Insanity Revealed

Beginning of school

2010-08-25T15:28:00.000-06:00

Sorry for not posting for a LONG time...... Here is a rundown of my thoughts from the past few days and weeks!!! Hopefullhy this will make up for my lack of posting ..I just looked and my last post was May 18 or something like that....so i haven't posted for 3 months.......I should have updated over summer break but i guess i was just having so much fun living it up this summer that i did not even think once about updating my blog...For that, i am truly sorry and hope that all of my blog readers will forgive me for my lack of blog postings...So, without anymore unnecessary delay..Here is my post that will hopefully make up for the last 3 months....ENJOY!!!!

So...Today was the FIRST day of the LAST year of college...so ya could say that this was my last first day of school... I however, do not like saying that because it sounds like i will never go back to school...which is false, i plan to return to school in a few years to finish my entire education degree so that I may become the next educator or some of the children in AMERICA or CANADA!!

The past few weeks have been getting ready to move back to school, working, loads of family time and just living life and enjoying my days before God decides that it is time for me to move to Heaven! I have to admit that i am super pumped to move to Heaven because it's going to be one huge party with all the coolest people that ever lived on the earth such as Calvin and Luther and all those other cool philosopher dudes who wrote their stuff hundreds of years before I was even born! My friend Aaron and I have a contest going on..Whoever makes it to Heaven first, gets a blue ribbon put on their casket by the person that lost the contest. To be totally honest, i really don't care who gets to Heaven first...it probably shouldn't even be a legitimate contest...it just sounds pathetic now that i think about it...maybe i should tell Aaron about it and see what he thinks about it....I honestly don't know how he will take the news when i tell him but i HOPE he is OK with it.

This year, my friend Dalton and I are going to be co-leaders for the HOPELINE project that Dordt is starting up. I am really excited about this. Me and Dalton have been talking about it all summer and it is just so much fun. Tomorrow we will get to meet with the director of the hopeline in Sioux Falls to learn about it and start figuring out how we can get people interested and other fun things like that. Aaron (COP leader) has basically told me that it is up to us how we want to go about doing it and if we have questions we will talk to him, if he doesn't know we will talk to the Campus Ministries Coordinator Linsay. Hopefully we don't run into any significant problems. We know God is going to be with us the entire time with this so we will be rocking this out like a chocolate bar in a candy factory :) Besides being excited about it, i am also nervous because it is my biggest fear that the students will not like this at all and they will be totally opposed to it! If you want more information on the hopeline you can go to http://www.thehopeline.com/ It has loads of information on how to become a hopecoach,, what the ministry does, and other fun facts and stuff like that.

Well,

That is all for this blog post. I have a meeting in about an hour so i'm going to go get make some dinner in my sweet apartment!!!!!!!!!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME

My New Harcut

2010-05-30T20:59:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics of my new haircut that i got on May 18th!!! ENJOY!

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THESE PICTURES!

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!!!!!!!!

Facebook note number 10

2010-05-17T22:14:00.001-06:00

This is something i wrote on facebook....if you are my friend on facebook, you will be able to see it, if not, you can see it here....

Have you ever wondered if song artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Basshunter, or any other bands have thought about the potential meanings that their song lyrics will have upon people? The reason I ask this is because my good friend Aaron Coon told me that the song ANGEL IN THE NIGHT by basshunter was a praise song to God. That got me to thinking about some of the other songs that I enjoy listening to on a regular basis, and how they could have two or more ways in interpret them. I will be using three examples. So, without further hesitation, here we go.

Example One: Kelly Clarkson’s song MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU. The chorus of this song is interesting because without being Christian, it is distinctly Christian. I say this because our lives would totally suck without God. However, Kelly was most likely writing this for her boyfriend whom she cannot live with out. In reality, she could live without a man in herlife because God is with her all of the days of her life, but does she know this, or does she not serve the same God that you and I serve? Sometimes, I can only wonder what goes on inside of her head when she is writing her latest hit song.

Example Two: Basshunter’s song ANGEL IN THE NIGHT could be interpreted as having a guy telling a girl that she is his angel in the night. Now, this does not seem a half bad way to interpret a song, but to be honest, I don’t think that a girl could be a guys angel in the night because couples fight, and nothing will ever end that from happening. The way that I see it is, is that God is our angel in the night because he will always be around for us when we need him and protect sus from any harm that will come our way. I do not know if the band Basshunter is Christian or not, the only thing I know about them is that they are from Sweden and they sing some of their songs in Swedish, and a lot of their songs are techno and fun to dance around too when you have free time.

Example Three: Taylor swift and Boy’s like Girls duet TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE could be interpreted as saying that a guy and a girl are so in love that they can’t live without eachother and that two is really better than one. I have to admit, two is not always better then one, sometimes it is better to be single and love it. Being single myself is a blast because I can do things that other people can’t do because they are tied down by another person. I like to interpet this song as saying that God and I are tied in a not and we can’t live without eachother. This is completely true, I cannot live without God because if I did, my life would be a wreck and the decisions that I would make would be based purly on what I wanted to do and not on what God wants me to do.

Well, sorry I bored you with this long-winded thing about what I have been thinking about, but it is just something that has been on my mind ever since Aaron mentioned it to me at the last school dance of the school year. If you all would like to know more about my reasoning, please ask me about it and I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Thanks for reading!!!

Quotes related to Education

2010-05-17T09:55:00.000-06:00

Quotes taken from :http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_education.html

An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious - just dead wrong.
Russell Baker

An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't.
Anatole France

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
Will Durant

Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.
John Dewey

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
Oscar Wilde

Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.
Aristotle

Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.
Daniel J. Boorstin

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
John Dewey

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeats

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
Robert Frost

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.
George Washington Carver

Education is the transmission of civilization.
Will Durant

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.
B. F. Skinner

Education, n.: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
Ambrose Bierce

Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.
G. M. Trevelyan

Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
Malcolm Forbes

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.
Gail Godwin

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.
Victor Hugo

I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.
Michel de Montaigne

I read Shakespeare and the Bible, and I can shoot dice. That's what I call a liberal education.
Tallulah Bankhead

I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.
Al McGuire

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.
Walt Disney

If I had learned education I would not have had time to learn anything else.
Cornelius Vanderbilt

If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found time to conquer the world.
Heinrich Heine

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.
Mark Twain

It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.
Robert Green Ingersoll

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious.
Ambrose Bierce

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.
John W. Gardner

No man who worships education has got the best out of education... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
Emma Goldman

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding.
Ezra Pound

The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas.
George Santayana

The more that learn to read the less learn how to make a living. That's one thing about a little education. It spoils you for actual work. The more you know the more you think somebody owes you a living.
Will Rogers

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.
Robert M. Hutchins

The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.
Carl Rogers

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
Aristotle

The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life.
Ernest Renan

Wild at Heart (Not just a song, but a description of my wonderful personality)

2010-05-16T16:22:00.002-06:00

The title of this post is Wild at Heart, this title has special meaning to me because not only is this one of my favorite songs, it is also a phrase that I like to use to describe the personalities of many of my friends. It also describes the personalities of many of the cute little children that I babysit, Wild at heart is a phrase that I like to use to describe my personality. I say this because I enjoy kids and when I am around a group of kids, I feel as if I am a little child myself. Not only that, but when I was in Mendenhall MS over Spring Break this past year Pastor Fletcher, the pastor of the church and the organization that we worked for, said that I had the voice of a child. He said that was a good thing because I would do well as a teacher’s assistant, when he said that, I felt good about my decision to become a teacher’s assistant. Before I say anymore about the theme of being Wild at Heart, I have to give a shout out to my best friend Reuben Faber. He was the one who introduced me to the song “Wild at Heart” by playing it at the second to the last school dance of the year. Reuben has been a good friend of mine since the beginning of the semester. He is so much fun and next year he will graduate and do his student teaching, and then he will go off into the real world.

I mentioned the kids I babysit for exhibit the behavior of being wild at heart. One of the kids I babysit for named Lily exhibits this in a huge way. Lily’s mom recently had a new baby so Lily is all excited and loves her baby sister a lot. Lily is fun loving because she always has a smile on her face when I come over and play with her. I remember one time I was watching Lily and I was trying to get her to put her pajama’s on her and she took off all her of clothes, except her uderwear, and ran around the house and wanted to go outside. I told her that the only way she could get to go outside is if she put her clothes back on. She finally did and we went outside and I showed her all of the houses on her street. She held my hand as we walked and she kept saying that I was so much fun to babsit and I am so excited when I get to go and play with her for a few hours while her parents run errands or go out with friends. I absolutely can’t wait to babysit Lily, her little brother Alexander, and her new baby sister Abigail. All three of these kids will grow up to be fun loving kids and I can’t wait to share in the joys of watching them grow into competent disciples of Jesus.

Kiera is another cute little girl that I enjoy babysitting. Kiera loves to have fun and is full of energy. I enjoy babysitting her because she has so many cool stories to tell and has such a vibrant imagination that is just so much fun. I enjoy all of her stories that she tells me because they always have to do with Disney princesses. I babysit Kiera on Friday night and we jumped on the trampoline, told stories to each other, and then we shared a bag of popcorn before it was time for her to go to sleep for the night. Before bed, I read her a story, got her a drink of warm water and tucked her in. Kiera also tells me that I am her favorite person to play with. Kiera is one of my favorite kids because she lets her imagination take her anywhere, and her stories are the best. I also love it when she tells me what to tell a story about, which are mostly Disney princesses. Kiera’s brothers, Caleb and Joel are also fun to play with because they run around and always are happy, unless their binky’s fall out of their mouths while they sleep, then they wake up and cry until it is back in, then they are fine and fall asleep really well. Sometimes, however, you have to rub their backs to help them go to sleep. Once all three of them are sleeping, I have time to myself to think. I love babysitting Kiera, Caleb and Joel because they bring joy to my life. These three kids are really Wild at Heart.

Now, let me get into some things that I have been thinking about for the past 4 weeks. These things may be something that everybody thinks about, or maybe I am the first person to ever think about these things, although, one of them, my friends Aaron mentioned it to me at the dance that was held on April 30. So, without further ado--
First of all: I wonder if song composers realize that some of the songs they sing may be potentially uplifting, or just plain weird. Two examples of this being: Kelly Clarkson’s song “My life would suck without you”, The chorus to this song could very easily be considered a praise song to God, because it is true that our lives would completely suck without God. I also wonder if Kelly is a Christian and knows Jesus as her Lord and Savior. If not, I wish that me and all of my friends could go to Hollywood and tell all of the famous celebrities about Jesus and about how wonderful he is, and tell them all of the cool things that he can do. I would also read them the stories of Jesus’ miracles, and all of the stories about Jesus dying and rising, and I would particularly focus on his birth, death and resurrection because those three aspects of Jesus’ life are the most important, at least to me. The second example being Taylor Swif’s duet “Two is better than one”. This is a song that I like, but I wonder sometiems if Taylor Swift and the other dude that sing it know that two is not always better than one. In fact, I believe that being single is a wild ride because I can basically do whatever I want without having to ask my significant other. Sometimes I do feel lonely without a spouse, or a boyfriend, but then I remember that with Jesus in my life, I am never alone. I am glad that I am never alone, and do not really care if I ever get a spouse. I just hope that if God does provide me with a spouse, he is Christian, caring, nice, loving and helps me work on things that I am not so good at doing.

