:(

Being 1500 miles away from my fiance is not one of my favorite things. I'll be solving that problem at around 9:51 p.m. tomorrow night. :)

The hunt

We were on a mission: Mom, Vivi and Tricia. 75% off ribbon at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Two Jo-Ann Fabric stores in the area. The result: many yards of silver ribbon, lots of blue glass beads, a happy bride-to-be, and a happy set of parents when the bride-to-be calculated that the centerpieces will cost between $50-75 total. Ahh...success. :)

Figuring things out

Forgiveness has been given and our wedding parties are nearly complete. The date is nearly set in stone! Stress is starting to lift (for the time being!). A few more things need to be figured out though before I put the link back up to the wedding webpage and officially announce (again!) our wedding date. Decisions, decisions, decisions. :)

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be marrying Nate? :)

Maybe you've noticed...

...that I removed our wedding webpage link and the post from the 22nd about our wedding date. No, the wedding is not off, don't worry. I have made a huge mistake and treated two of the people who are most dear to me as if they didn't matter. I need to go and ask forgiveness and get a few things worked out before I can re-post all the information. I truly feel horrible for what I did. Keep checking for a re-posting.

Changing looks

Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn't...my blog posts are no longer a column in the middle of the page, but are now filling about 2/3 of the page. That would be because of Nate. This morning I was looking at changing my template and he said he could do something about that, so he did. I have a very cool fiance! :) I'm excited that it's not so much looking like a column right down the center anymore. *Smiles*

And it begins...

Most of the ride home from the airport with my parents was spent discussing the wedding already! I'm glad I got to spend a few days down in Texas just enjoying being engaged to my wonderful fiance (yes, I'll be using that as much as possible for a little while longer). My parents had lots of questions, but are being very nice and allowing us to make the decisions.

:(:(:(

I miss my fiance already--after spending ten days with him, twelve hours apart seems like a lot longer than it really is. Plus I'm super tired from traveling all day, so that doesn't help. I know, four days isn't that long, but I'm tired and feel like being a little sad about it.

We just opened all our gifts. I hope tomorrow will feel a little bit more like Christmas with the real meaning and all attached. Oh, by the way, it is officially Christmas day. Merry Christmas! I have to change my posting time back to EST.

My very sweet best friend Lisa and her sister Kendra left a balloon and card with skittles in my bedroom as a congratulations for getting engaged. Speaking of which, there are two very important people I have to ask an important question of yet. I'd better do it soon since I'm already counting on them!

FYI

On the people mover at the airport, you are not supposed to stand in the lane that says "WALK".

Temporarily taken out

See post on Christmas day for why

Staying in College Station

Unfortunately, we weren't able to make the trip to Houston this morning for church. A combination of issues: car shuffling and too much driving were the reason. I would have written on here last night to tell you, but I forgot with all the movie watching and good dinner eating we had going on. Not to mention Bust-A-Move 2 on the PSX--very cool--I'm completely addicted! I'm bummed we didn't get to go, even though church here was nice. I really like Nate's church (soon to be my church too :) ) and I would have like to meet Jen, since we haven't met yet.

Haircuts by Tricia

Nate was very brave to let me cut his hair on Thursday. It is only the second time in my life that I have done this--the first time being Drew Poppleton's hair--but I am learning exactly how he likes it done. I had to make three or four passes before I was done and I did cut it a bit too short, but he is forgiving. It looks good now after his mom tidied it up. Give me a couple more years and I'll be a pro!

Shouting it from the rooftops

Most of you already know this, but there may be a few that I missed. Six days ago, on December 15, Nate asked me to be his wife! And I said "Of course I will be your wife!" It's all very exciting and fun, but simultaneously tremendously overwhelming and frightening. I can think of no one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with, though. Nate is as near to perfect for me as they come. We value and appreciate all of your prayers as we begin to learn how to bring our lives together. Yay!!!

Traveling around

Just to keep you updated on what I'm doing down here in the great state of Texas. I am enjoying being here so much. The weather is beautiful. Being with Nate everyday is such a gift after so much time apart (ahem--57 days!).

On Sunday we went to Houston to visit his church--Christ the King Presbyterian Church. I liked it a lot including the Sunday school class afterward during which we studied Psalm 45, which happens to be a wedding song (hmmm...). We then went out to lunch at a place called Guadalajara and had yummy food there. There are palm trees in Houston--very cool. Nate took me to his apartment and then we walked over to where his classes and office is at Rice University. It's a very nice neighborhood with lots of trees and older houses.

Sunday night was our first date with some other exciting happenings of which I am not permitted to tell on here yet :). We went for a walk and then out to the Cotton Patch for dinner. We have started reading the Chronicles of Narnia together and have been reading a couple of chapters every night.

Monday we packed up and drove to Dallas-Fort Worth area to visit Kate and Andy at Kate's parents house. We are getting in the habit of reading out loud during part of the drive. I read The Two Towers to him while he drove. That night Kate's parents took us out to a Christmas show called "A Cowboy Christmas" and to dinner at Angeluna, a very nice restaurant. Unfortunately, Nate got food poisoning and was sick in bed all of Tuesday. I did my best (I'm still learning) to nurse him back to health.

Today has consisted of driving back from Kate's and going to see The Two Towers. It was pretty good, but we were in the very front row because we got there too late. It was still good to see. We also had a delicious dinner made by Joy, Nate's mom.

Basically, I'm having a wonderful time. I couldn't be happier. Nate and I are so thankful to God for our relationship and we continue to rely on him as we move into new territory. :)

Those crazy Texans!

So, the first thing I noticed is that all the stoplights are horizontal instead of vertical, so the red is on the left, the yellow is in the middle and the green is on the right. They also have ceiling fans outside on their back porches. I thought that was pretty strange. I'm also enjoying the "Y'all" used quite frequently down here. It's been gorgeous weather. They even have the windows open during the day!

I suppose I shouldn't speak too harshly about them since I am soon to become one of them. ;) More on that later once Nate (finally!) writes on his blog.

Happy days are here again!

Not that I'm not happy when I'm not with Nate, but I am quite a bit happier and more smiley now that I am in Texas to see him. :) :) :) I'm looking forward to spending the next 8 or so days with him, as well as time spent getting to know his family better (They are so welcoming and friendly and fun :) ), and see Kate and Andy. Yay!

Getting ready

I'm [almost] all packed and ready to go. Lisa and Kortnie are driving me to the airport in the morning. I'm excited to fly. This usually happens when I'm getting ready to fly somewhere--I get really excited to fly and then halfway through the trip I'm ready to get out of the plane because there is no leg room.

I'm hoping to blog a bit while I'm down South (with the birds in Texas, as Kayla from the daycare said :) ). Going ten days without blogging seems a bit much, so I'm sure I will. Yay! Only 16 hours left! Goodnight.

Can this day go any slower?!

I know, probably a bad question to ask because I know it can. I feel like I've done so much today and it's still only 4 p.m. Just over 24 hours until I get off the plane in College Station, Lord willing. Have I mentioned that I can't wait to see Nate? :) And I'm also very excited (and somewhat anxious, but less so now since his mom, Joy, has been reassuring me that I have nothing to be anxious about :) ) to meet his family--Jeff, Joy, and Cara.

Well, back to distracting myself and packing.

Heat wave

It's been in the 40s for the past couple of days, which has been wonderful! I was quite amused at Jen's post yesterday about being cold when it was in the 50s. It's interesting what a different perspective one can have on what is cold and warm. Just a week and a half ago it was in the single digits and snowing up here, and now the 40s is a welcomed heat wave for us. I don't know what I'd do if it was in the 50s up here--I think I might run around in a long sleeved shirt without a coat.

Last day surprises

I got to the daycare this morning at 8:40 a.m. because I'm working for Lisa. As I walked in the door, Jed yells into the classroom "Miss Tricia's here!". I peeked in the classroom to see somewhat disappointed looking children--apparently they weren't quite ready for me to be there yet. So I told them I had to go and hang up my coat yet and would be right back. About 5 minutes later, Miss Melissa told me that they were ready for me. I walked through the door into the now darkened room and put on my best surprised look when the kids all jumped up and said "Surprise! Happy last day!". It was quite adorable. :) Then they handed me a book they had made for me. The front says "We will miss you, Miss Tricia" and each page has a traced handprint with a message from a different child. It's so precious! I will be showing it to everyone! It's even bound and laminated. I felt loved. :) My best friend (the one behind this, I'm sure) Lisa is so sweet for making me feel so missed.

I stayed at the daycare until 3 p.m. today working on a class book for the kindergarteners. I was taking my time in leaving--something I rarely do because I'm usually so busy. The added benefit to spending lots of time there is that the hours go by quickly and every hour gone by is one closer to me being about 1500 miles south of here. I can't wait!

