Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Dare of the day: Go Swing Dancing!

Top Ten Rules of Swing Dancing Learned tonight:

1. Always take a back up buddy (preferably a boy) to dance with when asked by creepy boys who are older than your father and not in the cute grandpa kind of way.

2.Never, I repeat, NEVER dance with a 27 year old from Chicago who is on the Blues Cruise (Blues=dirty sex dance move, no bueno). (No matter if it is the last song of the night or not)

3.If a boy states, "I'm easy". It is a red flag....RUN AWAY. (Even in the middle of a song)

4. Don't dare a Freshmen to pole dance for a dollar....they will.

5. Always look for a man (listen up ladies) who enjoys and isn't afraid to swing dance...super bonus points!

6. Always wear spandex shorts under your dress.

7. Never dance with a freshmen from APU who rubs last night's basketball game score in your face while doing spin moves and telling you you should work on your footwork.

8. Don't wear chucks (converse) dancing...it is a turn off for middle aged men (so sad I know). Nix that...do it!

9. Always keep an eye on your pearl necklace...mine was jacked.

10. ALWAYS HAVE A CODE WORD for your girlfriends of who to run away from...like "CHICAGO" and follow through with it :)

Oh and last but not least....always say yes when asked to go swing dancing :) I had a blast tonight and I learned some valuable lessons. For instance, although you may think BIOLA men lack initiative in dating...they are bomb at initiative in dancing. They guys literally would come up each song and grab a girl, maybe even more than one song in the night....so fun!

I also learned confidence is key. I used to swing dance last year but stopped and was super nervous going back tonight...so I gave a fair warning to any guy who asked me to dance...dumb. I usually try and hold confidence but tonight I ultimately lacked it, as if I wasn't already self conscious about the no makeup thing...I was struggling with the fact the majority of my girlfriends were out on the floor each song...while I stood with my friend looking available, but then I thought to myself something.

First of all, this whole confidence month has already been challenging, but I'm loving it at the same time. You see, it is pushing me to look beyond the whole getting ready in the morning thing. Today, I wore a dress with heels for the first time in MONTHS and people freaked out and asked what was the occasion. It made me realize that I've already been growing a ton in this area from last year. I used to think I had to get ready each day in order to look put together, but I missed a lot of the heart behind feeling put together...that which I'm trying to attain now.

I'm also learning to prioritize God time. As cheesy as it sounds, when that isn't at the point of my life...everything else, especially my confidence is out of wack. By the last song, I just let go completely and had a blast. I wish I would have learned to not give the prewarning each time and just done my thing. I miss doing my thing. I miss having time to "do my thing".

See, I work 40 hours a week with a full time schedule at school. I'm also in choir, a few campus ministries, and trying to maintain a community group and Bible study. I'm learning that for some reason I have allowed everything else to fade to the back burner of my life and put my job before everything. Now that would usually be a good thing...seeing as how my job is ministry, but instead it is already causing me to get burned out and I'm only 20.

After taking a solid look at life tonight, I'm starting to realize my schedule needs some quality tweaking. I can't remember the last time I went out like this on a night and wasn't in bed by eleven. I'm finally learning what it is like to be balanced and hopefully gain a new understanding for letting my hair down in work, just as I do in play.

Keep the dares coming... :)

Bare Naked.

Dare of the day: No Makeup March.

Aside from the one exception of Mock Rock, I, Kendra Wise will be embarking on a makeupless adventure for the next 30 days. Let me tell you, I thought giving up makeup was hard, but I've also paired it with giving up sugar as well. If I can't be a river guide this summer, I mine as well pretend I'm living as though I am!

If you had asked me a year ago to do this I would have laughed at you, peed a little, and ran away to buy more MAC eyeliner. (It's a good thing if you don't know what that is) But seriously, I used to hide behind it as a way to mask who I was. In high school, I was told that I needed more makeup to be pretty..and I used to believe that. The sad thing was that I held so much of my identity in who I could look like, not who I belonged to. (Cheesy..but you get the point)

So my gorgeous friend Katherine challenged me to go a month without makeup...and let me tell you, it is going to be awesome! I'm learning to find confidence in my own beauty (rather God's I should say) and I'm loving it. It is hard though, even when I'm just hanging in my room I'm tempted to throw on a few pounds of cover up to hide that nasty scar from sophomore year....lol okay it was a pimple and it was two weeks ago (just a bit dramatic) but the truth is that it is causing me to recheck where I'm laying my identity!

Also, today I went on a lovely BIOLA date to the cafeteria with Joey, an incoming student on my brother floor at school. I learned that dates can actually be fun (I guess it was more of a "frate" or "friend date") because out of it I gained a bomb new acquaintance and a new opportunity to hear someone's story. I also learned that I really enjoy just meeting new people, and love any opportunity to gain a friend!

So, back to life...today was seriously super hard. I woke up at 4, on a plane at 7, at school at 10, class at 10:30, lunch with Joey, class at 12:30, work at 2:30, work at 3:30, dinner w/Amanda, college group, feeling sick came home early, talk with the girls, in bed now :)

Oh not to mention a few trials here and there, some craziness mixed in with everything i have to get done this week for both my jobs, some added pressure of what i'm doing this summer (I hate that my "i's" won't all capitalize!) But I had an incredible weekend home with the family, loved seeing Rachel and Tom and the Hall family, enjoyed catching up with old friends, got a cute new haircut for spring, and even managed to get some homework done! All in all, life is good, God is great, and I'm going to bed because I don't even know if this whole blog makes a bit of sense! Sleep tight!

--Kendra