"News?!"

Judgments?

2011-05-03T13:15:00.008-04:00

I should be working on my take home final...but can't resist the urge to compose a quick blog post. It's a calling so strong it musn't be denied. Surprising that I'm actually blogging huh?

Ok so. Here's the inspiring thought I want to share...

I've studied at Greyhouse quite a bit this semester and have noticed that nearly every time I'm here there is the strange older, asian woman lingering about. She catches your attention becuase she has this extremely critical look in her eyes. It's almost like she views the world as a worrisome disappointment that she must constantly contemplate. Really- she kind of glares at people. Sylvia(a very dear friend and faithful study partner) has mentioned to me how offensive she finds this older woman. I kind of laughed when she told me that because I had totally felt them same way.

I recently decided I was going to talk to this woman. I wanted to know what was making her so angry at the world. I've yet to actually sit down and have a conversation with her but something interesting did happen today. :) She walked in with her typical worried face expression and instead of ignorring her I smiled and suggested that she sit in an open seat next to me. She responded with a sort of reluctant thanks as I made some comment about Greyhouse always being so busy. She ended up taking another stroll about Greyhouse instead of sitting in the seat I suggested...as she walked by me for the second time she actually smiled, pointed at my shoes, and told me she thougth they were very cute. It was the sweetest thing ever.

I realized that the face expressions people wear on their face may not be a good indicator of how they actually are. When I was kind to her, she opened up and gave me a compliment. I had judged her to be a strange, unhappy, and overly critial woman when really she just needed someone to be kind to her. I'm going to think of her differently from now on. Actually, she challenged me to think of people in general differently from now on. :) I shall not judge a person based on his or her face expression.

Yay for being a human with the ability to love other humans. :)

Oh, I didn't see you there...HELLO. :)

2010-12-02T22:08:00.005-05:00

Exchange of words I just heard @ Greyhouse Coffee Shop on Purdue Campus!

1st dude: "Hey, have you guys seen Jenga?"

2nd dude (pointing to his right): "Yeah, it's over there somewhere- I heard it fall."

...what makes it even more funny is they were totally serious.

Christmas is right around the corner...and so are cute, fluffy bunnies!

I thougt I hated all animals, but I could handle adopting one of these. Instead of the old spinster with a thousand cats, I will proudly house a thousand little cotton balls like that one.

Yo, parenthood... Got Swagger?

2010-11-20T12:04:00.004-05:00

If you happen to read my last post... this one could be Part 2 in my encouragement of parenthood! My last post focused on how cool it is to be an Aunt, but didn't do a whole lot to encourage all those parents out there.

Here's a super funny video. :) Maybe you've seen it already, but if not... oh my- it's a good one!

Oh babies...

2010-10-31T17:04:00.004-04:00

This post is kind of A-typical for me. I'm dedicating a whole post to my feelings as of late about...babies! For those of you who know me well, you might be thinking..."But, you've never been one of those girls to ooh and ahh over little bundles of babiness so why a post about it?" That's mostly true. :)

The other day I was updating someone on all of the changes happening in our family and realized how insanely crazy it is that I'm soon to have like a thousand babies surrounding me. Ranging from age newborn to one year, there are...(counting)...SIX. While having a conversation with Ann recently, she asked me how I felt about all of my sisters becoming such a part of the mommy/baby stage. It made me stop and think. And then today while surfing through my sister's blogs I realized once again that there's lots to be excited about with new happenings of babies. I'm reporting all of this now to let everyone know that I am excited about BABIES. :) It's pretty awesome when I stop and think about it. All of these little people coming from bigger people that I really love a lot. And guess what?--- I'm the cool Aunt Kaitlin who's wild, free, independent, and totally able to love them like a super spiffy Aunt should.

So bring on the babies!!!!! :)

So many Pictures.

2010-09-17T15:49:00.003-04:00

I've probably only managed to edit like ten photos from my summer in India. There are so many and every time I sit down to work on them I get distracted. I love photo-editting, but not when there are thousands demanding my attention.

I decided to post this one lonely picture out of my frustration. :)

India!

2010-07-07T01:10:00.005-04:00

I don't really look happy in this picture!
...but it's all I have on my computer at the moment. I should upload some of my other pictures. Well, the few I have taken since getting a replacement camera.

FYI- Don't worry, the nose ring is not real!
I'm not quite as wild as you might be thinking. :)

School...you are my enemy!

2010-03-09T20:39:00.004-05:00

School has been so stressful lately! I guess having that extra class this semester really does make things more intense...I kinda expected that it would so I shouldn't be surprised. All I can say is, I'm thankful for family and friends because they can make life enjoyable in the face of stress. :)

But, I do need to remember to actually enjoy them instead of focusing on everything that's stressful when I'm with them. I feel like that was me this past weekend. I really had an AMAZING weekend! But I'll admit that I was less enthusiastic at times because I couldn't quit thinking about my responsibilities. How annoying.

Some things to remember from my weekend:

-Lunch with Iris Friday afternoon...great catch-up time.
-Tag-teaming Friday night Bible study with Bryan. I'd say it was some quality bonding time for both of us. It was awesome to be able to plan and get excited about the study together...he was the perfect study leader too.
-Tulip Noir for breakfast with Ash and Mom on Saturday morning! I experienced the best matcha green tea of my life. :)
-We headed to the fashion mall after that where I found wonderful, Anthropologie, pajama pants on sale. Chaching!
-Baby Christian had his first birthday and we celebrated with a brunch style party. I love spending time with family. Andria did a great job making fun/cute foods for the occasion.
-Clint and Alesa came back to Lafayette Saturday evening. Wonderful turn of events!
-Heidi spent Saturday night with me and also most of Sunday too. She's great.
-Whole wheat pancakes for breakfast Sunday morning with Mom, Kurt, and Heidi. We piled them high with fruit, yogurt, and whipped cream.
-Reading a really good novel for my history class at random times throughout the weekend.
-Wild Cat run w/Mom. We totally dominated those ravines! It was a really pretty Sunday evening too...misty and perfectly cool.
-Watching Anne of Avonlea with mom.

Seriously, when I stop and think about it...I'm so blessed to have the friends and family that I do. Hmmm. I'm feeling a little better already. I need to remind myself of what life is really about sometimes.

And move I shall! Off to spend the rest of my night studying for my Horticulture exam tomorrow morning! Wish me luck.

2010-03-01T12:01:00.004-05:00

This one seems more dramatic when posted on its own.

Senior Summer Pictures!

2010-03-01T11:22:00.007-05:00

I found these surfing through old files on Mom and Dad's computer. I don't think I'd really looked through them since the summer of 2008. I felt like I was getting a little tast of the California fun all over again. :)
I only sent a few to my lap-top...there are some pretty amazing ones I didn't get the chance to copy(bigsur, sanfranciso, hugemansions, etc).

This really was an awesome trip. It's sad how we totally forget memoreis from our lives. Even the monumental/epic ones seem to float away!

Run for the hills!

2010-02-08T20:58:00.008-05:00

Sadie came to visit during Purdue singing weekend. It was so nice.
Mom was great in getting some pretty fun photos of us. :)

We had a really awesome heart-to-heart at Greyhouse and then spent the afternoon in further conversation while running. There's just never enough time when you wanto to talk about everything...

And Stretch stretch stretch it

Sure glad we got Quincey in there!

(I am well aware that this picture is quite ridiculous...Ha)

Then--- we made marvelous fruit and yogurt parfaits
(with greek yogurt of course). Splendid.

Conversation?

2010-02-03T19:54:00.006-05:00

Setting: The ever so luxurious Marstellar kitchen
Characters: Christen, Kaitlin
Time of day: Doesn't matter
Critical items to this story: Peanuts and cranberries.

So, I just recently decided to consolidate my left-over peanuts with my left-over cranberries. Turns out, it's a killer combination! I wanted to share it with Christen. And so I did...

Kaitlin: "Try these! Crazy how they are so much better when put together...(dorky smile)...just like you and me."
Christen: "Oh, you're so sweet...and salty! Hahahaha!"
Kaitlin: "Haha! You're so nutty! Hahahaha!"
Christen: "Ohhhh...you're berry funny!!!" (Raging laughter at this point)

Seriously. It was probably the coolest conversation I've ever had where punning is concerned. :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eating dinner together at Thai Essence.
("Curry is curry, but curry with friends...Mmm,"
a slightly revised quote from Mr. Elton!)

2010-01-27T13:08:00.006-05:00

I just found this picture today and it is so...interesting. I'm not sure what I think it means. But, it does provoke a response in me...just not sure what. :)

Maybe it's sort of how I feel about life lately. Sometimes it can seem really scary and strange. Like, I don't really feel like life is reality and things are not certain or explainable. She seems out of place in this picture and yet she really does look like she belongs there. the surroundings are sort of creepy, but she gives off a sort of peaceful vibe in the midst of it all. And, the door/road idea is sort of like the continuation of life and opportunities. I like the picture because it makes me feel uncomfortable one moment and then totally intrigued and inspired the next moment. I can't just look at it without wanting to figure it out and understand how it makes me feel. Maybe if I stare at it a little longer or look at it from a different angle it will suddenly make sense or I'll see some part of it that I didn't notice before. But then again, maybe it's just an artistic picture that really doesn't need an explanation. And, maybe I spend too too much time trying to always understand my feelings and emotions about things.

I could pretty much talk about this all day

...but am I even making sense?

Maybe not. :)

2009-12-29T23:04:00.002-05:00

A friend sent this picture to me...so strange that I don't remember ever wearing such an elaborate headpiece. :)

I think we all have a majestic lioness within ourselves! ROAAAR.

I love her...

2009-12-22T22:30:00.004-05:00

I need to post about my Christmas break thus far... but, for now I will settle for a picture of Ash and I. I just love this picture. It speaks to my soul. :)

Ashton- You will never know how much I LOVE YOU!!!

"Well Hi There!"...

2009-12-13T22:04:00.008-05:00

said the Kaitlin.

My absence from the blogging world has been too long. I have to admit that I had a despairing sort of attitude about blogging...because I figured that it was too late to make up for all the lost time. Things happen and I don't blog, and then more things happen and I still don't blog. Do you see what a terrible situation I found myself in?

Well-- I've decided to escape from the dark pit of bloglessness...WHAM!

I am currently sitting with Christen at her parents house. We don't have to be back to campus until, like, noon. You know why? Because, it's finals week! Finals isn't really a happy thing. But, not having any of my finals till the end of the week is wonderful. I really need to motivate myself to study now so I'll be prepared for them. Ok-- enough of this boring school talk.

A funny story:
Christen was eating a frozen fruit cup. She decided that it would be funny to creepily grab my hand with her freezing cold one. Christen, and mostly everyone else, knows that I don't like it when people touch me very much. heh hehe. :) I guess I was feeling a little more chill than normal because it surprisingly didn't bother me all that much. A few seconds later Christen's mom walked in the room to talk to us...oh my. So funny. There we were holding hands while not realizing we were and also not realizing how incredibly strange/weird and embarrassing it looked. Jacki died laughing and was like "what's going on?" Then we died laughing. So then we were all laughing, with Christen and I frantically trying to explain the situation.
(

Christen's been working on some design project on her computer for the last hour. I've been surfing a cool and unique blog link Jenny sent me...for the last hour(if not longer--- so pathetic)! Let me tell you, I've added some pretty radical photos to my screen-saver collection. :)

Here's one now...

and another...

