PART II - The Unusual or Special Occurances of 2009 So Far
January:
Renee turned 16 and had an awesome party at her house! What fun - thanks for having us all Renee, sorry for making a mess in your basement. We will have to play the banana game outside sometime. ;)
February:
Mum and I visited Valparaiso University, one of my college choices, and her and Dad's alma mater. It was cold, there was lots of snow, and we had an awesome visit. Best of all - over 10 hours in the car together to talk!
Lisa Pettijohn passed away. Her celebration of life was incredibly moving. My favorite memory from it - watching Renee and Julia dance to Blessed Be Your Name. I think Renee was dancing through her tears, and you know - that's exactly how she's dealt with everything these past few months. She is the strongest young lady I know.
My Lincoln's Birthday Party! We played old-fashioned games, including bobbing for apples. In our basement. It was fun and somewhat chaotic. Mostly just fun.
Kiwanas Pancake Day - That was an early morning, and I was sticky. 'Nuff Said.
Had a photo shoot at Lion's Club with friends Mark and Rachel. It was cold, but we had fun. And they got some spectacular pictures too! I'll post some of my favorites in the near future - they are both great photographers.
March:
Gave up facebook for Lent - 47 days ya'll. It was rough, but I felt that the time away only served to draw me closer to God. I also fasted once a week during Lent, which was a very eye-opening experience. Real hunger is something that most of us know absolutely nothing about. Incredible experience.
OAT Talent Show - wow. Not going to lie, I nearly died with pride to watch all those Fine Linen kids doing their Annie routine. WOW. The future of drama and live theatre in Rolla is very bright indeed. The Nisbett men were rather impressive with their quartet, and the Moshers and Browns on their string instruments quite blew me away too. Maybe I'm just easily impressed, but wow!
St. Pat's Week: CCF had a Night of Praise at Vineyard for part of their St. Pat's festivities. I love singing worship songs alongside other believers. There isn't a whole lot in life that compares to that experience. They also had a Pancake Breakfast, for which I came to the House and made Pancake batter. Great fun!
Apparently the Hickle family came over to dinner. I actually don't remember this happening, but it's on my calendar! ;)
Bonfire at our house - I just decided somewhat last minute to have people over, and thought that, since it was so last minute, I should invite a whole lot of people, because surely only some of them would make it. Well. We had a lot of people here. It was fun though - it really was!
During Spring Break, Zephan, Mark, Nathan, and I drove to Lane Springs one afternoon, and hiked up to "Blossom Rock" and laid in the sun for several hours. It was actually rather fun. . . and I got to drive.
The ZOO! See previous post.
CHESS Talent Show - our family sang "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" in four-part harmony. Dad sings bass, Abby tenor, Zeke and I take alto, and Mum carries the soprano. I was sick and nearly fainted. I hear we did a decent job though. . .
April:
Grandma and Grandpa Hall visited, and Zeke was confirmed on Palm Sunday. I'm so proud of you Zeke! It seems like not long ago that you were just a little snot running around here - now you're a big snot, but still. . . I love you, kid.
Andy came home for a few days during Easter. We played Volleyball at the park one evening, although the sand was simply freezing!
"Pirates" successfully kidnapped, stole, and looted the remainder of our April. Both Grandparents came down to watch, which was incredibly fun! Grandma Hall brought me a settee for my room, and now I can sit in my settee in the sun. Thanks Grandma! I love it dearly.
Took several friends out for lunch/coffee this month, and in March. I love one-on-one talking with people. Friends are such blessings, and it's nice to be old enough that you can invite people out and not need your parents to be involved with ride arrangments and such. :)
Visited Truman State, my other college choice, with Mum. Only 6 hours of talking in the car this time, but it was a gorgeous day for a visit. Not to mention a gorgeous young man who gave us a tour of the residence halls. *cough* No, but the campus was very nice, and our time there was well spent. More on this in a moment.
Invaded the Quakkelaars' house while they were gone and did some cleaning the afternoon before they got home. Thanks Abby, Sarah, and Rachel for your help. It was fun - next time, I will do my cleaning dance for you, I promise. Thanks Mark for letting us in, and graciously allowing us to make dinner for you. :) You're so generous.
Striking of the Set. :(
Party at Q2s. The Hemingways have been visiting from Costa Rica, so we went over to hang out with all of them. I love the Hemingways, I really do. They are some of those people who you can go for years and years without seeing - and then, when you do finally get together, you can pick up exactly where you left off, and be just as comfortable with them as ever before. So glad you guys could come visit!!
May:
Started off on an AMAZING note with a weekend spent kidnaping Ashley and doing girl stuff with her and Alida. See post on that. Thanks girls, it was SUCH fun!
English Country Line Dance - several "Pirates" people made it, and it was rather enjoyable.
Rolla Bible Church has moved into their new building (okay, so that was weeks ago) and had a dedication service on the 3rd. We went - it was great. I was pretty moved, almost to tears. And. . . on a lighter note, Zach Winzer thought of a funny, yet totally unsuccessful pick-up line. Which he kindly shared with me. I laughed a lot.
Learned Hebrew dancing out at the Q2s, taught by Rachel and Maggie Hemingways. Wow - I think I've found my life's calling. Not really, but it was terrific fun, and great exercise too!
Saw 3 or 4 soccer games in one week - all CCF teams. It was fun - I've never before watched a real soccer game, and my friend Jenna is SO fun to watch with! She made it worth the cold and rain and mud, etc. ;)
Knocked out my last two papers, a research paper on Florence Nightingale, and a literary analysis. I loved doing them, except for the incredible stress and lack of sleep they caused me. Other than that, yeah - they were great.
Band Night with Hickle and Nisbett families. Of course, we did more talking, fellowshipping, socializing, etc. than music-playing. Eh, maybe about 50/50. Naturally, I did no music playing. Ah well, it was great fun. The concepts of Friends and Family begin to morph into a single entity when you have friends like these, you know?
Hemingways came over to dinner - great fun, although I spent most of that time cleaning bathrooms.
The Second Hike! 21 miles, lots of friends, lots of fun. Yes, I am walking like an old lady. Yes, Isaac's time spent on my back had a lot to do with that. Oh! JOEL!!!!!!!!! I meant to spend several hours last night thanking you for your help with Isaac for the last stretch there. You were incredibly thoughtful and I never actually said thanks. So, if you don't read my blog. . . I guess I'll just have to actually thank you next time I see you. Or write a thank you note. But consider this a public acknowledgement of how kind and considerate Joel Nisbett was on Friday. Oh - and you can totally disregard what Isaac said when he was talking about killing me. Becuase I honestly have no idea where he got that. . . The Hike ended at our house, where several insane individuals played volleyball and ultimate frisbee, and others got caught in a downpour. Very fun, and I'm sad to classify this under what is, most probably, another "last." :(
Homeschool Graduation was yesterday - band kids, you played great!
*Side note - how can Isaac hum Star Wars music so flawlessly? Wow.
On our way from the Applegates' house to the Cast Party last night, we met three low-water bridges that we did not try to cross. And Dad got a second flat tire. Twice in one week. On the same stretch of road. Incredible.
Cast Party! Great fun, great food, cold feet, and a FANTASTIC, memorable ride home! Mr. Hickle - you are seriously my hero for driving us around the round-about. Sarah - you need to stop giggling. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment