A laugh is a smile that burst

Kaitlin Gets Married

2009-12-18T20:21:00.001-08:00

First came the lingerie party...

My social work girls

And the wedding
she was gorgeous

Home

2009-12-18T19:39:00.001-08:00

Growing up as a preacher's kid, we moved a lot. It had its advantages and disadvantages but one of those disadvantages was that I really don't know where to call "home." So if it's where the heart is, add that it's where some of the best days of childhood where spent, a little house off of France Xing, is my favorite place in the whole world. Today it no longer houses my Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin, and I have to admit that I'm still a bit bitter about the fact that life doesn't always work out the way it should. I've been in the house once since my Grandma died and it was incredibly hard. But for this second time since then, I only saw the outside of the house and the feelings that it left me with are indescribable.

France is my mother's maiden name and so since my uncle built the house and owned the land, what better name could there have been?

The memory is stamped into my mind as plain as day. We'd take long, unbearable trips from wherever we happened to be living at the time and finally we'd turn down this road. I can still hear the crunch of the gravel under the tires and feel my little body shaking with excitement. Just like clockwork, I could hardly breath. I was at Grandmas!
Drive down around the back, step over our hand prints that Uncle Kit had helped us put in when he laid the concrete, and Grandma would be there at the window, waiting for us, usually with Ramen for the kids, and vegetable soup for the grown ups. Open up the pantry and of course my favorite foods were always there.

That night Jaclyn and I would get tucked in on the couches by Grandma, and fall asleep to the sound of her clock while she sat in her chair and watched over us. You'd want to wake up early, earlier than anybody else, because that meant you'd get the spot on the coveted stool, right next to Grandma, making biscuits that will never be matched.

The stories could be endless, but that tree right in front of the house, I'll never forget the day it got hit by lighting. We were all in the bathroom having fun with bathtub toys when it happened. The next day my cousin Lindsey and I sat among its broken limbs, hidden from view, as we watched family members taking things from my Grandma's house. Grandma had decided to start giving things away and I couldn't decide who to be more angry at; her or the people who were actually taking her up on it. You couldn't get rid of the things in grandma's house! Everything was always in exactly the right place. She let me pick out a little girl figurine that sat on her mantle above the dining room table. It's one of my favorite possessions. But today that tree is still there and you'd never know that it once hid two little girls as they watched a part of them being taken away and not understanding why it had to be so.

This is the woman in the mountain. Can you see her? Funny how I was afraid she might be gone. But she still lies there, looking up at the sky. Lucky me.

This view is one of my favorites. I don't know why. Maybe it's just because it's my favorite gravel road on earth. Maybe it's because those trees were my playmates. Everything in me wanted to shrink down and become a little girl again. I don't think I have ever been so happy as those days spent tromping around the property with my cousin Lindsey. Our imaginations would run wild which meant the things we could be, were endless. My heart craved those days and I could hardly stand it. Odd that I could be so overwhelmingly in love with a plot of land. I wanted to stand there forever. But instead, that big girl that I have somehow become, got in the car, turned down this road, and drove back to where my uncle now lives. His house is still one of my favorite places on earth because it houses some incredible people, but my heart still aches for home.

today's car crash

2009-11-30T17:48:00.000-08:00

The weekends Consistancy

2009-11-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

The adventures of the weekend...

Friday night, all the cooks in the kitchen minus Adrienne.

Ramen counts as cooking right?

Grace and I were making things for Kaitlin's wedding shower. This is a recipe from my aunt that I renamed... :)

Saturday I went to Candi's aunt's lakehouse. My batteries died 10 minutes in so most of these are off my new phone but I don't think it did a terrible job.

Chillin on the back porch before lunch.

Throwing balls for the dogs.

From left to right: Cooper a Schnorkie, Teddy a Morkie, and Rawdy a Corkie.
All crossed with Yorkies, it's a Schnauzer, a Maltese, and a Cocker.

Stephanie's first time fishing ever. Did not catch a thing. Can't decide if I'm upset or relieved.

The boys went canoeing. We later followed them. Sorry no pictures. I didn't trust my skills enough to keep technology dry.

and then that evening, I am sorry to say, came Rock Band 2. Sorry for the poor quality. There wan't enough lighting for my phone.

and Sunday, Kaitlin's bridal shower.

gum every time she got the question wrong.

Most of the Social Work contingent all on one ottoman.

The winner of the clothes pin game.

new arrival

2009-10-09T20:05:00.001-07:00

My new 2nd cousin was born at 3 am this morning. This is Melanie Autumn Grace France.

A very tired mommy.

and Daddy.

school's out!

2009-10-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

This week my Social Welfare Issues and Policies class went to DC with the main intention of talking to our senators about state policies we felt needed some work...

I looked at my stuff ready to head out the door and decided I needed to branch out.

Yeah my camera's pop out screen makes these pictures easier but well...they look like this. This is Lisa and Kaitlin.

Playing Rook

Candi nonchalantly tells me she's my partner.
The other van. Yes we are getting passed by a truck going up a hill. It took us twelve hours to get there, for various reasons.

But then we finally got unleashed in DC and well the results were fantastic.
China Town!

Our hostel

Monday Morning

Me, Candi, and Kaitlin
We were always a force to be reckoned with, especially on Tuesday when we were all in business suits walking as a mass.
This guy picked this flower from the bed by which we were standing and then proceeded to try to get Julie to pay 2 dollars for it. He almost started crying when she wouldn't... hmmmm new business strategies anyone?

Me and Marie on the Metro

The National Association of Social Workers or NASW is the big cheese in our field that can take your career away if you move the wrong muscle... You know what I mean. We get daily lectures about this. So being that we are Social Workers and each profession has it's own jokes that are only funny to you and dumb to the rest of the world, the following pictures became necessary.

The men...they may be small in number but they still think they're pretty cool and we don't tend to disagree.

The ginormous board room. I wish you could see the size of this table. It had a window looking out on the Capital Building.

When visiting the monuments there's just something wrong about only smiling next to it. You have to get creative. I very much enjoyed watching others find crazy ways of taking pictures of them. Here are a few of my entries.

Playing with the shadows

My new classic...

gotta love the unnecessary play-by-play

I found this on the war monument. Never seen that before but it's cute!

mmmm north cackilacky

Nothing interesting. Just a cool picture I took. Or at least I thought so.

The big day. Tuesday meeting in the worship room before going and meeting with our Senators.

Our fearless leader, Mrs. Baker.

After Tennessee Tuesday Breakfast with Senators Corker and Alexander and their staff, we went to go present our cases to some of their aides. This was my group and it was incredibly fun to be able to be a voice for our clients. Some of the issues we brought out, they were having to vote on that day and were really glad to hear our opinions.

We thought we were hot stuff.

And well it's pretty clear that we weren't far off lol.

Tickets to the Senate

in between appointments, off came the heels.

Last day was the Holocaust Museum and a service project but I don't have pictures of the first because they weren't allowed. Sorry.

Caught in a sand storm on the mall. Enlarge this one. I find it rather funny.

We responded to letters from prisoners in which they asked for books and then wrote them back. It was a lot of fun.

Yeah so Mrs. Baker apparently LOVED it. ha ha

Classifieds

2009-10-03T10:17:00.001-07:00

It all started with a creative plea for help.

And then due to the leaving of two members of the house party, food had to be eaten so the second plea was entered and the hilarity of it all happened to be mentioned...

Renee bought some spinach only to find out that it was expired and also in dire need of consumption and so when I woke up this morning, this is what I found.

ha ha!

last week of freedom

2009-08-26T20:38:00.001-07:00

Being that it is my last week of freedom I've been trying to live it up...to a certain extent.

Saturday night at the Heilmans

Talking to Ryan and Jaclyn on Skype

And settlers of course
greedy!
These are my other four roommates. Oddly enough they all turned out to be Asian! Which is in part therefore, why my apartment has quite a bit of Asian flair.

