Home, Sweet Home

My house situation fell through. If God told me any louder to live at home, their would be a booming voice echoing from the sky that they entire world could hear. Every time I try to live somewhere else, it doesn't work. Last night I was running numbers to make sure I could afford my place. I thought I could. And turns out, I can...for the fall and spring semesters, but not this summer. I was going to have to take out $1000 in non-federal loans, which, if you've looked into them are basically a walking scam.

There are 5 different loans. 4 out of 5 loans have variable interest rates. If you know anything about loans and finance, then you know that that is a huge NO NO!!! So that cuts out those options. The last one had a fixed interest rate of 6% which is typical for student loans, but it had a 3% to 5% origination fee. Again, for those who don't know, that is where they take out a percentage of the amount you take out. So, if I took out $1000, I might only get $850 of it, but I would still have to pay $1000 and the interest on it. So that is completely unfair! I realized that I am trying way too hard to make this work and I would be getting myself into a mess if I tried any harder. As I told Andy, I think I knew this wouldn't work from the very beginning (I usually have a really good gut instinct), but I just didn't want to listen. So last night I had to call the two girls I would be living with and the landlords to inform them of my situation. That was so hard. I cried for about 15 minutes on the phone with Andy before I actually talked to anyone. I felt so guilty for letting people down.

God, however, knows how to make things work. There is already a potential girl who is looking into taking my place and now I will actually have money left over since I'm living with my parents. This isn't my ideal living situation, but if this is what God has planned for me, then I will most certainly oblige. What I learned from this is that my gut feelings that I have learned to ignore probably is God talking to me and that I should trust God entirely. This seemed like something that I could handle, but God can even handle the small things and expects you to lean entirely on Him. Thank you God.

Just an awkward moment...

Last night, I was strolling around campus, enjoying the warm evening. I decided to go and sit in the ampetheater, text and simply watch the people walk by. Not even 5 minutes after I sat down, a boy of maybe 20 carrying a guitar and a Bible came and sat down next to me. He started mumbling with a weird accent that I could not for the life of me understand. So I asked him his name which I will not disclose for the sake of his privacy. He then proceeded to mumble some gibberish that I could not decipher so I asked him about his guitar. How long has he played? His whole life, he responds. "Would you like to hear a song?" I agree to listen to a song, and then, I thought, I would politely leave and bit him goodnight. I praised him for the one song and he proceeds to play some more. Ugh...I can't escape.

He then asks if I want to worship with him. Oh good, I thought, he isn't here to molest me. So I agree to sing one song with him. I praise him on the beautiful music and he proceeds to mumble again. I didn't understand why he couldn't just talk louder! So I commented on how I had a paper to write and how beautiful the evening was. Then, he points up and says, "look at the star!" I say, "yes, it's very beautiful." He then asks if he can hold my hand. I thought he wanted to pray and we would be done worshiping. I agreed and bowed my head. Except, then he started talking (or in his case mumbling), and it wasn't a prayer. I don't know what he said, but I caught the words "girlfriend", "wife" and "alone."

The first thought that popped into my head was, "Oh my gosh, I just agreed to marry this guy and didn't know it! Now what?" So I said, "well, it was really nice to meet you, I really must be going now."
"No, wait. I'm sorry I made this awkward for you. It's just that I have a really hard time talking to people and getting out my feelings. I talk better when I hold someone's hand. I speak what's in my heart. Can I talk to you a little more?"

"I guess so."

"Can I hold your hand again?" I hold out my right hand, limply and just let him hold on to it while he strokes his fingers against mine. Ew!!! He proceeds to say,

"I don't know if you have boyfriend or not, and if you do it's okay. I was just wondering if you would be my girlfriend. I have really wanted a girlfriend for a long time now and I really really want a wife. I've already asked some other girls and they rejected me because most already have boyfriends, I was just hoping that you were the one."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I have a boyfriend...of 6 years." (Thank God for Andy.)

"Oh I see, it's just that I've been praying so hard, and I want someone to love so badly. I was just hoping you were the one."

So I give him the speech of "you don't have to have a girlfriend to be happy" and "God has a plan for you" and "if you search too hard you won't find what you are looking for. Only when you aren't trying will you bump into your treasure." and "Paul himself didn't have a wife, some people are meant to be single."

He then asked me to pray over him and we went our separate ways. However, right before I turned to leave, he asks, "So do you think I should ask anymore girls tonight or should I just chill?" I looked him in the eyes and said, "Just chill tonight, and know that whatever happens, happens for a reason."