Stories about the different PLIA groups taken off of Dordt's website

2010-05-02T21:28:00.000-06:00

This year during Dordt College’s spring break, 139 students chose to serve on 13 PLIA (Putting Love Into Action) teams with the college’s student-run mission outreach program. This year’s sites included Ansted, W.V.; Atlanta, Ga.; Bozeman, Mont.; Camden, N.J.; Denver, Colo.; Inez and Neon, Ky.; Cary, Jackson and Mendenhall, Miss; New Orleans, La.; Shiprock, N.M.; and Toronto,Ont., Canada. The PLIA trips took place March 11-20.
The goal of PLIA is to share Christ’s love with people in diverse communities; challenge participants to adopt a more service-oriented lifestyle; and to assist and encourage the growth of ministry centers with which they work.
The Ansted PLIA team volunteered in a coal-mining region of West Virginia, where they witnessed the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining on a community. They also cleared brush and trees at Kayford Mountain, did spring cleaning at High Rocks Academy; did yard work at the Redeemer Episcopalian Church; and helped with flood clean up in the town of Glen Jean.
Rachel Gorter (Otley, Iowa) said helping in the aftermath of flood devastation at Glen Jean was gratifying, as their team could see the sheer relief on the faces of the people whom they helped. “They could not have gotten their church cleaned out and back into working order without us, and it was great to know that we helped some members of that community put part of their lives back together.”
Alex Pasker (Runnells, Iowa) noted that they did a lot of learning on their trip. The group met with members of the Ansted Historical Preservation Society, who explained the effect coal mining has on their homes and families. “We came to really understand the issue of mountaintop removal mining and we even experienced the effects first hand: we witnessed flooding, partially caused by lack of vegetation on the mountainside; we couldn’t drink the water because of heavy metals from coal processing; and we experienced the efforts of coal company employees to intimidate those who speak out against mining.” Pasker said the experience broke stereotypes he didn’t even know he had concerning environmentalism and Appalachian culture. “I feel like I have returned with a much truer sense of the spirit of West Virginia, as well as a greater appreciation of how materially blessed we are in this part of the country.”
“One of the many things I appreciated about this trip was the wide array of perspectives we got to hear,” said Michelle Alkema (Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada). A guide from Restoring Eden spent time with the Dordt group throughout the week, as well as representatives from Christians for the Mountains, Coal River Mountain Watch, and Mountain Justice.
“We heard from Christians on the subject of mountaintop removal mining, who emphasized God’s calling to protect His creation. We heard from locals whose homes are under attack, forcing them into activism. We also met some direct action activists, who were not from the local area and whose activism involves civil disobedience. And we learned about legal ways people are fighting to try and stop mountaintop removal such as trying to change laws. I really appreciated getting all these perspectives because it allowed me to see the whole movement, not just a small part.”
Alkema said she experienced the beauty of creation in West Virginia, but also saw how humans are destroying it without regard. “The greed associated with mountaintop removal is staggering and I know now that it is not something I want to be associated with or let happen freely.
The Atlanta PLIA team helped at Bright Futures and Summerhill after school programs by making meals, helping kids with homework, and just spending time together to be a positive influence. They also worked at a summer camp that’s free for inner city youth called the Atlanta Youth Project, where they did electrical work, pulled out old fences, put up new ones, tore down part of a barn, and re-sided, painted, and cleaned to prepare for summer camp. At Atlanta Youth Academy the team dug trenches through Georgia red clay for drainage pipes, and at Fellowship Mission they cleaned out a house and shed, sorted through donated materials, and reorganized play rooms.
At the after school program Laura Schrotenboer (Sunnyside, Wash.) recalls, “The kids would just latch onto you and want to be held even though they were school aged. Before we worked they told us this was a sign of abuse.” Schrotenboer said it was great to have the kids trust you, but it was hard to think about the situations that they come from. “I really enjoyed moving out of my comfortable little bubble and learning more about life. Seeing the poverty helped me to see that it’s not just foreign countries that need help but right here. It makes me want to find the poverty in my hometown and do something about it.”
Reuben Faber (Escondido, Calif.) also went to Atlanta last year on a PLIA team, and returned for the summer because it has a special place in his heart. “The thing that has hit me each time I’ve been there are the situations these kids live in, with broken or abusive homes and really not much of a future ahead of them.” Despite this Faber says they are the happiest kids he’s ever seen. “If I was in their situations I don’t know if I would have the hope or the faith that they do. These kids inspire me more than I ever could have imagined.”
The PLIA group spent a lot of time learning about the cycle of poverty and discrimination, and how this plays into everything. Faber noted, “The directors of these programs are incredible people who inspired us with their undying devotion to serve the Lord through caring for these kids. They were a perfect example for us on how to be unselfish with your time and to completely surrender to God’s plans for your life. They have complete trust in God that He will provide for them.”
The Bozeman PLIA team volunteered at Love, INC (In the Name of Christ), where they built and painted shelves; delivered thank you shamrocks to 60 local churches; painted an upstairs room; rearranged furniture; raked a yard; built and delivered storage shelves, and other jobs.
“I really enjoyed getting to know the people with the organization and the church,” commented Stephen Pederson (Omaha, NE), who noted they were blessed by performing a skit at a nursing home and taking the time to visit with the residents. “PLIA taught me to be humble as a leader and respect the wise leadership of my elders. It also reminded me to be joyful in the Lord always.”
The Camden PLIA team volunteered in the school and after school programs of Urban Promise Ministries, a non-profit organization that serves inner-city kids in the poorest city in America, as well as doing some miscellaneous jobs like painting, cleaning, repairing, and yard work.
The city of Camden has one of the highest crime and poverty rates in the U.S., according to Sierra Zomer (Corsica, SD). It was an eye opening experience to stay there, and “awesome and inspiring to see the passion and hope the staff has for improving lives in the city of Camden.” Zomer said PLIA helped her learn about other people, other cultures, and to not take anything for granted. “God has truly blessed me and has graciously provided me with gifts to bless and love others.”
On their day away, the group went to New York City, where they got caught in one of the worst rainstorms in 30 years, according to the front page of The New York Times. “We had moments where we wondered if we would ever be able to get out of NYC or ever be dry again!” recalls Zomer. “But with our awesome optimistic group, a day that could have been the worst day of our trip ended up being a very exciting and fun story to tell.”
The Cary PLIA team served at the Cary Christian Center and at homes in the surrounding community.
“Often it seemed like it was too much to ever accomplish," noted Michael De Groot (Sunnyside, Wash.). “But in the end it seemed possible to change one person at a time, and through continuous volunteering there is the possibility to break the cycle of poverty in Cary.”
De Groot appreciated the closeness of their team and the way that God used them to touch lives both physically and spiritually. “It has made me much more aware of God and his plan in my life, and showed me how he can use someone who is fallen to make a difference in someone else’s life.”
The Denver PLIA team volunteered with Brothers Redevelopment, Inc. (BRI), a company that renovates homes of low-income, elderly, and disabled people to enable them to continue living independently. The team painted two trailer houses and finished the painting on another.
Travis Nykamp (Edgerton, Minn.) said it was a huge blessing to be able to serve others while getting to know a great group of fellow students. While painting a house they befriended the homeowner, who was unable to do the work due to age and health issues. “It was fascinating to talk to him while working because he had been in the Air Force, worked as a policeman, a mechanic, and race car driver. “The man had done a lot of crazy stuff in his life and had some great stories to tell.”
Nykamp said he learned a valuable lesson about not judging people according to how they dress or the size and condition of their home.
The Inez PLIA team volunteered with Appalachia Reach Out (ARO), where they helped with a food pantry, the thrift store, and a layette ministry center. The team also led Bible study at the Independent Baptist Church, tutored at Sheldon Clark High School, and volunteered at the Martin County Senior Center and local nursing homes.
“We all really appreciated the interaction that we had with the community as we worked,” said Cora Bonnema (Prinsburg, Minn.). “The people that live there are hospitable and gracious. I enjoyed hearing about their lives.” She said the group was also well-received at the high school where they tutored.
Bonnema said their trip was a good mix of physical labor, communication, and immersion into the community. She appreciated meeting people with different cultural backgrounds and in different economic conditions. “We are very blessed to be given what we have, and have the opportunity to share with others!”
The Jackson PLIA team did projects for Voice of Calvary Ministries, which is a nonprofit organization that seeks to “rebuild people by rebuilding communities through the gospel.” The group restored a playground by cleaning and bleaching the equipment and refilling the play area with 6-8 inches of pea gravel; weeded church flower beds; did major clean-up of vacant houses with VoCM’s youth group (these houses are restored and resold to enhance the neighborhood); and helped residents of Commonwealth Village pick up trash.
They also helped with a “Community Pep Rally” by serving hotdogs, chips, pop, ice cream, and playing with the kids. “We had many games set up, balloon animals, face painting, street bowling, etc.,” said Morgan Rodenburgh (Sioux Center, Iowa). While they entertained the children, speakers presented residents of Commonwealth Village with a variety of opportunities for improving their lives.
“It was awesome getting to know the people of the community and learning more about their culture,” said Rodenburgh. She was particularly impacted by a speaker she heard from We Will Go Ministries, whose name was Ms. Amy. “She and her husband decided to sell everything and move to one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Jackson. They wanted to be close to the drugs, prostitution, alcohol abuse, women trafficking, etc., because they knew this would be a place where they could share and serve the Lord.”
Over the course of five years they have converted four drug and prostitute houses into missionary housing, and Ms. Amy continues to take in anyone who knocks on her front door. When people get released from prison, they drop them off at her front yard. “They have created an outdoor church, clothes drive, Bible study groups, and she even does laundry for homeless people,” Morgan said. “This stands out in my mind the most because she personally questioned us with what we were doing to further the kingdom of God. She asked me, ‘Why are you here?’ and I spoke up and said, ‘To serve!’ She responded, ‘Who are you here serving? Voice of Calvary? Me? The people of this community? Well, you should be serving the Lord.’”
Rodenburgh said these comments made them think hard about what they were doing. “We had such great, deep, long discussions about basically everything.” At the end of their trip, they were told by the site manager that they were the happiest group he had ever seen come through VoCM. “He couldn’t believe how hard we worked and how consistent we were with our positive attitudes.”
Morgan said the PLIA trip helped her learn how important discipleship is, the power of prayer, reconciliation with God, and unity through diversity. The diversity of color, culture, and attitudes came through not only with the people of the Jackson community, but also with the members of the group, who represented five countries, and all had different majors. “Despite the racial or cultural diversity, we are all unified through the body of Christ. This is truly an amazing thing. All in all, I can say on behalf of the whole group that this was an intense spiritual growth project.”
The Mendenhall PLIA team volunteered at the Mendenhall Ministries Farm and at homes in the community. The team butchered 68 roosters; built a new chicken coop with 24 nesting boxes, roosts, and a covering; painted part of a dormitory; removed drywall and carpet from a burnt house; worked on minor electrical and plumbing projects; assisted in repairing farm implements, and cracked peanuts out of their shells.
Kurt Franje (New Sharon, Iowa) enjoyed being outside and doing physical labor side by side with fellow team members, but also appreciated being able to form bonds with team members and the Mendenhall Ministry leaders, especially the pastor. “As a leader of the Mendenhall PLIA team, I was filled with joy in seeing how enthusiastic and determined the team members were in working. Instead of complaints, they were always asking what else needed to be done. Building friendships was a great way to see a body of believers working to spread God’s love.”
The Neon PLIA team volunteered with HOMES Inc. (Housing Oriented Ministries Established for Service, Inc.). This ministry serves the housing needs of low income households through volunteer labor and donations.
Ryan Brumfield (Kent, Wash.) said they learned a lot about life in Kentucky, and getting to know the people of Neon and fellow students was both exciting and fun. “We all really enjoyed talking to and getting to know the men that we worked with,” said Ryan. “They don’t have as much as we do, but they are still content with what they have.”
The New Orleans PLIA team volunteered at Urban Impact Ministries, helping with construction and service projects throughout the community, assisting with homeless missions, tutoring, and conducting prayer walks in the city.
The Shiprock PLIA team worked at Bethel Christian Reformed Church and within the reservation community under the direction of Pastor John Greydanus.
Eric Tudor (Charles City, Iowa) said the trip made their group aware of the poverty within the United States. “Few of us had been on an Indian reservation and the experience was truly eye-opening,” said Tudor, who added that despite the despair there were indications of hope through education, relationships, and most significantly, God.
At the church the group did some cleaning, painted the parsonage, landscaped, and did general clean-up. A few group members helped out at the houses of church members, and the group also ran a food bank one morning, “a truly eye-opening experience.”
They had the opportunity to visit national parks in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah in the four-corner region, and saw a “truly magnificent display of God's awesome creation” at the Grand Canyon.
“One of the best parts of our trip was our team unity," noted Tudor. “Although we were a very diverse group, we meshed well and were able to accomplish a great deal through our interaction together, both on the worksite and in spiritual discussions.”
The Toronto PLIA team volunteered at Urban Promise, where they helped with day camps for underprivileged children on spring break.
Summing up what many PLIA participants experienced on their service trips, Reuben Faber commented, “One of the crazy things about PLIA is that you jump into a van with 10 people whom you may not have even met before, drive half-way across the country with them, and spend almost every waking minute together for nine days. Somehow these people you didn’t know existed two weeks earlier are baring their souls and sharing their deepest thoughts with you during devotions. PLIA has showed me that so many times in my life I try to be selfish in my life plans and the decisions I make, but I don’t listen to God and what He has in store for me. I try to convince myself that the things I want to accomplish are always in line with what God wants, even though that may not be true. The people we met on the trip showed us what it means to be completely surrendered to God’s will, as if to say, ‘God, you win!’”

**Pictures of the groups are ABOVE the descriptions of what each group did....ENJOY!!!**

Pictures from Sunday April 4, 2010

2010-04-05T15:49:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from Easter Sunday....ENJOY

I hope you all had a blessed Easter!!

The pictures i posted were from our crazy pillow fight that we had right before we left to come back to Dordt (the college that we attend) We had a blast and even watched "The Passion" and stayed up until 2:30 in the morning and had a good nights sleep and had a fun car drive to my house, and all in all just had a rockin good time chilling out as friends! I'm so thankful that i have such awesome friends because without them, i would not be who i am today. So to all my friends..Thank you for being my friend and being their for me when i have needed you the most. You guys rock and i am so glad that we became friends and i hope that we are friends till we all go off on our seperate adventures, but i also hope that we can at least stay in contact through facebook and email even when we go off on our ways, which we don't know what that is. Hopefully, soon, we will have one big friend party to celebrate our friendship with each other. I can just imagine the chaos now!

Well,

That is all for now

Blog at ya later!!

Constantly learning....

2010-04-01T19:53:00.001-06:00

I'm constantly learning how i can be a better person. I especially am learning how to be more patient when it comes to waiting for things that are in the near future. I think that the biggest way that God is teaching me patience is waiting to hear about if i got the Job in Colorado or not, i still have a week and a half until i know for sure what's up, but i am excited to learn where God will be taking me this summer. ALL of my friends keep telling me that patience is a virtue, i also keep telling people that but it is so hard to remember that it is a virtue when you aren't being a patient person. I have to admit though, i am glad God is teaching me patience because it is helping me grow as an individual person, and also helping me develop my relationships with my other friends on a much deeper level. I have to admit that this is a hard skill because there are times when i do not know the correct thing to say to a person. However, this comes easier to me when i get to know the person on a more personal level, then conversations flow naturally and it is easy for me to talk to them since i know their interests and personality. If i did not know this, it would be very awkward talking to them and starting a conversation with them.

This summer, I am going to be starting a journal. This journal will be all my thoughts from the day and how i feel during the day, and then, once a week, i will look back on my week and reflect on it and see how i have changed during the week, and write out how i think i can improve the next week. I will also be writing down prayers. I know that i do this already, but this journal will be different because instead of looking back at the whole YEAR, i will be looking back at a week. I feel that this way, my year will be better because i keep building upon what i did the previous week. I am hoping this goes well and i hope that my journal entires are well thought out and rounded! Enough of that, lets talk some more about how i'm learning and what i'm learning...

I'm also learning how to be an effective teacher, i am enjoying this a lot and am so glad that i have to opportunity to learn so many new things. I really enjoy learning how to teach, and what sorts of things to teach my little children inside the classroom. One of the classes that is over for me was Diversity in Education, in this class we learned teaching strategies for culturally diverse students, and how to adapt curriculum to their specific needs, and we also learned about culturally-appropriate teaching and how to be polite to the students in our classroom that are from a different ethnic background then we are. I have enjoyed learning about how to teach this kids because without knowing the right way to teach them, we may offiend them unknowingly and they won't want to take part in any class activities because of it.

Since coming back from Spring Break i have also learned that sone things are the way that they are because they have been like that for such a long time. Over Spring Break, i went down to Mendenhaall MS on a mission trip with 10 of my fellow Dordt students. I have to admit that i was nervous at first because i was afraid that someone was going to shoot me when we got their. I learned very quickly that that would not happen because the place we stayed had no windows, and the doors were locked tight every single night! However, across the grassy area of the volunteer center was a drug dealers house and i have to admit, i was kind of scared that the drug dealer was gonna come over to where we were star tipping one night and ask us if we wanted to buy any drugs. Of course, we are mature college students and know that when we go on a Mission project we are representing our school, so, we would have simply ran away as fast as our little skinny legs could carry us. ANYWAYS, Mendenhall is divided in the middle by RR tracks, blacks live on the South Side and Whites live in the North side. They do not intermix but when they do, conversation is always good. I also have to say that being the minority on the black side made me feel a little bit uncomfortable but i soon got over that when Pastor Fletcher (the pastor on the black side) started talking to us as if he had known us for years! This made me slightly more comfortable in a place that i had never been before! Patience was somethign that was hard for me on thsi trip, all i wanted was to GET THERE RIGHT NOW! and we were still an hour away from our final destination. However, my leader taught me a cool game to play and that made the tiem go really fast and it only seemed like 20 minutes before we finally got to the city of Mendenhall, and our "home" for the week, the volunteer center on the black side of the rail road tracks.

All in all, learning is something that will never ever stop. We as humans will continue to learn every single day that we are alive. Hopefully, if we are still young, we will be able to carry the lessons we learn all the way to our burial site, and even, to Heaven. One thing i wonder about all the time is if we will remember our life on the Earth once we get to Heaven. Part of me says that we will only remember the good times that we had, and part of me says that God won't let us remember because he wants us to create new memories and new feelings of love and compassion. Hopefully, these questions will be answered, but for now, i'm just going to live each day for God and hope for the best!

I'm going to end this post with a picture of my PLIA group,,.....see if you can see where i am!!!!!! ENJOY!!

PICTURE POST!! YE HAW!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

THESE ARE ALL PICTURES OF MY ADORABLE BABY COUSIN RUTHIE LLYAN!!!!!!!! I HOPE YOU ENJOY LOOKING AT ALL THESE WONDERFUL PICTURES, AND ALSO HOPE THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK...HOPEFULLY I'LL HAVE SOMETHING TO BLOG ABOUT THAT IS FUN AN EXCITING IN A FEW DAYS..UNTIL THEN...HAVE A BLESSED WEEK, AND I'LL BLOG AT YA LATER!!!!!!

January 21, 2010

2010-01-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TOO TWENTY TEN...
i'm sitting in the third floor computer lab right now and am listing to my friends Aaron and Devin talk and they are being so silly. Aaron and his brothers Sean and Ryan have become my adopted brothers since i don't have any biological brothers and have always wanted a big brother to beat up people who make fun of me. I have to admit tho, no one has made fun of me yet so i'm pretty safe! So far, school is going really well. My favorite class is Children's Lit because we get to read kids books and then critique them based on the elements of plot, character, illistrations, line, composition, and Reading level. Since i'm going to be the assistant teacher, i'm really learning how i can help the main teacher pick out the books that will be read to the class. My other favorite class is my Introduction to the education of the exceptional student class because we are learnign about the different learning disabilities and impairments that an individual child can have. My least favorite class right now is Human Bio because our teacher is very unorganized and spends like 25 minutes of class taking attendance and leaving only about 25 minutes for lecture. 25 minutes of lecture isn't bad but half of the lecture is taken up by our prof reflecting on areas that he has dealt with.. AND i have to tell you that the first 3 class periods were spent talking about rattlesnakes and cougars in HUMAN BIOLOGY class......Who knew that could happen right.?

ANYWAYS...My cousin Justine had her baby...YAY....her name is Ruthie Llyan Baamann..she is sooo adorable and i can't wait to see her and hold her and just have a good time holding my lil baby cousin that is such a precious gift from God! THANK YOU GOD FOR RUTHIE LLYAN!!!!!!!!!! I can not wait to meet her and hold her and cuddle her and just love her to pieces. Ruthie looks exactly like her daddy. My cousin Josiah thinks she looks like him but i haave to disagree because Josiah is a goober, BUT, i love him anyway even though he is my goober of a cousin!! My cousin Luke is such a lil stud...all the girls will be flocking to him when he gets to college..HA HA...Luke is my 3rd favorite on my daddy's side of the fam because he makes me laugh so much and i just love the lil guy to pieces! Bekah is awesome, she is my 2nd favorite and she ROCKS! Anya is my first favorite lil girl because she is just so funny...if you can say that girls are studds, i totally would BUT, since i can't, i'll call her my sweetie petey!!!!!!!! ha ha.....Josiah is wild, Emily is a big sweetie, she could be my twin sister if we didn't live 20 hours apart! and then their is Justine...she ROCKS...she is a beautiful women and i love her with all my heart..Her hubby Iwan is goign to be a minister and i think that is just great...He will get along with my family really well and Baby Ruthie (former name" Baby B) is now here and has been welcomed into the family by the people that love her most...WELCOME TO THE WORLD RUTHIE!!!!

To end this post, i'll attach 2 pictures of Baby Ruthie...ENJOY

The top pic is of her sleeping

Bottom pic is her saying HI MOM AND DAD!!!!! SUCH A SWEET PRECIOUS CHILD..

Well...

Blog at ya later!

End of twenty oh nine! Reflections on the past year

2009-12-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

In a few hours we will be saying good bye to two thousand and nine and saying hello to two thousand ten, or twenty ten as i will be calling it. As i am typing this, i am watching EVAN ALMIGHTY, the move about Evan Baxter who get summoned by God to build the ark. I do not know if this movie is intended for lil kids to watch, but i have to admit, it does teach kids the story of Noah and the ark even though Noah is not played by the actual Noah in the Bible. I also have to admit that even though this movie may not be the best way to teach the Story of Noah, it does have some funny parts and situations that are really true in today's world.

Last year at this time i was hanging out with my AWESOME Canadian Cousins, Justine, Emily, Bekah, Luke, Josiah and Anya. Justine got married to Iwan on January 2nd. It was a beautiful wedding and i enjoyed it immensly, even though we had airplane problems on the way home and lived in an airport for over half the day, we got home and rested up nicely and comfortably. In 2010, the first exciting thing that will happen is that Justine and Iwan's baby will be born, I'll have a new little second cousin, Yeah!

A few months after the wedding, i went to Denver CO for a week with some other Dordt students and we painted houses for people who can not do it by themselves because they are either to old, or they can not afford to go buy the supplies sthey need to get the job done, or they have been considered to be in poverty. The experience made me really excited to help people that are less fortunate then myself and made me so happy that i am doing this project again in twenty ten! I do not know where i'm heading on my mission trip this coming year but i am really excited to go and can not wait to be involved with a new group of students!

In August, i had surgery to remove a cyst from the top part of my hand. It went well and have to admit that i am a rebel child and have not gone back for my 2nd post operative appointment because i feel that i am doing well enough that i don't need to go back to have it looked at for thirty seconds and then leave again. One funny thing about my surgery is that after i woke up, i asked my mom 3 times if she had eaten and she said yes every time, but since i still had some sleepy drugs in my body, i couldn't remember what i had asked her so when i was fully awake she asked me if she had eaten and i had no idea what she was talking about. It is more funny now then it was back then...Oh, the funny things you do when you are pumped up with drugs that make you sleepy.

