i'm really really done w/ my boards now! this past saturday, i took the assessment portion of the ceritifcation process and felt soooo relieved when it was over - even if i didn't do too well. The most upsetting part, though, was that i almost wasn't allowed to take it! As I was signing in, the guy at the front desk asked to see my passport. I was a little riled up b/c i had scoured the information packet several times and knew i only needed ONE primarly document - my license. I told him that but he parroted himself a few times before i finally realized he was looking for a valid ID. When that became clear, i narrowed down the problem more directly. Apparently, my license was expired! It expired *exactly* one month before the test date on my birthday. Doesn't California send you something in the mail to remind you of the renewal? arg... If this guy hadn't pointed it out, I might have gone for YEARS without knowing i had an expired license. At this point, i was still resentful b/c it's not like he didn't know who i was simply b/c the date had passed, but he was nice enough to let me SPEED home and pick up my passport and drive back to take the test. I was out of breath and much rattled but at least it's over!

*support update: it's very different raising support when you're in college and when you're out. I just remember the number of checks I received in the $15 range when I went to Kazakstan. Knowing working people is nice - heehee! My supporters have really been sooo generous! It's seriously the highlight of my day opening my mailbox and seeing another support response. It's such an encouragement to know that I'll have such a strong base of people praying for me!

the other highlight of my days is looking at my friend's baby-blog. Her son is just SOOO cute and even though i just look at the same pictures everyday until she updates again, i love it. I can't wait for my other friend's baby girl to be born! and b/c she'll be close by, i'm even more excited! =)

my heart skipped a beat when i flipped through my snail mail today and saw a self-addressed envelope. It was my very first returned support letter! (from the person I knew would return it first - Mr. Human Calculator). It just made it really real that I AM going this summer! It amplified the spark of excitment I felt when I took my grandmother to the airport last week for her visit to Korea. She needed help w/ ticketing, etc and so I had to escort her into the departures floor of the Brady International terminal at LAX (my first time). All the hub-bub of anticipation in the wake of traveling to far and exotic lands... The international terminal had an eager, stimulating feel to it - different than the domestic terminals. I let myself just soak it in. I'm really going!

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on an entirely different note, I went clubbing for the very first time this past weekend. my small group took me out for a belated birthday dinner and then whisked me away to go dancing. I discovered:
1. I get bored easily
2. Drunk people are really sad.
It was neat being in an atmosphere that was so different from my normal life. I always like learning experiences =) but the club (sponsored by an Asian promotion gig) was filled with...well, Asians - something that still weirds me out from time to time. It's my Texas roots! We actually danced almost the full 3 hours we were there, but I discovered that I'm not the best hip-hop dancer. I think i get bored when there is no variety and sometimes i just stop dancing altogether while on the dance floor. Stupid me was expecting them to play some fun 80s stuff! heehee. Regardless of that, it was entertaining to figure out the dancing styles of my friends.
At that point in the evening, one of the guys ran into an aquaintance who was drunk out the wazoo... He even got bounced out of the club b/c he lost his credit card and kept repeating to the bartender that she must have it. He wasn't belligerent or anything, just really repetative. We tried contacting his buddy but apparently, the guy had just ditched his friend for some girls. So in good conscience, we couldn't just abandon him in his state. Unfortunately, the guy wasn't aware of all his body functions. He kept spitting on us...not just the spray that comes out while talking, actually spit balls - and then he ended up peeing in his pants. He repeated his story to us about 50 times, and all i could do was praise God that he was coherent enough to direct us to his place. I was so thankful that he waited until after exiting the car to throw up. yucky. None of us had ever been around someone that blitzed before. I think something was going on in his personal life - but it was an eye-opening experience that showed me the need for God in this world. His starving heart was being filled with other things...