Fleeting Beauty-Fearful Woman

Laughing at My Last Title

2006-09-22T09:08:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a little more then a month since my last post, time does fly! And this post is running in the same theme as my last one, in fact the title could not possibly ring more true! Everything IS permanent till it changes!

My job changed yet again. Being a wedding planner would have been great fun, but it was more fulltime then I was looking for. However, God dropped two other, perfect jobs into my lap! I recieved a phone call from an old boss asking me to come back to work for her. I used to do lectures in high schools all over the state, and they have not had someone in that possition since I left to work for the church! I accepted the job and have been doing that for a couple weeks now. I had forgot just how much I enjoyed this job! Working with the students is a lot of fun! The job is low maintence and makes great money! The other job that fell into my lab is working as a Tech at Spine and Sport Rehab Center with Therese Griffin. One day my dad and I were talking about how I needed a job in the feild I am pursuing (Exercise Science) and literally the next day I received a call from Therese about the job opening. So on Monday and Thursday nights I work at Spine and Sport and Tuesday and Thursday days I work in schools. The best part is, for the first time since I was 14 years old, I have Saturday's off!!

School has started. I'm not very good at the book part :) I must say Anatomy and Physiology is very very HARD! This class will take more time and work than any other class I have ever taken. It will be a long semester, but many people have gone before me, and survived, so I will too! My Music teacher does not seem to know that his class is for NON MAJORS, but I'm hanging in there thanks to Amanda's help! My other two classes are pretty easy.

But the biggest change has probably been the fact that I'm courting!! I knew I didn't not want to stay single forever, but this was the last thing I was expecting right now. Ken has been pursuing me for a couple years and his friendship meant a lot to me, but I kept telling him I wasn't ready for anything more then friendship. Even up to the day before we started courting I was professing that I loved being single and was not ready to be in a relationship. But God had another plan. Everything else in my life was changing right now, why not this too?! The last 3 weeks have been great. And I have really enjoyed the changes in my relationship with Ken.

So it seems the theme of change has countinued in my life, but now instead of being scared of what change might bring, I'm excited about what the Lord has coming next!

Everything is Permanent till it Changes

2006-08-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

My life has been full of change this summer. For about 2 weeks I felt like I was being flipped upside down and inside out, for someone who hates change, this is not fun! It started with making the choice to go to school fulltime, in fact it was BECAUSE of going to school fulltime.

My job had to change, I had been working fulltime and needed to cut to part time. But then I found out, I couldnt make my bills on the money I would make part time at my current job, so even after selling my car (another change) that meant job hunting. I found a new job in 2 days, which was so fast it scared me. I called some companies to see if they were looking for event planners and had "A Personal Touch" offer me their wedding department. So I had to make an on the spot choice, and I took the job. I still don't know for sure if I will make enough money that I don't need to wait tables too but that did mean: working from home. Working from home meant I needed a desk. I haven't had a desk since elementary school.... yeah I didn't do homework in Jr or High School... So that meant big changes in my room. I did a huge clean out, threw away a lot of stuff, gave away a lot of stuff and I'm hoping to sell a lot of stuff. My dad built me a desk which I painted yesterday, I bought a laptop ($450 that I didn't have) and now have an in home office to work from.

School hasn't started yet, but will in another 2 weeks. So in the course of 2 months, I went from a fulltime admin. assistant at Chesapeake Community Church who had her life semi-together to a scattered (and scared) wedding planner who goes to school fulltime. Nothing about my life in September will resemble my life in July, execpt I am still the daughter of the King of Kings and no matter how out of control my life may seem, He still has it together, and He still has me in His hands, and He still has a plan that is much bigger then my scope of vision could handle even if He showed me. Who would have guessed that with all the changes, so much could stay the same?

So I cried...

2006-07-20T09:26:00.000-05:00

I had to make some gut wrenching, adult decisions this week, and I have decided that I would really rather just stay a child. But since that wasn't on my list of options, I had to sell my Mustang.

I've known this was coming since January, but I had decided not to think about it. The only car I ever wanted as a kid was a red Mustang convertible. That was my dream car. About 3 years ago, I was in a place where I could afford one. I was working fulltime and living at home. I prayed about if for about 6 months. Was it really wise to spend that much money on a car? Shouldn't I be saving my money? I talked to my parents, and my mom said "Cheryl, you have always wanted this car, now might be the only chance you get to have it because once you are married you won't be able to afford it. You should buy it." My mom is the conservative one in our family so the fact that she said this was definitely confirmation from the Lord! I began my search for the perfect car. Finally I found it in the Pocono Mountains. My deep red Mustang GT Convertible, 40th Anniversary edition, with up graded 6 disc changer, Mach speakers, Bullitt brush aluminum interior, grey cloth seats and the boot cover. I talked the guy down $6K and walked out the door happy. I had so much fun in that car! And got my fair share (+ someone else’s') of tickets. But all good things must come to an end.

In order to go to school fulltime, I cannot work fulltime, which means I could no longer afford the payment. I started looking for a used car and I got a great deal. I was able to pay off my Mustang and walk out the door with about $5k in my pocket to pay off some other bills (namely high credit cards, gas for a V8 Mustang isn’t cheap!) and a cute little V6 2001 Cougar. But the process was painful.

I had people say stuff like "You can't sell that car! It's part of your persona!" or "I never got to drive it!" or "But it fits you so well!" or "WHY!?!?" one person even said "I will put sack cloth on and morn for you!" Needless to say, this was not making it easier! I had no idea how many people from church or my neighborhood would be affected by my car change! So many people at church asked about it. And the kids in my neighborhood (who loved to go for rides in the Mustang) were heart broken!

I knew on Monday that I was going to be parting with my baby that week, and I couldn’t sleep. Tuesday I went to finalize the deal. I cried all night Tuesday night too. Wednesday was rough, I tried to enjoy driving the car for the last day, but it was more sad then happy. (For you non-car people this might sound over dramatized) After the men's softball game, I went to give my car up and come home with a new one. I cried while I cleaned my car out, but after that I held it together through signing the papers. The guys at the dealership keep talking about how nice it was, and they couldn't believe I was getting rid of it. My dad leaned over to one and said "Don't talk to her too much about it, she will cry!" (Thanks dad!) The finance guy says as he was putting it into the computer "Yellow 2001 cougar being traded for a .... 2004 Mustang GT Convertible..? Hmmmm. This usually goes the other way!" Yeah I know... I pulled away in my Yellow Cougar, and cried some more.

Thursday I went to work Sacha gave me a hug and was very encouraging. I was painting the ladies bathroom in the basement, which was good because I was away from everything. Emily stopped by and she popped her head in to say hi. "I saw the car out there! Very nice! It fits you very well! When did that happen?" I tried to smile "Last night." And then I started to cry again. She felt bad for making me cry, said sorry and gave me a hug.

After she and Sacha went back up stairs, I thought, this is ridiculous! What is wrong with me? I completely fell apart on the floor in the bathroom and just started praying. I realized just how much I had wrapped my identity in this car, and how important I had made an inanimate object. It is just a car! I knelt there on the floor crying out to the Lord, asking forgiveness and praying that He would continue to work in my heart. I even thanked Him for taking my car from me so that He could do this work.

I am amazed at how releasing this was. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off of me, and suddenly I could breathe again. Praise God for taking me through the hard stuff, and being there when I was ready to repent so He could bring me peace!

The Cougar is a good car, its cute, sporty, a manual and good on gas, it fits just about all the things I said I wanted. And its half the payment with a lower insurance cost… can’t beat that. Unless your sitting next to it at a red light in Mustang GT…. Green! :)

I'm Back!

2006-07-08T08:23:00.000-05:00

It feels so good to be home, and have my life back! Miss Maryland Week was wonderful, thank you all so much for your prayers! I didn't place, actually, I didn't even make the Top Ten! But I do feel like I did what I was there to do. This year was different then in the past, I just had a peace, the emotional roller coaster that I have been on in the past, wasn't there, and I know that was from the prayer coverage, and the Holy Spirit ministering to my heart. So here are some of the opportunities I had:

On the first day, I found out that my roommate's boyfriend had just broke up with her because he was a Christian and he knew he could not be with a non-Christian. I was really hoping this would spark some good conversations between us, but she didn't speak English well, and I'm not sure she understood most of what I said.

While we were in rehearsals, the outgoing Miss MD was practicing with us, and she wasn't feeling good. She took a break and put her head between her knees making it clear she felt she was going to pass out. Someone went to get her a water, and I asked our choreographer if it would be okay for me to take a break and pray for her. The choreographer looked at me funny, then said it was fine. When I asked Rachel if I could pray for her, she also looked at my funny, then said "you know, I would really appreciate that." She came back to me later in the week to thank me again for praying for her as well.

