January 2013

How are there only 11 months left in 2013 already??  This month has flown by, and it's hard to believe that I've been living with the Abrahamson's for nearly a month already.  Next week marks the halfway mark for my first placement of student teaching.  It has been AMAZING month full of snowstorms, school, frozen fingers and toes, friends, and another move.

Low:

• I had to leave Ruby's sad little face...
• Early bedtimes are back on my schedule.  This means that I have to watch Nashville on Thursday afternoons instead of Wednesday nights.
• The cold.  My toes and fingers barely have time to thaw before I brave the elements each time...
• My 3rd graders have nasty habits.  They don't blow their noses, and they have this obsession with sanitizer.  Needlessly to say, after doing everything in my own willpower to avoid getting sick, they got me down after week 2.
• I drank expired milk for a week without realizing it...
• I made it to Week 3 before my first name was revealed to my students.  Well, at least they don't know I'm a Katelyn and not just a Katie!  :)

High:

• I was able to spend the first couple days of the new year with 2 of my best friends in Chicago!

• Spinelli is learning her lessons!  :)

• I moved in with my second family!  :)
• Week 1 of student teaching was simply amazing!  I love what I'm doing!  It's a lot of work in front of the kids, and behind the scenes, but I'm so happy to be in 3rd grade!  :)
• Momma got GREAT news at her doctor's appointment and doesn't have to go back for a whole year!
• The week that I do have a cold, we've gotten an ice day and a snow day, so I only spent two days at school this week!  More time to recuperate!

February better be good since it's starting on a Friday and everything.

Beautiful

All last weekend and into the beginning of the week, I was feeling a whole lot less than beautiful.  I mean, I was struggling with a cold.  My nose had that 'I've been blown too many times' look about it, my eyes looked real rough and needed more sleep, and my whole body was just dragging along.  Sunday night I decided to do something to help compensate for those things.  I painted my nails.  And not just any old color.  I went with a deep purple with silver ring fingers.  This made me feel a little more bold and daring than previous.  By Tuesday, I was ready to wear contacts again and quit hiding my tired eyes behind my glasses.

So why not hide them behind a great American novel on a snow day?  :)

I started writing this blog in my head last night as I was drifting off to sleep.  I started thinking back to that moment when I realized I was beautiful for the first time.  

I have never considered myself a stand-out beauty queen.  I was never part of the popular crowd.  I never wore makeup in high school, and it is in rare form if you were to find me in it now.  I always felt that my glasses were hiding the real me, and in a sense, they do.  Part of it was just how I viewed myself.  When I first realized I was beautiful, no one was even saying, 'Katie, you are beautiful.'  It all happened through a series of events that transpired when I was around 15.

I had considered myself a Christian for a few years at that point, but I had never been very vocal about my life choice.  I was big into youth group and all of those activities, but outside of that, I was rather quiet about my faith.  My best friend at the time, Chelsea, went to camp with us that summer.  She had been through a lot in the previous months and we had been there for each other time and time again.  This was our first camp adventure with Matt, and the group was small that summer.

That week was rather huge for me.  I had been through a couple of heartbreaking situations from January to June that year.  I had a moment in February that got my life back on track with God.  I had just lost a classmate 2 weeks before camp.  During this week at camp, I was able to talk about Tyler's death for the first time.  I was able to talk about the immense loss I felt in January when Errol died.  I gave my testimony for the first time to my small group.

Chelsea knew that one of the chapel sessions would be striking close to home for her.  Before we went to chapel, she asked that when they did an alter call that I would come pray with her.  I was blown away.  Never had I been asked to pray with someone before.  I am pretty sure I will never forget that moment when she was praying and I had my arms around her praying too.  I could write a novel on all my camp memories. My favorite memories of all are the ones where friendships were deepened through praying together.  A moment of great truth happened during TAG time, and a great many other real, deep, meaningful moments would compile this novel.

When we came back after that week of Fun in the Son, one of the moms commented on how sun kissed we all looked.  I have gotten better at the sunscreen thing.  Well, kind of...I at least make sure my campers have it slathered on real good!  