I feel the need to clarify: It's not that I don't like it when people touch me...it's just that...I wouldn't say it's how I express myself to others. And, touching me annoyingly is a good way to get a "freak out" out of me!) NUFF Said.

Little Snipets of things

2009-09-09T14:30:00.010-04:00

Wow. I feel like I've hardly had time to sit since school started!

Fall semester has got to be the busiest in terms of PYG planning stuff for sure. There's been a little stress here and there, but pretty great overall. I love the dynamics of all the girls this year...I was wondering how it would be different with so many new girls. It's been wonderful.

This is a picture of a girl I got to know on the plane ride back from Florida. She was on her way to Chicago for school, and had never really been away from home for an extended period of time. We talked pretty much the whole way. It was cool.

I love this picture. Turns out, Luca gets a little nervous on planes just like his Mom. :)
------ missing you guys in Florida! Jenny- Thanks for delivering my picture to me. It made me smile.

Here are some pictures of Kurt and I on our way to Denny and MaryAnn's about a week ago. I'm not sure what inspired us to strike midnight poses...other than the two abandoned tires along the side of the road that served as great props.

Last day in Florida...

2009-08-13T23:44:00.013-04:00

I woke up this morning around 7am to the sounds of Luca and Luke talking and moving about in the kitchen. For some reason I decided I needed to join them, even though I'm the farthest thing from what you'd call a morning person. I've adjusted to the morning life quite well here in Florida...Luca gave me a run for my money. Funny as it sounds, School starting will give me a chance to sleep in a little. Luke offered to make me eggs before he left. Usually I would decline the offer because eggs just never sound that good to me. But this morning I liked the idea quite well. I thought it was awfully sweet of Luke to make them for me.

At 8:30am I met with Lauren to walk the 3mi Haile trail. Lauren and I were first introduced to each other at the pool. The day I met her she invited me to her apartment(which was so cute) to watch a movie with her and her mom. I am seriously always so surprised by how friendly people are here! Our walk was fun and a great way to start the day.

Jenny, Luca, and I headed to Urban Thread around 10:00am with Aimee and her cute kids. It was so much fun! Jenny and Aimee left the little shop to sit at the Starbucks next door because too many little kids in one place for too long is just...too much. All of a sudden I see Jen's head poke in the window. And then I kinda feel panicky because I'm thinking she's going to tell me I'm taking too long and then I'll feel bad because I should be hurrying and helping with the kids! She runs in the store and with a big smile on her face grabs the skirt I had planned to buy and proceeds to buy it for me. It was so sweet. She said it was a gift from her and Aimee. :) Oh but it doesn't end there...When I joined them at Starbucks a few seconds later Jenny had bought a little muffin with a candle on top. I felt the love. Did I mention it was raining at this point? Rain is my favorite thing ever.

There's the muffin and a happy me holding it.

This is Aimee. I absolutely love this girl.

The kids...how cute.

You probably thought this post was about over, huh? Think again! This was a crazy & long day. Pretty much I'm explaining it in extreme detail too...probably because...it's my last day in Florida. I'm savoring every little bit of it. :)

(Picking up where I left off)--
We then moved our party to Chick-fil-A so the kids could play. And guess what they had there? An annoying, huge, stuffed cow that walked around scaring young children. I think those stuffed costume things are weird & creepy, but I guess some kids really do like them.
Oh and, we shared a tasty peach milk-shake together...that we got for free from a coupon Aimee had. :)

Here's a picture...

I ran my last circle around Village Haile this afternoon. Running in the FL humidity for a summer has been a good experience. It's tough...and I think I'm actually going to appreciate Indiana exercising after all I've had to endure! Jenny and I watched our last show together on her tiny mac screen. I've got some good memories of Luke, Jenny, and I huddled together on the couch watching something ridiculous like, "I survived a Japanese Game Show!" :)

At around 8:00pm I met with two of my close friends for dessert at the Melting Pot. It was wonderful. We dipped Pound cake, fruit, and cheesecake into a steamy pot of dark chocolate while chatting. so good.
Now that I'm thinking about it, ending my last day in Florida with chocolate is just about perfect. :)

And there we are.

Before this post comes to a close, I have to mention: There's no way I would have finished my packing in time for our flight tomorrow if it hadn't been for Rachel(she's the girl on the left in the above pic.). I pretty much just handed her items in a dazed state while she some-how fit them all in my bag. There's no way all of that stuff should have fit! It was incredible. She's a one of a kind girl.

And here's another picture in honor of her. :)

Now that it's 1:30am I'll go to bed...and wake up in a couple of hours to head to Orlando for a way early flight. Wowsers. No sleep for me.
NIGHT!

Little spheres of delight!

2009-08-11T22:58:00.009-04:00

I just ordered these online. I feel they'll be the perfect touch in my quest to create a magical desk space at Purdue. It's little things like this that make all the difference. :)

And-- Here is the first of my Florida art projects. Sadly, I'm not sure how I'm going to get it home with me! Distressing situation to be in.

ART invasion!

2009-08-09T11:02:00.011-04:00

This past week I've had an endless surge of art inspiration. It's very strange. I'm once again realizing the tendancy I can have to get a little extreme about things. I literally can't sleep at night lately because I'm thinking about all of the art projects and things I want to do (while I still have time and it's summer). Maybe that's it...I feel frantic because I know I won't have time or mental energy to invest in these art projects once school starts.

The other night I found myself suddenly wide awake and it was still dark out. As soon as I woke up I had all of these verses of a poem running through my head. I jumped out of bed and in the dim light of morning, I wrote them down...then I went back to bed. That would be verbal art I guess. :) WELL OK, if you really want to hear the poem I might share it with you later...Ha.

Friday I ran to a craft store and purchased oil pastels and a huge 20x30 art board. Four hours later I had finished a vogue painting of a 1920's lass with scarf blowing in the wind. I'm planning to have it framed and put up in my apartment, which I'm really excited about. Taking it on the plane with me should be interesting. I'm going to have some good memories attached to this painting, because Jenny and I spent the evening at Kathy Gratto's(Lady that hosts sewing weekly) house while I painted it. Kathy has a really cool daughter named Audrey that's friends with Jen, and they were so fun to hang out with. Jenny studied Biology, Audrey worked on a fun sewing project with Kathy, the kids watched Jungle Book, and I oil-pasteled. It was super relaxing.

I bought a pretty curtain for my apartment bedroom and am going to order some beautiful flower-fairy lights too. I've spent so much time looking at inspiration filled pictures of decorating on the Internet- I love it. This is another area that's consumed me. I'm going to make my apartment desk space magical. :)

This afternoon, I want to work with watercolor pencils. I've never used them and am so excited about it! I found a picture of an earthy, unique girl that I'm going to re-create.

-------......-------......------- Three Cheers for art!

Florida Update...

2009-08-05T14:44:00.008-04:00

Wow. I only have 8 days left here...I'm gonna miss it bad! I've had some amazing, quality time with the girls I've met here in Florida. I'll call them my Florida girls. :)

I'm going to create a list of some social highlights from my Florida summer:

-Driving range to work on (or should I say develope) my golfing skills. I went with Klaus and Charley who are our condo neibhors...and Charley's sister & 2 brothers were visiting for the weekend too. I felt very priviledged to be included in their family outing of golf. :)

-Anastasia/St. Augustine beach. This was a great day, and I'm so glad to say I finally traversed the sands of a Florida beach while here. I was getting worried that it might not happen...how embarassing would that be to tell people. :)This day I also had my first experience surfing. It's tough and you gotta be tough. Kristen (Jenny's friend) was brave enough to surf with me and we both brought home some impressive bruises.

-Dance party wit my FL girls(the "wit" is a typo, but I'm leaving it because I think it's funny). we danced for three hours...hardcore.

-Jewelry making with Charley. This was a lot of fun and now I have a pretty hip bracelet out of the deal too. Maybe I'll put it on my keychain.

-Fun dinners, again, w/FL girls. They have been amazing all summer about calling me and inviting me to random stuff. I love it.

-Late night talk with Holli(one of my FL girls)...I'm getting sick of using that phrase! We had a REAL heart-to-heart last night. Seriously, I've been able to connect with people on a deeper level than I expected...I'm so thankful God has blessed these relationships. :)

-Lunch with Miriam at Sister's. She's the best co-worker a girl could ask for. We've been hostessing together at sister's this summer. she pretty much was the perfect teacher too. It as so great connecting over lunch...and seeing the other Sister's staff that I love.

-Pool time with Aimee. Aimee is great. She's one of Jenny's closest friends here in Gainesville and we hit it off too. She has a little boy Luca's age so they keep each other happy playing.

-Sewing Nights. This happens once a week with ladies from Jen and Luke's church. It's such a special little group. You're always guaranteed some delightful baked goods and fresh coffee to enjoy while sewing. I sewed a ruffle scarf a couple weeks ago. So fun.

I think I'll have to do a post about some of my favorite memories with Luke, Jenny, and Luca before the summer comes to a complete end. That would be nice.

What a Find!

2009-07-27T13:51:00.004-04:00

I was looking through my old post list and realized that I have a ton of posts that I never actually published!...so I decided to randomly read the drafts. I kinda felt like I was discovering buried treasure, if you know what I mean. :)

This particular post dates back to some time in February. I guess I really had some strong feelings for Nancy Drew at that point in my life. I mean, I still do...but the relationship between Nancy and I just isn't as strong as it once was. I think it might have something to do with the fact that her last PC game stumped me. Where's Luke and Ann when you need them! :)

Nancy Drew is such a thrill
Always finding ghosts with voices shrill
She is known to be quite sneaky and clever
always triumphing through every mystery endeavor
Nancy Drew is such an inspiration
Her sleuthing skills speak to the whole nation...

Well, there it is! Just think, this poem could have spent it's whole life as a forgotten draft in a long list of posts. How sad--- but then again, a little less embarrassing for me if I'd have only left it unpublished. :)

Sea World

2009-07-22T17:40:00.005-04:00

A few years ago Ash, Liv, Christen, Natalie, and a bunch of other fun people traveled out to CA to hang with the young group there. I remember having feelings of deep regret after hearing all about the trip I missed out on. Let me be more specific...I wept when I heard they spent a glorious day at Sea World. And then wept more bitterly when I heard about the glorious meeting of--- Shamu.

Who would have thought that I too would be priviledged enough to meet Shamu so many years later? It's a miracle...Shamu is a miracle (sigh). :)

The day was fun, but very expensive and super hot. After getting soaked during the Shamu show, it was quite convenient that you couldn't tell whether we were sweaty or just sea-water drenched. :) We were seated above the splash zone --- Eight words: Don't ever underestimate Shamu and his splashing abilities. We didn't stand a chance.

We met up with family on Luke's side. It was so cute to see Luca with his cousins. I think all of us were very worn out at the end of the day. Those ocean creatures are just so dang stimulating!

Visit from the Steffens

2009-06-26T20:30:00.003-04:00

Ashton and Bryan brought Liv and Brett to Florida and stopped in Gainesville for the night! It was so much fun. I love those people. We had a great dinner that was quite an adventure to cook together. After dinner we all talked and laughed around the table...one of my favorite things to do with good friends. Jen and Liv got into a pretty serious conversation about career stuff. I wasn't feeling particulary serious, so Ash and I ended up giggling about outrageous pick-up lines on the web instead. It felt good to be totally retarded and care-free together. And don't worry we have our serious moments too. :)

Ash, Liv, and I woke early to go for a run on the trail(Yes, you should be impressed!). Then, we headed out for a fun breakfast at The Flying Biscuit. The food was great. I definitely want to have breakfast there again before the summer ends.

