Winter Fun

Dear Readers,
Much has gone on since the last time I posted, but due to the increase of pre-spring break homework, I do not have time to write all about it, and everyone just likes looking at the pictures anyway. I must introduce to you the newest addition to the blogosphere, my own roomate Elizabeth!! You can see her beautiful blog here http://lilibette.blogspot.com/ to see what is going on in her life and a little bit of mine.

(oops, i couldn't figure out how to make those pictures right-side-up)

Jaxon Takes a Bath

Check out my cutie pie nephew!!

Cougar Sightings...

My dear caring father sent me a link to a website about cougar sightings in berrien springs, my home county. To see it- http://michigancougar.com/ I find this highly fascinating, due to my love of animals and biology. One cougar killed a horse in the town where my ex-horse currently lives (we sold him several years ago. I miss him!!).
Despite my past negative experiences with helping animals (see posts below), I still love them and am just so suprised that cougars are being seen all over southwestern mighican. Its pretty neat. Don't worry, the site said you have a better chance of being struck by lighting than attacked by a cougar. And if one does approach you, yell and throw things at it, it should just run away.
Maybe I should forget nursing and go back to environmental biology. I can remember once at Grampa's farm i found a lamb in the barn that was sick.

Grampa let me take care of it (I named him Clover) and brush its wool and help it drink. I set up a little tent outside for him to keep away the sun and flies, but he died the next day anyway. Another time i tried to help an animal was at Nanny and Papa's house. They had a birds nest near the door that a momma robin had made, and one of the baby robins fell out of the nest. I named her angela and for the whole day i took care of her. I made her a nest, found worms to give her, and protected her from stray cats. That afternoon I went to a swim meet that my friend was competing in (now she's going to the olympics!) and when i came back angela was gone. The dinner of an alley cat no doubt. Hopefully I will have better luck with nursing.

BTW...

For reference, this last blog might be better understood when you read summer's first. Her link is in the right hand column.
Today is my favorite day of the week, Thursday. I woke up at 6:30 and worked out, hopped in the pool, and then headed toward saga for a delicious custom made omelet. They are just so good. The rest of the day I plan to spend studying in my warm room in comfortable sweatpants and my lovely slippers my brother gave me. I am so happy its Thursday.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Yesterday I had a YHM meeting, and we had three professors there answering tough questions that past YHMers encountered during the summer. It was so interesting and inspiring. I wish all classes were like that. I learned more last night than I probably do in a week of classes, and thats 15 hours of class. Why do classes have to be so much more boring and uninteresting than just talking to smart people? Alright, enough procrastinating. Time to study.

Why Hunting Is Good

While some people may not agree that hunting is beneficial to society, I would ask them if they have ever tried to help the poor creatures they are attempting to "save". Because I have. Today in fact, I was faced with the choice to walk by the seemingly injured Canadian Goose that lay half frozen in the snow in the baseball field behind Saga for two days, or go help it. I called my sister, and she encouraged me to call the local wildlife agency. So I did. They advised me on how to catch it: take a sheet and gently herd it into a wall or fence, then place sheet over bird's head and body and pick up bird, then place in box. Bring box to their facility in Glenn Ellyn. So after I got my snow gear on and rounded up a few volunteers, we headed out into the wild. The baseball field was locked, so we climbed over the fence and walked quietly towards the victim. When we got closer, it began to squwak at us and I got the sheet ready. Then all of a sudden, the injured bird got on its legs and flew away. I will never be an animal rights activist ever again. I would join these men anyday to decrease the population of those menacing birds.

Time flies when you are having fun, or when you are really busy and have a lot of homework to do. These past three weeks (seems like so much longer) have crept by, leaving me frazzled and tired, but hopefully smarter and wiser.
Weekends are the highlight of my week- especially when something unusual happens. Last weekend, for example, six friends of mine drove over to St. Joe to spend the weekend with Mom, Dad, and Britta. God blessed us with a great gift, a snowstorm! Sunday morning we woke up and there were 18 inches of snow on the ground. We spent most of the weekend sitting by the fire, playing scrabble, out in the snow, and eating mom's delicious food. Yum! Thanks Mom and Dad for your gracious and overflowing love and hospitality.

