Spring Training Blog
So its definitely been quite a while since I’ve last blogged here. A LOT has been going on. But here I find myself on spring break, quietly alone, hanging out in a Starbucks on a rainy day, feeling completely at peace with the world, and deciding to take a moment out of my day to write about it all. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as I recount my adventurous of the past month…
…doo-da-loo…
…doo-da-loo…
…doo-da-loo…
(Wayne’s World, anyone?)
I guess I should have clarified earlier that this is actually Spring Break #2 for me. A good friend on mine who goes to Cal Poly and I decided that we needed to take a vacation, miss an entire week of school, and drive to Arizona. Yes, Arizona. Now what on earth would prompt two guys to take a week off school and drive to the middle of the desert during the last week of March, you ask? The weather? Goodness no. To escape the dreariness of normal college life? No quite. Women? We left them behind. To contrast the beauty of California’s 101 in March with the dullness of Arizona’s 10? Nope. The answer, my friends, is two-fold. Firstly was to get away and have some good, old-fashioned man time. And secondly was SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL!!!! That’s right folks, we drove all the way to Arizona for baseball. And it was glorious!!! I’ve honestly never had such an enjoyable, relaxing experience in my life than I had that week just kicking back, eating junk food, soaking in the sun, and a week’s worth of baseball with a good buddy. In all, we watched six games in five days, even managing to score free tickets to one of those games from a guy I played baseball with as a kid who ended up as the starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. That was a fun one to watch. By the end of the week, though, it was definitely feeling like it was time to get back into the real world. Fun time was over, it was time to start cracking down on the craziness that would be the week before my real spring break. Boo that.
Craziness was probably an understatement to describe what lay before me that week. On the top of the priority list was the first half of my Comp Exam, a test that covered every core class of the Psychology Department and was essentially ten finals condensed into 80 multiple-choice questions. We would get two chances to pass it with a 7-% or higher or we wouldn’t be able to graduate. Bummer, huh? Needless to say, I was studying non-stop the few days before it (which included my birthday…), because I surely didn’t get to studying while in Arizona. HA! Afterwards I felt pretty good about it, which worked out because I just found out today that I PASSED IT!!! I am stoked on that right now! Now I just have to worry about the second half coming up next week, which means more studying. I keep telling myself to hang in there and that five weeks from now I’ll be all graduated. What a sweet day that will be!
In the midst of everything else going on, I also started work up again as a server at Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse (check us out!), began working a few final projects and papers in class in preparation for the final stretch, and, as I mentioned earlier, turned 23. Only five more short weeks and I’m free! Its been a great experience of college at William Jessup University and I’m so glad I ended up here, but I’m ready to move on and see what else is out there for me. God is amazing and continues to reveal different opportunities to me so that I know that whatever happens, I’ll be okay. And that’s a good place to be at.
P.S. About 6 months ago, after converting over to a Mac when my PC crashed, I was desperately trying to get my few thousand songs I had on my iPod (which has also since crashed on me) transferred to my new hard drive. After many unsuccessful attempts, I stumbled upon an application called iPodRip, which for a small price allowed me to get all those songs back incredibly easily. It was incredibly worth it in my mind, as many of those tunes are invaluable to me as representations of different stages of life over the past eight years or so. So thanks iPodRip, I greatly appreciate what you’ve done for me.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)“The Million Dollar Question”
Well, it’s happening. Everywhere I go and no matter who I talk to, I just can’t escape it. It follows me, watching me, waiting for me to drop my guard so it can pounce on me and catch me unawares. And every time it does, when it finally chases me down, I react like this is the first time it’s ever happened. Crazy, huh? No, I’m not talking about something out of a horror movie (although it often feels that way). I’m talking about that one, little, seemingly innocent question that people just love to ask of, “So, Laine, what are your plans after you graduate?”
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Ummm… Uh. Well… you see. Actually…
I DON’T KNOW!!!
Is that okay? I have no real idea about what I’m going to be doing after I graduate. And I’m content with that. I guess I often feel obligated to come up with a concrete answer to that question, but the fact is that I don’t really have a clue. What I find myself telling people is more along the lines of what I know I don’t want to do. I don’t want to go right into grad school. I don’t want to find a job that has anything to do with my major. I don’t want to move back home with my parents. Things like that.
And the thing is, I’m at peace with all of that. I love my life right now, and I know I’m going to love my life four months from now. Things are definitely going to be a heck of a lot different, that’s for darn sure, but I’m still going to enjoy it. I’ve had a few opportunities come up of things I could do, too, amazing opportunities that would be so ideal for a person just coming out of college in the midst of an economic crisis. And I plan on going for those opportunities with the mindset that if those things happen, awesome, but if not then that’s not what God wants me doing right now. I want to be in that place where God has me exactly where he wants me, that place I’m supposed to be. And when I do find that thing I’m supposed to be doing, that “calling” if you will, I want to be passionate about it. I want it to consume my thoughts because I just can’t get away from the idea that this is such a great fit for me. Call me optimistic (or even irrational) but that’s what I want, and I’m confident that God will reveal those things to me in time. I don’t want to miss the thing out there that God truly has for me because I jumped on something simply out of a desire for security or safety. I want to stay open, and enjoy all that I end up doing.
