Ode to the Spurs

To My Black and White Ballers, 

My heart is saddened by our unfortunate defeat

I was so hoping for a championship repeat

You worked so hard this season Tony

The world can see you're clearly no Phony

Fans let us not forget our Tall Tim 

Every school yard kid wants to be him

We couldn't have made it this far without Ginobili

You put up baskets that rival silly Kobe

I sat at the AT&T center and watched my homeboys win 

With home court advantage you were a definite shoe-in

As a whole it was a well-fought season

But this defeat had to happen for a reason

Let's give another Texas team a championship slot

You know that the Lone Star state will always be hot  

Since the days I first learned to drive a car

I have been consistent to watch you even from afar 

Lakers and Clippers fans are so lame

Aren't you glad us Spurs fans don't bring you shame

I need you to know I will always remain loyal 

Even if I am living on California soil  

My basketball heart will always feed your fame

Cause you BOYSZ you know YOU GOT GAME  

So it is here that I will end this flo 

With the simple words... GO SPURS GO!

Love for the Game

What does 1999, 2003, 2005 & 2007 all have in common? Yes, they are all odd numbers BUT more importantly they are the years that the Spurs have taken home the title of Champs! I am a woman of tradition so I think it would only be fitting for them to take another championship in 2009 to keep with the oddity of their wins (pun intended). Don't you agree?
This is one my most looked forwareded to times of the year... the time NBA PLAYOFFS! My homeboys, the San Antonio Spurs, have been consistently making it to the playoffs for the past decade which means I have been loyal to chant "Go Spurs Go" since the days of learning to drive.
My loyalties could have been challenged as I ventured to lands beyond San Antonio, but my devotion has only been strengthened. For example, during my college years I was surrounded by Maverick fans that insisted that just because I lived in the BIG D that I should betray my boys, but no my stubbornness and love for the Spurs shined brightly among those malicious Mavericks. Even in my years of living abroad, I was faithful to wake up at 3 AM just to watch the championship games to see my homeboys play. The worst of all however has been my recent move to Southern California where the suffocating colors of purple and gold bombard me from all sides. Even close friendships could not alter my love for the Spurs in the land of Lakers. I have worn my Spurs shirt with pride among some of the most loyal Lakers fans around. I would pride myself in being a loyal Spurs fan abroad.
So this is my annual blog shout out to my homeboys as they fight to take the championship...yet again. They are currently in Round 1 of the playoffs vs the Mavericks. They have to win the game this Tuesday or they are out of the playoffs (FROWN). Luckily the next game we have home court advantage and Spurs Fans ROCK. So I except a pretty victory on Tuesday! On that note...
GO SPURS GO!!!
This is a picture of me at the Spurs game during Christmas break!

PS. Today was the most beautiful Southern California day and I finished one of my 1o page papers...wooo.....

Logistics

Logistics (noun)- "The planning, execution and control -of the movement and placement of people and/or goods -and of the supporting activities related to such movement and placement within a system organized to achieve specific objectives."

Last summer, I lead a group of 9 CBU students to Munich, Germany on a missions trip for 3 weeks. It is humbling how well people get to know your quirks and habits when you spend all semester training together that is culminated by 24/7 time together for 21 days. One of the many quirks that I became known for was my over usage of the word 'logistics'. I love logistics which I guess was clear by my speech. As they say, out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. I heart logistics.

It is no surprise that I took on a full-time job that is 8-5 LOGISTICS!! There are days when I am buried in emails and cross-eyed from looking at too many excel spreadsheets, but at the end of the day my J heart (Myers Briggs anyone?) is happy. This week was a particularly glorious week in that I got to see a lot of semester long projects come to an end and see some great movement. It was such a great week of work and I think I might have one of the best jobs in the world.
This is what I did this week....

1. cleaned out an inbox of over 250 emails
2. finalized the plane itineraries for the last of the 31 teams going to 20 different countries this summer.
3. ordered the last of the shuttles to and from CBU for our 31 teams
4. made, completed, and handed out about 90% of the travel cards for our 300 students so there parents can leave and pick them up at the appropriate time.
5. facilitated 2 training sessions
6. handed back the last of the passports for our Russia and Uganda teams who needed visas.
7. expedited by boss' passport to quickly get a Russia visa
8. sent of lots and lots of paperwork to Sunergos, Book of Hope, and Little Lambs (paperwork is my new nemesis).
9. harassed multiple students for passport copies
10. made team budgets for our June teams
11. organized all this information in an awesome excel spreadsheet on what we like to call the "matrix"

It was a beautiful week because i have been balancing all these things all semester, but seeing that our first 18 teams leave in a week from Monday it's finally time for it all to come together. Most people probably would want to shoot themselves because of all the details and planning, but I absolutely LOVE it!

