still snowing

Al and I (and 2 friends) arrived in Grand Rapids around 11:00 local time, and we left at 6:30 am SC time. 15 hours to GR. A new ridiculous record. We blame snow and ice and semi drivers shatting slush upon Ishta. Poor little Ishta. She is now 140,000 miles old! Dude, Al's car is old.

Tomorrow at this time, we will hopefully be in the Great White North (aka Toronto). I haven't been to Canada since I was 10! Hooray. A new adventure.

Ok, we are now going to watch Bridget Jones' Diary: The Edge of Reason. YES!!!!!!!!!!! We are staying with Al's friend Lindsey, who lives in a tiny studio apartment. Four of us will now be sleeping together on piles of Lindsey's clothes. Adventure!

The movie is starting, so I must leave.

Oh: Highlights of the trip:

1. Belting out "Colors of the Wind" with Al
2. Listening to Lindsey's 20 yr old fiance go on....and on....and on...about cars and computers. Gag me with a fork. Hey, Alden! = )
3. Taking random pictures!
4. Sliding on snow....in the car
5. Eating homemade sandwiches in a Subway restaurant

silence

Merry Christmas, all!

Eeek. Sometimes I wish I lived away from home so the holidays would feel more special than what they actually do. I love going to church on Christmas, but then coming home feels so empty and everyday. I don't know if it's the commercialism that has torn the family structure apart or what...

You know what I don't like about Xanga sites? They want you to tell what music/movie/book you are currently engaged in....but they assume you should be engaged in one of these things. Whatever happened to good ol' silence? Don't get me wrong--I love music and movies, but I don't think we should be so afraid of the silence.

Those are things I don't like. Things I do like (especially noticed today):

1. Maroon pants...especially when Beppe and I are both wearing them
2. Playing duets on the piano with Al and with Beppe
3. Dad's guffawing laugh during funny movies
4. Mom's mashed potatoes (can I get a witness?)
5. Falling asleep while reading excellent books
6. My Precious Moments sleeping bag turned blanket (kitsch but memorable)
7. Bacardi Silver Raz
8. Being happily surprised at my grades
9. Talking with teachers who were mere students at this time last year
10. Singing the Hallelujah Chorus on a crowded platform with 100 Covenanters and visitors, peeking over Jo Faber's shoulder to even see a score
11. Caroling with an inter-generational group of Covenanters at the nursing home
12. Oreo balls
13. Thinking about the fun classes I'm taking next semester
14. Golf with Beppe
15. Tickling Al
16. Comfy socks
17. Cheese
18. De-icer
19. Water
20. A good old book

That's it for today. I think I will start making a list like this each time I post. It's good stuff. Merry Christmas, and see y'all in a couple of weeks!

merry christmas

oh, my nephews. they are the cutest. today, landon tried to launch himself out of his little crib--he is becoming extremely mobile. and dillan forced me to do exercises with him. my beppe is here today, too, and my immediate family. we're hanging out and playing games and opening presents after tonight's candlelight service. hooray for traditions! here are my adorable nephews....

this week, a member of my family went to the grocery store 6 times. i myself went 4 times. insane! but necessary, i suppose, during the holiday week. the result? a very full fridge and covered countertops! and wally will grow, but what else is new?

my pake passed away in may, and we've acquired many pictures of when he and beppe and their two boys were young. pake was a debonair, handsome guy....check him out with his two boys! my dad is the older kid on the left. the other picture was taken right after pake and beppe got engaged. they have the most wonderful stories! someday i hope i have as many great memories as they do. for those of you whose grandparents are still living, find out their stories while you can. they'll mean a lot to you in the future.

well, ok...the pictures didn't want to come up. i'll try to put them on later. until then, have a merry christmas with your loved ones!

a secret revealed

In the midst of shopping for lotion for my dear Beppe, I was attacked by several overwhelmingly perfumed and sluttily clad Victoria's Secret saleswomen, begging me to "Buy 6 for $30! You only got 2 bottles of lotion? Well, you can get a third for only $4 more!" I explained several times that I only needed 2 bottles of lotion. They were baffled ("like, some people don't put lotion over every inch of their body eighty-seven times a day? omigosh!") But I suppose the excessive smells deaden their already weak brain cells.

