DO NOT PRESS

So I'm done with finals, and this is what I'll be doing on break... : )

lia sophia

We had a lia sophia party this weekend! My cousin Brittany is an advisor, and she was able to do a party for us while she was in Illinois for Thanksgiving week. Britt and her husband, Mark, drove straight to our house from Massachusetts and the party was great! Enjoy a few pics!

The reindeer car from Massachusetts!

(notice the antlers and red nose!!!)

Which Way You Went

I received this as part of a chain email about funny tombstone inscriptions, and I doubt that there is any truth to it, but it still made me stop and think...

In a cemetery in England :

Remember man, as you walk by,
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now, so shall you be.
Remember this and follow me.

To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone:

To follow you I'll not consent.
Until I know which way you went.

Follow Jesus, people! We know which way He went!!!

A Vision of College Students Today

Happy Birthday Granny!

We celebrated my Granny's birthday this weekend! Happy Birthday Granny! We drove four hours round-trip to spend two and a half hours with family at Bishop's. Enjoy the pics!

Cousins!!! (forever at the kids' table!)
Mark W., Dan, me, Britta, Leslie, Mitch, Eric, and Mark B.

Granny's Gals
Aunt Debby. Granny, me, Leslie, Britta, Aunt Amy (mom)

Granny's Guys
Mark B., Mitch, Mark W., Uncle Rob, Granny, Uncle Dave (dad), Eric, Dan

So why Bishop's? It's all about the pie!!!

Cleaning and More

So in the middle of my super-busy semester, I had some time to finally clean and re-arrange my room! Enjoy the before and after pics!

Before:
After:
Before:
After (still a little more to do!):

I also temporarily hung my new curtains to see what they will look like... There's still work to do, but I have so much more room now! And I'm getting a jump start for when we host Thanksgiving, in less than three weeks!!! Time flies...

Horray for Democracy!

I was proud to exercise what I consider one of the biggest privileges of being an American citizen for the first time in a major election earlier this week - I voted!!! : )

The United Tour - MWS and SCC

I went to see The United Tour with Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman last night and it was amazing! I set up a new public blog where I gave a detailed account of my experience here: http://unitedwaukegan.blogspot.com/.

I included a few personal things here that are not found on that public site...

^ Me at the concert - our seats were great! (I was sick - see my red nose!)
I was wearing my Show Hope t-shirt! Find out more about Show Hope here.

^ Steven looked right at me a few times, and when he saw me waving
during his songs, he waved back! (I have a witness!!!)

If you read my other blog, you read that my camera battery died. I wish I had gotten pictures of the second half of the concert, but it was still a wonderful evening. Michael is a fantastic worship leader, Steven is my favorite artist, and seeing them together was incredible... It was such a great concert - I will never forget it!!!

Summer 2008

I know, I know... Let's just skip all that "sorry for not blogging for months" stuff and get to an update, shall we? : )

It seems like I lost my summer, like it flew by in the blink of an eye, but I really was so busy! I was able to do so much this summer! After my amazing trip to Monterrey, I went back to work for a few weeks and then went on vacation to one of my favorite places in my limited experience of the world, WaNiPa!!! (And even if I had traveled the world, it would still be a favorite!) I had a wonderful, relaxing with my family and enjoying the beauty of the U.P. Enjoy a few pics!Then less than 48 hours after returning from vacation, was off to Wisconsin! I spent three weeks in Lake Geneva, WI. I was blessed enough to be able to serve on staff at Covenant Harbor Bible Camp, a place that is very special to me. I was a Day Camp leader/Pier 30 Cabin Buddy for the first week, and a Co-Counselor for the last two. My time went by way too fast, and I wish I could have stayed until the end of the summer, but I had such an amazing experience. More pics!And here are a couple more pics from a few other things that kept me busy this summer.

My cousin Faith and I after boating on the Illinois River in August!

My mom and I at a Kane County Cougars baseball game!

By the way, on August 25, I started at Kishwaukee College as a freshman! A combination of 'Yay' and 'Wow' and 'Yikes' and 'AAAHHHH' and 'WOOHOO' made up my response. : )

Monterrey, Mexico!!!