Anyway,  a couple of days later when I looked into the mirror, what I saw took my breath away.  It was me.  The me I've always seen looking back.  But this me had something different.  This me had a glow, and it wasn't just because I was still looking pretty sun kissed.  This glow was the newness of my relationship with Christ that had been revealed during the week at camp.  I realized then that others could see Christ in me and I wanted to show it more.

Getting dressed in the past few years has taken a different meaning for me.  Like I mentioned in an earlier blog, I am somewhat of a secret fashionista.  I have become so much better at putting together an outfit from whatever I have hanging in my closet.  I go for modest, beautiful dresses in the summer, and comfy, warm, and cute sweaters in the winter.  I have also taken heed of Colossians 3:12

 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,gentleness and patience.

Right now, the 3rd graders are taking so much notice of my jewelry.  Oh, by no means am I bedazzled everyday, but I always wear something to make my outfit pop a little more.  The best part about my very observant 3rd graders?  They have made many comments about my pray bracelet that Alison gave me last summer.  This is a constant companion to my wrist.  They asked me where I got it and they know I borrow a lot of jewelry from Whit.  I told them I got it from a friend and they made comments about me getting a lot from my friends.  They made connections to 'Pray often' wall hangings they have and some connections to church.  It makes me feel like they are noticing something different about me, even when I am not able to come right out and initiate open conversations with them about God.  I feel like this whole experience is honing in on my gentle and quiet spirit.

 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  -1 Peter 3:3-4

Not everyone is considered beautiful by the standards the world has set in place.  Thankfully, I have been transformed and I know that I am beautiful because I have Christ in me and shining about me!

Mustache Monday

Today was cold.  That's old news.  Sunday nights I plan my wardrobe, and I had to take into consideration the size of my dress pants and if I would be able to wear long underwear underneath them.  I only wish I was joking.  One thing that I especially love about my baby is that she came with remote start.  This is perfect for mornings such as these where I can stand in my slippers and hold that button so she can warm up before I'm really ready to head out the door.

I finished getting ready, headed out the door, and opened my car door and set out on my way.  Well, that's at least what I was planning to do.  Instead, when I went to open my door, it stayed exactly where it was.  That was the same with the other doors too.  I went inside and told Mary who all but cracked up at my situation.  Then she slipped on some shoes, grabbed a broom and came out to help.  With a little jiggle and some pounds, the door was opened, and Mary gave my car a good brushing before I was on my way.  Naturally, this little episode set me back about 10 minutes.

School started off as usual.  Announcements, pledge, math, specials, writing, typical.  This Monday was slightly different because the magazine sales guy came.  He wowed the kids with all the lame toys.  He gave his sales pitch with so much excitement.  He gave some of the teachers (all women) fake mustaches.  Bet you didn't see that coming!  Yep, a couple of the teachers received fake mustaches.  I got a duck key chain with what I would consider troll hair, and a pair of shades.  My teacher got a mustache.  When we came back in from this, a couple of the students were fixated on the mustache.

"Will you wear it?"

"Wear it please!"

"If we have a good day, will you wear it?"

I got sick of hearing about the mustache, but was so relieved that nobody remembered at the end of the day!  My teacher did not have to wear one, and I didn't either since it was a 2 pack!  :)

Every Monday there is a PBIS assembly.  The teacher that leads this received the first mustache of the day.  Naturally, she would come out wearing it.  It was this ridiculously long handlebar thing.  No one could taker her seriously!  It's amazing what a fake mustache will do to a whole pod of 3rd graders!

The day went on.  Last week there were a few kids who either stayed home because they were sick, or got sent home because they were sick.  So far, I'm going strong, but I feel like I might get hit with a cold soon.  My ears are acting up, and my nose is not being so nice.  I'm hoping that I'll make it a lot further than week 2 before I get taken down by sickness!  