So I explained to them, "No, I don't want to open a charge account at Victoria's Secret, dang it! You objectify women and force on me the idea that I can't be happy unless I'm wearing eleven different lotions simultaneously, all of them titled something whorish like "Pure Seduction" or 'Erotic Peppermint' (meh, I made that one up. But I'm sure it will be hitting the shelves soon). Oh, and by the way, you guys SUCK at keeping secrets, because Victoria ain't wearing a thing!"

I didn't really say all this (well, not out loud, anyway). I bit my cheek and hypocritically wished the mentally incapacitated saleswoman a Merry Christmas.

I don't know how to end this ridiculously dramatic post the way I would like to without being sacriligious. But whatever happened to Jesus? Once again, we've forgotten. Our brain cells are deadened by Amber Romance and Sexy something or other. It's happened to me again this year and it took a crew of objectified women (who make me wish I was not a woman) quoting sale prices to realize it.

this one's for you

Well, I made it. I have survived my first year of legal age and lived to my 22nd birthday. And I will turn 22 in approximately 3 minutes, at 10:22. Sweet. I have gotten many birthday emails already, and a big birthday present from my parents (a shopping trip yesterday). I bought very weird stuff (well, weird for me...I think I like most of it). Now I must go find Heather, then go bake a cake with my SISTER who is here now! Yea, Al!

I like birthdays.

keeping the update updated

Notes on break thus far:

1. Yesterday, I got up very early and accompanied Leah to Omaha with a vanful of Dordt students heading home. The ride was highly entertaining, especially when we roared through a red light, attracting the eyes of many'a driver. And let me just say that Arby's lost out on at least 10 bucks by not opening their doors when our faces were plastered to the glass. McDonald's wins (it's the apocalypse!). Dang little egg and cheese biscuits.

2. I have been watching entirely too much of That 70's Show.

3. My parents like having me live with them again, although they're getting used to saying, "We'll leave the light on for you!"

4. I have to wrap Christmas presents and finish unpacking. Why is it that when I have all the time in the world, I get less done? Time is a funny, annoying, and arbitrary phenomenon.

5. Today I get to babysit my nephews, who are sick during this prime flu & cold season. This is the test, folks...can Andrea hack it?

6. Jazzy Christmas music is the sweetest.

7. My guitar is so out of tune that my ears dove inside my head to avoid the noise (and yes, it could be the player as much as the guitar).

8. Pianos are soothing.

9. In my younger days, I started writing a plethora of cheesy and sappy romance stories, which are very entertaining to read 5, 10, even 12 years later.

10. It's almost 1:00 in the afternoon, and I'm still in my pajamas and slippers.

I feel very lazy. It's a good thing I'm getting put to work over break.

ten hours

I've only been free for 10 hours and I'm already bored...and I will miss sleeping with girls.

doing drugs

Fessler told me I'd have to be on drugs to not get an A in the class. And my exam went pretty well. 1 down, 3 to go. It's all downhill from here...take that however you wish.

Ahh, Red Cloud.

wacka, wacka, wacka!

What a perfectly wasteful weekend. Review day is inherently evil, because it only gives me more time to procrastinate and extends the semester further than it should. So here I sit, avoiding studying yet again. I have done about four hours of studying for history, but I could definitely do more. Will I? I only have 2 hours before D-Day (did you notice my wonderful historically allusive metaphor?) It is difficult to focus on Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian values when I think about sleeping in and watching movies and eating Oreo balls...

I realize that I am not a disciplined student. At least, not as disciplined as I used to be. Studying is very difficult for me because I will do anything to avoid thinking about possible test questions. I know, I know, it makes no sense, but I guess that's me! I would give anything to have these next 2 hours be gone so that I could just write the dumb test.