Blasted Routine

2009-06-19T12:06:00.006-04:00

Right now I'm reading a book Jenny picked up from the library- Wild Goose Chase, by Mark Batterson. Chapter three is about how we form routines in our lives,and consequently forget that God is involved in Evey detail...even in the small things that we've lost appreciation for. It made me think back to how often I fell into this at Purdue. I'd live like a robot, mechanically going to class, doing homework, and "enjoying" my youth group. "The sacred becomes routine. And we not only forfeit spiritual adventure but we also start losing the joy of our salvation."

Mark Batterson asked, "When was the last time you, as an act of worship, watched the sun rise?" This made me realize how much more connected to God I'd be if I could stop for a moment to notice the small things around me. God gives me little hugs all the time and I step right over them in my attempt to keep up with a demanding routine that I've created and let rule my life. As I was reading this chapter, I stopped to look up at the view from Luke and Jen's balcony. It was the kind of weather right before and after a rainfall. Everything is fresh and sparkly with rain and the sky looks like it wants to keep raining. I love the way the air smells and how calm everything is. There are so many amazing things around me that I want to open up my eyes to and see. And, it's so cool for me to remember that by noticing and appreciating these things we are worshiping God.

As a response to the thoughts in this book, I'm posting this picture.

I found these lights stored away in the bedroom closet. Twinkle lights are one of my favorite things ever. I love how they are able to make a room so cozy. Before I found them, I had been thinking how much I wanted a lamp for the same purpose. The twinkle lights are much better. Seriously, the lighting of my bedroom is a big deal to me...now it's like a little, twinkly oasis.

I want to say: thank you for that special gift, God!
Mmm hmmm, girlfrieend!--You know I'm feeling more joyful. :)

Luca

2009-06-12T13:06:00.017-04:00

These pictures were taken on the first day of our nannying adventure.

Friday night fun

2009-06-06T13:59:00.008-04:00

After a long week for us all, we celebrated its end with dinner at Dragonfly Sushi. It's located in downtown Gainesville...I fell in love with the fun college atmosphere there. I hadn't experienced that part of Gainesville before. Dragonfly happens to be Luke's favorite...and yes, the sushi was first-rate.

After dinner, Jen and I went to a cute little shop down the street. And, that's where I purchased my first FL souvenir of the summer. :) It's a pretty awesome purse that was originally $54. I said I liked it and the guy that owned the shop offered it to me 50% off! Needless to say, it was sold.

The night ended at Barnie's coffee. Jenny needed to stop to grab a friend's keys. I'm glad we did because they had a live jazz band playing. :)

It was a great night. How I wish I'd have thought to bring my camera.

Sister's for Breakfast.

2009-06-06T13:44:00.005-04:00

I met with Monika(spelling?)this afternoon and I'll be starting training at Sister's tomorrow at 10:15! I'm definitely jumping into it sooner than I thought, but am really excited about it. The people working there seem really cool, and I'm thinking it'll be a pretty good experience for me. It sounds like I'll be doing hostessing and mostly working on the weekends.

Florida!

2009-06-03T14:56:00.006-04:00

I'm here and it's already Wednesday! I'm taking the opportunity to blog while Luca is napping.

I'm planning to make dinner tonight for Luke and Jen-- it should be fun. Luca was great today, which I was thankful for after a grumpy, sleep-deprived Luca yesterday.

Monday evening Luke, Jenny, and I ran together with Luke pushing Luca in the stroller. It was so great to all exercise together. We ran a three mile trail around village Haile. I'm really loving how much I've been able to be a part of their lives here in Florida. I've been able to meet Jen's friends and just do everyday things with her. I'm really thankful for the chance to experience some of Jenny's world. Going to church together Sunday was really cool too.

Last night I was pouring myself some coffee in the kitchen and looked up at Jenny in the living room...it suddenly hit me how crazy it is that I'm here with her. She's not my far away sister in Florida that I never see anymore. I get to see her every day for a whole summer! I've been really impressed with Luke's willingnes to help out with Luca!

Monday Luca and I went to the park and walked around the village. I got some pretty cute pictures of him. :) I think I might just upload them all on a separate post though. There's way too many to upload here.

Sense and Sensibility

2009-05-15T17:48:00.004-04:00

Mom and I just finished watching Sense and Sensibility this afternoon. Before you start getting any ideas: We are not lazy bums that watch movies all day...we exercised together before. Also, we're drinking detox shakes(you really should be impressed)for a couple of days. Our run was great because it was lightly sprinkling...kinda felt like we were running in a rainforest with the green trees and rainy haze. Mom and I made chai drinks to accompany us with our movie. It was quite cozy :)

I do have a few words to say about that movie. It was pretty sad and depressing! I don't know why I was surprised though, because Jane Austen isn't known to write upbeat stories. If you've never seen it then let yourself be warned...I did enjoy watching it despite its somewhat dismal flavor.

Weird...

2009-05-08T11:25:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning at 11:00am and I have a strange feeling in my tummy. I'm pretty sure is has something to do with the fact that Leah's stuff is all packed up and most of the PYGers have finished the last of their exams. I still have a final this Saturday and it doesn't end till 3pm...Not so cool. So, I think I'm realizing how quickly the semester ended and maybe feeling a little bit freakouty(new word I created) about it.

I'm totally excited about this summer though! Maybe I'll just focus on that to make myself feel better. I'm going to be nannying Luca basically full time in FL with Luke and Jen! I love that little boy and don't get to spend much time with him so this is the opportunity of a lifetime. :) Jen and I have got some serious bonding to do. I Would take the liberty to say that we are probably the most similar in personality out of the girls in our family. She's always understood me pretty well and we've got some common passions(i.e. Dancing, running, good food, fashion, etc.). Man, I'm getting excited about this all over again! I'm so super charged up for our South Carolina vacation too! That's something I can't rave enough about. And, as an added bonus, Suneeta Thomas(from India) is going to be coming with us. She's accepted the challenge of watching the boys for the week.

I'm gonna go eat dinner at an Indian place here on campus with some of my PYG buddies! And looks like my night will consist of studying for an exam.
Almost done! But not as happy about it as I thought. I'm gonna miss my roommate Heidi too! This is too hard. Sigh.

Sha-nae-nae es Moderno!

2009-04-28T18:33:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow Heidi and I are planning to get our hair cut together. She's been looking for a new hair stylist and I've got some good things to say about mine. I was looking through some pictures of hair and found this lady that inspired me. She is the definition of modern. If I could pull off such a haircut I would...I just don't think our features are near similar enough. :)

P.S. I'm getting very excited about South Carolina and Florida! Bring on the summer...I'm ready!

Ready, get set, STUDY!

2009-04-16T01:29:00.009-04:00

It's 2:000am and Heidi and I have barely begun our long night of studying and projects. Help.

I have a COM. 250 exam and Hedi has a massive literature project to do.

Me: "Heidi, how do you feel with the burden of homework upon your back?"

Heidi: "Worried and frantic."
--Said while munching on a pauca(this is not a wild critter as it sounds...it's actually a delightful piece of bread)

There you have it. Wish us luck! :)

New passion: Jazz.

2009-04-06T18:33:00.003-04:00

My weekend started out with the borrowing of Heidi's car to pick up two friends of mine- (Iris and Su). They are both from China and I'll inform you that Su is actually a guy...poor fellow. Must be rough having such a name. :) We met a bunch of other international kids at a Japanese restaurant here on campus. It was a ton of fun. I spent most of my meal looking very awkward while trying to eat with chopstics. Pretty much I'd whine about how much I hate chopsticks, get made fun of, and almost give up! However, I'll have you know that I managed to finish my whole meal without touching a fork or spoon! I was pretty proud of myself and I think everyone else was too. :) I do have to thank chopsticks for solving one of my biggest problems in life. I tend to eat way too fast resulting in me almost always being the first person done at any meal. Chopsticks really don't allow for fast eating...maybe I should force myself to eat with them permanently from now on. Perfect.

Iris and I had planned to head over to WL Bible study directly after dinner but realized that there was no way we'd be able to make it in time. We ended up accepting a very last-minute invitation to a Jazz concert on campus from another friend from China named Webb. His name is weird too...he said it was the first word he saw in English so he chose it for his English name. I'm just glad it wasn't something more ridiculous...that's a pretty risky way of naming yourself! So we(me and three Chinese kids)took off for the concert, and that's how I happened upon the realization that I really do like Jazz music. I need to be specific though: My favorit type of Jazz music is the kind that has the bongo drums and a lot of Brazilian influence. I also have a new appreciation for instruments after watching those people perform. All in all it was a pretty fun night.

The rest of my weekend was awesome too! Christen came home with me that night and she was able to join us for a couple of the last songs from the Jazz concert before we left campus. We later did some jazz karaoke which was a blast! Saturday was super relaxing with Christen. Saturday night I headed to Indy to baby-sit the Schafer boys. :) I spent the rest of the weekend in Indy and was able to see Adrian and Noah in their Easter program. They were adorable and it was so great to be with everyone. I was able to see Clint, Alesa, and Bryan too.:)

STUDY CLUB update.

2009-02-20T13:45:00.004-05:00

Last night we embarked once again to the always faithful Hicks study lounge. Obviously, there was far too little studying and for too much laughing and acting retarded! It's great. I'm pretty sure I'll look back in a couple of years and smile at the thought of how much time we continually wasted.:) What is time compared to cherished memories with dear friends? I'm looking for a quote now...
hehe. I was looking for something inspiring and found this...it makes me laugh!
--------------------------"Friendship? Yes Please."
----------------------------------Charles Dickens.

I think it's really funny that quotes like these even exist. Here are some pictures with a little study club flavor for you:

(Keep in mind that these pictures were taken at about 3:00AM)

Valentines day...the holiday for lovers.

2009-02-20T12:46:00.003-05:00

My valentine's day is something to talk about for sure. Where do I start?
Sadie and I had been wanting to meeet at Denny&Mary Ann's with our foreign friends for quite a while. It just hadn't happened...that was about to change.
We decided to plan a get-together the weekend of valentine's day. It ended up working perfectly and I'm so thankful we did it. Sadie brought 4 girls with her. Quinn Steffen came with his friend and Janessa, Kurt, Sam, Sam's asian friend, Kyle, Suneeta, and I came out from Lafayette, The group was wonderful. Sam, Sadie, Janessa, Kyle, and I had a blast cooking dinner Saturday! We were all crammed in the kitchen working magic with fresh ingredients. Denny was a great advisor(as always) through our cooking adveture. I don't think I've ever had so much fun making a meal in my life. :)

Friday night a very unplanned camp fire was formed on the deck by the pond. It was about 12:00am and lightly snowing...we were all hudled around the fire pit with big smiles while trying to stay warm. We sang some praise songs and talked. Totally unplanned things are always the best. We played some pretty fun pool games, guitar hero(Janessa and Sam kicked butt!), and DDR (I wouldn't say I'm any good, but my friends say...ha).

