Trip #1 to Doylestown

I was able to go to Doylestown last weekend and spend time with Kyle and the rest of the Shearer clan. I thought I'd post pictures from the trip.

*****On a walk on Friday*****

*****Relaxing after the walk*****

*****Friday night we went on a date with his parents*****

*****Saturday we went to Kyle's grandparents house for Easter dinner/Easter egg hunt/hanging out/having fun*****

*****Easter Sunday*****

*****Me 'n Paige*****

*****Bestest pals, Kyle and Ivy*****

*****Brianna*****

*****Paige at the piano*****

*****Who knows?!*****

****Uh yeah...not the greatest picture, but it IS funny*****

*****NO MORE PICTURES! PLEASE!*****

*****Lil ray of sunshine - Ivy*****

*****Another happy person - Brianna*****

*****Aww...mush*****

*****Superman!*****

*****Kirsten and Hannah*****

*****Kirsten, Brianna, Hannah, and Paige*****
(Michaela was taking the pic, and Ivy was off somewhere)

*****Kirsten****

*****Me*****

*****Chickens*****

*****Paige*****

*****Bubbles*****

*****Ian*****

*****Kyle*****

*****Talking, what a crazy notion it is!!*****

My Life

I just realized that I haven't written a post about the happenings in my life in a LONG time! So I decided to do so now. I know that most of you already know everything, but maybe not everyone, or everything.
This semester is beginning to wind down, THANKFULLY! We have less than a week in a half before Thanksgiving break, and following break we have about one in a half weeks of school, including finals before we are completely done!! YAY!
Classes have been going well. I'm still struggling with the science class, but my grades are getting better in that, which is good. Please keep praying.
My internship at the Christian school has been interesting to say the least. Mrs. Whitaker, the original teacher resigned, and so for a long time all that the class had was substitute teachers. It was kinda interesting. Now they have a new teacher, Miss Snider, and she's VERY hard to intern for. She has me teaching a 4th grade history lesson, and a 3rd grade science lesson every week. I really like teaching, but it's a lot of work to add to the work that I already have to do!
I enjoy my job for the most part, although I'm not getting nearly enough hours. Only about 8 hours a week, and that's not nearly enough to get me through. I had started to look for another job, but I decided to wait until next semester, because I'm not sure if any other job will let me take Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks off and I REALLY need those breaks!
Of course the most important thing right now is Jason! ;) He has been deployed for quite awhile, but thankfully his deployment ends THIS WEEK!!! I'm SOOOOOO excited! It seems like he's been deployed FOREVER! On top of that in 23 days (I think) he's flying back to the US, and in 27 days we will FINALLY get to meet!!! I CAN'T WAIT! He is coming down here to Shawnee December 12 and 13 to spend the weekend. School gets out either the 16th or 17th and Jason is coming to my house on the 17th through the 22nd, and then we are going to his house the 22nd through the 27th when he has to go back to Japan. I'm sure it will be an AMAZING time!
Anyway, that's a brief summary of my life right now...sorry it's been so long since I last updated all of you and I will try to do it more often in the future.

