this paper

At times over the past couple of weeks, I have thought that this extended argument paper might really be the death of me. Because I am so passionate about the subject I am writing on, I have spent endless hours working on the paper, trying to perfect it, trying to make sure my point is clearly understood...and for what? For one person to read it and give me a grade? I really could care less about the grade. Although, dont get me wrong, I would be pretty upset if I did get a bad grade on this paper. I guess I am more doing this to express my thoughts and feelings than anything else. This paper has made me truly question what I want to do in life. For a while I have been just kind of treading water, unsure of what I want to do as a career. I am continuing on with my business degree, but I really am passionate about the foster and adoption system, although I do not think that I want to be a case worker. I do think that I could see myself working at an agency such as AASK (aid to the adoption of special kids) the agency that my family was licensed for foster care through, possibly working with the families that are going to be fostering and adopting. Although like I said, I am really unsure at this point. I guess I will just have to continue on and pray that God shows me which direction to go.

Pulp Fiction - Class Issues

The issue that I was to look for throughout Pulp Fiction was Class Issues. This topic was very prevalent throughout the film in many aspects. One of the main themes througout the movie is the idea that the people with money control everyone else. Marsellus has control over Butch when he pays him off, and he also has control over Vincent and Jules. He controls them because he has the money, and the guns. Vincent and Jules have more money than the family that they kill as well and they have the guns, hence they have power over over these people. Throughout the movie the chain of command falls into place by who has the most money. There are only a few times when this chain of command is disrupted, but each time the people with the money regain control. Tarantino went against convention in his films by jumbling the order of events. He always starts with the end to get the viewers attention and then goes back to the beginning of the story and goes through it all. This type of style worked very well because it caused people to want to watch the entire movie so that the questions from the beginning, or rather the end, were answered. I am not really sure why we watched this movie in class, dont get me wrong, it was a nice break from work, but I am not sure what I am supposed to get out of it.

Friendship

“Even though we've changed and we're finding our own place in the world, we know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not still friends.”

We all have a friendship with at least one person that is like the friendship stated above. Some of these friendships are new and have only developed over the past year, and some of these friendships have lasted over years and years. Last night when I was at my friend, Laura's, birthday celebration, I saw both of these types of friendships. Laura and I have only known each other for less than a year, but I know that we both feel this way about our friendship. within the first couple months of being friends we felt this way, and I do not know what it is about some friendships that they can develop that quickly and become so important so fast, but those are the kind where you know that no matter what you chose to do in life the person will be there for you, supporting you and encouraging you. She also had two friends there, Daniel and Brandon, who she has been great friends with since sixth grade. I have hung out with those three only twice, but you can see right away the bond that they have. I think it is awesome that in this day and age where we all have such different lives and go in such different directions they can still manage to stay in touch and stay connected with one another. There are some friends from my past that I really do miss, and I am not sure why our friendships ended even, but some days I just sit and think about them and wonder how they are doing, and what they are up to these days, and I wish that we were still friends. I know that the end of the semester is coming, and we all just want to be done with school and get out of here, but I encourage you to think about the friends that you have made this year and this semester here at NAU. Think why these people are important to you, and realize how easy it will be to lose touch with them over the summer. Then make a conscious effort to not let those friendships fall apart. Even if it is just one phone call or text or email over the summer, that can make so much of a difference.

writing style

Ok, so this still confuses me a lot, because i dont think i really have a writing style because i never really write for fun. i write for homework, so i think that my writing style, if i have one, tends to follow the "rules" a lot. i was taught to always "color inside the lines" so to speak when it comes to writing papers. sure i dont write like that if i am writing my friend a letter, or texting, but i dont think about that. truthfully i dont really think about the rules when i write my school papers either, it is so ground into me that it just comes naturally. so i will attempt to do this, and i will attempt to find my "style" as i write my paper, but i cant guarantee anything.

Original: Smartwater - the water with all the answers - is a zero calorie, vapor distilled, electrolyte enhanced water. Just the purest cleanest water possible with added electrolytes.

Mine: Smartwater is thought to be the water that has all of the answers. It is a zero calorie, vapor distilled, electrolyte enhanced water. Smartwater is the purest, cleanest water one could possibly get, and it has electrolytes added to make it better.

My Weekend

I have no idea what to write about his week, so I guess I will just write about my weekend. I actually stayed here in Flagstaff this weekend, *shocker* I know, so i had to figure something out to do to keep me busy. My weekends start on Friday because I have no classes, so what better way to start my weekend than by sleeping in till noon? When I finally woke up I had to go to work until 5 pm and then I spent the rest of the afternoon doing pretty much nothing except watching a Law and Order: SVU marathon. I woke up EARLY Saturday morning to go do the March for Babies for March of Dimes with Michele. Of course, being from Phoenix, April means to us that it is time for shorts and tank tops, however we were freeeeezing, even with jackets on. We worked through it and by the end of the 4 mile walk we were pretty warmed up. We then decided to be even more adventerous and go for another hike. We went on Fatman's Loop and boy did we feel like fatmen. By the end of the 2 mile hike we were pretty worn out, but we sure had a good time. We then ate some chinese food and were back home for more Law and Order. Today I once again slept in as long as I could and now I am stuck inside for the day doing homework. Gross. Oh well, all in all the weekend was pretty good, but I cant wait for this coming weekend when I get to go home again and see my foster brother and celebrate my best friend's birthday.