In June, I went with my church on a mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico! There were more than 25 of us in Monterrey for a week. There were about 5 departure times from the States - some people driving all the way to Mexico from Moline, IL, some flying to Texas and driving the rest of the way to Monterrey, and others who flew to Monterrey from Chicago with a stop in Dallas/Ft. Worth, all the groups leaving on different days. I was a part of the latter group, and after nearly missing our plane in Dallas, we made it to Monterrey!

Last summer, I spent over a month living with Erika and Nils Clauson and their two sons. (See this post for an overview of my time there.) The first two days in Monterrey were spent with them at the Foundation, which is where the Clausons work alongside two other Covenant Missionary families, the Restrepos and the Welds. We spent the first two days doing various work projects - mostly painting different areas of the building - while the men of the group worked in the basement laying a tile floor. This group of men went back to the Foundation everyday that week until the job was finished - great work, guys!

Because our time was limited, Erika pulled me aside and took me home with her for a few hours. I hadn't seen the boys, Matías and Lucas, in almost nine months, so needless to say they changed quite a lot! It was so great to spend time with them - I was able to eat lunch with them and spend time playing with them. Matías is talking a lot more, and Lucas is walking and understanding so much. I wish I had more time with them, but I was able to put Matías down for his nap and had a little time to catch up with Erika. I miss all of you, and I hope to see you again soon!

The rest of the week was spent working with the ministries of La Roca de Salvación church (The Rock of Salvation). This is a local church in Monterrey that has outreach ministries in quite a few neighborhoods. We stay with host families from this church, and I stayed with my same host family from the last two years I have gone. It was great to see them again - one thing about going to the same place year after year is that we grow strong relationships with the people down there. Pastor Flor, the pastor of La Roca, is such a sweet woman, and she is so appreciative of all of us - not because of the work we get done, but because we are all part of one family through Christ.

Our work projects when we were with La Roca were to go to one of the main ministries, Escobedo. At Escobedo, La Roca runs a community center building. This building houses workout classes and craft days for the women, a computer room for children to learn basic computer skills, resume writing workshops, community development workshops, after school programs, and provides meals for many children in the community. We worked on preparing the roof for future construction by demolishing part of an over-hang, and painted the entire interior of the building with bright new colors. During the afternoons, we hosted a VBS for the children in the community. We performed skits, sang songs, made crafts, and played games. I absolutely love all the kids! It was wonderful to be blessed with getting to see the smiles on all their faces and practice a little Spanish with them. One thing I love about kids - even when you tell them that you can't speak Spanish very well, they are patient enough and care enough to try to hear what you have to say, and if you are never able to communicate what you want to say, they will still smile at you and play with you. To them, language is a much smaller barrier. I understand better what Jesus was saying when he said you must come into God's Kingdom as a child...

All in all, it was another wonderful, blessed week! I feel like it flew by - having been there for over a month last summer, I was not prepared to leave so soon. I hope to get back next year - the people, the relationships, the experience, the heat, : ) the mission team, the beauty of Monterrey... I could go on and on! Enjoy these pics!

Catching the water at Paseo Santa Lucia

Painting outside the Foundation

"Gritar!!" (shouting in Spanish with the kids at Escobedo)

Some of my "chicitas" (little girls) at Escobedo

Timing...

Okay, so yeah.... This hasn't been updated since January.... I know, I know..... Believe me, I know! I have addressed my procrastination before, and I will not take the time to list the things that have been keeping me away, but I do have something to talk about now, and I'm taking the time to do it.

Okay, I leave on Saturday for Mexico! I'll be going on the week-long mission trip instead of last year when I spent over a month living with the Clausons, missionaries on Monterrey. I am so excited to go, but I wasn't always planning on going...

For the past five months, I have been planning my summer. I am working at Primary School Supplies again this year, and I knew that I wanted to volunteer at Covenant Harbor this summer. Originally, I signed up for volunteering for the high school support staff position in June, meaning I would miss the mission trip. However, I felt that my motivation for going on the mission trip was more about seeing the people and the experience of it all more than focusing on God and what he was calling me to do. I thought this was what God was calling me to, but I was still sad about missing the trip. Then I talked more in detail with the leaders at Harbor, and they decided that they could use me more as a Co-Counselor (working directly with the kids) in July instead of June. This then opened up my schedule to go to Mexico, and I signed up for going on the mission trip, but I was still hesitant about my motivation.