Last Day in the Jail

Have you ever loved doing something so much that it breaks your heart to leave it behind?
I love the jail ministry, and I loved the opportunity that I had this summer to go in every Sunday. I loved the people in jail, and I loved the people in the jail ministry. Oh yes, we had our ups and downs, it wasn't perfect, but it was a place that I could go and love and be loved. It was a place where I could go and minister to people who were hungry for the Word and I felt needed.
Over the process of the summer, there were many times that going to jail on Sunday morning was the highlight of my week. If I was having problems with something or it just seemed like nothing was going right, I could go to jail, put those things in the back of my mind and it was there that I focused on others.
So today was my last day with those people. We started as usual in "F block" the lock down block, where the guys are locked in their cells for 23 out of 24 hours a day. These guys are either the maximum security, or the guys that got in trouble in jail. Peggy and I played kinda a prelude of "Amazing Grace" and "Jesus, I am Resting, Resting," me on the cello and Peggy on the keyboard. Then we sang a song and Rick preached from Luke 15 about the Prodigal Son. Not only did he talk about the prodigal, but also about the older brother who was a self righteous holier than thou, and how really in the end it was the prodigal son who got saved, and as far as we know the older brother never got saved! He talked about how it is so important to make sure that what we are doing is for God and not for show!
The next service was in the chapel and it was the men. Again Peggy and I played a prelude. We had baptisms this morning. Three guys got baptized and one rededicated his life. John really spent time going over baptism and how it isn't what gets you saved, etc. One of the men who got baptized was absolutely glowing with the filling of the Holy Spirit! The look on his face was amazing, I don't think I will ever forget that look of the presence of God! His story is really neat too. He has had a horrible life, I'm not really sure all that has been involved, but he had been living a wicked life. He ended up in our county jail, and his wife is in a county jail north of here. God started working in his heart here, and unknown to him, God was also working in his wife's heart! Both are now saved, and once they get out of jail they are planning on living their lives for the Lord! That is so exciting! On their way out, most of the guys told me good-bye and a few even hugged me!
There were a lot of ladies that came to the service! Again the whole prelude thing, and then John asked that I tell the ladies why I was leaving and where I was going, etc., so I did. Then Rick preached, in both F Block and the ladies service he had Peggy and I read the Scripture, that was really neat. I'm gonna miss the ladies a lot!
After the services are over those of us who go into the jail always talk it over, talk about the things that went well, what could have been improved, etc. and then we pray. During this time Rick brought up the fact that he had enjoyed having me come in and then he informed me that I'm the only one who goes in that is under 50!! That made me feel REALLY young!
I'm gonna miss the jail so much while I'm at college, and I can't wait to go back again!

Michigan Trip

My friend LeAnne, who I haven't seen since 8th grade, is visiting friends in Michigan this week and I was given the opportunity to go see her. I left Sunday afternoon and stopped in Angola, IN and went to Faith Baptist Church for the Sunday night service. I went to school last year with 2 kids from that church. Unfortunately Matt was sick, but Brandi was there and we sat next to each other and then went out for ice cream afterwards!! :) YUM! I continued on to Michigan and got to the Campbell's home around 10:00. Mr. Campbell had gone to pick LeAnne up from the airport, and they weren't home yet, so Mrs. C and I were able chat a little bit! :) Around 10:30 LeAnne and Mr. C got home and we began catching up on our lives. Finally about 12:30 we went to bed!! On Monday I woke up kinda early, about 8, I know, it really wasn't that early, but for vacation, it's early! I got up and read my devotions and did my regular morning stuff and then went downstairs and ate breakfast. After breakfast Mr. C went somewhere, I don't know where, and the 3 girls watch "A Hazard of Hearts," lets just say that it was an incredibly dumb movie, along the lines of Jane Austen! UGH! I'm not a Jane Austen lover, quite the opposite actually. While we were watching the movie a chipmunk came up to the sliding door and started to beg for Mrs. C to give him food! It was sooooo cute! Mrs. C was supposed to have a therapy session at 2:00 but for some reason her therapist called and rescheduled it for Tuesday. So, instead of therapy she decided to take LeAnne and I shopping...UGH! I HATE shopping! Anyways, she took us to Kohl's and made us shop for clothes for school. We spent 2 hours finding clothes, trying on clothes, and by the time we were done I was wiped out! We got back around 7 or 7:30 and threw our supper in the oven. Then I grabbed a book and read for about an hour until it was time to eat. Over supper we talked and goofed off. Mr. C was once again gone, he was playing golf with some buddies of his....I personally think he was just escaping from all the females that had invaded his home! :) Around 9:30 Mr. C came home, he did win the game of golf!! I guess that's good...I've never really been into golf! We watched a movie about Jacob and Joseph, which I found rather humorous because of the way that the story was protraide. It was kinda corny. I guess I fell asleep during the movie and slept for like 45 minutes....that's what shopping does to me! :) We went to bed about 12:30 and I didn't wake up until 10! It was WONDERFUL! Mrs. C had her therapy at 1:00, so Mr. C took her to that. While they were gone LeAnne and I went to Wal-Mart cuz I needed to get allergy medicine cuz my allergies started acting up, BIG time! Then we came home and went outside and took a gazillion pictures of the BEAUTIFUL flower gardens that the Campbell's have. I took almost 250 pictures before my camera card was full...I could have taken a million more! I was hoping to leave at 5. We were supposed to eat at 4, but umm, that didn't happen! We didn't eat until 5 and I didn't get outta there until almost 6! lol! We had a good meal, and then it was times for good-byes...that's always a sad thing! I finally got on the road...YAY! I stopped about 30 miles down the highway at a Dunkin Donuts and got a latte! :) That was GOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!! I went through a little bit of bad weather, but for the most part the weather wasn't too bad! :) I got home about 9:30! YAY! Overall it was a good trip and I enjoyed having a few days off to do absolutely NOTHING!! :)

