i like to move

whether it be by bike, or by unicycle, by pogo stick, or by powerizers... i like to move :) and that is what today consisted of. all of the above was found at my friend devin's house... here are some pictures of the fun. the first one is great... devin and i jousted on unicycles with foam pool toys. in this pic i got a solid hit, but i still lost.

this is devin on his powerizer stilts. ya, he jumps pretty high.
and then i gave a shot at walking aroun in them... pretty crazy.
these things are pretty awesome... i got used to walking in them, but i can't even imagine running in them, or even jumping super high in them.

and of course... the pogo stick.

and a little video of the jousting! well, happy new year everyone!
ciao

that'll do

christmas morning with this little guy... can't get much better.

all i have to say for this one: i look freakishly pale.
yummy foods. fun colors.
ya, we're cool.

jenny perfecting her shoe skills
you bet those are stripes.


sweet.

underneath that towel is the biggest trooper ever for sitting in line with me at a used gear sale in manhattan beach at a foresaken hour. take note of the lack of people behind us. we were first. by far.
early morning skies... rei sign.



my feeble attempt at a self-pic of me and jenny in line later.

the used gear sale all set up. don't even get me started about how strict rei was at this sale. lets put it this way: jenny and i waited in line since 4:30 am only to have them not let jenny in, and to have me be the last one in. sorry manhattan beach rei, but y'all stink.
the pier. yay. mysterious man who stood on the pier with a hose, bathing a grossly large group of dirty pigeons. i was not the only one staring with their camera pulled out.
self timer... need i say more?

christmas 2007

well, here it is... the christmas movie for 2007. it was pretty fun to film it. i hope y'all enjoy it.

sayanora 2007 and hola 2008. can you believe it? i don't think i can. i mean, 2007 was huge... last semester of high school, living in holland for the summer, and then my first semester of college at calvin. a lot of growing up happening here. and lots of other things were peppered through out the year as well... my first real job (chick-fil-a... so much fun), a road trip across the country, a summit in wyoming... good times. a year like this is one that'll stick in my memories for quite a while now.

yup. so i hope y'all had as much fun reading about this past year as i did blogging about it... this blog is pretty much pointless if none of y'all weren't reading it... kind of like a tree falling without anyone there to hear it. so thank YOU.

have a wonderful last week of 2007... have fun, enjoy it... much love, many blessings.

:)

my apologies

christmas came around kind of fast this year. so fast that i got my christmas shopping done today... the eve of christmas eve... and so fast that i have not been able to get my movie done in time. i am really bummed i could not get this movie done in time to deliver/hand deliver the movie to you all, my dear friends. i do enjoy it. however, there is a bit of good news. seeing how all those i would care to see the movie probably check this blog, i will just go ahead and put my christmas movie for 2007 on here tomorrow afternoon... lets say, 3:00pm. sound good? and with it will come my gushy and thoughtful little reflection on this year.
and if any of you feel you just must have a hard copy dvd of this year's movie, let me know and i'll make it happen. but if you miss the hard copy this year, you can just get it next year... i hear there is a collector's box set coming out for 2008's 4 year anniversary of the christmas film tradition.
totally joking. no box sets.
so, my apologies for the poor timing, and probably the poor internet quality in which you will have to watch it tomorrow. but i do hope you all will enjoy it. i tried... i tried really hard to get something together.

yup.
oh, so michigan is getting pounded with snow! i hope there is still some more to play in when i get back.


