and her name is Beth! Funny how sometimes you find friends when you were least expecting it and from places you were least expecting them to come. But after a three hour chat over coffee I realized God had this planned from the start. He knew I needed someone with whom I could share a common background and a common lifestyle. He also knew I needed someone who was a bit further ahead to give me hope that I can do this. I have to say watching and listening to her talk motivated a lot! And on the same note, gave a safe place I could say, “Yeah, this is hard.” So Beth if you ever read this–I am so THANKFUL for you. God sent you along right when I needed someone to which I could relate and could relate to me. Thank you for being open and your kind words! I will be praying for you throughout this semester!! Good luck with all you will be doing and thanks again for the chat over coffee!! It was great!

So I have been contemplating blog posts for several days now. I have sat down a few different times and attempted to write something, but the words don’t come and I usually end up erasing whatever I wrote and moving on to checking my e-mail and then find something else to do. I have so many thoughts in my head, but I am not sure which ones will come out in an understandable fashion. I decided over break I am very impatient. I am always looking on to the next point in life instead of enjoying the one I am in. Which is a very dangerous thing to do. So one of my goals for this next semester is to enjoy being a college student..to make friends, to not always be so uptight, to be happy where I am and not always wishing I was older or in a different place. I am going to fall back in love with my Savior and make Him top priority in my life. I spent so much time last semester up tight, missing home, and wishing I was done with college I missed out on a lot. But I am going to work on strengthening my relationships with my roommates and friends, my God, and my sorority sisters. I am going to be content being where I am because I know it is exactly where God wants me. And I am going to laugh more! 🙂

Now I have to finish cleaning my room before my mom kills me..I will write more later!!

Amanda

I am going back to work…I don’t want to..I have no desire to put on my hat and apron and stand behind a counter for four hours smiling and taking people’s orders. I don’t know why I was so excited about going back..but I am dragging my feet utterly disgusted that I have to go. I don’t know why I hate to work so much. But I think it is more the people there..granted, I love my bosses..but I stand around for hours and hour not talking to anyone but the customers that come and go every few minutes..there is no communication between my co-workers and I. And for me..that is really really hard. I can’t hardly go two minutes without talking..even if it is to myself:) And now I am forced to go for hours. Needless to say, it is a definate struggle to make myself get in the car and drive to work.

But I will do..I will buckle down and go and attempt to make the best of it. Who knows maybe one of my few friends at work will be there. or maybe I will make a new friend. or maybe I will just some time to ponder the meaning of life:) hee hee. I have had plently of time to do that lately. And you know, I have come to one conclusion–I am a long way from where I would like to be and getting there is not going to be the easiest road. But I know that everyday I am falling more and more in love with my Savior and less and less in love with this world. As I have re-opened my Bible and re-connected with my high school friends, I have realized that there is something to be said for My Savior. He is quickly regaining His place as Lord and love of my life. Is it easy? no…but is it best..YOU BET!! so I am off to work and off to a new adventure! Life only comes around once and who knows how long I have to make an impact for Christ!

More later..

Amanda

I miss writing on this..for so long I was so scared of who read this that I stopped writing my thoughts down..but I am going back..I know I’m a dork:)

I think music sometimes is the best way to express life and I am not ready to spill all my thoughts just yet..but I love this song…take a moment to ponder it..:) I will write more later..when I feel like bearing the pages of my life.

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your innovations
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I had a crazy busy week..I hardly had time to talk to my parents, much less anyone else. I spent 14 hours studying and worked and did sorority stuff and managed to sleep a little in there too. Needless to say, it was a stressful week that sadly, isn’t going to get any less stressful until Thanksgiving break. But one of my best friends from back home called last night and told me that her and our friend Angela are coming to see me! Now you must understand..these two girls are my lifeline..(well, maybe it isn’t quite that bad..but it’s close) I love them with everything in me and they know more about me then anyone in the world. And I have missed them so much..they are both back home and being down here without them has proved to be quite the challenge. But they are coming!!! Which I must say made my week:) They are the greatest!! So watch out USI…it’s a little scary when we all get together:) hee hee…

Ang and Sarah—I LOVE YOU BOTH! CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!

Amanda

It is amazing outside! I just want you all to know! I am sitting outside typing on my computer and could def. get used to this! So this was a crazy busy week..but I got through my lab practical..it actually wasn’t that bad! And I get to sleep in tomorrow and I get a home-cooked meal tomorrow night which I am so excited about!! Let’s see…I can’t think of much else..I will write more later when I feel inspired:) hee hee..

Drills and Spills
As cheerleaders fly higher, injury rates rise and some falls are crippling, even fatal. New rules could help.

By Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek
It was a dream come true for Ashley Burns when the lithe 14-year-old with the blue-ribboned ponytail and squeaky voice learned in July that she’d landed a cherished spot on the varsity cheerleading squad at Medford Vocational-Technical High School in Massachusetts. To celebrate, she and a friend got pedicures and tooled around town in a convertible blasting their favorite tunes. One week after joining the team, Burns was at practice, preparing to perform a stunt called a “double down.” Held aloft by four cheerleaders gripping one of her feet, she was thrust into the air. But instead of completing two twists and landing on her back in her teammates’ arms, she landed hard on her stomach, rupturing her spleen. An hour later, she was pronounced dead. Her family was left with the scant consolation expressed by a former teammate on a Web memorial: “You left us doing something you and I both love.”
Supremely athletic and intensely competitive, modern cheerleading is far more dangerous than it was in the days of pom-poms and megaphones. A year-round pursuit whose popularity has grown thanks to an influx of gymnasts seeking greater exposure, it has evolved so quickly that the regulatory bodies in charge of preventing sports injuries have struggled to keep up. The numbers tell the tale: emergency-room visits for cheerleading injuries—often fractures, dislocations and sprains—jumped from 15,700 in 1994 to 28,400 in 2004, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Though much of that increase results from the growing number of cheerleaders nationwide—now estimated at about 1.5 million—there’s little doubt that riskier stunts have contributed as well. Even more troubling, catastrophic injuries—those involving severe skull or spinal damage—are also on the rise, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSI). Of the 101 such injuries among female high-school and college athletes between 1983 and 2004, the center reports, 55 percent resulted from cheerleading.
“Fliers” like Burns, who are flung into the air as they perform acrobatic moves, face the greatest risk. Injury rates are “exponentially higher for a flier than for a footballer,” says NCCSI’s Robert Cantu. Compounding the risks of injury, says Cantu, some inexperienced coaches allow—or encourage—cheerleaders to perform moves beyond their skill.
Some parents are lobbying for greater regulation. Pete Buczek—whose daughter Ashlee fractured her skull in a 2003 cheerleading injury (she has since recovered)—was able to get a law passed in Indiana this year that calls for the state to come up with new safety rules. But Susan Loomis, spirit-rules director for the National Federation of State High School Associations, says a rule book has been in place since 1987 and is updated annually. The problem, she says, is that the federation can’t force states to abide by those rules. Though about 20 states classify cheerleading as a sport—triggering strict requirements such as access to an athletic trainer—other states treat it as a more loosely governed “activity.” “No one can really agree on what we are or who we are,” Loomis says.
Confusion also prevails in the all-star cheerleading world. Composed of cheerleaders who perform solely at private competitions and have no connection to a school, all-star squads are unregulated. The result, until recently: a byzantine mess as different competitions enforced different rules and some permitted riskier moves, says Jim Chadwick of the U.S. All Star Federation. To create order, the all-star world united under USASF’s umbrella in March and established a uniform set of rules and competition levels.
College cheerleading is enduring its own safety crackdown. Faced with the prospect that cheerleaders could lose insurance coverage and end up grounded—nearly one quarter of its $12 million in catastrophic claims costs since 1998 were the result of cheerleading injuries—the NCAA announced a new requirement this summer: by August 2006, all cheerleading squads must be supervised by a safety-certified coach or adviser. College cheerleaders also face new limitations on moves.
The newly restrictive regime has roiled places like Louisville Cheer & Dance Co., the training gym for a stellar lineup of teams, from pee-wee all-stars to the University of Louisville squad. Among the college kids, disgruntlement reigns. “You work your whole cheer career to get elite skills,” says Ries Brooks, a freshman who turned down Harvard to join the Louisville team. “Then they change the rules.” Katie Wigginton, a high-school senior, has a more sanguine view of the all-star reforms. “If I’m competing, I want to be safe,” she says. Once, training as a flier, she landed on her head, spraining her neck. “That was enough to keep me on the ground,” she says. Tragically, Ashley Burns never got a second chance.
With Ben Whitford and Jessica Silver-Greenberg
© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.

I am coming home this weekend! And I can’t wait! Everyday down is one less till I get to be back with my friends and family! And it’s Angela’s birthday which makes it extra special! I love you girly! But back to Spanish..just thought I’d let ya all know!

Amanda

yes..even at a dry campus you still run into drunk roommates..although of the three drunk people that slept in our room last night, only one of them actually lived there. The other two aren’t quite sure how they ended up there. I was on my way to bed and all of a sudden my friend Jacob shows up with my roommate and our friend–both of them too drunk to walk straight. Then around 2:30 my other friend shows up and has no idea where they are or how they got there. So a broken towel bar, some spilled make-up, several sessions of putting them in bed, and a few less hours of sleep later, they finally went to bed. Gotta love those roomies..although, I really do love them. They aren’t perfect, but God put them in my life for a reason. But I am off to write a paper..just thought I write a little about my eventful evening!

Amanda

I am so excited–it’s 3:00 on Friday and I am done for the week! All my roommates are gone which kinda stinks, but I am going to to to bed early tonight. I am exhausted.. and I have so much to write about..but so many different people read this and for fear of offending anyone I am just going to keep my mouth shut and perhaps start a new blog..well, maybe not..but it does stink to not be able to write on my own blog..although, I hate it when people write on their blog instead of talking to people so I don’t want to be lumped into that category.

On a different note, I got told today to be more enthusiastic and excited–never heard that one before..but I will work on that:) hee hee

off to take a nap..

Amanda