Sept 4, 2010

Today marks the last Saturday at Gun Lake for the summer. Both of my sisters are here with their husbands and kids. For some reason neither of the brothers could make it up this weekend. After supper we made a fire and roasted some s'mores. The pictures for today are from around the campfire.

Sept 3, 2010

Today was my last full day at the office. It is hard to believe summer is coming to a close. I will admit I am ready for a new change of place and classes to start. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED working in the Housing Office for Residence Life this summer, but it is time for a new routine. I still can't believe that it was one year ago when my journey as an RA started. I learned so much in this last year about myself and about others. Although it was not always easy, I would not have traded it for the world. I am certainly going to miss things about being an RA, but I know that with the demand of senior year I would not have been able to do it. I am going to miss always having 200+ people around to talk with and do crazy things with. I am going to miss my floor and the community of BV. I lived there for 3 years, 2 years as a resident of 3rd Veenstra and 1 year as an RA of 2nd Veensta. BV was my home in every possible way and shaped so much of my Calvin experience. It is impossible for me to talk about college without talking about Beets-Veenstra. I am also going to miss my floor. They were great and crazy in every way and each and everyone of my 40 residents means the world to me. I learned something from each of them, even if they don't know it. Finally I am going to miss my staff. The 7 of us shared so many laughs, tears, memories, challenges, floods, fires, and much more in our time together. Each of them too mean the world to me and I can not imagine my year as an RA without them. We experience a lot together and because of that we truly understood what being an RA was all about.

Today's picture is also a flash back. Ya I know I am cheating, but I make the rules :) This picture if of my staff from the end of the year. I love them, no questions!
Today I got to talk with Rachel, one of the RAs from my staff, and it was absolutely lovely. I miss her lots since she has moved on and is now working as an Assistant Resident Director in Georgia. I am so thankful for phones and skype to keep in touch with her and so many other people that have graduated from Calvin.

Sept 2, 2010

Welcoming Corrine!
Our 4th housemate moved in this week. Corrine lived on 3rd Veenstra with Kendra and I our freshman year. She graduated from Calvin this past year and recently found a job in GR thus she needed a place to live. It is so much fun to have her around as it was hard to keep in touch last year while I was an RA and she was finishing up her senior year. We are now a duplex of 4 and for this I am thankful!

This picture is from Winter 2007. Crazy how time flies. I am so thankful for the wonderful friends I met while in BV. My time at Calvin would not have been the same without them.

Sept 1 2010

Friends,
So sorry it has been so long. It is time to start fresh now that I have my computer back and working.

This summer has been absolutely great. I have spent my summer working in the Housing Office at Calvin matching roommates, placing students into the dorms, helping with RA training, printed over 2500+ ID cards and bus passes, and other various odd jobs as needed. I am so glad to still be involved with Residence Life. After 3 years of living in the dorms, being and Activities Coordinator sophomore year, and then an RA junior year, had I not been involved at all I would have been having major with drawls from it all. Today was move-in day on campus for the Freshman. It is days like today that bring me back to Freshman year. At times it seems like just yesterday my roommate Kendra and I were moving into 358 Veenstra, however that was 3 years ago. Although a lot has changed, so much remains that same too. After working in housing I have a new appreciation for Kendra as we could have been matched with anyone! It is hard to believe that Senior year is about to start. AHH!!!! Lord willing at this time next year I will be starting a new teaching job somewhere in the world. I can't wait to see what crazy adventures await this year.

Today's picture was not taken today, but its a flashback to Freshman year. On this particular day that the picture was taken Kendra found $10 on the path as we were walking.

So sorry I haven't posted in a while. My computer is currently at the doctors hopefully getting fixed. Things are on hold for now.

Hope you are having a great summer!

a trip home

This weekend I went home with my wonderful friends. We have been planning this trip since March when we bought the tickets to the Tim McGraw concert. We drove home and stayed with my grandparents for the weekend. Saturday before the concert we went to the outlet malls and spent too much money. All day we hoped the rain would stay away so we could enjoy the concert while dry instead of drenched. Thankfully the rain never came and we had a WONDERFUL time at the concert.
Listening to three great bands with my three great friends at my side was perfect!