But more to do with the fact that Grace just got back from Thailand.
Desmond says these make us total girls.
But there is a little American here and there. :)

Grace got us fisherman pants from Thailand!

Zoo Day

2009-08-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Dad and I headed down to Columbia. Stop #1 was the zoo so I could try out my new camera and be schooled by the master. Though these pictures may just be of animals you've seen before, please stop and take note, stand in awe, whatever is required, because I worked very hard for them to be this beautiful. :)

This would be the master and his adequate equipment.

Weird bird, exposure, just right... (he was glowing in the previous one. lol)

Chillin...
Dad took this one. I cannot take the credit. I just thought it was cute.

I thought he was a cool looking animal. AND what you do not realize is that he is behind glass and an extremely long way away. I love that this camera has a mega zoom. Dad calls it a Bazooka. I'll go with that.
The Thinker

We have to give these guys and honorable mention. Believe it or not, they are the best for teaching speed shots. How you ask? Well because they seem to be in a constant state of love chasing. When Dad was there months ago they were galloping around then too.

What is so cool about this picture to me is that Fatso here, was behind tight wire mesh, but you can't even tell.

Mervin and Larry discuss the weather

And now for my favorite photo shoot...

Check out that tongue action

When I was a kid, some church members of ours used to take us to the Columbia Zoo and, by far, my favorite exhibit were the Siamang Monkeys.

around the house

2009-07-13T13:53:00.001-07:00

I feel like all I'm blogging lately is total randomness but what can I say, here's more. It's probably because I'm just taking pictures so I can play with my new camera

There it is!

Dad reading my manual for me because it's against my religion to do it myself.

The incredibly many bird feeders out our back window.

Dad out in the garden. And right above his head...

...is where these guys live. They're pretty new. Last time Dad looked they were still in eggs.

Sitting on the front porch.

Friday Events

2009-07-13T13:35:00.001-07:00

I took my camera out Friday afternoon to play around with it so here are some random pictures of the evenings happenings at Family Camp.

Tanya really enjoys pizza for supper.

What we do when we are supposed to be taking down the cafeteria for the Worship Lounge

comparing tans...because that's what we do at camp.

Meagan, Me, Tanya, and Brianna, perfectly centered because of my new flip screen that will come out to the side. You can tell I'm looking at it lol.

Candy Bar Kick Ball

the illustrious onlookers

Mikey's flying leap kick

out at first

Lined up for flag lowering

The staff kids did the honors

Getting instructions for the peanut hunt of which there are no pictures because a I was too busy eating them.

This is what happens when I let people play with my hair.

randomness and a rodeo

2009-07-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry, not a ton of pictures of camp partly because I didn't have a camera, partly because I just didn't have time to lug one around if I'd had one, but here are a few that I stole from some other people that had me it them.... and then since I have a camera now, there are ones from the Rodeo we had last night for Family Camp.

Everything gets amped up for teen week and one thing we do is the extreme team challenge. They each have a color for their team and they do some fun stuff. This is the eating challenge

I was the judge for the staff gladiator team.

Girl's counselors pulled a spirit week. This was bad hair day

See, it brings the boys when you look this good.

Friday night first half of the program.

my desk cam...and apparently they're all bird watching

Austie waits patiently in the mule

Uncle Rick's Wild West show with none other than Rick himself as the announcer

Tanya the indian, me the flag bearer wearing a flag, and Joey the red neck about to get on a mule.

Prayer before we begin

The end of the flag parade. Yes it's a bad picture but I'm putting it in here anyway.

Trick riding

Me and my odd self with Senator the grouch

The Flag Drop

Polly and Esther wait for the sheep penning event like sheep waiting for the slaughter

I have a whole ton of video from this too but since the camp's server doesn't allow large uploads, you'll just have to wait on those.

too be little again

2009-06-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

This week is cub camper week which means 7-10 year olds, and though they wear you out, I'd like to put in my vote that they are the absolute best. I've been enjoying being girls director this year because I have had a whole lot more contact with the kids. I can't walk anywhere without having kids tackle me with hugs. Love it!

One cabin chants "hail queen Stephanie" when they see me walk by. Once it came out "Hail king Stephanie" oops. Then there's the trouble of the cabin named Loblolly Pine. They're lucky if they get it as close as loblobby. While some are right on, usually reports at line call sound something like "Pine, no, loby pine, all accted and present for ma'am" Some just get lost and move their mouths and utter jibberish. Saluting is also a definite difficulty. It's the wrong arm or they shield their whole face.

Monday nights we have Miners Camp and to sum it up, it's a musical in which different characters try to get in the mine. To do this they are trying to convince the manager that they have some great talent. One is rich, one has major muscles, one is smart, and one is beautiful. So after the skit the camp pastor gets up, who is one of the staff here, and starts to tie everything in. He was asking the campers questions about the characters and they were yelling back answers when all of the sudden one of the little girls yells "That beautiful lady would be good for you!" I don't really know how Matt recovered from that because I was laughing too hard, but man what a moment. I do know however that he refused to call on her the next morning at camp council. Can you blame him?

Last night the cabins were all out playing in the park play area waiting for line call. There was a storm coming in however and suddenly out of nowhere there was a huge clap of thunder and lightning bolt hit not too far away. Girls started screaming as only girls can while the boys director and I went into "get the campers inside" mode. Later I heard that after the screams died down, one little romeo stood up, arms splayed, and yelled "I'll save you ladies!" What a hero :)

Where else would I work but camp?

and so it began

2009-06-11T08:43:00.001-07:00

After so many weeks of preparation and hours and hours of sitting in a class room talking about this trip, we were finally on our way!

A red eye flight all night later we arrived in England. Just in case you were wondering, all the Tylenol pm did was make me miserable. Very little sleep for me especially with the 3 children screaming in tandem.

But apparently you wouldn't know it or else I'm hiding it very well the next morning, brushing our teeth in between flights in the airport.

Coming in to Brussels Belgium. Doesn't look very different really. At least not until you get close.
This is the sign for "exit"

Our first of VERY many trains. Mom and Dad, this is where I called you from to say I'd made it.

Waiting to leave. Yeah now I'm showing it and it's only about 1 in the afternoon.One freezing cold wait at the train station for an hour.

And then we finally arrive in Brugge. That cream building is our hotel.

Inside as you walk in the hotel. It was really old, like 15th century or something.

Our room was really an apartment.

Our first meal and man was it good. Not to keep complaining but I hadn't eaten in a day and by this point I was running a temp and achy all over, so the soup was just what I needed, well, next to sleep.

It was Natalie's birthday and so the waitor on the left, who could speak 9 different languages by the way, had this ginormous belgian waffle made for her.

Belgium has chocolate shops every other store almost AND there was even one named after me!

This is Market square and that tower was started in the 13th century with each section being added in the next century so I think it was finished in maybe the 16th or 17th. And what's even cooler is that there is a small metal model so the blind can feel what it looks like.

The next morning after I finally got some sleep but was twice as sick :( we started the day off at the market. This is me and my professor eating every fruit sample possible.

However this extremely good looking display was a total downer heh heh

waiting for the canal ride

Nobody can tell you why but for some reason, by law, the city is required to keep a certain number of swans.

When we left Belgium the next day we came through this station and it was probably my favorite of the whole trip. These pictures don't do it justice.

the Holland clogs really do exist!

2009-06-09T17:46:00.001-07:00

Amsterdam, not even close to what I expected for some reason. Just think of it as a very liberal city.

Bikes are a major form of transportation. They have towers like parking garages for those things, and it's not only Amsterdam but also in many cities all over Europe.
And they transport their kids that way too right among the cars while talking on a cell phone. It's amazing to me.

Pets are also commonly found in this brand.

Our hotel was the second building from the left.
And our hotel room. No elevators. Had to lug my suitcase up 5 flights of stairs. :) And they were circular stairs so any time I walked up and down them I ended up halfway dizzy.