After school, my teacher and I stayed until after 5.  It was a long day!  We did talk about and establish a long range plan for my time in her room.  We have it all mapped out, and I get to teach on pueblos in a couple of weeks!  She used to live in that region, so she has TONS of information and got me all loaded up! It's crazy to think that in 2 short weeks, I will be in complete charge for a couple of weeks!  Life is about to get a whole lot busier!  :)

"Canada's a country?!"

Sunday night involved Whit coming down to inspect my wardrobe for the week and let me borrow gobs and gobs of jewelry.  This is what happens when your best friend sells jewelry on the side!  :)

Monday morning 5:50 came way to quickly!  It had been quite a while since I had been pulled from my bed that early!  I got ready and got everything I needed loaded into my car.  There came a point in my drive where there was nothing on the radio so I just shut it off.  It feels good to do that sometimes.  To just sit there in the quiet and drive as the sun is coming up.  I took that wonderful opportunity to pray.  I'm pretty sure it will become my daily ritual.  It's the perfect time to talk to God.  Before I get too busy for the day.  Before I'm surrounded by people for the whole day.  Before I forget completely.

I got to school and was greeted by all the faculty that I met en route to my room.  From then on, it didn't really slow down at all for the whole day.  I gave a picture presentation on myself and the kids were a hoot!  They loved stories about Ruby, and giggled at my 3rd grade school picture.  I'm kind of proud of myself.  I think I got all of their names down by lunchtime!  :)  I think a big shout out goes to my years at camp for switching up campers every single week and getting new names so often!  :)  We eat lunch with the kids and I got so many requests all week as to who I should sit by.  It makes me feel like I'm doing something right in this pursuit of my dream.  The rest of the day went as quickly as the morning had, and before I knew it, I was saying goodbye to the students at the end of my first day of student teaching.  My mentor teacher gave me some responsibilities for the next day and I took some work home.  This really makes me feel like I'm doing something right if I'm getting more responsibilities on the first day!

Tuesday was such a joy too!  The girls love my necklaces and have started giving me compliments instead of the usual morning greetings!  I heard a lot of students read.  I also started to accidentally cave in an Ottoman seat because the lid doesn't fit the base anymore.  That was a slightly embarrassing moment, but I recovered quickly!  My students are readers!  They are really into Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Magic Tree House.  I also got to teach a mini lesson and read to the students.  I got really into reading this story and I think they were pretty okay with hearing it for the third time once they heard me read!  During social studies, we are doing a map activity.  The students have maps and they have been locating various places.  Suddenly I hear, "Canada's a country?!" from one of the students.  It was one of those moments where I wanted to bust out laughing, but I knew I couldn't.  The 3rd grade is so much fun!

Wednesday started extra early because of a needed meeting.  My favorite part of Wednesday was when I read Gasp! to the kids.  This book has it all!  Plenty of action and suspense, humor and wit.  I got really into and gave so much expression that I think the kids like when I read.  It was so much fun!  We sent the kids home early.  Naturally, us teachers couldn't leave when the kids left, so we gathered as a 3rd grade pod to have a meeting about curriculum.  I love the 3rd grade teachers!  They are hilarious and the principal visited and he's a hoot as well.  I'm so grateful that my personality fits in so well!  :)

Thursday was just as fun!  I can already see the progress that the kids are making.  It is so cool that in 4 days, I am able to see what they are learning.  I think the funniest part of Thursday was when I was wandering around the room having students read out loud to me.  I came to a boy reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  In the back of this particular book, there was a few comics.  One of them was about Fart Police and getting arrested for farting.  It was all I could do to hold my composure and not bust out laughing at the subject matter!  My teacher and I both love books.  We got a little distracted after school and stayed pretty late!  She is giving me more things to do and I feel like I'm getting somewhere!  It's so new, exciting, and I love it!