*************

****Flowers*****

*****LeAnne*****

*****Mr. and Mrs. C, LeAnne, and Me*****

*****Me and LeAnne*****

Life in the Fast Lane

Ok, I know that if I put every little detail about my week down in writing it will take a LOOOOONG time! So, I will just briefly sum up each day.
Thursday I worked for Wes in the morning and in the evening I attempted to sell a vacuum! It came SOOOOO close! Seriously, I'm still trying to figure out why in the world I didn't sell one! At the end of our shows we almost always do a "phone closing" where we call some of our bosses and they will talk to us and sometimes the customer, and they can a lot of times convince the customer to buy. Ben and Krista were already really close, then I called Matt, who is the manager of the store in Valpo. He talked to Ben, and got him even more interested. After the phone call Ben all of a sudden decided he didn't want to do it! UGH!! Soooo, no sale. It's too bad cuz that would have been my first sale on my own. It was so close that Matt called me while I was on my way home asking if had done all of the paper work! Neither one of us are sure what happened! :(
Friday got really exciting! All day it had been stormy and yucky! We were, at the least, under a severe thunderstorm watch all day, and a couple of times it elevated to warnings, and tornado watches. Nothing new for Northern Indiana, it happens all the time. I was supposed to go to South Bend in the evening to do a show. Where I was going in S. Bend was about an hour away. I really didn't want to drive up there all by myself in the wacky weather. So, I talked to the people at Rainbow and they said that Damon could go with me. I was very relieved. We were supposed to meet at the office at 5 and then proceed to S. Bend. As I was leaving home dad called and said that there was a tornado in Mentone, which is about 6 or 7 miles from us! Oh well, I had a show to go on. So, I got to the office and the tornado sirens were going off when I got out of my vehicle. Creepy. Soon after we left the office I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the storm that had gone over us, it was BLACK! We didn't sell a vacuum, nor did we even show it, which is a really long story.
I went to the jail Bible study Saturday morning, but had to leave early cuz I had a show in Logansport, which is about 1 1/5 hours south of us. Damon went on this one with me as well. We did sell a vacuum which was WONDERFUL!! PTL!! Then Damon, bless his heart, drove a few miles further south and went to Kokomo and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for me!! YAY!! I got a large iced latte, with whipped cream, of course, and totally enjoyed it! ...sigh... We got back about 5:30 and I went to the Hampton Inn in Warsaw where Wes was showing the PowerPoint to a group of his friends so that they could critique it! UGH! It would have been one thing if these were all people who understood what you can and can't do in graphic design, but most of them weren't! There were only 2 people there, mom, and a recording engineer, who understood. I only got in on the last half of the presentation, which was actually a good thing, cuz if I had been there the whole time I would have been crying! By Saturday I had only gotten about 14 hours of sleep the entire week, cuz I was trying to get this project completed for Wes, and then to have people who had NO idea what they were talking about critique it, well, lets just say I was slightly frazzled!
I went into the jail on Sunday morning. It was really good. Unfortunately one guy, Michael, who is actually one of my former bus kids and neighbors was in the solitary confinement cuz he had been wrestling! I told him I was gonna smack him for doing that, but I couldn't cuz he was locked into his cell. Pray for him, he has a lot of potential. We had several people over for Sunday dinner since it was Father's Day. That was fun.
I took yesterday off. I did NOTHING when it comes to work. YAY! At 6:3o there was an open house for Rainbow, so I did go to that, but there was really no work involved there!
Today it is nice and hot and sunny!! I was outside for a loooong time, just enjoying the sun! :) I also did a little bit of mowing, which was fun cuz I haven't mowed at all this year!!

What I've Been Up To....

