latest prayer requests (3/29)

If you are the praying type, please see below my prayer requests for this season. I would be greatful for any prayers you offer on my behalf. Blessings to you! This is a transcript of an email I sent to my prayer team recently. Love, Tiffani

Hello friends,

March. Wow. What a whirlwind of activity. I feel as though I am being swept along by a force not my own toward graduation. It a little unfortunate, because there is a lot to do before the semester ends.

I think I have made my decision about UCLA. I am waiting until I have one more conversation with a dean here at Baylor before I make a decision, I'm expecting the Lord to confirm what I have heard from two other counselors. In the meantime, I will wait to announce until then. Its difficult, because I want to wait until I have all the possible information - and that just isn't goin to be possible until after the deadline, so my decision will be made with the best information I can get in the short time left to me. Please continue to pray for me as I make this decision - that I would have discernment, and hear God speak.

In the desert wanderings, the Lord preserved the Israelite's clothing and shoes for 40 years. I often think of this miracle and of God's faithfulness. I sometimes wonder at what point their clothes and shoes did start to wear out - were the shoes just starting to fall apart in the last few months? Did this signal to the Israelites that their wandering was almost over? Did their shoes and clothes last in perfect condition until they crossed over into the promised land and then it all spontaneously combusted? Well, I am thinking about these things today, because I have seen God's faithfulness in so many things (especially in regard to provision of finances, etc, and the ability to live happily on very little) - but I am also starting to see the "wearing out" of some of these things as I approach this newest promised land: graduation.

Various things around me are wearing out - my sonic care toothbrush (which I purchased before heading to Greenville 5 yrs ago) will no longer hold a charge. Its ironic because I haven't had dental these last two years, but I will either this summer or fall, and I credit the Soniccare with my lack of cavities since arriving in Greenville. My car (which was a tremendous gift when I arrived in Waco) is starting to show signs of wear; for example, the driver door is acting kind of funny, the dashboard crack is bigger, etc. My finances are getting low and I believe will just sweep me into Phoenix after graduation. There are others, but I will leave them for now. Please pray that the Lord would continue to sustain me in all areas as I come to the end of this wandering.

All these things are reminders that this season of desert wandering is about to be over. Even as I battle anxiety about if my "clothes and shoes" will keep until I reach the land of promise, and as I praise the Lord for his faithfulness in this season, I am filled with great joy and sadness about the end of this season. These two years have been hard for me in all dimensions: emotionally, intellectually, physically, spiritually (especially), and financially - that knowing its almost over brings me great joy and gratitude to the Lord. But they have also been years that I found areas of great interest and excitement, met knew friends, deepened old friendships, and learned a lot about myself.

When I picked up my hood, cap and gown this week I could not stop giggling. It was so exciting to think that it was almost here and that this was like the evidence that the promise is going to be fulfilled! But then it adds stress thinking that there are only a few weeks left before I have to have my case study (our big final project) complete and that I still have to do statistics and complete a statistics final, write a law paper, read a ton of chapters, and write a law paper, and complete a paper on improving higher education access for transfer students (by this Wednesday). Please pray that I would be diligent, focused and sharp over these next days. Pray that I would use my time wisely and balance my relationships and personal time with my need for studying.

Thanks for your faithfulness in praying for me. I am grateful.

Brad Pitt

(the above picture is courtest of: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/02/28/brad-pitt-tree-of-life/)

It would be weird to start a post with "Brad Pitt" except we saw him today at the Texas State Capital!

My cohort had a field trip today to Austin, to visit the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (in the AM) and the Director of Research for the Speaker of the House (in the PM). In between we had lunch at a great place near the Capital called "Serranos."

Anyway, when our van got to the capital we walked over and while we were trying to figure out how to get in, some guy with a walkie talkie asked us to walk away a bit, about 20 feet from the entrance. We weren't sure what was going on, but soon a couple people and some sheriff's deputies were walking into the building. Katie T. said she thought one of them looked like a movie star, but I poo-pooed her. Well, I was wrong. We found out immediately after that, that it was Brad Pitt.