Just found it interesting that these guys were making a home with trash and working very well together.

House built on a corner

If you've ever read Diary of Anne Frank this is the church that she talks about.

Our group standing in front of the church

Anne Frank's house. They still have wall hangings just as they were and the bookcase that opens to the stairs above. I cannot imagine having to live in such a small space with no windows open or anything. It's no wonder she loved the sky light. They also said they had to be careful how they walked because with wooden floors walking could be heard. How miserable.

Strollers are all a very different style. We thought they were cool.

Getting instructions

The Queen's residence

This house looks just about dead.

This, in case you were wondering, is a public urinal. Yes that's right, they face the wall and pee onto that large square and it's totally in plain view.

There are even directions.

The next day we took a train out to a little Holland village.

They even had windmills!

and THE BEST homemade cheese. This variety was pesto and though this picture doesn't look so convincing, it was delectable.

Tour guides always carry a stick with a number and they are EVERYWHERE, so Asa made Krista carry this for us.

Back in the room, eating what I would soon come to live on. Rice cakes and peanut butter.

Corrie ten Boom's house

The wall where they would hide Jews.

You had to enter through the bottom of the closet and it could only be opened from the inside.

The sign that said, everything was OK to come in that Corrie's sister forgot to turn and then tried to but got caught.

One of the churches where Mozart and Handel practiced and played.

The outside with the market in front of it.

Holland is of course known for their tulips as you will see in a second. Each market not only has food but flowers too and they are extremely cheap.

Keukenhof Gardens

There are tulip arrangements everywhere. It's got to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

People are all about the pictures. No mind to the signs. At one point a guy tramped into the middle, spread his arms out around the flowers and crunched them all in to him for a dynamic photo. I just watched in horror.

These are called ice cream cones.

rivers, too many trains, and a concentration camp

2009-06-09T09:13:00.001-07:00

Arrival in Germany

This was at one of the train stations we stopped at.

A little town on the banks of the Rhine where we stopped at to get on a boat.

Waiting with all our luggage. I should have taken a picture of me hugging my suitcase. It was my lifeline. We became very close since it was my "house" for 4 weeks.

Amanda and I on the boat.

Some of the scenery along the river. There are castles about a mile apart all the way down the river. They were all rich because they'd stay there and get taxes from the barges going down the river. Must have been awfully expensive to be a seamen since every mile you had another tole to pay.

This castle was built to look like a ship coming towards you. I don't remember why though.

This was the longest and the worst day of the trip. Other than the boat ride we were on trains all day, and it was on a train for 2 hours, rush to the next one, haul your luggage on, ride for an hour, haul your luggage off...you get the picture.

And to top it off, we even got on the wrong train a couple times.

This guy was at the entrance he Heidelberg Castle shaking his hips like a hula girl, clapping his hands, and going woooo wooOOO! hilarious.

The city of Heidelberg from the Castle

The courtyard of the castle

In our hotel when we FINALLY got to Dachau. The biggest pillow ever, except it was entirely worthless.
The entrance to Dachau Concentration Camp.

The train tracks that led up to the gate.

This says "Work will make you free"

Germany requires that all school children visit a concentration camp at least once so that the Holocaust will never happen again.

I couldn't even sit up straight. these barracks were meant to hole 200 people but they jammed 2000 in each one.
This houses the gas chamber showers and the ovens.

Where the gas was put in.

Where the dead bodies were put in preparation for burning.

and well, you know what that is.

a mass grave

The wall where they were lined up and shot with a trench in front for the blood.

It was quite an experience. When I saw a picture of the exact spot where I was standing with bodies piled high I can't tell you how sick I felt. As I was walking out of one of the barracks there were boys arguing and telling each other how stupid they were and it hit me how this is not something of the past. It's going on everywhere.

Later in England at the war museum we went to the Holocaust section and they had some very moving displays. One was a quote from the man that provided trucks in which many were gassed. It said that he was at first unsure that they were a good idea but when he saw how hard shooting the prisoners was on the soldiers he decided that this would be best. WHO CARES ABOUT THE SOLDIERS! They also had video footage of Hitler proudly proclaiming that they would wipe out the entire Jewish nation and men cheering and screaming, big smiles on their faces.

The glockenspiel in Munich Germany

There are lots of these guys around in cities in Europe, and by that I mean just street performers. They make them a lot of fun.

This was in a beerhaus. It's a family affair to come to these things and they drink beer by the gallon pretty much, no kidding.

the hills ARE alive

2009-06-08T16:43:00.001-07:00

Salzburg, Austria!

Our hotel

The hotel lobby. Behind me to the right is the computer where I e-mailed many of you.

our room

Two men having a chess dual in the town square.

Traditionally fathers bring their daughters when they're 13 to take a ride through town in one of these carts.

This is the church which I have dubbed the surround sound cathedral.

There were 5 organs shooting to every point in the church.

Mozart's house

We climbed up to a castle way up on the hill that you will see later to take this one and the next one. Below me is the town square.

This is the Untersberg Mountain that Maria talks about.

Jen and I up in the catacombs looking down into the graveyard that they used for the Sound of Music, except I didn't know I was there...

Our tour bus

The back of the house that they used and the lake that they came rowing up in.

We legally can't get up close to the house that they used for the front but these are the trees that they hung out of and you can see just a bit of the yellow wall that she walks down beside.

And you know what that is!!!

This is the Abby that they used. Sorry I grabbed this as we drove past in the bus.

The church where they were "married"

It's SO much smaller in real life then it looks in the movie

The bridge they run down

The Do-Re-Mi steps, and that castle in the background is the one we climbed up to.

They bop this guy on the head

and run down this tunnel

One of the very best days of the trip.

taken over by tourists

2009-06-08T13:51:00.001-07:00

We got to Venice and spent the evening walking around enjoying the sights.

This is how you get over to it by train.

Amanda on our balcony, and unfortunately I think this is the only picture I have of our room. It wasn't that great and it had bed bugs. Miserable.

Our hotel. The gate at the end led into a garden. People in Italy all hang their clothes out to dry. Those lines are everywhere.

Matise, the hotel dog, in her favorite spot.

Each family has their own poles with their own colors or crests. You can tell how much money each family has by how fancy they are.

St. Marks Square. It was so incredibly full of people. Cruise ships come in by the droves and drop off thousands of people.

You travel everywhere by water taxi. There are no boats or bikes allowed.

Mary Jane I took this just for you. I thought it would be adequate for your needs.

We escaped the tourist crowded main island, or I guess it's technically a lagoon, to Murano for lunch.

And then to another outlying island called Burano that is known for it's colorful houses. It's a cute little fishing village.

Out looking for a gondola and something to eat.

Since there was nothing on the menu that I could eat I kindly said I'd take nothing so...he brought me nothing.

If you ever do this, bring lots of friends. Its 100 euros for a 15 minute ride. But what an experience.

You're supposed to kiss somebody every time you go under a bridge... hmmm

Enter a big hole for the beach day. I will say this about that... Everybody was wearing as little as possible if anything at all. Sorry no pictures.

Back from the beach we went up into a bell tower in St Marks Square.

This is what Venice looks like from above.

The bells went off twice while we were up there. Bout blew my ears off :)

The entrance to Saint Marks Square from above. Anybody recognize this from Italian Job?

Then came just about the most fun part of the trip.

Feeding pigeons in the square

When the food falls out of your hands they attach your feet. Tiny beak nibbling at you. Very freaky at first.

And well this picture speaks for itself.

be prepared for some amazing scenery

2009-06-08T12:33:00.001-07:00

Switzerland!

Our hotel! My room was on the far right coming out onto the balcony.

The balcony view

Inside the room.

The duvets were great. We slept with the windows open every night even though it was 30 degrees and I was still plenty warm. Best I've ever slept in my life.

Room keys are a little different.

This waterfall was right next to our hotel and you could hear it at night. The sheep below each had bells around their necks and it sounded like wind chimes as they grazed.