I'm SOOOOO sorry that I haven't posted in SOOOO long! I guess I have had a MAJOR case of "done-with-college-don't-feel-like-doing-a-thing" blues! All that I have felt like doing is sleeping, taking it easy, vegging out, etc...
So, to pick up from where I left off...
Last Sunday morning I went to church with a former manager and friend of mine, Nan. Her church had just recently built a new building, and she wanted me to see it. It was a good experience and I was glad that I went.
I didn't go to church Sunday night cuz I was NOT feeling well at all! :(
Monday Mom and I ran a bunch of errands, including doing some job hunting...to no avail. NO BODY is hiring at all! Please continue to pray that I will find a job. In the afternoon went up to Goshen to the GI doctor and he did a very thorough exam and scheduled me for some testing on Friday. While we were up there we also went to Sam's Club and DUNKIN DONUTS (my favorite!! :})!!!!! I like DD MUCH better than Star Bucks, or any other coffee shop. I guess I started to get into them at college cuz they are MUCH cheaper than any other coffee shop. Surprisingly, I don't like to get donuts, just coffee, my favorite being an iced latte (as Bro. Mike knows VERY well!! LOL! (fond memories....)).
I honestly don't remember what I did on Tuesday (my brain has completely blanked it out!), which probably means I rested a lot! It was Mom's 40th birthday! Last week I had ordered her a cake from Betty's Cakes, which is a little bakery here in Warsaw that makes the most AMAZING cakes in the whole world, their frosting is TO DIE FOR!! YUM! I ordered a strawberry cake wth chocolate frosting! It was rather good!! :) :)
On Wednesday I had an hour in a half interview with a photographer. I took some pictures for him and we discussed different photographic styles, etc. The job is a definite MAYBE!! Oh joy...that's what they all say.
Daddy came home from Minnesota on Thursday! It was SOOOOOOOO nice to see him! :) I also went to my church for the first time, it was nice to see everyone again.
Friday.....mom and I went garage saling and then to the hospital for blood work and an almost two hour test... Boy was that BORING!! However, I did get a WONDERFUL iced latte afterwards, so that did help.
Saturday morning we went to Flint Michigan to visit my great grandma. We kinda decided to do it last minute, but it was nice to go see her. I hadn't seen Mormor (as Samuel and I call her) since August when we went up and saw her on our way to New York. She will be 91 in July and still lives by herself, and drives!! WOW! Sunday afternoon I drove her car, and it was REALLY nice! It's a '98 Chevy Lumina with only 42,000 miles on it! Grandpa and Grandma bought it brand new, and since Grandpa died in 2000, Grandma hasn't driven it much further than the grocery store! I told her that when she finally decides to sell it that I would be VERY interested in it! She laughed and told me that my dad had already told her that he was interested in it when the time came for her to sell....guess dad n' I will have to fight it out!! LOL!
We drove home on Memorial Day. That was quite the trip! It started out fine, but when we stopped for gas and food just inside the Indiana boarder the van was accidentally locked with the keys inside! LOL! Thus we spent about half an hour attempting to break into our own vehicle!! It was rather exciting and somewhat frustrating, but as my uncle said, who knows what God was sparing us from with that delay, we may never know this side of Heaven what may have happened had we not been stopped!
Mom and Dad decided once again VERY last minute to get a hotel for just the 2 of them for last night! It was a birthday present for mom since dad missed her birthday. So Samuel and I had the run of the house last night! It was nice! We watched movies and I baked some peanut butter and chocolate bars!
Today I went to a new chiropractor. My family started going to them while I was away at college, so this was my chance to get in with them. I really like the Masterson's and think that their treatment should help my neck issues!! YAY!
My entire family had doctor appointments in Goshen today. Just routine physicals and check-ups. I had to have a physical for Shawnee for next school year. It went well, all that we're waiting on is the TB test to come back...it should be fine though.
Tonight I finished cleaning my room! I've been working on it since I've been back home. I did a MAJOR spring cleaning! I threw away SOOOOO much junk, and sent several boxes for our garage sale, whenever that is going to be....It's so nice to have a neat and clean room! :)
I will try to be more faithful with blogging. Now that I'm hopefully over the lazy hump (don't count on it though).