Later that night one of the other girls who was in my group and saw me pray for Rachel asked me to pray with her before we competed. She was a Christian as well, so it was nice to have someone else there who understood :)

Leah, a favorite to win, is a dancer. She had worked so hard this year and it showed. This was her last year of competition. When she came back from doing her dance routine on prelim night she collapsed on the floor in the wing. She hurt her foot, it looked broken and she was a wreck! The same choreographer I mentioned above was tending to Leah's foot and making arrangements to take her to the ER, I asked again if it would be okay for us to pray for her. Instead of a funny look, I got an irritated look "Just hurry up ok, we need to get her out of here" So I took Leah's hand and started to pray, while I was praying, our circle got bigger and bigger, which was kinda neat. Turned out Leah dislocated part of her foot, she spent all night in the ER and they put it back in. On finals night, she made Top Ten, but not the Top Five. As we were leaving the theater the night Leah hurt her foot, one of our chaperones took my arm and thanked me for praying for Leah. Its funny, growing up in the church culture, I don't think anything of that kind of stuff, when someone gets hurt, we pray. But to these people that is totally foreign.

I also ended up being a counselor in several situations. Everyone seemed to come to me to talk about problems. This girls boyfriend said this to her, that girls roommate is doing this, someone said that. It is so hard to give counsel to a non-Christian. But I hope God was able to use what I said in each situation.

The girls jokingly called me "Reverend Cheryl" I took it as a term of endearment since the girl who started it ALWAYS insists on holding my hand when we pray and doesn't let anyone cut in :) Each night before competition we would get together on stage behind the closed curtain and pray with any of the girls who wanted to join us. Each night all 24 girls chose to pray. I know it is more tradition and even superstition for some of them, but I hope God used it to work in their hearts.

It was also cool to see the ripple effect. Each girl in the Miss MD program has a Princess, which is a young girl who she is mentoring. Emily Bunch was one of my Princesses this year, and it was so cool to see her interacting with the other princesses. The night they were all going on stage at the Teen pageant, Mary brought Emily a dozen roses, and Emily started pulling her roses out and sharing them with the other little girls. Mary and Emily each have their own stories of how God used each of them with other girls and with the other parents, and how Mary was able to walk Emily through situations and use them to point her back to the cross, if you get time, you should ask her about it. I know she would love to share with you about it.

But the coolest part would have to have been having people come up to me from the PAST and talk to me about things I didn't even know the Lord was using! The mom of the Miss Greater Baltimore Princess from last year (Sammy) was there this year as well. As I said earlier, before we compete I always offer to pray with the girls. Well Miss Greater Baltimore was not any different. Evidently Sammy had been standing there when we did, which I do not even remember, but her mom came to me at the Teen pageant last Friday and said "I just want to thank you for praying with the girls, Sammy saw that, and she is still talking about it. That is something we are really trying to instill in her." Also one of my Miss MD Week Moms from last year came up to me at the after-glow and said that she missed being with us this year and blah blah blah, then she asked if I could get together with her for lunch sometime because she has some things that she wants to talk to me about. Evidently things I said last year effected her. I have no idea what it is yet, but I'm praying for wisdom when I do talk to her!

So that's some of my cool stories from Miss MD. Thank you again for all your prayer! I could never have gotten though the week without the Lord's hand on me!! I'm still praying about competing this year. I have one year left, and I don't think I will ever be Miss MD, but the ministry opportunities are worth more then the crown! :)

2 Days to go...

2006-06-23T09:33:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I posted prayer requests for next week at Miss Maryland and someone "anonymously" posted "How do you glorify God in a bikini?" So this post is for you.

First let me start by telling you that I have no doubt in my mind that the Lord has called me to compete in pageants. I have had countless opportunities to share the gospel with people who other wise would not be incline to listen. As an example, my director last year was a homosexual and his experience with Christians had been that they were unloving and hypocritical. But he said on numberous occasions that it was different with my family and it was nice to see people living what they believed. All the girls I compete with know I'm a Christian and they have sought me out and asked me to pray for them many times. Not to mention the opportunities my parents have had with the other parents. When God called me to do pageants, He knew there was a swimsuit competition, it is not like it was a surprise that I would have to wear a swimsuit on stage. But He called me to this place anyway. If he didn't want me in pageants then the doors would not have opened for me the way they have, and I surely would not have ever won a title. But He gave me each title I have had, and each year I have seen my purpose at Miss MD.

Second let me explain to you the swimsuit competition. It is not about sex appeal as some who do not know pageants seem to think. It is about fitness and taking care of the body. Did you know that by Miss America rules a contestant is not allowed on stage in her SS for more then 20 seconds? Just long enough for the judges to see if she is taking care of her body. Which is biblical. As Christian women we are encouraged to model the Proverbs 31 women, and she took care of her her body. It talks about "her arms being strong for her tasks." and some versions say "strengthening her arms for her task." I don't think anyone would argue that we are called to take care of our bodies, keeping them healthy and in shape. Which is exactly what the swimsuit competition is promoting.

Lastly I do not feel that my swimsuit is immodest at all. My dad actually helped me pick it out, as he and my mom do with all of my competition wardrobe. (They approve everything I wear.) There are some swimsuits that I would not wear on stage, on the beach or at the pool. But I feel that if it is something I would wear on the beach or at the pool, then what is the difference in wearing it on stage?

I hope that shows you where I am coming from. We are taught that we can glorify God by vaccuming our house, surely I can glorify Him in the way I compete. If you want to talk to me further, feel free to come ask me about it. I would be happy to talk to you personaly. I love telling people about all the cool things I have seen God do through pageants, everything from working in my heart (as well as the rest of my family), to the opportunities to share and pray with people who might have been "unreachable". Isn't that what evangelism and glorifying God is really about?

4 days and counting

2006-06-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

Well I am 4 days away from leaving for Miss Maryland. The week will be packed FULL and I will be absolutely exhausted by next Sunday when it is all over. Here is the schedule for those of you who have asked:

Sunday the 25th:
Arrive 8:30 AM
Drop things off at theater and hotel,
Brief meeting
lunch
sign in ceremony at the Mall
Fashion show
Autograph session at the baseball game
Dinner
Fur Trappers presentation
Dress rehearsal

Monday:
Breakfast appearance
Group Swimsuit photo
rehearsal
lunch
rehearsal
dinner
party
rehearsal

Tuesday:
rehearsal
Lunch
rehearsal
Dinner
Dress rehearsal with pictures

Wednesday: (first day of real competition)
rehearsal
lunch
rehearsal
dinner
Competition (I will do Gown and swimsuit)
Visitation with our families
meeting

Thursday:
rehearsal
lunch
rehearsal
dinner
Competition (I will do On Stage Question and Talent)
Visitation with our families
meeting

Friday:
Interviews in the morning
Lunch with Miss America Jennifer Berry and the Mayor of Hagerstown
rehearsal
Dinner OUT WITH OUR FAMILIES YEAH!
Teen Pageant
Teen Pageant after glow

Saturday (The Big Day)
rehearsal
Luncheon
rehearsal
Final competition
After glow

Sunday July 2nd:
Awards Brunch

As you can see it is very busy and we don't get much sleep! But I suppose I can catch up on sleep when I get home.... So my prayer requests for this week would be:
1. That I can stay focused on the Lord and allow Him to be my peace
2. For wisdom in my interactions with the other girls and opportunities to share God's love with them.
3. For REST
4. That I will not fall into the head games they play or the emotional over load (This kinda goes with #1)
5. That God will be glorified!

Thank you all! Your prayer means so much!

Fear of man?! Never! Well maybe...

2006-06-01T12:52:00.000-05:00

If you had asked me a month ago if I struggled with fear of man, I probably would have given you a little laugh and promtly said NO! I mean really? Fear of man?! I'm pretty out going, maybe even a little on the loud side, I can talk to anyone you put me in front of... trust me, no issues here. Well I would have been wrong!

Over the last three months I have been working on a new talent song for Miss MD. I love the song! I love the message behind it! I love the outfit that goes with it! But when it's time to sing it, I get so nervous that I shake, my voice quivers and I choke on the words. Talent has been the thorn in my side since the day I started competeing. I have always told myself I wasnt as good as this girl and didnt have the range of that girl, or the powerful voice or the entertaining ablity or the -fill in the blank with any of the million of excuses I used.... So I contiuned to allow this attitude to grow.

About two weeks ago I was talking to Kristin on the phone and the subject came up. I said something to the degree of how I became nervous in front of people, and her response was very gentle (as she always is) But she made me realize that its not nerves, its sin. I'm fearing man, and doubting God. If my trust was in Him and my eyes were on Him and not the audience then what would I have to be nervous about. I spent sometime praying over this and saw just how much I have allowed this sin to take root in my heart!

This past week my thoughts on talent have definitely been challenged in new ways! And other memebers of our church (Carol Eberwien and Ron Furrow) were so faithful to remind me again that this is truly a head game. They gave me advice from a vocalist's perspective with the wisdom of God all over it! I am so thankfull for them and their willingness to speak into me life!

Have I beaten this sin area? I don't know. But I am praying against it! God has given me such an opportunity, I do not want to allow my sin to get in the way of what I am supposed to be doing for Him! Yesterday I heard an old song by Rich Mullins on the radio, most of you probably know it, the line that really hit me between the eyes was "You have been King of my glory, now won't You be my Prince of Peace." And that is my prayer too!

Best Week of My Life (so far)

2006-05-24T10:58:00.000-05:00

People have been asking me to blog and post pictures of last week, so finally here it is....although, it feels a little weird to be posting so many pictures of MYSELF! but you asked for it!