The view from just out of the hotel.

These are cow bells and they are extremely heavy. I truly feel sorry for the poor animals. Just to help you out, I could fit my head in that one and still have plenty of room.

We took a gondola ride up the side of the mountain the first morning.

And there was the view! I believe this is looking out to the top of Europe which is exactly that, the highest point.

Their water fountains. Europe in general does it this way, a pole with water shooting out. But let me tell you, this was THE BEST water I have ever had. Better than ice cream and you think I'm kidding.

There are quite a few paragliders around. Half of our group went. There's also base jumping and any type of sport you can do in the mountains.

Walking between villages

Fastest slide ever. Entirely too much fun.

After the hecticness of most of the trip it was nice to be in the relaxing atmosphere of Switzerland. We had a lot of time off and I spent a good part of it sitting on our porch reading or writing in my journal I had to do for the class.
Asa got a splinter and we had to hold her down to get it out.

Out for an afternoon walk and these guys were walking down the main road of town.
It was a great walk. Natalie's happy to have ice because it is a rarity in Europe. We had a lady flatly refuse to give it to us in Paris because it wasn't the right season, but then she also told us that American's liked to make food that made them fat. hmmm ok she's probably right.
I want one of these.

The last day we took a cruise on Lake Brienz

Lunch on the dock, waiting for the boat to come back and pick us up, which it never did and we had to run through town to another stop.

But while we waited I got to feed the swans and enjoy the sun so it wasn't too terrible.

the great UK

2009-06-08T12:18:00.001-07:00

Sorry these got out of order and I can't figure out how to fix that unless someone knows and wants to tell me. But England was our last stop. There aren't very many pictures because my camera was dead by this point and I already had amazing ones from when I was there with my family. But I stole some from Jen so here are a few of the highlights.

The first day we were there was some sort of holiday and they had a big marathon that prevented us from seeing the changing of the guard and shut down half the city.

There's a name for this church and I can't remember it for the life of me, but it was significant because it's known it's work with the poor and needy. They also have concerts there once or twice a day and this is the one I went to. VERY good and it was even free!

Our rooms were VERY small here. There was hardly room to walk around your bed and as Abby demonstrates you could wash your hair, go the the bathroom, and wash your hand all at the same time.

There are SO many dogs in Europe. You can bring them with you anywhere--into stores, on the trains, in restaurants. It's great.

Westminster

Our illustrious leaders and Jackie

Waiting for the evening service at Westminster.

This was inside the War Museum. One of the best I have ever been in. To elaborate more would just take too much of your time but I will say they even had places where you could experience and air raid with shaking floors and everything, and also what it would be like to be in a trench. Plus what it would be like to be in a submarine and you got chances to looked through a pariscope and bottom the boat successfully.

there's just something about Paris

2009-06-07T12:43:00.001-07:00

I've always heard about Paris and that people loved it and I arrived determined to not be affected by all the hype but then...well, there's just something about Paris.

Everywhere you look there is extremely cool architecture. Napoleon practically built the entire place with the help of a few others.

This is the Pantheon in the Latin Quarter so named because that was the language spoken there. It was the center for education.

This is the square where that guy who was the first king to be assassinated was beheaded I believe. Also Bloody Mary? but don't quote me on that. I took in a whole lot of information in 4 weeks and I'm having trouble remembering it all.

My first view of the Eiffel Tower!!! taken from the tour bus. Don't meditate on this one too long. There are billions of other photos to come from all angles since I couldn't decide which ones I liked the best.

This is the Ritz Hotel where Diana walked out of the night she died. I heard them tell me that I was near the tunnel but I never was able to find it. :(

This is a famous bookstore where many famous authors have come to sit and write their books as I understand it. There are book sellers along the roads everywhere you go as well but I don't think I have a picture of those. :(

This is a little chapel called Sainte Chapelle that was used by a family. I believe it was built in the 13th Century and known for its stain glass windows.

There are 14 panels like this and they depict Genesis through the Resurrection.
This is the Arche de Triumph. Basically it's a memorial to all of Napolean's battles. The traffic around this thing is crazy. There are no lanes and people just shove themselves right into the middle. I don't know how they stay alive.

The back of Notre Dame

The front

And then I believe this is the inside but I'm sorry it doesn't do it justice. It's probably one of my favorite churches.

The Luvre

Inside the courtyard. I houses a museum of artifacts and art now but it used to be a palace and it's HUGE.

This is one of Napolean's rooms.

Yep that's me with the REAL one! It's kind of small. Sorry the picture quality isn't better but there is a mob trying to do the exact same thing I am.

We had lunch Saturday in Luxembourg park.

Another view of the park, and Jen!

These guys are everywhere. Very intimidating.

And now for the Eiffel Tower show...

Starting at 10 pm they light it up on the hour with sparkling lights for about 5 minutes. Notice how light it was at 10 at night.

This doesn't even begin to show you what Paris is like but hopefully you got the idea.

and now for the grand show...

2009-06-07T12:34:00.001-07:00

I was so incredibly excited to be in Holland that I simply had to...

And then how can you contain yourself when you get to the Gazebo on the Sound of Music in Austria?

And of course you have to run through the tunnel too.

thinking about it...

couldn't resist jumping in Switzerland

EIFFEL TOWER!
Notice I'm missing a shoe...Yeah I kicked that off in mid jump and just barely missed an innocent bystander.

SonRise

2009-05-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you that wondered what I really did for SonRise I've pulled together a few pirated pictures from Tanya and Dave of a couple of the events. Unfortunately I have to pictures of the 3 weeks of auditions, or all of the Ex Comm meetings, of the endless hours in front of my computer or on the phone, or in meetings with this and that person... But here are some of the behind the scenes pictures.

Friday night recruiting at vespers.

Dave (co-director of Drama and Casting), Me (Casting Director), Jellique (Casting Crew) and Andy (Drama Director and also Jesus in the final Production)

Tanya even came out and helped! And on the far right is Lunelle who was on my casting crew and then later was a flying angel in the resurrection. Jellique was a cast memeber as well, but I can't remember where amazingly enough. For shame

Night before getting final directions to the scene directors.

And the final scramble for cast.

Day of, the Jesi being very Jesus like with their modern technology.

Tanya and her demon scariness

For pictures of what the program looks like go to myspace.com/sonrise2008 and then in the top left click on pics or the picture itself.

Looking back on it now, though I've never been so stressed in my entire life, it was A LOT of fun. Which is why we take pictures I guess...to remember. Sorry there aren't more I was just usually thinking of everything but my camera

heat = go outside?

2009-04-26T07:42:00.001-07:00

The last Sabbath afternoon of the school year...

This was my view out the back window as I was doing lunch dishes.

Since it was the first really hot day of the year, a big group of us headed to the River Park.

GQ'n it with the Blue Heron of peace...or something like that.

It was hot... but we made the best of it.

he he

Grace never did stand for such nonsense...but um, these pictures were her idea just so you know.

Desmond is so manly he won't even let Alex in the picture.

Ultimate frisbee. Did I mention it was oober hot?

Renee demonstrates the head catching technique. She's going to be Grace's roommate next year. Therefore I will be living with three Asians and one part Asian. Didn't know I had such an affinity, but hey they are all pretty great.

Nathan and I caught the frisbee at the same time. It was a beautiful moment but after the shock wore off the fight then followed.

The music crew.

what alumni do

2009-04-26T07:30:00.001-07:00

Alumni was a great weekend to see an incredible amount of people in a short time. We're talkin a hundred in one day, or at least it seemed like it. My class actually had better attendance than the five year and probably almost the ten year.

After lunch a few of us that could still stay around headed up on the parkway.

I wish you could see the jump he's making... scary as at get out and landing on a 90 degree rock.

Desmond, Caleb, and Me, sitting up on the rocks yelling for Kevin and Rachel to jump in the cold mountain water.

Sarah, Me, Missy, and Adrienne.