Home Sweet Home

The graduation ceremony went well on Friday night. :) I think there were 15 graduates, but don't hold me to that! I know it was the largest graduating class so far. I managed to make it through the ceremony fine until at the very end they had the graduates and their parents go up to the altar and pray while the ladies singing group sang "His Will" that's when I broke down and cried. I had so many friends, including my roommate graduate, and it was a bittersweet time for me.
After the ceremony we stood around and talked for a while, saying "good-bye." Then we loaded up my stuff and left International Bible College for good (or at least for good for me, and for me as a student). It was kinda hard knowing that I will never see quite a few of these people ever again.
On our way to the Phillips' we stopped at Friendly's and ate ice cream. :) That was good cuz they actually have ice cream that I am allowed to eat!! :)
After eating we then went to the Phillips' and unloaded what I would need for the night then stood around and talked for a long time. Morgan stayed over as well, so the two of us stayed up late and talked, enjoying our last few hours together.
Bro. Phillips had to go to work early, so we didn't see him at all on Saturday. Mrs. Phillips and Charlie and Nichole went soul winning, so I saw them for a little while before they left for church. Around 9:30 or so Bro. Mike came over with Seth and the four of us ran some errands, and then went to the Marina in Bay Shore (I think) and walked around the water for a while. It was fun, and kinda sad too cuz I knew that I was gonna miss them all SOOOO much!
We got back a little before 1:30 and Mrs. Phillips and the kiddos got back home soon after. We talked a lot and just spent time together as a "family."
We left around 3:00 for the airport. We got there and I got checked in, amazingly, neither one of my bags was over the 50 lb. limit! That's incredible! :) LOL! After making sure that I was all set to go, we sat down and had some more "family" time. It was really sweet, and sad, and well, I guess I miss them a LOT!
For some reason the fire alarm went off! I have no idea what the problem was because they never evacuated, but it kept going off and they had to keep silencing it for over an hour! It was still going off when I boarded my plane!
Finally the time came to say "good-bye." I cried, not as much as I thought I would, which is a good thing! It was really hard. I hope I get to go back sometime and see them again....or better yet, they can all come to Indiana (hint, hint!! :))

*****My New York Family*****

*****Left to Right: Nichole, Mrs. Phillips, Charlie, Seth, Morgan, Me, and Bro. Mike*****

I made it through security with no problems, which is a very good thing. I went to my gate, only to find that they had already started boarding!! LOL!! Thankfully I was still able to get on the plane, even though I should have boarded a LOT earlier than I actually did!! :) The plane was starting to get pretty full when I got on. I like to sit by the window near the back of the plane on the left side, I don't know why, but that is just my thing I guess. Well, there were NO window seats left when I got on, so I decided to sit in an isle seat on the same side. There was a guy sitting by the window, but nobody in between. So I sat down and then they announced that the plane would be full so every seat was going to be taken. :( The guy (I found out later his name is Neil) and I looked at each other and just rolled our eyes. We tried the "put a book in the seat, hope that nobody is going to sit there" thing, but it didn't work. I ended up moving to the middle cuz the other man that sat with us was really tall, and since I'm short, it was easier for me to sit in the middle.
Neil and I started talking. We talked the entire flight! It was cool cuz we started talking about God and the Bible. He is NOT a Christian. I had put my Bible in my computer bag which was up above the seats. :( Bad idea. He told me that he had read parts of the Bible, and so we started discussing the different writing styles, which brought me to my favorite book, Isaiah, which has two different styles of writing. He asked me to get my Bible out, which I was MORE than happy to do, and so we went through Isaiah 53 verse by verse! How cool is that??!! We then went on and talked about a BUNCH of different topics and doctrines in the Bible! It was amazing!! He gave me his email address, so hopefully we will be able to continue our discussion. I emailed him this evening. Pray for him, he is one of the types of people who is very smart, and good and very blind to his need of a Saviour.
I got off the plane with no problems, and it was sooo nice to see Mom and Samuel. Dad is in Minnesota right now for a friends wedding and some training for work, so I won't get to see him until Thursday! :(
We got out of Chicago without any problems, the traffic was clear which was nice. :) We stopped in Valpo so Mom and Samuel could get something to eat, I wasn't hungry, but I did want coffee, and Dunkin Donuts in particular. Well, unfortunately there was no Dunkin to be found. :( I had to go to Star Bucks instead. I prefer Dunkin cuz its a LOT cheaper, and more coffee for the price. I think I like the flavor of their coffee better as well. Anyways, I got an iced latte at SBs. :)
I came out of the Star Bucks to see someone talking to Mom and Samuel. I recognized her, but I couldn't remember who she was! LOL! It was my dad's cousin, Ruth, who lives in Valpo. I hadn't seen her since my graduation! We chatted for a while, then I got in the drivers seat and off we went! :)
We got home around 11:00 last night! :) HOME!!! YAY!!!
I opened my suite case and low and behold on the top of one of them there was a little note that informed me that the suite case had been randomly inspected! I could tell....it was a mess!! LOL!! It didn't bother me....I just thought it was funny!
This morning I went to church with one of my former managers. I had never been to her church, and they just built a new building, and she had been wanting me to go with her, so I went with her.
My former piano teacher really wanted to see me as well, so we went to her house for dinner. She made a Mexican dish, which I couldn't eat, but Mom had made homemade chicken noodle soup, which was something that I had been craving for a VERY long time, so we all had some of that, and then everyone else also had some of the Mexican food.
I came home and went to bed and slept this afternoon. Mom and Samuel went to church tonight, but I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed home.
I am VERY glad to FINALLY be home! It's SOOOO nice!