I don't even know where to begin!.... For the last 3 years I have sent my resume in for Miss Preakness, each year I make top 5 and get called in for an interview, but this year, I finally won. I knew it would mean a very busy week was ahead, but I was ready for it. All the girls I know who have been Miss Preakness say "It was the best week of my life!" and now I know why.

My week started on Saturday the 13th with the Preakness Parade. Sitting on the back of a Corvair with Mrs. Maryland and waving to all the people on the streets was so much fun! I have to tell you though, this wasn't a nice neighborhood. We were on the Westside of Baltimore, but it was so neat to see so many people coming out to watch and they got so excited! For the people this really seemed to be the highlight of their year and gave them a break from the normal mundane. Right in the middle of the parade a man from WBAL radio comes running up to the car and did an on the spot (in the car) interview, which was my first of many encounters with the media! Also, Mrs MD has offered to take me along with her to some of her appearences with the Ravens and working with Dr Ben Carson on an up coming project, so thats very exciting!

After the parade I had a couple days off..... Wednesday was the ESPN Draw and my debute on nation television. Myself and the girls who were "hostess" at the event met at Pimlico to ride down to the ESPN Zone. Before the show started we were told to grab some food, which was amazing, especially the brownies... then it was show time. I was place by the board that had the horses names on it, essentially I was playing the role of Vana White. They would call a number and I would turn that slot around to reveal the horses name, then that owner was allowed to pick their post possition. , There was a step right in front of me, and the camera guy kept joking about me falling off so that had me a bit nervous, other then that, it went smoothly. Channel 2 news interviewed me right after we went off air from Sports Center, which was kinda fun. Although I did mispronounce the horses name! oooops :) When I finally got back to my car I had several text messages and voicemails from friends telling me that they saw me on sports center and the news! Kinda crazy!

Thursday was the Alibi Breakfast, more great food, lots of media, several interviews I'm breifly in this clip too. http://wjz.com/seenon/local_story_138142941.html My job at the breakfast was to talk to media and hand out several awards. But the highlight was meeting Mrs Erlich and the ESPN personality Chris Lincoln. The picture at the top of the page was from the breakfast, I'm standing with the Woodlawn Vase which is the most valuable trophy in sports. Its worth more then $1 Million, and its very impressive to look at! The Vase was made in the 1800s and was burried during the civil war to keep it from being melted down and turned into shot. This trophy travels with its own security staff!

Black Eye Susan Day! Friday I had a radio interview with the Tony Bruno Show out of LA in the morning and had to be at Pimlico by 12:00. This was a fun day and my mom was allowed to come with me. When we got there I had another radio interview with 100.7 The Bay before getting some lunch with my mom. Again, the food was awesome! Pimlico doesnt do anything small! We got to watch some live racing and talked to a lot of the people who were there to see the races. One gentlemen started handing me a $10 bet here and there, I never won anything though. After that I got to show mom around the clubhouse a little bit, we went up into the jocky lounge where an older man after reading my sash says: "So you are the lady who will be in the picture with me when I win?" I was a bit confussed at first, then I remembered that I was going to be presenting the award at the "Miss Preakness Stakes" race that afternoon. I laughed and said "Yes sir, if you win, I will see you in the winners circle!" Well he did win, needless to say he was very excited and just kept saying "I told you I would be here!" Finaly Black Eyed Susan Day was coming to an end, I had one last interview with 98 Rock. I was a little nervous about the interview with Mickey and Amelia because everyone had told me how vulgar their show is. I was braced for the worst, but it was great! They were by far my favorite interview of the week! unlike the other radio shows, they actually let me talk after they asked a question! After that mom and I walked through the barns to look at the horses. Barbaro tried to bite my mom in the back! haha! Her shirt was soaked with his spit, I keep telling her that she should sell it on ebay. This was the first day that I was around large crowds and I was suprised by their reactions! You would have thought that I was Miss America the way the crowd would part and people would request pictures! I felt like a queen!

I ran home, changed clothes, Ken met me at my house and we headed downtown for the Preakness Eve party at the aquarium. I was told to bring a guest and Ken said he would suffer through it for me! haha right! Yet again, the food was awesome! And the party was a lot of fun, they had a band and some dancing, with a tropical island theme. I got to intruduce Ken to a lot of the people who I had been meeting all week and at the end of the night they had the hot air balloons light up in the harbor then set off the best fireworks I have ever seen! I have been wanting to see fireworks at the harbor for the longest time so it was fun to finally be there for it!

Okay well this blog is really long, so I will post about Preakness Day later, but at least this way you can see some of the week.

So what is Normal

2006-02-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

If you have read my blog before, you know that I compete in pageants, last weekend was the first competition of this new year, and go figure, EVERYTHING went wrong!

It began a few weeks ago. Just about the time I was starting classes, my mom came down with Shingles. This put her in the hospital for a week which of course affected the whole family. Life got very busy and hectic as we were taking care of her and the house on top of "normal" life. Not too bad though, she got better and the first hurdle was behind us. My clothes are not fitting right, so two weeks before the pageant, I take them to be altered. I was told that was plenty of time and it would be done in a week. Perfect!

So its the week of the pageant. On Sunday I got a call from my "Pageant Fairy God-Father" who was GIVING me a gown, for FREE! So my mom and I made the trek down to VA on Monday night to pick up the gown, I tried it on, and it was a little tight in the hips, but thats not a big deal at all, I figured I would just hit the gym really hard, watch what I eat, and by Saturday, it will be fine. Well God had other plans. On Wednesday I avoided an accident which resulted in "severe whiplash". The doctor promptly informed me that I was not allowed to go to the gym.... my brain goes right to the gown, it will never fit now! Not to mention the fact that I can't turn my head! How can I walk on a stage and make eye contact with judges if I can turn my head to look at them?!?! Well I got treatment on Thursday and Friday and my neck was feeling better, not normal (still isnt normal) but better. Hurdle number two behind us... still can't go to the gym... who knows about the gown!

As the week goes on, I get phone calls each day from my dear friend who is doing my alterations. "I'm not done yet, but don't worry, I will be done on Tuesday and mail it to you on wednesday." "I'm going to finish it today, and I will next day mail it to you." "Okay I'm going to drive it up friday." Finally the day before competition, she was at my door with the clothes in hand. Praise God, they fit. Hurdle number three behind us.

Last hurdle: its supposed to be " that time of the month" :) I'm bloated, never fun when you have to be in a swimsuit! And for those of you who don't know, when your horomones get going it has a negative effect on your vocal cords and makes it hard to sustain pitch. (this is why an opera house has at least 3-4 sopranos in the house, and they take a very specific 4 days off each month! :) )

So its the day of competition, and I woke up really excited! I don't know why, but I really felt ready to go. I still couldn't really drive, due to my neck and I deffinitely couldnt carry my stuff, so Ken took me to competition that morning and dropped me off. The whole day was very laid back. One judge was late, so we had to start late, but mostly the girls just spent all day hanging out.

Competition began with interview, which is my personal favorite part! :) And I felt I had a really solid interview. Then it was time to get ready for on stage competion, and my hair went FLAT! oh well, there are worst things that could happen. I felt okay about my casual wear competion, besides the flat hair. Swim Suit wasnt great thanks to missing the gym, but still not too bad. I had serious problems in talent, and figured at that point that it was over. But I still had to finish out, so I went and got ready for gown. By God's grace, the gown fit perfectly! I was shocked! On stage question went quickly and so here we are on stage for the announcment.

There were three of us returning from Miss MD last year, Melissa, Ashely and I, and there was three spots to be given that night (2nd RU, 1st RU and Winner) I assumed those three spots would belong to the three of us in any particular order. They called the 2nd runner up, Britney Leitz! I was so happy for her, she has worked really hard and deserved to do well. But then my mind moves to "that means one of the three of us, didnt place." About that time Melissa is called 1st runner up. I am standing there holding Ashely's hand. "She beat me at Patuxent just 4 months ago, and was top ten at Miss MD last year, I'm the one that didn't place!" And your new Miss Greater Baltimore is.... contestant number 2 Cheryl Gill. I stood there for a minute in shock! Ashely hugged me, and I stumbled (literally) forward.

I must say, as each hurdle came and went, I became more and more aware of my need for the Lord. I could not have done this without him. He did a work on Saturday night, and He blessed me with this title, so all the praise and glory belongs to Him alone!

On Monday I started to have problems with my eye.... now I have to wear glasses for a little while.... here comes the next set of hurdles!

2006-02-02T15:55:00.000-05:00

Tagged.... (whatever that means...)

so, Sacha tagged me... now I have to answer the following questions

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:
Waitress
Model
Nutition Lectures in high schools all over the state
Church Secretary (In that order too!)

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again:
um....
not so much...

Four Places I Have Lived:
Darlington
Conowingo
Edgewood
If living with my grandparents for a few months counts... Bel Air

Shows I Love to Watch:
CSI: Las Vegas
Trading Spaces
Miss America (does a once a year show count?!?!)
Thats all I got... not a big TV fan

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
Ocean City MD (of course)
Pocono Mountains
Jacksonville FL
Long Beach NC

Four Websites I Visit Daily (or at least weekly):
Hotmail
Comcast
Miss MD
Google :) (gotta love google)

Four of My Favorite Foods:
Chocolate
Chicken Ceaser Salad with pasta from Fortunato Brothers
my mom's spagetti
Chocolate :)

Four Singers I Can't Live Without:
hmmmm..... can't think of any....

