Fruit and Coffee

I was soooo excited when I found out that our closest family friends the Rays would be coming to visit IWU. I anticipated their arrival all week. It was accepted students weekend and Matt Ray, being an accepted student, was going to come visit again. Mrs. Ray is my mom away from mom so getting to hug her and talk to her for a little bit was awesome. This also was great because they could bring me some things from home.

I love fruit. If you know me at all you know that. You would also know that I love coffee...("I'm addicted its a crisis"). I was running low on k-cups so my parents bought some Caribou blend from Costco and we split them. It is also hard to get good fruit, so they got me Naked Juice. As you can see from the picture I also got FiberOne bars which are oats and chocolaty amazingness, Gatorade (not all pictured), and floss. Thanks to the Rays for transporting the treats and to my parents for getting them for me!

Shamrock Shake Therepy and Celebration

Yesterday was an exciting day. Yesterday was also a little bittersweet. On my way to my 8:55 class I checked my mail because it was the day we would get our letters saying if we got an RA position or not. I had a letter in my mailbox but I wasn't sure if it was THE letter or not...so I opened it and I saw the word congratulations so I opened it even more. I found out that I was going to be the RA of North Hall East 1 East! I was soooooo excited. My friend Erin was there to share the joy with me and then followed by my friend Trisha who got a job in Shatford! It was exciting.

I payed absolutely not attention in my class after that (sorry Dr. Ferg). Then headed to my 10 o'clock class. When I got there the door wasn't unlocked so another girl checked her email and found out it was canceled because of the snow (God thing). So we decided to go to 10 o' clock chapel (God thing). We walk in late and don't wanna crawl over people so we sit in the back (God thing). I get a text from my RA saying to read Emily Larson's blog. I see that Emily Larson is in front of me also telling me to read her blog. I open my laptop in chapel which I have never done before. I pull up Emily's blog and see THIS! (you should probably follow her blog too). Emily who is the future ARD of North Hall is going to be my roommate (God thing)!!! When people would ask me if I were to get a job in North who would I want to room with (all RA's in North Hall live with other staff members), I said "I think it would be awesome to live with Emily". And NOW that too was going to happen. Emily and I have a funny relationship, we are both very open, we are both from Chicago area, and hate the florescent lights in the dorm rooms. Lets just say I'm excited for next year.

My dear sweet friend Kim did not get an RA position and earlier in the week had her laptop stolen. So it was not the best week ever. I saw her in McConn and wanted to say all the cheesy positive and encouraging things but that's just not Kim's style. So I sulked with her and asked her if she had every had a shamrock shake. She said no. I don't understand what it is but shamrock shakes must have been way better advertised in the 630 because NO ONE knows about them here. We decided it was time for a little trip to McDonald's for some shamrock therapy.

Kim was a big fan. The rest of the day continued with drinks at McConn before JK, and a sleepover to follow. :)

Moe-lawi

 Last night our Malawi team had its first "big fundraiser". We had a night at Moe's Southwestern Grill. We got 15% of everything purchased between 5-9. It may not have been a ton a money since we are splitting it among all our team members but it was an encouraging event. It was awesome to see how many people took time out of their busy midterm studying and came to support us. We had over 100 people come within the first hour and a half. Here are some pictures!

Some wonderful ladies from East 3 East!

Becca Coffey, our awesome Malawi team student leader!Here's some more wonderful East 3 East Residents (south hall brothers included).

Thanks so much to everyone who came to support us!

Sick day (ish)

Last night around dinner time I started to feel a little nauseous. I had worked out and quickly followed it down with dinner so that's what I thought it was. (PS don't read any further if your stomach cant handle hearing about throwing up). I kept just not feeling very well. I have been blessed with what I like to call my 6th sense. I am a pro at getting to the toilet before anything erupts. My 6 sense was saying to stay near the toilet but nothing happened. My sweet friends heard I wasn't feeling well and got me saltines and things to drink. My roommate brought my flash cards into the bathroom so I could study in there. I love living in such a loving community of women!