Finale

YAY!!! I have finished my freshman year of college! I can't believe that I am actually done, that I actually did it, and I'm no longer a freshman! It's crazy! OK, I'm excited! :)
Finals went well. I got an 83% on my English Grammar final, not sure yet what my overall grade on that class is, I think it will probably be a solid C, which is a VERY low grade for me, but for English it is a really nice grade!
English Composition final grade was an 87% with a 91% average grade! That's the highest grade I've ever gotten in an English class! PTL! I still have no idea what my Intro to Missions final grade was, or what the average grade of that class is, but I'm really not worried about it because it was an easy class and there really was no problem with it at all! In Christian Home I got a 100% on the final, no shock there, I would have a 100% average in that class except that I got like a 98% on one test! :( Very sad! I should still get a VERY high grade because my paper, book report, and notes all received 100%s.
I got a 95% on my Christian Womanhood final, with an average grade of 98%! :) I really enjoyed that class and learned a LOT! I know I will use the information that I learned in that class over and over and over again.
Those were all of my finals through Tuesday. Wednesday were my two hardest finals, and I stayed up until 1:30 Wednesday morning studying for them, and then got back up at 4:30! World History came first at 7:30. There were only four of us in that class, and two of them were Seniors, and both managed to get at least a B average in the class so they didn't have to take the final, lucky people. I think we all had at least a B average, which is good, but it is still a HARD class! I got a 95% on the final! How in the world that happened, I have NO idea!
My next final, and final final started at 8:55, it was in the class that I struggled with the most, New Testament Survey. All semester I have had a really hard time with the class, it was a LOT harder than Old Testament Survey was last semester. My study sheet for the final was seven pages long! I spent SO much time studying for it, and I know I bombed it BIG time! There were 100 questions on the exam, and I left 21 blank! I had a B average in the class, now I have NO idea what my average is, I only can hope that I will have at least a C so that it will transfer to Shawnee next school year! It was crazy! Nobody did well on that final, so I'm hoping that maybe there will be a grade curve!
Through all the finals I know God has been there helping me! All of the grades that I got (especially the good grades) are all because of HIM! If it weren't for Him, I know that I would have "epic failed!" PTL!
We had our final chapel yesterday, Grandpa preached. He gave his farewell address, since he will be moving on this summer.
After that we were free FOREVER, or at least for the summer, no more classes!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
I did quite a bit of packing in the afternoon, had a voice lesson (my last one (sob)), and then left with the McMahon's for a softball game! It was a lot of fun, even though it was rather cold (because it was on the south shore, right by the ocean, so the breeze coming off the ocean was rather chilly!!) After the game we drove out to Fire Island. It was dark by then, but it was still nice, and at least I can say that I was out there! :)
At the dorm prayer meeting last night several people shared blessings from the year. It went pretty long, but it was worth it!
I was in bed before 11:00, and didn't wake up until after 7:00!! HOW WONDERFUL! I love it! I'm still in bed, I just don't feel like getting up! I have this lovely case of laziness right now! :) It's nice! :)

Spring Break

Sadly, my spring break is now over! :( I am SO not ready to go back to school in the morning. UGH! The very thought makes me want to scream! At least I did have a good break, it just wasn't quite long enough to make me want to go back to school!
On Thursday I worked from 9-2 and then from 5-5:45. After church I went home with the Phillipses. I spent the night with them and then all day Friday! It was sooooo much fun! I love the entire Phillips family, they are soooo cool, and funny, and down to earth! They are AWESOME!! Best of all, they really have a heart for God.
Thursday night Mrs. Phillips and I sat up talking well after 11! It is so nice to talk to somebody about God. So often among Christians there is so little desire to discuss spiritual matters. It's really sad.