:)

frosting

"another two hours gone by... and nothing. i'm glad i don't write movies for a living. i had a lead, started to go with it... and then it was gone... a flop.

that's okay. the idea will come... i'm just not sure when... and then when the idea does come, i'm not so sure when i can film it."

that was me at 2:30 this afternoon... and it was another good hour and a half until i got at least a decent idea i could work with. it isn't the best idea, but we'll see how it turns out. i've got until 10:30 am tomorrow (sunday) to finish the movie. oy ve.

i finally found my way out on to the tennis courts of california nice and early this morning... i'd like to say that it feels real good to play without the pressure of tryouts going on. it's good to just get out and swinging.

so i've got a great story for y'all, and it involves a yellow gel-frosting tube for decorating a cake (a "happy birthday jesus" cake to be specific). after tennis, allison and i headed to pavillions to find some yellow gel-frosting in a tube to decorate the happy birthday jesus cake we'd be making for house church. this yellow gel has been difficult to find... the decorating gel being available in all colors but yellow at other stores. so we get to the cake stuff section, and i am looking at the gels and reach out to begin to look in the back ones to see what colors they were. as i do so, a package of gel drops on to the shelf (from where, i do not know) and i grabbed it only to find that it was the very yellow gel-frosting decorating tube we were looking for. and that's not all... after looking at all the bar codes on the shelf and stuff, there were tags for the red gel, blue gel, green gel... but not a tag for any yellow gel. pretty cool? i think so... gel frosting from heaven.

some of y'all may be asking... what exactly is a "happy birthday jesus" cake? well, i'll break it down for you...

three layered cake... round cake (represent the world jesus came in to) with bottom layer of chocolate (represents sin), middle layer of red velvet (represents blood shed for us), top layer of green... yes green... we added some food dye (to represent life). here's where i begin to forget the meanings... covered in white frosting (meaning ... ?), with red hots bordering the cake (i believe to represent us as a body?), a yellow... yellow as in the yellow gel-frosting decorating tube... star of david on the top of the cake (to represent... ?) and then a big red candle in the center from which we each light a birthday candle (representing jesus' light and our job to be a light?). anyway, it was quite fun making this cake. as i worked on frosting it, i took notice of the little pieces of cake that would stick to the frosting and then get all mixed up in it, making it look kind of like the confetti frosting... you know what i am talking about? so as this happened, i thought to myself... there must be something in life that compares to cake getting stuck and mixed in to the frosting.

but i couldn't think of anything... at least anything half-decent. so that's the end of that analogy attempt. anyway, the cake came out great... and i just couldn't get over the fact that we managed to make a green cake. it's pretty cool if you ask me. maybe i'll have some pics of the wonderful cake to put up some time? :)

as if i didn't spend enough time with frosting this early afternoon, i went to jillian's house for a gingerbread house party. so much frosting all over the place... and this time i wasn't careful to keep my fingers clean, because this time i didn't mind eating a bit of frosting here and there. we used graham crackers, all sorts of candies and chocolates, and tons o frosting. mine wasn't exactly a house, but it did have a crime scene in the front and an igloo out back. and an armless unicycler. ya. it was fun to see some more people i hadn't seen yet. and pictures of all that will for sure come soon.

well, 'tis all.

i've got a big day ahead of me tomorrow.

ciao.

remember

in a matter of ten minutes, i did the following:
i convinced me to get my lazy selk off up and out and to go play tennis because it has been over two weeks since i have played (i know, unheard of) and because it has been far too long since i have done any form of movement to get the heart pumping (unless "scoop ball" and "pass the tire" count). so i got all ready to go play tennis, and as i laced up my tennis shoes to head out, i don't know what triggered it, but i remembered that at that very moment i was supposed to be at a christmas party. eek. without a moment's hesitation, off came the tennis shoes and up the stairs i ran to change for a christmas party. in a couple more minutes, i was out the door and in the car.
from sofa, to tennis, to christmas party in a matter of ten minutes? not too shabby.
--oops #2: at this christmas party, i talked to one of my friends on the phone who just came home and realized that i was supposed to be at yet another christmas party after the one i was currently at. i looked at my watch... ya, that's not happening... 9:00pm, i gotta get home.
i tell ya, i have got the most forgetful mind sometimes. one benefit that comes from this is that i have become better at thinking on my feet and reacting fast to these unexpected (more like realized last-minute) occurences.
where we are weak in one area we are strong in another.

wanna hear something crazy? for the past 4 days in a row, i have woken up at exactly 6:51 am. every morning... 6:51. i don't have an alarm set or anything. i am shooting for a fifth day tomorrow morning... that would be super crazy!