I finished up some homework and went to bed still feeling unsettled. Clearly I was because my 6th sense woke me up early in the morning (like 4:30) to go greet the toilet. I thought I was all better so I climbed back up into my top bunk, only to be woken up again by the same feeling an hour later. After that I spent the rest of the morning on the couch. I skipped my first class so I could sleep and make sure I had "gotten everything out".

Being sick stinks. Being sick at college stinks more. But thankfully it was only a little 24 hour thing. I am soooo ready for Spring Break!

Africa, Nalgene, Squirrel eating breadstick

MALAWI UPDATE! This week we found out from Karen, the lady who runs Circle of Hope, an idea of what we are going to be doing in Malawi. The idea she has for our team is essentially a back yard bible school. Each afternoon we would head out to a surrounding village. We would gather kids together, tell them about Jesus, play a game, and do a craft. The plans could still change but I really like this idea. After our team meeting Sunday night we just hung around in Noelle's apartment and talked about the trip. We asked Becca (who went last year) tons of questions and she was great at answering them. It was a great time of bonding and just getting to know each other better.

 On a totally different and random note. This is my water bottle. I love it. I carry it on my backpack everywhere I go like most of the granola kids here. It helps me stay awake when I want to fall asleep in class, and inspires me to drink water.

This is my splash guard. It makes me happy. So every time I take a sip this is what I see.

After my class that I used my Nalgene to stay awake in I stumbled upon this awkward scene. A squirrel eating a bread stick from Mario's. It was also not scared by the fact that I wanted to take its picture. It really liked that bread stick. I kept picturing it attacking me so I moved along and didn't see him finish the whole thing. Gross.

Family Fun

I had the wonderful opportunity yesterday to go to the birthday party of my cousins kids, Audry and Dawson! I wanted a reason to get off campus for a while this weekend without having to travel far or spend a lot of money and early in the week my cousin Afton texted me and asked if I was available on Saturday! The timing was perfect.

Friday I went to the used book store near my school and had a great time picking out a book for each of them.

This is what I settled on. Saturday morning I got some things done around here and then headed to Aunt Beth's and Uncle Mark's in the afternoon. I arrived and met up with my cousins Afton, and Amanda and their husbands then we headed to go bowling. Dawson (whos deep into his cowboy stage) says "Bullin" and thinks that is going to the rodeo, he was confused last weekend when they went "bullin" after dark.

After bowling we headed to dinner at a delicious BBQ place just across the boarder in Ohio.

The birthday kids got to pick out a bandanna and got a badge. We then headed back to Mark and Beth's for ice cream cake and presents. After play with the toys for a little while it was time for me to head back to IWU. I am so thankful that I have such wonderful welcoming family nearby for little get-away's like this. :)

Daily Double!

Two blog posts in one day?! Whattt?!?!

I think God is giving me intense hints to reread some parts of the book Lies Young Women Believe. So here are some things that I really appreciated from the book.

"Our view of ourselves either enables us to do what God has created us to do or it limits us from becoming all He wants for us to be." I love this. It is so true. If we have a positive but humble view of ourselves and believe that with Christ we can do all things we can truly become everything He wants us to be.

"Any time we look for fulfillment or happiness from anyone or anything other than God, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment." Again, sooo true. Why do I consistently look for happiness in other things? Christ gives a joy that surpasses all others and there should be no need to look in other places.

"God desires for all your relationships to draw you closer to Him and enable you to serve Him more effectively" and "Satan is seeking to rob you of a future filled with joy, peace, and the opportunity to glorify God with your life."