Let Go and Let God

Recently I have come to realize that every time I think I have finally figured something out and I have even just one day planned out to the detail, something happens and everything I had planned goes out the window. This can be on a large scale such as when I came to college I thought I had everything planned out and now I have no idea what I want out of life and I am switching schools at the end of this semester, or it can be on a small scale such as what happened tonight. This afternoon I was helping a very good friend of mine move across town to a new apartment. We had just gotten everything moved in and were eating dinner and were then planning to go back to my house so she could do her laundry...since all her laundry soap and everything was still packed. Thats when I got a call from my sister, "Meet mom at the Phoenix Children's Hospital Emergency Room as soon as you can." Apparently my mom had taken Angel (who has been sick for a few days) into the ER. I of course dropped everything and rushed back across town to PCH. When I got there my mom was still in the emergency room waiting area. She had gotten really worried about his electrolyte levels since he hadnt been able to keep anything down for a few days, and thought he might have a blockage. The doctors thought so too, but after being there for hours, him being on an IV because he was dehydrated, and the doctors doing many different tests, they decided that he most likely has reflux, but my mom has to take him to his physician tomorow. I guess what I am trying to get at through all of this rambling is that "A Man may plan his steps, but God directs his path."

Argument Ideas

So up until just a few hours ago, I had no idea what I was going to do for my Argument Paper.
As many of you know, my family is a foster family for infants. I am considering going into social work or being a foster parent, or something of the sort, I am still not positive exactly what yet, but I am very passionate about it. Therefore, I wanted to do something in the realm of foster care and adoption for my paper. I think that I am going to argue the benefits of a foster home over group homes or the horrible situation the child may have been in at home. I am not completely sure how I am going to approach the issue, and I would love anyone's input. I know that many of you do not really have much knowledge of this topic, but anything you can throw in would be great.

Family

The family is a haven in a heartless world. ~Attributed to Christopher Lasch

I used to think that family was just people who annoy you that you are related to by blood, however over the past year, I have discovered that family can be a lot more than that. I also realized that family can be many different people than that. I have a few friends that seem more like family to me at times than my real family does. In many different situations your family and friends that are like family can be your best support system. They may not always agree with what you do, or the decisions you make, but they are the people you can always count on to be there for you. One nice thing in my family is that no matter how much you mess up they will always take you back, friends will always come and go in my life, but my family will ALWAYS be there for me.

Little Miracles

In life I see miracles around me every day, but one thing that always amazes me is the birth of a baby. The baby in the picture to the left is four day old Angel Jesus (an-HEL HAY-soos). He is the most recent foster baby to come into my family's home. We received him on Monday March 3rd. When I look at this tiny, 5 pound 10 ounce, little boy, I am just amazed at how God can so perfectly create life. Every child that God creates is perfect as they are, no matter if they are mentally of physically disabled, somehow disfigured, or normal. He creates each person for a reason, and still people take life for granted. It is strange to me that people like Angel's mother who are on crack can carry a baby full term and have a perfectly healthy child, yet there are others who do everything right and still their child is born premature, or horribly ill, or disabled. Like I said, I believe each life is created for a reason, and we will never fully understand, but it is just a mystery to me. The baby in the picture to the right is Emma. She is sister's friends baby who was born four months premature. She was born in December and is still in the hospital. Even though she has had all of the problems she has had, She has still been an amazing blessing to her parents and everyone around her.

I know this has been a lot of rambling, but the point I am trying to make is that God is amazing, and does amazing things every day that we all take for granted way more than we should.

Change

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

Change. We all want it to happen, but we are all afraid of it. Almost everyone in college, including myself, can't wait to be done, yet I know we are all so scared of the "real world." Some of us may have no idea what we want to do once we graduate, others may have everything planned out, and yet we all have that small amount of fear in us. What we have to be able to do is bury that small voice telling us to hold back and be afraid, and we must change the world around us to be what we want it to be. We can all do it in small ways every day, every hour, every minute, but there will be the few of us who are able to do something great. I know that I hope that by the time I die I will have changed at least one person's life in a significant way, and I hope that everyone has that same goal. I want to put forth a challenge today to anyone who reads this; think about your life and how you hope to change the world, think of a small thing you can do on a daily basis to change the world around you, now do that small thing every day.