i've got some fun stories to tell, but that shall have to wait until tomorrow... but to give you a little preview, these topics will be covered:
-my first time back at vchs since graduation (not really an exciting story... in fact, rather short)
-lunch with my two best friends from 6th grade (that's a trip)

mmmm, meatballs

my mother's famous meatballs were the main attraction... we had the fieldhouses over for dinner tonight to enjoy my mum's delicious spaghetti and meatballs. good times. tessa was even wearing a calvin shirt... go knights! so we took a calvin picture together. by the way, i don't think i mentioned this yet on the blog, but as you may see in the pic, i cut my hair... pretty much chopped it all off...ya. it's a bit wierd in this pic... i didn't do anything to it today... so now i am wearing a hat... anyway... we got a pic of us both wearing calvin shirts... fun stuff! and now i am full and sleepy... ready for bed.

but before i go, i need some help. i've been trying to think over the past few days on what my christmas movie is going to be. i know, i am cutting it a bit close, but i've been trying so hard, and i have just got the worst writers block one could ever have. i spent two hours straight walking around my house this morning, tossing a tennis ball around, kicking a hacky sack, trying to get the brain going, but all i got was nothing. phooey.

so, here's where you come in. every movie has this most essential element: conflict. for example, two years ago had the conflict of man vs time, and last year's had a conflict of being treated like a child although the character wasn't. so i have struggled to come up with a story line because i can't come up with the conflict to keep the storyline going. do you kind of get it? here's the deal... i've decided that two characters is a possibility, opening things up to more scenarios (maybe even an appearance from santa?? haha), but i just can't get a story flowing. does anyone have any ideas... help?

anything is much appreciated, because one thing could easily spark another, and to be frank, my mind is shot.

'tis all... ciao ciao

lacking

sorry for the lack of posting lately... by no means is it a sign of a lack of events (for since my last post i have gone to sea world with my amiga, and we both got to touch a dolphin, which turned right around and splashed us... it was amazing), and by no means is it a sign of a lacking of thoughts and new feelings (because trust me... i'm experiencing a whole new array of them!). however, it does seem to be a sign of something... something i can't quite place my finger on. something in the air smells of "lacking." my mind has been running, trying to figure it out, put words to it, define it, grasp it... but all without any progress.
do you ever get that... don't you hate when you just can't figure something out?
you see, i am the type of person where if you give me a riddle to solve, my mind will not stop thinking until it figures it out. and don't you dare try to give me the answer... because i want to try and solve it. basically, anytime there is an unknown, i want to figure it out... and my mind won't do anything else til it's solved.
can you see where this becomes problematic, when questions arise as far as "where i am, who i am, why i am" are concerned... these questions are no easy feat when it comes to finding an answer.
so where is all this leading?
i have absolutely no idea.
but i can assure you, i am trying to work it out in my head even as i type this.
so lets move on.

i've got wonderful news.
a huge misunderstanding was finally made clear. and when i say huge, i mean HUGE as far as my hopes go.
i found this summer job through calvin where i would be able to work at this camp in the rockies of colorado as an outdoor educator/adventure instructer while attending a class one night a week and get my CCE credit (cross cultural engagement) which is a requirement at calvin. so naturally, i applied right away. i have a friend who had actually worked that same position last summer and told me everything about it and assured me i'd have no problem getting the job.
so at that point i started to count my chickens.
a couple weeks later, it turned out that i counted my chicks a bit too early and those eggs would never hatch... in fact, the eggs were smashed... as was my excitement...
i got an email from the employers at snow mountain ranch (that's the name of the place... it's owned by YMCA) saying that they appreciated my interest but had recently filled the position for which i applied.
i was angry... actually, that would be an underestimate. i swore that no descendent or relative of me would ever step foot in a YMCA as long as i lived. did i over-react? eh, maybe. i was a bit hurt as well... i mean, i didn't even make it to the interview stage and i was already turned down... and i even had Chick-fil-a as a reference... come on, how do you not hire someone who has experience working in a cow suit???
anyway, that's beside the point. as angry as i was, i let it go... sort of. i emailed this guy who works at snow mountain but is the contact between the ranch and calvin... the guy who does the hiring from calvin. i asked him what was up with this email, and if this was true.
naturally, i didn't hear back from him. so then i let it go.
until saturday night. i checked my email, and there it was, the email that would prove this all to be one great big misunderstanding. turns out they thought i was applying for a current position, not a summer position. with that, this guy asked to schedule an interview with me in january after christmas break.
exciting?
i think so.