Then nothing happend for a while, then thanksgiving rolled around, we had 3 extra kids here, Jordan, Joel and Derrek, Derek is my cousin, and Jordan and Joel are Mally's friends from Dordt, they are really cool boys and make me happy. We watched star trek and star wars and just had a good time hanging out and stuff. Christmas came next, I got many awesome gifts including a new pair of boots and an ipod touch which should arrive at my house on Wednesday! I am so excited to get it because since my old ipod died, i've been using my mom's and slowly the battery drains faster and faster and soon, she will have to get a new one, unless she just listens to the radio all the time but, whatever floats her boat.

On Tuesday Mom's cousin died. She was diagnosed right before t-giving with cancer, and she died on Tuesday, I do not know why God allowed this to happen so quickly but i do know that Mom's cousin is in a much better place then this crazy messed up world. I did not know mom's cousin but from the picture she showed me of them, she seemed like a nice person and they kind of looked alike as well. I have that with my cousin Emily. I think that i am a less chubby version of my cousin Emily, My Aunt Elaine says the same thing whenever i bring it up so therefore it must be true! But just pray for my mom's family as they grieve the loss of their cousin.

All in all, i have to say the past year was very interesting, fun things happened and others happened that i wish had not happened and yet, because of the things that i didn't want to happen, i grew from those experiences and became a wiser person and now know hot o avoid situations that are not good for me and i have learned how to say NO better, i've learned to be more patient (i'm still working on it) and i'm still learning how to study and be successful in school and at work. I know that with God's help i can succeed at anything i want to, i just need to ask him to help me and guide me in the way that i should go!!!

Well, That's it for two thousand and nine!

Bog at ya next year!!!

Poem

2009-12-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Today,
I'm sharing a poem...Enjoy!

The storm may roar without me, my heart may low be laid, but God is round about me, and can I be dismayed.

Wherever He may guide me, no want shall turn me back. My shepherd is beside me, and nothing can I lack.

His wisdom ever wakes me, His sight is never dim. He knows the way He takes me, and I will walk with Him.

Green pastures are before me, which yet I have not seen; bright skies will soon be o'er me where darkest clouds have been.

My hope I cannot measure, my path to life is free; my Savior has my treasure, and He will walk with me.

**I hope to post again soon!!

Blog at ya later!

Pictures from the past few weeks...ENJOY!!

2009-12-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

I hope you alll enjoyed these pictures, they are from the Christmas Banquet and dance that happened last weekend at Dordt....It was so much fun...

------------Blog at ya later

Pictures from the Christmas Banquet

2009-12-11T19:12:00.002-07:00

Here are some pictures of me and my girls and our "dates" before the Christmas banquet that was held on campus last night!...Enjoy!!

Explanations: First pic: Us girls (First time)

Second Pic: Girls again-Still waiting for the awesome boys to show up

AND

Third: Our "dates" finally showed up so we took the awesomest group picture in the history of awesome group pictures!

Well...Hope you enjoyed the pics

Blog at ya later!!!!

This is sad..Please read

2009-12-11T08:38:00.002-07:00

**i DID NOT WRITE THIS, ONE OF MY FRIENDS SHARED THIS WITH ME OVER EMAIL AND IT IS PRETTY SHOCKING...I ENCOURAGE YOU TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THIS ISSUE**

My name is Chris ,
I am three,
My eyes are swollen..
I cannot see.

I must be stupid,
I must be bad,
What else could have made,
My daddy so mad?

I wish I were better,
I wish I weren't ugly,
Then maybe my mommy,
Would still want to hug me.

I can't do a wrong,
I can't speak at all,
Or else I'm locked up,
All day long.

When I'm awake,
I'm all alone,
The house is dark,
My folks aren't home.

When my mommy does come home,
I'll try and be nice,
So maybe I'll just get,
One whipping tonight.

I just heard a car,
My daddy is back,
From Charlie's bar

I hear him curse,
My name is called ,
I press myself,
Against the wall.

I try to hide,
>From his evil eyes,
I'm so afraid now,
I'm starting to cry.

He finds me weeping,
Calls me ugly words,
He says its my fault,
He suffers at work.

He slaps and hits me,
And yells at me more,
I finally get free,
And run to the door.

He's already locked it,
And I start to bawl,
He takes me and throws me,
Against the hard wall.

I fall to the floor,
With my bones nearly broken,
And my daddy continues,
With more bad words spoken.

'I'm sorry!', I scream,
But it's now much to late,
His face has been twisted,
Into a unimaginable sh ape.

The hurt and the pain,
Again and again,
O please God, have mercy!
O please let it end!

And he finally stops,
And heads for the door,
While I lay there motionless,
Sprawled on the floor.

My name is Chris ,
I am three,
Tonight my daddy,
Murdered me.

And you can help,
Sickens me to the soul,
If you read this,
And don't pass it on.

I pray for your forgiveness,
You would have to be,
One heartless person,
Not to be affected,
By this Poem.

And because you ARE affected,
Do something about it!
So all I ask you to do,
Is pass this on!

ARE YOU ARE AGAINST CHILD ABUSE????
At first I thought this was just a chain letter
And I wasn't going to send it either,
But now I realize that this is an important situation.

At least 5 children each day from around the world die from child abuse!!!!

This happens across the board, no matter how much money they have or their ethnicity.
Please help.

***PLEASE HELP SPREAD AWARENESSS OF CHILD ABUSE TO EVERY ONE YOU KNOW**

A picture can tell a whole story,...

2009-12-04T23:39:00.001-07:00

And this picture says a lot...I encourage you to read the words, try to figure out the meaning, and Pray that God will hold your life in his hand!!!

Blog at ya later!

2009-12-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

HAPPY DECEMBER EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

I'M STARTING THE COUTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS BREAK AND AS OF NOW, I HAVE 17 DAYS TO GO...WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!

I'M HOPING TO UPDATE MY BLOG AGAIN IN THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS WITH A LONG DESCRIPTION OF WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO THE PAST FEW WEEKS/MONTHS...

JUST BEAR WITH THESE SPORATIC POSTS THAT I DO EVERY NOW AND THEN!!

BLOG AT YA LATER!

I am Thankful for...

2009-11-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

Things that I am thankful for:

Friends
family
a house to live in
a Christian Education
my church family
being able to hang out with kids
laughter
crying--it helps me relieve stress
going for walks
God's creation
My co-workers
my Intramural volleyball team
warm clothes
food and the people that prepare it for us to eat
health
work
Singing songs to God
Hanging out with friends over break
Watching Movies--Star Wars is my new Favorite!
Teachers--they help me learn new ideas and skills that will help me when i am completely done with my schooling at Dordt College

I'M EXCITED!!!!!!

2009-11-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

I AM VERY VERY VERY EXCITED BECAUSE..

MY LITTLE SECOND COUSIN IS GOING TO BE BORN IN ABOUT 10 WEEKS.....YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M EXCITED TO MEET HIM OR HER...MY COUSIN ISN'T FINDING OUT THE GENDER YET, THEY ARE GOING TO BE SURPRISED AND SO WILL I!! I have made the pledge that i am going to be the best second cousin EVER to little baby B (that's what we call it)

Besides waiting for baby B to be born, i'm working on my classroom management plan, and my Unit plan for ED 201 (curriculum and instruction) It is going well and besides trying to figure stuff out, it's fun playing the role of teacher and preparing lessons.

Another thing, i have changed my major in school, i'm now goign to be an Early Childhood assistant in the classroom,. I switched for 2 reasons, one being the classes are getting harder and more packed with information that teachers need to know how to do, and second because i am an early childhood aide during holidays so i figure that i'm all set to go and will rock it out like a chocolate bar in a candy factory!! After i graduate from Dordt, i plan to find a job in either a school or an early childhood center and work for a while and then me and my friend Kari have talked about buying an apartment and moving in together (we would have so much fun together) so thati s the PLAN, this ccould totally change!!!

Well,
i've stalled long enough working on my CMP (classroom management plan) so i think i'll go and work on that for a few hours!

Blog at ya later!

Kaitlin

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-23T16:12:00.000-06:00

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IN THIS POST IS....

I HAD H1N1 FLU (SWINE FLU) AND IT IS NOT A WALK IN THE PARK, SO DON'T JOKE ABOUT IT OR YOU WILL JYNX YOURSELF AND END UP FEELING AS IF YOU WERE RUN OVER BY A TRUCK AND SOME BODY BUILDER IS SQUEEZING YOUR BRAIN WITH ALL HIS STRENGTH!!!!!!

I find this interesting!!

2009-10-17T16:41:00.000-06:00

Here is some stuff about this actor i really like...My friend Dana keeps telling me we are gonna have a show called WIN A DATE WITH HAYDEN CHRISTIANSEN....he he he , so here is the info on Hayden that is sooo very awesome..ENJOY!!

Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He appeared in Canadian television programs when he was young, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He moved on to minor acting roles before being praised for his role of Sam in Life as a House, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. He gained international fame portraying the young adult Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) in the second and third Star Wars prequel trilogy films and David Rice in Jumper.

Contents [hide]

1 Biography

1.1 Early life

1.2 1993–2000

1.3 2001–2005

1.4 2006–present

1.5 Personal life

2 Filmography

3 References

4 External links
[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the son of Alie (née Nelson), a speechwriter for the heads of large companies, and David Christensen, a software program writer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry.[1] Christensen has an elder brother and sister, Tove and Hejsa, and a younger sister, Kaylen.[2][3][4] Raised outside Toronto in Thornhill, Ontario, Christensen attended E.J. Sand Public School, Baythorn Public School and Unionville High School in Unionville, Ontario, Canada. He was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.[5] He spent summers in Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz,[5] and attended the Actors Studio in New York as well as the Arts York program for drama at his high school. He was "discovered" when his older sister Hejsa, a former trampoline champion, was shopping around for an agent after he landed a role in a Pringles potato chips commercial.[3][5]

[edit] 1993–2000

Christensen's first acting role was on the television series Family Passions, which aired on Canadian television in September 1993, when he was 12.[6] The following year he acquired a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.[6] From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several movies and television shows, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?.[6]

He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox's Family Network television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.[6][7]

[edit] 2001–2005

While Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year,[8][9][10] the performance didn't receive widespread public notice.[7] For his part in the movie, Christensen lost 25 pounds through a special diet.[11] He eventually gained the weight back during the filming for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.[12][13]

His role as Anakin Skywalker (who was previously played by David Prowse, James Earl Jones (voice), Sebastian Shaw and Jake Lloyd) in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) made him a star.[14] Although his performance was met with mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both Episodes II and III) [15][16] he became very popular among audiences, being named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen People's 25 Hottest Stars under 25.[2] He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic.[17][18] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone writes "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned."[19]

Stock footage of Christensen was used in the controversial 2004 DVD release of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted in place of the actor Sebastian Shaw.[20] This was an unpopular change for many.[21][22] Christensen insists this was done without his knowledge, an act that is confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.[20]

[edit] 2006–present

Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery,[6][23] and in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce.[6][24] Christensen next starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008.[25][26] Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen also appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America in August 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan Villa in Italy.[27]

Christensen was slated to appear in an adaptation of William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer, set for a 2009 release, but has since been removed from the IMDB cast list.[28][29] In September 2008 it was announced that Christensen and Paul Walker signed onto the crime drama Takers set for a 2010 release. He will play a young detective alongside Matt Dillon.[30] Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey will be the fourth film in which Christensen will co-star again with Samuel L. Jackson.[31] In October 2009 he started shooting the horror film Vanishing on Seventh Street, directed by Brad Anderson, alongside Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo.[32]

[edit] Personal life

Christensen currently resides in Uxbridge, north of Toronto, Canada. When not working, Hayden enjoys spending quality time with his family, hanging out with his friends, and exploring other hobbies such as the blues, jazz and piano. Christensen has been "romantically linked" with co-stars Natalie Portman and Sienna Miller[citation needed]. In March 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, after meeting on the set of Jumper. The couple got engaged in December 2008, over the holidays.[33]

Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008.[34] In 2004, Christensen appeared as a model in the Spring/ Summer 2005 Louis Vuitton.[35] He was also recently named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrence, Lacoste Challenge.[36]

[edit] Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes

1995 In the Mouth of Madness Paper Boy

Street Law Young John Ryan Limited release

1998 The Hairy Bird Tinka's Date

1999 The Virgin Suicides Jake Hill Conley

Free Fall Patrick Brennan Limited release

2001 Life as a House Sam Monroe Young Hollywood Award One to Watch - Male

National Board of Review - Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor

Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture

Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture

Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance

2002 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Anakin Skywalker Cannes Film Festival - Male Revelation

Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor

Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor

Nominated - Saturn Award - Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award

Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards - Most Promising Performer

Nominated - Teen Choice Awards - Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure

Nominated - Teen Choice Awards - Choice Chemistry (Shared with:Natalie Portman)

2003 Shattered Glass Stephen Glass Las Palmas Film Festival - Best Actor (Shared with:Peter Sarsgaard)

Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama

2004 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (2004 re-release) Anakin Skywalker Replaced original actor (stock footage of head only)

2005 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader ShoWest - Male Star of Tomorrow

MTV Movie Award for Best Villain

Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor

Nominated - Saturn Award - Best Actor

Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (Shared with:Ewan McGregor)

Nominated - Teen Choice Awards - Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure

Nominated - Teen Choice Awards - Choice Movie Bad Guy

2006 Factory Girl Billy Quinn Also credited as Musician

2007 Awake Clay Beresford Jr.

Virgin Territory Lorenzo de Lamberti Limited release

2008 Jumper David Rice Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (Shared with:Jamie Bell)

2009 New York, I Love You Ben

2010 Takers Jake Welles (post-production)

Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey Jammer (voice) (post-production)

Vanishing on Seventh Street Luke (filming)

Television

Year Show Role Notes

1993 Family Passions Skip McDeere Soap opera

1995 Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story Fletcher Television film

Harrison Bergeron Eric Television film

1996 No Greater Love Teddy Winfield Television film

Forever Knight Andre Episode: Fallen Idol

1997 Goosebumps Zane Two episodes

1999 Real Kids, Real Adventures Eli Goodner Episode: Paralyzed: The Eli Goodner Story

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Kirk Episode: The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge

The Famous Jett Jackson Steven Episode: Popularity

2000 Trapped in a Purple Haze Orin Krieg Television film

Higher Ground Scott Barringer Television drama

Sept. 26

2009-09-26T19:34:00.000-06:00

Yesterday i started my work out program with my friend Aaron Coon. He taught me about static and dynamic stretching, we worked on warm ups and cool downs and just had a great time together. When i started yesterday i weighte 120.6 pounds...my target weight is 110. so i need to lose 10.6 pounds..I am writing in my log what i do every day and what new things i will work on. I also write what i ate that day. I also write suggestions about what i can eat the next day in order to keep my healthy and strong. Aaron and i made a deal with eachother, i would work out Monday thru saturday and ONE day a week we would work out together for about a half hour..His goal for me is to be able to run a whole mile (8 laps around the track in the recreation center). I hope that when i work out i get stronger and more healthy. All i have to remember is that in order for me to stay healthy i have to eat the right foods. I'm also making a commitment that i will onlhy have desert one day a week, eat veggies and fruit at every meal and will exercise at a set time every day so i don't get thrown off schedule. ALSO, my friend Devin Bell is helping to eat Healthy and my friend Amber is going to make me a sheet of exercises that i can do to help me stay healthy and stay in shape.

This week has also been a week of testing, i had a test in my curriculum and Instruction class AND a test in my Biblical Foundations class. This coming week i have a quiz in Ed. Psych AND a workseet due in C and I. Should be an interesting week because we don't have school on Thursday or Friday since our teachers will be attending meetings on these two days. Those two days for me are goign to be spent doing homework all day and all night, hopefully i will get ahead. I do not want to get to far ahead but i want to get far enough ahead that i can go over things before it is actually due to make sure i did it correctly. Also i want to get things done early so i have time to have my friends look over my stuff and see if they think i should change anything about what i have written.

Well,

Tha's all for this post
until next time
SEE YA!!!

Dordt College

2009-09-16T22:13:00.000-06:00

This is what Wikipedia says about Dordt:

Dordt College is a private, Christian, liberal arts college located in Sioux Center, Iowa, near the location where Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota meet. This community of about 6,300 is 45 miles (72 km) north of Sioux City, Iowa, and 55 miles (89 km) southeast of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The school was founded in 1955 and is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC). The name is a reference to the Synod of Dordt.

Dordt College annually enrolls about 1,300 students from more than 30 states, 7 Canadian provinces, and 10 other countries, with a faculty-student ratio of 15:1. U.S. News & World Report has included Dordt in its America’s Best Colleges listing since 1993 and in 2008 it was tied for #3 among American colleges.

The College was founded in 1955 and is committed to a Reformed, Christian perspective that embraces the Bible as the word of God. Since its inception, the College has grown to twenty-five buildings located on a 115-acre (0.47 km2) campus. In addition to its undergraduate degree programs, Dordt College also offers the Masters in Education (M.Ed.) degree.

Contents [hide]

1 Majors and degrees

2 Academic programs

3 Off-campus programs

4 Academic facilities

5 Financial Aid

6 Sports

7 References

8 External links

[edit] Majors and degrees

Dordt College offers two-year Associate of Arts (A.A.) and four-year Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S. E.), Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.), and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) degrees. In addition to its undergraduate degree programs, Dordt College also offers the Masters in Education (M.Ed.) degree.

Dordt has more than 35 majors and 50 programs of study. The following are the largest programs of enrollment:

Agriculture

Art

Biology

Business Administration

Communication

Education

Engineering

HPER (Health, Physical Education, and Recreation)

Nursing

Theology

Other notable programs are:

Accounting

Chemistry

Criminal Justice

Computer Science

English

Environmental Studies

Foreign Language

History

Individual Studies

Mathematics

Music

Philosophy

Physics

Political Studies

Psychology

Social Work

Theater Arts

Digital Media Production

Concentrations are available in many of these majors.

