tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24022049268321687482012-02-16T21:48:09.300-05:00aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.comBlogger791100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-47231485176301820072011-11-10T07:19:00.000-05:002011-11-10T07:19:18.473-05:00

There are some seasons in life that we have been trained culturally to respond to. You know the ones I'm talking about: we "need" a vacation in the summer. Change seems to come easily in the early fall when we used to start school. We become more generous in our giving at Christmas. And so it isn't very shocking that during this season I find myself being more aware of the things that I am

aheckalotabeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133415107471269593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-58947424675267147012011-10-25T10:59:00.000-04:002011-10-25T10:59:26.971-04:00

I wasn't expecting it to happen. It was a normal day on Spring Break last year. I was in my normal, overly excited mood, waiting for some of my middle school students to arrive at the church to help babysit some of the staff's kids. But then I heard the news: The mother of one of my students had been taken to the hospital that day, and the doctors didn't know what was wrong yet. Within a couple

aheckalotabeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05133415107471269593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-30432998830144597232011-09-01T16:29:00.000-04:002011-09-01T16:29:43.457-04:00

Tuesday night in dv8 was, well, an experience. Of course it always is. I never really know what to expect. No matter how much I plan and prepare, there is something completely unpredictable about student ministry. A huge part of the unpredictable-ness being the students.  This week one of the boys decided to act like, well, a middle school boy. He was acting up, going a little bit crazy, and

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-55101411288470942022011-07-26T09:13:00.003-04:002011-07-26T09:30:07.939-04:00

I couple months ago I bought some new cds. This new purchase was mainly inspired by getting more into Zumba, and discovering some new artists I like. And finding a NKOTB cd. But that's a different story.On of the cds I picked up was Jennifer Lopez's new cd (What is) Love?. Honestly I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. A few songs into the album I found myself identifying with the

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-17691316730464869392011-07-08T10:05:00.002-04:002011-07-08T10:31:14.579-04:00

Recently I've noticed loads of people questioning all kinds of things about Christianity. It probably stems from the people who are arguing for or against things like the views presented in Rob Bell's latest book, and the concepts of the nature of God as just and loving. But even before his latest book, before this division amongst people who used to say they agreed on things, I had noticed a

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-36193727265785528852011-07-06T09:47:00.003-04:002011-07-06T10:01:23.816-04:00

One of the most common themes of Christianity I have heard throughout my life is that we are to be "others focused". You know, living life as Jesus told us to live it. Putting others before ourselves. Loving people, even the ones who are seemingly un-lovable. Doing the "one another" verses that we hear so many times. I do think all of those things are super important, and a big part of what it

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-17305163694368966122011-06-29T09:40:00.002-04:002011-06-29T09:57:11.806-04:00

"It's a privilege, not a right." That was the mantra of our Children's Ministry Director at my old church. At first it seemed a bit weird to me, telling kids that they should be have because it was a privilege to be there, not something that was guaranteed. Don't they all have the right to be in the room and hear about Jesus? She didn't mean that they didn't have that right, just that if they

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-44641733779402838982011-06-28T22:51:00.001-04:002011-06-28T22:53:43.647-04:00

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px} I've heard so many times that silence is golden. I'm starting to think it's true. My mom has been in town this week, and after being around her I have learned where I got my gift of gab. I know I love to talk, but I think my mom puts me to shame. So much

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-8150971856713633272011-06-25T07:15:00.004-04:002011-06-25T07:23:51.481-04:00

Today I'm leaving for my annual family reunion. I never know what to expect... but I always end up having a good time. The reunion is at a beautiful state park in KY, and it gives me the chance to see extended family members that I wouldn't usually see any other time of the year. In fact, until moving to WV I didn't ever go to the reunion, so there were about 20 years that I didn't see any of

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-46201552094098273312011-06-24T11:10:00.003-04:002011-06-24T11:23:26.566-04:00

I wanna be a charity case. No, not because I want to be given a lot of free stuff, although I guess that'd be nice. I was reading this morning about the love of God. This is one of those subjects that I have been learning about practically since I was born, but I still feel like there is so much mystery involved.I've always heard about different kids of love. About eros, the kind of love that

