more flashback.

since i didn't have time to post during training and other craziness, here is some flash back.

these got posted online and i wanted to share!

please excuse the randomness of it all!

{total group at hocking hills!}

{sara, jenny, me, chrissy}

{sara, me, kayleigh--hocking hills still}

{malone SLIP n SLIDE! right before school year.  colleen, eliz, me}

 {on the way down!}

{whipped cream contest from new student olympics.  i didn't even get close to winning, but here is proof i totally should have!}

last night before i came home i went to a concert in the quad.

rhett, akash and someone else played.

can i just say that akash melts my heart?!

cause he totally does.  

and one of my students, matt, played with him.

i felt like a super proud CA!

am going to do lots of family stuff today for my bday.

will be posting shortly about all the awesome things going on!

i feel TOTALLY behind on homework--mainly, because i haven't done anything!

and let's just say that this weekend is not going to help that.

i'm overwhelmed.  and it's week one!  haha.

this gal is legal.

yesterday was my 21st bday.

with school and everything, it's been a bit crazy.

i did go out on tuesday night and am still recovering from lack of sleep.

i promise to post about my night once i get a chance to breathe! 

briefly: went to sean's for a cookout with some friends.

there i had a wine that i loved! never have i ever liked wine before.

then, we played some games and hung out.

danced, talked....the whole nine yards. 

phil spent a year in south africa and was teaching us some dance.

then we did the dougy and the berney dance. 

both are hilarious.
but first, they sang happy birthday with cupcakes.
i was in the bathroom when they sang and the candles started melting.
i barely got to them in time!
i just love sean's face here.

{dance time!}

at midnight, we went to a bar.

stayed till 2 ish.  then went back for bed.

was in bed by 3 and slept horribly.

i only had a couple drinks and barely felt anything..but apparentally i didn't drink enough water.

woke up with a slight stomach ache but once i got water in me, was totally good to go!

i did skip my 8 am class....someone told me 'there are 16 weeks in a semester to do work.  and only 1 day for your birthday.'

now i'm trying to catch up but it was totally worth it.

it was the best birthday a girl could ask for and i am SO blessed to have friends that take me out on a weeknight to celebrate little ol' me.

it was certainly a birthday i will never forget.

{luke, alex h., sean, monica, jackie, hannah, phil c., caryn, me}

tonight?  i have a date with microsoft word.

helllllo reality!
scratch that....i ended up going to the first home fball game.
it was fun. except for the fact that there were bugs EVERYWHERE.
in my hair, on my clothes, everywhere. 
totally nasty.

{me and miriam}

{me and jackie!}

ok.  NOW i have a paper to write :].

milk and honey.

today we had our first section 3 event to milk and honey.

there were 8 students, which i'm pretty stinking happy about!

we had a great time talking and getting to know each other more.

first day of class went really well and i don't have much to do yet.

but i know i need to enjoy it cause that will change so fast.

have lots to do this semester and am a bit overwhelmed but trying to stay calm.

i only had 2 classes, and only 1 tomorrow.

and this time tomorrow i will almost be 21 years old.

how crazy and how fast did this happen!  

my mother is a bit irritated that i am going out with friends to get a drink.

but i have no intentions of getting drunk, so i don't see the issue.

we did some room re-arranging today. room looks good.

annnnd i have an awesome professor.  dr. miller is awesome.

he is my history prof and i strongly dislike history--but so did he.

i'm hoping he will make the class super fun and worth every minute.

he runs mega races {100 miles!} so i like him already!

{and a flashback to the student olympics....me covered in whipped cream}

i feel so loved by friends and it's not even my bday.

it's going to be a good year.

flashback and elizabeth.

here are some pics that were just posted from our retreat.

i almost forgot these things happened!

{we had a corn eating contest.  sara stomped them}

{me and jackie!}

{hiking}

{more hiking}

{we went hiking.  and got a small group pic.  kinda dark but whatever}

and today was elizabeth's 20th bday!

we went to an amazing restaurant for dinner called gervasi.

it's absolutely gorgeous and i can't believe it is in ohio.

then, several of us went to taggarts for ice cream.

i am so blessed by this woman and love her more than words express.

here are some pics of the day.

{colleen, eliz, me.  wowzers!}

 

{again}

{candid}

 {sexy ladies}

then tonight sean g. and i went to the verge--a worship service on campus.

it was pretty good but went a little long.  i know that is mean to say but i mean it in the nicest way possible.  they had some people share what was on their heart (which is awesome) but takes a while sometimes.  

i can't believe tomorrow starts junior year.

hoooooly cow.  how did this happen?!

i only have two classes tomorrow, so that's not horrible.

pray for me as i embark on this junior level journey.

God is so good and i know He will get me through it all.