One of my favorites

Before I tackle balancing my checkbook, I wanted to share this song with you written by Timothy McNinch. It's one of my favorites because it is so full of so many good truths. Enjoy :):

All Glory Be To God Alone

All glory be to God alone
For His great love revealed
For how could I have e'er known Him
But He foreknew me?
All of grace, I had no part
In His Salvation freely giv'n to me

Before there was a world to save
Within the mind of God
A choice was made, that I would be
Forever His child
In time and space the Savior came
His blood the ransom for my soul paid

Behold the faithfulness of God
Who sees His good work through
A heart of stone He replaced with flesh
And called by His grace
All my sin He put on Christ
And with His righteousness He then clothed me

The One through whom this world was made
Will bring it to an end
And in His glory we will share
For eternity
Rewarded for works no our own
But of our Lord, to Him be all glory!

Amen.

Celebrating

One exam down, four to go. I had my ED 369 (Classroom Management) exam tonight. I think I did well on it. It feels so good to be done.

Before going to my exam, I went out to dinner at Bennigan's with my small group members from the InterVarsity Fall Conference in November. They are all from the Kalamazoo area. All but Andy came--he is in Australia visiting a friend. We had a great time--lots of laughs and good conversation. Jeff had this card for a free dessert and so all five of us shared this decadent (:D) White Chocolate Chill Out. It was quite yummy. I really enjoy hanging out with them.

Just in case you wanted to know

At 6:20am (EST) on Tuesday morning, there will be 100 hours left until I see Nate. If you didn't care to know that, then too bad, you shouldn't have read it. :) I'm allowed to be excited when I haven't seen my boyfriend in 52 days. I'm just praying no big blizzards come to Michigan before the 14th.

Una semana mas

Yay! In just about one week exactly, I will be just about flying into College Station, TX! Just keeping you updated on the countdown. I'm just a tad excited. :)

Some Christmas season thoughts...

...from J.I. Packer's Knowing God in the chapter "God Incarnate".
This is a long one, but worth the read and something good to think about. I'm sharing this because it's something that I need to think about too:

"The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity--hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory--because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

"We talk glibly of the 'Christmas spirit', rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of Him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round.

"It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians--I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians--go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet them) averting their eyes, and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians--alas, they are many--whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the sub-middle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.

"The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those, who like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor--spending and being spent--to enrich their fellowmen, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others--and not just their own friends--in whatever way there seems need. There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revieves us, one of the things He will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit."

If you made it through this whole thing, then thanks for sticking with it. Like I said, I can't point a finger at anyone else because three of my fingers point back to me to show me that I have just as much to ask God to work on in me and to work on. This is something I've been thinking about this Christmas season and hopefully for a long time after too.

A few more

"Are you going to climb, or are you going to talk"-Tricia to Lisa
"I'm going to talk"-Lisa
*Singing and doing arm pumping motion*-"America, America..."-Lisa in response to George W's "And I'm confident we can do this because we are America and we can do anything we put our minds to in this great country"

This is only funny to us: Wall climbing quotes

"How do you say 'Who picked this stupid wall anyway?' in Spanish"-Lisa
"Are you sure you've got me?"-Lisa as she was sliding down the wall when Tricia was supposed to be giving her tension
"This wall is kicking my tail"-Lisa and Tricia
"There's a crack in the crack"-Angie
"You all loosened up there?"-Lisa to Tricia as she dances with punching motions to the thrash metal music before climbing her last wall
"Why do you get all the quotes"-Tricia to Lisa
"I guess we know who's the funny one"-Lisa to Tricia
"Sweet potato gut, sweet potato gut, if I don't get some I'm gonna pinch you in the butt"-Lisa singing Tricia's childhood song in her own version
"What rhymes with vomit?"-Tricia trying to be as funny as Lisa
"Comet"-Lisa
"Sweet potato comet..."-Lisa

The Usual Suspects

Unless you have some serious issues with profanity and violence (I mean, watching them in movies--it's a rough one), you need to see this movie. I won't write any more than that because I don't want to ruin it. Good movie--see it!

New faces

I drove out to Bangor yesterday afternoon to meet my mentor teacher, along with many other people, for my internship next semester. Bad news first: it's a 35-40 minute trip (when the roads are clear) which means I will be rising when the rooster crows at 5:30 a.m. And if I want to have my devotional time in the morning, then I'll be getting up even earlier. No more late nights for me. There is much more good news than bad, though. My teacher, Kathy Quarles, is very laid back and loves teaching first grade. She has been a teacher for 26 years, so I can glean from her experience. She has also taught second, third, and fourth grade. The cool thing she said to me, was "This is your classroom, so whenever you feel ready, I want you to start taking over." It sounds like she wants me to have the best experience possible and she is willing to let me have that responsibility of being in charge. There are only 15 students in the class, which is another great thing. I'm both excited and overwhelmed at the thought of next semester, but I know that everything has prepared me well for this experience.

*Singing* Hallelujah!

Lisa and I are DONE with classes. We both had our last class of the semester today! And we're going to Panera tonight for dinner for the first time in Kzoo. What a good day! I'm also excited that I didn't get a headache today because I've had a tension headache every day this week.

I also taught my last lesson for my pre-internship today. I made the lesson into a game where the students were playing against the teacher and they loved it, plus they were showing their knowledge of first letter sounds of words. It's always exciting when a lesson goes well. The cool part was that it was supposed to be only on first letters of words sounds, but it ended up also going into rhyming words, counting tally marks, and the social skill of good sportsmanship when you are winning (Miss Tricia lost 14-0--quite happily :), but I had to teach them not to be mean to the person who is losing).

Baby, it's cold outside

I've been listening to this song on repeat for the last two hours while talking to Nate. It's one of those that gets in your head, but you have a hard time remembering the lyrics, so you just keep repeating the same lines. :) It's quite an appropriate song since it's in the single digits up here in North country. Some people had temperatures that reached over 70 today and like to rub it in as much as possible. That's okay, I can take it. I'll be down in those warmer temperatures in about 10 days. :)

Have I mentioned lately how wonderful Nate is? And not just in some mushy way--he is far above just that mushy wonderful in my book. I couldn't ask for a better best friend and boyfriend. 10 days until I get to actually see him when I talk to him. :)

It's late and I need to get some sleep. Goodnight.

Quitting while I'm ahead

I won! I finally won Solitaire after trying about 50 times. It's a good feeling. :) I've been playing Solitaire for the past two hours while I desperately search the Internet for resources for my science center. I found all I need on spiders and I beat Solitaire. It's a good morning. :)

Less than two weeks left until I fly to Texas! :) I'm very happy about that.

Let me explain

My post from yesterday was made in the middle of doing 4 and a half hours of homework for SPED 527. I'm not a fan of searching on the Internet and not finding what I need. That's where my frustration came from. I was kind of assuming that it would be self-explanatory, but that's because I was the one who was frustrated and doing the homework. :) I got about 2/3 of the project done. The last third should be the easiest because it is on ADHD/ADD/Learning Disabilities and there is a TON of stuff on the Internet about teaching strategies for children who have LD/ADHD/ADD.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

That's all I have to say.

Family traditions

Today my dad tried to convince us that we didn't need a real Christmas tree (again--he tries every year). He wants to get a fake one and superglue on all the ornaments. "It'll go up in five minutes" is his idea of decorating the tree--not that he ever is the one to actually decorate it. It's Vivi's (our exchange student from Brazil) turn to pick the tree this year.

We have a new tradition that began when Nate was here in October. My family has always stood outside all together to wave goodbye to company, but my dad decided to mix it up a little. Now instead of just waving good by, we all stand side by side and do the wave. I know, very corny, but it makes me laugh--that's my family for you. :)

Ok, the screen is shaking, time to get off the computer.

Rambling...

I don't have much to say tonight. I should probably do some homework or read, but I don't feel like doing either one. Chad and I are going to get up early to try and get some good deals tomorrow. We were practicing on blocking the other costumers. I've never (and I mean never) gone shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, but there's a first for everything. I'm enjoying being home with my family and I'm missing Nate (only two weeks and one day left!) and I'm very thankful for lots of things this Thanksgiving.

See, I told you I didn't have too much to say...and it was a bit random.

Lessons from computer Solitaire

Solitaire on the computer uses the reinforcing behavior tactics of positive reinforcement. Continuing to play the game through to completion (the desired behavior) is positively reinforced by the cards bouncing everywhere (the consequence/reinforcer) when you win. The lesson I've learned from it is this: if you don't get the positive reinforcement enough, then the desired behavior is likely to stop happening too. I've played about 20 games (no lie) since those cards have gone bouncing all over the place and I'm about to give up. It's no wonder kids get frustrated when they just can't complete what you put in front of them. Give them so positive reinforcement in the middle too, not just at the end! I'm a bit frustrated myself!