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-69114865470096760542011-06-22T09:29:00.003-04:002011-06-22T09:48:11.225-04:00

Before I went on my first mission trip to Brazil, I had some preparation. Our team would get together every few weeks and talk about what we were going to be doing, what to expect, and we'd learn a little bit about the Brazilian culture.I absolutely LOVED the last part. Sure, learning what we were going to be doing was awesome, but I really loved learning about the people, the customs, and the

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-87651848756467617272011-06-20T09:00:00.002-04:002011-06-20T09:10:32.744-04:00

Last night I went to the movies. I won't tell you which movie I saw, because I don't really think I'd recommend it. I mean, it was okay, and fairly clean, but it wasn't great. And being a lover of movies I feel like I have a specific taste for what I feel is great.As I watched the movie, there were times I was into the story, times I laughed, times I was nervous for the main characters. But there

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-51829825552627634972011-06-17T08:39:00.006-04:002011-06-17T09:28:24.727-04:00

My sister and I are 2 years apart, but in just about any way imaginable we are as far apart as two people can get. Sure, we have things in common, but polar opposites describes us well. Growing up my sister was the popular one. The pretty one. The out going one. She was who I wanted to be like.I was the smart one. The shy one. The one with the sarcastic mouth.I had all the book knowledge, and she

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-45361509962608032072011-06-14T08:07:00.003-04:002011-06-14T08:24:59.555-04:00

You say jump to arms wide openI am scared but I am willingBlessed is the one,Blessed is the one who trusts in You-Blessed is the One, Daniel Doss BandLast night I overcame a fear. A small, irrational fear, but a fear nonetheless.Since I was 15 I have been dancing in various forms and styles. It started with a dance team that was closer to cheer dance, and then transitioned to tap, ballet, jazz,

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-89966252223713561502011-06-11T10:37:00.002-04:002011-06-11T11:09:15.647-04:00

Do you remember about 15 years ago when Ty Beanie Babies were super cool? Everyone just wanted to get their hands on one of the rare and valuable little animals, in hopes of one day making some money by selling it to someone more obsessed with these creatures than they were. Or maybe they just wanted to have the prestige of owning a rare collectible. Oddly enough, I don't think things turned out

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-51777365699790326172011-06-10T10:20:00.001-04:002011-06-10T10:22:11.811-04:00

There I was. Palms sweating. Heart racing. Why had I agreed to do this again? Oh, right. My friends talked me into it. “It'll be fun!” they said. “Don't be scared!” they said. They even gave me a little verbal push by telling me, “It's really not that bad, no big deal!” Right.There I stood, on the top of what amounted to a single telephone pole, deciding whether or not I would jump to what I

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-47319102355749295172011-05-16T21:00:00.000-04:002011-05-16T21:01:11.690-04:00

I am always amazed at how fast time seems to go by. How quickly things pass. How another year an go by in what seems like an instance. Unless of course you're waiting for something. Then it seems like every second is an eternity.There have been many times in my life that I felt like I was waiting for God to do something. For Him to come through for me. And it seemed like He was taking forever. I

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-15786253874375455982011-01-28T09:43:00.003-05:002011-01-28T10:05:30.510-05:00

Have you ever consistently asked God for something, just to see that it isn't happening? Begged Him for something you wanted, but never seen it come to pass? I have. Over and over.It seems like that is the time of life that I'm in. Learning to trust more, and pray more, but sometimes not getting the results that I want. Why is that?There are numerous answers to that question. It isn't God's will.

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-18962380322136450552010-10-22T11:44:00.003-04:002010-10-22T12:05:50.350-04:00

I love to read. A lot. So when some of the leaders at our church asked those of us in Student Ministries to read the book The Relational Word by Josh McDowell I took it pretty much in stride as just another book I was going to be reading. You see, I tend to read books just for the sake of reading. And I tend to absorb facts just for the sake of knowledge. And that's exactly the mindset I had

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-6002002293685522812009-09-04T11:31:00.002-04:002009-09-04T11:34:44.938-04:00

Had to post this since it got recorded...This might be one of my all time favorite skits from Chestnut Ridge... aside from the Family Feud skit at Christmas...Spartan Cheerleaders | Mixer Promo from Chestnut Ridge Church on Vimeo.ENJOY! :)