i am tired...
indeed.

good night

lets get this straight

i have had numerous people ask me... what's with the guy on the wing of your plane?
y'all need to get out more :)
he's not real, if you weren't able to tell that he highly resembled the abominal snowman. that picture is a screen shot from the twilight zone's "nightmare at 20,000 feet" starring william schatner... he's a passenger who looks out the window and sees that creature tearing up the wing of the plane. he fails to get any other passenger to see this creature.
so, i hope that explains it, and i hope you find a way to see that episode... because it is incredible. and i am sorry for any confusion i may have caused.

so, now on to the good stuff.
the past few days have been so much fun... thursday i got to see my friend danielle and we went to goldens spoon (duh!) where tom (the owner) remembered me and was glad to see i was back (and buying his frozen yogurt). then friday was a day spent with my aunt in which i... well, i'll wait to say what happened... we'll just have to hang out sometime if you haven't found out yet. then we all gathered at my grampa's where we had dinner and hung out... i have to say i have missed manhattan beach! then this morning was a rei used gear sale which i went to with mark, allison, and tessa... tessa is the first of my little buddies i have seen since coming home, and she has grown so much! what a treat...it was a fantastic morning. now this afternoon i stop by the verwys' for a bit to pick up my sea world pass before i head off to san diego and see my amiga/neighbor jenny the woo. it is going to be a joyous occasion. tomorrow we head to sea world to see the amazing polar bears (my favorite), and then come home in time for me to make it to house church... i can't even express how excited i am for house church!

i'd have to say this has been a great first couple of days of christmas break. good times.

well i hope your weekend is going well, and i shall post again soon.

oo, i just glanced out the window and we have old tires sitting in our back yard... i am gonna go figure out something to do with them... tire swing anyone?

I am not imagining! I'm not imagining it! He's out there!

well, here i am... back in california for a bit.

the flights were great... i love flying... planes, airports... the whole atmosphere of travelling is just wonderful.

i had a window seat on the wing on both of my flights, and no one sitting next to me as well on both flights... the planes were pretty empty. however, on the second flight, from chicago to LA, i looked out my window, and i swear i saw a creature out there... i tried to take a picture, and this is as good as i could get it with it being night and all. i tried to get everyone to believe me, but it was useless... they thought i was crazy. but he was out there, and he was tearing up the wing! i don't care if no one else believes me... but i do know that william schatner would support me 100%

so i had chipotle on the way home, and golden spoon when i got back. i nearly squeezed my dog to death (who is smaller than i remember... and way cuter than i remember too). good times.

this morning i woke up at 6:30 am, had breakfast with my dog, got showered, got in my shorts and tshirt, and then at 8am took my dog for a walk. the weather is amazing...i must say that i am loving wearing shorts again. wearing shorts reminds me of helen wills' article "emancipated legs means for better sports".

i love it.

anyway, now i am here, kind of just hanging out. i'm stuck at home for now (with my car being in michigan and all), and jenny is still in san diego (i go to san diego saturday afternoon), and all my friends are either still at their colleges or at valley enduring another day of school. so til 2:45, i'm just hanging around.

i had a hard time falling asleep last night... what with my roomie not there to talk in her sleep and all... but it really is strange. one thing i am surprised at is how much i feel calvin is a home to me... (notice i say "a home" because i am not replacing it with here... just putting it next to it). but really, it is kind of strange, a bit surreal to be here... 324 noordewier is such a home to me... and all the people... i do miss it, but just because i miss it a bit doesn't mean that i am any less excited to be here... it's just an added element i wasn't quite expecting. i dunno if that makes sense to anyone, but it definitely is a new feeling.