I need to get packing. I'm leaving for Grand Haven (home!) tonight after class.

That's right--feel sorry for me :)

I think the worst part of getting sick (a.k.a. cleaning out your stomach) is the day after when both your lower back and stomach muscles are quite sore. The heating pad (my cure for everything) is working nicely since I've run out of Ibuprofen.

Feeling icky

Despite waking up nearly every hour last night because I was sick, there were many positive things to my day:

My mom and dad calling me to check on me during the day
Mark bringing over some Gatorade to help me get undehydrated and some sugar in me
Nate being understanding that I couldn't stay on the phone any longer last night
Getting to sleep as long as I wanted
Having time to finish reading Acts and to read through Romans
Having time to read
Getting a nice email from Nate with get better wishes
Just having time to relax and not be anywhere

It's no fun being sick, but it is nice to be so cared for by those close to me. :) All right, back to laying down and recovering.

Wish list

Instead of giving my mom a list every time she asks for ideas for birthdays and Christmas, I decided to put it in a place where she can find it any time she wants. There are two new pages for you to view. One is my wish list (mostly for my mom, but conveniently placed there so you too can buy me gifts :)--I'm really kidding :) ). The other is not very full, but has a few pictures from SLT on it. I'd like to add more later.

Keeping his welcome fresh

Everyone can take a lesson from Mark (Lisa's boyfriend and my friend who is a boy :) ) about how not to wear out your welcome at someone's home. Mark bought five Brita water filters and a 24 pack of toilet paper for us this past week. He can come over any time. :)

My thoughts exactly

I was going to blog about this "What Would Jesus Drive" commercial, which I had read about in an article in our school paper. However, as I was breezing through blogs a minute ago, I found that Joel had already said my thoughts better than I could have on the whole thing (with the exception of the part about Jesus driving a Toyota--I would hope he'd have better taste than that :) )--make sure you're looking for his Wednesday, November 20 post. So, just go check out what he has to say. :)

Making me smile

At around 11:40pm last night my cell phone rang. I picked it up and was happy to hear the voice I had hoped to hear. :) Nate was calling me from the grocery store on Jen's (thanks, Jen :) ) cell phone to give me a "hug" because I wasn't in the greatest mood. It made my day and brought a long lasting smile to my face. Just thought you might like to know how wonderful I think he is. :) Only about 24 more days!!

Road trip to Ohio

I spent 24 hours or so in Ohio this past weekend at the Prospective Staff Retreat for InterVarsity. On a logistical (?) note, the hotel was nice and clean, and both the lodging and food was provided for by IV. I admit that I acted like I was five and jumped on the beds in the hotel room. :) And it was fun! I also got to eat dinner at Panera on Saturday night and that was so good. Broccoli cheese soup in a sourdough bread bowl--too good.

I was so thankful to spend lots of time in the Bible. We studied Isaiah 6:1-13, Isaiah 49:1-9 which talk about the calling of a person by God and the character of a servant respectively. Then Fred Bailey spoke on Psalm 25:4-15 and focused mainly on how God is faithful to show us his ways and plans. I realized again how I am far too easily pleased to find my security and significance in a comfortable life. I know that no matter what I do (IV staff, elementary school teacher, mother, wife or a combination of them), my security and worth need to come first and foremost from the fact that Jesus died for me as the payment for my sins.

I also thought it was interesting to learn that in the Old Testament, God requires we tithe 10%, but in the New Testament it is 100%. We start out by saying "100% of what I have (possessions, relationships, TIME etc) is yours God. How can I use this to glorify and serve you?" I think if we asked that question, we would spend our money more wisely, and not buy so many things for our own benefit. Not that buying things for yourself is bad, but looking at it in this way should make us think about what we are doing with God's money (I'm focusing on money since materialism seems to be what enslaves me the most).

I know this post is long, but I wanted to comment on one more thing. I wanted to say thank you to my brothers and sisters who have intentionally and frequently encouraged me to mature spiritually, to pursue places where I can teach others (IV staff, women's discipleship, etc), and who have even challenged me to pursue those places when I lack confidence (which I will admit is often). Your support has not gone unnoticed, esp. because as a woman it's often difficult to find that support when it comes to pursuing positions of leadership in the "Christian realm".

So, the end of the story is, I still have lots of decisions to make when it comes to going on IV staff or not. I most definitely will do volunteer staff wherever I am, but any more than that I'm not sure. Only God knows. :)

All bundled up

Now that's it's been getting down to the 20s in temperature, I have to give in and get my fan fixed in my car. The heater (and air conditioner) aren't working because there is a possible short in the fan. I was going to deal with it as long as possible, but Dad said to bring it in and get it fixed. Fortunately, my parents are gracious enough and able to help me pay for it, since I can't afford to fix it at the moment. For the moment (until I go home for Thanksgiving and bring it in to get fixed) I get all bundled up to get in my cold car and drive to class. :) I'm thankful I at least have the car to get me there.

You know how I said that 105.7 is playing Christmas music? Maybe I should have said that they are playing "seasonal music" because none of what they are playing has much to do with Christ (unless you stretch it and say that since God is redeeming all of creation, including music, that it has to do with God just by being part of creation, but that's not my point :) ). It's been mostly songs like "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus", "Sleigh Ride", "I'll Be Home For Christmas", etc. Those are all fine, but I'd like some "O Holy Night" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" or at least the Manheim Steamroller (?) version of them.

And the list grows

If you didn't notice, I added a few links to My Links. I figured it would be nice to have the links up there of the blogs that I read pretty regularly (that is, when I actually have time to get on here and read them :) ).

My exciting news

Monday night I got a call from my mentor teacher for next semester to tell me where I'm placed for student teaching! I was so excited! I am going to be at Bangor Primary School in a first grade classroom. Bangor is a small, small town about 30 minutes west of Kzoo. I'm excited to work in such an environment, in a rural setting, and with the possibility of there being a large Hispanic population there. This may all seem very normal and part of the placement process, but I find this particular placement quite unique. I would go into it on here, but I'm afraid I wouldn't give it as much justice as I could speaking it. All I will say is that I am quite confident that God is sovereign and that I am seeing the fruit of that here. I would love to share more with you, so let me know if you want to hear about it. (Meesch, I'll tell you about it, cause I remember we talked about this last semester when I was deciding where to apply.)

We need a little Christmas now?

I know, I have lots to say, but I can't resist sharing this one with you. Keep in mind that it's not even Thanksgiving yet! I was driving to class this morning and had on 105.7 (which means nothing to some of you) and you'll never believe what was on: Christmas music! Not just one song, but they had been playing many. I know that many people think that my family gets their Christmas tree too early (I don't think it is too early)--we get it over Thanksgiving weekend--but seriously, Christmas music in the middle of November. I think that's rushing it.

On another Christmas note. I was thinking today about what it might look like to balance being a part of the Christmas season festivities and acknowledging and celebrating the true reason we have Christmas. Not that I think they are entirely separate. I haven't come to any great conclusions yet. All I know is that every year I get so wrapped up in the "Christmas spirit" which has little to do with the Holy Spirit or Jesus. Just some thoughts. I wish I had comments, so that you could give me your thoughts on this.

In other news

These past three days have been a bit insane, but they weren't as horrible as I thought they would be. The last two, in particular, were quite good. Heather and I taught for the last time in front of our professor yesterday and got some encouraging feedback from her. We were quite happy. I guess the kids were still talking about our science lesson from Monday when the teacher returned from being sick on Tuesday. That's a good sign. :) The other things that made the past couple of days good were hanging out with Lisa at Barnes and Noble, hanging out with my friend Mark (my other "roommate", but not really :) ) while doing homework, enjoying good phone conversations with Nate and laughing a lot last night while talking. Good stuff.

Now I'm in the homestretch of the semester. Only two and a half weeks of class for me. The frenzied ridiculousness is over, but there is still work to be done. I don't think it's quite hit me yet that these are the last two and a half weeks of undergrad classes for me. I can't believe that four and a half years of college has nearly passed.

Jumping the gun

On Saturday there will only be four weeks left until I fly down to Texas! I know I'm a bit ahead of the game, but I have good reasons for that: 1) I can't wait to see Nate (surprise, surprise :) ) and 2) I will be in Ohio on Saturday for an IV Prospective Staff retreat and will not be able to enlighten you with that wonderful news. Can you tell I'm just a wee bit happy about this? :)

Left out

Sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to not mention that you came with them. I got to have lunch with my mom too today. I haven't seen her in nearly a month, so that was quite wonderful. I look forward to the respite of Thanksgiving Break to spend with friends and family. And that means we get to get our Christmas tree.

