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chocolatechipmints
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Name: manda
Gender: Female
Interests: listnin to music, hangin with friends, learnin more 'bout God & Jesus, drinkin boba, chatting, and emailing
Expertise: talkin lots, scarin people away, lovin all my friends to death hehe, being crazy, and bein me!
Message: message me
AIM:  pandaTHEEamanda
Member Since:
12/27/2002
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| coming back to the heart of it allit's been a while since i've led worship at west campus and been an even longer while since ive written a post in this thing, but yet today i'm coming back to both of them. when i pick out my worship songs i always follow the same format- i just start playing and singing a bunch of random songs, and then take the ones that i think both sound and "feel" good. its interesting because after doing this so many times, i keep finding myself taking out the same songs over and over again. i always find myself reaching to grab "overflow", "hide me in the shelter" and most definately always "to the ends of the earth". i was thinking to myself WHY do i always do that? why do i always go for the same songs?
it seems so much more than simply enjoying the tune or that the song is in my singing range.. i guess today i kind of realized that if anything, its because these songs speak to me. it's no secret that music has always been one of the most important mediums in my life that God speaks through. i always feel closest when im meditating during a worship set, and reading lyrics always has the power to move me to tears. i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that reading is just thinking about the words.. but with songs, you put your passon into the singing, you put your soul and every bit of your heart into the words. i cant even begin to describe the difference in singing and talking. its just this..PASSION. so then what is it in these songs that truly speak to me more than other worship songs? no doubt about it, there are a lot of great worship songs out there- so how come these are so special?
then it hit me- every single one of these songs have had some impact on my life in the past. "hide me in the shelter" was one of my favorite songs at one of the youth retreats because it matched so perfectly with the thought i always had of God as a blanket enveloping me, protecting me. "hide me in the shelter of your wings"- that's my protection, that's why it speaks to me over and over again. and "to the ends of the earth"? exactly one year ago i went to ensenada, mexico on my first missions trip and if i had to pick a theme song to that entire week, it would be this one. "jesus i believe in you, and i would go to the ends of the earth for you" now, i'm going to las vegas in a week and a half and this song speaks louder than ever. every time i hear it, every time i sing it, every time i read it, i have the passion and desire just to go OUT there for christ. just to go and spread His love, to go to the ends of the earth. as for "overflow", i guess that song isn't as much of a one-time-impact as it is a constant reminder. everytime i hear that song, and just the simplicity of asking God to come and overflow into my life it pulls a string in my heart that makes me truly desire Him, it makes me realize how much He's NOT in my life sometimes, and how much I really want him there.
looking back on it all, its so strange to see how these songs have impacted my life when i was completely unaware of it all at the actual moment. yet, once again, God manages to work in amazing ways :)
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| the craziest dream i've EVER hadwow so i've been known to have some preeettty out-there dreams in the past, ones to do with my mom trying to take over the world with an alien foundation or watching school people in a deranged therapy session talk it out or watching sarah shigley get shot by an arrow in the hogwarts castle and then keep walking?? but this by far, beats them all.
as all dreams dont really have a start or an end, i guess i'll just start from where i remember
so we were having most of leadership hanging out at my house for some reason, it was ruth, kevin, me, eric, lucy, and jimmy but i dont know where the rest of leadership was.
we decide to go out for some fun fun fun but oh wait! of course, we need a CAR to drive! so instead of taking eric's purple put put car we decide to... BUILD ONE! so we start collecting wood and we're hammering this thing together and it pretty much looks like this except with less beams:
a LOT less beams. actually, come to think of it i think there were only 4 beams. so it was pretty much a box on wheels. and somehow we manage to fit me, jimmy, ruth, lucy, anddd eric all inside of it! we're climbing into this "car like object" when all of a sudden i think to myself "hey! where's kevin?" and strangely enough eric answers my thought by saying "oh he's going to drive himself in his own car for some boba" and without a second thought we keep piling into the car. now why we didnt take KEVIN's car but had to BUILD one, i have noo idea
anyways we're backing out when we see this MASSIVE PARTY! and it's a KIDDY PARTY TOO! its crazy my entire street is filled with hundreds upon hundreds of kids and i soon find out its for this cute little girl, audrey:
and mann oh man does this girl know how to throw a PARTY! there are literally so many kids at her party that people cant even fit inside her 3 story HOUSE and they're out running around the STREET! imagine this except with everybody as little kids and thats what my street looked like:
it was crazyyy! anyways we're trying to not run over any lil kiddos even though the little kids are practically running over us when we close the garage door and we back up to see something SHOCKING! my front door is wide open and there's about 6 hundred little kiddies running around it! i'm freaking out when all of a sudden i see audrey's mom and my mom taking care of them all and telling us that they had to open up OUR house to accomodate for audrey's 5 year old birthday!