*****Nichole*****

Friday I didn't wake up until 7:45ish. I read my Bible and prayed, and didn't roll out of bed until between 8:15 and 8:30! It was WONDERFUL! :) We watched "Indescribable" and "How Great is Our God." I have seen those over and over and over, but every time I see them I get goose bumps! They are SOOOO good! After that we frosted the cake that I had baked at my grandparents. My problem was that I had baked the cake, and was planning on making a homemade mocha frosting, but I ran out of powdered sugar, so I took the cake and frosting with me and finished it there. It was a lot of fun! Nichole and Charlie LOVED licking the bowl, and spoon, and spatula! :) After finishing the cake

*****Devils Food cake with homemade mocha frosting*****

we ate lunch, that way could eat the cake. LOL! Mrs. Phillips had made a venison spaghetti sauce that she put over whole wheat noodles! MMMM.....soooo good, and VERY low fat! YAY! Something I can eat without it bothering me. :) Of course we ate the cake, not so low fat, but worth every bite! :)

After lunch we went outside. The weather was really beautiful. They have a trampoline that we jumped on for a LONG time. It was fun! :)
Later in the afternoon we watched "National Treasure." I had never seen it before, it was cool.

*****Sparky, the Phillips' pit bull puppy, is really sweet and CUTE!! *****

At 5 the McMahon's came over for dinner and a movie. We watched "Fireproof." That was the second time in a week that I've seen it! SOOOO good!
I didn't get home until 10:30! That was cool too! LOL!
Saturday I went soul winning. And then I worked until 6:30. After that i got my stuff from my grandparents, cuz they came back yesterday afternoon, and then talked to my family and friends on the phone, and then went to bed.
Today was a typical Sunday, bus route, church, and choir practice.

Day Off!

Yesterday was my day off! I did actually end up working for an hour in the afternoon, but it was up to me when I wanted to work, so I took my time getting there!
Around 9:00 yesterday morning I went to the Barnes' house. Mrs. Barnes fixed breakfast for all of the girls who are stuck on campus during spring break! She made omelets and Miss Walker made chocolate chip pancakes! It was really good and a LOT of fun! Too much food though.
After that I decided to walk down to "The Village." It is in Stony Brook and is very similar to the Village at Winona for those of you who have been to my house. Its a quaint little shopping center with all sorts of touristy shops. I went cuz I was hoping to find a birthday present for my aunt, but I didn't find anything. :( My roommate works at a coffee shop there, so I stopped by to say "hey"and to get a vanilla latte. It was good.
I took my camera along because I wanted to get pictures of the bay and also of the duck pond.

*****Duck Pond*****

However as I was getting ready to take pictures I noticed that I had left my camera card in my card reader! :( How sad! So I got a few pictures on my phone, but they were not as good as if they had been on my camera. :`(( It really was too bad because it was a BEAUTIFUL day.
After I came back from my walk I decided to eat something take a nap and then work.
Shampooing.....again. This time I had to do the downstairs of the girls dorm which is mainly the laundry room and a lounge area. Once again the shampooer tripped a breaker! It's a good thing Bro. Mushtaq had given me his key on Wednesday cuz he was gone yesterday. So back into the pool area I went. I decided that instead of flipping off all the breakers and turning them all back on again I would try to not have to turn off the power to the entire girls dorm. So I started with just a few and would run back and forth checking to see if I had turned off the right breakers. I ended up turning them all off cuz it was in the last set of breakers that I found the right one for those outlets!! Good grief!