A Dutch lunch

It's so late, and I'm so tired, but oh well. My grandparents (my mom's parents), Pake and Beppa, came to visit my brother and me today in Kzoo. They came over to my apartment and I gave them the grand tour. Then we drove to Russ' for lunch. Although it was brief, it was nice to see them and have them come to visit. We had a nice time talking and visiting. Thanks for coming Pake and Beppa. :)

As for other newsworthy items: I finished my unit plan tonight--yea! I'm so glad to be done and ready to turn it in. I have to get up early, so I'm off to bed.

Just plain nice things

Holding onto towels and sheets still hot from the dryer that smell nice and clean.
Getting to read a chapter of _Two Towers_ after doing two hours of homework.
Getting nine hours of sleep.
Watching the best parts of "The Little Mermaid" (I'm still a little girl sometimes :) ) with my roommate.
Reading a chapter from N.T. Wright's _Following Jesus_ that made me even more thankful for what Christ has done.
Talking, laughing and praying with Nate.

And I've gotten to do all these things in the last 24 hours. I'm a lucky girl :).

Taking a break

If I don't take a break, I'm going to go nuts! My unit plan is going well, but it's a lot of work. I've been in the computer lab for about two hours already and I plan on being here for another three hours at the most. Then I need to sleep for awhile! I've been staying up way too late. Now that I'm into planning this unit on the Earth's moon, I am enjoying it, so at least I have that going for me. :)

I was on this site for Bloom's Taxonomy & Multiple Intelligence Correlations (it really is exciting :D) and found some much needed humor at the moment. It's a "You Might Be a Teacher if..." kind of thing. I can't resist sharing a few of them with you. I picked out the funny/appropriate ones. Here they are:

You might be a teacher if...
You want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work from 8 to 3 and have your summers free!"
You can tell it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
When out in public you feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior.
You have no time for a life from August to June.

The rest of the page isn't much to look at, except maybe Our School's Homework Policy--maybe I'll understand it after a few years of having my own classroom. Or maybe not. :)

Back to work.

Emerging for a moment

It's way too late and I really shouldn't be writing, but I haven't written much lately, so I'm going to stay up a few extra minutes to write. It was a gorgeous day here today. I couldn't believe it! Leave it to Michigan to be gloomy, sleeting, slushy, and in the 30s one day and just two days later be in the 50s, sunny, clear, and perfect. I should be used to it by now, but it still surprises me.

Kids are so great. Our speaker, Andy Le Pau (sp?) at Crossroads (aka IV large group) told a story about his two sons, David and Philip, when they were younger. It went something like this:

[Sitting at the breakfast table before church.]
David (the older one): Dad, isn't it about time we told Philip?
[Andy stares at his son blankly]
David: I really think we should tell him, Dad.
Andy: Tell him what.
[Philip shrugs his shoulders]
David: All right, I'll just tell him. (To Philip) This morning at church you are going to be sacrificed.

:) I know. Where did that come from, right? It still makes me laugh.

This week was pretty uneventful. Each day went by, I went to class, continued to count down the days until I get to see Nate :). I considered coming home this weekend, but I'm just too busy with a big unit plan project due Tuesday.

Gosh, I feel boring after writing this post. :) I should say that while this week has been pretty normal, this past weekend at Fall Conference was so good. I'm still processing through what I learned and even getting to see it put into practice in my own life and others' lives as well. I even got to talk with my small group members from the conference this past Thursday at Crossroads. Jon might come to church with me on Sunday. I continue to pray for his salvation.

As Bopie (my grandpa) used to say when we were young: "It's Shadrach, Meshach, and to bed you go" :) Goodnight.

More pictures

I put another picture on My Pictures webpage. My mom sent it to me yesterday along with my mail and it made me smile. :) :) :) A lot. :) Sorry I don't have more time to write, but I have two assignments due in a couple of hours that I need to get started on.

Now featuring...Chinook Drooger

I just spent 45 minutes to scan and throw together a page with pictures of Chinook, my brother's new puppy, on it. It's kind of part of my webpage, but I have to do some major work on my webpage over Christmas break, so don't look until after then. :) Some pictures need to be removed, and others added. :) Anyway, here is where you can find pictures of my adorable niece puppy Chinook, as well as some other pictures of my brothers and sister. I plan on adding more pictures later--some important people are missing. :) Enjoy.

Now I have to get back to work. It was nice to take a break.

Late nights

It's crazy how one will stay up way too late just to see if one has received an email from a certain someone who she cares for a whole lot. I suppose I am a little crazy, or maybe just a bit (;) ) enamored with a great guy down in Houston, TX. It's nice to have that connection, a glimpse into his day, over 1500 miles away. 39 days to go!

Fall Conference was good. Our sovereign God is good. Thank you for your prayers. I will write about it later...maybe. We'll see if I don't have to retreat back to the homework cave. These three weeks until Thanksgiving are going to be interesting.

She's Alive!

I have emerged from my homework cave to attend the InterVarsity Fall Conference this weekend. I don't even have time to be writing this, since there are still a few things to pack and do before leaving. I spent 4-5 hours last night doing homework in the computer lab and got my Ed 369 project mostly done and some other homework finished also. Then I stayed up even later talking with Nate--he kept me company on my cell phone while I drove home and then we stayed up way too late talking. :) Very worth it, though. (By the way, if you are thinking about getting a Nextel--DON'T. We got cut off quite a few times and lost so many parts of the conversation that we finally gave up and used my calling card. If I wasn't getting such a good deal and so attached (only slightly :) ) to my phone, I'd cancel it.)

My main reason for writing is to ask for your prayers for this weekend. I'm leading a small group (kind of like a Bible study group) during the weekend. Pray for God to be working through his Word (we're studying Daniel), for focus throughout the weekend, and for God to change lives and to sustain that change. I'm so excited to go!

"See" you in a couple of days. :)

Pulling my hair out

My dad called today and left a brief message on my Nextel phone. I just knew it had to be another outrageous bill, and boy was I right. My bill read that I had an outstanding balance of around $936 for two months worth of calling. Now, I like calling Nate, but I would rather spend lots of money on plane tickets than on phone bills. :) Seeing as I have already called Nextel three times and have been told that it's all taken care of and have basically been lied to, I was pretty angry. I said a little prayer, called Nextel, talked to a very helpful guy and had my bill reduced to a more appropriate amount. And I got 200 more daytime minutes for free for as long as I have my phone and I still (for sure now) have my unlimited nights and weekends for free. At least something good came out of all this frustration. :)

By the way, I am retreating into my homework cave for a couple of days, so if you don't hear from me, don't worry. I will be back. :)

How convenient

Portage and Kalamazoo have this nice system where you rake all your leaves into the street in the fall and they pick them up once a week. It's great! I'd love it if I had a yard. When I lived in Grand Rapids we always had to rake them onto a tarp and dump them on the hill behind our house. Not quite as convenient, but still better than trash bags.

I'm learning

It's a good feeling when you attempt to figure something out that you have no clue about and are successful at it. For instance, see that title on my link box--My Links--yeah, I just did that all by myself. This may not be a big deal to CS people and other computer language literate folk, but it's pretty cool for an elementary school teacher who is trying to learn enough to function on here. I was so excited when it worked that I wanted to get up and dance, but I'm in the computer lab at school. I suppose the dancing will have to wait. :)

One more thing

I miss Nate. :(

Dragging my feet

It's amazing how much cleaning and random things I get done when I am dragging my feet on doing my homework. I was supposed to start it about 10 hours ago, but I've only gotten going in the last hour. Of course, going shopping in the middle of the day for three and a half hours (that's the very maximum I can handle) probably didn't help either. I'm so proud of myself for only buying two pairs of socks during that entire time.

Oh well for not getting homework done. I have been productive: the bathroom is clean, the floor is vacuumed, the kitchen is clean, the trash is empty, I had a great quiet time this morning, spent some fun time with Kate and Andrea shopping, and finished half of a Christmas present. I'd say that is a pretty successful Saturday. :)

Don't get in the car

Lisa, Erin and I watched "Riding in Cars with Boys" last night. Not a good movie. It was long and drawn out and quite depressing. It's not that I wouldn't watch a movie that makes me sad, it just seemed like there was hardly any hope at all in the movie. And I was so saddened by the emotional abuse that many of the children in the movie had to suffer. It especially saddens me because I know it happens and that I will probably have children in my classroom at sometime in my years of teaching who live the way those children did.

It's a girl!