Missing You

Three years ago on a september night, mom called me downstairs to run over the the neighbors house. The arrival of a baby girl, scared to death and unattached to anyone grabbed a corner of my heart that night and has still not let go.

Her name was Laina, and she became the baby sister i never had, the light of our lives. I watched her three times a week during that first year, and we grew very close. I remember the way she would take naps in my arms, wake up for a second and pick her head up, then her eyes would roll back a little and her head would plop down and she would keep sleeping. I felt so loved when she started to say my name and recognized my car when i drove in from LMC. She just keeps growing and changing. I hope and pray she will still remember me and how much i love her when she grows up. Oh dear Laina baby, I miss you like crazy.

Home Sweet Home

So my first semester at wheaton is over and done with. It was great. God gave me a great pair of roomates, wonderful friends, and lots of new experiences. Its also great to have finals behind me. I am not such a big fan of cumulative test. I have now been home for five days. I do miss my wheaton friends a great deal, but it is good to be around the coopsters and sawyer folk again. It is also nice to drive downtown and see Lake Michigan. The first night I was home Dad and I went down to see the sunset. The beach looks so cold and lonely now compared the bright and busy summertime. It is still beautiful in am more wild way.
Britta is happy to have me home again. She keeps whining at my door early in the morning to get me out of bed to play with her. Yesterday I built a fire in the fireplace and Britta just loved it. We both fell asleep in front of the fire for awhile. All in all, its good to be home.

Norway!!!

YHM, or youth hostel ministry, is something I have heard about for a long time from my sister Kendall. While at Wheaton, Kendall participated in YHM and traveled all over Europe visiting youth hostels where she shared Christ with lonely travelers. Her high reviews of the program led me to look into it earlier this semester and apply for this upcoming summer. Last week I got the acceptance letter, along with my roomate Andrea who is also going to do YHM- we were both ecstatic. We looked forward to when we would find out where in Europe we would be sent, and who our groups were. Last night we found out, we are in separate groups, she will be in spain, and I will be in Bergen, Norway, the land of my ancestors. The first three weeks of the summer will be spent there running a hostel- making beds, being the hostess, and cooking. Then we will travel for the last five weeks all over Europe. There are two boys and one other girl in our group. Their names are Stephanie, Devin, and Chris. Stephanie and Devin seem pretty nice, and I still have not met Chris. Please be praying now for our trip this summer. We have a lot of preparation work to do. Please pray also a head of time for the people we will encounter on our travels. So my summer is set. I think it will be great.
Look at this place!

Life Is A Highway

So its been a while... life has been pretty busy. I still haven't quite mastered the whole balance issue, I wonder if anyone has. I cannot belive how fast this first semester has flown by. There are many things I never got around to doing, like visiting Taylor before the semester ended, and finishing my quilt. But I have done many more unexpected things that have been so wonderful. I went to boston, to honey rock, to ohio, indiana, and iowa; I climbed walls, rode on a hot air balloon, and ran around Chicago. My favorite thing about wheaton is joining Crew and enjoying that great group of people. i love it.



God has truly blessed me. I only wish i didn't have to leave everybody at Taylor. Next week is exams week- please pray.

Balance

Balance is a difficult thing to achieve in college. Balance between work and play and devotion to God have been especially difficult for me to do this semester at Wheaton. Most of my friends are smarter than me, so they do not need to work as hard as I do to do well in school, therefore i get dissolusioned about how much time i need to work. Being around christians who talk about christianity and God all the time almost desensitizes you to the power and grace of God. I wish it would enhance in my heart instead of numbing it.
The Christian walk is not easy. One chapel speaker talked about a conversatin he had with a girl. She was crying and saying that she was frustrated that she could not serve hard enough, pray good enough, read clearly enough, or connect with God enough. He told her congradulations, for that is what the walk is like. We are not meant to be content in this world. Sin is a barrier between us and God that can only be broken by the death of our bodies and our soul's entrance into His glory.
His congradulations comforts me very little, although it holds hope.
Pray for my family at Sawyer- especially Dave and Hannah and Preston, who's friend was recently shot and killed in Chicago.
Pray for my diligence for my studies, that i would love God and not this world, and that He would give me wisdom.
Pray for Linda, my roomates sister, and Linda's roomate's family. The mother of Linda's roomate Erin suddenly died this week of a blod clot in the brain.
The skies are gray today, but the sun will come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar.