Sarah and Missy were in the class above me and Adrienne is Desmond's girlfriend who will most likely be one of my housemates next year.

happy happy joy joy

2009-04-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday was my last class and the last social work class for all of us Juniors. It was also our professors last class before he heads back into the army. He's putting together some sort of marriage counseling for the soldiers and has gotten extremely good reception from it. He's getting phone calls from top therapists and the pentagon and has been commissioned to run this huge program. We're all very proud to know him. Anyway, here's a video you may or may not enjoy of us all sitting at Sonic since we convinced our professor to take us as a farewell.

day trip

2009-03-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend at Candi's house and on Saturday we went down to Kim's for lunch, to see the new baby, and get some riding in. Sorry no pictures of the baby. BUT... Hannah at one month old already has her own horse.

This is Winnie. Don't let her short stature fool you. She's a pistol and happens to have the rest of the herd of boys totally in rapture. They prefer to spend their days next to her pen rather than grazing. Not kidding.

David and Goliath. Actually that's Perry. He's her Frisian and the Cadillac of all horses.

Not sure whether to put this one up or not. I promise I was only trying to make him stand, but it looks like I was pulling his mouth off.

Look at that mane!

Kim jumping Sunny the perfect little western guy. Did I mention I got to jump Perry? It was over a log in the woods and on that guy you feel like you are floating.

You can't help but love the guy.

to get old

2009-03-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

People say that getting old is awful because you feel like you're losing your mind. What if I've already lost it?The other day I made it all the way out to my car before I realized that the merchandise in my hand had not been paid for. Dodging the steel bars that now seemed to be everywhere, I successfully made it back into the store to pay for my crime without being noticed by a single person... Apparently it's really easy to steal, but don't try this at home. Maybe my angels just made me invisible for a bit so I could have my senior moment at 22.

Furthermore, being senile can go hand in hand with 20/20 vision. You know you have a problem when your roommate refuses to move her desk over for optimum space inhabitation because she knows you'll kill yourself if she does it. Let me explain. According to her, I hit either the corner protruding towards the desk, her sitting at the desk, or the desk, most every time I walk by. I didn't really feel that this was fair, but upon her role play of the event in every possible situation, I had to admit it did look extremely like me. And.... well.... yesterday I ran into something both coming in the room and leaving it. She felt the need to give a rather hearty "I told you so." I just nursed my throbbing body parts and pretended as if it was the wall's fault.I really don't understand why depth perception alludes me.

My crowning act, which I am ashamed to say happens on and fairly regular basis, is when, like yesterday, I am walking beside a wall and happen to come across an open door way. BAM! my shoulder makes contact with the inside of the door frame and I am immediately stopped in my tracks.

Older adults will walk into the room, smile and say to me, "honey don't ever get old. I can't even remember why I came in this room." Is it bad that I'm thinking, honey, this isn't a foreign event for me. I probably do it more than you do.

So if anyone would like council on what it's like to get old, please don't hesitate to call. I'm a trained professional AND I'm ahead of my time.

all the way to tim-buk-too

2009-03-07T10:37:00.001-08:00

Spring break finally came and I am sad to say I'm almost at the point where I will have to say it went. After spending the weekend with my parents I flew to Jaclyn and Ryan's for the week. I should say I tried to fly... Charlotte got a tad bit of snow and it shut the world down, so I arrive 6 hours late. But that's better than some of the poor people I met on the way so I guess I have nothing to complain about.

By the second night, only because Ryan got stuck in a staff meeting on the first, we had Settlers out. Toby likes to put his two cents in too. But for the most part he can't stand to be on the floor when everybody else isn't.
I have never met a dog with SO much personality. He's almost human. I wish you could see the rest of him. I'm holding him like I would a baby, and he loves it.

Believe it or not, this is him in his most comfortable state. Every night he climbs up in Jaclyn's lap and goes to sleep in some position similar to this. Rough life. He's such a mamma's boy.

We picked up a gate so that they can restrict him to the kitchen when needed. See how happy he is about the whole thing?

We spent two days painting... Day 1 was baseboards and doors in the living area.

Day 2 was the bathroom.

To keep with "tradition" we had to write something on the wall. Toby got included even though he was stuck outside. I say stuck but I think he was pretty happy about it. He dug holes and chased his tale til he was caught in his line and couldn't spin any more all morning long.

Working on the fourth coat at 8 o'clock after doing the books and score board for Ryan's game. All in a days work.
When Toby finally got to come back inside he very much enjoyed getting high off of the drop cloth.
While poor Ryan was stuck in class, Jaclyn and I headed to a Wilderness Safari place.

Before you go out on the Safari there's a petting zoo and monkey houses you can go through. This was a baby Capucha (or however you spell that) monkey named Chloe you could pet and hold.
It was at this moment that I figured out adulthood was boring. When I was a kid I always wanted a lemur, had a stuffed animal of one that I absolutely adored, and at 22 when I finally got to get this close to one, my life's dream, it just wasn't nearly as exciting as I had always pictured. How boring am I.

Fact of the day: goats are picky. They don't like whole wheat bread and the won't eat it off the ground... it HAS to come from your hand. Spoiled brats.

Yay for petting Kangaroos! I didn't think they were that nice, but this guy didn't seem to care one bit. In fact I think he rather enjoyed it!

They are extremely soft...like a rabbit.

This one's got a little somethin somethin hiding out inside. :)

Strangest chicken I ever did see. If that doesn't make you giggle then maybe you're more boring then I am ha ha.

The safari proved to be a lot dodging self promoted sentinels.

What a way to sleep...

The camels were very friendly and made it a point to stare into your car as you passed by. This one was obliged to use the rear view mirror as a scratching post.

They had all kinds of animals. I'll leave those for Jaclyn's blog perhaps. :) It was a regular zoo and then some. I was pretty impressed.

Friday night, Toby got to have a friend over. Yeah... was pretty excited.

I think Buddy however was a little bit intimidated by this young whipper snapper.

For the most part Toby played the part of the only child who wasn't quite sure he liked sharing his family.

Tomorrow I fly back to Charlotte and Monday back to school... yuk. I'm feeling stressed just thinking about it. It's been a pretty fantastic spring break.

Ha Ha-ing in the Margins

2009-02-23T19:18:00.001-08:00

Ever feel like the bible isn't real? Like the people in it were not like you at all? Perhaps that's just me, but I am here today to tell you that they were real and in so many ways just like us. Why do I say this, well because today I found a verse that just made me giggle. Proverbs 27:14

If you shout a pleasant greeting to your neighbor too early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse!

There you have it. King Solomon was not a morning person. HA HA HA HA! God bless him for that. I think it's hilarious! And that's in the Bible and it wasn't a mistake that it was put there. Good to know God cares about those little funny things enough to give them mention.

The Abby Show

2009-02-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

I had to get in 10 hours of parent/child observation for my Parenting class so I called up Callie. Thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. Get the hours in and have fun seeing a friend at the same time.

And I hope you like baby pictures because well, she's pretty much the star of this blog.

Sabbath morning eating cheerios/throwing them on the floor for Aslan. You simply can't tell me she isn't the cutest baby EVER!

And then came the Abby show...

Callie and were watching youtube movies Saturday night and were rather enjoying them. I'd found a particularly juicy one and called Callie over to see it. Abby did not appreciate the break in supper so we switched and I started feeding her while Callie watched. Problem: Callie and I were laughing. Abby thought this was hilarious and started laughing too, which meant her food came spewing out of her mouth. Well this was even funnier to me and...lets just hope this was only a one night habit. Other wise I'm TRULY sorry Callie. Either way it does happen to make for some rather fun footage.

Apparently she doesn't like to spew on camera so that was the before, and here comes the after.

She and I were both covered in carrots by the time all of this was over.

And then this one, just because it's adorable.

Callie and Andy had to go to something for the school this morning so I got to babysit!