In the spirit of these revelations, a quote from Abe Lincoln:
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."



And now for something completely different.

I found out that I can work up to 60 hours over break! I'm torn...money is good, but I am not looking forward to getting up at 6:30 on cold, dark, winter days. But I need the money for band tour, so God is giving me a wonderful opportunity to work hard for it. And I can hang out with Julie and Nicole and maybe even Joelle. It will be like old times.

Last night, our church had its annual Sunday School Christmas program. This year it was written by 2 of our own high school freshmen girls, and they did a great job. The best part came when Kyle VanderPlaats walked down the aisle wearing a donkey held up by suspenders. Or maybe when Max Hoekstra kept "baaing" in the middle of the stable. I love kids.

Remember Fozzi from Muppet Babies? He was so cool..."Wacka, wacka, wacka!" And that is all my fried and scattered brain can conjure up at this moment in time. Maybe I should change my blog title...

hair curls

Well, mine doesn't. At least not with a fat curling iron. I need Dre to help me. Dre, where are you? I miss your hair-curling abilities!

Victory is mine! I received two wonderful grades on my two biggest papers of the semester. I finished another this morning, and I have one more to go. Then I have to motivate myself to study for exams.

Dad unburied my car on Tuesday afternoon like the wonderful dad he is. And today my car appears to be gone, and I can only assume that Dad got it started and took it around for a "test drive" (which is his excuse to use my gasoline to perpetuate his obsession with driving). I guess he earned it from shoveling 2 1/2 feet of snow off of my Green Goblin.

I have discovered that sitting at my computer while Shannon sits at hers is not time effective. But it's really dang fun.

wednesday...

and the apathy has fully set in. the fact that i do not have an overwhelming amount of work does not help. if i had an overwhelming amount of work, i would stay busy all the time. as it stands now, i have time to watch a movie here and there, take a nap, surf the internet (which i am now getting addicted to)....etc., etc., etc. but my apathy has driven me to laziness, which is precisely why i'm not capitalizing anything today.

one week. one bloody week, and then i can drown myself in pride & prejudice (the good version).

and the theatre department is getting way too ahead of themselves. the last thing i want to think about right now is auditioning for the stupid spring show (yea, alliteration!)

time for a movie. apathy, reign on!

blessings

For a weekend as sucky as mine was, it ended really well. I spent most of the weekend very angry and upset and annoyed, and sick, too.

All day Saturday, all day Sunday. Angry, upset, annoyed.

But then tonight I had a conversation with my roommate, and I realized how self-centered I am (all the time, but especially this weekend). She had a rough day, and I remembered how important it is to forget about yourself and listen to other people.

This week, I am going to try to sacrifice myself once a day in order to be available for other people. This may or may not be you...be patient.

Insight of the day:

God is over all things,
under all things;
outside all;
within, but not enclosed;
without, but not excluded;
above, but not raised up;
below, but not depressed;
wholly above, presiding;
wholly without, embracing;
wholly within, filling.

~Hildevert of Lavardin

That one's for you, Al.

plastic in my hand and a sneeze in my nose

My car is buried in a snowdrift. Literally. The entire hood is hidden from sight (and no, it does not glow through 2 feet of snow). I brushed a bunch of snow off last night, but I was punished for my caution when I couldn't get the driver's door unlocked. Ice filled the handle. So I went to the passenger side (the only other door I am able to unlock from the outside), and I proceeded to break the handle. It came off in my hand. Stupid 90's car.

Went to Leah's shindig last night (and this morning). Wow, am I tired. I miss hanging out with Leah! I didn't know everyone too well, but I like hanging out with new people. Sometimes you gotta move on.

My nose tickles. I'm meeting with Schelhaas at 11 to discuss my rough draft (now at almost 6 pages! Hooray!). Maybe I'm allergic to him.