I really loved all of the foreign people we were able to connect with. We represented six countries that weekend. Russia, China, India, Taiwan, Morocco, and Japan. Each personality was so special and they were all so appreciative. I loved it.

Denny and MaryAnn were once again the perfect hosts. I don't know how they do it. They give such energy and love to any and all guests. Without them it would have never been possible. I'm really thankful.:) I'm hoping we can all meet again when it's warmer and do some outside stuff...we'll see.
These pictures aren't the best quality, but give you a little idea of what the group looked like.

God is amazing.

2009-02-03T18:16:00.004-05:00

This week has been really nice so far. I do have an exam Thursdy, which isn't great...but I'm going to conquer the reading and get that grade!

For real. I first of all want to say thank you to all of the people that are part of my life! I'm realizing how amazing my friends are. Through each experience in my life I have people that I enjoy and love so much! It's amazing how much I can see God and experience God in my friendships. That's what quality friendships are all about.

This semester's classes are seeming to be easier than last semester, which is giving me more time to breath. It's been quite a good thing. So I'm thinking with the extra time I have, what should I do? And this leads me to share something very exciting. I'm not positive about it yet...but the idea alone excites me lots. And since I really can never keep my mouth shut about anything in my life I'll share it. I received an email from Charlotte Messmer today. Charlotte is the Global Connect leader for the foreign students here at Purdue and she emails out information to all of us that have signed up for exchange students and stuff. She told me that she had met with Iris and wanted to thank me for the time I spent with her over Christmas break. I was really touched by the email and sent back a "thank you for the thank you" sort of email. In my email to her I mentioned how much I really do have a heart for foreign students and I offered to help her with the program in any way I could. I really didn't think that she would acctually take me up on the offer...low and behold, she wrote back right away and would like to meet me if I'm interested! You have no idea how excited this makes me. :)

Quote from Charlotte herself: "I do have some ideas of things that have just been on the back burner, but if you have some interest, maybe we could get together to talk more about it sometime? Would you have time to do that?"

This would be the ideal opportunity to serve...something that I very much enjoy and am PASSIONATE about! We'll see what happens. Ideas on the back burner...jeepers?! It's so cool.

Maybe next time I blog I'll have new information on this subject. :)

No Title...none at all.

2009-01-27T14:51:00.007-05:00

I know...What the heck!? It's only been a few days and I'm already posting!You can just call me the Freakishly Frequent blogger.

I feel the need to post because I'm SO HAPPY right now. I've just been realizing a lot of things lately...a lot of good things. People have always been important to me and my friendships mean the world to me. But as of late, spending time with people has been especially awesome. I think it has something to do with my relationship with Christ ultimately. I had a lot of time to think and relax over the weekend...and spending time with God was the best. The deeper my relationship with Christ the deeper my relationship with others! I know my experiences are magnified because Christ is in my heart doing the magnifying...i love it.

Recently a group of we Purdue kids started a new club here on campus (OK...so maybe it hasn't been approved by the Purdue board but we've decided it's official). We call it "coffee club" or maybe "breakfast club." I like the first better because it has no sketchy connotations to it. So we had our second meeting this morning at 9:00. We've decided upon Einstein Bagels as our meeting spot and I think it fits us well. Every time I'm there I think of Luke Gutwein and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I remember it was one of his favorite places to hang out when he was attending Purdue. Would you like to know who the privileged members of our group are?
-Christen-Kyle F.-Sarena-Sam-Janessa-Matt V.-Kaitlin-
(I'm not sure why I connected them all in a chainlike fashion). I'd say it's a quality group of people and wonderful diversity of personalities too. So now we have two clubs--- Study club and this one. I'm just super excited to create like 100 more...maybe hat club, book club, peanut butter lover's club(this one's for you Christen), dance club(Jenny- I was thinking you could make a guest appearance)...:)

I have class in about an hour. I must be off!
The picture Heidi and I took last week with my computer.:) It's in case you forgot what I look like, Jenny! It's been so long since I've seen you.

Home....delight

2009-01-24T14:04:00.002-05:00

I awoke this morning to join Leah and Kendra for a conference talk thing about defending our faith. It was really good for me to hear it...I'm glad Leah asked me to go. I wasn't origionally planning to go but glad I did for sure. Other than getting up pretty early, my day has been extremely lazy and slow. I kinda feel guilty but not enough to do anything about it. :)

Ash is here working for Dad. Mom, Ash, and I have spent way too much time sitting by the cozy fire in the living room. It's a funny sight with all of our lap-tops open...you'd think we had no life with Me pointlessly looking at facebook photos and mom browsing vintage wallpaper. Ash seemed to be getting stuff done. I should probably do some text book reading...blah. Doesn't sound the most exciting. I do have to say that being productive produces good feelings, but so does relaxing...they're just totally different kinds of feelings. Probably not even related...not even distant cousins of each other.:)

Later this evening I might go hang out with Heidi and Kristian. This should be interesting. I feel honored that they'd want to spend time with me and I'll try to be as fun and engaging as possible. Or maybe I'll just bring my lap-top and continue my facebooking adventures. Hehe. I never used to be that into facebook...hmmm. I think I'm deciding now to stop the habit. I'm not a prisoner to any form of technology! Not even blogging! And that is why I'm ending this post...Now! :)
Have a wonderful day.

Christmas Break

2009-01-01T16:28:00.007-05:00

I can't begin to tell you how completely relaxing this break has been for me! It started out awesome and is continuing that way. Christen, Suneeta, Iris, Karmi and I traversed VERY ICY roads to Denny and MaryAnn's house. It's amazing we made it there alive. In the beginning, we had planned to visit Sadie in Peoria, but only made it to MaryAnn's before deciding that we'd never get there driving 40mph. And,40mph was pretty risky...you have no idea. Turned out that we had an awesome night taking pointless pictures in thick darkness after the electricity went out during the ice storm. We also watched a movie titled Bounce. Doesn't that sound like a happy movie title...it wasn't. The main character's husband dies in a plane crash (I wouldn't recommend this movie for Jenny)and it was sad. But, we managed...the rest of the night we were smiling despite the tears shed during the movie. :)

I know you are all wondering...how could such fun girls get together and not have a dance party? Don't worry, we definitely did have a crazy dance party. :)
"shimmy shake to the right and shimmy shake to the left!"

Here are a few pictures we took during the power-outage:

These following pictures are the next morning before we took off.

2008-11-24T16:53:00.004-05:00

There are only two days of school this week due to thanksgiving break! How wonderful. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the three days off. I MUST get most of my ENT 105 book project done. This could turn out to take a lot of time too...kinda stressful. I'm planning to get together with my global connect partner over the break, which will be great. I was thinking I could take her to Indy or something. I also want to visit Homer IL Thursday or Friday maybe.

Sarena, Janessa, and I want to plan something for the girl cousins before our get-together on Saturday. That could turn out to be a pretty fun time with some girls I don't get to see often. I really do hope that we can all be real with each other. Sometimes it's hard to get past the formalities with people you haven't been with for a long time. And then there's the complexity of trying not to offend someone else becuase your convictions are a little different...that can be hard. I'm sure it'll be good, especially if I put forth the effort to make it so. :)

So I have a funny story...it makes me look pretty dumb too. You'd better all feel sorry for me!
Saturday night I was with Sadie at a foreign exchange dinner and we were playing games and stuff. Well, someone asked if any of us could do the splits. It just so happens that I can! I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to showcase such an impressive ability! This is where it get bad...no stretching and not easing into it at all. I went straight into the splits and there was a pretty loud tearing in the back of my thigh. I was pretty far away from the group so no one heard it but me. so I acted like nothing happened and stiffly sat back down on my chair. Yeah. I just sat there not moving for quite a while...wondering if I could actually stand up while feeling a burning pain shooting through my leg. Not cool at all. so I'm waiting for one of my doctor relatives to take a look. Oh and, Christen just convinced me to sign up for the mini-marathon. This leg better cooperate and heal before then!
Happy Thanksgiving! I can't wait to gain ten pounds this weekend. :)

Tagged post!

2008-10-20T16:50:00.004-04:00

1.) I'm realizing with many tears how much of a perfectionist(based on my pride of course) I am. It's probably one of the harder things I've had to learn this far...I guess I've been learning it through each diff. stage of my life. Let's just say Purdue is givin' me a run for my money and I'm sure it's good for me!

2.) I very much like to dance and I very much like African-American culture! Both of those are very known facts so I paired them.

3.) As a little girl, I carried the responsibility of every animal/pet upon my back. And now I pretty much don't want anything to do with them as a result. I don't like animals very much...I used up all of my positive regard for them long ago. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had a grey cat that was possessed...yes. he was! Ask my family for the gory details.

4.) I love chewable vitamin C...you could probably classify it as an addiction. I like to think of it as the one candy I don't feel a single bit of guilt eating.

5.) I love old architecture and anything dealing with old time-periods. Reading novels set back in the 1800's or anything like that is the best thing in the world. I secretly wish I could completely deck myself out in the latest 1800's fashion and attend a ball...similar to the Pride and Prejudice type. And then return home to my large manor. Sigh....how perfect...and how dorky that I'm confessing this to you!:)

6.) I really want to travel to Brazil before I die. It would be awesome to visit Ygui(our foreighn exchange student when I was a Junior in HighSchool). And, I'm sure my spanish will be astounding by then so I'll be able to understand some Portuguese...not likely.

7.) I don't prefer saxophones or electrc guitars....I'm not sure why. I do like most other instraments a lot though.

Ready for Fall break!

2008-10-09T13:47:00.005-04:00

I'm so glad for this week to be over(it's seemed really long). I have five book reviews that I need to finish today and I also need to turn in my book plan for a children's book in Entemology class. For a 100 level class it's turning out to be a lot of work. I have to do my own illustrations for this book too(which I think will be pretty fun)...it's about a bug of my choice. I also have to make a bug costume that's due in a couple weeks. I'm hoping mom will help me with some of this...she's quite the wizard with her sewing-needle wand! Today, I had the nices librarian help me. He was so helful and considerate of my plight to find books about bugs. It made me realize how important it is to treat other people like they really do matter...it makes a difference!

Sunday night Leah and Emily decided to watch Emma! It happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time. I had a little bit of studying to do and I was feeling stressed with the thought of the two hard exams I was going to take Monday and Tuesday. After taking a refreshing shower I could hear familliar sounds coming from the living room...I got the best warm and fuzzy feeling when I saw that they were watching Emma. It was the perfect thing to relieve stress, and the after-shower clean feeling only magnified the wonderfulness of it all! It's one of those movies that I associate really good memories with and it made me feel completely relaxed and happy(which is quite contrary to how I would normally feel the night before exams). I love the music, characters, and storyline of it...not to mention the coolness of Mr. Knightly.

I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with my fall break. Mom extended the invitation of going with her, Aunt Joyce, and Aunt Connie to the Covered Bridge festival. That could be quite the adventure and my aunts are pretty cool. I'm planning to go to the Taylor Invite this weekend too. For some reason, I'm just not as excited about it as I should be. I'm sure it will turn out to be a great time. The five hour drive just doesn't sound the best.

Ok...I need to get those book reviews done!

Prayin' For You

2008-09-15T16:02:00.003-04:00

Sadie introduced this to me a couple weeks ago and I thought it'd be cool to post.