This is Aslan, SO busted, thanks to this picture. Abby thinks it's hilarious to put her toys in Aslan's nose and he can't handle the temptation not to eat them.

A Working Birthday...Woohoo 22

2009-02-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Birthday Party #1. Picture stolen from the Heilmans. Sitar with Mom, Mary Jane, and Randy!

Day of, I woke up to this...

And just to make it more like a birthday (please detect the sarcasm dripping from that statement) I spent every spare moment doing this...

Can you see the piles of articles? I was trying to find some form of organization. heh...

But I actually did a slight bit of partying

A bunch of the girls took me to my favorite restaurant PF Changs for a late lunch and were "nice" enough to sing extremely loudly to me while we were there. :)

Sarah made me my very own cake with chocolate and strawberries! But that's Tricia sitting next to me...don't want to confuse. Sarah is far left in the previous picture.

And then Tanya got a hold of the camera and wouldn't stop. Here are three specimens of the 30...Some of them are blurry. Sorry. But they're still kinda funny.

Tayco Ball

2009-02-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

It was four o'clock on a Thursday. We'd been in class for 3 hours in a room we affectionately call "the closet" with one more hour to go when I decided we had to do something after class. It's been the most awful week and though it definitely isn't over... I needed to do something fun. So I started inviting and several of us social work girls headed to Taco Bell after class.

Mariessa and Lisa

Julie and Sarah M.
Julie is also my fellow Celiac sufferer. We do a lot of cooking together.

Sarah M and Sarah H. and there's one more Sarah but she didn't come.

aaaand if you have ever gone to Taco Bell with Jaclyn or I, you know that we play the Taco Bell game. At first it might sound bad but it's actually quite fun. You sit so all you can see is the front of the car going through the drive through then guess what kind of person is driving it. Race, age, sex, etc.

So here it is. The Taco Bell Game Copyright Jaclyn and Stephanie Ford 1990's

Candi and I. She's talking to her cousin about the road kill deer he just pulled off the road for dinner.

And all of us minus Lisa... Mariessa's self photo skills were almost perfect. Carrie do you give lessons?

rainy days and weekends

2009-02-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

We've been fairly deprived of rain since I got my new rain boots, but last week it finally came. For a half a day anyway.

They make my life SOOO much easier. It's a wonder I waited this long to get them.

This weekend I went to my friend Jeana's house. And they had this chair...

If you're not careful it will fall over backwards, as pictured here.

But if you're careful you can manipulate the levers correctly and recline while getting a rather nice heated massage.

Saturday afternoon we went for a hike.

This is Daisy the pack dog

Emily and I had fun on the fallen tree that doubled as a trampoline.

I sense a head in my cup

2009-02-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

Back in the days of childhood, every newby that came to the Heilmans house at some time or another got stuck with the cups with animals in them or the cockroach ice cube. There are many home videos of the event, one the best ones being ryan getting mad at his parents for doing it to Rachelle. Well a new cup has been inducted into the club right alongside the good old bear and frog ones. We tried it out for the first time on Ryan. Watching the video makes me feel just like a kid again except this time there are just a few things different.

1. It takes place during a rather competitive game of settlers instead of a break from Raffi dancing.
2. Ryan's married!
3. Oddly enough we're drinking kale smoothies instead of the normal OJ giving it a duck in pond sludge aura. Can't beat it.
4. The burst of technology- no more humungus video camera to give it away. It's all about the cell phones.

Things change so fast. Who would have thought we'd be here? But it's good to know that some things will always stay the same.

this christmas

2008-12-28T11:58:00.001-08:00

Jaclyn and Ryan are moving to Arkansas which means they're completely moving out of their respective homes.

But don't let the smiles fool you...

This is how we really feel. Mom apparently is still holding on to her brave face, but she'll join the ranks of the downtrodden and crazy soon enough.

Enough of that... it's supposed to be Christmas.

Mom and I had fun with the presents this year. Can you tell this one has a poinsettia made out of ribbon on it?

Socks are somehow always on the Christmas list. This year pictures were a big one. The one on the left is one of a set of two for mom and dad. The other one is of Jaclyn and Ryan...no I'm not that stuck on myself. :) and the one on the right is from Jaclyn for me!

I'll give you some of the highlights of the rest.

Mom got the plate that matches her cookie jar and bowl among other things.

Ryan got some NY Giants golf club covers from me and the parents.

I happened to find these one day and they fit Jaclyn rather well. By her reaction I think I chose fairly decently. They say things like "Dance like nobody is watching." Carrie, Jaclyn says she's sending that one to you...

I kept with the Kitchen theme quite a bit since I am trying to come up with one. Not terribly exciting but terribly needed. And now that Jaclyn is moving I can't just run 30 seconds down the road to grab some such supply I don't have. But we aren't going to talk about that. This blender is a replacement for the one I already have, which can't blend water without smelling like it might explode.

Dad got a nice....uhhh... jogging suit? or lay around the house in comfort fleece thingy that we all think makes him look like quite the stud. he he.

Their big present was a DVD/VCR player.

And I got them an ornament from Things Remembered that says "Knight's First Christmas"

This happens to be my favorite present probably. It's a puzzle ball that Mom and I spent Friday night putting together.

The Ford girls
heh well that's probably politically incorrect. I guess I'm the only "purebred" left. Between the three of us we have 5 last names.

And what Christmas would be complete without some Settlers.

the trouble with haystacks

2008-12-13T14:33:00.001-08:00

Katie surprised us and came over for the weekend. Saturday afternoon we watched Joseph and then before going to coolidge decided we'd better eat something even tho we'd eaten 2-3 hours previous. Haystacks it what I had but there's a problem with haystacks. It's hard to keep them small. sooo....

Yes I know, I'm odd but I had to take a picture of this because I am proud. It's pumpkin cheesecake with graham cracker crust and it is almost gone. Julie came over last night and we made a gluten free dinner complete with this and I must say we pulled it off nicely. Katie commented she didn't know gluten free could taste so good.

Coolidge has got to be one of my favorite places on earth

Trying to get to her level

we had lots of fun with the sculptures

Bird watching with an old friend

This has got to be one of my favorite sculptures ever.

This sculpture chair thing however was quite disturbing.

I just liked this door.

Grace on the elephant fountain

Is it just me or is the english not entirely correct? I don't exactly get what is being said.

They have these gold feet on the sidewalk that show you how to do different dances. This is the Cha Cha.

12 days of christmas countdown

2008-12-13T14:22:00.001-08:00

Christmas is coming amazingly fast. Since I got back from Thanksgiving it's been one event after another first of which being putting up my measly Christmas tree.

I probably should invest in an angel.

Then there was Christmas on the promenade. Sarah and Grace made friends with Santa Clause. He appears delighted.

And Thursday night of this week, different Southern groups, the fire dept, and the community kitchen teamed up to put on a party for some kids. You know like those ones that you hear about in story books where Santa comes in on a fire truck? Well he did. I went with Phi Alpha which is the Social Work Honor Society.

Grace, Jodi, and I ran the ornament making station.

This little boy would yell YAY!!! and clap enthusiastically every time I successfully put a dot of glitter glue where he would tell me to. There were some great kids. The coolest thing all night tho was this family, two boys and a girl, whose names were Romeo, Casanova, and Bella.

Roast Beastyfu 08

2008-11-28T18:29:00.001-08:00

Ryan and Jaclyn are at our house for this Holiday.
Event 1: Baseball. Red Sox vs. Braves

The following ensued...

The Red Sox completely and totally dominated... Later in the series the big looser switched his team to the Yankees because he knows his team stinks, and proceeded to dominate the Red Sox. (the game actually bats and fields according to their team standing that year. I mean you have a lot to do with it but if the player can't catch in real life, you have a hard time getting him to do it in the game.)

Then came the park and some frisbee throwing...or chasing the frisbee all over the field, if you want to go for the more truthful description.