Brad (as I call him, though I don't know him...) is in Austin right now filming a movie called, "Tree of Life" and apparently part of it takes place at the state capital. When we got inside we got to stand around (because we had to - they wouldn't let us walk through until they were done with their shots, but overall the crew was polite) and watch them shoot the scenes which mostly looked like Brad walking - we couldn't see them filming any dialogue.

It will be interesting to see what those shots look like when the film comes out.

Later we got into our meeting and Al asked me to round up the girls (who were using the rest room) and Carrie and I got stuck as they were filming in the hallway right outside our meeting. That was fun because we got to see him even closer. But alas, no photos (well, we are working on one, but it remains to be seen if we can get it to look good) and no interactions other than watching. Interesting, though! What a fun day!

p.s. They were also filming in Smithville, TX, which was also the location for Hope Floats (I just found that out yesterday)

Less than 50 days to go....

I did a number of things yesterday and today in preparation for graduation and moving.

1) I moved my music from my desktop to my laptop.

2) I formatted my problematic external hard drive which will serve as my back up and is also moving all this material back and forth between computers (formatting a disk like that is particularly troublesome for me... "what if there is something on it that isn't on both computers?!" but I just did it! woo hoo!

3) I checked out about 12 books from the library to help me with my case study and my paper on access and transfer student pathways. I cannot find anything on technology and students for my law paper - its making me pull my hair out, but I've decided to drop it until after April 25th at this point. This was all frustrating (the legwork to check out books is kind of time consuming and questionably helpful) but exciting!

4) And most importantly..... I picked up my graduation regalia. Yes, that is right... I got my cap, gown and HOOD!! WOOHOO!!!! Those of you who know me well will appreciate this story:

My friend Kathryn (heretofore known as KW) and I head over to the Alumni center for the "Graduate Bear Faire" (why the extra "e" on the end of Faire? no idea) and first we (really, I) accidentally skip the line, thinking that the first line we've encountered is for diploma frames... it wasn't... and some girl cleared her throat at KW who grabbed me and we took our appropriate place in line. KW noticed coffee over in a corner, so she jumps out of line to get coffee and we are going to switch places and hold our place in line and both have coffee... great plan, except KW ends up talking to a student and I get swept away into the line.

A woman says to me, "Cap and Gown?" and I'm doubly confused because clearly we are all in line for a cap and gown (later a friend tells me she just bought a hood because she won't be at big graduation and then I understood better...). When I say, "yes, cap and gown" she says, "Undergraduate or graduate" in a moment of craziness, because I really don't look like an undergrad - but BLESS HER, it was a treat to think that to someone I still looked 22. :)

I answer, "Graduate" and we go through the rigamarole of my height and getting the right gown and tassle (black) and hood (blue velvet for the school of Ed and yellow and green on the inside for Baylor U.) and she hands it all to me.

All of a sudden I realize that I am going to graduate with a Master's degree in 50 days. 50 days! And I am holding the proof of it in my hand! Those of you who know me well, understand when I say that I start beaming - I can't not smile - I'm trying to be serious and "whatever" about it, like the undergrads, but I can't - so I shout to try and get Kathryn's attention because I didn't realize they were going to GIVE it to us that day! I thought it was going to be ordered or something - I had no idea - and I'm freaking out. I pay the lady, who doesn't notice I am grinning like a fool and about to start giggling, and head over to Kathryn.

Kathryn sees my face and says, "Did they give it to you?" and as I reply, SHE starts to beam, too, and then we both start giggling as if you told us we were about to have a one-on-one with Patrick Dempsey AND George Clooney!! Seriously, we might have been the two most joyful people in the entire room - it was hilarious, we couldn't stop taking our hoods out of the bag (still in their plastic) and looking at them - smiling like fools. When we checked our names off the registrars list and headed outside, we could not wait to take them out and have Kathryn model the hood for us!