Friday was Friday.  Full of craziness.  Full of catching up for the week.  Full of giggles and squirming.  We also had 'store' for the kids, so that only added to the craziness!  It was a lot of fun throughout the day.  I had a few opportunities to be kind of in charge and I love it!  My eventual take over has already begun in the first week!  My teacher told them that I would be reading a book to them.  A resounding hiss of a "YES!" quickly followed.  That brought a HUG+E smile to my face!  I love reading to these guys!  They get into it just as much as I do!  :)  It was finally time to send them on their merry way to a weekend away from school.  With planning with my teacher after school, I will take over 2 reading groups next week, and I'll have a few mini lessons scattered throughout the week.  I really start taking over during week 3, and it feels good to begin taking ground already.

This weekend, I'm looking forward to catching up on my sleep before heading back on Monday.  I'm back to teacher bedtime, but I'm still pooped in a good way at the end of every day.  I can't wait to see what the next 7 weeks will bring in my first placement!  :)

Saturday Night Slumber Parties

Friday night was filled with unpacking, Pizza Ranch, and Hairspray.  I love being able to live in this house!  My second family is and always has been wonderful!  After 5ish years of friendship between Whit and I, they treat me like one of their own.

Friday night Whit, Lynnae, and I ended up all on my bed watching Hairspray.  All 3 of us love this movie!  We know most of the songs and many of the lines.  By the end of the movie, Lynnae had planted herself between Whit and I.

Saturday brought another moving day, but thankfully it wasn't for me.  Caleb, Whit's fiance, had to get all moved into his new apartment in Grinnell.  After using close to 2 whole bottles of Frebreze on the carpets, the place at least smelled a little better!  Whit and I were able to do random oddities of moving like filling the Brita pitcher and ice cube trays, and hanging the shower curtain before it was time to come back to the house to host a Thirty-One party before leaving for the night's activity.

Whit helped Caleb to continue to settle into his new place on Saturday night.  I went out on a blind date.  It was a lot of fun and I had a great time, but I'm going to keep the details to myself!  :)  We both got back to the house at about the same time.  We decided to camp out in my room for the night.  These plans tend to include Lynnae now too, but that's alright!  :)

Lynnae camped out on the floor.  She is just like her sister and thinks she has to sleep under a huge mound of blankets!  Whit joined me in my bed and promised to try to resist punching me in the face in her sleep.  Sometimes, even in our 20's, our friendship takes a high school turn.  I got to giggle and divulge all the details of my date, and she teased me and giggled at some of the awkward moments that blind dates always have.

I've decided that I want every Saturday night that I stay here to be like that.  Us girls all snuggled up warm watching a movie.  I'm working on Benji still.  He is liking me a little bit better.  He joined me on Saturday morning for a while.  Maybe he'll join us some nights too!

Puppy Love

Today I packed up the last of my needed stuff.  

Today I packed everything into my car.  I quite literally stuffed it to the gills.

Today I said goodbye to my parents.

Today I said goodbye to Ruby.

Today I moved again.  

I honestly don't even know why I bother unpacking anymore.  I just move again after a few weeks.  This stay will at least be a little longer.  I am living with my best friend and her family!  I'll be here for about 4 months.  This will be quite the change, but I am ready for it!

Instantly Ruby knew something was up.  That pup has some great intuition or something.  All I did was back my car out of the garage and move it closer to the house.  She gave me that look that just will break your heart.  Then she does this thing where she follows me back and forth from front door to car with every trip.  She makes sure her nose is literally between my knees and looks for a pet on the head as I turn around.  She doesn't act like her normal puppy self.  

No jumping.

No licking.

No 'smile' on her face.

There are not many things more true or pure in this life than that of love from a dog.  Eyes don't lie.  She loves me.  Even through all the times I yell at her to shut up and stop barking at birds she'll never catch.  All the times I get after her for chasing the cats.  All the times I try to make her jealous by playing with the cats in front of her.  All the times I seem to cut playtime too short.  She loves me through and through.  She loves to wrestle, even if I win every single time.  She loves to play fetch.  She loves to walk with her nose right between my knees.  She loves leaping into my car to greet me when I've been away too long.  She has a hard time deciding who she loves more; me or Daddy.  It is so funny to watch this little war inside her take place.  She walks back and forth between us trying to decide what to do.  She just gets so torn!  