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
on a tropical island
Touring Europe
....
Heaven?

Four Bloggers I am tagging:
Amy
I think all the other bloggers I know have already been tagged!

2006-01-28T12:14:00.000-05:00

Orientation @
Towson

So I guess you could say I had my first day at Towson on Monday… it was “TU Cares Day” which is just a cheesy name for orientation. Typically I’m the type to skip such things… after all, if I can’t figure it out on my own, maybe I shouldn’t be doing it at all! Right? Well Towson requires you be there and to ensure that you meet that requirement, they do not allow you to sign up for classes till the END of “TU Cares”.

My form said to be there at 8:00 AM and I was running on normal “Cheryl time” which put there at about 8:10 not to bad… but still definitely late. I was expecting to walk into a big room full of people already sitting down. Much to my surprise, I was one of the first people there! The actual start time was 8:30… I guess they were planning on people like me.

So there are three stops I’m asked to make:

Stop #1, the Health Center
I had sent them my records, but my records said that I never got my second shot for Measles, which I know I did, and my Tetanus shot was expired, which I knew but I didn’t know it mattered. So I am then informed that I will be getting both shots. Not a big deal, right? Yeah they are $50 each!!! Wow! So I called the elementary school I attended and they got the measles shot straightened out but I still had to get $50 worth of a Tetanus shot …my arm is still sore, thank you very much. While I was in the Health Center there was another girl from Hong Kong who was going through the same thing, so we kinda made friends.

Stop #2 ID card and parking pass
The line moved fast, but was very confusing, 1 bad picture and $122 later I was moving on…

Stop #3 Transcripts
So Jeannette (the girl from Hong Kong) and I go in to get out transcripts covered and make sure everything transferred over. Aside a long wait; that was also a smooth stop.

Now the actual orientation meeting starts. Jeannette and I sat down and another girl from the Ukraine asked to sit with us too. So on one side of me is a chic from Hong Kong and on the other side is a chic from the Ukraine, that was kinda cool. J We picked seats near the front which might not have been the best idea because we talked and laughed much more then listened, hopefully we were not too distracting. It was a long, boring, waist of time… I know that’s not a very positive thing to say, but it’s the honest truth. Finally after all the various speakers said what they “needed” to say, we were broke down into our departments. Jeannette and Natalia went with the Business group and I waited for the Kinesiology department to be called…. Of course Kines was last…. All eight of us got up and followed our tour guide.

On to the Towson Center. The Towson Center is where all the Kines classes take place, it is also on the very far side of campus, isolated from everything else. J So it took us about 10 mins to walk up there, we got a brief tour of the building and met with the woman in charge of our department, Dr Parr. And let me just say that she is a trip! I like her already! One of the first things she says is, “Here in the Kines department, and we tend to break all the rules….” Yes! I am in the right department! Haha! She also told us that she was going to make up our schedules and we needed to be happy with whatever we could get because there really were not any classes left other then crappy Gen Eds such as Basket Weaving 101. Furthermore, we would be very very lucky to get any classes that had anything to do with our major, great! I however got lucky, probably because I was willing to take the 8:00 AM slot, and got TWO, count ‘em, TWO Kines classes! On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I will be taking Individual Fitness and Sports: Cross Cultural.

Oh and the last piece of good news is that I will never have to fight for parking because the Towson Center is the last auxiliary parking lot! Woo hoo! All in all, I would say the day was a success.

2005-12-21T00:03:00.000-05:00

This is why women should know their place and stay in it!!! Enjoy the story, but don't miss the truth in it! (I got this off a friend's profile... so I can't take the credit :) )

Imagine a knight traveling through the countryside. He hears a princess in distress and rushes gallantly to slay the dragon. The princess calls out, "I think this noose will work better!" and throws him a rope. As she tells him how to use the noose, the knight obliges her and kills the dragon. Everyone is happy, except the knight, who doesn't feel like a hero. He is depressed and feels unsure of himself. He would have preferred to use his own sword.

The knight goes on another trip. The princess reminds him to take the noose. The knight hears another maiden in distress. He remembers how he used to feel before he met the princess; with a surge of confidence, he slays the dragon with his sword. All the townspeople rejoice, and the knight is a hero. He never returned to the princess. Instead, he lived happily ever after in the village, and eventually married the maiden-but only after making sure she knew nothing about nooses.

2005-11-30T16:56:00.000-05:00

How big is your God?
Creatures that defy evolution
Author: Jordan Niednagel

The Gecko
They walk across walls and ceiling as though gravity didn't exist. But how? For a long while, geckos defied all attempts to explain how they could cling to any surface with no visible sign of glue or suction cups. Then, when a group of biologists and engineers studied the microscopic hairs on the toes of geckos, the answer was found. The ends of the hairs directly attach to molecules in the surface by what is called van der Waals force, a type of attraction between atoms. According to a report in Nature, scientists concluded that engineering a structure like the foot of a gecko is "beyond the limits of human technology." However, they hope that the "natural technology of gecko foot-hairs can provide biological inspiration for future design of a remarkable effective adhesive."
How did the gecko develop its outstanding ability to climb? Were the hairs on its toes useless up until the time they were just right? Why haven't a host of other lizards developed such a beneficial ability?

The Bombardier Beetle
It's just a little bug, but it has an amazing talent. No more than three-quarters of an inch long, the bombardier beetle possesses, in a sense, its own bomb. Inside the body of this beetle are two special chambers that manufacture two chemicals, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone. They are mixed together and sent to a storage chamber that is attached to a second chamber, appropriately called the explosion chamber, through a muscle that acts as a control valve. Inside this explosion chamber are a number of tiny extodermal glands that feed into it, adding an enzyme catalyst. Once this all takes place, a violent explosion ensues, being sent out a perfectly positioned tube at the rear of the beetle's body. Where does it then go? Quite frankly, into the enemies' face! The would-be predator is left choking in a hot, noxious smoke, while the beetle is left with enough time to quickly make a run for it. This amazing insect can even fire with tremendous accuracy in almost any direction necessary.
How did the bombardier beetle slowly evolve such a dangerous mechanism without obliterating itself into extinction? If the chemicals were not just the right strength or right ingredients, or if the control valve did not close when the explosion took place, think of the consequences. If the mechanism didn't work until fully formed, think of the extra baggage it would have been.

The HummingBird
Those who have taken the time to set a liquid feeder outside should be familiar with the incredible acrobatics of the hummingbird. They are the smallest birds in nature, weighing less than a tenth of an ounce, with some 300 different varieties worldwide. Hummingbirds can fly backwards, forwards and sideways, or can hover in midair like a helicopter. If there's one that distinguishes hummingbirds from the rest of their feathered cousins, its their wing-flap speed. They can beat them at an incredible 80 strokes per second; so fast that the human can only view their wings as a frenzied blur. Equally incredible is their heart rate. Beating 1,000 times a minute, they inhale some 250 times in the same period of time. Because of this high metabolic rate, they must feed almost constantly. However, at night, all this changes. Hummingbirds don't sleep at night. Instead, they hibernate at night (except when the female is nesting). During this hibernation, the entire body slows down and the temperature drops to conserve energy. An amazing feat, one without which the hummingbird could not survive.
How did the hummingbird develop into such a high-metabolic bird? Why are there not many other birds similar to it? What fossils do we have that show its gradual development into what we know them as today?

The Giraffe
What can compare to the unique design of the giraffe? Reaching 18 feet or more in height, the giraffe has one of the largest hearts in the animal kingdom, with nearly double the blood pressure of any creature. Indeed, when you observe the uphill climb that the blood must make to reach the top, you can see why so much pressure is needed. But what about when the giraffe lowers its head? Doesn't the blood rush to the brain with such tremendous force that it would kill the giraffe? Surely, you know how it is when you have been leaning over for awhile, and then suddenly stand up straight to feel sickeningly dizzy. How does the giraffe avoid this problem? Amazingly, the jugular blood vessels in its neck have a series of one-way check valves that hold back the blood from flowing to the brain when it lowers its head. Then, when the giraffe lifts its head again, it prevents the blood from flowing away from the brain too quickly. Also, at the base of the brain is a network of spongy tissue that soaks up any excess blood. Truly, an astounding example of plumbing technology.
How did the giraffe slowly develop such a brain structure that would allow it to raise and lower its head without any problems? If they are the result of millions of years of evolution, wherein they grew longer and longer necks overtime in order to eat from the trees, why aren't there hundreds of other animals with such necks?

