of the best experiences of your life. Don’t stress out, be excited for this year to come. And whatever you do, during the school year even though school can be stressful and overwhelming don’t let it get you to the point where you stop enjoying being here. Going to college is not forced, it is a privilege. Be excited, because a year from now, your life will be so different! The way that the community works here, and the way that God is present here, is enough to change your life alone.

Lastly, I want to say THANK YOU to all my readers for taking the time to keep updated on my experience here at APU! I appreciate it more then you’ll ever know!! If you have any questions feel free to comment and I would love to answer you! God bless.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28

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God’s got this…

Ellie Kipps Friday, October 16th, 2009

Many of the other bloggers have been talking about just how busy they are, and I 100% agree. As someone who love being academically challenged, I thrive in the demanding pace of my honors classes and my upper divisions. However… there is definitely a point reached (that probably has something to do with learning an extremely difficult language, not sleeping, and drowning in theology along with other life stuff) that you just want to say: I give up, Enough is enough.

I reached this point earlier this week but a blessed blessed thing occured: Study Day, which is a essentially a day off from classes to… well.. study. A lot of students used their ‘Study’ day to pontificate upon and studiously participate in the magical world of Disney (haha…) and some use it for… SHOCKER: Studying. I however used my study day as a much needed sabbath, a time to breathe and reflect and realize that I’m not surrendering the stress of school over to the God who holds All things in His hand. Right now, I’ve been personally going through Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and the coupled book of Spiritual Classics as well as daily devos with Buechner (my favorite theologian), so I spent time in those as well on Study Day. I say all this not in a spirit of flaunting or anything, but more as a reminder that despite the business of life there is first and foremost the priority to God and the priority of honoring Him with rejoicing in the day He has given. And sometimes that means taking a day off (weekends or study day), or if you really can’t manage a whole day, then at least a few hours of intentionally relishing in His goodness and His Word and surrendering over stress.

So life can get (and most likely already is) extremely busy and overwhelming. It is important to remember that, as my youth pastor used to say to me, “God’s got this, you can let go now…”

Peace be with you!

I’ll post a more spunky post soon (I’m going up to High Sierra campus this weekend to check it out as I’m planning on going up there in the Fall of 2010), so I’ll post pictures and stuff from that when I get home!

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Week In The Life Of A Freshman

Kelsey Bjugstad Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

So this blog is a few days late, but the bonus of it being late is that you get it with pictures and an example of a normal week in my life. My week has been pretty random, so here are my awesome APU highlights! :)

Sunday: We went to a beach bonfire with our brother hall.  We celebrated their RA’s (see note below) birthday with hotdogs and cake. It was fun, but I was definitely tired. Note to self: Get more sleep before going somewhere. Actually, getting more sleep in general would be a pretty good idea.

The mix of wind and fire made it hard to heat our hotdogs!

The mix of wind and fire made it hard to heat our hotdogs!

Huntingtons Beach at night with Meredith, Libby, and Susie :)

Huntington's Beach at night with Meredith, Libby, and Susie :)

Monday: My Mondays feel generally pretty crazy. I have three classes on Mondays, which isn’t too bad, but one of them is 3 hours long and chapel starts at 9:30.  Something interesting probably happened, but I apparently can’t think back a week :) I’m sure there was homework involved. Oh, and this is the day I locked myself out of my room so I studied in our Study Room until Rachel (my roommate) got home.  (By the way, RA’s can unlock the doors for you, but it costs $5) I love the Study Room.

Tuesday: The Freshman had a “Street Meets” which was called a Lumberjack Dance. I don’t really know what the point of the whole thing was, but it was similar to a hoedown with plaid/checkered flannel. The highlight for me was when the RA’s from each dorm performed group dances. I wish I had would have been able to video it! Engstrom was the most amusing, but the Trinity RA’s had the most skill.  I wasn’t able to stay at the dance long though because I had a test the next morning as well as an Alpha meeting. We had our Alpha meeting at 10:30pm after getting coffee at the Cornerstone Cafe because it is the only time that fits our whole group’s schedule. Alphas group are a required once a week meeting with a random group of people from the Beginnings class, lead by an sophomore who volunteered to be an Alpha leader.  It was a very informal meeting and we just had a lot of fun sharing stories and eating delicious Pizookie (an ice cream and cookie dessert) that our Alpha leader Jen made for us.