She makes it so hard to leave.  I always have to give her a little pep talk before I really take off.  I honestly don't think these little talks help either one of us.  She tries to get close and snuggle to make things a little better.  And then it's always time to hit the road.

Basements and Barnyards

My last week and a half of break has been utterly AMAZING!  I'm stocking up on my introvert points while I can before I start 3rd grade and living at the Abrahamson's.  Living there will be a huge change of pace with 2 parents, 3 siblings, a dog, and a forever busy schedule.  I am so looking forward to the last leg of my college career!

I have been in low gear and I love it!  Momma has been working most every day.  Daddy is on 3rd shift.  I get a lot of time by myself and I have gotten quite a lot of projects done around the house.  I do need to attempt to start packing in efforts to move again on Friday.

My days have been spent largely outside all bundled up in winter gear.  Ruby is still in the puppy stage, so we ALWAYS get in a wrestling match at least once or twice.  I always come in coated in white and blonde dog hair.  I've been working with Daddy to get Spinelli broke to lead.  She's coming along really well.  She has filled out really well already for only being a little over a week old.  It feels good to attempt to relive the FFA/4H glory days of high school.

The best part about being in the barnyard?  I always clamber up on the red gate, close my eyes, and just sit.  I sit and listen.  I sit and feel.  I sit and drink in the calm.  I hear the birds singing their happy songs and hear their wings flap as they leave the loft through the broken windows.  I hear the munching of hay by Cinn.  I hear the moo of all the cows in the various lots.  I know that I am tied to this.  This is where I feel the most comfortable.  This is where I feel the most real.  This is one of the places that I feel closest to God.  Yeah, it's kind of a strange place.  A place filled with dirt, dust, soiled straw, and dirty animals.  I sigh real big.  The big relaxing kind of sigh.  I look off to the West at the brilliance of a sunset.  And then I pray.  So much is happening in my life right now.  I'm taking that last huge step before I start the career part of my life.  I'm in the dating world.  My best friend is getting married in November.  I have a friend currently in Peru.  Another friend is in a big part of her education and trying to pursue her real goal in life.  My family is going every direction and is everywhere.  I have no idea what I will be doing with my summer.  This is where I give it all to God.  I ask Him to use us.  I ask Him to open doors.  I ask Him to speak.  I ask Him to move.

Most of the rest of my days are spent with a thimble on my finger and a needle in my hand.  I have been working on my absolutely, straight up, favorite quilt I've ever made in my life!  I am keeping this one.  I was thinking about it as I worked on those blocks a few years back.  I want this for my little girl someday.  Grammy doesn't think she should quilt on this one because her stitches, "don't look as good as mine," but since I'm keeping this one for my own little girl, I'll have to talk her into it so this treasure is a little more of a legacy to hold onto.  I pop in a classic Disney movie, Lonesome Dove, or some 80's movie that I've seen a few times.  I quote and sing as I stitch away.  Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to take quite this long.  I picked everything out just as I wanted it and it looks just like I pictured.  The only thing I wasn't expecting was how the pattern wouldn't flow as I quilted.  I keep having to stop and knot and start in a new place.  That's the time consumer.  I had wanted to get it finished before I moved, but I really don't feel like that will happen...  I'm only now just about halfway done.  That's still 6 more bonnets to stitch around, and a whole lot more chain border to do.

My life is changing.  My quilt will stand in the frame until I can get it finished over the various weekends at home.  My calf will continue to learn her halter lessons, mostly without me.  The barnyard life will go on, just as it always does.  Peacefully and practically unchanging.  Maybe that's why I like that place so much.  I go to a practically unchanging place to pray to an unchanging God.

Lessons in Leading

So, Dad and I are breaking Spinelli.  Breaking a calf to lead is something neither one of us has done since I was in high school.  Cinnamon still kind of remembers what to do.  She was a little frustrating and tried to drag me around the lot a time or two.  I do consider myself a solid individual and pretty capable of holding my own, but it was hard to hold that momma still!