Dordt offers 11 pre-professional programs in architecture, dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, seminary studies, and veterinary science. These programs lay the groundwork for further advanced studies.

Two-year Associate of Arts degree programs are available in administrative assistant studies, agriculture, computer networking, general studies, and special education aide/teacher aide studies. These two-year programs offer a wide range of educational options through professionally and occupationally designed programs or through a flexibly designed two-year sequence of relevant courses and educational experiences.

[edit] Academic programs

A core curriculum of general education courses, drawn from various academic disciplines—such as language, natural science, and social science—make up the foundation of every student’s education at Dordt. In these courses, students are introduced to the character and scope of Christian perspective, and they learn to think more critically about choices and decisions affecting their lifestyle. Courses in the core curriculum provide insight into the nature and demands of contemporary Christian living and help students understand how various aspects of contemporary life are interrelated and how the global culture has developed. These general education courses also supply students with the basic quantitative, analytic, lingual, and physical skills that are essential to the program overall and to their tasks as citizens.

[edit] Off-campus programs

In addition to the numerous majors offered on campus, Dordt College offers more than 25 off-campus study opportunities in countries around the world through its affiliation with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. These countries include Australia, China, France, Ghana, Great Britain, Honduras, Hungary, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and Uganda. Juniors and seniors also have the opportunity to participate in the Chicago Semester, a semester of living, learning, and working in a major urban center.

[edit] Academic facilities

At the hub of Dordt’s campus community is a Campus Center, open 24/7 as a gathering place for students. The upper level features enhanced-technology classrooms, conference rooms, and various offices. The entry level consists of a bookstore, an art gallery, meditation rooms, and a student lounge. An activity center, a coffee house, a dining area, a snack bar, and a mail room are located one level down. The final level of the 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) Campus Center features a game room complete with a four-lane regulation-size bowling alley, as well as foosball and pool tables.

Connected to the Campus Center is the John and Louise Hulst Library, which houses a collection of more than 300,000 book volumes, 16,000 print journal volumes, and 163,000 microtext units. The library subscribes to more than 600 journals, magazines, and newspapers, and has electronic access to another 10,000 titles. In addition to providing print and electronic resources, the library serves the campus media needs by offering checkout availability of audiotapes and videotapes, DVDs, projectors, recorders, camcorders, digital cameras, GPS units, VCRs, DVD players, CD players, and other media equipment. The library has a significant collection of curriculum and children’s literature materials housed in the Learning Resource Center. Other specialized collections include the Dordt College Archives and the Dutch Memorial Collection.

Dordt’s B.J. Haan Auditorium seats approximately 1,500 people and features one of the Midwest’s most outstanding Casavant pipe organs. The auditorium is used for chapel services, concerts, organ recitals, and other regional events, with a mezzanine that accommodates the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education. Convocation and commencement exercises are also held in "the Beej," as it is called by students. It is adjoined by the Music Building, which also has rehearsal rooms, studios and classrooms, vocal and instrumental practice rooms, and music faculty offices.

The Science and Technology Center at Dordt has 180- and 80-seat lecture halls, a greenhouse, laboratories, general-use classrooms, and offices for the agriculture, biology, chemistry, engineering, environmental studies, physics, and planetary science departments. Large and small laboratories for organic and physical chemistry and two physics laboratories are available to students in the physical sciences. Agriculture facilities include animal science and agronomy labs, a surgery room, and a live-animal room. The engineering wing includes labs for mechanical engineering, electronics, electrical engineering, and computer-aided design.

The Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) facilities are located within the Rec Center and include basketball courts, racquetball courts, an aerobics room, a weight room, the indoor track, a batting cage, and volleyball courts.

Adjoining Dordt’s 115-acre (0.47 km2) campus is an All Seasons Center, an indoor swimming pool and ice rink that Dordt College uses in cooperation with the city of Sioux Center and the local public schools.

[edit] Financial Aid

98 percent of the student body receives some type of financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study opportunities. The College awards scholarships based on academic potential and performance, activities (participation in sports, theater, music, etc.), and demonstrated financial need. Dordt College awards more than $18.5 million in financial aid annually, thanks in large part to private donors and alumni who support the mission of Dordt.

[edit] Sports

Dordt College is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and plays in Region III. The Dordt Defenders play in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Dordt College offers men's baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field, and women's basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball.

Dordt College also has several club sports. The men's ice hockey club, known as the Dordt College Blades, play in the Vernon All Season Center adjacent to the Dordt campus. There are other club sports such as soccer and lacrosse, which conduct regular meetings.

This is AWESOME because obviously i go here so maybe this information will make other people want to come here as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God Bless all of you!
Leave me some love :-)

2 lies and a truth

2009-09-13T22:41:00.003-06:00

we are mixing this up, instead of 2 truths and a lie, we are playint 2 truths and a lie...lets see if you can pick out the truth in these three statements... GOOD LUCK!!!!!

1. i was born in Canada
2. I have had surgery 4 times in my life
3. I have been to all 50 states

Which one do you think is the truth.......

when you think you know, message me and i'll reveal the answer to you!!!!!!!!!!!

Until next time!!

My favorite song lyrics

2009-09-07T10:22:00.004-06:00

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you runTo where will you run

And I'll be by your sideWherever you fall
dead of nightWhenever you call
And please don't fightThese hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sinSo I could carry you in
And give you lifeI want to give you life

Cause I,
I love you
I want you to know
That I,
I love you
I'll never let you go

This is my favorite song by TENTH AVENUE NORTH...it reminds me to always stick with God and he will lif me up!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

If you have any thing to ask me about this song...feel free to ask!!!!

Until Next time!!

My schedule for my last days at home....

2009-08-20T17:38:00.002-06:00

Here is what my scheudule looks like from now till the end of the day on Monday:

Rest of Today (Thursday)- Pack more things in boxes and attempt to figure out how much of my clothing i should take and which stuff i should leave behind, somewhere in their find time to bathe and journal about the past 2 days

Friday--LAST DAY OF WORK!!!!!!!!!!! come home, possibly pack up more items, organize m closet and vacuum out my room! Sometime during the day i need to come up with a lesson plan that i can teach my kiddos when i come home for Christmas break...i was thinking about teaching them about Jesus' birth...i need to check with the lead teacher in my room, and find some items to teach and organize it and email it to both my supervisor and the lead teacher in my room!

Saturday--Mom and Dad will bring Malorie to Dordt for Freshmen Orientation..Sarah and i may or may not go down as well to visit with my aunt and uncle and Sarah may go visit her friends who reside in Sioux Center..if we do, we won't go till afternoon so i will have time to re-check my boxes and make sure i have everything that i need to bring with me..if we do not go, then i can do fun things in the morning and hold off on the checking my boxes and such until i actually feel like going through them.

Sunday--Enjoy my last day at home with my mommy, daddy, and older sister Sarah, This is the day that i will not do anything that has to do with packing because i will be so tired at this point to either pack, or unpack that i will just bum around, maybe take a nap and just enjoy the final day that i will be at home..

Monday--In the morning i will sleep in...then i will go to the Doctor at 12:30 to get my incision from my surgery checked and also get a plaster cast put on my wrist so that i will not have a chance of getting my ganglion cyst back..the rest of the day wiill be spent unpacking stuff in my room, saying HEY to all my friends and reaquanting myself with the campus and meeting new people!!!

Well, that's all for now.
TA TA FOR NOW!!!!!!

August 17

2009-08-17T13:56:00.004-06:00

Today was interesting. I say this because my cute little pre-kindergarten kids started real kindergarten today and it was totally wierd not seeing them today, made me a little big sad...i wish i could have said hi to them but oh well, i will see my awesome little kiddos that went of to kindergarten soon enough. It was also interesting because i met my new little explorer friends, they are all so cute and seem to be well behaved. I already know that this will be a great year for them!!! One of my kiddos missed her mommy today so i held her and calmed her down and she hugged me so tightly, i felt like i was a mommy in training at that moment. I am sad though because this is my last week of work...it is sad to know that i am going to be missing my cute little kiddos from August 21 until Thanksgiving break.. Other then that, work is going well and every day that i work brings on new challenges and opportunities. I honestly hope that the kiddos learn a lot about being a good friend to others and i also hope they learn more about God and how they can serve him every single day even though they are still in preschool.

Since summer is pretty much over, i am going to write about my favorite part of summer and my least favorite part of summer. First, we will start with my favorite part. My favorite part of summer was not doing any homework and not having a deadline to get anything done. Basically during summer whenever i get something done, i get it done whenever i feel like getting it done. Now, on to the part of summer that i did not enjoy all that much...I did not like that i spent the majority of my day at home. I wish it could have been that the majority (at least 9 hours) of my day at work so that i would not be bored during the afternoons when i am at home being bored. Oh well, it is just the way things worked out this summer. Who knows, maybe next summer things will be different, maybe i'll find a full time job next summer and will love it as much as i love my job right now. But, i'm hoping that i can stay at my current job and work full time next summer!!! so hopefully, everything will fall into place for that to happen. It is not that i hate my job it is just that i wish i could have worked a little more this summer to make more money. But hey, money is not everything. I did have a prodictive summer and i have to admit that i did have many good times and i can't wait to have more good times next summer!.

Well, that is about all i have to write about today...hopefully next time i'll have a lil more to talk about, but for now, i hope you have enjoyed reading about the random things that i chose to blog about today.

Hope you all leave me comments soon!!

A tribute to my boss at work!!

2009-08-14T13:49:00.001-06:00

Ok so my boss at work wanted me to write about her so, i am doing that now. My boss’s name is Brandi. She is pretty cool, she likes to joke around and she pretty much knows what I'm going to talk to her about before i even tell her. It is pretty cool!!! I have to admit, my boss at McDonalds was not as fun as Brandi is. I feel more at home where i work now and not as rushed and i feel that i can get more things done now that i work at Southern Hills. I wish i worked more hours but what i work now is fine, in fact, the few hours i do spend with my kiddos is fun and the one thing i look forward to every time it is time for me to go into work. Brandi is also very understanding so if i have a huge problem i can go to her and she will help to sort it out and follow up with me to make sure everything is OK. I also have tons of laughs with Brandi and i always feel like i can joke around a little more with her then i ever could when i was working at McDonalds. I am just so glad that Brandi is my boss at work, i just feel so comfortable with her and she and i have lots of good times together and i will miss those times when i go back to school in a few days..but to me, these days will go by really quickly

Besides all that, i had my cyst taken out on Wednesday, i was at the hospital from 11:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night so i pretty much had a mini party in the hospital while waiting. The only good part of being in the hospital was i had my own person alr conditioner cuz they put me in a hospital gown and it was so thick that within 2 minutes of putting in on i was sweating so they hooked me up to air and i felt so much better. Then, i went upstairs to the OR. and my good friend’s mom was their, her name is Deb Vander Haar, and my friends name is Dustin. Dustin and his wife Janelle live in California and Dustin seriously needs to cut his hair so he looks more like a boy. The last thing i remember before going to sleep was Erik (my OR nurse) rubbing some iodine stuff on my arm and then my anesthesia doctor telling me he was putting some medicine to put me to sleep in my IV so that i wouldn’t remember anything. then i woke up in recovery and mom said i was crying, no idea why, but then she said that i asked 3 times if she had eaten and she asked me later on what she had for lunch and i was so confused. then i drank some juice in the PACU and had my vitals checked a couple times, and then i got to go home and when i got home i ate and laid down on the couch and felt icky cuz the medicine they game me made me feel like i had to throw up. so as of now i stopped taking that and am just taking ibuprofen and it is working out so much better then my other medicine. Now i have to wear this cast for 5 weeks…I'm slowly learning to do things with one hand but it is harder then i thought it would be.

Well, that’s all for now cuz my arm is cramping and i don’t like this feeling at all!

Bon Voyage!!

My Happenings…

2009-08-08T13:03:00.001-06:00

The past few weeks have been full of fun and other stuff…Rosebud was AWESOME, especially when we crammed 8 of us in a four by four bathroom when a tornado swept through the area on the second day we were their. Other then that Rosebud was the same as last year were we taught VBS in the morning, and hung out as a group at night and played games and just had a good time being together as a group…In fact, we all agreed that we all bonded really well this year as a group so we hung out more and had awesome discussions about it. I can’t wait for next year and all of the fun and exciting things that we will be doing, working on, and talking about. Maybe we will even have another bathroom reunion. The bathroom thing will forever stick in my mind because while we were crammed in a bathroom, the adults were standing outside watching the storm. I really wanted to watch the storm but i do not know if i would have gone into shock or not, so i am glad that i was in the bathroom where it was safe, and also, i was with people who cared about me so the hour we spent in the bathroom went by REALLY quickly.

I had a doctors appointment on Tuesday check out the cyst on my hand. The first thing the doctor told me when he saw it was that i needed to have it removed. I had an MRI done on it to see what was up with it and when i got the results back on Friday, i learned that i had been predisposed to getting the cyst. This is because i have a bone spur growing off my wrist bone, so apparently my body thought it was a new bone so my body grew the cyst so that the bone would be protected against things that could be harmful. The procedure to remove this cyst will be done on Wednesday and I will be in a cast for five weeks afterwards. The last thing i need to do before the surgery is have a complete physical done because Sanford won’t let me have the surgery without having a physical to make sure i am healthy enough to have surgery done on me. I just don’t know if i am being “put out” or not. I guess i will find out the morning of surgery.

Last night i babysit Lily Darlene Van Roekel, and her brother Alexander (zander as Lily calls him) she has got to be the cutest 2 and a half year old ever. so something to tell you about. Last night Lily went potty in her panties (she doesn’t let anyone call them underwear). so i got her new PJ’s from her room, but she didn’t want to wear them. so she ran around the house for about a half hour with no clothes on. Finally, she told me she was cold and she wanted her clothes on so i changed her and got her cleaned up and she ran around again and had a party..she made some pictures and stuff and finally she decided she needed a nap (that’s code word for bed time). so i went upstairs with her tucked her in and we both said our prayers and she fell asleep. Her little Brother woke up around 11:15. i still have no idea why but when i held him he seemed to be all better so i held him and rubbed his back until Jeff and Candy (their parents) came home. I got home and went right to bed. i didn’t even hear my mom’s phone ring at midnight or whatever time she called home. I slept really well after running after a 2 and a half year old and and trying to put a one year old back to bed.

Well…That’s all i have to write for now, i will TRY really hard to post again before my surgery cuz after that i might not be up to typing anything since i’m really not allowed to use my wrist for five weeks after they fix the problem.

Well…

See ya!!!!!

July 12th

2009-07-12T09:28:00.001-06:00

WELL I’M OFF THE THE ROSEBUD INDIAN RESERVATION FOR A WEEK OF TEACHING VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL TO THE KIDDOS DOWN THEIR……I PROMISE I WILL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT MY ADVENTURES WHEN I GET BACK NEXT WEEK SUNDAY..

UNTIL THEN
BON VOYAGE EVERYBODY!!!!!

July 9, 2009

2009-07-09T19:54:00.004-06:00

As of right now, i am watching EARTH'S GREATEST WONDERS on the Travel channel. It is a really interesting show, they are talking about the Amazon river right now! it is like 3000 miles long or something likke that, pretty cool if you ask me! makes me wanna go to the amazon and take a boat trip down/up the river. The only thing that would scare me about that is all the creepy paranah's and alligators/crocodiles that lurk and swim and inhabit the water. But, they did say that the water in the amazon is purer than any tap water in North America (Canada and the United States). I find that to be amazing considering i always thought our water was pretty pure, especially if you boiled it for ten minutes to get all the bad stuff out of it. But if you didn't know this already, their are little tiny molecular things swimming in your water. I have no idea what the yare for, but i'm sure they make the water so much purer and better for you to ddrink.

Before they started talking about the AMAZON, they talked about angel falls in Africa, this is the largest waterfall in the world apparently. and it takes fourteen seconds for the water to fall from the top to the bottom. The falls were named for some dude named angel, who crash landed his plane on the top, climbed down the the bottom and walked the eleven days to civilization, and the name of that guy stuck as the name of the waterfall. Personally, i hope that someday, a waterfall is named after me. Do you know how exciting that would be to have a waterfall named after you or one of your friends?? I think you'd all be pretty amazed and awed by that!

Now, a show about a cruise ship is on, i personally have never been on a cruise ship before but hopefully soon i will be rich enought to embark on a cruise to Alaska, Hawaii, or even somewhere in Mexico. I have heard that a cruise costs a lot but i'm hoping that i can find a cruise that will not cost a ton of money, but maybe it won't cost as much if only i am going on this cruise. If another person wants to come with me, they will have to pay for their part, and i will pay my part. OR, either one of us can pay all of it and the other person will pay me back at the end of the awesome cruise. However, i do NOT want to go on a cruse the the Burmuda Triangle because, well, i don't want to get "lost" that would be a big letdown to my parents as they do not want any harm to ever come to me. I love my parents to death and i don't think i would ever want to dissapoint them in any way. My parents also understand many things about me because well, i have had a rough life and my parents have had a hard time dealing with some of this stuff. Maybe some day i will post a blog about my life since birth up until the present time. Not sure if i will yet, but if i do, i bet you all will be bawling your eyes out because some of it is painful to read about or even hear about, and even painful to write about. But, whatever i do about that, i'm sure you will be glad that you know a little bit more about why i am the way i am. I have to be honest, i didn't find this stuff out until the middle of May, and for a while, i was mad that my parents didn't tell me earlier, but then i started to realize that the reason they didn't want to is that the subject pained them to talk about it. and it is very true.