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-77681939895245924332009-05-18T13:34:00.003-04:002009-05-18T13:48:20.605-04:00

I'm a dork. This we know.I like science-y things. This we also know.One thing I didn't know is that I really like endocrinology. Weird. Let's back up a few steps. A few weeks ago, I got a new book, "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillan Michaels. For those of you who know me, you know that I love reality TV, and Biggest Loser is just one of those great reality shows. And Jillian is my favorite

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-27394681563589274152009-05-18T13:03:00.004-04:002009-05-18T13:33:35.067-04:00

Last weekend I moved out of my fantastic apartment of one year.  And now I'm sitting on my friends' couch to type this blog.Why? Because I'm getting to move in with two of my great friends, Megan and Jenna, into an amazing house, to really live life together. Yay community! (That's them right over there ------>)But here's the kicker. One of my roommates and I had to move out of our apartments on

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-48894383457754545562009-04-25T11:23:00.006-04:002009-05-18T13:33:55.897-04:00

BH2O+ - Be Hope To Her, Nuru InternationalThursday I participated in BH2O+ at WVU. I went early to help my friends coordinating the event on campus with any set up needs, and just to help in general. They were so on top of it. By the time I arrived everything was well taken care of, to the point that one of the other girls and I had time to walk down to so.zo and get coffee for the coordinators!

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-83726412523135225292009-02-26T15:51:00.003-05:002009-02-26T17:48:35.071-05:00

You've been there. You're trying to get that certain someone's attention, and they respond with the dreaded blank stare."Did she not hear me? Is she lost in thought about something else?" you may wonder. And that may be the case.But it also may mean she is just not that into you.Flirting. Everyone does it, even if it is unintentional. Some forms are obvious, others a bit more sly. But the girl

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-13444756819672125392009-02-25T21:28:00.006-05:002009-02-25T22:01:51.064-05:00

If a guy likes a girl, typically he is gonna try to spend time with her. Makes sense.But what if she doesn't want to spend time with him?It happens.So here's the deal guys. If you are trying your hardest to hang out with a girl that you think is pretty cool, but she is not reciprocating, she is probably just not that into you. That includes her not focusing on you in a group setting, not

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-85713060386255789922009-02-25T21:11:00.003-05:002009-02-25T21:24:05.519-05:00

Ok, I'm not often the one to jump onto a bandwagon of popularity.A few years ago I remember watching Oprah (before I had learned the error in my ways) and saw an episode with Greg Behrendt, a comedian and co-author of the book He's Just Not That Into You.Well, I was mildly entertained by the show, but didn't really think of it again.Then, with the recent movie made from the popular book, the He's

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-45958791305177116912009-02-11T23:23:00.003-05:002009-02-11T23:29:14.559-05:00

Alright. this is where I stand in my current TV obsessions:Heroes: bored to tears this week. They really have to get back on trackBiggest Loser: glad Joelle is gone, sad about the whole Dane and Blaine break-up, not too sure who I'm rooting for yet. Prob just one of Jillian's players as usual.Scrubs: a week behind, but happy for the JD/Elliot of it allSURVIVOR: STARTS TOMORROW! WOO HOO! :DGrey's:

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-49668225584097796012009-02-07T21:03:00.002-05:002009-02-07T21:09:01.783-05:00

So it seems like my life never really slows down. As insanely busy as I am, I decided to take one of my monthly (or so) disappearing days today, and just not talk to anyone or do much of anything that didn't have to be done.And it seems I have come across a great deal of wisdom today as I have begun to catch up on my favorite tv shows online, and watch too much You Tube and Hulu. So, I thought

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-38545448893545688802008-11-12T09:17:00.004-05:002008-11-12T09:30:25.849-05:00

During the past weekend, middle schoolers and highschoolers from across West Virginia came together to connect with each other, connect with God, and fight injustice. Why?The 58conference was a weekend dedicated to learning about God as our defender and provider, and learning how to stand up for others around us who can't stand up for themselves. It was pretty cool to see all these tweens and

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-37718255796431718662008-11-11T17:28:00.005-05:002008-11-11T17:41:16.886-05:00

Her name is Josephine.She lives in rural Kenya in a tiny hut made of straw, mud and dung. She has 5 children; 3 are sick with malaria. The youngest died last year on Josephine’s back as she frantically travelled 30 kilometers to the nearest clinic for medicine that would have saved his life.Josephine spends 3 hours each day fetching water, and the water sometimes makes her and her children sick.