Day off of work

Monday I took the day off of work and spent the day with my sisters. It was a beautiful day outside, definitely picked a good day to take off. We attempted to go strawberry picking, but shortly after getting settled it was just Trevor, Amy and I picking and Pam was in the van with the other kiddos. After strawberry time we spent a while outside by the Stienstra mini-pool. The boys LOVE to stand on the side and jump off while doing some type of crazy trick. It makes my nervous every time they jump in, but thankfully no injuries thus far so they just keep jumping. Needless to say my pics today are from the pool time.

more pics from the weekend

I wasn't allowed to upload any more pics so here are a few more from the weekend. If you click on the picture they will get bigger :)

June 18-20

So here I go, slacking again. Another week has come and gone. This weekend was spent at good ole Gun Lake. Only Mark and Marissa were missing from the bunch this weekend. Jean got to experience my crazy family for an entire weekend. Thankfully she wants to come back, I guess that means we are not too crazy right?

Today I'll give you a few pictures. To highlight the weekend of fun.

The one with the pot roast!

I'm sorry it has been a while, but this past week was kinda crazy. On monday my dad lost his job. We knew this was a possibility, but dad had made it through many rounds of job cuts before and we were all praying and hoping this time would be no different. However, we were again reminded that God's plan is MUCH greater than our own. It has been so neat to see the endless support and encouragement given to my dad this past week from family and friends. At the end of the night my family is still very thankful for all the many blessings we do have, one very important one being health.

Tonight I made dinner for housemates, on the menu was Pot Roast.
My mom taught me well and gave me all kinds of tips on making a good one. It turned out great and my housemates loved it. Definitely something we will have for dinner again. The crock pot is a wonderful thing and it was so fun to come home to a house that was smelling delicious! Also on the menu was mashed potatoes, veggies, and fruit. We have been taking turns making meals each night to share the work and the cost. So far it has worked out well.

We shall see what exciting things tomorrow has in store. For now a picture for your taste buds :)

June 6 2010

So I am already a few days behind. Oh well, I am still new at this.
Today was a wonderful day with my homies. We started the morning with church, always a good way to start the morning and week. I love being able to worship with my friends and be able to talk about the message that we heard later on.
The rest of the day was a lazy type Sunday just chilling and talking. The day ended with a movie and crafts. Our craft of choice was Perler beads. It's a craft that we all did as much younger girls that has made its way back into my life this past January with my residents.
So far living in a house has been great. Making dinner together and just chilling after work is always excited and full of laughs. A part of the day that never gets misses is our daily dose of Friends episodes. The show never seems to get old nor the jokes. We find ourselves quoting it often throughout the day. For this I am also thankful. We are now on week 2 in the house and things are starting to come together. Boxes are being unpacked and our stuff its finding its home in our home.

June 3

Psalm 98:4
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music.


This past Christmas I got a keyboard and I have loved being able to play the piano again. Things are starting to get unpacked at the house and yesterday the keyboard was pulled out. Kendra, Jean, and I played the piano for each other, or at least attempted. We have yet to find the perfect place for it, but soon enough we will find a place for it, for now our living room/kitchen area is perfect!

June 2

Today I got to watch my nephew Ethan's baseball game. This is his first summer on a T-ball team and he absolutely LOVES it. Today also happened to be the day that Ethan lost his first tooth, although I do not have a picture of that. Ethan has a kind spirit and is a great older brother, he may be young but that doesn't stop him.
I just love being able to spend time with family and that I have a sister that lives close by.Family is such a huge part of my life and I am so thankful for each of them.

1 Timothy 4:12
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

June 1, 2010

I recently moved into a duplex in Grand Rapids with a few friends. Today Kendra and I weeded and planted a veggie garden. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have lots of tomatoes, green, yellow, and red peppers, cilantro, as well as jalapenos. Oh ya and don't forget the Raspberries too :)