The Memories of Denver

Well, I survived my sophomore year of college. Done-zo. Congrats to me! To celebrate our acheivements, a group of my friends and I went out to Denver for a week.

All the chicas- Larissa, Marisa, Dayna, and Kolette

I was really looking forward to spending this time with Marisa. She's been my best friend since before pre-school. I missed her, and I think she missed me too.

And this is the weather we had for three hours on the way to Darin's cabin the next day. Fantastic! Although it was a bit of an anxiety attack to drive through the snow storm, we all made it through the mountains safely and had a wonderful weekend at the cabin. Activities at the cabin: stopping by the Red Rocks, boys cooking hot dogs in the rain, Matt making pancakes, greatest hits around the fire, signs, swimming at the pool, We Bought a Zoo, Larissa and I making grilled cheese, roaming downtown of a small mountain town, and a "Hooray! You are dating!" party for Ben and me. This party was part of a deal we made with Austin and Kyle. We would go FBO if they threw us a party. So they did! I had my first Pazookie (however you spell that) and they even got us a card!



Probably one of the best parts of going to the cabin was the afternoon when we went hiking at Adam's Falls Park. We may or may not have gone off the trail a bit...



The rest of the days were spend in Denver. Activities in Denver: church, Denver zoo, the mall, Chili's, riding the free bus, seeing the capitol building, denying drugs, playing guitar and singing, meeting Darin's family, Tommy Boy, visiting my cousins, Chipotle, and playing rock band.

At the zoo! Taylor, Leah, and Brittany joined us today.

Over all wonderful trip. We praise God for safety, as we drove every day. We praise Him for the beautiful creation we were able to witness during our hikes. We praise him for the blessing of friends in our life, that we are able to grow closer together and closer to Him.

Yep...

Still studying...

Still figuring out life decisions...

Keep on keeping on.

P.S. I can't listen to music while I study. These are simply in as ear plugs. Believe it or not, sometimes Trinity's library gets a bit rowdy.

FINALS WEEK!

O my word! It's finals week and we all feel like we are about to pass out over here. Part of the is because of the extreme storms the midwest has been experiencing, which caused our campus to lose water, power, and Internet Friday. Craziness. However, we were able to survive, and look good while doing it!

After running through the storm to go praise the Lord. Our God reigns! Our God rains!

Happy Friday everyone! We survived!

This past week has been super hectic trying to figure out my current school work and my future school work. I have one exam finished, done, complete. Pre-Calc. Thank goodness! For next week, I need to prepare a presentation and study for two biology exams. Both exams should be challenging, but it will feel so good to be finished! While studying for these exams, I have been trying to search out what classes to take this summer, and where. I need a few upper-level chemistry classes which aren't offered at most small or community colleges. (Yikes! I just remembered that I never watched Community this week!) I have finally found the classes in Denver! I will be in lecture all morning and lab all afternoon, Monday through Thursday. I am really looking forward to living in a new city and being able to spend time with some new friends! Oh, and Ben has an internship in Denver, so that will be nice too!

Last weekend, I went to spend some time at Dordt. Ben had a cover night both Friday and Saturday, so I decided I would be myself and surprise him Friday night. During 20 minutes of set up and his first two songs, he didn't notice I was there! But after a few shouts from our friends, he finally saw me. He was quite the rockstar! I also got to have Sunday dinner with my gramma and grandpa, and Patrick even came home! He surprised me! (Although not intentionally).



Waiting for the Ben Sytsma Band to begin!



And now I am chilling at Starbucks, enjoying Half Off Frappes with the one and only Sarabi. What a gal. I let her help me pick out a drink since I'm not too good at this fancy stuff. Back to studying diseases of the cardiovascular system. Today we praise the Lord that my ear piercings did not lead to subacute bacterial endocardiditis!

Welp, It's Been a While!