When I got home I put whole deal up on my closet door as inspiration, and I took a few photos, so that you (the viewer at home) could see it. Come May, I'll take a photo IN the regalia, for those of you who can't make it to graduation.

See below for photos with my comments. :) Blessings to you all!

Here it is (above), cap, gown ("master's gown" with special weird long sleeves), hood (yay!), tassel. The tassel has a little Baylor seal on it instead of "08" or something like that, and the zipper pull of the robe is a little Baylor seal (see below).

The hood, up close, in all its fantastic-ness.

Photos from Easter Weekend (part 2)

Sarah - the resident queen of egg dyeing, the kids this year just did solid colors, but Sarah created a four-colored egg
On Easter, a picture of Nick with all his grandkids. Taking this photo (and the others) was a hilarious endeavor and the one above is one of the best results.
Drex with his new helmet - he was adorable, after he was done using it, he reached for the top of the pillar to put it away - so cute.
Jared - being goofy as usual, with his very stickered egg, and Sarah, egg-dyeing queen.
Ryan digging into his Easter basket

Photos from Easter Weekend (part 1)

I traveled to Dallas mid-week (early in the AM) to have breakfast with three of my favorite Greenville Lady Panthers! I picked up Murph, Erin, and Michelle and we drove to a nearby Denny's to enjoy each other's company! It was great to get caught up, even though it was way (!) too short.

Erin and Julie
Me and Michelle
On Easter weekend in San Antonio, Andilin took us all on a nature hike together in the back "woods" behind her house. She was a great little nature teacher - but mostly was pointing out trash along the trail instead of pointing out the names of vegetation and animals.
On Friday, Sarah and I took Andi to her horse riding lessons. It was really neat to see her up on the horse so confidently. Here she is above, trotting on her regular mount, Top Gun.
Here is our precious little Drex, worn out after running around the trampoline later in the afternoon.

Photos from Boston and UCLA

Me and my hotel roommate, Kat Reed, who is the Coordinator for Greek Life at BU. Because I was really sick, I was so grateful to have her as a roommate, and to have a bed to myself!

Me, on the first morning of the "Placement Exchange" - in my "business casual" outfit. I changed later for an interview.
Here we are outside of the Old North Church - don't believe the smiles, we were freezing, wet and tired of walking in the rain... but we were having a good time just making memories!
It was fun to be at the oldest park in baseball... even if I'm not really a Red Sox fan (only because I will always be a Mariner fan!).
Part of the UCLA campus. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful campus. To the right of this photo is a tall rolling hill - and there were students out studying - it was a perfect spring day!

Updates following Boston and UCLA

(started on Thursday, March 13th)
Well, I'm back from my travels. I still have a cold - which is a bummer. I got it right after my parents left and right before I left for Boston. I may stop into the Dr. tomorrow just to see if there is any way to get rid of it faster. Already, it's kept me from going to Bearobics since I've been back. Boo!

What a fun and full week I had! We left Waco at 4:45 am last Wednesday (the 5th) and headed up to Dallas. It was really fun to travel all together. Once in Boston, we checked in at the hotel and then headed to eat. Thursday started the marathon interview experience. After checking in and attending an orientation, we started the process of sending out our resumes to various schools, hoping for interviews. I went to Boston with two interviews scheduled, and after dropping off a few resumes for mostly resident director positions, I added one interview to my schedule. The interviews went well, and I was really encouraged by them... even though I was pretty congested and sick.

(at this point, I was down for the count for the entire weekend, so I didn't get to finish my initial post, nor the follow up…. But I am feeling better now, and am back to blogging as a form of procrastination! date: 3/24/08)
I was able to tour around Boston on Saturday - and though it was rainy (!!!) it was really neat to get out and see some places I had previously only heard of, including Paul Revere's House, Old North Church, the Freedom Trail and Harvard (!). We had a fun time despite the weather and enjoyed each other's company! On Sunday, I went with a few friends to Fenway Park - it was a tour offered by the conference and we got to tour the inside, including the press box. Great fun! Our tour guide was crazy and we loved him!