So come three months from now. I’ll be getting my diploma. I’ll still be asked, “What are your plans now, Laine” and I’ll still have no real idea. And again, I’m okay with that. Really, I am. I’m 22 years old. I don’t need to have it all figured out right now. I don’t need to stress over it. I just need to embrace that awkward transitional period I’m headed into right now and be okay with all that come with it.
Okay, I’m starting to feel like I’m rambling on about the issue so I’ll just stop while I’m moderately ahead. Do you feel me though? I hope so. Bring it on, Life After Graduation. I’m right here, and God’s got my back. Peace.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)A neat and concise summary of the last month or so of my life…
Oh, man! I feel like I have so much to share of what I’ve had going on in my life right now! It’s all been so good and the Lord is continuing to remind me of how awesome His presence is. I’m so thankful for that. The last few days I’ve been doing a word study of sorts on the word “Remember”, specifically looking at Deuteronomy 8 and also Jeremiah 2. I think I forget easily about the ways God has worked in my life and shown me such incredible grace and given his incomprehensible peace. I desperately want to hold on to all of that, especially with the huge life transitions that I have coming up shortly. Mostly because…
THIS IS MY LAST SEMESTER OF SCHOOL!!! How cool is that!?!? Reeeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyy cool, I know! But with that comes a tendency to want to mentally check out and coast the rest of the way. I do not want look back some day on these last few months of school and think, “Wow, I really could have done a lot better there”. That would suck. So I’m running the race, right down to the very end. Pray for me in that!
Winter break was such a breath of fresh air! I got to spend the first week of it at my parents house for Christmas before leaving for AMSTERDAM!!! OH MY GOODNESS was that a sweet trip that was! Myself and a team of six others from Jessup spent a little under two weeks working at two separate Christian hostels in the city, serving in the café mostly and talking to the guests who came in from all over the world. I got to meet people from so many different places: a guy who grew up on the island of Tasmania, a student from China who was going to school in Canada, two other guys from India studying in France, this dude from Colombia, and others from all over Europe and the States, too. It was so stinking awesome! The hostel ministry they had there was so perfect for such a dark city where people come in seeking such worthless things to fill them. It was sad, but way rad to be able to talk to some of the people coming in for New Years about God and different ideas of who He is what He is about. My faith (and that of those who volunteered at the hostel) seemed so real to me there, with opportunities to represent God every day in the littlest things. It really made me want to come back here and go back to work serving at the restaurant I used to work at, both to be back and serve people again, but also to be around people who don’t believe what I do again. It was so refreshing! God did some amazing things there and I’m blessed to have been a part of it. If you’re ever in the area, check out the Shelter Christian hostels in Amsterdam. You won’t regret it!
That’s pretty much been the gist of it all recently. I told a great story at the Open Mic Night event we have here about a Giant Panda who goes into the restaurant, eats a delicious meal, and then pulls out a gun and shoots everyone around him before leaving. The survivors were confused and so they took out an encyclopedia to see if this was normal behavior for a Giant Panda. The entry in Volume P of the encyclopedia stated: “Panda, Giant – Normally of docile temperament, lives in China, eats shoots and leaves”.
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GET IT!?!?! Okay, dumb, I know. Stories/jokes like that are my absolute favorites, though. They make me giggle…
P.S. Pictures coming soon. I should be a pro at this by now…
Uncategorized | Comment (1)Early morning musings
Good morning, fellow Americans. It’s 1:18am and I’m lying in bed pretty darn bored, grooving to the tunes of the B-52s and reminiscing of childhood family camping trips. There surely cannot be anything else in the whole world more exciting than my life at this very moment [insert sarcasm here]. With nothing else productive to do, I started thinking and decided I should blog about it. You’re very welcome…
It’s Tuesday of the week before finals week, also known as paper week. I think I’ve written five papers and done one early final in the past week alone, which may explain why I’m bored right now… Every other night these last seven days I’ve been writing papers at this time, which really is a horrible time to do so and yet every time this part of the semester rolls around I find myself in the same boat (not a literal boat, remember I’m lying in bed right now). Let me tell you why: 1) I procrastinate, 2) I don’t stress, and 3) procrastination + no stress = feeling just dandy that my eight page term paper on the liberation theology of Bob Marley that I haven’t started is due in six hours. I actually did just finish a paper on that topic earlier today and it was fascinating but for blogsake *made up word* I used it my procrastination illustration. 
(Editor’s note: I just took a writing break to do a 1:34am Photo Booth photo shoot of myself and thought I’d share. It was fun, thanks). Uhhh, where was I? Oh yeah, incoherent thoughts of what I’m doing at crazy hours of the morning, right. Sorry… I don’t really know what else to say about all that so I’ll just stop and save myself the embarrassment. Hope you enjoyed!
On a serious note, life is grand. The semester is almost over, I have great friends, the girlfriend is amazing, I’m leaving for Amsterdam in about two weeks, and God is in control. What more could a guy ask for?
A post! Woohoo!