Hey everyone!
Sorry, it's been a long time, once again, since I have blogge. I'm not super busy; I just keep forgetting to keep you all updated with what is going on! So here is a rundown of a few important things that happened in the past week
-Lette's birthday
-Anna's birthday
-Bible study with Lette
-Bulls game with dad
-Figuring out my Denver trip with Marisa
-Going downtown for Shakespear Improve
-Ushering at the campus play
-Dinner date with the girls
-Sampling my own throat and urine for micro lab (real nice start to my mornings!)
-Mr. Troll competition
-Good talks with my friends and Ben

Rivers and Roads

I blogged a bit ago about how excited I was to go home for Easter. And the weekend was perfect. I was able to see my brother and spend breakfast with him one day. What a treat. And since Erin still lives at home, I was able to visit her at work and spend some sister time together throughout the weekend. That girl has grown up so much, and I am so proud of the beautiful lady she is becoming!
I also had a good weekend with my friends. They are a blessing in my life; there is no doubt about that. These friends are on fire for Christ, and they inspire me each time I see them. I was blessed to see/hear my friend participate in the Good Friday service at Bethel. Followed the next day by a Bible study, and yet the next day with Easter dinner and a special praise and worship at Dordt led by Austin and Darin. I feel as if my soul and my heart is renewed after spending time with these guys and gals.
And, as usual, I was blessed to spend some quality time with Ben. I really cherish the moments when we can speak, in person, just us two, and continue to learn about each other. However, being with our friends is always a good time, and we both got ab work outs from laughing while playing volleyball with them!
Returning to Trinity after the weekend has been a struggle. I found out that my rooming plans were not going to work out. There are no hard feelings, only uncertainties about where to go next with the open plans. I am starting to realize that God has provided for me wherever I go in this life, and I will eternally be grateful to my Great Father. I am also starting to realize that these blessings are causing me to feel a void when certain people aren't with me. I mean, Marisa has been in my life since I was 5. And this year has been a struggle without her next door. This week, several of our choir members missed our concert because they needed to go home for funerals of family members. And that scares me. I would have a hard time getting back home if something happened suddenly. And after having lunch with my friend at Dordt before returning to Trinity, I felt my heart break when I walked away from them all. I was always the one to get homesick on family vacations; and it still happens. Although I consider Trinity one of my two homes, I can't ever shake this feeling. I'm always looking forward to the next time I get to go home, or the next time someone will visit me.
To be honest... that's all I have to say about that right now. Tonight at our concert, a great group sang this song that clicked with me. I hope you enjoy it.

Rivers and Roads

Positive's List 4/4

Another day in anatomy means another positives list. Here we go folks.
+I don't have to listen that closely in A&P because I just learned this in Micro!
+Tomorrow we go home
+Patrick is coming home for Easter
+Our bodies are so crazy amazing!
+No lab this afternoon
+We get to watch Justine run at the meet today
+The Micro homework isn't impossible...for once
+Easter has, by far, the best candy
+By the end of tonight we should know the insides of our body...CRAZY!
+My mom and dad surprised me yesterday
+Inturmural volleyball is awesome!
+It's a beautiful day
+Easter break tomorrow!
+One more sleep til home
+I actually understand what is being said since we just heard this in Micro
+One of the cadavies has nice kidneys and pancreas
+Sprague and I are matchy today!
+TCC read the whole Bible+
+FYF pizza party tonight
+Get to see Molly ru tonight
+Going home to Molly's house with my 3 best friends!
+God loves us+
+The anatomy test isn't the week after Easter, so we don't have to stress++
+Our God is not dead, He is surely alive. And He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion!+
+The Lent fast is almost over!
+I get to go home tomorrow
+My parents and sisters are coming to watch my game tomorrow
+I get to hang out with my neice every day this weekend!!
+I get to go to my home church <3
+I get to see my best friend
+Getting my hair cut and my brows waxed!
+The weather is beautiful
+God is so good :)

Home Sweet Homesick

In two days, I will be driving down I80 with my lovely friend Rebecca to return to my home in NW Iowa for a long weekend. And I can't wait! The last time I went home was in mid-February, but, to me, it feels like it has been since Christmas!
Home means the world to me. Besides a break from stressful classes, it holds my life. My family is there, my childhood memories, my best friend (shout out to Marz!), peace and rest, my church family, and now my boyfriend too. I'm looking forward to all of these things!
When I really miss home, I am thankful to my mom for putting together picture books at my graduation. I have one for family and one for friends. From these books, I have pulled a few pictures to hang up on my study desk. I look at these pictures a lot when I need motivation to keep beasting my homework. Here's a few that I have pinned up.

In the first picture, Patrick and Erin and I are mocking my dad's smile for pictures. Next picture: All 7 of us wore black without planning it! Seniors Seniors are the best! And I love helping my dad grill. I mostly just keep him company, but it's a good time.

This Easter break cannot come fast enough! I'm so excited to be with my whole family again. Even Patrick is coming home! What a blessing.