This was such a scary, weird and extremely funny experience. I know that God put me there with that boy, at that time for a reason, but at the same time, I was so scared that I had agreed to marry someone and didn't know it. His accent was so strong, and culture differences could create some problems. And the funny part is that his dad was my Calculus 3 professor last semester. I'll never be able to look at that man the same way again and not think, "you could have been my father in-law."

Being an adult is actually difficult!

Did you know that growing up would be so difficult? How could I be so naive to think that I knew how to do everything? It's a big slap in the face when you realize that you in fact know absolutely nothing. I'm trying to get my living situation squared away for this summer and the upcoming year, and I didn't realize how much I would have to do. This sounds so obvious, but I didn't realize that I would have to sign up for all the different utilities, decide which energy company to use, decide what internet company and plan to use. On top of all that, deciding how many loans I need to take out and for how much.

There is so much figuring, it's driving me nuts. The only good thing out of this is that I'm finding out how difficult this all is before I get married. I would hate to be doing all this while trying to graduate and plan a wedding. This way, I know what to expect. I feel like God has given me this experience for a reason and I know that I am going to learn so much from it, but right now, it makes me sick to think how much money I'll be spending and wondering if this is all worth it. This is worth it, right?

I'm pretty sure this is worth it and I am really excited to finally have a house, a place to call my own. The only thing that I'm really scared about besides the money is my roommates. I don't know them very well, and so far when I try to get them to meet me so we can go over logistics, they don't respond which makes me really nervous. I have a feeling that I am going to be "just living" in the house with them. They aren't going to be people I talk to often or hang out with. They will just happen to live in the same house as me. Pray for me, this is a big jump for me.

You know it's love when...

This weekend was Easter weekend and Andy came over and spent most of the day with my family on Sunday. He doesn't come over to my house very often cause we rarely get a good amount of time to ourselves since my mom likes to bust in and tell Andy about random classroom stories. But this weekend was a lot of fun. Andy helped us cook dinner and we watched old movies like The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. I trimmed Andy's beard. And Andy came over just as Easter dessert was about to be served. So after this splendid weekend I have decided to comprise a list of how you know when it is love.

You know it is love when...
1. Your significant other can sit at the table, look your mother in the eye and make fun of her as if he is her own child.

2. Your significant other comes over after your family just finishes eating an extravagant meal, and proceeds to help you clean the kitchen after the meal that he didn't eat.

3. That special someone helps your mother cook dinner when you aren't in the kitchen.

4. He lets you trim his beard when your grandmother is standing at the door taking pictures of the event.

5. He allows your mother to interrogate every aspect of his life. School, family, etc. And answers the questions promptly and with a pleasant attitude.

6. He looks you in the eye and tells you that you are the most beautiful and most wonderful person he has ever known.

7. He looks like he is hurting more than you when he has to go back home.

This was a good weekend.

Hello, I am your math teacher Miss Sarah Gallaway...

I just finished teaching today and I feel great. In my Geometric Concepts for Teaching class, I had to partner with someone and teach our class for three days. This means making a flipchart for Promethean (if you don't know what that is, it's a computerized white board that is connected directly to the computer and allows you to write, do interactive activities and other cool things), assigning and grading homework and writing and grading a quiz. Doesn't sound that hard? OH BOY it is. We don't give teachers nearly enough credit. I spent hours on that stupid flipchart and I probably wouldn't have gotten it done so quickly if Whitney's mom had not given me the instruction manual and the program to put on my computer.

So my topic was Pythagoras. Yes, this is the Pythagorean Theorem. Now sit there and think back to freshman geometry and 8th grade algebra. Is pythagorean theorem hard? Hopefully your answer is no. Is there a lot to talk about? Again, no. And also consider that I am teaching fellow math majors who should also have a good understanding of the pythagorean theorem. So, now ask yourself, is it possible to strech this lesson over THREE days? The answer is no, but I did it!!! I drug it out as long as I possibly could. It was GRUELING! But I did it and my professor said that we did a really good job and she was really impressed how well we facilitated discussion instead of just spouting off theory and answers.

This really made me realize that I love teaching math. It was really hard but I truly enjoyed it and I can't wait to start teaching. I don't think I want to do upper level. I enjoy this beginner stuff like algebra and geometry. Calculus could be fun, and who knows, I may work up to it one day, but right now I'm happy with the basics.

Now let me pull on my teacher sweater (which Andy likes to point out that I own two), and lets us move on to surface area....

New Home

Wow, I haven't written in a long time! Everything has been so busy. I cannot wait for this semester to be over and jump right back into summer! Some new news! I will not be living at home next year or this summer. I was offered in a room in a duplex! It's two stories, three bedroom, 2 1/2 bath and only $320 a month for rent which is about the same as the small crappy appartments on ACU's campus. I will be living with a fellow math major and I move in June 1st-ish. I'm so excited.