After leaving Fenway and walking back to the hotel, we had just enough time for a quick lunch before I had to finish getting packed and hop a cab to the airport and head west.

It was pretty neat to see the Atlantic AND the Pacific in one week! When we were in Boston, it kind of weirded me out, because the sun was rising over the ocean instead of setting - I couldn't get my bearings. Thankfully on Tuesday, I got a glimpse of the Pacific and the sun was in its proper place again. :)

My visit to UCLA was fun and informative. I met a lot of great people and got a lot of questions answered, and got a lot more questions to ask. I'm working on that right now.

I'm still not sure what my future holds, but I'm grateful to know that God's will is not a little tiny path, but rather a bigger picture. I'm glad to know that my calling it to influence college students, and that there are a lot of ways I can do it.

That's it for now. At some point I have to get back to homework, so I'm going to act like I might start at 9pm. Or… I might make a phone call. :)

Blessings, friends.

Three days to NASPA... its a marathon of activity!

Well, my parents have been here this weekend and it was a GREAT visit (they leave tomorrow - Monday - morning early)!!!!!!! They got in around 1am on Friday night/Saturday morning and we spent a really relaxing but fun weekend together.
On Friday, I sat on a panel for the prospective students of the Student Affairs program here at Baylor (my program). My folks sat in and observed the panel, met a few of my colleagues and enjoyed Dr. Pepper floats. We walked back through campus to the apartment and hung out the rest of the afternoon. Once Sarah got home she and I went to vote (early voting in TX); and then we went with my parents to Buzzard Billys - which turned out to be a cajun-style restaurant. It recently moved to this restaurant right on the Brazos river; we sat on the back patio right over the river and really enjoyed our time together. I was thrilled to get to have a dish with crawfish! After dinner, the four of us headed back to the apt. and played a game of Settlers of Catan. Joel and Jessica came by and chatted for a bit, too.
Saturday, we had breakfast and ran a few errands (buying a suitcase, printing resumes, etc), and then relaxed back at the house - i.e. played a game of Settlers! That evening we went to Rudy's for dinner and then to All-University Sing! It was a great night! The acts were really "on" and it was fun to see how they had changed their acts since the week before. ADPi didn't make it to Pigskin Revue, and that was disappointing, but they put on a great show and I was so proud of them all!!!
Sunday, we met up and headed to UBC for church. It was a great surprise to read in the bulletin that Gideon Tsang was going to bring the sermon and that the Crowder Band is back in town. There was more excitement that morning at church, with the return of an old friend, Missy Davis (Baylor SAA master's grad) and another old friend who at this point will remain anonymous at her request. I'll try and post about it soon. But the most important part is that I screamed out loud, because I was so excited to see her - and it brought joy to my heart. After church we went home, at up the leftovers and then headed to Jones theater on the Baylor campus to see "Bye Bye Birdie" with Kathryn. We LOVED it! The cast did a fantastic job and the music was great. Mom, dad and I headed to Health Camp afterward (and most of you know that isn't really healthy), came home and I spent the evening studying stats for our midterm tomorrow.
Its almost time for me to go to bed, so I'll just give a quick rundown of my next week or so and you'll understand if my blogging is sporadic.... (per normal, right?)
Monday - bfast with M and D, Statistics Midterm, Law studying
Tuesday - Law Midterm, Tunnel of Oppression facilitating
Wednesday - early early travel to DFW to catch a flight to Boston, MA
Thursday through Sunday - The Placement Exchange (job placement part of NASPA) in Boston
Sunday - leave Boston for DFW and then LA
Monday-Tuesday - UCLA Open House for prospective PhD students.
Tuesday - leave LA for DFW and Waco....

YIKES. Wish me luck. Pray for me. Blessings on you!