And then the frisbee decided to take on other territory, as if the entire field wasn't enough, and ended up in a tree. We intellectuals were trying to think up a way to get it down when I turned around and found Ryan pulling an entire tree out of the ground.

He then proceeded to successfully get the frisbee back. We were proud to know him.

After pizza and a movie, the evening ended with putting together a puzzle while Ryan DJ'd on the computer over dad's stereo system.

Thursday night we put up the tree being that Thanksgiving has "passed" and we can now, AND ONLY NOW, move on to the next holiday.

Sunday's Happenings

2008-11-23T11:47:00.001-08:00

Grace has her birthday on tuesday, Desmond's was last Thursday, and Kristen's was today, so we all went out to eat.

Kristen learns how to test a battery with your tongue.

I think we need some more guys in the group eh?

The rest of the day has been spent on my two projects that are due tomorrow.
This is statistical analysis on skittles and kidney beans with Tricia, Lisa, and Katelyn

Tomorrow, Sarah, Missy, and I are doing a presentation on Catholicism and Protestantism so we have turned it into a "presidential" debate.

This is Pope Benedict The Missy
A close up of the crucifix and the lovely hat, that I'm sure they don't call a hat.
We actually start arguing and accusing in this thing. It's rather funny, to us anyway. At one point in the practice I accidentally said that we as protestants did not practice the birthing of babies. Hmmm let's hope I don't slip up like that tomorrow, should have been baptism.

window pictionary

2008-11-23T11:20:00.001-08:00

I forgot to post these pictures from last weekend. Tanya and I decided to put make a sabbath meal together since we hadn't all year. She made us sit at the table with napkins and juice too, so since it was such a momentous occasion it was documented.

Indian Haystacks with homemade ranch and mango naked juice.

Then Tanya got the brilliant idea to play pictionary and since we didn't have a whiteboard I suggest the living room window.

It actually worked really well.

The game board

the night life

2008-11-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

I was making my bed when I happened to look at the clock. CRUD! nine minutes to get to the other side of campus and statistics class. How in the world would I manage this? A quick look in the mirror found a monster instead of me. Shower, I need a shower...in 9 minutes. This was never going to work. Why hadn't I been looking at the time?! Running into the bathroom I started to hear my sister call my name. Deciding to ignore her I continued to get ready but she wouldn't stop gently calling my name as though she were trying to wake me up. Finally in exasperation I yelled "what!" which was enough to actually, wake me up. glancing at the clock in real time I found that CRUD! I WAS late.

Now tell me how I knew that? Somehow in my sleep I knew I was late, and that I needed to go take a shower. My sister does not obviously live with me but I had it in my head that someone was coming to wake me up since I apparently hadn't set my alarm clock. I think that's crazy weird.

But get this one. The other night, WHILE SLEEPING, I was watching a movie with friends in my dream. I knew that I needed to wake up and that I'd be late if I didn't but I wanted to watch the movie! When my friends commented that I better wake up I told them I would as soon as I got to my favorite scene. So here I am, fast asleep, becoming late, because I wouldn't allow myself to stop watching a movie in my dreams! Luckily Tanya woke up and started moving around, something she rarely does before me, and it was enough to wake me up. I know people who don't get up when the alarm clock goes off but what happens when your sleep makes you keep sleeping!?!

I swear I enter another world at night. It's almost like I have two personalities I just turn one off at night and turn on the other. I solve the day personality's problems, conquer the world, get chased by murderers, become the next 007, make three meals a day, go to class. When trying to put together skits for camp i have come up with some downright amazing ones in my sleep that I obviously couldn't remember when I woke up. It's like I have this creative side that comes out. I remember writing a whole broadway once and it was REALLY good! Now why can't I do that when I'm awake? No wonder I always feel tired, I'm pulling double duty. Is there something wrong with me?

Extremely Casual Fridays

2008-11-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

Every year Southern puts on a school spirit week which is never much of a smashing success. In part I blame in on the fact that we are adults with jobs outside of class, and taking the time to de-craze our hair or un-retro ourselves, is just a bit of a hassle. I admit, tho school spirit day in highschool was what I lived for, I barely acknowledge it's presence here. Except for the one day that I keep quite religiously--pajama day. Unfortunately I ran into the issue of work as well. Attire at the office is all of a professional type. Many important people come in and out during the day so we must dress accordingly. Though it would take more work, I decided on bringing a change of clothes and wearing my PJ's for the rest of the day.

Stepping out of the elevator at work, clad in my polka dot PJ's and brightly striped slippers with pom poms, I ran straight into my boss Tricia who gave me the oddest look. "Don't worry, I'm going to go change" I quickly said.Her answer however was "why? Keep them on!" Sweeeeeeeet. I must add that the extreme excitement I felt in being able to wear PJ's to work did not take time to realize the psychological ramifications that would follow. You just feel funny walking down the halls among people in full business attire as if you are caught in a nightmare and EVERYBODY is staring at you.

I was standing in Tricia's office going through some files when President Bietz and a faculty member walked in. I looked up to find Dr. Bietz staring at me. I smiled to myself and kept working, only to look up at him again and find he was still staring at me, obviously confused. This time I decided to smile but offered no explanation. He gave me a quirky smile in return and slowly turned back to what he was doing.

Walking out of the office I was followed by our illustrious VP, Dr Young who is business in human form. I could just feel him staring at me and when I went into my office his eyes stayed on my feet. Minutes later Tricia walks into my office giggling. "guess what just happened?!" Apparently Dr Young had walked up to Tricia and in absolute seriousness and graveness sought the information on his mind. (I encourage you to meditate on the mental picture here)

Leaning in he quitely asked, "is our student worker wearing her pajamas?" Puffing up her chest and smiling as if there wasn't a reason in the world that this would be odd, Tricia answered "yes she sure is!" Dr Young let this sink in, furrowed his brow, and proceeded with a simple "why?" Tricia explained to which he replied "oh" and retreated into his office. He must have thought we were all losing our collective minds. Though there were many opportunities to say something to me about the situation he never did but instead chose to never acknowledge my presence. You can't really blame him. Besides, by this point all he would have had to do was look at me and I would have burst out laughing.

Here's to living extremely casual friday's to their fullest.

Missions Weekend

2008-11-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

This last week at school was student missions emphasis week. Each day the department did something different like handing out doughnuts on the Promenade or all wearing our shirts... etc. Friday night we all marched in with the different flags of the world and had a special vespers. It was really quite fun.

Everybody standing in the atrium waiting.

Grace and Robbie. Robbie went to highschool with us way back in the day.

Always together. Doesn't get much better than that.

Sara and I. She was a task force dean last year too. Can you tell I felt a little like Miss America? A girls dream come true without even trying lol.

Then sabbath afternoon was spent at the Missions expo where students put together booths to try and recruit for the places they went to. This the deaning booth. Desmond was a chaplain but his booth was next to ours. Between the two booths there was a good ten of us that just had a ton of fun all afternoon.

This is Grace's booth. I wish you could have seen the whole place. They do it in the student center and it's really really colorful with a big blown up globe in the center. It just makes you want to go out and be a missionary tomorrow.

Then came Saturday night in which I was determined to do something fun. Grace was off carving pumpkins with the Chemistry dept and I was feeling inspired so we went to get a pumpkin from walmart...and some stuff to make cookies with.

(This is the pumpkin Grace and Sarah carved. Isn't it the coolest ever? It's Noah's Ark!)

On our way out the door we met this little guy. His name is Rocky, raised by one of the guys in the village. I've always wanted to hold a squirrel.

To make a long story short, while waiting for tanya to pick out a puzzle, which took 16 years, I kind of killed the pumpkin.

That's right, split the thing dead in half... on accident. Got it for free tho, they wouldn't let me pay for it. Anybody know some good pumpkin recipes since it's lost it's ability to be a pumpkin head?