i should just leave it at that.

well, tis all for now...

have a wonderful thursday!

gerald r. ford airport

i'm sitting in yellow vinyl seats, right in front of a big window overlooking the runway, an amazing sunset in the works, planes taking off, planes landing, and jazz elevator music playing here at gate B1 where i await my flight to chicago, and then home.
kinda crazy? ya
kinda amazing? OH YA!
i LOVE travelling, and i am loving this whole travelling solo thing... it's pretty stinkin' sweet.

next time i post, i shall be at home in good ol' bellflower, california.

and this is for you rebekah: there are two guys sitting a few rows away speaking french. i know it's french because they frequently say "wee." haha, how do you spell that word? i dunno, so i just did it phoenetically.

i love airports!

ciao!

this is how me and my roomie study for exams...

wait for it to be done loading, (it will be a black screen) then press play... enjoy!

Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab

and a second one,

Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab

definitely worthy of a study break

so there is this thing that we do in noordeweir (i dont know if the other dorms do this too), but we all grab as many balloons as we have exams and then write an exam on each. as we go through the week and take exams, we pop the one that we've completed. so today, i had the pleasure of popping my orange PE 201 balloon (it is not mere coincidence that PE was on an orange balloon... i do play favorites, and therefore REL ended up on my least favorite color of the bunch... and on the bottom).

here's my popped balloon... i must say, it feels mighty fine to pop a balloon after an exam.

now for the best part of my day... i got a surprise package!!!! it was a "finals week care package" from the ladies in my bible study back home...the package was complete with everything from muffins and hot cocoa to ping pong balls and jelly bellys...

you guys rock my socks... again, thank you!

now i have a newfound motivation to get through these exams... two more days, three more exams... just like the little engine that could... "i think i can... i think i can..."

and to end, a funny quote written in the morgue (study room in our dorm) to show the insanity of the students right now:

"sweet Jesus, rapture me now."

see y'all soon

Hoff and Heath

we get back from the hockey game, and our room, from floor to ceiling, is covered in pictures of david hasselhoff partially clothed... speedos, bare chested, and even this one with a pug that i swear could be considered animal abuse... click on the picture to see for yourself.

lindsey and i let out probably one of the biggest screams ever when we opened the door. my friend on first floor mentioned to me the next day that she heard a scream the night before around midnight... i explained the situation.

the worst part, besides actually having to touch the pictures when cleaning up, is that the next morning, we kept on finding more because they had hid them in places. trust me, it is scary to find these things in random places. so that was the friday night terror... and trust me... they've got something coming back to them.

now for the brandon heath concert... AMAZING! ok, so the whole day leading up to the concert was not great... unfortunate emails, studying, and then no one wanted to go to the concert. i was pretty upset about the fact that i couldn't get anyone to go... and pretty much can't believe how obsessed with finals people are. anyway, i get to the concert (which was at a local church) and i started to get really excited. so i went an hour ahead because i still had to get my ticket, and i didn't know how many people would show up, and when i got there, not a whole bunch of people were there yet. so they let us in to the seating area, and i totally went for the front row (which is only 8 seats wide... the rest of the rows fanning out from there). then these two other girls, a bit older than i, came up and sat next to me. they were from grand valley state and so we got to talking during the hour we had before the concert started. they were pretty cool... it was so nice to have someone to talk to and to not have to sit alone. and we were the only ones in the front row. we laughed about that. turns out that they are actually from holland, so that was fun to talk about for a bit. in the audience were mainly people from that church with their children... and we swore santa was there... big jolly guy, BIG white beard. mrs. clause was there too.

then the concert started... and i will say it again... amazing! it was just brandon heath, and he played it all acoustic, him and his guitar. he also did two songs on the piano. and it was cool cause in between songs, he would tell stories, stories of the meaning behind his songs, how he came up with them... stuff like that. and being in the front row, and in a small audience, it was super cool... kind of like a personal little concert.