anyways we keep driving but it's REALLY hard becuase we're manually pushing the entire wooden car with our fingertips. imagine all 5 of us reclining and trying to keep perfect balance while pushing ourselves slowly down my hill with our fingertips, all the while listning to eric continually going "heeeheeheeeheeeeheee"
for some reason it takes us about 45 minutes just to get down the hill when i realize "wow we could have just walked and it would have been faster" but eric rationalizes with me and says "BUT LOOK HOW COOL WE AREEE!"
somehow we suddenly make a complete 180 and we're facing UP the hill now to look at all the kids running throughout my complex when eric says "wow! we should build another one of these and light it on fire!!"
all of a sudden we see a fireman carrying a hose over his shoulder just like this:
and eric says "oops! i mean... we should build a fire! and then build a CAR!" but the fireman doesnt hear us either way. we discuss whether or not we should go on the highway and i am a STRONG advocate for not doing it but everybody else thinks it will be raelly fun!!
somehow we're magically transported to a giant conference room with the entire WC youth group to discuss our new hobby: building BATTLE CARS! nto to mention we're alaso the size of pixie fairies but we don't have nay difficulty at all getting across the room via walking
all excited and now joined with ervin, the two open up a ginorrrmouss file cabinent that looks just like this:
to reveal their newwww invention! the FURRY MONSTER CAR!!
and its OPPONENT will be...the PRAY MANTIS!..CAR!
the two are destined to fight, but before that! we must discuss how much the two totally look like characters from lord of the rings.
and then i woke up :)
moral of the story: don't eat an apple before you sleep
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| i never realized
how beautiful the lyrics to TobyMac's "Atmosphere" truly
were. i always thought that this song was actually about the atmosphere
and never listned to it until today. ive had the cd for probably 4
months now and listned to it at least 15 times but i never realized how
much it really applied to me. i've been straining to hear God's voice
for a long time, trying to figure out how in the world he TALKS to me.
i think ive come to realize that a lot of times God talks to me through
music. through lyrics and good tunes, i come to see what He wants for
me and what He wants to tell me all the time
"Atmosphere" by TobyMac
I know you keep a journal and every page is rippled
From the tears that you cry, ain't no meanin' to your scribble
Cause words can't describe waht you've been feelin' inside
It's like thousand foot walls, and they're still on the rise
But look up to a beautiful sound
And see for yourself you're not that far down
And know this, I cannot love a little
My promise to you is unconditional
And I'll keep the light on, baby
Just keep the course, you can weather the storm
I'll keep the light on, baby
You've come this far, don't you ever lose heart, now
Just turn aroundand I'll be there
I'm moving into your atmosphere
Just turn around and I'll be there
I'm moving into your atmosphere
I know you're all alone in a crowd full of friends
I can see it in your eyes that you're fadin' again
Checking out, moving into your hole
Where the light can't touch any part of your soul
But hold up and let the river rush in
You can turn around and start livin' again
Cause your life is a beautiful bloom
In the image of the one that created you
I'll be there
Said I'll be there, said I'll be there
Said I'll be there, said I'll be there, forever
wow.. it was as if that song was written specifically for me. as if
tobymac came over for an intense cry session and i explained all of my
problems to him and he wrote a song just for me. God speaks in amazing
ways... actually looking and reading the lyrics now I'm touched even
deeper. is it a coincedence that "Look up" is in the lyrics? when that
was the single most inspirational phrase for all of last year? ever
since john wang encouraged me with those words a year ago, i relied on
that phrase as a constant reminder to always look up, especially when
im down. it seems that these past few months ive completely forgotten
those two simple words.
this past month has just been hell. mondays i had theory, tuesdays i
had choir and speech and debate practice, wednesdays i had AP spanish
tutoring and piano class, thursdays i had speech and debate practice
and academic league, fridays i had work at UCSD lab and church, and the
weekends were even worse. on top of that ive been stressing so much
about AP classes and AP tests and staying up till the crack of dawn
trying to get work done.I HAVEN'T been coming to God with all of
my heart, but he doesn't just love a little. he's moving into my
atmosphere. he's coming to ME, and i want to run out and wrap my arms
around Him. He'll be there.