Think Summer

I know it is still October, or as they say in spanish, Octubre, but I am already trying to hash out my plans for this summer. That gets me thinking about this past summer, which was one of my very favorites. I loved being an intern at Sawyer, it challenged me in ways I could never have thought of. I also liked having a real grownup job with an I.D. and time card swiper at the hospital. Waking up early and having breakfast with Dad was priceless. One evening i was working the 3-11 shift, and during my dinner break David, Mom, and Dad all came over and had dinner with me at the little hospital cafe. That was so fun. Its amazing what a difference it makes when you see someone who loves you and cares about you in the midst of an often unloving and difficult work place. Thanks guys, you made my night.
Since I stayed home last summer, I would love to go abroad somewhere, possibly a spanish speaking country to brush up on my espanol. Here are a few of my choices:
Ecuador to study spanish for a month with a program Taylor offers.
YHM- youth hostel ministry, i would travel around europe for the summer and help out at different hostels.
L'abri- perhaps in British Columbia?
So basically, i have lots of options and who knows what will happen between now and then, but I just love thinking up plans.

Fall Break Fiesta!

Last weekend I was with some of my favorite people in the whole world. Mom, Dad, and I flew out to visit Summer (http://moreh20.blogspot.com/) and Oliver and their little dog Una in New Mexico. Albequerque is the US headquarters for hot air baloons, and last weekend was their annual fiesta. Saturday morning we woke up before sunrise to see the balloons prepared and readied for takeoff.


They looked like giant glowing jellyfish. Due to high winds, their departure was slightly delayed, but finally they began to gracefullly rise off the ground.





Dad even got to help one of the crews set up their ballon.










We all got really excited when they started taking off.













Summer and I met the Governor.
















This balloon is for Baby Jack.













Mom and Dad.








After a fun morning of breakfast burritos, balloons, mountain sunrises, and family fun, we went back to S and O's house to rest.
That evening we took Una to the dog park to see her friends (she was the prettiest dog there). Then we went to a neaby mountain to see the sunset.

Una's support system.











Our sweet hosts.














New Mexico has the most beautiful sunsets.







Monday morning we had another balloon adventure. Dad took us on a hot air balloon ride! Mom, Oliver, and I had a lot of fun.





Daddy's Girl for life.

It was the perfect fall break.

Just Keep Swimming...

B-quad is almost over... and fall break is just three days away!! Crew is all done, we finished with a jubilant victory over the other 12 boats in our race. It was a bittersweet ending to a great season. I love crew. Now, however, it is time for studying. In the midst of midterms, I can't help but praise God for all the blessings he has put in my life in just a few weeks.

This is my room, there are two smaller bedrooms that branch off the "family room". On the right side is where Elizabeth and I sleep, and on the left is Andrea's room. During the daytime, the sun illuminates the changing leaves of the big tree outside our windows, and colorful sunlight floods in and dances on the walls.

I am so grateful for my family, a constant encouragement to me. I still can't belive that little Jack, who used to be that bump on kendall's tummy, is now a real person who will one day walk and talk and worship God.

I am so proud of David, who works hard all day long. Keep it up big brother, thanks for your calls. I wish i could be down there with you to go fishin' and sip on milkshakes.

And sweet Summer, who never fails to guide and encourage me, thank you. I know this is a hard day for you, but press on, fight the good fight, endure! Or as one little fish says, "Just keep swimming!"
Now I must be off to the books!

Who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure. -- Jewish Saying

I have been blessed by a great many treasures in the forms of wonderful friendships, but now I want to post about one faithful friend of mine, Sarah. She has blessed me and encouraged me in countless ways, and we have been the closest of friends since art class in 7th grade. I can remember the first time we really connected. Her parents were over at my house for something, and Sarah and I went up to my room and sat on my bed, and began talking about how great God is. After that night, we were steadfast friends. We complained to each other about how we couldn't find long enough pants, played sports with each other (the twin towers), helped each other through rough waters, and sailed over smooth ones. We can be serious and yet hysterical with each other. After abandoning her at GCS, I rejoiced over our acceptance to Taylor U. We had a great year there. I can't belive how much happend there. I think she knows me better than I know myself most of the time.
Sarah, Thanks for your call today. I miss you.