A word about IDIS 376

2008-09-09T14:01:00.007-04:00

I just gave a small presentation thing with a partner in my African American class. Basically, we had to summarize a chapter from a book we're reading in class. It wasn't a big deal at all...type up a paper with bullet points about the chapter and talk for like five minutes about it to the class. I usually don't mind this sort of thing at all...but in this class it's just a little bit different. The book is titled: "The Assasinataion of the Black Male Image." Not an easy to talk about topic. Since most of the class is made up of African Americans, including Mr. Tillis(my teacher), It feels different to talk about these issues. The chapter we had to present was one of the longer ones and had so much information...some of which I thought would be uncomfortable to talk about(how the African American male is viewed as sex-crazed and lots of other explicit things along those lines). The teacher chose our partners and, strangely enough, I was paired with another white kid named Ben(he plays baseball for Purdue and is a nice kid). I don't even think that was intentional on the teacher's part...I'm pretty sure he picked at random.

So, the presentation went good and I actually enjoyed standing up there to talk. I really like Mr. Tillis...he's a cool guy! Ben typed up the bullet points and when I was reading over it in class I noticed typo errors...annoying! So I mentioned it to my teacher after class. I warned him that there were typos and that it bothered me and he said I could re-type it if I wanted becuase he's that kind of person too. I guess most perfectionists do kinda understand each other...band together perfectionists!

Then while I was looking for Ashton outside of Beering after my class, I saw Mr Tillis walking by and he told me I did a nice job...which was good to hear because I was pretty sure it probably sounded scattered. We talked for a little bit. I'd say I'm getting to know my teacher well. I love teachers...and he's one of the cooler ones I have. I'm pretty sure this class is going to stretch me in some good ways.

Purdue

2008-09-03T17:15:00.003-04:00

I'm very tired at the moment...beware!...this may be a borring post as a result!

I'm excited for my African American Male class tomorrow. And, I have tons of reading to do. Probably should be doing it now. I've been doing homework all day, though, and now I just want to write. My first week of classes went pretty well. After freaking out about my Spanish class to various people that would listen, I've decided that I can probably handle it. Most of my frustration was due to the fact that it was very late last night when I sat down to look at my assignments...porbably English wouldn't have even made sense to me. I think I'm getting plugged in to the idea of School. I guess I don't really have a choice, huh? Plug in or fail!
What crazy things should I share with you?-

My weekend was awesome. I spent it in IL(Denny and Mary Ann's of course) with Sadie, Christen, Ash, Bryan, and Kurt. Monday, the Steffen boys(Quinn and Justin) came out to hang with us. We had some great conversations out on the pontoon boat. It was cool to re-connect with them after kinda growing up together and stuff. Sadie and Christen were awesome as always, and I was so glad Ash and Bryan were there. It was a great weekend with lots of food and fun. I needed it too after my first week at Purdue.

OK. For now that's all I can think to post about. I'm planning to go on a bugwalk tonight for my Entemology class...if I can figure out where to meet. It's for extra credit, which I'm sure I'll need! Have a great day everyone! It poured rain today! It's funny to see people arrive to class in a puddle of water. I was able to stay dry thankfully.

Edge of The Dock!

2008-08-20T15:35:00.007-04:00

I haven't posted in forever, but I guess time hasn't been slow moving either. I've finished my Summer job in IL at Uncle Denny and Aunt Mary Ann's house...this makes me sad. I've really grown to appreciate them even more (I didn't think that was possible!). Mom and I made a trip there Monday afternoon to spend some time. It was kind of my last visit before life moves on and summer vanishes completely. It just didn't seem right leaving the next morning after spending full weeks there all summer! It was a little sad and I'm feeling like Purdue doesn't quite sound as good as I thought it did a few months ago. It's weird that I only have the end of this week at home too...since I've pretty much not been home most of my summer.

I must at least talk a little bit about the awesomeness of my Senior trip(hopefully I'll get pictures to post of that too). It was definitely the right trip for my taste...lots of cool cities, quaint restaurants, cute shops, and fun people. My favorite restaurant was located in Santa Barbara, State Street. It was an Italian restaurant that had these big red velvet chairs that were painted gold and a pretty little fountain that was very soothing. The structure of the building had stone columns and stuff. the ceiling had a skylight so it felt like we were outside in a courtyard. The food was obviously amazing too. I loved how dressy the atmosphere was, but at the same time very relaxed. It felt authentic and the lighting was perfect pouring through the open spot in the ceiling. I felt a little bit like I was dining in an aristocratic Roman home of forever ago! If I explained and described every experience I'd be typing all day. I will mention how cool it was to watch a polo game and tour a couple old mansions. Wow...I'm remembering all over again how much I liked this trip. Thank you so much Dad and Mom and thanks Ash for coming with me! I'm so thankful I was able to experience that.

OK...let me explain the picture above. This picture struck me as a good representation of how I've been feeling about life lately. The arrows represent how I've been preparing for my life(spiritually maturing, working hard in school, changing as a person...) and moving towards a certain something. At this time in my life I kinda feel like I've made it to a standing point where I can observe what I've done and think about what I need to do. Now I'm standing at the edge of a dock and I'm expected to plunge into the water. I don't even have my swimming suite with me...but I still of course must jump! And then I'm thinking-- what if I really can't even swim that well? The water is probably cold too! It seems a little scary and I can't even see the bottom or what'll be swimming with me.

I do need to say that I'm not all doom and gloom about it either...there are things about college that I'm totally excited about! I can't wait to spend time with the awesome Purdue group and get to know new people. I'm liking my apartment and roommates a lot too! There are going to be some great opportunities to grow and learn...I'm excited. It's just strange that it's all here so fast and all at once. With these thoughts, I'm going to go get things done...or maybe I'll just enjoy this day at home with no worries, because I have a feeling I'll really miss it when it's all gone.:)

~Things~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2008-07-09T12:35:00.010-04:00

I'm home this week...no speeding off to IL. It's really nice becuase I have time to get some much needed things done. Here are a few of them:

1.) Finish grad thank yous...I know, I'm terrible. I do have some done already.
2.) Must paint my desk. This will be really fun. I'm going to paint it a bluish greenish, minty color with burnt orange accents on it. It sounds crazy and that's becuase it's going to be! I'm excited.
3.) Family camp this weekend! I'm hoping it'll be fun. A lot of my friends are going to be out of town though...sounds kinda like girl's camp was this year. I can handle it. Ash said she'd hang out with me. :)
4.) Order my laptop!!! This has already been done as of last night. I can't wait.
5.) Switch my Astronomy class becuase it interferes with the PYG Bible study and becuase I've heard it's way hard. I can't do this until July 21st though.
6.) Return some things, which means I can buy a new pair of shoes with money from the others(and not feel quite so guilty). I have to admit that I've been buying too much lately.
7.) Cover ugly box in cool paper to use as storage. I received a circle, hat box as a gift and the pattern isn't really me...a little too flowery girly.

Check out those beautiful pictures I bought on-line a couple days ago. The website is etsy.com...I would recommend it. It's similar to ebay only I think it's cooler. These pictures have sparkle details on them and they are authentically vintage(1940s art).

Yesterday I visited Grandpa and Grandma Bahler at Green Tree. I hadn't done that in a while and it was great. Grandpa was napping when I got there so Grandma and I talked for a while. Then when Grandpa woke up he wanted to see my car. haha...he never changes. :) Upon seeing it he said something like, "Wow, now that is sharp!" and then, "You're going to jump in there and speed away, huh?" He's too funny.

Oh and, I have some cool pictures to post about my 4th of July weekend! It was SO MUCH FUN. I hung out with Katelyn and Matt Vosburgh, Troy and Mitch Casey, and Jacob Ziolkowski. It was great to be with my old Tri-County friends again. They all met me out at Aunt Mary Ann's where we had a jolly old time. Anyways this is getting to be a long post, and I need to get cracking so I can cross some more things off my list.

My responsibilities

2008-06-25T08:22:00.003-04:00

This week at Denny and MaryAnn's is a little different than the others. MaryAnn is away on a trip and Denny works most of the day. My responsiblity is to do some pulling weeds stuff, which isn't too hard. I also have to mow the lawn unless the rain doesn't quit. The real reason for this post is to exclaim that I've been made to take care of three sick puppies too...one of which is only two pounds. They are sick so they need a lot of care. Doesn't that just sound like my kind of thing--- you all know how I love animals. Yeah right! I'm thinking this will be good for me. The smallest puppy, Nan, really is adorable. They are rapidly getting better too. I was completely glad to help MaryAnn with her sick puppies and I'm not whinning in any way...I just think it ironic that I'm the one with the care of dogs for a week.:) MaryAnn told me to be "her" and I'll do my best.

Monday Mom and I went to day on campus. That means that my classes are scheduled(but could change of course)and I have my purdue ID. It was a good day. I tested out of two semesters of Spanish too(101 and 102). I was pretty happy about it cosidering I haven't taken spanish for a whole year. We then ate at the new, Cajun restauruant--Yats. The food there is really intersting and very good.
Ok...I must tend to the puppies!

First week

2008-06-07T19:41:00.003-04:00

So, I've officially finished my first week of rigorous summer work at Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Denny's. I ended up putting in a 45 hour week...which is the most I've worked in any given week(other than mission trips maybe). I'm pretty tired now, but managed to stay strong through it all. We did landscaping, painting, cleaning, and much more. We had to prepare their house to be viewed by some people form CA looking for a new home to buy. The house looked amazing as always...but, we're not sure how the home-buyers felt. They raved about the house, but also said it was a little big for their liking. I'm secretly hoping they decided against it :). Overall it was such a good week full of some hard work. I think I learned a lot and there is much more to be learned still. I'll be headed back for more work Monday AND THIS COMING FRIDAY IS SOUTH CAROLINA VACATION! Guess I won't be working that day...or the whole next week either. Two cheers for vacations!

While MaryAnn was cleaning out her already clean closets, she showed me this old pinkish calico dress. It's the coolest thing ever! It was made in 1977 but is in the style of 1777. MaryAnn had to wear it for some broadcasting thing she did that was celebrating independence day. Anyways, she gave it to me because I thought it was awesome. I know it sounds kinda dorky and all. Believe me it's quite authentic, which makes it cool. I also found something from Goodwill while in IL--- A blanket with all of this nice, soft, fluffy, stitch stuff on it. It's definitely vintage and unique. Don't worry, we washed it.

Kurt and I just drove back from Denny and MaryAnn's today around noon. As good as the week was, I'm still glad to be home. I missed Mom and Dad and everything about home. I'm excited to see all of you next weekend!

My Graduation thoughts

2008-05-27T10:12:00.002-04:00

It's strange to get ready for something and prepare for it(all four years of high school) and then all of a sudden it's over. I've still got that after event tired feeling. It was so great to see all of the people that mean a lot to me. I was thinking how cool it is that we have milestones in our lives and we invite others to celebrate with us. There aren't too many times when like 300 people will come to your house just to support you...pretty cool.

We were waiting in the hallway in the basement of Elliot Hall to walk up to the stage for graduation. I could see the never ending line of blue caps and gowns with people laughing and smiling....I suddenly realized how strange it was that I hadn't been at my High School for a whole year. Not that I regret it...it just feels weird. I did kinda wish that I could have spent more time with the friends I had there. Then I think about how those friendships don't always last and the PYG group will. It was great being able to spend so much time with the Purdue Group last year! So I guess I wouldn't change anything from last year...but, feelings of regret are totally normal, huh?