The Seahorse
They're a fish, but they don't look like a fish. As their name indicates, they look like a horse. Swimming vertically, they even "ride" like a horse. Strangest of all, the male seahorse gives "birth" to the babies! Course, the eggs originally come from the female, but she actually deposits the several thousand eggs at a time into the abdominal pouch of the male where they are later fertilized. After that, she leaves and from that time on has nothing to do with either her eggs or her mate. The faithful male, however, protects the eggs in his pouch, and when they finally hatch, he secretes a nourishing fluid that the babies feed on. About two weeks later, he "gives birth" to the thousands of miniature seahorses, who are then, for better or for worse, left completely on their own.
How did male seahorses ever evolve from non-pouch to pouch? Why would they ever develop a pouch in the first place? How did the eggs survive before the male ever developed a pouch, and who convinced the male to watch over the eggs once the pouch was developed?

The Platypus
Inhabiting Tasmania and southern and eastern Australia, the peculiar platypus sports a duck-like bill roughly 2.5 inches long and 2 inches wide. Inside this leathery snout are sophisticated electronic sensors that it uses to detect prey, such as shrimp, worms, and shellfish. This incredible "detector" actually senses the faint electric waves produced by these smaller creatures, where it then becomes only a matter of seconds until the platypus finds itself a meal. Stranger still is that, although the platypus is classified as a mammal, it lays eggs! As if that weren't enough, it is also venomous. Males possess a poison gland in the hind leg that opens through a bony spur on the ankle. The spur is used to defend against predators and possibly to defend its territory.
If the platypus developed from some type of rat millions of years ago, how did its fleshy snout develop into a leather bill? How did the electric sensors evolve where none existed before? And why do they lay eggs? Why don't many other mammals lay eggs?

2005-11-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

“There is either a God or there isn’t… If there is no God, we are in trouble because we are racing through space at 66,000 miles an hour and no one is in charge.”
– Russian Astronomer

First let me start by saying that I don’t know if you believe in God, however, I do not want this to be about religion, I want it to be about science. I believe in God and I have studied both ideas of Creationism as well as Evolution and after studying both, I honestly believe that we were created approximately 6,000 years ago. But what you believe is up to you. I believe that science proves there is a God, and I am going to tell you how.
As we study our world and our bodies, we can be awed by the perfection of this design. Our bodies are put together so perfectly, and our world functions just right. I have a hard time believing that all this happened by chance. How could that happen? How could an eye evolve? If you take away any part of it, it no longer works. Irreducibly complex systems cannot be built in steps and still be functional in the building process. Darwin himself stated the following in his famous Origin of Species: “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down” In his time, during the 19th century, biologists were very far from knowing how complex a living cell was, let alone understanding its biochemical mechanisms. They're like children who consider the flight of the airplane very simple and natural; and when they mature, learn about its intricate and complex design. There are numerous irreducibly complex systems in living organisms, like blood clotting, closed circular DNA, electron transport, the bacterial flagellum, telomeres, photosynthesis and much more.

Evolution says that billions of years ago, all the dust particles were squished together and began spinning. Over time, there was a bang that caused some particles to spin off and that was the beginning of planets, suns, moons etc. If this is the case, then why isn’t everything spinning in the same direction? (Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum) Why are some planets spinning counterclockwise and others spinning clockwise? (Not long ago, TIME Magazine did a cover story about a new galaxy they found that was spinning “backward”, 8 of the 91 known moons spin backwards, even two planets spin backwards.) And where did those original particles come from? Where did matter start? Why is the sun 98% hydrogen or helium and the planets are less then 1% hydrogen or helium and why are all the planets so different? If all the cosmic bodies started from the same thing, why aren’t all of them made up of the same products?
While we are talking about cosmic bodies, judging by how many stars are out there, there should be 6.5 million stars created per minute. Why aren’t we still seeing stars being formed? We see them die into novas and super novas, but no one has ever seen one form. Yet there are enough stars out there for each person on earth to have 11 trillion stars. (There are more than 1 x 1022 stars in the universe [10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000])
Now, what about Chemical evolution? The big bang produced hydrogen and maybe a little helium, but where do we get uranium. All these elements came from hydrogen? The evolutionist respond to this saying “Well there was fusion in stars…” well it’s hard to fuse past Iron. Even so, there is a chicken and an egg problem! The stars are made out of these same elements that they supposedly created? Well how did the stars get here?
Macro-Evolution is what I understand to be the main idea of what we call “Evolution”. It is the idea that over billions of years an animal changes into another animal. It started billions of years ago with chemicals, rocks and rain. However, every farmer on the planet counts on this not happening! When they breed their cows, they plan to get a cow. We have never seen any animal turn into another “kind” of animal. There are 400 “types” of dogs in the world today, and I do believe that they might have had a common ancestor. But you are not going to get a cat! “Under normal circumstances, creatures give birth to the same kind of creatures. It is established scientific fact that like begets like. On rare instances, the DNA in an embryo is damaged, resulting in a mutant child that differs in some respect from its parent. Although a few mutations have been scientifically observed that are beneficial, most mutations produce inferior offspring. For the theory of evolution to be true, there must be a fantastic number of creative mutations that produce new kinds of offspring which are better suited for survival, and therefore are favored by natural selection.” "The Profusion of Living Fossils," Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.
Evolution suggests that we are improving, and moving forward, progressing. From single cell organisms, to multi-celled organisms till we became humans. But the Second law of thermodynamics says that everything tends toward disorder. Things rust, rot, die, fall apart or break down, everything is constantly losing heat and energy. If I put a car in a junk yard, eventually over a long time, it will rust and fall apart. The sun adds energy, which is destructive unless there is a way to use it. The energy from the sun will make the paint on the car peel. The only thing that can use the suns energy is chlorophyll, because that is what it was designed to do.
So those are some of the problems I have with the idea of evolution. I don’t see evidence that we are still evolving, which makes it very hard to believe that we were ever evolving in the first place. The laws have never changed since we discovered them. Gravity is the same today as it was 100 years ago!
Now, what about the age of the earth? We have been told since we were four years old reading children’s books about dinosaurs that the earth is billions of years old. A four year old will believe anything you tell them, and if no one ever tells them anything different, they will continue to believe it. But there are so many things that prove that the earth can not possibly be that old. Here are a few examples:
Scientists have found that the moon is moving about 3-4 inches farther away each year. Thus it used to be closer. If the moon was closer it would create bigger tides. According to the Inverse Square Law 1/3 the distance equals 9 times the pull. So if you go back 1.2 billion years ago, doing the math of 3 inches a year, the gravitational pull would have been HUGE, and the moon would be orbiting right against the surface of Earth. This must mean that the Earth is younger then we thought.
Scientists have also said the earth is slowing down by approximately 1/1000th of a second everyday. In fact in June we have a leap second to make up for it. But if it’s slowing down then that must mean that it used to go faster. If it was 6000 years old, it’s not a big deal that the Earth slows down by 1/1000th of a second each day; however if you go back a billion years, than the Earth must have been moving really fast. The days would be very short and the winds would be about 5000 miles an hour. At that speed, things would fly off.
What about the Sahara desert? Everyone knows that deserts grow. As the hot winds blow across the sand, the desert slowly spreads. Sahara is the oldest and largest desert on Earth. They think it’s about 4000 years old, but if the earth is billions of years old, why isn’t the dessert bigger? And why is the oldest desert on Earth only 4000 years old? Now again, not to get into religion, but creationism believes that the earth was created 6000 ago, and about 4400 years ago there was a flood. If there was a world wide flood 4400 years ago, then that explains why there are not older or bigger deserts then the 4000 year old Sahara.
There are several other facts that line up with the idea that there was a world wide flood 4400 years ago. Even though tree ring dating is not the most reliable the oldest dated tree is 4300 years old. But what about the Barrier Reef? During WW2 some of the barrier reef was destroyed, so some scientist went out to see how fast the reef grew. These scientists observed the reef for many years and established how fast a reef really grows. They dated the reef to be 4200 years old. That would make sense if 4400 years ago there was a flood. But if the earth was billions of years old, why don’t we have a bigger reef?
The Earth’s population is about 6 billion people and growing rapidly. If the earth was billions of years old, we would have a much larger population. In three million years there would be approximately 150,000 people per square inch. Again, that must mean that the earth is younger then scientists thought it was.
The last point I want to make, is this: The earth’s magnet is getting weaker. It has lost 10% of its power in the last 150 years. As the magnetic power changes, Carbon Dating can’t work. If the magnet gets weaker, more radiation gets in, that’s what causes C14. There are accounts of fossils that have been dated 40,000 years in the front, and 60,000 years old in the back. That is a 20,000 year discrepancy. What a slow birth! There are a lot of flaws in Carbon Dating. A Mammoth leg that the bone was dated at 44,000 years old but the Skin was 22,000 years old. They have Carbon Dated live things to be 10,000 years old.
I can’t believe that such a perfect design could evolve. Sir Fred Hoyle, of Cambridge University stated that statistically the chances of one cell evolving was the same as a tornado passing through a junkyard and giving you a fully functional Boeing 747. The leading mathematicians in the century met with some evolutionary biologists and confronted them with the fact that, according to mathematical statistics, the probabilities for a cell or a protein molecule coming into existence were nil. They even constructed a model on a large computer and tried to figure out the possibilities of such a cell ever happening. The result was zero possibility! - Wistar Institute, 1966.
DNA is a very specific code and if you change just one piece, you change the whole gene, how could that evolve? If it was missing just one piece, it wouldn’t work. Also, can it really be such a “perfect coincidence” that the Earth is just exactly where it needs to be for life to exist? If our axis was tilted just one degree closer to the sun, we would burn up; but if it was tilted just one degree farther, we would freeze. That is a very large coincidence.