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-3397900768804359482008-11-03T08:37:00.003-05:002008-11-03T08:50:56.392-05:00

So do you ever stop to think about how BIG a God we serve?I know sometimes I forget what it means to have such a big God on my side. I get into the habit of knowing He's there for me, and just taking it for granted and not trusting Him. Even the name of God becomes second hand. Have you thought about even what that name means?Here are some definitions:the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-34946467310133714572008-10-24T14:39:00.003-04:002008-10-24T14:43:27.079-04:00

So it has been about 3 weeks since I last blogged. Bad Becca.Much has happened, and maybe at some point I'll explain it, but for now I'm just letting that stuff sit on a back burner to talk about in some far off future blog.As for now, I am sitting in lab, waiting for my samples to get done spinning in their happily chilled 4 degree centrifuge. Hopefully these little guys will appreciate the

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-92121052286559182232008-10-02T11:27:00.002-04:002008-10-02T11:31:07.981-04:00

Ok. this is it. I am getting ready to venture over to HSC and see what my suture holds. I can tell you this, I am really nervous. More than yesterday, which went very well by the way. I am getting ready to willing walk into a room where there will be 6 PhDs who know a heck of a lot more than I do about anything, and have them interrogate me for a while, send me out of the room so they can talk

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-31284189257970505642008-10-01T11:01:00.003-04:002008-10-01T11:08:35.013-04:00

So today is the day. Well, tomorrow is the day too, but today is the beginning. Proposal Defense Day.In about 1 hour I will be giving my dissertation proposal defense seminar. Yeah. Can I just say that I wasn't nervous really about it until about 5 minutes ago? Not really so sure why. Hopefully I'll get over it soon. Maybe it's because I sucked at my last presentation a couple weeks ago, so I

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-11321801634738218692008-09-26T11:14:00.003-04:002008-09-26T11:24:44.240-04:00

That's me. And my ripped pants. Yeah. It all started with an innocent leadership retreat for my church. The leaders for DV8 (middle school), Wired (High School), and H2O (college & career) headed to Deep Creek for the weekend to refocus, connect about the upcoming semester, and just hang out together. It was an amazing time together.On Saturday night, after we had an amazing time together sharing

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-62736180310725714152008-09-26T11:08:00.002-04:002008-09-26T11:13:51.912-04:00

Busy? Me. No. That could never define my life. Ok, maybe. Always. But whatever.I finally finished writing my proposal for my dissertation. Turning it in to my committee was one of the most liberating and terrifying experiences. You see, now I don't have to worry about writing it everyday, but I also can't change anything, so if there's a mistake it's there for good. Now I just have to make a

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-13457734490359954622008-09-04T17:12:00.002-04:002008-09-04T17:30:30.613-04:00

I've gotten in a habit of listening to podcasts of sermons recently, mainly being inspired by my friend Josh Vance, who has listened to some so many times that he can directly quote whole sections!It's been good to have some other podcasts to listen to instead of my normal geeky MIT opencourseware on biotech stuff or Philosophy Talk from Stanford. Although both are great.Recently I've been

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-90674037558526159172008-09-03T15:15:00.005-04:002008-09-03T15:29:23.040-04:00

John 17:3. This is eternal life, that you may know You, the only true God, and the one you have sent, Jesus Christ.17:THREE is our new college/career/18-35ish gathering. It is there to provide a place for people to connect with God, connect with each other, and get involved in serving in the community, the church, and the world. The first time was pretty awesome. I was able to head up to the

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-58511757684864728872008-09-03T15:09:00.003-04:002008-09-03T15:14:46.054-04:00

Ego? Leg? Well, insert what you will. This little table sits about 12 inches off the ground (at the most) at sozo. A couple weeks ago, we were open on a Monday night for Fall Fest. We were kind of tired of being there by midnight when we closed ( I had already been there 8 evenings in a row before that) so we were closing as quickly as we could, with help from many of our friends who had stopped