after the concert he came out and talked with people and stuff, so i got a picture with him (actually, since i didn't have a camera, my new friends took one for me and sent it to me... they were super cool).

so ya, he's super nice, super cool. and i totally recommend his album... its super kick back, awesome lyrics... good acoustic guitar stuff.

so i best get back to some studying... and speaking of exams... in case you'd like to send up a little prayer for when i take my exams (which would be much appreciated) this is my schedule (eastern time, of course):

PE 201 on monday @ 10:00am (some of you might still be sleeping at this time :)

REL 131 (theology) on tuesday at 9:00am (you will be sleeping during this one)

CAS 140 (communications) on tuesday at 6:00pm

PHIL 153 on wednesday @ 1:30pm

and then after that exam, it's off to the airport i go! how awesome.

k, tis all...

ciao for now

hockey

so i am pretty much in love with hockey... and my favorite part??? when they slam and check eachother in to the wall... and i like to watch at the glass too, so it was fun standing at the glass and seeing people get slammed right in front of you. am i a bit violent? i dunno, i think it's just i don't get enough of my agression/physical contact out in tennis. if there is physical contact in tennis, you know there is something that aint right.

so it was against hope last night, and barely any hope crowd showed up. in the section where we were sitting, there were ten hope students right in front of us... us being about 50 calvin students in our section. so me and some girls were standing right next to the hope people (we wanted to stand at the glass), and it is amazing how quickly the rivalry becomes natural. us calvin, them hope... we do not like eachother. there were some heated comments during the game. it was hilarious when the 10 hope people tried starting a cheer, saying, "lets go hope" and everytime they attempted to say 'hope' we all yelled 'calvin', drowning out their feeble attempt to cheer for their team. either that or yell "there's no" before they said 'hope'. rivalries... quite fun.

sadly, we lost in the end... a very close and exciting game though... i definitely love hockey.
here are some pics of the fun..

this is right after we scored the first goal... it was sweet.

some of the smashing/checking fun i am talking about.

i'm going to say, stay tuned for one of the craziest things you have ever seen. as a hint, i will give two words: David Hasselhof.

i'll try to post that tomorrow. and also tomorrow... the story and pics from the brandon heath concert i saw tonight... as a hint: it was AMAZING!!!!!

so, all that to come tomorrow!

have a great rest of your weekend.

lonely geese and an old lady

thursday... last time i ever had philosophy, and last time for my communications class. this night was filled with other fun events though.
first off... christmas dinner in the dining halls. and let me say... two words: egg nog. yes! first glass of egg nog of the season. it was mighty delicious. i also had some yummy mashed potatoes, and yummy red velvet cake... incredible.
earlier in the day, however, were filled with some fun times.
first, as i was in my room this afternoon, i looked out the window to notice a rather large animal walking around the tennis courts/construction. to my surprise, it was a large goose. he was there, wandering around in the same little spot, just hanging out there. that goose was there for hours. he looked a bit lonely, so i decided to do something. i grabbed some pretzel sticks and put on my boots and ran down to the fence. there i stood, beckoning a rather large and lonely goose. i threw the pretzels over the fence, but he wouldn't respond. i stayed for a bit, keeping the goose company (as many people stared from their windows, asking what i was doing). so, yes, today i tried to feed a lonely goose.
second... i went to meijer today because last night it occured to me that all my stuff was transported out here in the mode of boxes and my car... no luggage whatsoever. that's kind of a problem when you plan to travel and stay somewhere for three weeks. although i originally entertained the thought of duct taping a bunch of plastic meijer bags together to fashion some kind of piece of luggage, i decided it be best to get a piece o' luggage. so off to meijer i went.
standing in the luggage aisle, i realized that it is kind of nice that they arranged the luggage in order of cheapest to not-cheapest. so the first one i came across i like for two reasons... it was big, red, and a 1200 durability (whatever the heck that means). so i called my pop to see if i should get the medium or the large. i assured of the top quality, low price, and good size. so i resolved to get the large red suitcase. so i hang up the phone, walk out the aisle rolling my luggage in front of me. not even two seconds later, an old lady (upper 70s at least) grabs my arm to stop me and inform me, direct quote: "oh, you are going to love that. i have the entire set and it is just wonderful. except, mine is blue. bye dear."
again... old people ROCK. she totally made my day... and affirmed my decision in the big red luggage. i was sold.

