I have an excuse!

I thought this picture captured the fury of cleaning.
The work just explodes when you start.

I truly do apologize for not posting camp pictures yet! I have yet to actually look at all of them (I am currently labeling all 10,000+ of my pictures as a result of updating to LightRoom3). Now for some reason, my family likes to eat and that results in dishes. And for some reason, my family likes to wear clothes, so that results in laundry (I can't get by with a load every other weekend, like I do at school). And for some reason, we have decided to clean (most) every corner of our house for my grandpa's 80th birthday that we are having at our house on Saturday. And cleaning, as we all know, results in chaos. Everywhere. I've never quite understood it, but for a house to get cleaner, it needs to get dirtier first.

Back from camp

....and exhausted! Just one picture for tonight. Hopefully I can blog more tomorrow.

Love my mom :)

Camp Clean Up

So I know this is really late. But camp starts tomorrow so I thought I would post something about camp....

Caleb taking down dead trees. We need to plant more!!

Planting the donated flowers

Volunteering starts at an early age! :)

Olivia is so precious!

Job. Difficult to get a picture without him acting silly :)

Not so easy.

So I was in Fargo with my mom the other day, with way too many errands. We were running through Sears when we saw this comforter on clearance. It was 200 dollars, but we got it on major clearance for 30 dollars! :) It's a more funky pattern than I would have chosen, but that's okay. Makes me feel like I'm on safari! :)

So, today I decided to take off the five blankets I was substituting for a comforter. And the bed skirt and pillow sheets I have had since 7th grade. It's so lovely to have a new fluffy comforter!! However, I soon found out it wasn't all loveliness. It was quite a process. 

1) Take off mattress and prop against door.

     --Scream as it falls on top of you

2) Fit the king sized bed skirt on the queen sized bed frame.

     --Carefully wrinkle the skirt on the corner, artistically

3) Try to throw mattress on frame without moving said fabric.

    --Amazed that it worked without destroying a lamp

4) Dig in a pile for QUEEN size sheets.

    --Discover a pair that somewhat matches

5) Brings out pillow sham covers from bag.

    --Shocked they are as big as a toddler

6) Stuff three pillows inside each sham.

7) Grab two other pillows for color.

8) Throw the psychadelic comforter on bed.

9) Disapointed that all that work for the bed skirt is covered up by the huge comforter.

Oh! I finally got curtains for BOTH windows! I live in the basement, so I consider this quite exciting!! :)

WHEW!

I thought for sure that since blogger wasn't letting me log in, my blog here had thought it did fine on it's own and would just kick me out of it's life. Good to know it still needs me.

 I plan to blog with lots of pictures soon, maybe even update ALL of my blogs! But for now, I have to finish cleaning my room. I won't be living out of a suitcase for the whole summer! I actually have hangers and drawers for my clothes now because I have a rather ginormous pile for goodwill.

Singles Map

No wonder people complain about the single life! ;-)

[Click to enlarge]

Blue dots=guys

Orange dots=girls

I have a blog?

I was reminded tonight by the lovely Courtney Nelson that I have a blog. So, it's her fault that I am posting. Or rather, giving this intro and then showing a couple pictures before leaving. :) I just downloaded Lightroom 3, beta 2 version, and was excited about putting in the Watermark :)

Nan's flowers

My nails before my manicure....To quote my facebook status....

"is thinking salons aren't for her. I got my nails done for the first time. Lady was disgusted by my nails. What happened to short and sweet? :) I didn't even make it out of the salon without "ruining" my nails. Take me back to the farm! :) "

Mom wanted some pictures of me with my first piece in a gallery =)

Dessert: demolished!

A birthday balloon! =)

I'm Back!

....I didn't take this while driving....[ahem]

Indiana was amazing! Gas was .20 cents cheaper, it was blissfully flat and had fun little towns the last hour of the drive. Getting to just listen to music by myself for five hours was amazing. And then I got to see Rikki!!!!!! =D It was amazing, from watching movies to remembering Riverwoods, to eating...and eating...and eating. What can I say, it's what we do best. ;-)

100 different sundaes, and 100 different milkshakes

Crazy Rikki =)

Isn't she amazing?

Fun side note...Rikki and I are soulmates. Five hours away, and we wore the same thing. A red hat, black rimmed glasses, gray shirt, jeans, and blue slip-ons. It was crazy!

RIkkkiiiiiiii!!! =D

I get to see Rikki tomorrow!!! I am driving out to Indiana tomorrow, and I am so excited. Haven't taken a roadtrip in forever. And mom, don't worry, I won't stop at any of the truck rest stops :) Besides, Betsie (my '97 Chevy Lumina) is one tough cookie!