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-8551978924243466442008-09-03T14:49:00.002-04:002008-09-03T15:09:12.078-04:00

No, not the David Crowder Band CD. Although that is good. My car. This is what my car looked like yesterday after I mis-judged a turn and side swiped a telephone pole. And no, this was not a pole made from an int so that it would be walking around. In fact, it still looks like this.Needless to say I was a bit upset. I have been really overwhelmed and stressed with everything I've had going on,

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-8083462659707829692008-09-03T14:27:00.003-04:002008-09-03T14:46:37.116-04:00

OK, so I guess I am somewhat required to do this post since I was tagged by my friend Billy in his post earlier.You see, there is some sort of blog chain letter going around. Here's the deal:1. Post the rules on your blog2. Write 6 random things about yourself3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tagSo here goes:1. I speak Portuguese and can understand

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-72123038249306981922008-08-28T00:16:00.002-04:002008-08-28T00:29:30.197-04:00

I took this picture on August 11. I don't really remember exactly what I was doing that day, but I do remember the picture. I looked out my sliding doors in my bedroom, and I just thought that what I saw was beautiful. This doesn't completely capture it, but it's the best I could do. It may not be much of a view (unless you really like looking at trailers and other apartments) but it's my view.

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-87274088457544770822008-08-27T23:57:00.003-04:002008-08-28T00:08:33.855-04:00

So in the past few months I have been really missing dancing. That may seem weird, seeing as I lead the kidSTUFF dancers. But what I really miss is the discipline, the workout, the mental challenge, the....ballet. Yeah, I never thought that would be me.Nope, I was a strictly tap girl when I started. Then I only added ballet and jazz because I thought it'd be cool and my sister was registered in

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-74630740142305636362008-08-27T23:52:00.002-04:002008-08-27T23:56:49.580-04:00

wow. It has been about 3 weeks since my last blog. That is far too long.Things got really busy really quickly here in good ole M-town.you know, it is kind of funny that I thought my summer would be so laid back. Everything seemed to end that I was doing in the Spring. But then summer turned out to be busy.I really didn't prepare myself that fall was coming though, and that would mean the

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-24836361992617986622008-08-05T11:49:00.002-04:002008-08-05T12:03:29.138-04:00

Did you know that in WV if you have an expired out of state driver's license you have to retake all the driver's exams and have a certified driving record from your previous registered state, and have about 5 forms of ID? Yeah, even though you may have been legally on the road for 10 years, they will still make you take the written and driving exam again. And if you want to do them in the same

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-30867550759633028892008-07-27T20:28:00.003-04:002008-07-27T20:52:29.013-04:00

ABC family recently launched a new show called The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a show about a 15 year old girl who gets pregnant at band camp. She is the awkward teen who would be the one everyone would least expect to be in this situation.Now, admittedly, I watched an episode one night because there wasn't much else on , and because it also stars Molly Ringwald. Yeah, I'm a dork.So I

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-46376601370045049162008-07-27T20:10:00.003-04:002008-07-27T20:25:02.550-04:00

So I was listening to my iPOD last night, and I heard a song that I hadn't really listened to for a long time. It is a song my friend Rob Hawkins wrote one day just having fun (if I remember the story right... I got a copy of it from his awesome wife Lindsay). It is just some fun music that has a quote from our pastor at the time. "It's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I give you without

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-53856978616573709082008-07-25T12:18:00.004-04:002008-07-25T12:26:52.255-04:00

One more thing before I go back to my fantastic world of scientific writing...I was a little bit surprised at the lack of math skill on Bravo the other night. I love Project Runway (yes, reality TV junkie that I am). Every week they do some sort of poll that people vote online or via text or something during the show and the results are shown toward the end. Now, I usually don't pay a whole lot

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-80655393974128844412008-07-25T12:07:00.002-04:002008-07-25T12:18:39.685-04:00

Writing. It's what I do. At least these days that's what it seems like. Now, had I really wanted to be a writer I may have chosen another career field, like, say, ENGLISH. But, nope. I choose science. And I still get to write. Oh well.A good portion of my days are being spent in a scenario similar to what is pictured above. The location may vary, but the computer and vast amount of articles that