Hey folks! Sooo… it’s been a while since my last post. Whoops! Hope all you avid blog watchers haven’t been too worried and concerned with the absence. And if you have, then I’m sorry. Really, I mean it. Like, seriously. For reals. (You get it?) Life has been great though. I’m realizing more and more every day it seems that I am never going to stop learning and growing throughout my life. God has been revealing so much to me in so many ways. I’m blessed by the people in my life who challenge me in this never-ending endeavor. One thing specifically is that I am striving to become more intentional in all that I do – more intentional with my schoolwork, with friends, with my job, with my relationship with God, everything. This is no easy undertaking for me either. It’s difficult, quite difficult actually, but the rewards are immeasurable. It’s a daily thing, too, one that I wake up every morning and ask God to help me with. I want to do things with conviction and purpose, to be a man who is passionate about the things of the Lord and who actively seeks His will in all the he does. I don’t want to sit back and wait for things to come to me, allowing apathy and a lack of motivation to dictate the way I live my life. I don’t want that. At all. It’s a process, and this is the start. I’m excited.
Things in the wing have been going great lately. We just had a super awesome wing event in the form of a Toga Party. That’s right, a Toga Party. What exactly is that, you ask? Well, simply put it involves a bunch of guys dressed in draped bedsheets, eating grapes, bread, and cheese, watching the Gladiator, and having the time of their lives! Hmmm…. maybe not the time of their lives, but you get the point. I’ve really been trying to implement that desire to be more intentional to the way I do my job as an RA, and so far I’ve seen a lot of good things come from it. Again, it’s tough sometimes, but worth it. There are so many times where all I really want to do is crawl into bed and sleep pretty much forever. Oh what joy that would be!!! But alas, I can’t. Life won’t let me right now. One day…
Right now I’m enjoying the calm before the storm. Or trying to. Said storm will hit approximately the day I return from Thanksgiving Break and last through the end of the semester. Oh boy. I keep reminding myself that I’ve only got one more semester of this before life officially begins and that I can suck it up until that point in time. Until I write again, grace and peace to you all. Thanks for reading.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Life goes on…
Things are finally starting to settle down here in this last year of college. Finally! It has been a crazy last few weeks with, as I may have mentioned in my first post, all the comings and goings of finishing this internship and still balancing all that I have going on here on campus. Through it all I’ve learned how absolutely crucial it is to figure that balance out, where to prioritize what, and how to not get lost in the busyness of everything swirling around me. But life is still good, always.
Last Friday night I had the opportunity to play bass on stage for our monthly “Inside Out” worship event here on campus. It was incredible! There is seriously nothing like leading people in worship and using music to do so. I love it and am so thankful that I have been gifted with that ability to use to give back to God. If anyone is interested, these events take place the first Friday of every month in our chapel at 7pm and are open to everyone. Come check it out!
Things with the guys in the wing are going well. It’s been great having the weekends again to be around and available for the more spontaneous activities that occur in the dorms. Earlier this week I had a little meeting to check in with everyone as a whole. We all proceeded to devour 6 large pizzas and about 9 liters of soda. Craziness! But it was good. I announced a service work project that I wanted to do this upcoming Saturday at the place I interned at over the summer. There was a lot of interest and am excited to see how that turns out. I’ll definitely give updates on how that goes.
Okay, I seriously need to get my hands on a camera and start photographically documenting all this good stuff going on. Being a poor, jobless college student doesn’t really help that situation all that much I guess… Hehe. Take care everyone!
Uncategorized | Comment (0)This is it!
Hello all! Welcome into my world! I hope you enjoy your stay here as you read up on the comings and goings of my life as a senior here at good ol’ WJU. I know I myself am in for quite a ride this year so hang to your pants and be careful not to get swept up in the tide of complete and total craziness that is the life of Laine Ruona. Ha! I guess that makes things sound pretty bad, huh? Well it’s not. I love my life right now actually and am stoked for what the year will bring. It will be busy though. RAing, traveling in a worship band, blogging, senior year, internship, girlfriend, work, and still making time for some random fun is enough to make any 22 year old lose at least a small portion of their mind (at least I hope its only a small one…). Fun stuff, huh!? Oh yeah, its gonna be good.
I guess a good place to start with this whole thing would be to go back in time to this summer. And oh what a summer it was! From the day after last year’s graduation in May until the day I moved back into the dorms for leadership training, I was in Grass Valley, CA working as an intern at Christian Encounter Ranch, a residential counseling program for at-risk youth ages 16-25. It was beyond amazing to see how God worked in and through my life there and used me to make an impact in the lives of the students there. I could go on for a while about it but will leave it at there for now. The whole experience was a great jumpstart for all that I’m doing now and being back in the dorms as a Resident Assistant. I’ll have to opportunity to go back throughout the year as well as I finish the last portion of my internship and stay connected to the students there who changed my life. I’m pretty excited about it.
Well I think that’s gonna be about all I have for now. Its late, I’m tired, and I still have some homework to do for the night. Such is life though. I’ve got some events lined up for the guys in my wing coming up in the next couple weeks that I’m excited for and can’t wait to write about. Its gonna be good. Peace.
Laine
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