*****The pool room*****

After work I came back to my grandparents and worked on schoolwork. I got quite a bit done two of my projects, which is a good thing. :)
At 5:00 I went with one of the staff ladies to CVS. I was in a desperate situation, I had used up all of my contact solution Tuesday night. I thought that I had another bottle in my room, but after searching high and low I found that I was completely out! Thankfully Mrs. Leeds needed to go to CVS anyways, so I was able to go along with her.
My roommate came over at 6:30 and we watched "Charades" and "The Trouble with Harry." "Charades" was hilarious and very suspenseful. "The Trouble with Harry" was hilarious and completely dumb and pointless. It had a LOT of great one-liners in it!

Last Day of Classes!!

WOO HOO!!!!! I am done with classes!! Well, done with classes until the 23rd. There is still one more day of classes but tomorrow the college choir is going to Reading, PA to record for the next college CD that will be coming out sometime before the end of the school year. We are leaving at 5:00 in the morning!! Insane! It is a several hour trip, and I guess that if we were to leave even half an hour later than that we would get stuck in traffic in the city and add another hour or so to our travelling time!! YUCK either way!
I think classes went well today, but to be honest, my brain really wasn't on classes, it had already gone into spring break mode! I did get a 92 on my Intro to Missions midterm! English Grammar is the only class that I don't yet have my midterm results.
After classes I was able to go with Mrs. Phillips to Port Jefferson. We were going to go to a thrift store, but they were closed. :( We ended up going to Dunkin Donuts instead and were able to sit and chat for about an hour. It was sooooo wonderful!! We were able to talk about serious things, and about God. There are times that I crave talking about God to somebody, but sadly so many Christians don't care about God, even those who are students or faculty of a Bible college.
Church went well last night. Dr. Morgan, who is the founder of the college is here for a few days, so he preached (he also preached chapel this morning). He preached about having victory. It was a really good message.
After church I had a very sad parting. I had to say goodbye to Sherwood, also known as Woody, my cello. :'(( My grandparents are leaving tomorrow for vacation and they are going to Indiana, so I decided to send my cello home with them. I was having a hard time figuring out how I was going to get it home this summer cuz it's really expensive to ship it. This was a good way to get it there.
Since my grandparents will be gone starting tomorrow through next Saturday, I will be house sitting for them. :) It will be sooooo nice cuz I get their apartment all to myself, well I have to share it with their dog, but other than that I will be alone. I'm soooo excited cuz I like being alone, and having peace and quiet, unfortunately that is a VERY rare experience to have in the dorms. It will be so lovely.
I will try to take lots of pictures tomorrow and I'm sure I will have a very long post, whether or not it gets up on Friday or Saturday depends on how late it is when we get back, and how tired I am.

I'm going to answer some questions that have been asked of me:
First of all, why am I going for Secondary Ed instead of Elementary Ed? A lot of people have asked me that over the past couple of years. Here are my reasons: I strongly believe that God has called me to help teens. Secondly, I want to teach the "hard" classes that will hopefully help high schoolers decided what God has called them to do. I want a houseful of kids some day, but I don't think I could teach little kids for 20 or 30 years, I don't have that much patience!!
Next question: How did I bribe Adreonna the other day when she was mad at me? I tried EVERYTHING! Candy, chocolate, promises to do things with her...all to no avail! Finally I found a stuffed animal and took it out to her and told Adreonna that the animal was sad because it couldn't go with me to NY. So I asked her to take care of it for me. That finally brought a smile to her face. I felt soooooo bad!!
How am I getting back to New York? I'm flying via South West Airlines from Midway in Chicago to MacArthur on Long Island.
I will try to sum up my break in fifty words or more, that might be a little hard though...I'll try.
I got into Chicago to snow, by the time I got home though, there was no snow! I was VERY disappointed!! Chicago was getting lake effect, but not us. :( For the first week in a half or so I was feeling great! Got to sleep in, text with friends in NY and elsewhere, visit with friends here, and pretty much to nothing! It was WONDERFUL!! Then one day I doubled over in pain while I was eating a meal. For the next 3 weeks I ate almost nothing, and went from doctor to doctor, and test after test before finally the docs found out that my gallbladder was VERY diseased and needed to come out! They got me in for surgery the next day, it went well and now I am ready to go back to school!
While I was home I also was able to go into the jail several times. That is always a blessing to me.
I also played my cello for a wedding and did several Christmas programs.
OK, is that at least 50 words??