Scientists don't really know how life came to be. Even Stanley Miller, whose experiments are cited in most biology text books, says that the origin of life is still unknown. The idea that dead material can come to life all by itself is not consistent with scientific observation. ("The Profusion of Living Fossils," Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.)

2005-10-30T23:31:00.000-05:00

Five Star Rating

Everyone! :) (I'm going to miss my CareGroup)
The girls waiting patiently for the next course.
Zac working on dessert
Ken, Nathan and Scott working in the Kitchen!
Around the table :)

The girls getting ready at my house.

Well our Care Group met together for the last time on Wednesday. For those of you who don't know, "Care Group" is the name of the mid-week Bible study at my church. It is a way for us to meet together and discuss the message that was given on Sunday morning in a smaller environment. Well the college age Care Groups have been broken up and disbursed into the Married Care Groups. So our last meeting was on Wednesday, and our guys wanted to thank us (the ladies) for the way we have served them over the last few years, so they made us dinner. :) And they did a phenomenal job!

They had told us to come dressed up, and what girl doesn’t like to get dressed up?! So some of the girls met at my house to get ready to go. When we got there the guys were standing at the door ready for us! They offered to take our coats, and had trays of food set out for us to munch on while we waited for them to be ready for us. They escorted us into the living room where we sat and talked while eating crab pretzels and crab dip (yum :)) Then they came in with wine glasses that had sparkling apple cider (this is a church event what did you expect?!?!) Zac did a toast and they took us into the dinning room where the table was set. As we sat down they took our drink orders and hurriedly got the appetizer ready. And I must say that we were all very very very impressed by the appetizer. Not only did it taste incredible, but the presentation was perfect! After all, Ken was a professional cook at one time, so the guys had an extra advantage having him there. They carved roses out of tomatoes and put one on each plate. It was this amazing sauce with shrimp over some kind of bread.... we ate all of it. :) The meal continued with salad and the main pasta dish. After dinner while we were waiting for dessert, all the girls were sitting in the dining room while the guys were in the kitchen and I had to laugh. "shhh listen, do you know what that is?" Kistin says "Its guys doing dishes!!" :) Then for dessert we had chocolate fondue with baileys. Wow! It was also amazing! :) They did espresso drinks and everything! I was so proud of them!!!

As a side note, when you are looking at the pictures, no the girls did not plan to all wear black, so Emily didn't miss the memo, it just happend to work out that way. And yes, the guys did plan to all wear white shirts and Scott just didnt have one! haha!

All in all, I think I can speak for all the girls in saying that we were very blessed! They took such care to make sure it was all done, and done well. It was so cool to see them stepping out of the comfort zones and doing something that they are not used to doing. After all, they are guys! They have all had moms and sisters do this stuff for them their whole lives! And although they seemed to feel a little awkward at times, I still say they got a Five Star Rating! :)

2005-10-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

The Top picture is GramaGene and Grandad with me after the pageant. The bottom one is Kelly George (one of my Miss MD sisters) She was giving up her title as Miss Southern MD 2005. Sadly Kelly had to move out of state. I'm going to miss her so much!

Whew! Its over!

What do you get when you win swim suit, win evening gown, tie for first in casual wear, are in the top 4 in interview and on stage question? Nothing but a non-finalist Swim Suit award if you wreck your talent! :) And that is exactly what I did!

Thank you all so much for your prayers. I am happy to report that there were no catastrophies like at Miss MD! Although, it was a long day, I really enjoyed being with the girls. And its totally okay I didn't win, there are more pageants coming up :) so we will see what God has in store there.

2005-10-25T16:18:00.000-05:00

So a peice of mail came addressed to me today, the letterhead on the envelope was very familar, I have been waiting for this for a couple weeks. The black and yellow swoosh mark would be familiar to anyone in the area! :) It was from Towson University. My mom opened it for me, and the letter started with Congradulations!.... thats where I stopped listening. :) Yes, I was accepted to TU for the spring semester! Praise the Lord! :) So I am offically a Tiger! Haha!

2005-10-20T08:35:00.000-05:00

Looking back

So I got this e-mail, and thought, this would be much better as a blog then as an e-mail. So here it is, feel free to take it back to your own blogs and fill it in about yourself! :)

On October 20th....

20 years ago I... (1985)
1. Was visiting my mom and brand new baby brother in the hospital
2. loved riding my 3 wheeler and riding with my dad on the big 4 wheeler
3. had a pony as a pet

10 years ago I... (1995)
1. Had just started pre-CDS
2. Learned how to play football (and found out I could throw better than most of the guys I new)
3. was my last year with glasses before I got contacts! :)

5 years ago I... (2000)
1. Was waiting tables at Bob Evens
2. Had gotten signed to my first modeling agency
3. Was in my Senior year of High School, and dreading graduation!

3 years ago I... (2002)
1. became friends with Ken (he, JJ and I went hiking right around this time of year)
2. Competed in my first Miss America Local
3. Did my first nutrition lecture in a public high school

1 year ago I... (2004)
1. just gotten back from my first trip to Miss MD
2. Bought my 04 Mustang GT Convertible (that I love)
3. made the deans list! (who would have ever thought!?)

So far this year I... (2005)
1. Competed at Miss MD
2. Flew to Flordia by MYSELF! (never thought that would happen!!)
3. Biked a portion of the C&O Canal to see the Paw Paw Tunnel.

Yesterday I...
1. Dissected a sheep brain and a sheep eye (BIO class)
2. Did more prep work for the upcoming pageant (gym, tanning, talent)
3. Asked Mrs. Kathleen if she could fix my talent outfit (she said yes.... she is amazing!)

Today I...
1. Will pick up my swimsuit
2. work
3. Prep for the pageant

Tomorrow I will...
1. Prep for the pageant
2. Work
3. Prep for the pageant :)

In the next year I will (hopefully)...
1. Transfer to Towson University
2. Compete at Miss MD
3. Draw closer to the Lord! :)

2005-10-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

Just plain hectic

Monday is voice, Tuesday is Softball, Wednesday is Care Group on the 1st and 3rd week but Accountability on the 2nd and 4th week, Thursday- Saturday are days to: clean, run errands and try to get stuff done before the pageant (dropping off my swimsuit, picking up this, down to VA for talent outfit alterations, returning that the list goes on), and Sunday of course is family night. Figure in time to rehearse talent, 2 hours at the gym and a trip to go tanning each day, work until 5 and class two days a week(don't forget homework and studying) plus whatever church function is going on and lastly misc. platform work (i.e. this week it was speaking at the college) and you have my life! :) Sound slightly ridiculous? Maybe it is, maybe you can relate, but I have to be honest, God's grace is there and besides needing a little more sleep, I really can't complain.
This past year at Miss MD God really gave me a new understanding of what it meant to be completely dependant on HIM! I would wake up each morning begging Him to get me through the day, I read my Bible more consistently then ever before and I was praying constantly. But when I came home, I realized, that is exactly how every day of my life should be. I looked back on the week and saw how the Lord carried me. I want to be 100% desperately dependant on Him every single day, just like I was when I was at Miss MD. Sadly that fervor faded with the laziness of summer and I was soon back to my old self: Reading when I got to it, praying here and there, and even forgetting to start my day focused on Him at all. I was convicted on my laziness, but it seemed to be a cycle I was trapped in.
As my life has picked back up, I have had a slight, remindful taste of what it was like at Miss MD and I am freshly convicted. My prayer every morning has been something like this: "Lord, I NEED you! Please get me through today!" and although that cry isn’t accompanied by the overwhelmed emotions and the flood of tears that is was at Miss MD, the Lord is still meeting me each day. He has been so faithful to meet me in my times that I spend reading the word, and the time that I spend praying. I am so grateful that I serve a loving and merciful God who will carry me through the tough times with a purpose; not just to get me through, but to draw me closer to Himself and show me more of His care for me. Praise God!

2005-10-11T14:18:00.000-05:00

Here are a bunch of random facts to make you a little smarter.... things you might not ever be asked in any trivia game..... ever..... :)

A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue.

A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.

A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

All 50 states are listed across the top of theLincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10.

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Fall s froze completely solid.

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."

There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself.

Don't you feel better knowing all that?! :)

2005-09-20T23:38:00.000-05:00

I was listening to a song the other day, and I most definitely am not recommending the song, or the artist for that matter; however, he poses an interesting question: "If you had one chance to seize everything you ever wanted, could you capture it? Or just let it slip?"

So I started to think about this.... my first thought is, of course I would take full advantage of such a situation! But would I? You know, I wanted a red, Mustang GT convertible ever since I was a little girl... but it took me six months to make the decision to buy one! I have always been a thinker, and I have to say in all honestly if I had to make a split second decision to take my one shot.... I would let it slip. What if I took it and it was the wrong choice? What if it back fired? What about the big change my life would under go?

What about you? Would you take it? This is your one shot..... Time is up.... What is your final answer?