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-86661314046698443012008-07-23T14:47:00.004-04:002008-07-23T14:56:53.406-04:00

Dear local forest ranger at Cooper's Rock,It has been brought to my attention recently that you have no wireless Internet available at your location. This is incredibly disturbing, as many graduate students have been tethered to their computers writing and performing research all day and night. These students need to be able to see the outdoors at some point as well, and your lack of Internet

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-17936462736022988322008-07-23T13:04:00.003-04:002008-07-23T13:13:21.008-04:00

Ok, so I have to tell you guys about my favorite birthday gift.It came while standing waiting for my amazing iced mocha at the grind Saturday morning talking with my friend Brittani. She told me she had been thinking about what to get me for my birthday, and then it just came to her...You see, we had a discussion about a month or so ago and I told her that since I really didn't need anything, I

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-29813988072350112132008-07-22T13:33:00.002-04:002008-07-23T13:04:39.554-04:00

Some of my friends are spending their summer in Wilimington, NC, for Leadership Training with GCM. Pretty cool stuff. I knew I would really miss them being here in Morgantown, so I had planned to go visit them at some point during the summer. It just happened to work out that I could go down on the weekend of my birthday. It's also my friend Jenna's birthday who is there for the summer!It was

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-62941833395607219652008-07-22T12:12:00.003-04:002008-07-22T13:31:07.881-04:00

Recently I have been trying to scale down all my "stuff". I am surprised at people's reactions to this, and the thoughts of, "Why would you do that?" or "That's great, but I can't get rid of my stuff." or "Yeah, just be more out there and 'green' Becca."This whole thing really started for me around February, when we did a series of events in Morgantown called Another World is Possible. The first

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-37507339741077555632008-07-22T11:50:00.003-04:002008-07-22T12:12:08.836-04:00

Since I have been on a reading kick the past few weeks, I feel its necessary to give an idea of what I am reading, and whether or not it is worth you taking time out of your busy life to read as well.A little over a week ago, I finished reading The Shack. Now, I started this one because I wanted something different to read, and it was on all kinds of bestseller lists.I had some doubts initially

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-44035288517049710372008-07-22T11:38:00.002-04:002008-07-22T11:49:55.301-04:00

Well, as usual, life has been insanely busy and I have gotten behind on my blogging...But I'll at least try to catch up some today! :)So here is the update on the much anticipated Garton visit:It was AWESOME to have my sister Jenn and her entire family come in (yup, including hubby Heath, 6 yr old Isaiah, 4 yr old Joel, and 2 yr old Silas!). As I said in my last blog, I was a bit nervous about my

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-28647710828510013042008-07-09T19:53:00.003-04:002008-07-09T20:10:16.675-04:00

So I moved from a large 3 bedroom apartment to a moderately sized one bedroom apartment in the middle of May. So, I have been in my new home for about 2 months, and I must say I love it.The picture is of about half of the stuff I gave away, either to people I knew who could use it, or to Goodwill (man was that a couple of insanely large trips!)It is so much easier to have less stuff! Seems odd,

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-55695447859192746132008-07-08T17:23:00.005-04:002008-07-08T18:06:44.971-04:00

I began to wonder about how patriotic I am (or maybe not) these days when I was watching the fireworks on the fourth of July. Now, the picture here is much grander than what we experienced in Mogantown, from our place standing on the Westover bridge in the rain. Still, I do love fireworks. Never knowing what will be next, the color, the sound, it is just exciting. But I digress. While I was

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-84981523274566519802008-07-03T15:58:00.003-04:002008-07-03T16:14:18.182-04:00

And so begins the narrative of the death hike.Sarah and I started off our day by having lunch with our friend Megan. (Our last meal in her words, before heading off to die.) After lunch we stopped by the store to pick up some last minute things (like 8 gallons of water) and off we went to the middle of nowhere in WV. That's us on our adventures before everyone else joined us!After a couple hours

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-30623910922406695042008-07-03T15:50:00.002-04:002008-07-03T15:58:44.750-04:00

So I had a big accomplishment this week... I finished reading The End of Poverty. Now, to a bunch of my friends that are currently reading it, or have recently read it, it may seem like an accomplishment just to get through it. (There was a lot of talk about how it was a difficult book to get through before I started on it, which made me kind nervous.) BUT, the accomplishment for me was that I

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-72419788492467022572008-06-30T11:42:00.003-04:002008-06-30T11:49:37.643-04:00

We made it out alive! There may have been a few points where we thought it would be otherwise, but all in all, we conquered the trail.The picture above is actually from the day after, when we went to meet our friend Billy and his dad, and went to Bickle Knob. It was a nice relaxed day after the insanity of the previous 24 hours. If you look carefully, you will see that we spell out T-I-R-E-D...