Now that I'm talking about Purdue, I'll express how excited I am to move in to Marstellar...or at least I think I am. :) The girls I'll be rooming with are awesome...I'm gonna learn a lot from them. I'm glad that I do have a whole summer to make money and relax. So, I'm planning on working for Aunt MaryAnn this summer. Of course, these plans aren't set in stone!
ASHTON- We need to plan the senior trip!!! How was the lake house by the way?
Jenny- I missed you, Luke, and Luca really bad. Thanks for calling and also for sending your black sweater thing too. Can't wait to see you in SC!

2008-05-21T23:25:00.001-04:00

Very cool video Janessa and I just watched!

Oh JOYFULNESS.

2008-05-03T11:39:00.000-04:00

This post is in celebration of Jen, Luke, and Luca's upcoming visit.I searched for a picture that would fully convey my happiness and I found... This.

Jenny, when I think of you it's like I'm traveling into another world...a world where flowers and butterflies flutter about in perfect beauty.
I'm definitely looking forward to your visit!
I also thought it appropriate to show this movie of Milli Vanilli. :) This song makes me think of Spring Break. (Luke:"They were fakes!") I love you Jen!

2008-04-26T20:15:00.000-04:00

First of all...Summer will be here in about two weeks. Very exciting. I have one final next week and two the following week, which isn't too bad. I'm realizing how much life is going to be different after this summer. The Purdue group is going to change quite a bit. This year was really good. I've been praying that next semester will be just as awesome.

Kurt and I are home alone yet again tonight...Mom and Dad don't get back from India till Tuesday or Wednesday (not sure which). We've been trying our best to keep the house clean...you'd all be very proud. Last night was really amazing. Kurt, Janessa, and I joined a few Purdue kids for some volleyball...turns out it was way to windy. It was nearly impossible to hit the ball in any kind of straight line. It made the game pretty interesting! We all had good excuses for not hitting anything. I think everyone was a little tired, which made for a not very competitive game...I didn't mind though. So after that Janessa came home with Kurt and I. We stopped for ice-cream on the way home. The best part of the night was when Janessa and I went for a late night run. Ok so, running isn't all that great, but the weather was so amazing. It was right before a storm so there were little flashes of lightning all over the sky. I can't even describe how beautiful it was. The wind felt so fresh and it was so peaceful. It was one of those times where God's power feels so real. We ended up laying on the road after our run to enjoy it for a while. At one point our relaxation was interrupted by car lights coming in our direction. Yeah, we screamed pretty loud. They seemed much closer than they were of course! It was a good night. :)

Good day

2008-04-10T13:11:00.000-04:00

Today has been so relaxing and fun. Daveana and I went to Panera after class, which has become quite a ritual for us. I love being able to share thoughts with friends! It's so rainy and dreary out, but I happen to love this kind of weather. It makes me feel so...pensive(that word makes me laugh)...and reflective.:)

Speaking of sharing with friends, I'm remembering how cool it was to volunteer at LUM(Lafayette Urban Ministries-homeless shelter) with Christen. We had basically all night to burrow into life's deepest issues...and by golly we did! It was great. She is great. This world is great. There really isn't anything better than late night talks.

I've really been wondering what I should do this summer. I have some pretty good ideas...don't worry I won't bore you with them! I can't describe how excited I am about South Carolina vacation. ASH!!!!-- You need to help me plan my senior trip and soon. Time is wasting away!

Last weekend was Natalie Hoerr's personal shower...how weird. I can't believe my friends are actually to the stage where marriage is happening. It's pretty scary. I had a really good talk with Polly and Kaitlyn Hoerr. Those girls are really special and I don't get much time to talk with them. What a blessing it was. :)It's so fun to be able to talk with girls...I'm afraid to lose all of the freedom I have in my friendships after I get married(If that is to happen of course). I know I'll still have friendships they just won't be like they are now. I'm definitely not ready to give that up and I shouldn't be! Spending the night with Ash and Bryan was also pretty cool. It was Liv, Sadie, Christen, and I that stayed. We had some good talks...abusing Bryan with too many questions I'm sure!

This stage of life is a good one!

Pictures

2008-04-02T08:33:00.000-04:00

So, I haven't posted in years. I'm going to quick post some pictures from Ash and I's spring break. Some of them are pretty similar to Ash's.

Worst day of my life...

2008-03-05T18:21:00.000-05:00

so, I ended up babysitting a little later yesterday than originally planned, which would have been completely fine if it hadn't started snowing fiercely. It was horrible...the snow and wind mixed together were beginning to look more an more like a blizzard with every passing moment. Once I finally started on my way home it was a little after 5:00, which just so happens to be rush hour. There were cars everywhere and they were all driving about twenty miles per hour because the roads were covered in ice.

The vehicle I was driving doesn't have four wheel drive and it has this automatic breaking system that can be a real problem. It's supposed to be helpful in preventing the driver from speeding up too fast on ice, but it's not real good when it stops you from moving forward at all on the ice. I can completely floor it and not go anywhere because it stops the engine from actually working (I don't know if I'm explaining this well...I'm sure you know enough about cars and I'll stop trying!). Ok. On with my story--- I drove over the bridge above the wild cat creek and continued up a VERY steep incline. I'm talking about the huge hill on Eisenhower Rd. This hill is very winding and narrow. The guard rails on the sides protect drivers from certain death down the steep drop off. The car in front of me was going really slow, so of course my little two wheel drive vehicle had no chance. My vehicle started going slower and slower until it finally stopped altogether. yeah, there I was at a dead stop in the middle of the huge hill. The cars began to pile up behind me and I was panicking. I called mom and screamed at her for help. Then, I completely lost it with many tears and repeating of "I don't know what to do!!!!" I think my mental state was more alarming to her than the actually situation I was in :).

The cars began to go around me and I was feeling really stupid. MY VEHICLE WOULDN'T MOVE!!! I tried to back up down the hill, but couldn't do a very good job with the pelting snow and my iced-over windows. Not to mention I'm probably the worst person of all time at efficiently steering myself while driving backwards. Finally some guy stopped and asked me if I was ok. My eyes were red with tears and I was all nervouse...I looked PATHETIC(Although, I was sporting my new haircut I had gotten that morning...my only saving grace)! He ended up watching for traffic and guiding me backwards down the hill in only a light sweatshirt. What a guy! It turns out that he slid into the ditch while trying to back up after me, which he probably wouldn't have done if he hadn't helped me. I felt really bad. Luckily a policeman was coming along and he helped the guy. I found out later that there were a bunch of other vehicles that had gotten stuck further up the hill also. So, I didn't feel quite as stupid.

I was finally on my way towards a new route home when I got stuck on another hill that was less than a half a mile away from the one I had previously been stuck on. I'm really not making this up either! It was HORRIBLE. This time some guy, with his cute smiling girl-friend in the passenger, seat got out and pushed me. I'm not sure how he managed to get my vehicle to move. I'm thinking it must have been an angel or something :). After that...I made it safely home.

In my defense of the complete loss of emotional control I experienced, I had just taken a mid-term exam in my speech class that morning (stressful) and still had to finish writing a 5-7 page research essay for my English class(more stressful). My teacher is really not easy to please and she was requiring a billion resources for our work cited. I ended up working on my essay till about 4:00 A.M. that night. I did run before starting it, hoping to release some of the stress from my tragic icy hill situation.

All I can say is I'm ready for spring break. I'm waiting for it with open arms!!!

Spring break is just around the corner

2008-02-29T18:56:00.001-05:00

Another week bites the dust! I can practically smell the sweet air of Florida...see the sweet smiles of Luca...walk the sweet streets of the village Haile...etc. I'm so excited! So, Ash and I are going to road trip it out to FL, which is pretty crazy. It's going to be great. My mind is already uncontrollably switching to relaxation mode. I need to pull myself together and execute this last week!

Last weekend was really great. Mom had Amy and Jon's wedding to take and Ash assisted her. I was like the other assistant...it was pretty cool. Their wedding was very big. It was so great to get to talk to people that I hadn't seen in forever. Mark and Lori's house was great too. It was very relaxing...they are cool people. Ash, Mom, Javon, and I ate at Panera in Fort Wayne after the picture shooting. That was also a good time.

Anyways...This post is pretty uneventful. Oh yes! I'm getting my hair cut next Tuesday and then Baby-sitting at twelve thirty for Liv G. while she gets her hair cut. Kinda ironic, huh? My hair is getting to the stage where it is awkwardly short and long at the same time. Like it can't make up its mind what it wants to be. It'll look much better once It's cut I'm sure.

I have a research paper that I'm kinda dreading to write. My teacher is very particular and she's a hard grader. Wish me luck! It's due next Wednesday, which means I need to be doing a lot of it this weekend. I do have a rough draft completed, but that's only the first step.

I hope everyone had a wonderful week!

About Valentines Day

2008-02-18T18:11:00.000-05:00

I know Valentines day was last week, but I didn't post about it and I want to now. The Purdue girls planned a valentines dinner Wednesday night. We all met and had dinner and...um...we were all matched up with a cute Purdue boy for the night. We danced and laughed and...HAHA! It was a girls only party, of course! Anyway, Janessa and I decided to share a little poem we found with the girls. I think I'm going to post it here for you.--- It's titled LOVE ME.

Love me in the Springtime, when all is green and new,
Love me in the Summer, when the sky is oh so blue,
Love me in the Autumn, when the leaves are turning brown,
Love me in the Winter, when the snow is falling down.

Love me when I'm happy, and even when I'm sad,
Love me when I'm good, or when I'm oh so bad,
Love me when I'm pretty, or if my face is plain,
Love me when I'm feeling good, or when I'm feeling pain.

Love me always darlin', in the rain or shining sun,
Love me always darlin', after all is said and done,
Love me always darlin', until all our life is through,
Love me always darlin', for I'll be lovin' you!

- Amanda Nicole Martinez -

...We had tons of fun delivering this! It's probably one of the most pathetic poems I've heard in a while. The only thing it's missing is one of those cool drawings that Napolean Dynamite is so good at. It was a really nice night. Althought there were much laughs, we had time where we all shared something spiritual that was important to us and it was really good. It's nights like those that I realize how great it is to be a girl. :)

2008-02-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

A black car pulled up to the West Lafayette church last Sunday and for one second my mind really did think it was Jen and Luke. The guy in the front, through the tinted windows, strangely resembled Luke. It made me feel really sad. You don't always realize how much you miss people until you are reminded of how great it would be if they were there. Jenny! I miss you more than words can say. Guess what movie Ash, Mom, Kurt, Dad, Janessa, and I watched a couple of nights ago? STOMP THE YARD...That guy reminds me so much of Luca. It's crazy.

About this weekend-- Playing the new Nancy Drew computer game was, once again, quite delightful. Yeah, it sounds pretty dorky. If you've ever tried them I know you'd be hooked too. Andria, Ash, and I are pretty close to beating it...Nancy Drew is such an inspiration to us. someday I hope to have solved half as many mysteries as that sleuthing fiend!
I had fun with you both! :)

I'm trying to decide if I have enough time/mental energy to drive out to Bible study tonight. It's so cold outside and driving to Purdue campus sounds terrible!