My friends Jason and Serina are the proud parents of a new baby girl. She as born this past week a month premature, but was a healthy 5 pounds, 10 ounces. Her name is Maya Joelle.

Just two things that I want

I'm fairly easy to please when it comes to computers. I just want two more things when it comes to mine and I would be perfectly content: 1) a larger computer screen--three inches more would be nice so I don't have to scroll left and right to see the display; and 2) a cable modem for my internet connection--dial-up has been driving me nuts! :)

By the way, my post about skipping class was supposed to be for Thursday, but I can't back post, so it was posted on Friday's. Just clarifying.

Let it snow...

Class didn't happen for me this morning. I had good reason not to go, but I won't go into it on here. Not going to class allowed me to see the first snow of the year. Granted they were just flurries, but it was still a little exciting. I went out on the balcony to make sure that I wasn't seeing things. That's Michigan for you. It didn't stick and probably won't until November.

Not allowing myself to get on the internet until after I do my quiet time and other things leaves very little time to be on here, but I know it's a good discipline. Otherwise I could be on here for quite awhile without even noticing that I haven't spent any time in the Word or in prayer.

Thank you Dave and Melissa for the welcoming message. I do feel introduced as well as accepted. :) Always a nice way to feel.

I'm such a putz. I had the perfect opportunity to hang out with my roommate Lisa this morning for about a half an hour, but I slept in instead. This wouldn't be a big deal if I had actually seen her this week and if she wasn't going to this two day conference. I think the last time we talked was on the phone when I was home this weekend. I'm sorry Lisa. I love you! Kick me out bed next time! :)

How does one decide which blogs to put links to on one's page? I do read some pretty regularly, but I feel like I'd be playing favorites if I put the links up there. I just don't want to hurt anyone's feelings if they aren't up there. Then again, maybe no one will care. I'll just wait awhile to put more links up there, I guess.

Yes, I went to see Chinook, my brother's new puppy, and yes, she was adorable. I took some pictures and once they are developed, I hope to have some up for everyone to see. She weighs ten pounds right now and is so sweet. I had a hard time leaving. She loved her dog pillow that I got her--Justin called me when I got home and said she was asleep on it from all the excitement of meeting new people. :) I'm done gushing now.

Heather and I taught at our pre-internship today. We started out the lesson by walking up to the front in seasonal wear--Heather in winter gloves and a winter coat and I wore a visor, sunglasses and a beach towel (more than that, of course :) ). It was a good way to start the lesson because it got their attention. Overall, the lesson went well and our WMU instructor was impressed. Always a plus. :) She told me that our pre-intern teachers were asking if we could student teach there. I don't know how it all works with getting assigned to a school, but I'm pretty sure that our applications have been sent to the schools already. Besides, I would like to be in the Battle Creek schools to see how they do the reformed math (nothing to do with Luther or Calvin ;) ).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Or at least I wish it was. I've just been craving the Christmas season lately (and not just because that means I'll be done with this semester and that I'll get to go to Texas--although, those are both very good reasons :) ). I love putting up a Christmas tree, drinking hot chocolate after being out in the snow, going sledding, hearing Christmas music, seeing red and green everywhere (two of my favorite colors), eating my grandma's wonderful fudge, making Christmas cookies, and I could go on with many more things. And--not to forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas--getting to reflect on God's amazing grace in sending his only Son Jesus and celebrating his birth--I think that gets more meaningful to me each year. Not that we can't be reflecting on that all year long, but Christmas has so many symbols and traditions that point to the birth of Christ--the pointsettia (sp?), the Christmas tree, gift giving (and receiving), the candy cane, etc. I'm sure there are more that I'm not remembering at the moment.

You know what I would like? A blog with a Christmas template--something with red and green, some Christmas lights, and maybe some snow too. :)

In case you didn't notice...

I added another link to my left sidebox. It's a website containing lots of pictures from Kortnie's time in Ghana, Africa this past summer. So, for those of you who know her, how you can easily go there. And if you don't know her (first of all, your missing out because she is one of the coolest women you could ever know :) ), you can check it out too.

I'm really going to bed now. It's so late!

Aunt Tricia

Even though she'll never be able to call me "Aunt Tricia", I think I can still consider myself to be the proud new aunt of a sweet Alaskan Malamute puppy named Chinook (the "ch" is pronounced "sh"). I haven't met her yet, but plan on going over to my brother Justin's place tomorrow night after class to see her. I'm so excited! Justin said she had a rough night last night--he slept only two hours since it was her first night in a new place. I guess he is getting a little taste of being a parent. :)

The cough syrup hasn't kicked in yet, so I'm still attempting to cough up a lung every five seconds or so. If it doesn't get any better, I might end up sleeping on the futon in the office/guest room/exercise room so I don't keep Lisa up all night. I'd really like to know what makes you have to cough and how cough syrup works. Maybe I'll have to look it up.

I was thinking about things that worry me and scare me about being a teacher while I was in my Ed 369 class tonight. There are two things that scare me and one thing that worries me. I'm worried about being at school late at night and on the weekends preparing for each day of teaching. This is not so much a worry if I am single, but more if I am married and would like to spend some time with my husband. I'm scared of dealing with angry parents and dealing with defiant children. I can handle most discipline problems, but a student who blatantly refuses to respect the other students and me is kind of a scary thing. I know I'll deal with these things if and when they come, but they are kind of scary to think about now.

_Desiring God_ by John Piper

It's been a few days since I read the chapter on worship, but I do have a few things that made enough of a connection to remain in my mind anyway. First, reading the chapter on worship made me realize that I have made worship of God my duty instead of my delight in the past 9 months or so. While I am commanded to worship the awesome, Living God, it is also my delight. There are many passages in the Psalms that speak of a longing to worship God: Psalm 4:7; 5:11; 9:2; 17:15; 40:8; 63:1-3; 73:25-26. Paul writes to the Philippians to "Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: Rejoice!" Sometimes, though, I worship God as if I am following a script with my mind only instead of allowing both my mind and my heart to worship God together.

"Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

I need to worship God with all of me, which means I can worship him with my emotions and not be disconnecting from my mind and from the truth.

I also really appreciated the following quote: "Forms of worship should provide two things: channels for the mind to apprehend the truth of God's reality, and channels for the heart to respond to the beauty of truth--that is, forms to ignite the affections with biblical truth, and forms to express the affections with biblical passion." (p 92)

It's a bedside Baptist Sunday around the Drooger household :). My parents went to a concert last night and stayed out very late, so they are sleeping in, and I think it would be better to stay home from church with my cough, stuffed up nose and sore throat. I'm bummed because I had wanted to make it to the new 8:30am Contempletive service at my church. It's not traditional, not contemporary, but contempletive--I'm not quite sure what that looks like, but I'll let you know after Thanksgiving weekend when I am home again.

I think Lisa is feeling better, so thank you for the prayers. At least, she sounded better when I talked with her and when she called me at 9am this morning to leave me a voice mail about how they offer two of her classes next semester. She was quite excited. :)

I'd still like to write later today about the chapter on worship in _Desiring God_ like I had promised I would do. Right now I'm going to go take a shower with extra steam to loosen up my sinuses and the phlegm. Yum! :)

One more thing, Tara and Jared's wedding was beautiful. Very emotional too--Tara and Jared both practically cried when they were reciting their vows. What am I saying? I practically cried! :) It was so good to see them get married. They belong together, I'm so happy for them. They had a couple of worship songs during the service: "Amazing Love" and "Psalm 121" and their passage read during the service was Colossians 3:15-17. It was so good to see high school friends: Matt Thelen, Brian Wilson, Ben Krill, Justin Kram, etc. The reception was a lot of fun too (except for that one part of not having Nate there to enjoy it with me, but I did have a really good time).

All done!

I'm leaving for Texas on December 14 and returning to Michigan on December 24. It's amazing that in 30 short minutes you can compare and book flights. Anyway, I'm happy. Three accomplishments in one day--figuring out something on my blog, getting my haircut, and booking flights to go see Nate in 57 days :). I still have a couple more hours until I have to get ready for the wedding, so I'm going to go be productive.

Yay! I did it! The Help menu and I are great friends at the moment. I have a link to Nate's blog now on my page. Unfortunately, it's on the bottom of the page and I don't know how to get it any higher. Something to work on later. Right now I'm just pleased with figuring it out. Now you can read Nate's blog if you want to also. :)

Okay, for real I'm doing plane tickets now.

I know it looks a little bit different, but that's because I want to put links to other pages on mine and can't figure out how to do it with the other template. Now I have a place to put the links, but how do I do this???