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-46352652458684572532008-06-26T12:53:00.003-04:002008-06-26T13:05:39.229-04:00

So a group of 7 of my friends and I are going on a little hike this weekend. And by little I mean 24 miles. I have never done anything remotely similar to this in my life, but I'm pretty excited about it. We will be carrying in all our own water (dude, that's a lot of added weight) and supplies to camp Friday and Saturday night on the trail. When I say I've never done anything like this, I mean,

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-25213784577537894152008-06-26T12:13:00.003-04:002008-06-26T12:27:48.336-04:00

Alright, on top of being busy constantly, I always have about a billion things going on in my mind... and yes, many of them are usually bouncing around at one time. From what does arsenic do to these cells to poverty around the world to recycling to cleaning my apartment to hanging with friends to the good book I am reading to watching a movie to what I have to do for work to coffee to so.zo to

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-31700555859858717602008-06-26T12:08:00.003-04:002008-06-26T12:13:17.608-04:00

So much for having a boring summer.I thought at the beginning of the summer that life was gonna be so much simpler because a lot of what I did during the fall and spring was ending until next fall. No more seminars and journal clubs, a break from KidSTUFF, no summer hours for so.zo, no exsatio, friends going out of town for the WHOLE summer... you know, a huge change.But boy was I wrong! I have

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-32029002469971304382008-06-22T08:35:00.003-04:002008-06-22T08:47:14.439-04:00

It is that time of year again... the weekend after Father's Day. It may not sound like a big deal, but in our family it is.This weekend I traveled to Kentucky for our annual family reunion with my dad's mom's family, to begin my string of insane summer weekends. My family here is a pretty interesting group of people. I used to go to these reunions a lot when I was a little kid, and then stopped

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-62245917034653715362008-06-16T17:31:00.004-04:002008-06-16T18:00:09.805-04:00

I wrote a few weeks back about our creative expression that we do in our canvas groups. Well, in our last one we were encouraged to think about a problem that has been on our mind, and come up with a creative way to share it with others or solve it, or something along those lines.Recently I have been thinking a lot about extreme poverty, and the little that we as rich Americans do about it

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-35996025903886307072008-06-16T09:44:00.002-04:002008-06-16T09:59:01.987-04:00

I had every intention of blogging last week, but did I? Nope. You see, I somehow managed to get some sort of winter weather type virus in the middle of June. So instead of blogging, or doing much of anything else, I laid on my couch and slept, at least when I could.So now I am feeling better, and I thought I'd jump right back in with a little story from yesterday. I went out after church with a

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-12161804696872168972008-06-05T00:19:00.004-04:002008-06-05T01:14:19.943-04:00

That's me and my favorite sister. Okay, my only sister, but she's my favorite one nonetheless. My sister sent me one of those random surveys the other day. She does this about every few months or so, and always lists me as the person least likely to respond. (Luckily she realizes I'm busy and doesn't mean it as an insult.) Anyway, I thought I'd take some time to fill one out and put up some

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-49657398125812285732008-06-03T11:29:00.002-04:002008-06-03T11:42:18.303-04:00

Man it has been a while since I've had any time to write anything.Lets jump back to last week. On Thursday night we had our first Telios Canvas Group meeting of the summer. What's a canvas group? Well, you should ask, and I'll tell you! But that isn't the point right now.Trey led the meeting, and talked about Creative Expression, one of our 4 practices in canvas groups. It was pretty cool,

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-86249689595538824122008-05-28T13:21:00.006-04:002008-05-28T13:53:32.556-04:00