He won't leave me alone in my cave to fade away, i desperately want to
let the water rush in. for his love just to envelop me, circle me and
embrace me like that. He'll be there.
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| mission: accomplished
ahhh yes, it's been quite some time since i've opened my little bag of trickery to unleash havoc upon the world as we know it, so i decided to once again to let my skills not to go wasted...
Target: The So-Called-Juggernaut, Edmond!
Accomplice: Co-Op John Wang of the Squirrel Flanks
The Mission: for the past gazillion months or so, edmond has been bugging both john wang and i about possible relations as "more than just friends". aside from the fact that the two of us are in fact best friends but nothing of that other sort, edmond would continually say "soooooooooo do you like john wanggg?" to me and ask awkward questions such as "sooooooo if john wang did thiss....." In fact, because of his extreme obviousness, i was kind of suspecting john wang was going to ask me to homecoming (but was still surprised nonetheless). at first, i ignored it, until i had a convo with john wang about how the same thing seems to go on with edmond bugging john wang! we decided that this was SIMPLy an open invitation for a trick, and maybe even a lesson to be taught!
The Plan:
soo.. what does happen when a person interferes in any relationship?
 nooo, i'm not talking about the third wheel, but i'm thinking more in the lines of a guy who gets stuck utterly in the middle of a chaotic situation. add a hint of depression, an emotional teenage girl, all-capital letters, and wha-la! you've got yourself a plot for disaster :)
The Carry-Out:
so finally, we decided to hit edmond full on face with a BAM! a quick burst of horror, excitement, chaos and emotions all mixed into one! we decided to use the sole thing which edmond had always been unsubtly hinting at: a mock "relationship" between john wang and i. only this one, was disasterous. the minute edmond logged on this fateful thursday night, john wang IM'd him:
aZnCrAZieDood: i just asked manda out on aim....
as expected, edmond kinda brushed it off at first, not really taing it seriously. entre, the emotional girl:
hi im chipmunker: ahhhhhhhh
SupZEdmanRunner: wuts wrong my lil jigga to the wigga?
hi im chipmnker: earuaepuraepurrjapiruaeruperuaer
hi im chipmunker: DUDE
hi im chipmunker: HE JUST ASKED ME OUT
here edmond displays the general signs of shock and disbelief, but oh no no the fun doesn't stop there! :) what good is a prank if it doesnt involve the target COMPLETELY? heeheh
SupZEdmanRunner: are you joking?
hi im chipmunker : DOES IT SOUND LIKE IM JOKING?!
hi im chipmunker : DUDE EDMONDDD! erpiuaeruerpaeuabnapeiraerp!!!!
hi im chipmunker : omg edmond THIS IS ALL YOU FAULT
SupZEdmanRunner: how is this my fault
SupZEdmanRunner: ok calm down
hi im chipmunker : UR THE ONE
hi im chipmunker : WHO PUT ALL THOSE STUPID IDEAS INTO HIS HEAD
hi im chipmunker : AND ALWAYS DOING THOSE KNUDGE KNUDGE KNUDGE THINGS! AND NOW HES ASKED ME OUT!
here, edmond begins to panic. "wait, how is this my fault?!?" he thinks. but of course, there's no chance of reasoning with a panic stricken teenage girl.... especially over AIM
SupZEdmanRunner: i had nuthin to do with it seriously don't blame me
hi im chipmunker : R U KIDDING ME
SupZEdmanRunner: NO I AINT
hi im chipmunker : DONT EVEN SAY YOU DIDNT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS
SupZEdmanRunner: STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
anddd of course this goes on to a full 10 minutes of edmond freaking out madly, but of course we have to let john wang have his fun.. sooo he pulls on the entire "omg i'm so depressed i just got rejected" act. (bravo! john wang!)
aZn: w/e i'm just gunna overdose myself
aZn: ....