The typical process starts with frustration with catching the calf.  Sometimes it's easy, but sometimes they have plenty of spunk, like Cinn or Spinelli.  Then comes the halter frustration.  The halters that we use are single strand and sizes can be adjusted through the various loops.  I held Cinn while Dad's frustration grew because the halter was fine the other day and then today it was all backwards and all sorts of upside down.  Once you get their face in the halter, the struggle begins.  Spinelli fought and held back with all of her little calf might.  Her legs locked straight, she held her head back as much as she could, and her little tail was moving back and forth out of her frustration.

Sometimes, you tie them to a gate or post and leave them to fight for a while.  Sometimes, you slowly apply the pressure for them to take the step forward.  With Spinelli, we also have the advantage of Cinn being halter-broke.  I can walk Cinn a little ways ahead, and Dad can lure Spinelli if he's pointed toward her mother.

As I was participating and watching Spinelli's little lesson, it got me thinking about how God leads us.  We are the animal in the halter.  He is the one who is being patient as we learn our lessons.  He is the one leading us in the way we should go.  He is the one who provides encouragement and instruction.

At the beginning of our relationship with Him, many of us don't know how to trust Him completely and we don't realize how much easier life is if we would just follow where He leads.  Then, eventually, we realize that following along is a lot easier to do than holding back with all your might.  Following along gets you closer to Him.  Just like when Spinelli starts to follow along, she will become more tame.  Sometimes, no matter how long they've known what to do, they still have moments where they decide to go against you.  Cinn tried to take off from me during this lesson.  Isn't this how we are sometimes?  We know the good life and what it's like to follow while God leads.  We know His instruction.  But then we decide to go our own way for a little bit and we try to buck the halter.

Dad told me a story one time about some guys that used to show cattle.  He said they basically waited until the last minute to work with their livestock.  Instead of getting out there and pulling their cattle, they tied them to the tractor and broke them quickly.  I'm not really sure how it turned out for them in the end, but that's a lot of pressure to be used!

I feel like I'm at the point in my life where I am pretty good at knowing a lot of lessons.  Sometimes, I need those lessons to be taught more than once.  I also know there are still many lessons to be learned.  I will never be done learning these lessons, just like little Spinelli will be learning her lessons for as long as she's on our farm!  :)

I Don't Get Off of the Farm Much...

We have all been looking forward to this adventure for months.  I'm not even joking!  I really don't know how it all came about, but it was decided that Lu and I would spend a couple of days at Alison's house after the Staff Retreat.  We would spend a day in the city and a day at Alison's house.

We planned and plotted for weeks.  

We counted down.  

We mapped our route. 

 And then it was time to head out.

Lu needed to leave her car in Strawberry Point and I was leading the way.  Before we even got out of Lansing, we had to turn around because I had different directions than what I thought I had...  And then before we left Strawberry Point, we had to turn around because I goofed.

5 hours in the car with Lu is interesting to say the least.  I am a good driver, I promise, but on long drives when I have passengers, I tend to give examples that would defy that statement.  We started counting deer and by the end of the drive, we got to 22.  In Dubuque, I 'almost' hit some 'gangsters.'  We stopped at a 'dirty' gas station.  Lu steered me the wrong way because she didn't look at the directions.  This was after she wiggled my rear view mirror all around to shut the light off.  Seriously, the last 20 minutes or so, I was crying and snorting because I was laughing so unbelievably hard!  We were almost there when Lu told me to look to the left at some lit up castle.  At the same time, I saw a sign for pony rides, and then a guard rail was getting a little too close for comfort...  We made it alright in the end though, and we were both glad to park my car and have it sit for a couple of days.