so i wrote my Helen Wills paper today, and i got so frustrated when i was done because there was sooo much more that i wanted to write and tell, but i only had six pages to work with (i wrote seven though). i really enjoyed writing it, but i just hope i did her justice... cause there was so much cool stuff, but so little room. i hope my prof sees how cool she is... if i could get that out of him, my job is done.

one class tomorrow, and my first semester of classes is done.

and...

it's snowing like crazy outside!




i love snow.

oh, and happy campin' to wilderness challenge... first trip of the year, and in joshua tree, most awesome place ever. say hi to the cacti for me... and remember... if you aren't screwing down, you're screwing up.

:)

bright sun-shiny day

well, it is wednesday, and i've got two more days of classes ahead of me, and then three days of exams. further, one week from today i go on my first solo flying adventure back to the west coast for a lovely three week break.

as i walked to class this morning, i could not get over how beautiful today is. lets see... i was wearing longsleeves with a tshirt over it, one of my thinner jackets, and a vest. i was also wearing jeans. and as i walked to class, i found myself taking my time, walking a bit slower, because it felt soooo good outside... crisp air, a bit of a chill, but by no means was i cold at all (except my ears... my ears always get cold). not to mention, there were blue skies with not a cloud in sight, and snow all over the place (except the pathways, of course). it really is one of the greatest things i've ever seen. and i could not get over just how delightful it was outside today. so after getting back from class, i was curious as to what the temperature was outside... surely it was a bit warmer cause it felt so nice. turns out, it was 23 degrees. 23 degrees? delightful? since when is 23 degrees delightful? so, if any of you are curious as to how i am adapting to this weather... i'd say i'm adapting rather well considering 23 degrees is delightful.

this time of year becomes quite the busy and stressful one. everyone is spending major hours in the library, numerous hours on end studying for exams and writing papers, people's eyes begin to glaze over a bit... i find it a bit humorous... but i really should not be the one to speak. i've been on the recieving end of many playful "i hate you"s due to the fact that i've been caught knitting, watching a movie, playing tennis, or even reading for leisure instead of with my nose in the books, or eyes glued to my laptop screen in eagerness to finish out a paper. but it's not like i haven't been studying, or working on my paper (i have a PE paper due on friday... so excited about it... another thing that gets me weird looks), cause i have been. i just find it a bit hard to get stressed about these things--which is funny, because i always manage to stress about other things that are just so random and in no way worth stressing over. i wish i could bring my school-mentality in to other areas of life.

anyway, things have been great here. it's been awesome getting to play tennis every night... that itself helps to keep things on the lower stress level. the snow is fun, and i like to go off path so i can walk through the snow in my boots i got from meijer. i like the cold and the scarfs, hats, and hot teas and drinks that go with it. my roomie is fun, and i love the random fun we get in to. there's a ton to do, and i am looking forward to the calvin vs hope hockey game this friday night (my first hockey game ever) and to a brandon heath concert on saturday. i enjoy waking up every morning to the snow outside my window, and then walking to breakfast in the dark, arriving to my good friend the waffle iron. afternoon naps are great, and they get me through the day. rebekah, my roomie, and i are obsessed with RealSimple magazine, and we have been getting the magazine each month, and we each end up reading through it. we've been super excited for december's, and one thing i look forward to is reading it on the plane/in the airport.

that's kind of what we've been up to here, a little look in to what life is like here. i'm happy to say it's good. although, one thing, this is gonna sound kind of silly, but... for the past three nights, my dreams have been plagued with two things: my dog tippy, and visits to golden spoon. one of them was the golden spoon went out of business. isn't that awful. all i can say is, a week from tonight, i'll be sitting on my sofa at home, tippy next to me, and a nice helping of golden spoon in hand. now that's something to look forward to... oh ya, and all you guys too :) i'm just kidding, y'all know i am excited to see you. it's gonna be a blast.