Procrastinating. This is what I am doing by blogging. I am avoiding writing a ten-page paper on a Saturday night. Can you blame me? However, I realized I haven't blogged since January 30th! But then again, how did May get here so fast?! So I am going to update you on my life picking up from the BIG RACE...

• I completed my first half-marathon and survived it enough to want to do another one! My roommate and I are thinking about running one next fall and finding a beautiful location maybe out of town. I am still running, but not nearly as much as I would like.


• I became a true Californian. I went to the beach one Saturday afternoon and went to the snowy mountains the NEXT day. Yes, this is THE perk of living in So Cal.


• I absolutely love my job! I am one of those few people in life that actually love there 8 to 5 J-O-B. Most days, I am bogged down in details, emails, excel spreadsheets, and solving problems and in doing those administrative tasks it is easy for me to forget the big pictures. It is through the logistics of my job that over 350 students have the opporutunity to be trained and serve God overseas! And man I want to give my life for the task of seeing people come to Christ. Yesterday, was one of those days at work where I was able to literally see the big picture of what God is doing through my title at "International Service Projects Coordinator." We had a commissioning service at CBU for our 31 teams that we are sending overseas (about 350 students). I was personally blessed and moved by the intimate prayer and worship time with my own team going to East Asia this summer. I still can't believe that God allows me to be a part of his work in some of the most unreached places. It baffles my small Alicia brain. I am so inadequate but He delights in my service somehow my service brings Him glory. We also put on this awesome "Night of Nations" where all the teams performed skits sharing what they were doing this summer. We had about 800 people show up and it was a reminder of the hope we get to bring to these 21 different countries this summer!! God, why do you allow me to be a part of this task?!!!


• I took four classes this semester in graduate school. I would say that they have been keeping me busy. This semester has honestly been a huge struggle for me academically. I haven't fallen in love with seminary yet. And honestly, I haven't loved my profs or classes. This is about 80% my problem not theirs. I could be honest and say that I have just been going to classes to get a piece of paper and not for the pure joy of learning. UGH. I am not sure how to get out of this funk, but this is kind of where I am.
• I spent a majority of this semester being distracted by a tall, dark, and handsome man. It's amazing how men can hijack your brain. For the past year, I have been casually getting to know and develop a friendship with a man and this semester we actually made it official. Unfortunately, all of that intentionality was in vain and it looks as though the door to that relationship is closed. I can be honest and say that I am still praying through what the purpose of all of that was and honestly might not ever know. Somewhere along the way we have made relationships so complicated, but I guess when you have two independent lives coming together along with two imperfect people you can't help but expect difficultly. Even Paul says in I Corinthians to expect trouble in relationships. But then through this relationship, I was also reminded of the beauty of God's biblical model of relationships. Even though they are complicated and messy, there is great beauty in being committed to someone- two is better than one- having a ministry partner for life! I love the idea of one day NOT having to say goodbye to someone in my life (my life for the past 4 years), someone to dream the impossible with, someone to sharpen me and keep me accountable to the Word, someone to laugh with, someone that you just enjoy being with and living life with, but most importantly someone that we can both look back at our lives together and know that we were faithful to the task and that hopefully our lives brought Christ glory. I have honestly really been struggling with the Lord with lots of questions of why... but that just reveals where my heart is...this is the first time in my life where I want my own will more than His and that scares me. So I am praying that God will continue to show me how to trust Him...God, please increase my trust in you. The best thing I would say I gained from this relationship was that I experienced my first non-dysfunctional relationship and man it was sooo fun!
• I dyed my hair almost black. It has been a fun change mostly because people say I look like a different person and because I get a lot more compliments on my tan and blue eyes...who knew? It makes me giggle. The also humorous thing is that my bangs got completely botched in the haircutting process and it has been a funny joke with me and my roommates. Lets just say they have been pinned back for the past 3 weeks and might be for a couple more!
• I have really awesome roommates. They are my family. They are there to rejoice with me in my victories, to love me when I am unlovable, to pep me up when I need it, and to be just what I need when I need it. Being single and 25 is honestly hard some days, but God has been unbelievable in sending me sisters in Christ to share life with!


• I changed churches again. I am back at Sandals and am soo excited about my choice. I really missed the people and community of Sandals. The people who make California my home all attend Sandals and I found myself needing that community again! So I am back and soo excited about joining my small group. There is an awesome small group of married couples and singles my age that all have a heart to be overseas, love living life, and have amazing hearts for the Lord. I am stoked to join this group very very soon...



• I am going home in May to see my family!! It is my mom's 50th birthday and my cousin Chris is getting married!! I can't wait to see them... I hate that they are soo far away, but it makes being together so much better!