Each Wednesday, I’ll be sharing an actual conversation, email, instant message, etc. that will (hopefully) give you a peek into the ridiculousness that I hear on a weekly basis.  Shall we begin?

Conversation I recently overheard in a bathroom at my college:

Girl 1: “So, I can’t decide whether I should take a nap this afternoon or go work out.”

Girl 2: “Obviously, you should SO go work out.”

Girl 1: “But I’m really tired!  I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Girl 2: “Yeah, but boys will be there!  Lifting weights!  Running laps!  Sweating!”

Girl 1: “You’re so right.  I’ll go work out and then I’ll go home and take a nap so I can dream about them.”

Girl 2: “We are so flipping smart.”

Well said, my likely-to-be-freshmen-girls.  Well said.

If you’re thinking that “schoolers” isn’t a word, then it would be in your best interest to never read this blog again. Because I use that word a lot, even though it isn’t a word. I also start sentences with the word “because.” I was too busy checking out that hot boy who sat next to me in sophomore English back in high school to be paying attention to the rules of grammar.

Ahem.

My own high school days are on my mind this morning as we’re starting a new semester of our high school program, Glow, today. A couple of different groups of our lovely volunteers will head out to local high schools today bearing gifts of processed cheese and tortilla chips. And, because some things just never change, the high school girls will come running with glee right towards that disgusting cheese.

After teaching the precious pumpkins about Jesus, the volunteers will head back to our main office and drop off their empty nacho cheese containers which I will force an office volunteer to thoroughly scrub happily clean with the joy down (deep, very deep) in my heart.

A mere 1.5 hours after the cheese has been disposed of, a giggling group of more high schoolers will descend upon our office for a little something we call “Glow at Nite.” And yes, I am aware that “nite” is spelled incorrectly. But then again, so is Starlite. We believe in training these girls to spell words wrong from a young age so they won’t depart from it as they grow up.

Anyway, these girls — all of whom are either sophomores, juniors or seniors in high school — will spend the next couple of hours learning about… well, the wicked girls of the Bible. Oh and they’ll have some dessert while they do it because, really, how else would you host a Bible study for high school girls without involving chocolate. It is, after all, the perfect accompaniment to processed cheese on stale tortilla chips.

Speaking of which, someone needs to start getting this stuff ready and it looks like it is gonna have to be me. Glory.

Well, hello.

With a start like that, I’m sure you’re all just racing to your blog-rolly-thingies to add me. Why thank you, interlings.

I’m thinking that if I can just get past the first post, the awkwardness will disappear. Deep down, I know this is just wishful thinking but please allow me to wallow in it for at least a few hours. You know, until I write the next post or something and realize that the awkwardness has come back to take up residence in my keyboard.

For someone who has been reading Boomama and Bigmama and all the other mama’s, you’d think I’d have more than this to start out with. But, unlike the mama’s, I have no offspring unless you count my two puppies, Snuggles and Cuddles.

How great would it be if I knew how to insert a picture of them right here? Pretty fabulous, right? Too bad I’m a beginnie-bloggie and am not even sure if I’m even writing on my own blog right now.

Note to self: we’re losing my mother our audience right about now. Get it together, girlfriend!

Let’s discuss why I feel the need to have a blog, shall we? One night, in an apartment not so far from here, I happened upon a little piece of southern-fried heaven called Boomama (sure wish I knew how to insert a link… interlings? Some help?). I am not really sure why I decided to read something that included both “boo” and “mama” in the subject line as I am not fond of being scared nor am I planning to be a mother in the near future (hi dad!). Maybe it was her addiction to Diet Coke that did me in; we will likely never know.

I read for a few months, then started reading some of her friend’s blogs (this is getting weird, I know) and before I knew it, I thought “well, maybe I should write a blog.”

And then I remembered I was trying to get a master’s degree in approximately 1.5 years.

However, now that I’ve graduated (can I get an amen from… well, myself), I figured there’s no time to strike out and fail like now while my self-esteem is still high from getting that diploma in my hands.

And behold, a blog was born unto her.

I’ll be writing about my life (please hold your applause) but I’ll also be writing about the ministry I direct, Starlite. Here’s the short version: came to college when I was 17, started a ministry for girls when I was 18, God had mercy on my soul and let it grow and me not cause it to die a thousand deaths, we decided to create three programs: Twinkle (for 3rd – 5th graders), Sparkle (for 6th – 8th graders) and Glow (for 9th – 12th graders). I’m 23 now and my little hobby that started five years ago is now my full-time job. Around 20 college-aged women make up our leadership team and are about the funniest girls you will ever hear about — oh, and yes you will hear about them. In fact, let us begin:

Last night, during our first meeting of the semester, I asked the girls to answer some “emergency information questions” since we go on several trips a semester and I might need the information at some point. One of my brightest little stars, Katie, listed the following under “Allergies?”:

“Annoying people, early awakenings, homework and physical labor.”

And that, I believe, is the perfect place to end my first blog entry.

PS – But IF I was not ending my first blog entry here, I’d insert a pathetic little message asking you to be my friend. Because it is a big bloggy world out there and a girl needs some friends. So, what I’m trying to say is… please, oh please be my friend. Please with cherries on top?