so with that, i end this post with a fun little comic of snoopy...this is snoopy's version of waking up to snow :)

crazy lazy

two nights ago, my roomie and i had a "fun pj night"... and we took pictures with our suitemate's fireplace... pretty awesome.

and then yesterday was our crazy lazy day... what you see in the picture is basically how we were for the entire day... except we did get up for meals. she worked on a paper, and i knitted all day... kind of bad, i guess, cause we were super lazy... but we had a blast. did i mention the christmas radio station was on all day as well? if i hear "do you hear what i hear" one more time, i am going to explode.

and this is a pic of jenny and i paddling our paddle boat over a waterfall in mammoth... courtesy of my dad's mad photshop skills. i like how we are giving eachother a hi-5 just as we are about to plummet to our deaths.

so four more days of classes... down to thew wire. it is really kind of crazy. and i have been loving walking around the campus... the snow is still covering most of it (a very thin layer, but still enough to cover everything) and i am getting better at being able to tell what is ice and not... sometimes even before i start to slip. it really is awesome. i can't get over the fact that all this stuff around me is... is snow... i am living in snow. so cool.

snow is cool.

ya.

and... for those of you who like sweet deals on outdoor gear and clothing and stuff... basically anything you would find at REI... go to www.steepandcheap.com basically this is how it works:

-Steep and Cheap sells one screamin’ deal at a time until it’s gone.
-The deals are fat (up to 80% off and no less than 50% off), so they sell out fast.
-You have to act fast or you’ll miss it, but don’t stress—as soon as one deal sells out, we kick off another.
-It’s back-to-back deals all day long.

kind of addicting... and really fun. my roomie got me hooked on it.

check it out. i dare ya

a wintery week of lessons

life is basically one big series of learning experiences... and this week, i have spent a lot of time learning. so i am going to share some of my lessons i learned this week:

LESSON 1: that white stuff falling from the sky when it's really cold outside... yup, that's snow.

LESSON 2: those shiny puddles of melted snow that are okay to just go ahead and walk through... um, ya... that's not melted snow, that's ice.

LESSON 3: ice is slippery.

LESSON 4: some of the best term papers are written after breakfast... so there is no need to skip breakfast... in fact, go ahead and sleep in a little too.

LESSON 5: don't make snowballs out of the powdery snow and then attempt to throw it at your friend standing up wind from you... it will fly back in your face. you need to compact and compress... compact, compress.

LESSON 6: the yellow fuzzy tennis ball will not find it's own way in to the court... you gotta put it there yourself.

LESSON 7: don't wait until after you arrive to work at the basketball game that it is calvin playing against hope and then realize that you are wearing quite a bit of orange.

LESSON 8: leave some room for interpretation in your work... you never know, it could turn out to be a hat.

LESSON 9: you are never to old to run out to commons at 10pm at night and go crazy playing in the snow.

LESSON 10: only the good guys will endure through four girls holding two rackets, six knitting needles, and duct tape and interrogating him in order to have a date with my roomie.

LESSON 11: this little story. there were 10 fishermen, and they were all out fishing in a pond where there were only six fish. so, since there's a max of one fish per fisherman, only 6 would get to catch fish. but that's okay, cause the other four still get to fish.

LESSON 12: no matter what they say, revenge IS sweet.

i am gonna explain #12. lindsey and i got back from a "girl's night out" at the mall last night with a bunch of other girls, and we arrived to a room looking like this. and yes, our christmas tree is taped to the ceiling... a good touch if i may add. so, tonight was time for revenge... what do we do?

we took hundreds of dixie cups, 20-some goldfish, and with some time, we duct taped all the cups together and to the ground.

ya, we're pretty awesome.
and as for lesson #9, these pics should suffice as proof.

happy december everyone... it's here!