My sore throat is settling itself in one specific place, which makes me think that I might have strep. I also thought I saw one of the dreaded white spots back there where it hurts. Please pray that I don't have strep and that I feel better soon. Also, pray for Lisa. She is so sick again, possibly with strep (again).

I got my hair cut this morning. It's quite short--doesn't touch my shoulders. I like how it's much lighter and bouncy. Fun. :)

Time to look for plane flights to Texas. :)

It's my little brother Chad's birthday today. He's 14 years old and taller than me. I can't believe it! I called him up after my pre-internship to wish him a happy birthday. He said he's had a good day with no tests, no homework, breakfast in bed, and getting to watch tv.

I'll be home this weekend for Tara and Jared's wedding on Saturday. It will be kind of like a high school reunion/hang out with college friends type of reception. I can't wait. Hopefully it will give me the motivation I need to get back on track with homework and school. I'm so burnt out and it's only halfway through the semester. Lots of people in my classes have been saying the same thing, so I'm not alone. Oh yes, and I'm also getting a haircut this weekend. I'm looking forward to the shorter hair again.

I had a chance to read _Desiring God_ by John Piper last night. I enjoyed the chapter on worship and may blog about it a bit later. Right now Lisa is trying to take a nap in here and the typing is not exactly conducive to good nap-taking.

I am giving myself another day of vacation from classes. I figure, why not, since I haven't gone to actual class yet this week. :) I did go to my pre-internship again today. I can't skip that (and wouldn't want to) since skipping=failing. I'm hoping that I will get many things done tonight in the place of class, including getting to read a little bit of _The Two Towers_ and _Desiring God_. Plus, taking a nap would be a nice idea.

Teaching today in the pre-internship was all right. It didn't go nearly as well as Monday went for many reasons. The main one was that the activity and the concept of why we have seasons was too much to fit into one lesson. Most of the kids were confused and we were frustrated. Our intern teachers are wonderful and encouraging, and gave us some good feedback. It was a good learning experience. I still want to teach. :)

I woke up with a sore throat this morning. Ick. I'm praying that I don't get sick because I've used up all my absences over the last three days. Today was just hard all around because it was the first full day Nate wasn't here. I know it's an adjustment. I'm counting down (I don't have the exact date yet when we see each other, so it's kind of hard to count down exactly).

My brother Justin is so sweet. I got an email from him this morning about how to find inexpensive flights online. He even said that he had looked it up for me and found some ones under $200. I have a cool brother. :)

I've written a novel and really should be writing in my journal and having a quiet time right now, so I'll be going.

I'm going to be a bit sad and pathetic tonight. :( I just got home about a half an hour ago from dropping Nate off at Midway Airport. Needless to say, the car was a quite lonely on the way back, and it's lonely here too, seeing as I've spent the last four evenings with him. 60+ days until we see each other again. I'm not worried that the long distance will affect us negatively in our relationship, I just don't like being so far away from him. Patience, Iago. :) We had a very nice weekend. I very much enjoyed having him here. It was nice to show him some of my life.

My dad was wonderful and had me follow him most of the way home from Midway, which was good seeing as I wasn't in a good condition to follow directions after leaving. Chicago traffic was, thankfully, not that bad. Then we had a nice dinner at the Cracker Barrel in St. Joseph--yum, good food. They had these great wooden rocking chairs out front that I would love to have for my front porch someday--that is, if I have a front porch. :)

Besides all of that, my only other news is that I taught for my pre-internship class in the first/second grade class for teh first time on Monday. It was such a good experience. My partner and I teach again tomorrow. I am definitely in the right field--I had no doubts about being up there when we were done. I know every experience won't be that way, but it was reassuring.

I'm going to journal, read my Bible, and maybe sleep a little before Nate calls to tell me he arrived safely home. Goodnight.

It's always nice to find a thousand dollars that you happened to misplace in your checkbook--especially when the money is mostly your roommate's rent for the semester. I hadn't even realized that I dropped off the thousandths place in my subtracting until today when I entered in a couple of receipts into Microsoft Money and compared the balances. Not that finding this money makes me on any less of a budget, it just keeps me in the non-negative balance!

I am pleased to say that I have no sore throat this morning and am feeling so well rested. I may have worried some of you yesterday, so I apologize. I am so grateful for the prayers and for God's merciful and healing hand. I can't promise that the lightheadedness is gone because it's only 9am, but we'll see.

37 hours left! :) :) :) Can you tell I'm excited?!

I'm in between pre-internships this morning and all I feel like doing is going back to bed. This is strange because I slept from 11:30pm until 8:45am (which, by the way, is when I'm supposed to be at my pre-internship--oops!). My alarm clock somehow ended up in bed with me this morning. Apparently, I didn't like it up on the bed post where it was supposed to be. Fortunately, it's my pre-internship at the place where I work.

Anyway, I'm mostly writing because this physical exhaustion can mean one of two things. 1) It means I'm getting sick, which is entirely possible since Lisa is sick, my throat is threatening to be sore, and I've been sneezing lately. or 2) It has something to do with my lightheadedness (low blood sugar?). I'm not too keen on either one, so I'm asking for your prayers. I'd rather not be sick when Nate is here, so please pray that it either holds off until he leaves or that I just stay healthy period. :) Also, please pray for my lightheadedness and headaches. I'm confused about why I'm having them, even soon after I eat something that should bring my blood sugar up and keep it up for awhile. I may need to go to a doctor and have it checked out. Please also pray for good, dreamless sleep. :)

I have to get going to Woodward School. Thank you all for your prayers. I value them so much.

I'm in such a procrastinating mood today. I think I'm getting a taste of what it's like to get caught up doing something that I don't have the time for at the moment. :) I keep getting distracted with movies, tv, reading blogs, writing in here--anything to keep me from the homework I don't want to do. I'd like to get one more article summary done before Nate calls, but we'll see. I should have a ton done since I got out of class a half hour after it started--we had an exam. Then I went over to Justin's and got to hang out with Kristi and him for awhile. I might go see him play at open mike night at Old Peninsula on Thursday after IV. I'm looking forward to it.

I was supposed to team teach a lesson tomorrow in the first/second grade class I'm pre-interning in this semester, but it's been postponed til Monday. It will give me a chance to be a bit more prepared, which will be nice and makes this week a bit less stressful.

There's not much to write since my life has been just homework lately. I really miss hanging out with friends. I'm looking forward to a little bit more interaction with them this weekend when Nate is here and a lot of good time hanging out with Nate, of course. :) It will almost be like I'm on vacation--a much needed one. Did I mention that in 73 hours Nate will be getting off the plane in Chicago? :) I'm quite excited!

On a fun note--part of my procrastination today included going to Target (one of my favorite stores) and getting a new pair of pj pants (my first new pair in about four years). They are light blue and fleecy--so soft. I like them a lot. Okay, I'm dragging myself away to do homework. Goodnight.

This computer is so fast! It's such a nice change from being kicked off the internet and waiting for my dial-up connection to load completely. Not that I am complaining. I'm very thankful to have a computer and to be able to get on the internet at my apartment, but I'm even more thankful that I can use the computer labs at school. :)

I am taking a much needed break from my homework. It's only been a little over an hour of searching for activities and resources for the six lessons that my partner and I have to put together for our pre-internship, but I am already quite tired. I could use a nap (my solution for all my problems :D), but I will press on after this break, so that I'm still able to have a quiet time today. I am gaining much more respect for those teachers who take the time to find good lessons and activities in order to engage their students. I am also realizing how easy it would be to follow a scripted activity and lesson book. I hope I can lean more toward the former type of teacher.

Yesterday I took my Michigan Test for Teacher Certification. It took about three hours and I was exhausted afterwards from the amount of concentration it took. Now it's just a matter of waiting a month or two for the results, which seems like a long time considering that it's all scantron and can be simply slipped into the scoring machine (or whatever it's called :) ). My friend Jon was telling me that it would be nice if the MTTC was scored as quickly as the GRE is. He said you take the GRE on a computer and it's scored right away, so you leave the same day knowing if you passed. I'm not too worried, but you never know.

Nothing much more to tell. Just lots of homework to get done before Nate gets here, so I can enjoy him being here. I can hardly believe that I can say that I'll see him this Friday. :) It makes me smile. Back to homework.

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Dad. Happy Birthday to you. :)

My parents came to town today to have lunch with Justin and me for my dad's birthday. We had a wonderful lunch at Applebee's. It is always nice to have them come into town for a visit. In fact, I would love it if any of my far away friends came for a visit--just make sure you give me a call first to make sure I'm not in class. :)

It's so wonderful to be back in our apartment. The only thing is that I got so used to sleeping in their dungeon-like basement that I'm having a hard time getting a good night's sleep with so much light and noise from the outside. Lisa said she hasn't slept well either. I hope it's just a matter of adjusting back to sleeping here.