Sunday After lunch i leave for the vacation of a lifetime. I will be going to the Indian Reservation in Rosebud South Dakota and teaching VBS to the cute lil Indian children who are so well behaved it makes me wanna take my kiddos from work their so the kids at Rosebud can teach them a thing or two about listening. I cannot wait to go and see everyone that i met last year. Also, i found out that some people from Sioux Center are going. Maybe some of my Dordt buddies will be their and i can say hi to them before we see eachother back at Dordt :). I won't know that until i get their...HOPEFULLLY i will see at leat 3 people that i remember from last year or 3 people that go to Dordt or know me somehow and maybe i won't even know who they are. That would be extremely bad on my part but, oh well. Some things never change.

Well,
That's all the blogging for tonight!!
I'll blog again when i get back from Rosebud!!
Ta Ta For now (TTFN)

Pictures of Caleb and Joel

2009-07-01T21:36:00.001-06:00

Here are some adorable pictures of Caleb and Joel. Enjoy

Cute Video!

2009-06-30T20:55:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone!
Today i was helping care for Kiera, Caleb and Joel, and i made this cute video of Caleb while Joel and Kiera were playin on the floor. I hope you enjoy it!! Oh, and Caleb and Joel are twins and Kiera is the BIG SISTER!!!!!!!!!....ENJOY!!!!!!!!

Could this be the end??

2009-06-29T15:09:00.001-06:00

The title of this post is the way it is because ever since Michael Jackson and Billy Mays and all those other famous people have died, i have been hearing people talk about the end of the world and how they think that these deaths are just the beginning of the long cycle of deaths until Jesus comes back to this earth to make us all perfect! I have to disagree because Jesus is coming back when we least expect it, and the way i see it, we are all pretty much expecting Jesus to return now so he will not come back since we are expecting it. So the solution to this problem is to stop saying it’s the end of the world because Jesus will come back when we don’t know what to do anymore.

In other news, today is June 29, this means that in one month, i will turn 21!! WOO HOO!!! now, everyone i know asks me if i am going to go out and party it up. I however, do not think that i am going to party it up because i am a good girl and don’t do anything stupid like get drunk so the answer to “Are you going to go party” is NO. Sorry, but we could have a good clean party if you want to but once things turn bad I' am totally out of their!!! Altho, i must admit, i have heard that some people when they turn 21 feel more mature, but i already felt mature when i turned 18. Does this mean i’ll be even MORE mature at age twenty one? Only time will tell i guess. I do have friends that are 21 and i know for a fact that they went out to the bar and had a few too many beers, but hey, they know it’s wrong, and they know that what they did is wrong so i’m not judging them because since they are my friend, i need to forgive them and move on with my life.

Other then those two events nothing really exciting is going on in my life. Sometimes i wish something exciting would happen like, maybe Barack Obama would visit each family in Sioux falls and when he got to my house, he thinks i am so cool that he offers me a job in the White House as his personal secretary. OR, maybe i get a letter from Hollywood saying that i have been casted as a major role in their next movie. Those would be AWESOME!! although, i have to admit i really want to meet Hayden Christiansen and tell him he rocked in the movie “awake”. One thing that i want to do when i get older is to go to Hollywood and see if i can see how a movie/TV show is made. Also, i want to go to San Diego and see the zoo. I also want to go back to the Denver CO zoo, all we did when we were their on PLIA was drive past it. I also want to go inside Invesco field at Mile Hi to see how humungous it really is! Oh, and i want to make Apple Chicken pitas because they sound so delicious that how can i pass up the opportunity? but i do know that some of this stuff may not happen for a while, or may not happen at all, so i need to be happy and thankful for the things i eat, have and get to experience when the times come.

Well,

That’s all for now!

TTFN

June twenty seventh, two thousand and nine

2009-06-27T12:13:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, we celebrated my lil sisters birthday, she turned 18. She is growing up so fast!!! We went out for dinner and it was super good. My birthday is in one month and two days, i’m starting to make a list of possible awesome things i could use and want/need. I’m not sure if i NEED some of the things i’m thinking of but i know that i WANT them. one of the things i know that i need is a water heater so i can make tea in the comfort of my own dorm room. Also, i know that i need those stackable shelves so i can put binders, books, and all my dishes and such on their so it is all in on accessible place. One of the things that i WANT is a dorm sized fridge. The reasoning for that is because i like to have cold water on really hot days, so during the first few weeks of school i can stick my water bottle in my fridge and get it out whenever i want instead of walking down the the basement to get it, especially since i’m on second floor this year.

One of the things i’m looking forward to this coming year is being reunited with Aaron, Devin, Amber, Tasha, Joya, Josh, Devin, and all the other cool people that i have met last year. Last year was the most awesome year i have ever had, especially in school. I also have to say that i hope i meet some new people this year, especially my sisters roomate. I think that my sister and her roomie will get along really well. I, do not have a roomie for this coming year, but i have to admit, if i really wanted one, i could request one at semester break. I am also really excited for all the classes that i am taking this semester. Especially my Educational Psychology class. That one should be interesting because it is a class on how kids think. Since i work in a daycare, i’m pretty sure this class will be pretty easy since i have been hanging around with cute little children for a while now. I am also excited to meet the people on my wing and the new people in my hall. I’m excited that some of my friends are still in East Hall, that is awesome cuz they are really close and i cannot wait to see them all again.

Well,

that’s all for now

Until next time!!!

Article about my Spring Break Mission trip

2009-06-25T20:00:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone, here is an article i’m sure you will find interesting!! ENJOY!

The Denver PLIA team volunteered with Brothers Redevelopment, Inc. (BRI), a company that renovates homes of low-income, elderly, and disabled people to enable them to continue living independently. The team painted five houses and built a wheelchair ramp.

“The woman who lived in one of the houses we painted had recently had a stroke. When she came home from the hospital she had a newly painted house,” noted Charis Hornor (Houston, TX). “I liked doing physical work for a change, and it was nice doing something for someone else. I would have stayed another week if I had the chance … I really felt like I was doing it not just for the people in Denver, but for God.”

Kaitlin Hoogendoorn (Sioux Falls, SD) said the mission trip opened her eyes to the world around, reminding her to live in a Christian way.

“Whether it was painting, doing the dishes, or fooling around, getting to know and working with my group was a fantastic experience,” said Trent Geleynse (Randolph, WI).

AND HERE IS OUR PICTURE:

THAT’S ALL FOR NOW!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!

June 21

2009-06-21T20:21:00.001-06:00

I’m beginning to realize that sometimes I can not do things by myself. at work One of these things includes, i can not get kids to quiet down by myself, i ALWAYS need another person in the room when i am trying to calm my kiddos down. One child in particular, does not like to listen, this frustrates me so much i just seem to put him in time out every five minutes for not listening, or throwing a book on the floor or pinching/hitting is friends. This child is also the oldest one in the class and to me he is not being a good role model to his schoolmates. Another one of our kids is so good all the time, she ALWAYS tells me who is being bad and what they did, she rarely goes to sit out and she is always saying “Kaitlin, your my favorite teacher in the whole world” To hear that makes me happy. I’m not complaining about these kids it’s just some of my kids are angels and some of them are rebellious.

Enough about work…Tonight was the start of VBS, it was fun, i’m helping out with Pre-school Games. it is so much fun. Tonight we learned about Moses and the Burning bush so we sang “Here we go ‘round the burning bush” the kids loved it. they kept asking if we could do it again. but we had one more game to play, the other game was sort of like catch, but before the kids could throw it they had to say that God is with them when they do something such as play, or go to school, or hang out with friends. The kids grasped the concept well and had a grand time playing with the ball and playing catch. I can honestly say that i remember when i was in VBS, it was fun for me to learn new things and create things that i probably don’t even have anymore. I think that when we moved here my mom secretly went through my stuff and threw out all the junk. I don’t think some of my stuff is junk but if she does, that is OK with me. VBS goes till Thursday and i am really excited to see how much the kids learn this week through games, crafts and Bible lessons.

Another thing that i am excited for is the mission trip that i am going on this summer. I will be going to the Rosebud Indian Reservation to teach the Indian kids VBS. It is going to be a blast because this year, we are going to pull the ultimate prank on a group from another state that won’t be mentioned in case one of those group members reads my blog, but it will be a fun time. It was so much fun last year and i cannot wait to go again, the time to go will be here before we know it and the week will go by so quickly that it will be sad when we have to leave again. Hopefully the week their will be sunny, and dry and that it won’t rain to much since games are outside and the church isn’t that big and the building next to the church is used for crafts and snack time and lunch and breakfast. I am so excited to go and see all the kids again.

One last thing before i close this out. Today was Father’s day. I am very grateful for my dad, he raised me and taught me many things during my life, I think my dad is doing a pretty neat job at helping me become more independent, and he is also doing a good job of helping me learn who i am as a person. I love my dad so much and i don’t think i could live without him!! SO, next time you see your dad, I challenge you to tell him THANK YOU for helping you to grow and develop into who you are today.

Well.
Bon Voyage!!

June 17 2009

2009-06-17T17:22:00.001-06:00

ALL I HAVE TO WRITE IN THIS POST IS THAT SUMMER HAS FINALLY FOUND IT’S WAY TO SIOUX FALLS SOUTH DAKOTA!!!!!!!! WOO HOO…AND THAT I GO BACK TO DORDT IN ABOUT 8 WEEKS…GUESS I BETTER START PACKING AND THINKING ABOUT WAYS TO SET UP MY ROOM SINCE I’M LIVING IN A ROOM ALL TO MYSELF THIS COMING YEAR.

bon voyage!!!!

June 14 2009

2009-06-14T21:13:00.001-06:00

well, here we are, another day so i say that it is time for another blog post. Don’t you all agree with me on that?? Well, even if you don’t, i will update you on my life so far anyway. But before that, i promised i would blog about the wedding i attended last weekend. The wedding was fabulous, My best friend Kyle got married to his girlfriend of four years and two months Stacy. The wedding itself took about a half hour, but we sat in our pew for about an hour and twenty minutes, but all in all it was a nice time to enjoy Kyle and Stacy becoming one in the Lord.

The reception was awesome because all the food was homemade by Stacy’s mom, and boy was it yummy. We left right after Kyle juggled. That is one thing about Kyle that i miss bunches, his juggling abilities. Their is a funny story about Kyle and his juggling but it is even funnier if it is told in person, so, if you ever seen me around, ask me about the funny Kyle story and i will gladly tell you, and i am quite sure that you, as well as I, will be laughing hysterically by the end of this tale.

Now, on to other things that are happening in my life. School starts again August twenty Six. I have to admit, i kind of bummed out my boss at work the other day when i told her my last day for summer would be the twenty first of August. I told her not to worry because she would get used to saying good bye. My boss is married now and she is very happy being married. I have not met her husband yet everyone i work with says that they think he is a sweet guy, so i feel that when i do meet him, he and i will get along just fine and dandy.

Lately i have been searching online for a bunny suit, the reason i have been doing this is because i kind of told my friend Aaron towards the end of the school year that i was going to buy a bunny suit and wear it to the East Campus Block Party, and he said he was going to hold me to that, so now i have to buy one and wear it to the party. This event is during the first week of school on the night of the second day of classes so we all get to celebrate the start of the new academic year by drinking root beer, playing WII, eating cotton candy and chilling out with our friends! I have to admit, last year was fun because i met like 20 people in like 45 minutes. Some of them i could remember, some i could not. I remembered Aaron though because he is pretty much the coolest dude on Dordt’s campus, Besides Devin Williams, but they are both cool!

My older sister is in China right now, so i got a book about China out of the Library and am learning Chinese. Some of the time, i think getting ROSETTA STONE would be easier since Michael Phelps said it is ;the fastest way to learn a language….guaranteed” In a way, i want to believe in that, but how can you learn a language really fast unless you take like 5 hours out of your schedule every day to practice, cuz as we all know, practice makes perfect :). Although, i can’t wait till she comes home, she will have tons and tons and tons of stories to tell us about her adventures! And i hope that she is living it up over their. Oh, and China is apparently 13 hours ahead of us so as of right now, it is 11:13 in the morning in China, and Sarah will either be in language training or culture orientation.

Anyways, that’s enough for tonight, it is late and i have work in the morning and i do not want to be cranky or crabby.

Until Next time!

Catch ya’ll later!!

June 2009

2009-06-06T10:51:00.003-06:00

Ok, so yesterday my post was titled MAY 2009...the reason for that is because i was writing about stuff that i was thinking and pondering in May. This post is going to be about the first few days of June and how i think the rest of summer will be. I will try to update my blog more often also because i have noticed that all of the other blogs that i read have an update at least once a week, or every other day or every three days. So, hopefully my posting will become a more frequent occurance.

Today is June 6. My tenth cousin Josh is getting married today, i'm not going because he lives ten hours away from here, but = my friend Kyle is getting married today also, I AM going to that wedding because he lives in the same town as me. I am really excited for his wedding. He is the first one to get married out of our graduating class of 2007. It is really exciting because his fiancee Stacy, is resally sweet, laid back, and just fun to talk to and hang around with.

At the rehearsal dinnr last night, Kari, a gal that i used to work with brought her seven month old son. His name is Reegen and he is so cute, he laughs and drools and makes silly sounds. He reminds me so much of Joel Link, another little one that i help care for. I have to admit that i am excited to have my own kiddos someday just because i can't wait to be called "MOMMY" i bet that taking on the title of mommy is the greatest feeling in the world.

Besides all that, my older sister Sarah is leaving for china in a few days, she will be gone for ten weeks, she will be teaching English, but the wierd thing is, when she goes thru customs, she is not allowed to say that she is teaching English, she has to say that she is in China to visit her realatives and experience the culture of the chinese people. To me, this seems interesting because i don't think that i could lie to a goverment official, in fact, i'd feel so guilty about it, that i would have to tell them the truth later on, but hey, China is kind of messed up in the way they do things so maybe it is OK to lie when you go to China. The only reason that I would go to China would be to pick up a child that i have adopted from their. In fact, it is my dream to adopt a small child from the country of China so that he, or she may have a better life and get things that he or she may not get in China.

Well,

That's about all i got for today, hopefully i will post again soon!!

Until next time!!

May 2009

2009-06-05T21:26:00.002-06:00

WELCOME TO SUMMER 2009!!!!!!!!!!

that's right, it's summer break, I was officiallydone with my first year at dordt on May seven. I guess you could call it a good thing, but to beh onest it was the hardest thing in the world to say good bye to all the awesome people that i had met throughout the school year, including my LCA Jana. I'm gonna miss her so so much!!!! One thing that i'm going to miss the most is getting up every morning and going to eat breakfast with my friends before the day of class started. I also have to be honest, i miss eating all my meals with my friends, but hey, maybe i'll see them all again in August.

During the school year, i went to a church called Bridge of Hope, i enjoyed this church because instead of normal preaching out of the Bible every week, Pastor Aaron would sometimes have us read a book and we would learn more about it throughout a series of sermons on the book. I really enjoyed this style because it opened my eyes to many things that i have never known before. I also liked this church because we did not sing out of the hymnall every week either, mostly it was praise and worship songs. When we would sing out of the hymnal, it would be when we would take communion, have a baptism, or had a guest speaker. I also enjoyed going their because it helped me to find out who i am as an individual person and helped me to shape my worldview to make me more open to change and accepting that it is OK to ask for help from people i do not know very well.

This summer i'm only working three hours a day five days a week, i really need another job, but hey, i believe that the LORD will help me to find another job that will pay me well enough that i can go back to school next year. Also, our church is starting a building project to which i am giving one hundred dollars, and i have heard that their is a verse in the bible that says something along the lines of that if we give to the LORD, he will give us what we need. Sometimes i wish that this means that he will just tell us to go out and do something and we will get paid for it, but the more i think about it, the more i realize that this verse is saying that GOD will supply us with the neccesities and not everything that we need, including money.

The other day i went over to my youth pastors house to help take care of their beautiful twin boys Caleb and Joel. They kind of look alike but Joel has a birthmark on his left ankle and Caleb doesnt. I have to admit, it was so much fun to watch them, except for the time when Caleb whacked Joel with his rattle and made him cry. Oh well, Caleb was being a typical big brother at the moment. Joel seems to be the crazy one because when they were in their bouncy seats and he was ready to get out, he bonked his head on the side of the door. Poor Joel was just getting beat up that day. Caleb is so mellow, when we got him up from his nap, he was not as wild as Joel was. Caleb seems to be my kind of baby, calm and cool as a cucumber!!! I can't wait to go over their and help out again. Especially because Joel and Caleb both took naps on me, so i figure i'm "Mommy material" :) so yea, i just love babies, and i have to be honest, i can't wait to have my own lil ones someday :)

Anyways,

I am tired, so i am goign to turn in for the night, i'll update again tomorrow if i have time between the wedding shower in the morning and the wedding in the afternoon, and also, my grandparents are coming so we will see how much time i have between all my activites. If i do update, it will probably be really short, sweet, and awesome, but then again, i may make the post long, but, you will all see soon

BON VOYAGE everybody!

TO DO LIST

2009-04-23T12:45:00.002-06:00

Here is my TO DO LIST for the next two weeks..

1. Finish my six to eight page research paper and have someone who is awesome at writing proofread it for me

2. Start figuring out the best way to move back home.

3. Start studying for EXAMS!!!!

4. Clean up all my clothes and such cuz they are all over and it looks like a hurricane blew through our room when nobody was around.

5. Trust that God's plan for me will become evident.

6. Write an AWESOME Philosophy of Education statement

7. Plan my summer outings with friends and such

8. Make it clear that i'm buying a fridge for my dorm room next year

9. Find a nice quiet place to study for all my exams and then stay their as in, lock myself in a room until i feel that i have studied enough and need a break

10. TRUST IN GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did ya'll know it is 86 degrees right now, Last year at this time it was snowing outside....SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE....WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well,

Until next time...

BYE BYE!!