[For blogline readers....^this is a movie so click on the link and watch it :]

Goodbye

It's weird leaving dorm life. I'm still taking a class, so I can't say the sleepless nights are gone. But I can say that it was weird leaving. I have lived in 613 for two years now. Next year will be the last year I can live there. Lots has happened there. Endless tears, laughter, plugged up showers, lights that don't work, and toilets that are perpetually running. But at the end of the year it is stripped down to blue mattresses and empty dresser drawers. How do all those things happen in a place that can seem so cold and empty as this?

Especially when you consider that only 18 hours before, it looked like this....

Photo Post

I haven’t done a photo post in quite some time, so here I am. I will have told at least 11,00 words with these pictures by the time this post is over. :) Anyway, here is a compilation from Mother's Day. I was sad I couldn't be with my awesome mom for the day, but I get to see her in just over a week! =) I went with my aunt, uncle, family friend, Horst, and my cousin Brian and his wife Nicole :)

Horst from Germany :)

Love the colors of this!

Brian and Nicole

Warren and Horst

The beautiful view from the restaurant

This is how my self-portraits are usually posed :)

Notice my new hat! Horst bought it for me.

There was a pianist in the lobby playing music the whole time

My first plate I decided I was starved. FABULOUS pineapple by the way :)




But by the second plate (with lots of fruit in between) I tried to be less gluttonous =]

...and then I went to the chocolate fountain.

FAIL.

Annie!

I love this girl. Anne Van Veelen. She's pretty fabulous. She's crazy like me and likes to stay up all night to "study." I haven't met anyone else at Judson who will actually stay up the whole night with me. We have basically made our floor's lounge our room. We both love ice cream, and eat too much at McDonald's. Bad news though....she has to go back to her homeland. It's kinda far. Mom, want to take a trip to the Netherlands sometime soon? :) Anyway, just wanted to tell all my blog readers (if I still have any after this long absence) that this girl is amazing. And if you'll pardon me, we have to finish finals up. So off to the lounge I go. Pizza, ice cream, and afore-mentioned friend=another really late night. And I love it.

Combat

I am ready. Ready for what, you might ask? Finals. That time of the year where 20-somethings all over the world become binge eaters and insomniacs.

Finals, this year, you shall become my prisoner. I am prepared for combat.

WARNING: Random

Finals are next week. The weather outside is gorgeous. I so wish that I could be outside more and enjoy it. For Mouw's class we have been shooting "48 hours at Judson," so I have my camera with me practically 24-7. I should always do that. I have more pictures than I know what to do with and my friends now consider me paparazzi, but I guess I should get used to that. :) I know how to flip someone over my back now, thanks to my self-defense class.

Next week we are doing refreshers and a bunch of scenarios. Kind of excited, but a twinge of scared-ness as well. :) In the picture I am throwing down the instructor. So, bottom line, don't mess with me ;-) So finals....my photo 2 final is on Monday and i am kind of freaking out about it because I still need to shoot people and make it into a book. AHHHH!!!!! I think I shall take a nap and re-evaluate :)

Human Wrong

Judson is selling t-shirts to bring awareness to child slavery. This is the one I got. Ashley, one of my friends, thought it was kind of ironic. Because I tend to be seen as a "Suzy Homemaker" kind of person. Which I love :) Anyway, I was really excited. And apparently on Thursday we are gathering together at lunch to pray for those in slavery.

Wow.

I just don't even know what to say. God is amazing. [End of post.] Nah, I am way too excited to just say that.

My wonderful friend, Joy Goodrich is visiting campus for the weekend. (I wish I had less homework this weekend!) Anyway, she organized a prayer meeting and invited a ton of people. There were about eight of us there in the prayer room in the basement of the chapel. We started at 9:30. It lasted until midnight. First we were praying for revival on the campus, then we prayed for Chara's ankle (which she said felt better by the time we left). Then came the best part. Joanie suggested going around the room and praying for each person. Before I keep going, I just thought I'd let you know how crazy-awesome last night was.

Almost everyone was praying in the spirit. As in, not really knowing what they were saying, and just letting the Spirit talk through them.

Now I grew up Methodist, where we stood for the hymns and sat for everything else. It is the same every week. That's fine, but our God is the God of everything! He is not something that can be put into a box. We should be shouting and proclaiming His name. It took me awhile to get used to all that was going on, and truth be told, I wasn't completely sure of everything. But since when are we supposed to be comfortable?? When we are comfortable, we just sit back and let things happen.

Back to story.