Hard boiled eggs are my favorite kind of eggs--at least for the moment. Lisa boiled a bunch of eggs and I have been deprived for awhile, so the two I had tonight after class tonight were especially yummy.

Day 10 of house/dogsitting

I am eager to get back to our apartment. I think Lisa and I will not sleep at the house tonight, so that we can move all of our stuff back today instead of on Sunday. I will be happy to give the responsibility of Moose back to the Wilders tomorrow night. There's nothing like living in someone's house for a week to make you appreciate your own home so much more.

It's been nearly a week again since I wrote in here. I considered writing in here a couple of times this week, but was instead drawn to read or was too tired to write anything coherent. It's been a good week for the most part. Kind of tiring going back and forth between the house and apartment, but the Lord was gracious to give me a very unstressful week academically, allowing me to be here more for Moose and to work ahead on some homework.

Last night Lisa and I went to a movie with some girls from her church. The movie was "Sweet Home Alabama" and we were pleased that they played the song twice during the movie. I really liked it, although it was quite predictable, but a good distractor.

I'm going home tomorrow to an empty house. :( Home as in Grand Haven. My parents are having a weekend getaway for my dad's birthday, which is on Monday (Happy Birthday Dad! :) ), so they won't be there, and Chad and Vivi are staying at Chad's best friend's house--I'll be visiting them there. It will be nice to be in Grand Haven regardless, to be by the lake and be at my house. It will also be nice to go to Covenant Life for church.

My homework break is over. Back to the books. :)

Making me laugh

I really, really like not doing homework on Sundays. The day before, I worry that I will think about my homework all day, but so far I haven't been doing that today. I get to do the things that I want to do today--specifically, to read, write e-mails, and talk on the phone to Nate--all without thinking about getting to my homework yet today. It's quite nice.

My mom brought these quotes along with her to my birthday party that are taken from signs around the world. I was reading through them and they were making me laugh this afternoon, so I thought I'd share one of my favorites with you: "On an Athi River highway: Take notice--When this sign is underwater, this road is impassable." There were some other really funny ones, but they aren't quite appropriate for writing in here.

I was excited to receive the September/October issue of Modern Reformation. It's mostly on the providence and sovereignty of God in the world. I'm looking forward to reading it. They have a page in each issue with quotes pertaining to the content of the issue. I liked this one in particular: "I consider myself 40 percent Catholic and 60 percent Baptist; but I'm in favor of every religion, with the possible exception of snake-chunking. Anybody that so presumes on how he stands with Providence that he will let a snake bite him, I say he deserves what he's got coming to him."--Earl Long, former governor of Louisiana, quoted in The New Yorker, June 4, 1960.

Today I visited Heritage Christian Reformed Church, a very traditional church. The average age of the members is 55 (not that I am connecting the age of the members to it's traditional characteristics). I have a problem with neither of the previous two descriptions. I am around college students and elementary age children constantly, and I can gain much wisdom from those in an older generation. I also appreciate the traditional way of worship. I enjoyed the organ--I hadn't heard one in awhile. I was pleasantly surprised to see that their interim pastor was preaching on Ephesians 1:11-14, since I am studying Ephesians in my quiet time and Nate's church's pastor is also preaching on Ephesians. I told Scott and Heather (IV staff who attend there) that it must be a sign (I'm totally joking :) ). I actually think that it's more important that the Word of God is preached truthfully than what passage is being preached. I won't go on for too long about it, although it was a good sermon. I especially liked how he drove home the point that we should not separate the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word of God--both as it is written and preached. Basically, the work of the Holy Spirit should not go outside of the truth of God's Word--it should "match up." I'm going to try Westwood CRC next Sunday, and then choose between the two churches.

Now that I've told quite a few of you (my friends and family who do not live near me) about this, I should probably write in it again this week. I keep meaning to, but when it comes to time on the internet, e-mailing Nate comes first. Not to mention that I haven't been feeling well the past three days. It's been a horribly busy week. I think I know where Monday through Wednesday went, but Thursday and Friday didn't even seem to exist. I'm glad to have today (Saturday) to spend a lot of time on homework and to get a lot of the other things done that I didn't have time to do throughout the week. Then Sunday is "no homework day," my favorite day of the week because I get to read, relax, and go to church.

Anyway, Lisa and I are dogsitting right now at Kortnie's aunt and uncle's house. Their dog's name is Moose and he's huge! I'm about to take him for a walk after I'm done writing this, but I'm worried that I won't be able to hold him back. They have a collar to control them, but not surprisingly they forgot to leave it out for us to use. He listens pretty well. I'm getting used to smelling like a dog, although it's not a pleasant thing to get used to--I think I can handle it when the [$] reward is in sight. I can use it to pay for my plane ticket to Texas in December. :)

This past Thursday I was able to have a unique opportunity on our campus. InterVarsity decided to do something called set evangelism on campus; this includes things like skits, music, preaching, and something called sketchboarding (using art to tell a story that relates to the Bible). We did this all in the middle of campus to the students who were walking by (and some who stopped to watch). I was able to do the preaching based on the story of Jesus healing the leper in the gospel of Mark--this is the same one I did on Mackinaw Island for SLT. I really like doing it (amazingly, because I don't like being the center of attention in front of people!), and it was good to know that even if they were just walking by, many of my fellow students were getting at least a piece of the truth of God's Word.

This Monday I spend my first day in the elementary school this semester. I am placed in a first and second grade split classroom, which is kind of cool because in first grade I was in a first/second split classroom. I talked with the teacher on Thursday and she seems laid back. I hope she is a good model teacher for us to see.

Time to go walk the dog. Wish me luck!

Trying to keep up

I realized that I hadn't written since Thursday, so I thought I'd briefly write tonight. To follow my last entry on my lack of contentedness, I keep hearing this song on the radio that fits me well. I'm not sure who sings it--maybe Sara Evans. It's chorus goes, "Just as soon as I get what I want, I'm unsatisfied. (I forgot the next line). I keep looking for something more. I keep wondering what's on the other side of the number two door." I'm not this way with everything in my life, fortunately, because I am a very loyal and faithful person to the people in my life who are important to me.

Okay, at the moment I'm out of thoughts to put in here. And I'm getting tired and would like to go pray and read for awhile. Goodnight.

I think my dad was right when he said I follow in his footsteps with the curse to never be content. I will find something that I can't deal with or to be anxious about in everything that I do. Today after class I was ready to hop in my car and drive far away from here. If I was really thinking though, I would realize that each new place/situation will bring it's own set of issues. The question is "How do I deal with them?" I'm still trying to figure that one out.

One more thing: blaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Okay, I feel a little bit better.

I'm reading _In the Face of God_ by Michael Horton and just came across this great paragraph in the chapter "They Touched God." Instead of poorly explaining my opinion on it, I'll just let it speak for itself.

"In the person of Christ, the eternal meets time; the One who owns the entire universe becomes poor; the God who is incapable of experiencing human passions becomes a laughing, weeping, threatening, comforting Man among us. Emmanuel, God with Us, is one of our Lord's most salutary biblical names. By coming to us, he was able to empathize with us." (p. 114)

Good stuff. I think it's especially comforting on days like today when need my Savior to empathize with my anxious and overwhelmed feelings. I am so thankful for the empathy of Christ.

At a loss

What do you do when you completely sleep through your alarm, which is set right next to your bed? I have no idea how I do it, but I slept through it this morning again. I woke up out of a dead sleep 20 minutes ago when Lisa had Kayla call me to wake me up (she knows me too well!). I answered the phone in a sleepy voice and heard a little five-year-old voice answer me with, "Good morning, Miss Tricia." How adorable! All of this wouldn't be so strange if I hadn't woken up at 4:40am to Lisa's alarm _across the room_! I just don't get it. I think I'll try strapping the alarm clock to my head.

Where have all the good shows gone?

I used to watch such cool tv shows when I was younger. I was reminiscing today after reading about Knight Rider in Nate's e-mail. Knight Rider was a definite favorite. Also, Perfect Strangers with Balky (sp?) and Larry. Then there was MacGuyver and AirWolf (the one about the helicopter). Where have they all gone? Those were the good days of tv. :)

After three hours of homework in the education library (which they haven't done any improvements on since I got here four years ago), I have found half of my 22 articles needed for my final notebook in my FCS 575 class. I don't know what has gotten into me. I've never been so focused and motivated to do homework _ahead_ of time in my entire life. I hope it's not just a phase, but a real discipline that continues. I did get smart after copying seven of the articles--I realized that starting the copying at the end of the article would save me from having to reorganize it later. The product of state university education right there. :)

I'm ready to get out of this white-walled library and out into the beautiful day waiting for me outside. I think it's about time to play some frisbee--something I haven't been able to do in awhile.