SupZ: dude she is so mad at me right now
SupZ: why did u do that
SupZ: she thinks i had something to do with this
behind the scenes...
hi: okay, so are we fighting now?
aZn: O YEA
aZn: i tell you that its not edmonds fault
hi: yeah and then bring up the thing about how its the fault of the guy who i like
hi: so now im mad at YOU
back to edmond...
hi: OMG I CANT BELIEVE HIM
hi: he said its not YOUR FAULT but the fault of the GUY I LIKE
SupZ: i reallie dont know wuts going on and why he did what he did tonight
hi: I CANT BELIEVE HIM!
hi: AFTER I TRUSTED HIM WITH ALL THAT STUFF!
hi: and now he goes and BACKSTABS ME?!
anddd the chaos goes on :) hahahhahha so pretty much edmond gets more and more frantic as the tension escalates and i start talking about how much i cant stand the two of them and how john wang is horrid and so is edmond. all the while john wang continues on in frustration and suicidalness.
The Aftermath: I guess the main point of all of this (aside from having a little fun and revenge) was to teach Edmond a little lesson about how what he says to people can truly have consequences that he doesn't know about. Did he learn his lesson?
SupZEdmanRunner: sooooOooooOoooooooo do you like john wang?
hahahaha i guess not. but hey! at least we got the revenge :)
Mission: Accomplished
or as some would say....
hahahahahahhahahahahaha :)
chipmunk out :-p
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| my kids :) so last post i talked about my parents, this post i'll talk about my kids. hahah ive realized i REALLY like names with the letter "y" in them. not just the ones where you add y to the end to make the -ee sound but the TRUE y's the HARDCOREE y's! so here's the list :)
-taylor
-tyler
-kyle
-skylar
-hayden
-jaydn
-katelyn
-krystal
-kylie
-peyton
-sydney
-trey
and i also really like names that start with "j":
-justin
-jason
-jess (just jess)
-jace (pronounced jay-cee)
-jake
while looking through baby name websites, i came across some pretty funny ones:
-kid
haha can you imagine someone naming their kid Kid? "hey Kid! get over here!" haha and imagine, kid liew! doesn't that sound like Kid 2? hahah Kid #2, kid #1, kid #3 hahahh how cruel is that?
-java
lol named after a coffee?
-judas
yeah thats a great one, "hi, i'm judas, i'm the BETRAYOR OF JESUS!" yay! i can just imagine what a wodnerful life THAT kid will have...
but on that note, I'd like to take an excerpt out of Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt. it's an extremely interesting book and i highly recommend it to everybody who wants to read a god book
"…in 1958,
a NYC man named Robert Lane decided to call his baby son
Winner. The Lanes already had several children, each with a fairly typical
name. But this boy- well, Robert Lane apparently had a special feeling
about this one. Winner Lane: how could he fail with a name like that? Three
years later, the Lanes had their seventh and last child. For reasons that no
one can quite pin down today, Rober decided to name this boy loser. It doesn't
appear that Robert was unhappy about the new baby; he just seemed to get a kick
out of the name's bookend effect. Fir a Winner, now a Loser. But if Winner Lane could hardly be expected to fail,
could Loser Lane possibly succeed? Loser Lane did in fact succeed. He
went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from Lafayette College in PA and joined the NYPD where
he made detective and, eventually, sergeant. Although he never hid his name,
many people were uncomfortable using it. "So I have a bunch of names,
" he says today, "from Jimmy to James to whatever. But they rarely
call you Loser" Once in a while, he said "they throw a French twist
on it: Loiser" To his police colleagues, he is known as Lou. And what
about his brother? The most not worth achievement of Winner Lane, now in his
midforties ,is the sheer length of his criminal record: nearly three dozen
arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and
other mayhem" (Levitt 179-180).hahah pretty interesting.
i wonder if names do really effect people.... would i be different if my name was something like Kaitlin? Or Liz?
As written beautifully by William Shakespear in "Romeo and Juliet", "
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."
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