{hello there}

elizabeth, you are such a blessing and i love you so much.  i am so blessed that you are my suite mate and i can't wait to get to know you even more this semester.  i can't wait to see the fun adventures that we embark on this year.  it is going to be crazy fun, and i'm ready for every bit of it! you're the best and deserve nothing but just that.

but for now?

peace....i'm out.

last day of orientation

well, toady was the last day of orientation.

this morning one of my students told me that she was out at a club the other night and woke up not knowing where she was.  so she got tested for date rape and has been dealing with that. 

wow.  was not expecting that.

pray for her in this tough time.

then there was a slip n slid at chaos day and we got muddy.

it was so fun, and my first time participating.

then there was the main event in the quad.

sean and i had to run the slide for an hour and just talked about life.

throughout the main event, sean and i played about 10 rounds of corn hole.

and can i just tell you that i improved drastically throughout the night.

i was horrible at first and was getting pretty good by the end.

and by pretty good, i mean i would put the bean bag in the hole when we had 20 pts.

for those of you who don't know, that puts you over 21. and if you go over, you go back to 13 pts.

so that's NOT a good thing to do.  oops. 

the first time no one even told me that because they didn't think i would get it in and didn't want me to worry about it.  so i showed them....just kidding :]. 

its the last event as CAs.  

we also splatter painted today but i'm going to miss them.

i surely hope to see them all again so so soon.

i can't believe tomorrow is sunday. meaning the day before classes.

so not ready for this to begin.

p.s....pics of all these events will be up soon.  i have none so i am waiting for them to be posted so i can steal them!

into the streets.

this morning 2 of my students didn't show to a seminar.  uh oh.

was worried it was a rough start, but they joined us later.

i found out one of my students has a child.  but it's not his....it is his gf's and he has been the father figure for the last year.  the child is not quite 2. and if you ask me, i'm beyond impressed with this 'dad'. to take that responsibility willingly?  man.  good stuff.

then about half of the class got lunch together!

i was so overjoyed because i thought no one would show.

what a fabulous surprise.

today was into the streets and we scraped and painted a house.

i lead a group and i was so worried we would get lost.

so go figure, i couldn't get the seat to move up. 

then, i was not sure where to go.

luckily, they were all good sports about it and someone had a GPS on their phone and was able to get really clear directions that way.

thank goodness for technology!

once we were there it was not too bad--but several of the students i had didn't do much work at all.

and someone took a nap. how embarrassing is that.......SUPER.

but i met a new friend (lots actually) named kyle r. and he is pretty nice.  he would work while i spotted his ladder, then we would switch.  we had a good system going on.

and i got to talk for a while with a student named nathaniel {he is one of marcia and avery's students}.  he is autistic and one of the sweetest young men.  he did a great job holding conversation and it was unbelievable to see how willing he was to work hard--much harder than most of the others!

then the palace showed cars 2 for the movie tonight.

a  bunch of the CA's went together and alex s. joined us.

i'm so exhausted that i couldn't even follow a disney movie.

i probably asked a million questions...for a pixar movie...that has very little plot!

pathetic, i know.

flashback: here is a pic from the orientation weekend.

someone just posted on fb and i wanted to share.

i'm willing to place money on the fact that this was during the game pterodactyl.

you have to say 'pterodactyl' without showing your teeth. and if you make a screeching dinosaur noise it reverses the direction which the game goes.  it's stinking hilarious. 

i'm pretty sure this is right after abby did a stellar screeching noise.  i wish i could reenact it.

sean commented that tonight was our last event together {dinner at chick-fil-a before the movie}. 

it made me slightly devastated.

i hate this time. training ends. school starts. we don't see each other very often at all.

but i'm trying to savor it. and hoping to do a better job at getting together with other CA's throughout the semester.

also, sean told me his trip to zimbabwe might be delayed due to some governmental uproar. yikes.  they were crushed.

not to mention, i was hoping to do my cross cultural trip with them.

pray for everything and everyone in the situation.

i get to sleep in tomorrow. 

and hopefully get more than 7 hours of sleep. 

MAN.

bring. it. on.

section 3: camp gideon!

today we went to camp gideon.  

we did the blind polygon, and they ROCKED it.

then we did the web, the wall, and some rope courses.

it was pretty good--a couple of the girls were red lights and that was frustrating that they seemed to not be pushing themselves at all.  but i tried to be sensitive to that.

i love getting to know them more and more and hope to continue the process.

here are some pics to enjoy.....but first, a pic of last year....in honor of my section 25!

{CA class, 2010}

{blind polygon}

{the web! catherine going through}

{the wall.  all completed!  in 25 short minutes}

{some ropes course with summer}

{section 3!}

{nik, carl, josh, maurice, matt, logan, brandon, mike, scott, me, emily, catherine h., melissa, catherine m., carissa, summer, haylee (my favorite so far--not that i have one!), and kadi!}

into the streets tomorrow.....i'm exhausted.

it took every ounce of me to not fall asleep during our meeting.

we went to chipotle for dinner then had karaoke tonight.

we did 'all star' (as in, hey now you're an allstar, get your game on, go play) and it was a blast.

i'm sure we looked ridiculous but whatevs.

i can't believe it is already thursday.  the days are flying by!