After making myself what turned out to be amazing gluten free cookies from scratch (Grace wasn't sure if they were gluten free or not they tasted so amazing. how great is that!?) We watched Monster's Inc and put together the puzzle. Katelyn was there too but for some reason she didn't make it into any of the pictures.

Yep, it's of Las Vegas. It took tanya that long to pick out this puzzle mostly because she couldn't decide if it was OK to buy a puzzle of "sin city" even tho it was her favorite lol. So we sorta stayed up...extremely late doing this because we were almost done for 1 1/2 hrs.

Some areas were just a little bit harder then we thought.

when you're supposed to be studying

2008-10-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

When I came back from my year away I was thrown out of my social work class and into the one behind it. He had been soooo close and I didn't know any of the new people and I hated it. But now, I LOVE it. I love the people in my new class. We are all together all Thursday afternoon. After getting out of a class early we all hit up KR's and got smoothies before the next one. We were laughing so hard the teacher couldn't get us quiet. Somewhere in one of those classes we started talking about hair and new styles so we decided to have a hair night.

Me showing Kaitlyn how to use the diffuser

It is student missions emphasis week this week so we were all supposed to wear our t-shirts. Grace and I even pulled off the long sleeve shirts together.

Sarah and Kaitlyn had to double team Tricia her hair was so incredibly thick!

I unfortunately couldn't just relax. I worked on my paper while Sarah straightened mine.

I was going to get Kaitlyn a drink after the other girls had left when I discovered how incredibly slippery our kitchen floor is. Kaitlyn and I had some fun with it and then when Tanya got home I showed her the fun. 11 o'clock fun. There's nothing like it.

Horse Packin in Action

2008-10-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

I got my camera back today so I thought I'd put up a few of the videos I took.

This is a group of us leaving. The only ride I didn't go on.

Part way into the all day trip we took. This was probably the best part of it. No rain and we were seeing a little bit of sun!

Then we got below the clouds and saw the view. Sorry these are kind of jerky. As you will hear me say, Dakota wasn't staying still so it was hard to get a video. Some of them are so bad I couldn't put them up.

Religion: in answer to your comments

2008-10-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

I would like to take the time to respond to the comments that I received regarding my blog on religions. First of all let me just make mention of my shock in seeing that so many people had come across it. I would be interested in knowing how this was done. Furthermore, it was not my intention to offend, however that in itself is a dumb statement. How could it be anything but offensive? I therefore apologize for poor judgment on my part. For those of you that were kind enough (and I do mean kind enough because I truly appreciate your comments) to leave me your thoughts, I sincerely hope that you will take time to read my further comments—a clarification if you will.

First of all, the thoughts and opinions stated should be in no way traced back to my professor or my university. He has given a comprehensive summary of the religions of the world and has never uttered, and would never utter, an opinion as to the rightness or wrongness of a religion, though it has been somewhat compared to our own religion in a measurement of differences and similarities. All conclusions were left to the student.

Please understand that I could write a blog equal to the previous one on my own religion. My church and the people in it are normal, sinful, human beings with their own idiosyncrasies, many of which do not make sense. As one of you pointed out, yes, we have October 22, 1844 as a significant day in our history. Yes, an extremely embarrassing moment as it would seem. But without getting into extreme detail let me just say that we had the right date, but the wrong event. The world did not end on October 22

I DO NOT TELL YOU THESE THINGS IN AN ATTEMPT TO CONVERT YOU BUT IN AN ATTEMPT TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE I AM COMING FROM. Please take or leave my opinions as you will.

I am a follower of and a believer in God. This has nothing to do with my religion, though my religion has everything to do with it. Allow me to explain. In my life time I have had access to the Holy Bible. I am an analytical person. In my study I have found that the stories in this book can be proven to have actually occurred by historical artifacts and writings, not only in the religious world but in the secular one as well. Therefore, if I am able to prove its validity then I can further conclude that all stories in the bible are factual and that all writings in the Bible are to be believed and followed. This is not comprehensive in any way. However, I am trying to be somewhat concise and would welcome further questions and comments if you have them.

The Bible portrays God as being the creator of the world, which again, though all may not look at the scientific facts as I do, can be proven. I personally find comfort in knowing that my beliefs are based not only on a founder, but on the author and finisher of my life. Not only is He my God, someone to be revered and worshipped, but He is also my teacher, comforter, and personal friend. He is the end of all suffering.

These beliefs require some belief in the supernatural as well. To explain how I understand it to be in existence would be quite extensive, but I will answer it in this way. God says through the Bible many times to search Him, ask Him questions, observe his miracles and know that He is God. I have searched and asked many questions, and have found without a doubt, that He is God.

It comes down to this, I have fallen in love with my God. To explain the reasons why would take books. It is because of my love for Him that I endeavor to follow the Bible—His instructions for my life. This, is why I am a Seventh-day Adventist. Because I believe that they follow the Bible closer than any other religion I know. Through this community of believers we study and learn together. But in all honesty, if I feel that my church goes against ANYTHING that I find in the Bible, I can promise you that I would look to God first, and my religion second.

It is for these reasons that I have come to love my religion as well as my God. In my comments on Judaism, let me just say that, believe me or not it is a religion that I have come to love. Their ways and beliefs are God inspired and good. What I was trying to say is that my God has freed me from having to go through sacrifices that were once necessary, and I personally cannot thank Him enough for His sacrifice. I do not mean to condemn if your belief is otherwise. If you felt like I was implying that Jews were not going to Heaven, I cannot tell you how sorry I am. I have NEVER thought that. In fact I believe that there will be many peoples of many religions in heaven. In my studies of Judaism I have read that they believe that the Jewish Messiah will bring them back together as a people in Jerusalem where they can return to sacrifices, in contrast to the Messiah I know that ended sacrifices with His ultimate sacrifice, and will bring us to heaven. I also understand that the Jewish people believe in a form of heaven but this I was not completely clear on.

This blog was not meant to be a blog to the masses in which I downed everyone's religion. I was simply sharing how glad I was to be a member of my church but unfortunately my method was very faulty. The class that I am taking would have to be one of my absolute favorites, not because I can sit and laugh at them, as you may be thinking, but because I find them to be fascinating. My religion, based on the words of my God, has given me a peace and a joy for life that goes beyond nothing I have ever experienced and it is my sincere hope that you find a joy equal to my own, and if it be in another religion or no religion at all, then so be it.

mental

2008-10-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

So I did my first mini mental today. It's an assessment tool that Social Workers use to see how competent and/or depressed their patient is. I can't tell you how nervous I was. They prepare you for everything that could go wrong and by the time I actually got to my patient's room I was scared spittless but had to rustle up enough saliva to talk somehow.

I introduced myself and what I was doing there and she looks at me and says "I just can't stand you people!" The world stopped. Pull yourself together Stephanie. You know what to do. Alright... I was prepared for this. I opened my mouth to give the "well just give me a try speech" when she repeated what she had said and this time I heard "I can't understand you." I about fainted in relief.

Turns out she was quite a nice lady. Her friends who were busy watching Oprah, thought I was fresh out of ABC ready to make their girlfriend a movie star since I had to video the whole process.

I can think of 800 mistakes that I made but well... it was fun. I love my major even tho I decidedly don't want to work in that particular area. We're really getting into the blood and guts of the whole thing and it's great being able to spout off terms to fellow SW majors and nobody knows what I'm talking about. Makes me feel smart anyway. lol But you kind of have to be able to appear smart and competent so people will take you seriously. You go walking into the unit, clad in your professional garb, armed with your name badge and clip board, put in the key code for the door way and sit down in front of the client like you know what you are doing. "Hi I'm Stephanie Ford, Social Work Intern!" Except what you really feel like doing is turning tail and running out of the building which would probably result in standing their pulling on the door in desperation to no avail because you forgot the passcode. Obviously not ideal. I'm supposed to be able to walk behind the nurses station and go through records and prior assessments, but I haven't gotten up the guts to do that as yet.

But whatever. I did it... Thank goodness it's done. Yay for me!