Monday was reserved for our trip into Chicago.  We got to ride the train into the city!  A double-decker train!  With a conductor!  We walked all the way up Madison Ave. until we got to the good part.  Like the Millennium Park, The Bean, The Art Institute good part.  After a great lunch at Noodles and Company, we headed to the Art Institute.  A big thank you to Alison's dad for making that one possible!  After checking our skates and such, we headed in.  I've never been to a place like this, and to do it for my first time with an art major was a lot of fun!  Lu kept reporting facts to us about practically EVERY painting!  :)  I got to see a lot of great paintings that I've only ever seen in books.  I live only about an hour away from the American Gothic house and have never been there.  I've seen it, but have never actually stopped.  Maybe when they come visit me, we'll go!

After that, it was time to make our way back to Millennium Park.  Sometimes, I do like to do the typical tourist activities, and I have been talking about seeing the Bean for weeks!  It ranks rather high on my list!  :) Honestly, I didn't expect it to be that large!  It was a little dirty from all the fingerprints and such, but shiny none the less!

It was then on to what I was most looking forward to!  I mean, I brought my own skates so we wouldn't have to stand in line for hours just to rent a pair.  The best part about skating in Millennium Park was that we did it for free!!!  That's right!  FREE!  There were so many people and the line for rentals wrapped around the rink!  It was a blast!  I was the one who biffed it badly and gave all those people watchers a good show. I made sure to get back up real quick!  Lu managed to step in gum while wearing Grammy's skates that are antiques!  I just don't know what to do with that girl sometimes!

After the skating was through, we felt the need to warm up for a quick minute, so we crossed the street for Caribou Coffee, and Lu needed a grilled cheese.  After a long walk back with a quick stop for Garrett popcorn, we were finally boarding the train to head back to Wheaton.  This train ride was far more entertaining with random train goers.  There was one guy sleeping, and a few others that kept talking to us about our popcorn.

Alison's parents hosted a New Year's party, so we joined in on the fun!  After a couple eventful rounds of Telephone Pictionary, we moved onto Spoons, followed by Split Decision.  I had only ever played Spoons before, so the others were a BLAST to learn!  There was so much laughter bursting through the house!  We watched the ball drop at 11, and kept ourselves busy until the approach of midnight.  The champagne was poured and passed out, and the minutes ticked by.  At long last, it was time to yell out 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, clink glasses, and shout, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!"  Then it was that time when Lu kept shooting the champagne poppers at me, even if it tells you not to in the instructions!

Tuesday morning proved eventful.  Please, next year someone tell my body that it is okay to sleep past 9 on New Year's Day.  I was up at 8:15.  I at least got a lot of reading done before Alison and Lu woke up.  Granted that I did my fair share in helping Lu wake up!  :)  Today was a major take it easy day with a brunch of cinnamon rolls.  After running a couple of errands, we settled in for a game of Monopoly that Lu was determined to play to the end.  That was until I started dominating and putting up houses and hotels and gloating my way through all my winnings! Things were a little tense for a while, so we decided that we needed to make rice krispies!  This has to be my ultimate food weakness...  The best part was that we made them into Disney shapes with cookie cutters!  Buzz Lightyear's spaceship looked more like a PacMan ghost, but they still tasted great!

Portillo's for supper!  Wow!  What a great burger!  I am a sucker fore bacon cheeseburgers and this one hit the spot!  Also, this place was gangster themed.  And it was the good kind of gangster too, like the 20's flapper kind of gangster.  It even had some great music playing in the background.

One thing that Alison asked me to bring to her house was my jean quilt.  This was the quilt that we used during TAG time every day during Senior High.  We had a good solid half hour spread out on this quilt at the top of the stairs on our last night together.  Such a wonderful time spent in prayer and in the Word.  This was such a wonderful weekend of refreshment.

The rest of the night was spent watching Beauty and the Beast.  Lu was knitting, I was doing embroidery, and Alison was crocheting.  Seriously, we're 21/22 going on 80 and perfectly happy with that!  God has given me a lot when he put these two amazing women in my life, and I know that I will have their friendships forever, and not the cheesy BFF kind, but the encouraging, challenging, adventurous kind.  We definitely don't live close enough to each other, and we don't see each other as often as we'd like, but it is great to have friends like these who will take 5 hour drives with you, or lead you around in a big city when you are all but fresh off the farm!  :)