Ok, I am pretty excited about the LOST finale tomorrow night. (And a little worried that so many of my posts have centered around tv...) I mean, maybe we'll see who is in the coffin? And find out why Jack has the NEED to get back to the island? And why the heck is Kate raising Aaron? What happened to those who didn't get off the island? Did they stay behind of their own accord? Why doesn't

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-70701246052606604202008-05-27T17:34:00.005-04:002008-05-28T13:54:41.758-04:00

Alright, I know you probably can't really tell what the individual pictures above are, but that's okay. I was playing around on facebook earlier today, and I added yet another useless application, photo collages. Well, some how this application generates a collage of photos you have on facebook of your "best friends". I'm not so sure how this works, or even if it is incredibly accurate on

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-49019296167394763432008-05-23T10:46:00.002-04:002008-05-23T10:52:32.135-04:00

During our night of fun watching So You Think You Can Dance last night, I was enlightened to a fantastic new youtube video, which I thought I'd share with you.I think we all ended up laughing so hard we were practically crying, and I must say, the reenactment by some of my friends was phenomenal!Take a minute to watch this and just have a good laugh!

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-76840435338707261152008-05-22T19:22:00.004-04:002008-05-22T19:31:57.047-04:00

I just went for a walk. I decided that I wanted to get outside since this is one of the first dry days I have seen for a while. In deciding where to walk, I thought it may be a good idea to walk along some of the back streets that I have driven often. So, I grabbed my house key and my ipod and took off. I noticed something as I walked though. Hardly anyone else was outside enjoying the beautiful

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-67831687617099582182008-05-22T12:25:00.001-04:002008-05-22T12:27:11.613-04:00

So I thought I'd take a moment out of my Nuru posts to just tell you all how excited I am about So you Think You Can Dance starting tonight! Yeah, I know, I am a reality tv junkie, but I mean, come on. It is a dance show. With real dancers. Not just celebrities who want to dance. And no gimmicks like having to be the best "crew" or whatever. Just talent, and fun. :DAnd, since Benji has been my

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-67758489106154935592008-05-22T00:17:00.011-04:002008-05-22T01:12:54.517-04:00

So the title of this blog is definitely not in english, or even kiswahili as would be more appropriate. Instead, it is a Zulu word that means to bring the light. I learned it from the name of a band from South Africa that I met when I was a teenager, and have some of their cds. It is appropriate though, in that is the desire of the organization I will be talking about... to bring a small light

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-16896111537317846762008-05-21T11:59:00.005-04:002008-05-21T12:15:03.630-04:00

Ok, so I think about weird science things all the time, right? So this is something that popped into my head the other week during church (I know, weird) that I remembered finding interesting during one of my grad school classes...So we all know about male and female hormones, estrogen (or estradiol) and testosterone, right? Well, most of us don't have a clue about how they are made. And most of

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-27778446855877054662008-05-20T10:56:00.004-04:002008-05-20T11:36:20.682-04:00

14 "You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16Last Friday was the Relay for Life in

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-76290538194019146722008-05-15T22:06:00.003-04:002008-05-15T22:23:58.646-04:00

This picture is from last year's Relay for Life in Parkersburg, of the luminaries I had in honor of my grandma and mom.Tomorrow I will head to Parkersburg for their annual Relay for Life event. This is the second year I have done this, and I am pretty excited about it. Maybe it's because it was so much fun to meet some awesome new people last year, maybe it is the possibility of getting some more

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-65650996681086084702008-05-14T22:23:00.003-04:002008-05-14T22:35:11.818-04:00

I have never seen any group of people devour a giant iced cookie as fast as those I saw tonight.Tonight marked the last practice for kidSTUFF that we will have for the season, with our last performance on Sunday. I made two giant cookie cakes for the dancers as an end of season treat. About the time I was ready to cut it, I decided they could just pull off pieces and it would be easier... so I

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402204926832168748.post-52334182422759263422008-05-13T22:18:00.005-04:002008-05-13T22:28:34.382-04:00

So I have had quite the wild ride the past week with all the insanity of moving. There were so many ups and downs, but I learned a lot through the process.1. It is much harder to move when you don't live in the same place as your family who will come help you with everything whenever you need it. The last two moves I've done, I had so much help from the fam, and I didn't even realize how much it

aheckalotabeccanoreply@blogger.com3