The person being prayed for would sit in the middle and the rest of us would lay hands on that person. There were people who would see things. These visions, I guess, would vary and alot of the time we would have no clue what they mean. The one I saw was a girl in white in a huge cathedral. She was walking down the aisle on a red carpet, she had a long way to walk. But a king was sitting on his throne and waiting for her. He had the biggest and most beautiful smile I had ever seen. You didn't even have to look at Him to know He was smiling, you just knew. She needed to run. And later, Joanie said that she saw the same cathedral. That the red carpet represented God's blood and her white dress her purity in Christ.

There would also be words that God would put on our hearts. Usually they didn't make sense. One was french fry. We would try to push aside, thinking that didn't make sense, so it can't be from God! Since when does God make sense to humans?

I had never even heard of falling out of the spirit (I think that's the right phrase--correct me if I am wrong), but that happened too. Joy fell out when we were praying for revival. I actually fell out too, when I was in the middle. It was just me letting go of everything and letting Him take control.

When I first God in the middle, Joanie hugged me and didn't let go for a long time. And I just started sobbing. It was God hugging me. For a long time, all I could do was cry. People were talking about how I was restored. One saw a chalkboard and that everything is wiped clean. Everything. I was also wearing a dress, completely white--my purity. Ben Shenkin talked about how he saw my smile, my real smile. He said he hadn't seen it in a long time.

Then there was Luis. He is really quiet, so when he talked, we all got really quiet. But he would say things he couldn't possibly know. During prayer, it dawned on me how absolutely amazing it would be to kiss God's face. I mean, wow. But when I sat in the middle, Luis read from Song of Songs 1:2-4

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

All of this in less than three hours!

Ya'll might think I am absolutely crazy now for typing this. And you would be right. I am crazy.

Crazy for God.

If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God;

if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

2 Corinthians 5:13

So very tired.

Last night I got approximately 1.5 hours of sleep. Night before that I accidentally slept in, but the night before that I got two hours of sleep. It's only a matter of time before I develop permanent bags under my eyes.

Thank you, art school, thank you. What a wonderful present you gave me.

Pride

I think the one thing that turns me off of people (meaning anyone, not just the opposite sex) is pride. Hearing someone go on and on about how much they know or how wonderful they think they are is so annoying. Makes me wonder though as I am typing this, do I do the same thing?? We all chime in our own little stories about our life at the dinner table. Are we trying to help the story along? Or is there some strange reason we have to share our successes with everyone? The Creator of the Universe knows all of our accomplishments. Shouldn't that be enough? Apparently not.

We are supposed to be clothed in humility. If that is so, then how much are you wearing? Although, I know at times I have been guilty of wearing next to nothing!

After Easter, it is hard not to be humbled by the Cross and God's love for us. Yet, it seems like it is quickly lost. His love for us is quickly taken for granted once Monday rolls around. We are NOTHING without Him.

From the outset of the day, I want to greet my Savior with gratitude, not grumbling. ::CJ Mahaney::

Protectors

After a girl is grown, her little brothers

-now her protectors-

seem like big brothers.

::Astrid Alauda::

[sniff, sniff] Are they really growing up?!

Love

Does God really love us?

I say look to the crucified Jesus.

Look to the old rugged cross.

By every thorn that punctured His brow.

By every mark of the back lacerating scourge.

By every hair of his beard plucked from his cheeks by cruel fingers.

By every bruise which heavy fists made upon His head.

God said, "I love you!"

By all the spit that landed on his face.

By every drop of sinless blood that fell to the ground.

By every breath of pain which Jesus drew upon the cross.

By every beat of His loving heart. God said, I love you.

::Billy Lobbs::

At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ

where evil did it's worst and met it's match.

John W. Wenham

Guilty

I attended my church's (Harvest Bible Chapel) Good Friday service tonight. It was amazing. They had this walk through, with art and a tactile experience (instruments of torture that they would use in Jesus' time) Anyway, the last part of it was when two guys in black robes stamped your hand in ink, as they said "Guilty!" The next part was taking a red sharpie and writing your name on a huge cross and then taking communion, sitting down and meditating on what Jesus has done.

The part that struck me most about the service, was that I am guilty. Guilty of putting my sins on the one holy man in the universe. The only one who didn't deserve one speck of punishment. I put him on that cross. My own sin and failures kept him up there.

i.

am.

guilty.

Joy

Be merry, really merry. The life of a true Christian should be a perpetual jubilee, a prelude to the festivals of eternity.
~Theophane Venard

Joy is not the absence of suffering. It is the presence of God.
~Robert Schuller

When you have become penetrated with the joy of God, all of your sorrows will turn into joy, all of your trials will be graces; you will recognize your faults, you will be sorry for them, and they will be forgiven so that they may become happy faults. They will remind you only of the goodness, the tenderness, the joy with which God forgives them.

~Louis Evely

Happiness depends on happenings; joy depends on Christ.

~Anonymous