Friday

2008-02-08T15:01:00.000-05:00

I'm so glad today is over ...weekend, here I come! I had to give a REALLY EXCITING oral report in my Literature class today. Let me tell you about it-- It was a three page essay highlighting the major events that occurred during the 1300's. I was able to put together a pretty awesomely great slide show for the visual aid too(It was only five slides long). I know all of you are wishing you were in my Literature class and all. Maybe if you ask really nicely I'd be willing to present my oral report for you sometime :).

So...about the crazy plans I have for this weekend. I'm thinking about hanging out with Sadie maybe! That would sure be nice. Or, maybe I should be responsible and get my homework and stuff done. I could always go to Indy and have a good time with my great family too. Hmmm...so many options...and so little time to decide.

Today we finally hooked up the new router for the internet. Do you know what this means?! No more waiting a half hour to get on the internet, and no more getting kicked off while using the internet. Ashton!- Now, that is the real reason for my absence of new blog posts. I had no motivation to do it! What if I had been in the middle of the best post of my life and then the internet disconnected. It was just(dramatic pause)too risky.

Ok...I'm going to go embrace the goodness of this fruitful Friday. I'm looking forward to a silly Saturday tomorrow!...and then a sultry Sunday, and then a maddening Monday, and maybe a tortoise-paced Tuesday, then a wacky Wednesday, and then a thrilling Thursday, and then we are back to Friday again! (Boy oh boy, that was fun!)

Snow....is my...best friend! (singing voice)

2008-02-01T07:50:00.000-05:00

So, I was at Thursday night services and becoming increasingly more nervous as the night progressed, because I had tons of homework to do. AND sadly enough, it was all due the next day...oh boy. So, responsible me went to praise singing afterward too. I didn't feel like being social and I became increasingly annoyed throughout the night. Before I left for home I talked to Christen for forever about how much this and that irritated me and about how I was stressed. She's such a great friend to listen...she really was good to talk to. I made it home right before the snow storm hit. So it's beginning to snow and I'm sulkily sitting on the couch in the living room wondering how I'm going to get all of my homework done. I fell asleep on the couch without getting anything done(without washing my face or brushing my teeth...so annoying). I awoke an hour later wondering whether we had school and then continued to awake at odd times throughout the night. It was kinda awful. Then glory of all glories-- I found out that IvyTech. classes were canceled due to the weather! So here I am blogging...or should I say rejoicing at 8:00AM. Not really sure why I'm not going back to bed.

2008-01-18T15:35:00.001-05:00

Ashton--
I loved having you here for as long as you were :). I think I'm liking the whole you commuting to Purdue thing...I know it's really an inconvenience for you though. Sorry if I seemed a little out of it and stuff. I think it was hard for me to adjust to school after such a long break. I guess I'm glad the first week is over and stuff. I'm in this mode where I want to do all of my homework right now so I won't have to worry about it, while at the same time I have no energy to do any of it. One step at a time, right?

This Monday being Martin Luther King Jr. day, we have no school. I want to plan something great and exciting! The Purdue group is going on a snowboarding trip...yeah, I really don't enjoy that. I've decided for as much money and time that it takes I'm not going to invest in it. I really don't enjoy being cold either (Andria can attest to that :)...).

I'm thinking that our family hasn't gotten together for some good hang out time for quite a while. I miss all of you! It was so great to have Clint here Wednesday night too...skip-bo was crazy cool(Except for the fact that I didn't get a single card out of my stack the whole game...stupid nine on top.)! Sigh...it sure does feel good to be Friday. Later! (I chose the picture because I'm ready for green to come back)

New Classes

2008-01-15T17:01:00.000-05:00

I'm waiting for everyone in our house to get ready so we can go out to eat! It's going to be so nice :).

While I have time I'll share a little about the class I had today...
I decided to enroll my self in a speech class, because I'll then have it out of the way when I graduate and go to Purdue in the fall. I kinda expected my teacher to be intimidating and stuff...you know, have superior communication skills and such. Upon entering the class, I noticed some sloppy writing on the board announcing that he(Mr. Nelson) only had one of his two hearing aids, so we would need to speak loudly for him to hear. Knowing that I might have to repeat myself ten times I decided that I wouldn't attempt to say anything...I'm sure the other students felt the same as the class remained deathly silent. We watched him shuffle around the classroom for a while. When he began to introduce the syllabus I was surprised at how completely mono-tone his voice was. I thought that speech teachers were supposed to be somewhat exciting and engaging when they spoke...isn't it supposed to be what they're good at and stuff? Needless to say, my speech class turned out completely different than what I had expected! I guess it's a good thing that I won't be intimidated by Mr. Nelson...he said we could call him "Mr. Ed". This kinda makes me chuckle because he is nothing like the Ed Bahler that I call Dad.

I'm happy to announce that my other classes seem to be going pretty well. Janessa and I have the first two classes on Mon., Wed., and Fri. together!...It couldn't have worked out better :). I'm going to have a positive outlook this semester even if some of my teachers are a little duddy!

Bowling tonight

2008-01-12T16:01:00.001-05:00

I start school this Monday! As my last freedomfulfun (new adjective I just created) activity I think I'll go bowling with some cool girls tonight(Katelyn V., Janessa, Sarena). I'm pretty much expecting to beat all of my bowling records...and probably all of yours too :). No, I'm not too hot when it comes to bowling, although I think it's great fun.

I should really be thinking about what to make for the wonderful dinner mom and I will prepare for the cool girls that are coming...considering We'll be eating in like two hours and I still have lots to get done before that time. Probably we'll have some elegant dishes and some candle light. Maybe some party favors would be nice...and, like, some champagne and stuff.
...No! That is Waaay too much work! I'm sure we'll throw together a delightful little spread. :)
Alright, love you all like...the lamp does the light bulb! Awww now that is a sweet little comparison. Basically I'm saying that I can't shine without all of you that I love. My life is dark and barren without your presence near me...need I go on or do you feel the deepness of my appreciation? :)

Nothingness...

2008-01-07T13:55:00.000-05:00

So I'm back home after a long and crazy weekend in South Bend with Ann. Overlooking some pretty stressful situations the wedding went good...I was glad to be with Ann and help her out. I recently found out that I have another whole week of break!...so I thought I would be in classes today and here I am blogging...crazy. I haven't quite decided what I'll do with this extra week. Probably something amazingly productive (yeah right). So far I've managed to do nothing with my day. I had breakfast with Ann and her boys and drove back to Lafayette. Now I can't get myself to do anything. Maybe I'll clean my room, do some errands in town, etc. Anyways...on to more important things. I've managed to make a small sum of money towards the funding of our trip to Florida! I'm going to visit Jen if it's the last thing I do. :) I'm getting very Jennysick. Ok---I'm going to have to stop writing and start doing. Here I go to seize the day!

Home Alone Tonight...

2007-12-30T23:47:00.000-05:00

Yes It's true...I am home alone at this very moment. The house seems pretty lonely when I'm the only one to fill it up. I must say, though, that I really don't mind it. I think having a night with only myself is really good every once in a while. It gives me the time to think about important things and...reflect. Reflecting is always a good thing.

I drove back from MaryAnn's house this morning for church. I was glad to be able to see Mom and Dad before they zoomed off to Florida. How I wish I could go with them! I miss you guys Jen! They left for Indy tonight to sleep in a hotel so the morning rushing to the airport would be a bit easier. I had a good talk with Dad about how life changes so much. It's so important how we handle and use the change. I don't think I very often have a good attitude about the big things that change in my life. It's also crazy to think that most times we don't realize how much we appreciated something until it changes. Maybe we didn't really even know that we appreciated it until we experience what it's like without it (confusing...but, maybe it kinda makes sense?). I guess It's really important to try to fully realize that the stage of life I am in now is awesome because I'll only get to experience it once. :)

Christmas Break...

2007-12-30T23:25:00.000-05:00

I can't describe how wonderful It's been to relax. It's amazing. I spent a few VERY GOOD days at Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Denny's house with Ash. I love that girl so much. There aren't too many people that make me laugh as hard as she does. It was so nice to spend some one on one time with her. I need to mention that the sacrifice she made to not be with Bryan for those few days is quite impressive. (Thanks Bryan for being so willing to let us spend some time together...I needed it more than you know!). Another crazy cool thing was that Sadie came out Thursday and Friday. She is also one of my favorite people as you well know. I couldn't ask for a better friend...she is simply priceless! Ash and I met Liv in Bloomington Saturday evening, which was cool. Liv is so much fun...very dramatic :). I guess you could say I was spending the week with some pretty cool girls. I am so thankful for all of the time I had with them too!

Wow!...It seems I'm feeling very thankful and happy tonight! There are those certain special times when it really dawns on you how much you love your friends and family. I guess this is one of those times :). I feel like I could spend ten thousand hours and never fully express how much the people in my life mean to me. I love you all much much much.

I still have another whole week of break...yessss.

Christmas is just around the corner.

2007-12-22T01:13:00.001-05:00

This Sunday is the Matthew Christmas gathering. This means that there will be lots of talking and laughing with much food. It's always great to see everyone. I love having all of my aunts in one place...they create great energy and all have a fun sense of humor.:)I'm excited! I just got done doing some major grocery shopping for mom today so that we'll have plenty of food for the holidays. Let the fun begin...

Aaahh...I am home at last.

2007-12-19T21:41:00.000-05:00

I'm at Luke and Ann's house right now. It's been forever since I've visited their cozy little place. Andria and I are going to sip some homemade hot cocoa...divine I know. Ash and Bryan might stop by for the evening too. It twill be a wonderful night!
Poor Kurt-- He's lying on a hospital bed at this very moment. Poor Mom-- She's sitting there beside him now. I actually just came from spending the whole day there...his surgery went well. He's becoming a natural at it, this being his second time and all. Say a little prayer for Kurts recovery.
To the sipping of cocoa I will go...Anon!

2007-12-15T12:44:00.000-05:00

There are two stories connected to these pretty little key-chains--
The dangley one is from Jenny on one of my birthdays of forever ago. She bought it from Arden B.(very nice store). Typical for Jenny, she bought it before the brass chain w/jewels look was so popular.

The other one I received from my awesome friend Sadie when we were probably in seventh grade or so. We thought it was cool to pretend we were going to be driving soon. I'm not sure why I haven't ever used them...probably they were just too special to be lugged around with a set of keys. Well, I've decided to use them now. And every time I see them I'll think of two of my favorite people! Missing you Jen. :)

Tree Decorating...

2007-12-12T21:35:00.000-05:00

So, Mom and I decided that the tree was looking a little sparse with Christmas lights and these old wreathes made of fake leaves (We have used these for several years...SO outdated!). We made a special trip to Hobby Lobby...Decorating the Christmas tree was our hobby that night. You have to have a hobby to go there, of course. Anyways, We found some really nice ornaments! I was planning on posting the original pictures so you could see, but I was having too much fun with photoshop. They don't exactally look like this in real life. I messed with the colors on the chritmas balb one and stuff.
It was fun picking out the docorations. Our tree is looking pretty good if I do say so myself. :) It was quite a successful trip. The middle is my favorite. It has feathers behind a jeweled, silver flower thing. OH--and don't worry, you can be sure re ridded the tree of the old wreathes.

Ash and I

2007-12-12T16:16:00.000-05:00

Ash was in Lafayette for classes last week and we decided to meet up. We ended up going to Moe's and sharing dinner. We talked and laughed a lot. I realized how much I really value my close relationships...it was so great to spend time together. the picture is of course Ashton and I. We set the camera on a timer and everything :). We always look cool like that...so, cause we are and stuff...we are cool.