Grant

I got an encouraging text message from my brother Grant yesterday. He said that he had finally been reading my blog instead of doing school work (its about time), and that he was really enjoying it and that I should keep writing. What a great brother? Alex and Ayla are already great supporters but I've already had a few posts about them and little baby Austin (so don't be jealous guys, I love you too). Grant is going to be a History Education major form Eastern Illinois and he's going to be AWESOME at it. Whenever we see someone in Costco or at church that we haven't seen in a while and they ask what Grant is doing and we tell them that they all say "Oh Grant will be just wonderful at that!!! Kids will actually be excited to go to his class!" I agree with them. He has also recently taken on a new title since Austin was born, Uncle G, which he will also be amazing at. Grant and I we really close when we were younger and still liked playing beanie babies and Alex was into teenager things. We had another chance to get closer again when Alex went to college and now that we are the only two left dependent on the parents (thanks mom and dad). I hope that it works out for us to both be home this summer because it could quite possibly be our last summer at home together. I'm on the verge of tears now that I just realized that! Ok, ok enough. Grant has been a wonderful big brother to me and a great friend. I am so excited to see how he grows up (even tho he will always be a kid at heart). God has amazing plans for him and I am so blessed by his joy for life, and his love for me and our whole family. Here are some pictures of Grant :)

Monday....cookie dough disappearance

 Today Erin and I were doing our homework by the fire place. We were planning to reward ourselves for all our hard work with a few pieces of cookie dough that I had put in the fidge yesterday night. I go to open the frige....and its gone. I had labled it and everything. Someone just saw what they wanted and took it. I was shocked. Thing like this arn't suppose to happen in all girl dorms at a small christian school....they just arnt. But it did.

My dear friend Anna understood my pain and when she went to the store she came back with this tub of joy. I am forever thankful. :)

Psalm 29

This morning I was reading Psalm 29. The parts about the voice of the Lord really struck me.

"Ascribe to the LORD, you heavenly beings,
   ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
   worship the LORD in the splendor of his^[a] holiness.

 ³ The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the LORD is powerful;
   the voice of the LORD is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
   the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
   Sirion^[b] like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the LORD strikes
   with flashes of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
   the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the LORD twists the oaks^[c]
   and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

 ¹⁰ The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
   the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
¹¹ The LORD gives strength to his people;
   the LORD blesses his people with peace"

So AWESOME!

Fate

It was fate. Here in Indiana we got a nice mix of ice and snow, by nice I mean a mix that makes it hard to get your car out of its parking spot. My friend Erin and I were planning to go to Buffalo Wild Wings and so I had to get my car out. I was feeling pretty confident as huge sheets of ice feel off my windshield. My fingers ended up going numb and I cut my finger but thats besides the point. We dug out the wheels, or so we thought and I went to try and move my car. Little by little we kept going backwards...then we got stuck...REALLY stuck. Thankfully we were in a spot where a lot of guys walk past to get to their town houses. Finally one guy stopped and asked if we needed help. I knew this was a special one. He tried to push us out but nothing was helping. Then he decided he would go get his truck and pull us out. We were the 4th car he had pulled out today. So, my hero returned with his macho truck and pulled us out. I offered to get him something from Buffalo Wild Wings but he said no thanks. Guys with trucks are great. : )

Snow Day Shadows Groundhog's Day

It just would not be right if I let this day pass without blogging about it. We all knew there was going to be a storm. There was a lot of hype. I grew up in a school district that somehow managed to rarely have snow days. I ended up going to a college that hasn't had a snow day in 5 years. The odds were stacked against me. I've been trained from a young age to not get my hopes up. I was getting word of all the closings of other schools but no word from IWU. Finally the news came in a way that seemed like a rumor. Again, I didn't want to get my hopes. Eventually, I heard it from enough sources that I could go to sleep knowing I didn't have class the next day. I set my alarm for 9:30, you might be thinking "why set an alarm at all?" well... I have had too many snow day experiences where I have slept the majority of the day and it all goes by too quickly.

This is a picture out of the garage at home. I thought it was pretty impressive.

Another thing that I think is silly is how this storm really shadowed over groundhogs day. If you didn't realize it TODAY is groundhogs day! Maybe its because some areas got 2 feet of snow so they realize winter is not over? I'm not sure but I think its interesting for sure.