Quotes and random awesomeness from Denver

2009-04-14T21:54:00.002-06:00

The title is self explanatory so HERE WE GO:

"Wouldn't that be weird if we were dating and we found out that we were related?"
"Who has my brain?"
"We're still related!"
"I'm in love!"
"I don't take many showers, I'm just a dirty person."
"I was at Trent's last night"
"Wait, I didn't know anything about this" "I was looking in your window."
"The hurdlers...they always have big butts."
"Jeremy, are you related? Oh wait, I don't know why I'm asking that...first names.."
"I'm sure you can have a third and fourth wind, they're just less common."
"Let's paint our bodies green."
"I need to tame my hair" "With lotion?!"
"Good thing I have a hot butt."
"I want to see your hot butt."
"I especially miss Aaron Coon."
"Nothing, I'll tell you next week"
"I feel really good after pooping...alot!"
"I want that pizza" ..."It's the exact same"... "I want that pizza!"
"You should take $100,000" "I want &70,000"
"Why'd you change it to green? You only have yellow and blue"... "I like green!"
"She didn't get a nap" "Ya, I watched Mark sleep for fifteen minutes in that chair right there."
"The boys will flock like geese to our arms."
"I was just wondering how I was gonna do this, and then I thought, I know, I'll use a paint scraper to scrape the paint off!"
"Apparently magic fingers aren't on your side of the family."
"I make wood." "What are you?! God?"
"So which one of you boys is PMSing?"
"We names our hoes."
"I'd stick the epipen up her butt."
"Anything goes after midnight."
"When i sweat, i sweat stinky girl!!"

Nicknames: Trentalicious, Trentisthemansington, Markski, G-Unit, Misty, Spaz, J-Byrd, V squared

I hope you Enjoyed all of our awesome quotes from Denver and such,
feel free to ask me about what we were talking about that made these quotes so quote worthy!!
Until Next time!!

More pictures from Denver

2009-03-28T18:50:00.004-06:00

HOPE YOU ENJOYD THESE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!

There may be more coming at a later date, but that is yet to be determined!!!!!

OH, and my FAVORITE pic in this post is of me wearing the corn hat on my head...you could almost say that i am a cornhead....ha ha!!!

Puttling Love Into Action--Spring Break 2009

2009-03-25T14:26:00.003-06:00

Well, here it is folks, the blog post i'm sure everyone has been waiting for..This is the post where i will be giving you all the details of what i did on PLIA 2009 in Denver, Colorado...So...Here we go...

Day 1--March 12
Today is the day we left. Our group could not leave right away because one of the members of our group was in Sioux Falls because her mom was having surgery. So, we could basically enjoy Dordt for a long time when we were the only ones gracing campus with our presence. Before we could even leave we needed to have our group picture taken, get our PLIA shirts, get our devotional books, and find out how to get to the place we were going to be staying at. Our final group member arrived at around 4:30 that afternoon, when we were all ready, we piled into the van. But, we remembered we needed to pick up some stuff so we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some last minute things. Then, it was on our way we went. After we started out, we opened our care package from Birmingham's group. My friend Aaron was a leader for that group so i was pretty excited to see what they got us. In our package we got a teddy bear, trail mix, candy, and a card for every day we would be in Denver. We commenced to name our bear, the final name we came up with...Horace the bear. Also, somewhere between the hours of 6 and 10 at night, me and my leader Mark Eekhoff found out we are 5th cousins..pretty funny if you ask me :) but ya know, i love all my cousins!!!

Day 2--March 13
We arrived in Denver at about 4 in the morning. We started looking for the place where we would be calling "home" for the next week, and couldn't find it..Finallly, after about a half hour, we found it. It turns out we were staying in the ghetto of Denver.. This meant that we could not go anywhere at night without a buddy if we were going to walk, Driving was OK, but we were not safe if we were going to be walking anywhere alone. We went to bed in our awesome bunk beds. We woke up at around 10:30. We were supposed to start working but it was too cold outside to go paint a house so we held off on that. Instead, we went to Red Rocks Ampitheater which is a HUGE ampitheater made in the mountains. it was pretty amazing to see. Also on this day, we explored Denver and got to know our surroundings so that we would know where to go in case of an emergency or something. Our "home" was really close to Invesco Field, it was pretty cool because it made me wanna go inside and run around and act like a football player. This day also meant it was Friday the 13th...pretty freaky BUT, i can assure you that nothing bad happened at all, except that Mark and Trent got into a wee bit of trouble for climbing the rocks when the sign said not to because you could lose your life...WHOOPS!! oh well, also on this day we had orientation with the company we worked with, they were pretty awesome and were fun to work with as well!!

Day 3--March 14
Today was our day off..pretty wierd since we had our "day off" on Friday but today was different. We drove an hour and went to Estes Park, CO..such a beautful town to be in, makes me wanna live their someday :) We went to Rocky mountain national park as well, that was cool cuz we took a group picture by a frozen waterfalll.....I LOVED THAT A LOT! since today was our day away we had lots of fun bonding as a group and getting to know eachother better and acting goofy and giving everyone nicknames and such.

Day 4--March 15
Sunday--A day of Rest and relaxation--This day we went to a church called "The Pearl" it was pretty amazing, it is a teaching Church where people go to learn more about God. I enjoyed it because in the middle of the sermon, if someone doesn't understand someting they just ask the question right then and their. This is my kind of Church because sometimes i enjoy stumping people and making them think for a while. Also on this day we played frisbee at the school that was near where we were staying. That was fun!! also we had lunch, played games, explored Denver more and had fun

Days 5 thru 9--March 16 thru 20
WORK DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, so here is what we did during this week, Part of the week, the boys plus Lisa and Sally built a wheelchair ramp for a really cool old guy. and the rest of us which was Me, Charis Sierra and Gabby, painted houses :) Painting is fun because i actually learned that thier is a "right" way to paint. At night, just like every other night, we would eat dinner, have down time, do our devotions and just unwind from the day.
Friday was a bit different, here is how Friday went..We got up, went to work, got off work, cleaned up paintbrushes and paint rollers, went inside Freshened up and cleaned out the entire Volunteer facility that we stayed at. Also, i dyed my hair, it is blonde with red in it...at least, i think it is red, i could be wrong..but when you see me, you can tell me what color it is!!

Day 10--March 21
Time to leave my beloved Denver behind...kind of sad, kind of hopeful cuz i might go back one day...the trip home took about 12 hours..it was grand, fun, and had lots of funny moments in it like when i told Mark that Nebraska was a poop state and he told me that they should leave me in it cuz it's my natural environment....i brushed that off and told him he was such a jokster...he he, Gotta love you fifth cousins...he he he!!!!! Other then that, the ride was uneventful and nothing bad happened to us!!

I know i forgot to mention some of the things we did after work. But, just so you know, our work days were from 8 in the morning until about 4 in the afternoon. During our nights and stuff we would go on walks, talk, have dance parties, listen to the radio and maybe do some other fun things as well...One time after work we went to BRI or whatever it was called, it was all this recreational stuff for like skiing, biking, running and kayaking...everything was REALLY expensive. One pair of running shoes was like one hundred and thirty bucks,....WOW...i can't afford those for a LONG time!!! Other then doing those things at night, we would do our nightly devotions, i loved this part of the night because it helped me unwind from the day and gave me time to focus on God and his love for me...ALSO, one fun thing that we did one night was we made up a song after Midnight, because ANYTHING GOES AFTER MIDNIGHT!!!! at least, that's what Mark said!!! Oh, and i forgot to say that I LOVE STREUSSEL!!!!!!! it's soooooo good!!!!!! i would eat it all the time if i could but, i have to say it is really bad for you, it's kind of like cake but has TONS of cinnimon in it..in other words, it's a heart attack just waiting to knock on your front door.

Well I hope you all enjoyed reading about how my Spring Break went and what i did all week!!!!

The picture at the top of this post is one of our group pictures, minus Mark and Charis, they were taking this pic!!..i'll let you figure out where this was taken!!!!! if you get it right, you get an A for the whole month of April!!!!

BON VOYAGE!!!!!!!!!

Truths about me

2009-03-09T13:36:00.003-06:00

For this post, i'm gonna post a few truths about me so you get to know me a little better!! so..here we go!!

1. Last beverage: ice water
2. last phone call: Aaron Coon
3. Last text message: Aaron Coon
4.Last song i listened to: Love Story by Taylor Swift
5.Last time i cried: ummm probably in June.

Have you Ever:
1. Dated someone twice..no
2.been cheated on: nope
3. kissed someone and regretted it: noperz
4. Lost someone special...YES! his name..Aaron Curtis De Witt
5. Been Depressed

Favorite colors
yellow
blue
green
purple

Have you:
1made new friends...yes
2fallen out of love..what does this mean??
3lauged until you cried...oh yea..
4met someone who changed you..yup
5found out who your true friends were...yes
6found out someone was talking about you..no..and i bet if they would have talked about me i would be flaming mad
7 kissed anyone on my facebook friends list...NO
8 In real life, how many of your facebook friends to i know: ummmm most of them
9. How many kids do i want: i want 2 kids,
10. Do i want pets: yes, i want a dog so i can name him Buster
11. Do i want to change my name: no BUT i wish i had been named Liliana Maria
12. What did i do for my last birthday: i worked all day at daycare..it was fun!
13. What time did i wake up today: 8:15 in the morning
14. What was i doint at midnight last night: i was starting to count sheep so i could get a good nights sleep.
15. Something i cannot wait for: SUMMER BREAK!!!!!!!!
16. What i'm listening to right now: the sound of the TV and the sound of me typing this out.
17 Most visited webpage: Facebook, but starting Thursday at noon, i'm giving Facebook up for a full two weeks!!
18. What's getting on my nerve's right now: Ummmm commercials for Proactiv solution.
19 Last time i saw my Dad: February something....
20. One thing i would change about my life: i would not change ANYTHING about my life cuz i love it so much!!!

Firsts:
1. Surgery; I had a tumor removed from my nose
2. Piercing: None, i don't want holes in my body that weren't their originally
3. Best Friends: Rachel H and Kevin D
4. First sports: Never played any, but, i want to play soccer
5. Pet: My fish named Fredrick, but he died...so sad
6. Vacation: i honestly don't remember, probably to Canada to visit my grandparents
7. Concert: i do not remember
8. Crush: i would have to say Kevin Drenth, i always dreamed that one day we would get married...he he
9.First kiss...EWW GROSS!!!!!!
10 First Job: Babysitting my friends Cousin.

Right Now:
Eating: nothing
Drinking: Nothing
Wearing: sweats, tshirt, sweatshirt, and white socks :)
i am about to: Lose my mind
Listening to: the sound of my typing :)
Waiting for: Some guy to come along and sweep me off my feet
Thinking: that i am going to become a rockstar at some point in my life

Truthfully:
1. Do i want to be with ONE person right now: yes
2. Had more then one Boy/Girl friend at once..Nope
3. Did something you regret: Yup
4. Wanted something that was REALLY expensive: yup, i STILL want an Iphone!

--Well, i hope you enjoyed this post, and i hope it helped you to get to know me a little more!!!!!

Well, That's alll
Until next time!

March 7

2009-03-07T11:47:00.004-07:00

As of today, we are leaving for Denver in 5 days. I am excited and nervous at the same time, i am nervous because we are doing construction by building a house, and i have no idea in the world of how to build a house, i kind of have an idea but Extreme Makeover Home Edition doesn't go into detail about how to build the house. I am excited because i get to spend 10 days with people i do not know very well, and also get to know them better. I am also excited because when we are in Denver we get to shind the light of Jesus to people who probably don't know who he is.

This past week has been interesting. Since we have completed half of the semester things seem to be gearing towards preparing for exams, Especially in my English Class. We started learning about different generalizations about grammer, punctuation, nominalizations, active and passive voice AND how to make a sentance sound perfect. This all is not new to me, altho nominalizations are new to me. I'm pretty good with active and passive voice, and i can change around a sentance so it is not that wordy. I have to admit that sometimes i wish we did not have to learn grammer, but, it helps us speak correctly so, i guess i have to learn it.

After we get back to Dordt from Spring Break, i get to start practice teaching for my EDUC 101 class. I am really excited because the teacher i am observing/teaching with is someone that i actually know because the family went to church with me in Sioux Falls for a few years. So at least i wil be with someone i am familiar with. I will be observing/teaching Kindergarten kids. I 'm sure i will fit right in because since i already work with preschoolers, i should be able to relate to these kids really well. Another reason why i'm excited to start practice teaching is because it will get me ready to really become a teacher. I really want to be a teacher because i love kids and i love all the quirky things that they can do to make you laugh. Even though i have already learned that teching can be hard, i am ready to take on the challenge. I have also learned in EDUC 101 that if i suspect one of my kiddos to be a victim of abuse i HAVE to report it to department of child services and they will take care of it. This scares me sometimes that one of my kids may be suffering at their home. But i will learn how to deal with it over time.

One more exciting thing is that their are exactly sixty days from today until Summer vacation. Yes, i am keeping a countdown. Some people think this is wierd, but it gets me excited because everyday brings us closer to summer break where we can make lots of money to help pay for college for the next school year. I am also excited for summer because for one week of the summer i am going on a Mission Project to the Indian Reservation in South Dakota to teach Vacation Bible School to the kids who live on the Reservation. I will be going with my church group, and i think that our leader mentioned some people from another church as well. I can't wait for that to happen.

Well Everybody
That's all for now!
Until next time

MARCH 4

2009-03-04T12:16:00.002-07:00

Hello Everyone who reads this

we are 8 days from leaving for Denver and well, our group is just requesting that you all pray for safe traveling, that we don't get hurt, that we stay safe, and that we can be a light to the people who live in Denver, and that we may show Christ's love in a positive way...One of the things that we know we will be doing their is construction....since probably none of us have even seen a house being built before, this will be a challenge we are all looking forward to!!!

Other then getting ready to leave, and getting excited about doing construction... we are also excited because on our day off we are going skiing...should be fun...i remember i was taught how to ski by my small group leader Jeff...he was an AWESOME teacher, he made a video of me skiing....i wonder if he stilll has it....i will have to ask him next time i see him..OR, maybe i'll email him...actually, that's a better plan!!!

Well,

I'll keep you updated on more Denver related things as they come along!!!

Bon Voyage!

25 random things...

2009-03-03T09:23:00.002-07:00

For this post, i am going to list 25 random things that people may, or may not know about me, i did this on my facebook page and people were quite shocked at some of the things that i listed. So, lets see how shocked you are after you read these twenty five random things about me.

1. i was born 2 months early, i was supposed to be born between September 4 and September 11.

2. before i went to preschool, i went to an early childhood school to learn different things before i actually started school

3. i have lived in 4 different houses over my lifetime, i moved out of my Michigan one when i was about 6 or 7 weeks old.

4. I do not like to be told what to do, it annoys me, makes me mad, and makes me wanna go punch a hole in the wall, so if you wanna be on my good side, don't tell me what do do, just give me good suggestions.

5. My dad is a pastor...YES, i'm a Pastors kid, and i'm proud of that, it's very rare that you will hear of a PK who actually enjoys being one, but for me, it's cool cuz if i have a full blown out religious question, my dad is either a phone call, or a short jog away.

6. When i was in grade 8, i missed a month of school because i had surgery. It was grand, i didn't get homework, and i managed to pass grade 8 even though i missed 4 weeks of school work. The only real homework i had was i had to read a book for a book report and write about it, the rest of the class had to give an oral report, i just wrote mine out and handed it in!!

7. I am the middle child. This makes me more independant, although i have to admit, sometimes i wish i would ask my parents for help more often.

8. My first job was babysitting my friends Cousin, he was a cute lil guy, although one time he pooped on the floor without his diaper, that was not a good time at all

9. I have lived in 4 states...Michigan, Illinois and now South dakota and Iowa, Iowa does count because i live here and go to school here so it totally counts

10. When my family and I went to Boston MA one year, all my dad seemed to want to do waas watcch the airplanes...it was very boring at times to just hear him talk about the airplanes

11. I got stung by a jellyfish on my foot....it hurt like crazy

12. When i grow up i want to go to Mars

13. I wanna marry a doctor

14. I have always wanted to live with another family to see what it is like, kind of like wifeswap, except, i'd call it Kidswap. he h

15. I learned that your wisdom teeth do not actually give you wisdom, they are just their for no apparent reason

16. I had my wisdom teeth removed 3 days after i turned 19..it was wierd...

17..I have learned to NOT take 2 vicadin pills...it is not fun..if you wanna know why...ask me..

18. I wanna get married on Valentine's day

19. People think that i'm crazy, and this, is true, i can be a bit crazy, if you want me to calm down, tell me a boring story

20. My name means Pure..am i really pure??? sometimes i feel as if i'm dirty.

21.. I wish i would have been named Liliana Maria Hoogendoorn. i find that name to be absolutely gorgeous!

22. I hacked into my mom's email account the other day and found an email from my older sister saying that she might be going to China this summer....personally, if she does go, i'm gonna miss her like crazy

23. Me and my friend Aaron made up a "gangster dance" it was fun, I think we should make it longer and go show off our talent someday.

24. I like bubbles, something about them makes me happy, so if i'm ever sad, and you notice, give me bubbles and i will be happy again!

AND FINALLY....

25...I almost got killed by my Cousin andrew once...he was jusst learning how to drive, and lets just say that he didn't really have good visiont at the time.....But, i love my Cousin, he is awesome and he graduated from Dordt College in 2007...the same year that i graduated High School!!!

Well, that's all for now, i hope you enjoyed these random things about me!!

Until next time!

Pictures

2009-03-02T13:20:00.005-07:00

OK, so these 3 images are of my friend Aaron and I in the Grille Area at Dordt!

People say we look alike! crazy huh...but yes, what do you all think? do we look alike? could we be considered "twins"???

OH, and i leave for Denver Colorado in 10 days and i'm getting more and more excited every single day! I just can't wait to go and experience some fun stuff to do in another state that i've only ever seen when i was at the Grand Canyon in 2006!!!!