2005-09-15T23:08:00.000-05:00

Well as most people know, a bunch of the "fearless singles" in my church (and my parents) went on a bike trip this weekend. I was anticipating a beautiful weekend since there was only a 30% chance of rain, all the food was packed, the bike trail was mapped out, a new guy: Matt was planning to come with us (poor guy... if he only knew) and Mark was bringing his guitar so we could have worship. All in all, I think everyone was excited. And God blessed it! We left with 14 people and returned with 14 people, that in itself says that God's hand was on us, and we had a successfull weekend! But I wouldnt say it was quite uneventfull... it used it's 30% chance to rain just as we were arriving which made the camp set up a bit wet and muddy, but not to bad. My mom cut her finger on razor (it bleed for 24 hours) Kris gave everyone a scare Saturday night with some shaking (a little orange juice and a nice massage from Amanda and I made her feel better), Sean forgot a sleeping bag and most of us got our fair share of bug bites.

But the scenary was amazing! You can see sooooo many stars and standing on top of a mountain is always a nice reminder of how big God is! Another sign that God blessed our trip was that the food and tents both went off without a glitch, which for all of you "Marthas" out there, you can relate with me on why I feel that is important enough to mention! ;) The biking went smooth and everyone was physically up to it. It was so nice to spend the time out on the trail riding side by side with these people and hear what is going on in their lives. We biked up to the Paw Paw Tunnel (about 16.5 miles) however, we had to walk our bikes through the tunnel because it was very dark and the path was narrow. Dave summed the tunnel up by saying that he kept waiting to come out, but it seemed to go on forever. And it really did! We ate lunch on the other side of the tunnel before biking back. The next day we packed up camp and went canoeing.... what a story! I started the day with a tank top and pair of shorts over my swimsuit, but after Ken and Dave had to roll our (Kris, Amanda and my) canoe a few times, I lost my tanktop and shorts and had to finish the day in just the swimsuit.... you want to talk about self conscience and awkward... YEAH! But I must confess that our canoe did start the trouble when Kris somehow pulled Dave out of their canoe (still not sure how that happend). And we still won because we, well Amanda, SUNK their boat!!! But again, started with 14 people and came home with 14 people, I deem it a success! :) The trip down the river was supposed to take 5 hours, but somehow we did it in 3 and 1/2 so we had to wait for the guy to pick up the canoes before hitting the showers and coming home.

So there is the update and a few pictures. Next time, you should come too! The fellowship was great, the exercise was nice, scenary was beautifull and God is good! :)

2005-09-08T13:43:00.000-05:00

I am sure everyone has heard the phrase: "Judge not lest you shall be judged" since it is scriptural and all that. :) Well I have been judged so I guess it works both ways, so it was my turn to judge. I spent the weekend in DC judging the Miss Greenbelt pageant, and yes the girl I wanted to win did win. oooooooh what a weekend! Judging started with on stage cocktail dresses Friday night, not too bad. I met the other judges, most of which I all ready knew, all but one. His name is Issiac; he is about 23 and had a vocal major at GMU, really "sweet" guy! Anyway, Ms Angie (director of Miss College Park, pageant Godmother, and dear friend) says: "Isaac is getting ready to just his first Miss America Local, this is his warm up pageant" Heather (one of my Miss MD sisters who was judging with me) says: "Really? Which one?" Ms Angie looks around suspiciously before singing: "We aren't telling just yet." So moving on, Saturday however was interview day and wow! When it was over, my brain felt like it needed to decompress... I hope none of my judges ever felt that way. I have never heard so many: "I don’t have an answer to that" or seen so many inappropriate interview outfits in my life! But I survived that too. My director lives about 10 mins from the hotel I was staying at, so Saturday after interviews, Heather and I met up with him and a couple other directors to watch some pageants and eat some pizza. When I got to his house Kevin (the director of Miss Patuxent, the next pageant I’m competing in) greets us warmly, hugs and compliments (as always) and says: "So, what do you think of Isaac?" Heather and I smile and say how funny he is and that we have had fun getting to know him.... Kevin says "Good! Because, Cheryl, you will be seeing him again very soon.... he is judging my pageant!" YIKES! The rest of the pageant went great. And the after glow party was a lot of fun......I hope I made a good impression on Isaac! If not, maybe he will have forgoten by October! :)

2005-08-31T23:37:00.000-05:00

"Looking Forward"

Well it is September, which means fall is here, which means pageant season is starting, which means a lot of work! Miss Southern MD/Miss Patuxent is approaching fast, coming up on Oct 22nd, (you should come!) and I have so much work ahead of me! I must admit I have slacked off over the summer; I quit going to the gym and gain a little weight in all the wrong places; I stopped watching the news and reading the paper which has put me long behind the power curve in current events and politics, and as if that won't be enough to work on, I'm learning a new song. Kinda crazy with a new season starting yet Miss Maryland seems like just yesterday....

If you think of the list of all the things that could go wrong for a contestant, I would probably have hit most of them in that one week back in June! Actually it all started long before the week of competition....

Before orientation I found out that I was not going to be allowed to change my talent song as my director and I had planned, but that was okay because I felt like that was God's way of saying "Cheryl that’s not the song I have for you at this time..." so I sang "The Look" (a slow emotional song that is writen from the perspective of watching Jesus being crucified). At orientation they allowed us to pick our placement. They drew names out of a hat and let us pick in the order our names were drawn... my director, my parents and I had all talked about it and decided that since talent is my weakest part of competition, I should choose Group A (which means I'd do evening gown and swimsuit on Wednesday night and not do talent till Thursday night, that way the judges would see my better part of competition first), also, it is always best to be at the end of the order because the first couple girls get scored lower while the judges are looking to see if there is anything better coming. So I wanted to be #9-#11ish in Group A. Well my name was chosen last and I was left with #1 Group B. Exactly opposite of what I planned. I came back to my seat on the verge of tears (I know that sounds foolish, but I felt it was decided for me in that moment that I would not do well at state) my dad looked at me and said "what’s wrong?" I just looked at him like he was crazy; he says "Cheryl that is perfect!" again I looked at him like he was crazy and managed to say "That’s not what we planned..." Dad then reminded me that it was what God had planned. The Lord had completely taken it out of my hands and put me where he wanted me which was exactly opposite what I wanted! Not only was I doing talent as my first part of competition, but I would be the absolute first person to do talent for the whole week... great.

So we survived orientation, now it was time to get my wardrobe altered...I had been referred to a woman in my area who I was told was very good....My suits turned out great, beside the stain she got on my interview suit!!!! Yikes! I left it with her again to try to get the stain out (which she did) However, the swim suit wasn't that easy to fix... I had bought a white swimsuit, which needed to be lined to ensure that when the stage lights hit it, it didn't become see through (that would be my luck!) Well the seamstress had never lined a swimsuit before evidently... if you know anything about sewing, you know that lining stretches differently then say Lycra (what the suit was made out of). The first time I tried it on with the lining, there wasn't enough lining to allow the swimsuit to stretch and fit properly (not good!) so she added some, but she added too much, so now it is bunching under the suit! (Also not good!) They say that "the third time's a charm..." well it wasn't quite a charm... but it was close enough that with the right amount of "butt glue" (we use it to hold our swim suit bottoms in place) it would work. So the day before I left, my swim suit was DONE!

In the mean time, my brother was in a motocross accident that hurt him pretty badly and laid him flat on his stomach for weeks, and my cousin had emergency surgery. Never a dull moment...

So the day finally arrives.... 22 girls converge on Hagerstown, to sign in for the week at Miss Maryland, each of them have worked hard to be here, ready to compete for the title and try to make their way to the prestigious Miss America Pageant. Well at sign in, each of us were supposed to crown our "princess" and we will mentor these girls for the rest of the year. Wouldn't you know it? My little girl broke her arm and wouldn't make it to the sign in ceremony. :) Poor little girl... looks like my luck rubbed off on her. That was okay, she made it later in the day and I crowned her at dinner instead.