SLT Quote Board

I thought I'd do a bit of carefree blogging tonight, and put the quotes I had written down from SLT on here. They make me smile, so it's a good thing to do. :)

"Come again?" - Derge (making fun of Curt)/Curt
"Date me"/"Marry me" (with appropriate hand motions included) - Derge/Coops/Kate
"You drink, you drive, you lose" - Derge-- on a sign on after crossing the Mackinaw Bridge
"I'm with you" - Em to Kate while crossing the Mackinaw Bridge
"Andrea's president of the fan club"
"I'm on cloud one hundred and nine!" - Trish
"I love him!" - Derge and Kate
"Running around like headless poultry." - Coops
"I'm a big, warm, fuzzy bear." - Jim
"Put your mind and will in the front seat and your emotions in the backseat." - Jim
"Our IPF" - Nate
"No, I'm just doing this for my own edification." - Nate
"You stir the soup me forever." - Em and Derge

If you weren't there, you probably won't get it at all. It really was funny, I promise.

One of my favorite songs is on right now: "When You Say Nothing At All" by Alison Krause. It's such a sweet song.

My day has slowly gotten better. This morning was horrible--I was having some fierce anxiety about my life in general and this semester in particular. Work was suprisingly helpful and good. I enjoyed being there with the kids. We played kickball and that was so much fun. I'm sure the prayers offered by Nate were a part of making my day better than it was. I'm much more sane and realistic now than I was this morning.

Crossroads on Psalm 73

I think you could say that the first IV Crossroads was a success--I'd like to say that, at least. I have to say that it's fun to see what additions and changes the new exec has made. The most successful part of it all next to the amount of new people who came last night was that God's Word was preached truthfully. Scerbe did a good job preaching from Psalm 73. I wanted to list a couple of things I found interesting from his talk.

A basic summary of Psalm 73 is that the Psalmist sees how good the people who don't follow God are living and he has doubts about God because of it (vv1-12). His doubts cause him to slide into self-pity (vv13-14), but then he enters into the sanctuary of God and he realizes the destiny of those who are separated from God (vv 15-20). He then repents and confesses his self-pity and false views about God (vv21-22), speaks truth about God (vv23-26), and gives the two options to follow God or to not follow God and the consequences in vv 27-28.

A few notes on the Psalm:
Doubt and faith are not opposite--people with faith can struggle with doubts. David had doubts (read the Psalms of David) and so did John the Baptist (he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the One they had been waiting for or if they should look for someone else--Jesus answered and then affirmed John's faith even in his time of doubt).
To clarify: Not following God means not following Jesus and trusting in his work on the cross for your salvation.
Doubt is not bad, but can lead to self-pity and other dangerous things, which can affect others in the body of Christ negatively.
We need to be in the sanctuary of God--going to a church that preaches the truth from God's Word. Not all churches do this, so be picky about where you worship. The preaching of the Word (the Bible) is central to worship (not the singing) because it is when God's Word is preached that we hear from God.
God knows exactly what you need to be fulfilled. Go to him to have your needs and desires met and he will align the rest of your life (also in Psalm 37:4).

Good stuff. I pray that many of those people who came last night will come back. It was good to see everyone I knew, but also so good to see so many people that I didn't know.

Random ramblings

I was walking on campus today and heard someone's Nextel two-way beep. This is quite a regular occurence on campus. I think at least 75% of college students must have cell phones and of that 75%, about half of them have Nextels. This poses a problem because I can never tell if it is my Nextel going off or someone else's. Usually it's not mine, but one of these days it's going to be and I'm going to miss it. :)

I think the left turn lights have begun blinking on red just this year right by campus. This has never happened before and is kind of a nice, but slightly dangerous addition. I do enjoy sitting at the light for less time, though. It's kind of hard to get used to.

Yay, I liked my ED 401 prof today. Not that my other prof's are that bad, but he seems pretty cool. Everything he talked about was practical and pertinent to the classroom. I just finished reading the first chapter of our book and then glanced through the rest of it, and I am quite impressed. I actually enjoyed reading it--surprise, surprise. A definite plus if I'm going to have to read it anyway.

I have successfully given myself another tension headache today. This one is less painful than the last three, but it's still annoying. At least I think it's a tension headache because it's in the same place--right in the center of my forehead and my shoulders--I haven't had _any_ caffiene, and I haven't been squinting in the sun. I am praying that these will soon go away along with the anxiety.

IV large group--or should I say Crossroads--is tonight. The first one of the year. I plan on going to the prayer meeting before with the hopes that it will get me more in the mode to be there. Scerbe :) is speaking on something to do with 9/11, which will be appropriate with the coming anniversary next week.

Well, my break time is up. Back to homework for another hour.

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore

The days of slacking off with school work are over for me. I was hit with a big dose of reality today in my ED 402 class--the anxiety knot in my stomach is back. Between that class and ED 369, I will be spending 2 full days in the classroom. I know once I'm in there with the kids I will be fine--after all, teaching is what I love and want to do, but right now it's all a bit overwhelming to be doing the "real thing." I am very much looking forward to talking with Nate tonight. Seeing all of the couples on campus makes me miss him more than I usually do. I'm glad that IV is tomorrow night, so that I can hang out with my buds and have some fun.

I had forgotten how beautiful campus is and will become this time of year. I love all of the trees and open areas of grass. There are a few pieces of art that I don't mind. The fountains are one of my favorite things to be next to also. I wish I had a bit more time to be on campus to read on the grass or something.

I was especially missing being at SLT this morning. I'm not sure what brought it on, but it may have been my memory verse about God bringing me out into a spacious place. It reminded me of one of my last quiet times up there on the rock behind the basketball courts--one of my favorite spots for a couple of reasons. :)

Campus Art--I'll never get it

I'm back on campus today for the first day of class. As I was walking into the computer lab (large screen monitors and much faster internet connection than my apartment that doesn't kick me off every ten minutes), I passed a new piece of "art." I just don't get it. This one is a rather large, barkless tree turned upside down. I can't even describe the rest of it. It looks kind of cool because I'm sure it was difficult to put together, but it doesn't have any significant meaning in my mind. I guess I wasn't given an abstract, artsy mind.

I have one suggestion to all future professors: Remember what it was like to be the student, and don't do stupid things like go around the classroom of 50 students and have everyone tell where they are from and one distinguishing thing about themselves. I know it's a nice idea, but I'd rather get to the content and get out early. Oh, but we did get out early today! :)

Sometimes it seems kind of pointless to write in here because the only person who knows I have this is my mom. I'm still working up the nerve to tell anyone else. One thing I have noticed about having a blog is that it's really easy to be negative on here and to vent about the experiences of life. I don't want to be like that, so I hope I have not been too pessimistic.

Today I wakeboarded for the first time and got up on my first try! I couldn't believe it, and neither could Jathan. He thought it would be entertaining to watch me fall ten or twelve times. I didn't stay up for more than six seconds, but at least I got up and stayed up. I also went out of the wake while skiing again. I really enjoy skiing now that I've got the hang of it.

Only about 40 days until I get to see Nate again. I never thought I'd do a long distance relationship again, but this one is more than worth it. I get to talk to him again tonight in a little while. I'd better get going if I'm going to get a few things done before I call him.

Only at my church

Pastor Andy has an interesting way of illustrating his sermons at times. Like this morning, for instance, he used tumbleweed, a potted tree, and a leaf blower to illustrate being rooted in the Word of God. He actually turned the leaf blower on--it was great! He was also crawling around on the stage showing us how we have to enter through the narrow gate. Overall, the message was to be in the Word of God--kind of a recurring theme in my life lately.

My mom, Viviane and I watched "Hearts in Atlantis" last night as part of our girls' night. Anthony Hopkins is a great actor, and it was a good movie. His character was the kind of person that you would want to be around just because they have had so much experience and have so many stories to tell. It's probably something I don't do enough--listen to the stories and experience of those who are wiser and older than me.

Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer
I was hesitant to start my own blog for a couple of reasons. The number one being that I didn't want anyone thinking that I was just starting one to impress my boyfriend or anything like that. The number two reason was that I thought it would cost money, but this is free, which is very cool. And number three would be because I would be tempted to write in it and it would take up lots of my time. At this point only the third one is a concern because no one even knows that I have joined the blog world yet. I have to say that I'm pretty hooked. I wish I knew about this kind of thing before!

My first entry
I don't really know what I'm doing, but this all looks like fun, so here goes. This is my very first entry ever in my blog and I probably won't say anything profound or of great significance because it's late and I need to go to bed. I just want to see how this works.