This is loooong overdue..

2009-03-01T11:55:00.005-07:00

As you can tell already, the last time i posted anything was December ninth 2008...LAST YEAR!! wow, and now, we are already in March of 2009!!!!!

Ever since my last post a lot has happened here is the list of things that have happened since my last posting, that seems like ages ago.

1. Since Ryan and Sheri's twins were born, i have held both of them i have helped baby Caleb go to Sleep, and got Baby Joel to calm down when he was crying. Big Sister Kiera is such a big help to her baby brothers and enjoys having them around, and gets their binky's when they need something to help them calm down when they are upset. I love both of those cutey pie lil babies so much i can not wait to see them again when i go home again

2. My Cousin Justine got married to Iwan (pronounced Ivan, with the I making the long E sound). They are such a beautiful couple who love God and will strive to honor him every single day. I am excited that Justine found a man who is a man of God, and that Iwan is going to be a pastor, he will make a great pastor and i can't wait to hear him preach someday. Justine and Iwan will also make great parents someday!

3. Since finding out the the economy is slowly plummiting instead of moving up, we have had to try to keep our jobs, if we have one, and if we don't, we have had to try to see if we could get one. Since i have a job, i don't have to worry about the economy, BUT, it is a little scary to think about NOT having a job over summer break. and also the possiblity of not being able to come back to Dordt next year. Hopefully President Barack Obama will be able to figure someting out and get us out of our economic crisis.

4. Second semester of college is going way better then first semester, probably because i know how college runs, who the teachers are, and have learned how to make the teachers lessons easeir for me to do, and how i can effectivly get all my work done, and i have also learned how to balance my social time with my fun time with my alone time. It is not always easy to get enough alone time cuz sometimes you get more homework then you really want, but, it does get easier.

5. Caleb Link, Ryan and Sheri's baby boy, contracted RSV which is a very serious respritory diesease for cute little babies, he was a sick lil boy for a few days but he got to go home on Friday to twin brother Joel and big sister Kiera, and to his mommy and daddy who will take care of him until he is strong again. We are all hoping that Joel doesn't get it. I am Joel's prayer partner so i have been praying that he doesn't get RSV like baby Caleb did.

6. Over Spring Break i am going on a mission trip to Denver Coloardo..If we have internet access down their, i will most likely write about it every day that we are their, if not, i will write it alll in my journal, and when i get back i will write about it on here in the same format i would have written it in my diary. I'm sure i will have fun, our group is doing Construction work. I don't know what the other groups aree doing but i'm sure they will all have fun with whatever they will be doing. On our day away, we will probably go skiiing but we aren't sure yet, but we are hoping that we do because skiiing is FUN!! The group i'm going with is called PLIA which stands for PUTTLING LOVE INTO ACTION, and i hope that we will show love, when we do our construction work for people that we don't know, who knows, maybe it will kind of be like the show 'extreme makeover home edition' when we are their.

Well, that's all the big news i have for now
Hopefully my posts will be more often now, and such that ya'll can stay updated on my very "interesting" life.

Until next time!

BYE BYE

"Dead" Week

2008-12-09T14:54:00.002-07:00

TO THE PEEOPLE OUT THEIR WHO READ MY BLOG TO CATCH UP ON MY LIFE...

WELL it's DEAD WEEK....for those of you who think this is the week when we all act dead.,,,your wrong. Dead week is simply the week before exams when the teachers are not supposed to give us tests or major assignments. We will still get homework but not any major essays, tests or quizzes. I do know that all my teachers are giving me is teacher evaluations, and questions to answer to stimulate our minds and such. My only homework this week was reading one hundred pages out of a book, answering five questions for my Core 100 class, AND doing my last assignment EVER for my Algebra class. YAY!

This past week, something exciting happened....I acquired two new lil ones that i will soon be babysitting. Caleb and Joel Link, made their appreance in this world on Saturday Dec six. The pictures are really cute, and since they are twins, it will take a while for me to tell them apart, but, from what i can tell so far. Joel looks a lot like his big sister Kiera. I am so excited to meet the little guys because if i am going to babysit them, i need to get used to them and they will need to get used to me :) i am sure that they will be fine when they are left with me the first time, but, it will take some time cuz since they are twins, we will be on double duty, and they may be on the same schedule so i will have to get used to feeding them at the same time. Maybe i'll bring my sister with me so she can help me out. Maybe after i get some pics with them i will post them so you all can see how adorable Caleb and Joel are.

The end of the semester is near and i have many feelings of relief, but, i also have feelings that i have changed drastically over the course of being away from home and living with someone that i don't know. While away from home, i had plenty of time to think about life and i have discovered that family is important. My Aunt and Uncle my live two blocks away but they are not my family. Living with another person has been fun as well because it gives me a chance to learn how other peole do things, and it has helped me to better develop my shchedule around hers so that we aren't interuppting eaach other constantly. I am glad that our sleep cycles are the same so that we never have to wake the other person up, Even though i wake up an hour later then she does on Tuesday and Thursday, we still function well, Next semester it may be different, but we will deal with second semester when the time comes to deal with it. Next semester will also be fun because i will not be spending as much time in my room as i usually do so that will be a change that will be for the better.

Well that's about it for today, hopefully my next post will have some pictures of Caleb and Joel and I so you can see who i am going to be babysitting in a few months :-)

Until next time

BON VOYAGE!!!!!!!!!!

December fourth 2008

2008-12-04T15:48:00.002-07:00

Hello lovely bloggers, and blog readers!!!

The past couple days have been really fun. Yesterday, after a long day of homework, i got to babysit for a five year old girl named Lauren. She was very well behaved. Here parents have two other kids, two boys named Nathan and Justin, they graduated college already. Lauren was adopted when she was six months old. We played games on the computer, ate cookie dough straight out of the tub (YUM) and colored lots of pictures. We had so much fun we didn't even realize that her parents were home. I had so much fun with her, and since she was very well behaved i didn't have to correct her on anything she did wrong. I have to admit, she is probably my favorite child here in Sioux Center that i have babysat. The last family i babysat for was good as well but their daughter spent most of her time in her room playing barbies, but the families nine month old son, either sat in my lap or was sleeping in his crib. I hope that i get to babysit Lauren again because she is a spunky girl and her spunk level is the same level as my kiddos entertainment level at work.

School work is going well, boring, but it's good, i'm in the process of revising my FINAL paper for my developmental writing class!! should be a good time. HA HA HA i'm not saying writing papers is FUN, i'm saying that once you get the paper done, it feels so good that you finally got it done and you will look forward to the day when you get it back and get to see how many points Professor Elgersma gives you. I am thankful i have Elgersma for my class because he is making me a better writer. i'm so glad i' m becoming a better writer and developing my writing skills, because maybe now, i can write an academic paper, submit it to a big name academic magazine and have teachers all over the united states of America read what i have written.

Well,

That's all for now

Write me a comment soon

BON VOYAGE!!

December second two thousand eight

2008-12-02T12:04:00.003-07:00

To all the people that take interest in reading this blog, and also to those people out their who read and write their own blogs to get away from the stress of every day things that are present in our lives:

Well, here we are, the second d ay of December. Exciting times are coming, we only have 7 more class days!!!! at leasst for me since i am done with class for the day, as of right now i'm writing my MSIGS, or. My Story Inside of God's Story. I'm writing on four learning steps that i can take in the next two or three years to achieve goals that i have. Also for this i have to describe the step or action, identify when a good time would take it would be, describe what i will need to do to take this step and what resources i will lean on in order to take this step well, and identfiy any difficulties that i may encounter while taking this step and how i can deal with these difficulties as they come. I am really excited because when we are Seniors here at Dordt, we will get our MSIGS we wrote this year back, and we will have to read it and write a response to how we have changed since we were Freshmen. My friend Evonne and i were joking that we would write how dumb we were as Freshmen and since now we are Seniors, we are the smartest, coolest people around. I know that their will be more to it then just that, but, we both laughed about it because it sounds so rediculous. If you really want more information on our MSIGS project, you can comment me and i'll explain it all in a post, or if i know your email, i'll email you as good of a description that i can think of. In a nutshel, our MSGIS is a description of our lives and how it fits with God's will for our lives. It is bigger then that but that's the nuthsell version of what the MSIGS involves.

For my English class, i wrote two papers over break, One was a response to the last for chapters of THE COLOR OF WATER...i'll refer to the book as COW from now on. The second one was a full summary or book review for COW. it has to be between three and five pages, as of right now i'm at two and a half. so i have about another page cuz COW was such an AWESOME book that i can not keep my summary short. This paper is out of one hundred points so i HOPE i get a good grade on it.

Math class is going well, we didn't have class yesterday since we were still on break. Tomorrow, we are going to start learning about probability. Should be fun since it's guessing things. just like when we did the FOIL method along with trial and error and the guess method. I really enjoyed Math, altho i'm sort of nervous for the exam because i have no idea how big it is going to be, and i take forever to do math problems, AND because i study hard for the test, but going into the test, i seem to forget some of the things. so for me, it would be way easier if i could write some of the things down like an example problem, to take into the exam wth me so if i run stuck, i can just look at the sheet and do the problem with no hesitations. That would ROCK.

Well, i better get back to doing my MSIGS, and finishing up my COW paper

Until next time

Bon Voyage!

Almost Christmas!

2008-11-30T14:47:00.002-07:00

To all the AWESOME people out their who sit down to read this blog that i have made for you to follow up on my life while at Dordt College!

The thanksgiving holiday is completed, the next holiday scheduled is Christmas. I am really excited about this holiday because for one of our family gifts, we are all flyiing out to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for my cousin Justine's wedding. I am a guestbook attendent, so all i really have to do is sit by the book, welcome people to the wedding, and have them sign the book. My sisters, Sarah and Malorie are ushers, they have to walk people to their seats and smile, and be polite. I have to be polite to, so i better start practicing. I do not think it will be THAT hard, but i better start practicing so i don't make a fool out of myself when the big day arrives. I have not bet Iwan, Justine's fiancee yet, but i am sure 'he is a very nice guy, all i know about him is that he is from Germany, he lives in San Diego California, and i am his favorite soon to be cousin. LOL!! I think it's cool that i'm already Iwan's favorite cousin. I guess it is because he thinks i rock, and he thinks i rock!

Enough about the wedding, now i'm gonna talk about what i want for Christmas, i really want the following items: A fuzzy PINK bathrobe, it has to be pink, i also want, Grey's Anatomy on DVD, and i want an Iphone. For Christmas, in our family we draw names, and i have the one person in my family who seems to be really hard to shop for because well, every year this person says that he does not need anything.but i'm sure i will find someting GREAT! I have no idea who has me but i'm sure that person will get me the most enjoyable things i want, hopefully, it is the fuzzy pink bathrobe. I need a fuzzy pink bathrobe because i am not to thrilled about bringing a lot of stuff the the showers at school when i could throw my robe on and bring my shampoo and conditionar and body wash, and then leave with the same amount i came with...that would definitely be the life. I am excited for the day when we open presents because then, everyone will finally know who had who...I'm just excited to see my presnet, but, ya know, presents do not always metter, But i really hope, i get my fuzzy pink, warm, bathrobe, and i am excited to get it from the person who had me.

Tomorrow i had back to Dordt to finish out first semester. We have the rest of this week, then next week, and then the next week is exams. I am not to nervous about my exams, but i hope i do well on all of them. One of my exams is a three page essay on the book "the colour of water" so that should only take me abot 10 minutes to edit, it took me like two days to write cuz i wanted to make sure i was OK. now i just have to edit it and hand it in, and see if i get all the points. The paper is out of one hundred points and i am hoping that i can at least get above an eighty on the whole thing. It would be really awesome if i could get about eighty percent on all my exams, because then i bet i will start to get scholarships and all that other good stuff that you get from Dordt College if you do really well in your academic studies, and all of your other extra curricular activities such as drama, music, art, or if you get really good grades in High school. I just hope that something good comes out of being a Freshment in college, and i hope that this something, that i am talking about, is getting at least a "B" on every single one of my final examinations.

Well my wonderful blog readers: This is the last post for the month of November, i am hopine that i will write more in December since we only really have 3 weeks of class and then a bunch of weeks off for break!!

Remember, Comment me anytime you want to and leave me messages and such

Catch ya later!

The past month and a half!

2008-11-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

To all those AWESOME people who sit down to read about my adventures:

The reason i haven't written in quite a while is because our teachers got smart and FINALLY gave us homework that required us to think really hard!....OK, that's not the reaston..the reason is because the second half of the semester things start to take off, and we get more, awesome things to do like write papers, read five chapters out of a book in one night, AND writing five page essays about things such as Pearl Harbour, and the World Trade Center disasters!!! and YES, i wrote a four page essay comparing and contrasting the WTC disaster to Pearl Harbour, and i have to admit, it was the best paper to write because i was actually interested in what i was writing about. Speaking of writing, i am in a developmental writing class which means that we are learning how to become better writers. and i think that i am becoming a better writer. I am so glad i have Professor Elgersma for my writing teacher because every time i get something wrong, i can ask him what i did wrong and he will always tell me, so in a way, i'm learning from all of my tiny miniscule mistakes such as forgetting a comma or a period.

One thing that i have been doing over the past few weeks from when i have not written, is i have made some new frients, their names are: Aaron, he is from Denver Colorado. Joya is from Winnipeg Manitoba. and Roslyn is from Hospers, Iowa. Josh and Devin are from Montana. Evonne, Jake, Kelsie,Brielle Jack and Rachel are from Minnesota. and those are a few of the AWESOME people on Dord'ts campus. HA HA HA HA HA. most everyone i know is from a state other than Iowa. but i have met some who are from Iowa, and some who are even from Sioux Center, so they live at home, and commute to Dordt, altho, some of them live on campus, i don't see why they do but i guess if they want to waste away their precious money, they have that choice. If i lived in Sioux Center, i would just commute to campus and save the money you pay to live on campus, and then, you would know that you would have enough money for other things such as a movie, or other fun stuff like going to Sioux City for the day and having a PARTY...ha ha ha ha ha.

Right now, i'm on Thanksgiving Break. i got home on Tuesday night around six at night. My ride home is AWESOME, his name is Nick, and he and i have such GREAT conversations. Nick does not think he is that great of a singer or actor, but in my book, he is a GREAT actor AND singer. If you have EVER seen him sing or act, you would completely agree with me. Nick and his four friends ALMOST won the talent contest that Northwestern in OC IA and Dordt have ever year. well, they almost won...BUT, the one singer from NWC was pretty good, so she beat Nick's group by five pointes. so it was pretty close. Nick and his group of singers are still winners in my book!!! besides, it doesn't matter if you win, just as long as you are using your talents to show love to Jesus.

Their are only about three weeks left before Christmas break, so when i get back to Dordt on Monday, it's gonna be time to buckle down and hit the books so i don't fail any of my exams. I do not think i will do that bad if i study really hard for all of them. I only have to study for 3 of them because in my English class, we are not having an exam, instead, we are writing a final paper on the book "The Colour of Water". I really enjoyed reading this book, maybe, in my next blog post, i'll post the paper that i wrote so you blog people can get an idea of what the book was about, and maybe, it will perk your interest a log and you will go out to the store and pick up this book and read it. This book, taught me a lot about myself, and it taught me a little bit more about other people and the way that they live and how their lives would differ from any of ours.

A couple weeks ago, our Core 100 class, which is kind of an intro to college life, well, we had to watch the Movie "Hotel Rwanda". this movie is basically about the Conflics that have arisen in Rwanda. Their are more countries that have conflicts, so i suggested to our professor that all the new freshmen to Dordt, should watch this movie at some point during Freshmen Orientation week, which is only about 3 days but it's only about an hour and fourty five minute movie, so it is a movie that is worth watching during the first few days of school, so that people are not completely clueless as to what is going on in third workd countries.

I will now end this blog post with something that is soo cool i can not keep it in any longer. The other day, i was at home with my mom and dad and sisters, and i showed my family a movie on youtube called ME LIKE HOCKEY. I knew my dad would like it because it is about Hockey and my dad LOVES hockey. Of course, i was right, he did love it because he was bursting out laughing. I also love this movie because the group who sings it has troube with rhyming words BUT, that is why the song is funny. The band who sings it is THE ARROGANT WORMS. they are from canada, so they like to made fun of canadian things, such as hockey. One of their songs is about a cow who likes to moo, and another one is about how the province of Ontario sucks. I haven't heard that one yet, but maybe i should to see how bad these guys think Ontario is. Everytime i have been to Ontario, it has been OK, but as you all know, different people have different opinions on things.

OOPS, i lied, i'm actually ending this blog post with what i want for Christmas: Here is a sampling of what i want for my gifts this year. First off, i want a fuzzy pink bathrobe, second of all, i want those plastic storage bins that are stackable and can put suttt in, Third, i want one of those IPhone things, and Fourth, i have always wanted to own the complete seasons of Greys Anatomy on DVD! just cuz, i LOVE that show, and if i have them on DVD i can enjoy the WHOLE series in just a few days instead of seeing one new episode once a week, if i had the DVD collection, i could watch one or two episodes every night and get the season done in a matter of a few weeks, instead of a few months.

Well, that is it for today

Catch ya'll on the flip side!!!

Oct. 8, 2008

2008-10-08T10:37:00.000-06:00

Hello Blog community!!!

Right now i'm watching Full House. I probably should be doing homework, but i have devised a sure fire way that i can get all my homework done on time. Here is how it works. I start my homework for my Mon. Wed. Fri. classes when i get the assignment, then, i'll work for a sold half hour to 45 minutes, then take a 10 minute break! then keep working, until i feel that i have done enough of that subject for the day. For my Tuesday Thursday homework, i'll start it and finish it on the alternate day when i do not have that class. If it does not make sense to you,, comment me and i'll try to explain it to you in a better way.