Yessss...Christmas.

2007-12-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

I've sent this cute little dance to some of you already. Just in case you didn't get it here it is...It is a little strange, but fun nonetheless. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1222453712

Bitter-SWEET News

2007-12-03T15:52:00.000-05:00

I am writing to finally proclaim that the mountaineer will soon no longer be a part of my life. I know this comes as a bitter shock to some of you(At times, I too find myself somewhat filled with sadness). I guess what must happen will happen...Life moves on and so do our material possessions(sniffle).

...Hallelujah! I don't have to feel like a soccer mom any longer! I'll soon be the proud owner of mom's car, which I've ventured to name Shepry. I know, It's an interesting sort of name. What better name than Shepry for an interesting sort of car? I'm really excited that I won't have to spend a fortune each week on gas anymore. Gas mileage of an SUV is pretty bad...especially when gas prices are no good.

If you have any parting words for the old, faithful mountaineer I'd be glad to deliver them. You have plenty of time to write letters of good-bye and such, because we have yet to sell it.
Have a good week everyone!

Oh The Stress-

2007-12-03T15:21:00.000-05:00

These next two weeks are going to be killers! I have five essays due this week and finals quickly approaching. I'm realizing that I MUST prioritize like mad if I intend to survive. wish me luck in my schooling endeavors!
this picture is very relaxing and pretty. If stress becomes overwhelming I'll just imagine myself relaxing on this misty hill.
......(A moment of silence in honor of relaxation.)

Reminiscing about a wonderful few days...

2007-11-29T14:23:00.000-05:00

Over thanksgiving break, Kurt and I traversed the long, winding roads to IL. We were able to spend Thanksgiving day with Denny and MaryAnn. We all know that Denny can cook up a feast in a matter of seconds...it was great.

I can't even begin to describe how relaxing it was. I pretty much did nothing the whole three days we were there...so great. I love spending time with Denny and MaryAnn! MaryAnn and I went to Tiffany's(Their daughter) house for one of the days. We painted her cabinets and had wonderful conversations while doing so. It's great to work, but feel like you're just spending quality time with people you like. It was a wonderful trip as always!

I love people and Thanksgiving Break!

2007-11-20T22:12:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited that thanksgiving is finally here! I took a rather taxing math exam today, and now I'm on my way to lots of eating and seeing of my favorite people. It feels oh so good to be done with school for a short while...I'm going to indulge in the wonderfulness of relaxation. To start my break off, Kurt and I are headed out to IL for a couple of days. We are going to visit Denny and MaryAnn. It should be a pretty fun time...as it always is. I can't wait to see all of my precious family members on Sunday. I hope to see everyone!(Here I'm taking a sad pause in honor of Jen, Luke, and Luca.)

...I want to wish everyone a LOVELY holliday of Thanksgiving!!! Don't feel guilty for getting an extra piece of pie. :)

Souls And Rain-Drops by Sidney Lanier

2007-11-12T17:11:00.000-05:00

Light rain-drops fall and wrinkle the sea,
Then vanish, and die utterly.
One would not know that rain-drops fell
If the round sea-wrinkles did not tell.

So souls come down and wrinkle life
And vanish in the flesh-sea strife.
One might not know that souls had place
Were't not for the wrinkles in life's face.

---I thought this poem was pretty. If you have
any comments as to your interpretation of the
poem I would love to hear them!

Pretty Silly.

2007-10-16T14:22:00.000-04:00

This song is cool on its own...
but even more cool in this snappy version.
(I thought Noah would appreciate this)

Wonderful Evening

2007-10-03T23:42:00.001-04:00

Mom and I went for a short run tonight...it was the perfect night for it. Towards the end of our run I noticed that there were a great deal of little lightening bugs sitting along the side of the road shining their green lights. They looked really enchanting with their little glowy lights. It really isn't even the season for them so it was quite a site to see. As cool as it was, I realized that they were probably close to death...very sad. I just thought it was much too special of an experience not to share! If you are ever lucky enough to witness...the sadly beautiful death of lightening bugs I'm sure you'll be quite delighted yourself. :)

Deep thought.

2007-09-27T13:13:00.001-04:00

I was enjoying my plain yougurt w/honey in the kitchen when all of a sudden my mind formed a deep and thoughtful little verse. It goes like this...
"The world will become a better place when we, within ourselves, decide to become a better place." I think I might just eat plain yogurt w/honey on a weekly basis...I'm sure I'll be solving all the worlds problems soon. This picture is kinda random, but it sort of has an enchanted fairytale feeling to it---so I posted.(Picture: Captured by DeLisa Photography & enhanced by Kaitlin Bahler)...It's one of the many pictures mom and I took for my senior shots. :)

Just for you...you little bowling ball head you!

2007-09-27T12:40:00.000-04:00

After reading your blog entry I really couldn't resist. That was a fun night. Three cheers for sisters!

Poem for jenny

2007-09-24T22:47:00.000-04:00

Jenny how I miss you so
Why, oh, why did you have to go?
Florida is nice if I must be positive
But let it be known, of my sadness it is the cause-itive.
Sometimes I just feel like seeing your face
Your smile is like a bit of...lace.
Dancing isn't near as fun.
I'd rather not be dancing when it's all said and done.
November seems a long time from now
Figuring out how to survive (without you) is a rather big -how?
Emailing and blogging will just have to do
But can you blame me for this little boo-hoo?

New Favorite Author

2007-09-04T22:37:00.000-04:00

I have recently discovered an author that is sooo great. And by so great I mean almost as good as Daphne Du Maurier. I would actually say that they are about tied in their greatness. Isak Dinesen is her name...well, that's her pen-name. I randomly picked up one of the old books off of my shelf and disappeared into another world. I later found out that she is pretty famous, which I didn't know. I read her book Winter's Tales and really liked it. If you're bored I would suggest it. It is a book full of short stories, which makes it really easy to read.

Hello Friends

2007-08-27T17:39:00.000-04:00

Today was a cool day in school. We had a very intellectually stimulating conversation in my soc. class. The question on the table was- "Is America morally declining?" It was pretty interesting. My first reaction to the question was "Of course it is...our world is very immoral!"...but then I thought about it. Back in the Bible times people really didn't have any better morals. I came to the conclusion that people are becoming more comfortable with doing wrong in general. That doesn't mean that they are doing MORE wrong...just talking about it more comfortably. Like terrible song lyrics and sexual behavior are thought of as OK. Everything is talked about and voiced boldly now. People are trying to make wrong behavior normal and not wrong. Everything should be tolerated! America's sensitivity to wrong is definitely declining, which will lead to a decline in morals. It's pretty hard to have strong morals when wrong things hardly seem a big deal anymore. I guess there isn't really a completely definitive answer to that question.

so...

2007-08-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

After three days of classes I've arrived at the same conclusion...School is dumb. Actually, I'm only saying that because I moved up a level in my math class and don't like it much. I don't know why I do this to myself. Hopefully I can figure it out!!!!! Anyway...the rest of my classes aren't too bad. It really is nice having more freedom than I did last year. I hope everyone is getting back in the swing of the new school year! Summer was definitely a great few months of relaxation!

Andria's Birthday...

2007-08-07T15:04:00.000-04:00

I'm at Luke and and Ann's right now. The boys are still cutie pies and Andria is...a cutie pie too. Yeah, It's definitely HOT today...should feel like 105ish today(no joke). I kinda think we should go swim or shop a little. Who knows...It's Andria's day, which means she makes the calls. She's sleeping right now. Pretty much wasting her Birthday...and I'm trying to guilt her about it. Jude is a little bundle of joy and joyness...he is sleeping with her. Ok---this entry is boring. I'm done now. This picture should liven things up a bit!

Life after Florida

2007-07-24T16:14:00.000-04:00

So...I'm home. I MISS JENNY, LUKE, and LUCA! I had a great week with everyone. Ashton, we really did miss you there.
I decided to be responsible and baby-sit for a lady from our church today. It wasn't bad except for the fact that I was pretty tired after staying up till 3 in the morning the night before. Oh, I had a good reason: I was overcome with the desire to organize my closet...yeah it turned out to be quite the job. After the feat was accomplished there I was triumphantly holding a bag for goodwill and a bag for the trash. To celebrate I lit two scented candles...it was a magnificent night.

There is no sun for us.

2007-07-22T14:14:00.000-04:00

Beach bag, sun block, choice magazines and books, ipod, and THE SUNGLASSES...
That's when it happened...RAIN!!! Yeah, our day in the sun by the pool wasn't so cool. But we decided that we looked too good not to take a pic or two. so. yeah. No sun bathing for us.

Sisters...oh the joy :)

2007-07-22T12:29:00.001-04:00

These girls are the best. This is an exciting evening spent using photobooth on Luke and Jens mac.

Florida!

2007-07-21T16:22:00.001-04:00

This picture is so adorable. The two cousins Luca and Jude are hanging out on a relaxing evening in Florida. They are going to be close friends when they grow up for sure!

Florida with Luke and Jen

2007-07-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

Andria and I flew down to Florida last monday to visit Luke and Jen. It's been a great week...sadly enough it's already saturday! I love Gainesville...it's beautiful. Relaxing here has been great with the pool and the cute little village Haile. Luca is getting so big! I'm going to miss Luke, Jen, and Luca when we get back home.

HAAAAAA!

2007-06-08T19:56:00.000-04:00

I just LOVE my family!!! And that is all for now.

"News?!"

Judgments?

Oh, I didn't see you there...HELLO. :)

Yo, parenthood... Got Swagger?

Oh babies...

So many Pictures.

India!

School...you are my enemy!

Senior Summer Pictures!

Run for the hills!

Conversation?

I love her...

"Well Hi There!"...

Little Snipets of things

Last day in Florida...

Little spheres of delight!

ART invasion!

Florida Update...

What a Find!

Sea World

Visit from the Steffens

Blasted Routine

Luca

Friday night fun

Sister's for Breakfast.

Florida!

Sense and Sensibility

Weird...

Sha-nae-nae es Moderno!

Ready, get set, STUDY!

New passion: Jazz.

STUDY CLUB update.

Valentines day...the holiday for lovers.

God is amazing.

No Title...none at all.

Home....delight

Christmas Break

Tagged post!

Ready for Fall break!

Prayin' For You

A word about IDIS 376

Purdue

Edge of The Dock!

~~~Things~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My responsibilities

First week

My Graduation thoughts

Oh JOYFULNESS.

Good day

Pictures

Worst day of my life...

Spring break is just around the corner

About Valentines Day

Friday

Snow....is my...best friend! (singing voice)

New Classes

Bowling tonight

Nothingness...

Home Alone Tonight...

Christmas Break...

Christmas is just around the corner.

Aaahh...I am home at last.

Tree Decorating...

Ash and I

Yessss...Christmas.

Bitter-SWEET News

Oh The Stress-

Reminiscing about a wonderful few days...

I love people and Thanksgiving Break!

Souls And Rain-Drops by Sidney Lanier

Pretty Silly.

Wonderful Evening

Deep thought.

Just for you...you little bowling ball head you!

Poem for jenny

New Favorite Author

Hello Friends

so...

Andria's Birthday...

Life after Florida

~Things~~~~~~~~~~~~~