TIffanys view from the dance

TIffany's view from the dance

Wednesday: Wednesday morning I thought I was going to have my first APU test. My teacher told us to study two chapters in our book. After staying up until 3:00am, studying the two chapters and one wrong one, I felt pretty prepared. Unfortunately, I was a bit over prepared.  My professor’s version of a ‘test on the chapters’ ended up being essentially a 15-question quiz worth 5 points. Needless to say, I realized I should ask for more information on ‘tests’ before studying in that class.

My hall had Family Dinner together! Family dinner consisted of as many 3N Girls going to the Caf together and fitting into one long table. The Caf was reasonable full when we got there at 6:30 and finding a table for 20+ girls was difficult.  The only tables available near each other were in a huge corner that made it hard for anyone to move around. A few of the girls resorted to climbing under the table so they could get more food. It was pretty funny and possibly a bit gross, but we were all able to eat as a ‘family’ (and that’s what counts :)  Every Wednesday Night we have Kaleo, which is my favorite chapel service.

Almost all of the 3N Girls

Almost all of the 3N Girls

I love Kaleo with all of my heart.  The services have been getting so crowed that people have started to line up as early as 8:15 to be sure they get in for the service at 9:00. We are going over the book of Daniel in a way that it is applied to our lives directly connecting to scripture.  Instead of going story by story, we are taking a chapter or two at a time and digging into it while making it personal. I’m sure I’m doing a terrible job at explaining it, but I promise, Kaleo really is awesome.

Thursday: I’m pretty sure something exciting in our hall on Thursday but again, the days seem to blur a bit.

Friday: Friday was a really exciting day for me! I had my normal classes that were great, but the highlight of the day was seeing my friend Lainey. I haven’t really been able to see anyone I know closely for a month and I was so happy to see her face! She goes to a different school about 45 minutes away, but neither of us have cars which makes it difficult to hang out.  Lainey and I have been best friends since 4th grade but she moved to Illinois in 8th grade. Seeing her was definitely a blessing.

My mom made me promise wed take pictures but my camera is broken. My used Photobooth instead :)

Promised my mom we'd take pictures but my camera is broken. My used Photobooth in my dorm instead :)

Saturday: I went to the football game vs. the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. It was fun to cheer them on and even more fun when they won 23-7. There were some awesome fumble returns and an amazing field goal!

Libbys view of the APU football game

Libby's view of the APU football game

Wearing our Blackout at the football game :)

Wearing our Blackout at the football game :)

Sunday: On Sunday I pretty much slept all day. I’ve never been able to go to bed early and college definitely didn’t change that habit. I use my weekends to make up for the 5/6 hours of sleep I get during the week. I basically spent all day in bed but I attempted to do homework too. I wrote my speech for Public Communications and almost started this blog :). I took a break of doing nothing to go celebrate my hall-neighbor’s birthday at Tutti Fruity, a local frozen yogurt place that is not only delicious but also gives APU students 15% off!

Wishing Meredith a Happy Birthday at Tutti Fruiti!

Wishing Meredith a Happy Birthday at Tutti Fruiti!

Monday: My Monday was a crazy day again which is why this blog didn’t get posted this morning.  I love my Exodus/Deuteronomy class but it sometimes causes a brain overload. The hardest part of the day was Public Comm because I was second to give my ‘Story Speech.’

My speech was a fairytale story I made up for the girls I nannied for this summer. I’m not a huge fan of public speaking even though I talk too much. The formality too it is a bit daunting for me and I was definitely nervous.

After Speech I saw a friend from my Into to Communications class and had a fun time hanging out in her hall. Unfortunately when I got back to 3rd North after 10pm I realized I had a quiz in my Health and Wellness class. A neighbor of mine has that class too so we attempted to study in the hall kitchen but we were very easily distracted by pretty much everything and anything. During our ‘study breaks’, which there were more of then actual studying, I started this blog. By the time I got to bed I realized like I hadn’t learned very much, my blog wasn’t finished or proof-read, and I had to be up at 7:45 for my Walk/Jog/Run class.

Tue: When I woke up, the day wasn’t looking too promising. I was tired and was worried about my quizzes. Thankfully, my Health and Wellness test was very easy for me and since we could leave as soon as we were done, I had time to eat and study a little bit more for my Into to Lit quiz. Now I plan on either watching something on Hulu or taking a nap before starting homework. Good day :)

Feel free to add comments or ask any questions!

-Kelsey

*Resident Assistant- An upperclassman who is in our hall all year to support, counsel, and love on us

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