Since i haven't updated in a while i thought i'd fill ya'll in on what has been going on since i last posted 3 and a half weeks ago.

1) A couple weeks ago our WOW group had dinner at our advisors house. we had hamburgers, cheesy potatoes, fruit, and for desert Chocolate cake..YUMMMY!!!!!!!!!!! oh, and we found out that our advisor likes trains, so he has a mini train set in his basement..it is so cool!!!

2) We got our first REAL big assignment for our Modern Western Cultrues class. we had to read about 200 pages...we had to read about 100 of those pages BEFORE tri-state, and then 100 pages DURING tristate. then we had a HUGE quiz when we got back. we got those quizzes back today and i got a 19 out of 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! just goes to show that i understood what the reading was talking about!!!

3). Before we left on Tri-state break. Pastor Aaron Bart spoke in chapel. He talked about not comforming to the world. he gave examples from his own life when we somewhat conformed to the world when he would go against what God told him. Pastor Aaron is the pastor at the church that i go to. i LOVE the church and the people!

4) YESTERDAY i got stung by a bee. wasp, or someother unpleasent flying stinger bug... it hurt SO SO SO bad, but i went to campus health and they fixed me up. I need to put this lotion stuff on it until tomorrow, i have to put it on every six to eight hours. and it's about a penny sized amount. and if it hurts, i have to put ice on it for about 5 seconds..just long enough so it will be numb for a while...i have not need my cold pak yet, but i did use it when i first got it I did have a lil reactioin cuz it was swollen for a while, it got pretty red as well. I wasn't scared or anything but it kind of hurt when they took the stinger out...LIFE LESSON......Never Close your hand when a flying bug lands on it...it could be a a bee!!!!!!!!!

5) Tonight, my RA is having a study break in her room...we had one a few weeks ago and it was AWESOME to get away from our studies for a while...I love my RA..i actually knew her before i got here because she and i graduated High School together!!! I'm considered a Freshmen in College because i only went half time to college last year!!!!

6) My roomate is leaving today to go to a wedding. One of her friends is getting married so she is going to that..she won't be back here until Monday night sometime...it'll be wierd not having her around....what should i do when she is gone??? Well, i guess i can ge more stuff done since none of her friends will burst into the room withouth knocking first...One of her friends tends to do that, she just walks in, one time i was half naked and she walked in...Talk about an embarrasing situation1!!!!! NOW I LOCK THE DOOR WHEN I'M CHANGING!!!!!!!!!!!

7) I'm writing a paper on adoption, so last night i interviewed Danny, he and is wife adopted their son Coyer James Lony'aa Fergen in June! Coyer is a fun loving boy, he is cute, spunky, and i can't wait to babysit him!! The story of his life is pretty bizzare...i was shocked when i heard it!! i won't even get into it tho, you'll think i'm making it up..i mean, you'll be pretty surprised!!!!! ANYWHO, i found out a lot about the adoption process, and agenices tha help u adopt a child. Makes me wanna adopt a child because it is the greatest gift that any couple can give to a child. I love kids so if i could, i'd adopt ALL my kids if i wanted to, but i don' know how my future hubby (if i have one) will react to that..So maybe adopt a few kids and have a few biological kids!!!!! Altho adopting a child can be a big financial burden, i feel that it is someting i REALLY want to do, because well, Children are a gift from God, and some Children have been raised in non christian homes, so in my opinion, i want to Adopt a child, or an infant, so i can raise them in the name of God, in the hope that this child wil grow in to a Man or Women of God!!

Well, That's all for now

Hope yoou enjoyed my post from today

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Kat (my new nickname)

9-16-08

2008-09-16T21:46:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone...

As of right now i'm in my pajamas and typing this before i head off into the wonderful world of sleep. Speaking of sleep..I have been sleeping very well, it sometimes takes me a while to fall into the dreaming state but other times i am completely out.

This past week i was feeling a little bit under the wheather, but within about 4 days i was feeling better. I was feeling better because my Awesome RA Elise, gave me Medicine and it made me feel GREAT, altho it tasted really gross, but as Elise said...the grossest things do the greatest things...she sort of said it like that but, it was true, i got thru the rest of the day and i slept well at night!!

My roomate and i are getting along well.. Our buddy from down the hall..Joya Marie..likes to play jokes on me, for instance, sometimes when i'm doing my homework in my big green comfy chair, she will flick the lights on and off...One time i swear she is going to start a fire..Speaking of fires...If someone pulls the fire Alarm and if no one confesses to doing it the WHOLE hall is charged like 1500 bucks..so a life lesson at Dordt is DO NOT PULL THE FIRE ALARM!!!!

For the past couple days i have not been doing anything except homework. I have not had that much homework but i'm thinking that it will pick up a little bit. Altho i kind of, sort of enjoy the homework load i have right now, it's really good! Today my homework was good, i wrote an Essay for my English class, it was a rough copy so i have room for improvment! Tomorrow in class we will edit them and see what we need to fix.

Today in our Core 100 class we wrote an in class Essay. The purpose of it was to write about an issue that is relevant in society. We will write the same one when we are Seniors to see if Dordt did a good job of teaching us about these issues. Our Prof. said that these were NOT going to affect our grade for the class..YAY!!!! i'm not good at on the spot essays, i need time to think about them.

Also, in Core 100 we are writing a story, it's called "My story inside God's Story" should be interesting because we have to write about things such as our values, what we personally believe in and some other stuff that will be very thought provoking. I'm really excited also to see how i change when going through this paper and also how i can grow in my relationships with other people.

I am really excited for the upcoming weeks. I am really excited about them because on October 1 and 2 we have a break from school YAY!!!!! I think i might call my AWESOME boss at work and see if i can work for 10 hours both those days, that's 20 hours in a month....hmmmm i wonder if she'd let me do that...i'll have to phone her and check out the situation....I miss my kiddos at work, altho i can always look at Mickila's beautiful face since her pic is taped right above my laptop!!!!I wonder how the other teachers are getting along without me...and when i show up to help out how they will react...i hope it's a positive reaction!!!

I think i have solved the problem as to why their are always flies in our room...i think it's because it's always hot out and our window is always open and the outside screen is kind of sort off off the pane, so i bet you anything that's why the flies like our room so much..their are ALWAYS flies in our room and it annoys me so much!!! I wonder if their is a spray that i can spray around our room to kill all the flies and prevent flies from taking over our room. Any suggestions????

Well, that's all the ramblings i have for you tonight, i probably won't go to bed for another hour but if i rambled on for another hour you all would be bored out of your minds.

Well,
Nighty night
Don't let the bed bugs bite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

September 8, 2008

2008-09-08T17:28:00.000-06:00

HEYO IT'S A BIG BACKYARD, YEAH A REALLY BIG BACKYARD!!!
This is how i felt this pas week has gone, a BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BACKYARD!!!!! i mean, sioux center isn't that big of a town, but still, walking church was tiring, especially since it was a lil hot outside, and i couldn't get the Big Backyard song out of my head!!

Yesterday, Me, Mirjam, Melody and my roomate biked to wal-mart. I'm so proud of myself, i bought the WOW 2007 CD, i'm proud of doing that because i told myself i was going to get my hands on that CD before i had been at Dordt for one month....2 weeks later...it was in my possession!!!!!!!!! YAY ME!!! i also bought hand sanitizer, and a large jumbo bag of candy, I'm using it as a reward system for Math.. Everytime i get above a 5.5 (7.5 is the highest we can get) i get to eat ONE candy bar from the bag. I'm doing this so that i do well and so that i stay on top of my game plan!! I think my roomate is coming down with a cold, last night she coughed a lot and has a stuffy nose but that's OK because i have non drowsy for daytime and drowsy meds for night time In fact i am kind of getting a cough, it is not that bad but it is a lil awkward to feel funny when i know i need to be awake and not disturbing class or anything.

Nights have been getting better, before i kind of had trouble falling asleep, but now if i stay up long enough and then lay down, i fall asleep in minutes. It is reallly handy becaue then i'm wide awake the next day. I cleaned off my desk last night and after class today, so now everything is where i want it. If something movies i guess i can find something to fill it's spot but i'm not sure becaue everything i have right now is exactly where i want it!!

Right now i'm watching "The Secret life of the american teenager" I fell in love with this show because it's everything that I, and the teenager do wrong..such as intercourse before marriage, sleeping with guys for revenge, and all that other crap that goes on. Amy, the main charaacter in the show is going to have a baby, The season finale is tomorrow night the commercials all say it's emotional..so i'll definitely have to seee how emotional i get when i watch it!!! if you wanna know more about the show, let me know, i'm not going to write about it here

This week, i tried to find out about my on-campus job but no luck, so Nancy Kingma, told me that i could sign up to be a babysitter for people who need one, so i did that, so now if anybody in Sioux Center needs a babysitter, an email will get sent to them and they can then contact me and I will watch their kids!!! i'm hoping that i get asked to babysit soon because all i do in my dorm after i'm done with my studies and homework is sit around and either play solitaire on the computer, Watch TV or go chill in the Campus center with my friends and socialize!!!

Balancing studying, homework and fun has not been that hard, right after i get out of class i start homework and studying then take a break, and then if i have more after a short, well deserved break, i do it unti i am done. My Homework load has not been that bad yet but i'm sure it'll either get bigger, or smaller as the semester goes on. I think that next semester i'm going to take the same amount of courses that i' am taking now because this course load is the perfect amount and i feel that i will be better off if i take the same amount of courses. i just need to make sure that it is equal to or above twelve credit hours!!

Being at Dordt makes me kind of out of the loop, i am wondering when Lily'ls baby brother is getting baptized. Lily is a sweet lil girl i babysit for, she is so cute... She would have a blast in my dorm room climbing on everything!!!! she is quite the climber if u ask me, when i babysat her a few months ago, she climbed up everything!!!!! OH, and she said "Puppy" Mommy and Daddy!!! Lily's new baby brothers name is Alexander, altho i call him Alex. His pictures are really cute and i can not wait to meet him in person when i am back in Sioux Falls. Or, maybe my parents will take pity on me and take me over to their house to meet him in person he he he.

Well that's all the fun news i have for now

Ta ta for now

KH

September 2

2008-09-02T21:39:00.001-06:00

HEYO!!!!

IT has been a while but i'm sure your OK with that because i'm a busy girl in college!!! So far nothing exciting has happened except that i went back home for a night to go to Lifelight!! How lame eh, i had been at dordt for a week and i already went home for a nite!!! I am really enjoying my classes Math 100 is probably the hardest class besides Monder Western Cultures. English so far is AWESOME (oops, can't use that word is Prof Elgersma's room, it's on our list of banned words) We have a list of banned words in his class, one of the things we can not use in writing is contractions, slang words, and some of the other words included are Awesome, nice, a lot, always. That is just a sampling of the words, the list will be growing throughout the semester!

Math is really interesting, we hand in our homework at the beginning of class to our TA...our TA's grade our homework, my TA is named Steven, he is awesome, Every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 pm me and 5 others meet with him to go over our Math assignment and ask any questions that we have abot what we are going over. Today we worked on word problems because the word problems we get have lots of steps that no one will EVER be able to do unless we talk thru it with Steven. I also like the class because our Professor makes it fun. I mean, some professors i have heard are really boring when they give lectures and only let you speak if you raise your hand, In math, we can just shout out the answer if we know it and we can inturrupt him whenever we have a question about something.

Modern Western Culture is an awesome class, although we have a seating chart, Professor Fessler makes the class fun by letting us act stuff out if we don't understand it. I can't wait until mid semester when we will be reenacting something, i don't remember what it is that we are reenacting but Prof. Fessler said it will take us 3 weeks to do it. that is 9 whole class periods. Unless we have a break in their somewhere, which i don't think we do, but we might, you never know until that time comes. I think i will really enjoy this class since some of the stuff i have already learned from previous History teachers in Middle School and High School.

Kingdom Identity and Calling is a Fresmen Seminar that all Freshies have to take, it is basically a transition into college life, and will also prepare us for the classess that we will take here in the future. In my opinion this class willl also prepare us for if we ever decide to go on to graduate school after we have finished our education here at Dordt. Tomorrow night our faculty advisor invited us to have dinner at his house. Our whole group will be their so it'll be nice to see what we are like outside of the classroom setting. I hope we aren't that boring!!! I saw one of my WOW group leaders today, she asked how things were going and other stuff like that, Things are going really well i am really happy here and no one can try to convince me to drop out or anything like that!!!

Tomorrow is an early day, gotta be up by 7:30 in the morning to be in class by 8..AHH...oh well, i have gotten used to the early days and late nights, i think i'm adjusting well. I still haven't gotten any mail in my college mailbox, all of my friends have at least gotten something a few times in the past week already, but i have not gotten anything. I'm hoping that someone sends me a letter, or at least one of my friends takes pity on me, writes me a short note and puts it in my mailbox!!!

Night time routine includes, TV, laptop time, and showring, getting my sheets ready for me to sleep on them and listening to my favorite songs on my ipod. I remember the first morning in my loft bed, i woke up and banged my head on the ceiling..It hurt for a little while, but i didn't think about it and it was PERFECT!!!!! I have been more careful since then.

Today Kerrilyn and i decorated more of our room. I will take pictures soon but i don't really have time right now, so it'll have to be a little later in the week or next week or the week after.. depending on my schedule and how i feel as the days and weeks go on!

Well,

That's all the writing i have for you to read for right now

Bon Voyage!!!

The Start of Something New

2008-08-27T18:10:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day of my college classes...i had 3 on Monday's Wednesday's and Fridays. and then i have One on Tuesday's and Thursdays. I'ts pretty nice because then i have all afternoon to do homework. I am really excited because we have Teachers Assistants (students) in our class and we can ask questions and they will help us..I have a tutor session tomorrow at 4 in the afternoon..i'm excited because now i can get help with the Algebra problems i have trouble with. Also today was just a bunch of stuff about what we will be doing in class, got our syllibus in each class AND got our first college homework assignments. I have about 50 problems in Algebra to do and then for my English class i have to write a 2 page reflection paper on how i think that my college career is going so far.

My teachers in class are really nice, right away in English we had to talk to the kids, like give a little speech about who we were, where we were from, why we came to Dordt, if we knew anybody at Dordt, and something significant about us. It was really fun to hear all about the other kids and stuff because some of them have some very very significant things about them, like one of the kids has broken the same arm 3 times... I have to admit, some of the kids in my classes seem cool and i hope that i can get to know them better. In English 100 our professor said that we were in that class because our English ACT score was not as good as some others. so we have 15 kids in our class. I kind of like the small class size because i think i will get more out of it and learn all of the material better. In my Core 100 class we have 17 people, in my Math 100 Class we have 20 kids and in my Core 145 class we have 32 kids!

Tomorrow is going to be interesting, I only have one class and it starts at 11:40 so i am not sure if i should sleep in for an hour or just get up and work on stuff i need to get done for Friday. All i really have to do for Friday is write my reflection paper. Our reflection paper is so our professor can see how we write. I'm sure i have a very unique writing style. Although, that will be revealed when we get our essay back. I have to be honest, i'm excited to write this paper because it will give me a chance to share my thoughts about the first few days of living on campus and meeting new people. I have already met some really great people. I even met the girl i was supposed to room with, Her name is Melody Kim, she is from Korea but she speaks PERFECT English. She lived in Texas for a while so that is pretty cool.

Well better sign off i'm gonna go take a walk around campus

TTFN

So Far at Dordt..

2008-08-26T20:12:00.000-06:00

Today is day 4 at Dordt and things have been going really well!! here is a daily look at what we have done everyday.

Saturday: MOVE IN DAY!! today we moved in, had a bunch of meetings and had a great lunch and and a great dinner. WE as new students were assigned to a group of 16-20 students know as our PC or Peer Counsling groups. in these groups we talked bout college life and rules and how we can use our education here to better the kingdom of God and live for him always.

Sunday- In the morning me n my roomie and about 6 others went to Bridge of Hope church. it was really fun and exciting, i have to be honest with myself, i really liked their style of worship, it was ALL praise songs. I also really enjoyed it because no one really got all dressed up for church either, even the pastor wore jeans and a tshirt and flip flops!!!! In the afternoon we bummed around because we didn't have anything until about 10 at night when we had a PC group meeting. The day was also fun because i met more people..YAY ME!!!!!

Monday- Yesterday was FUN..we had a tour of campus with our PC group, BUT we had to figure out where we had to go by clues that were given to us..I was the only one who knew what the New World theater was..the clue for it was "a big black box" and i figured it out in like 3 seconds!!! The tour was fun so now i know where to go when certain things happen to me, such as if i get sick, or if i need a copy of something, OR, if i need to send out a letter.

Today was more stuff, today we actually became officially enrolled at Dordt...i'm so glad i paid my bill when i moved in cuz it just seemed like such a daunnting task to pay my bill when my parents were not their to help me..all i had to do was get my student ID card, get a bill statement, sign a sheet and go..OH, and i got a coupon book for pizza ranch, so if any of you EVER wanna go to pizza ranch with me, tell me and i'll be their!!! Then today we also had the FRESMEN OLYMPICS..OUR team was our own PC group and another PC group, our team was hooked up with another group and our team name was the SMURFS, so we had to deck ourselves out in blue..IT WAS SO FUN!!!! i hope our team won because the winning team get's to have a PIZZA PARTY!!! so Becky and Josh, my leaders want to win so we get a pizza party so we don't have to eat the commons food.

Speaking of Commons food...it actually is not as bad as some people said it is..Like today we had sloppy joes, potatoes, mixed veggies, and whatever we wanted to drink..It was very pleasent!!!

Well

As of right now that's all i've got..

I'm gonna run down to check my mailbox..

OH that's another thing, if you want my college address and i actualy know who you are, i'll email it to you OR you can ask my parents and they will give it to you as well...hopefully!!!!

Well

TA TA FOR NOW!!!