Alright Alright....

College is really busy, thats why I don't update very much. But I will try to do it more often. First off, i want to say that iSight is a wonderful thing for my family to have. Second of all, I am so very grateful for my fan club. Last saturday was our first regatta in cincinnatti ohio. My boat, novice B, was scheduled to race at 2:15. it had been raining off and on all day long, and as soon as we got to the starting point heaven let loose everything in the rain storerooms. It poured and poured. Well, that didn't stop us, we raced anyway and actually passed another boat that started before us. We rowed really well until the lightning showed up, then we had to stop the race and go in. Our captains decided we should just pack up the boats and go home, so after about 1 hour of packing up and goofing around in the lake, our captains decided that the girls should race again now that the storm let up. So in a hurried rush we took our boats off the trailer, rigged them up, and raced. It was rough, but in the end a great experience. I was the only person on our team who had both sets of grandparents, a mom and an adopted aunt steph.
now i have to do homework again.

Sunday Afternoon

Its sunday afternoon, and I am sitting on our cute couch in our cute room, there are two great windows at my back, and when i turn to look out i can see branches and wet leaves of a maple tree only inches from the screen. I dont feel well, i wish mom could be here to make me some tea and orangejuice, and read to me. I wish dad could be here to bring me popsickles. But i am supposed to be grown up and mature now, so i guess I'll just try to tough it out. My roomates are wonderful, they let me have some of their chewable vitamin c tablets, and leave me get well messages on our doornob, and are bringing me tea and soup from the store. I am blessed.

Wheaton Crew, Here I Come!

So all that hard work paid off. I got an email today at 8:07 saying...
Hey team!

Congrats on making the team! You all did a great job this week. I'm excited
for this coming season. So here's the line-up for fall semester rowing, the
boats are as follows, based solely on erg scores.

Novice A
Emily M.
Emily H.
Molly
Michal

Novice B
Megan
Elizabeth
Becca
Courtney

I will see you all tomorrow on the river. Show up in front of the SRC at 7 AM
with running shoes and five dollars.


Woo hoo!!!

What i feel like in the morning, although i dont look that athletic.
this is how i feel the rest of the day.
today was my last running practice- i made it!!!! tomorrow is the big day- the urg test at 6am. pray for me! i am exhausted!!
this is my motto:
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
i say it while i run to my running partner.
this one is also in my head alot during times of desperation.
Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
AMEN!!

Crew

Oops again, my CPO is 2646. Sorry!!
I realize that some may not know what Crew is, besides that its all i can think about right now. The Wheaton Crew team is a club sport that competes against different schools at what is called a regatta. A regatta is simply a race, either a regualar distance or a sprint. The boat consists of four rowers and one coxan - a person sitting in the stern (rear of boat) facing both the direction in which the boat is moving and the rowers - she navigates, instructs, and leads the boat. I have been training this week to join the crew team, which has been very hard. On tuesday we ran 4 miles at 5:30am, which was bad enough. then we did sprints and our circuit workout- pushups, leglifts, crunches, squats, you name it. during the day on our own time, we must practice rowing on the rowing machines, called Urgs. Today we had a similar workout regime, but they added stadiums. I wanted to cry it hurt so badly. It takes me an extra two minutes to walk anywhere on campas due to my sore body, and an extra three minutes or more up stairs. only one more day of full out running and excercise, and then friday we are tested on how fast we can urg (row) for a distance of 2000 meters. it is pretty intense. but i keep thinking of what crew will be like after this if i make the team, getting up at 4:45 to row on a beautiful river with great people, enjoying creation, and being involved with a team. the picture above is what crew looks like, although our boats are smaller.
They are taking in 8 rowers this fall, there are about 14 trying out. We find out friday if we made the team or not.
please pray for me to have strength, courage, and rest.