Believe it or not, Monday was uneventful and I dare say went well! However... Tuesday came... We were learning our swimsuit production number, the chorographer had us all sitting on the floor as he handed out props. When he came over to me, I was looking straight up at him, a CD fell out of the bag and the corner of the jewel case hit me in the eye giving me a lovely black eye. He felt really bad and I got to choose my placement for the rest of the dance routine :)

Dreaded Wednesday.... tonight I would sing... kinda.... :) We opened the show, and since interviews would be last, it would be the first time that the judges saw us, it would be very important to make a good impression. I was in the front row during opening number about 5 feet from the judges when my contact lens fell out! What do I do?! I need it, or I can't compete, it's sitting my cheek, I all ready made a fool of myself because I stopped dancing when it came out of my eye.... just then the chorography had us turn around... whew... with my back to the judges (and audience) I grabbed the contact and put it in my mouth till I got off stage. Courtney (one of my pageant sisters) helped me get it back in my eye just in time to go out for introductions. It would be nice to think that my bad luck was winding down... but it's just starting... As you all ready know, I will be the first one to sing.... I literally RAN downstairs to change, several girls were there ready to help me; I changed my outfit and put my hair up as fast as I could and literally RAN back up stairs. I got to the top of the steps just as they were calling my name to come out on stage.... I was out of breath but I went anyway (fool) as the lights went out and I stood on the dark stage I knew I wouldn't be able to sing, what do I do? The lights came on, and I heard my song start, I tried to sing, but my voice cracked and fell apart... I stopped and looked down.... my breathing was slowing... I tried again, still not enough.... I waited, the music played. About halfway through the second verse I was able to begin singing, I finished the song and left the stage. My heart fell, I started to cry and the only thing I could think was "Lord, you sent me here to sing this song.... I was supposed to be sharing your word with them... and look what happened!" I felt so inadequate to do what I was there to do. As I came down to the bottom of the steps several of my sisters were there to catch me, I crumbled on the floor while they hugged me, "It will be okay", " It wasn’t as bad as you think it was" they were trying to encourage me. The Miss MD business manager, Courtney Thomas came out and asked what was wrong... all I could say was "It wasn't my fault..." she just looked at the other girls, someone explained and she told me to wait there. The girls picked me up and put my back together... We got back into the dressing room and one of the girls started to help me get ready for the next phase of competition when the Courtney came back, she said "Cheryl, don't change, you’re going back out." I was so torn at this moment, I knew I was in no condition to sing, my vocal cords were pulled tight from crying, but at the same time I was excited to have a second chance. She hugged me and whispered in my ear "You worked so hard to be here, you deserve a fair shot." I said thanks and went back up stairs. The MC announced me again, she said "we are bringing her back because it was our fault she messed up" The crowed cheered so loud, it was nice to know they were behind me. I finished the song the best I could and left the stage again. My sisters were there a second time to hug me and encourage me again.... what would I do without them?!?

Surely the worst is over.... well the WORST was over, but there was more to come! Thursday was my easy night, Swimsuit and Evening Gown... My evening gown shoes broke just before competition and then I was announced as "Sara Beth, Miss Queen City" (I'm not her :)) I just looked at the MC, smiled, shook my head and walked anyway.... that’s when I was able to here the audience cheering loudly, and even heard my name being yelled by my family and friends who were there. (Ken has a big mouth :)) I think the crowd was really starting to feel sorry for me! After competition that night was over I had so many people stop me as I was walking through looking for my family, they were encouraging and telling me how sorry they were that all these things were happening to me! (One lady, even cried as she hugged me) I had to laugh; actually the girls started joking about "stay away from Cheryl, she is bad pageant luck!" I must say, at this point it was funny. A very dear friend of mine pulled me aside during the week, she hugged me and said something to me that made me really think about all the things that were happening. She said, "You must be doing something right, or the enemy wouldn't be attacking you so hard."

Needless to say, I did not make top ten, but God did have me there for a reason. I was able to minister to the other girls who didn't make top ten, if I had been competing in the top ten, I would have missed that opportunity. Also, with everything going wrong, God allowed them to see that I was different. The Miss MD Director said something to my parents on Sunday as we were leaving. She said she appreciated the fact that I didn’t just say what I believed, but I lived it. She also said I was a good role model for the other girls. So I guess I can say by God's grace alone, mission accomplished! I had the opportunity at the hotel in the evenings to share the Gospel with some of the girls, and to show God's love in a practical way to others, and only by God's grace was I able to laugh at the list of things that went wrong. I had so many people here at home praying for me that week, I received so many phone calls encouraging me, and I hope those people know that they helped to impact other people that week too. Without their prayer support, I don't think I would have made it.

Am I ready for another pageant season? Who knows what God has for me this year.... whatever it may be, I'm sure it won't be boring. Pray for me!

2005-08-28T22:20:00.000-05:00

Just another Sunday afternoon

So let me start by saying that: it has become tradition this summer that Sunday afternoon is the day that myself, and whatever group of people who are interested, dedicate to some type of outdoor sporting type past time. Well today, most of the usual group was out of town or busy, so Amanda, a friend of mine from church, Adam, a friend who I played Ultimate Frisbee with this summer, and I went biking.

We biked about 24 miles on the NCR trail... I know we did 24 miles because there were mile markers, of course no one believed me at first that they truly were mile markers... but that’s beside the point. So the three of us start down the trail and we are making small talk, talking about the ultimate tournament that had taken place the day before and blah blah blah... Well as it turns out, it's pick on Cheryl day, and no one told me! :) Just kidding...

But it all started with my bike, and just to clarify things, I am totally okay with having a kick stand on my bike! Now with that being said, Adam complimented me on my bike, then told meit lost points due to the fact that it had the kickstand, but I want to add that every time we stopped, the two people who didn’t have kickstands on their bikes had to find more creative ways to prop their bikes up, mine on the other hand is completely prepared for whatever stop may come its way. Now, I was also informed that I need to get clips to replace my current pedals. Well anyone who knows me knows that coordination is not my strong point, as I am typing this, I am getting a mental picture of what it would be like for my shoes to clip to my bike pedals....

I would end up falling over, due to the
fact that I couldn’t get my shoe out of
the clip, then I would need someone
to come and help me get out from
under my bike since I would STILL
be stuck in the clip. Not one of my more
graceful moves.

Okay that doesn’t seem like such a wise idea! As this plays out in my mind I quickly dismiss the thought by saying that "I don’t like being trapped in something with no way out." This conversation comes back around later... kinda...

Adam and Amanda were talking about Kayaking, I decided to join in the conversation, Adam was talking about his experience in the sport, well this, like the clips, involves being trapped with no way out (in my opinion). So I mention that "I could never deal with that because of being trapped". Somehow Adam thought I was talking about the clips and I assumed he knew I was talking about Kayaking (we all know what happens when you assume)... we carried an entire conversation both talking about 2 different things (communication isn't our strong suit) Amanda knew what both of us were thinking the whole time and had a good laugh about it!

So we ride on.... conversation had died and since I don’t like silence all too much I felt it was my job to come up with something to talk about. We were riding through the woods and completely surrounded by trees which made me think of an interesting, random fact that Kristin had shared with me one day. She said “moss only grows on the north side of the tree." However, I have seen situations where moss is growing all around the tree! So then what?!? If I am lost in the woods this might be a good thing to know. Well neither Amanda nor Adam felt like moss was a topic worthy of discussion (they made that very clear). They even had the audacity to question if I knew what moss was! and weather they approved the conversation topic or not, I will have you know that for about 10 minutes or so we talked about, and I would dare say even found entertainment in the moss. So in my opinion.... mission accomplished.

And lastly, I will leave you with this.... along the trail there are white signs... this signs are shaped like a triangle. on one side there is a number in the 20's and on the other side the number is in the 110's (the back is blank, you cant see it). It really bothered me that I didn’t know what they are for! I thought, maybe they are house or lot numbers (there are houses right on the trail) but sometimes there was no house be found, maybe they are mile markers to the end of the state (like on 95)... but I don’t think we were 113 miles from PA! They could have something to do with the railroad that used to be there....anyway, my list of ideas as to what these numbers are for goes on. This was another conversation that neither Amanda nor Adam approved of, and they had no interest in finding out the answer.... I however... will find out the truth about the white numbers....

2005-08-22T22:22:00.000-05:00

Home Sweet Home

So I got home from Florida still uneventfully (is that a word?!) they over booked our flight and were asking for volunteers to stay behind and wait for a later flight. The volunteers would get a $200 travel voucher + reimbursement for their ticket... it sounded like a great deal, right? :) Yeah I wish I could have taken it! But I had plans... so I had to go... arrived in BWI on time when some friends invited me out to dinner, still had plans, still couldn't go. So I came home and unpacked only to find that our plans for the evening had been "changed".... I should have stayed in Florida! :)

2005-08-20T14:25:00.000-05:00

A Few Days In Flordia

So here I am in Jacksonville Florida for the weekend, which is very nice since Miss MD was my only vacation thus far… and lets be honest that’s the farthest thing from a vacation possible! So I have a weekend to just chill out…. however… I’m a little nervous. My life tends to take a lot of entertaining twists and turns (those of you who know me, know what I’m talking about) and so far, nothing has happened! Is it all being saved up for one big turn of events?!? My mom insisted that I was at the airport 2 hours early, even though I checked in online; I got through security in 10 mins (including my stop for a muffin) leaving me 1 hour and 50 mins to wait. My flight was smooth; I sat next to an older gentleman who had traveled the world (and wanted to tell me all about it), my ride (Beth :)) was at the airport terminal waiting for me; (still no glitches). We spent the next day on the beach and today we hung out for a little while before her cousin’s soccer game. While she was out at the game, I took a short run (it’s a little hot in FL to be running); now I’m just waiting for her to get back. I will be coming home tomorrow… till then I’m in anticipation for whatever it is that is coming! (after all this normal life is a little boring… :) )

2005-08-17T14:56:00.000-05:00

Starting a Blog

Okay, so let me just say that: everyone else is doing it and telling me I should too!! So for the first time in my life... I decided since everyone else was, I would too! I thought "if so many people have blogs, it really can't be that hard to figure out! right?" Wrong! I must admit that I was rather confussed for the first little while, and I think I finally did figure it out... so this is only a test.... I repeat, this is only a test! in case of a real emergency, you all would have gotten phone calls from me, telling you I was ready to throw my computer OUT THE WINDOW!!!!