Just in the last two weeks, God showed up. In a big way. The family that I stayed with in Monterrey last summer, the Clausons, is going on a planned retreat with other missionaries (with whom I also spent much time last summer as well) to plan for their work at their ministry. They are in need of babysitters for their children (which is mostly what I did) for two days and are asking people from our group to volunteer. I just happen to be in Monterrey during the time that babysitters are needed. I am already familiar with the kids, the families are familiar with me, and now I know what God was calling me to...

Looking back, I see now that God's hand was in all of this. He knew that Covenant Harbor was heavy on my heart, and He made a way for me to be able to volunteer there this summer. He also knew, however, that I would be needed on the mission trip in order to help with the Clausons and other missionaries' kids. I see now that there is no other way we could have planned this so far in advance, and now I see that God was in it all. His timing is perfect, and I feel that this is one of the lessons that has shown up a lot in my life. This same sort of timing issue occurred last summer (see this post) and I see that God is working. His timing is so much more than we could ever think of or dream!

So, on the topic of timing, I know it's been a while since my last post, but I needed to make the time to share this! I have stuff to share about my last few months - a few concerts, my first semester at Kish, graduating from High School, etc. For those of you who do read this, I hope to be able to share about my Mexico trip after I get home! I'll be in Monterrey from June 14-21. God bless!

These are pics from preschool and this past May that I included on my graduation party invitations!
I thought I should share them here.
Look out world, here I come!

Deep Freeze 2008

So to get back in the habit of regular blogging, I suppose I could blog about my weekend - which was awesome!!! Why was it so awesome? Well, it was the weekend of the annual Sr. High Deep Freeze retreat at Covenant Harbor! Thirteen people in my youth group headed to Lake Geneva on Friday. We had such a great time, even though the bitter cold weather caused a cancellation of a few key events, like the Polar Bear Dip, Broomball on the ice (we played on land instead), and the Climbing Tower/Zipline. The skits were cheesy as always; here's a pic of one of them being performed:

Rob Scott (youth ministry team) and Hannah Detig (my former cabin buddy) - so cheesy!

Here's the sunrise over the lake on Saturday - so beautiful!The band, 38 Acres, was great! (Here's the lead singer and his wife)Hanging out in the Upper Carriage House! : )

The subject of the weekend was about how we should have a broader (God's) perspective of life than just the "fast-food" self-centered view of life. The speaker, Doug Pagitt, was amazing - maybe the best I've seen at a Deep Freeze, and he really got us thinking about what more there was in this life than just "doing your own thing."

I had such a great time, and I'm glad I did, because it was my last time at Harbor as an official camper... :'( But not to worry, because I have a strong feeling that I will be up there for two weeks this summer serving on the Alpha team. The Alpha program is the transition from camper to staff - during the day you help out behind the scenes in the kitchen or in housekeeping and at night you help out with big games and other fun camper stuff. I have wanted to do this for the last three summers, and I think this is finally the year!

And when we got back to church on Sunday, it was time for the annual Hillcrest Comedy Cafe, an outreach at my church. Darren Marlar (from 101QFL) and Bean and Bailey were featured:

Bean&Bailey, probably the best comedy chemistry I've ever seen!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

"I Have a Dream"
Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Playing Catch-up

Ok, so it's obvious that I have not updated my blog in an embarrassingly long time, but I have also been absolutely super-busy! All of November I was spending all my free time preparing for the ACT which I took in early December, and then with all the holiday business I completely lost any and all blog time! Then after the busy holidays, I was preparing for my classes out at Kishwaukee College, which is what's been keeping me busy for the last few weeks. There are so many posts I started drafts for and planned to finish (with pictures), but I never got around to it. So first off, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever! Here are a few pics and captions to update you on my last few months:

Here's a basement update - the boys moved into their bedrooms just before Thanksgiving and we're working on getting the other half of the basement in order...

Here's the group that came to our house at Thanksgiving!

Oh, and on November 28, 2007, I turned 18!!!

One of the most awesome concerts I've been to was Casting Crowns in DeKalb - amazing!

My Family on Christmas Eve!

So the other reason I haven't been updating my blog for all my readers is that I don't really have a lot of readers... Or do I? I know my fellow blogging cousin reads my blog occasionally, and my mom gets on once in a blue moon, but other than that, who are you? If you would please let me know of your presence by a comment, I'd love to know! I'll try hard to get back in the habit of blogging for myself anyway, but I was just curious of who is here... Thanks!