when your best just isn't good enough

if we get one more knock on our door or one more phone call requesting something stupid (such as "Can we borrow your parents' lawnmower so we can mow a baseball diamond in the Dordt soccer field?") i am going to seriously kick some ass and then quit.

in pain right now...

...thanks to this chica. she dragged me on a six-mile bike ride tonight, after the worst day of work ever. of course, we needed the time to reconcile, even though she was a hundred feet ahead of me the whole ride. a hint: never work with your spouse....living and working together is great until neither of you get sleep and you have to face evil customers all day. and while lauralee and i aren't married, we're hitting on some pretty specific aspects of marriage (such as arguing over who does the dishes, reminding each other of dentist appointments, and yelling "WHAT????" very rudely when we can't hear each other). ahhh, commitment.

last night i biked to the library...

...and i got wet.

finally, as promised.....

more europe pictures...see below

steady rain

Anyone else see the fantastic rainbow tonight? Wow. I love Sioux Center when it rains, especially when the sun peeks out for a few minutes before going to sleep. You can't see sunsets like that in mountain regions.

Since I promised, here are some pictures from Europe and one from living with Lauralee.

i hear the train a'comin'

An update:

I watched Walk the Line last night. It was excellent. I played tennis with Phil on Sunday and almost beat him. It was excellent. I was mean and crabby yesterday. It was not excellent. Europe pictures of the excellent nature are coming. Seriously. I have one hour left of 'work' today. This, too, is excellent.

i shot a man in reno just to watch him die

I think summer work will be very boring, which makes me sad. I don't want to be bored during work, because that means it will go slowly. There are fun people around this summer, which will help, I hope. Like last night....random funness and alcohol. Yea for giggliness! Thanks for buying the plastic, Phil.

It's Memorial Day and I haven't left the apartment yet. I should go outside and enjoy the not-burning-hot weather while it lasts. Have a safe day and enjoy the water.

hi, everyone, hi!

Well, I'm back from good ol' Europe. It was a blast getting to know people in the band better, and not having to go straight to work right after exams. Ha ha to everyone that did. I can't really sum up the trip in a phrase, but I guess I'll try: A moving experience sprinkled with hand gestures, packed with history, and lightened up with hospitable alcohol. Yes, I think that sums up at least some of it. Pictures to follow....maybe.

leavin' on a jet plane....

in about 2 1/2 days. But we're leaving SC in 24 hours. Have I started packing yet? No. I have realized that I procrastinate on packing most when I should be the most careful about what I pack. But for this trip to Europe, I am going to take only the bare essentials. Like a shirt and a toothbrush. I mean, that's all I really need, right?

Graduation sucks. I hate goodbyes.

i heart my roommates

These are my roommates. I heart them.

Today and yesterday and the day before I did nothing. Like, no homework or studying or anything. I have come to the conclusion that I am a very lazy student. And I will be relatively lazy this week as well. Hooray for mediocrity! Ok, not really. I will do my best, but I just won't do it until the last minute. Today I had my roommates over for dinner because I had never invited all of them at once (which saddens and embarrasses me). And happily, they were themselves, which terrified my neighbors. So, roommates, I heart you. And I shall miss sleeping with you.

don't know just what to do with myself

My dead week is actually dead. I'm amazed and pleased. And people hate me for it. Just remember that this is already my tenth semester of taking classes at Dordt, and I have two more left.

All anyone talks to me about is how busy they are. And it's really annoying, because that's not even valid. Everyone is busy. It's not something to brag about. Whiners.

I'm stupid. If you see me today, slap me. You may not have the chance again. This offer is only valid for April 27, but don't worry. It will be back.

david garrick

Takin' a break from my term paper. I had 8 pages done three weeks ago, and now I need to revise and get it to at least 10 pages. Tonight. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: God has a malicious sense of humor. Two absolutely gorgeous days in a row, resulting in decreased motivation (can one be in negative motivation?), just when I need it the most. But I am bound and determined to be done with this paper at 11:30...at least for tonight. I can always get up early in the morning and finish it.

Pastor Herm made a reference to Robin Hood tonight in church, and Paul was sitting next to me. I felt famous.

special olympicizing

Today I helped with the Special Olympics for class. The weather was beautiful, and the people were fun. And I got sunburned, of course, because I'm a fair lady. My favorite person was a man named Keith who had about 100 people cheering him on in the 100m dash because he was getting us all pumped for it 3 1/2 hours early. He was entertaining. Good times. Y'all should volunteer for something like that sometime, because it's a big deal and it's fun to help and watch.

Yea, beautiful weather! Boo, homework. The thorn in my flesh.

Well, I'm obviously not saying anything important here, which is my signal to sign off and do something productive like take a nap.

i'm a frappucino...and i don't even like coffee

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

You Are 50% Boyish and 50% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch.Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes.You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them.You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

the carrot's gonna dangle for at least another year

I decided that God is crazy and mysterious.

I got a job as a summer hostess at Dordt. Not only am I not working maintenance, I am employed as well! Double bonus. Huge weight off my shoulders. And better yet, I get to live with my crazy fun evil twin buddy Lauralee in Southview all summer! I think Heather would have done a great job, too...Student Services is a little sucky with communication. I love you, Heather! I wouldn't want anyone else sleeping on top of me. = ) I hope Lauralee and I don't get bored. The job sounds like it could get boring. But at least it will not be maintenance boring. And there will be tons o' fun people around, and I hope we have a quality summer together.

And I got a haircut. It's really short, but I love it. It's easy and different and tomboyish/stylin', which is a nice, flexible combination. Sorry, no pictures at the moment, sister.

rising like the morning sun

Today felt a little weird. After a week of intensely warm and sunny weather, Easter was a cool, rainy day. I don't think I want to complain, because last year it was snowing Easter morning. Usually Easter is my favorite holiday. But this week, I didn't get to go to the Maundy Thursday service, and I played horn for the Good Friday chapel, and I played horn and sang in church this morning. I love playing horn and singing. But it makes losing focus very easy. I feel like I got robbed of Easter because I was too busy thinking about notes to let resurrection and grace sink in. And the church choir did not sing "Jesus is My Morning Sun", which we have sung for the past five years or so on Easter. It's kind of a cheesy Easter song, but I feel the joy when I hear the song. I don't know. How important are feelings and how important is commitment to faith? Can we still appreciate feelings without relying on them to tell us where we stand?

On the other hand, I got all my weekend homework done on Friday. I'm not sure I've ever accomplished that. It made car shopping yesterday much less stressful. After going to 10 different dealerships, I'm ready to kick back and not think about cars. Too many decisions to weigh here. Don't get me wrong, it was fun....especially when Dad and I got stuck in a sea of GMC pickups and SUVs and Dad likened them to the orcs in Lord of the Rings....as in, we were surrounded by evil.....

summer workin'

After all of my hard work applying to Village Northwest, they didn't realize I was only around for the summer. They wanted to hire me for a year-round position. Eek! I told them I was inquiring about a summer job. I could have saved a lot of work....and gotten a job on maintenance. Now I'm not sure I have a job on maintenance because they chose the crews today. Excuse me, but I have 3 years of experience here. Hopefully they kick out a newbie and give me my job back, because I actually know what I'm doing (and sadly, what I'm doing is maintenance). I should have applied at a camp.

winding down

This picture is from our theatre history course. Last week we had to dress up in romantic and classic costumes (classics on left, romantics on right) and hold a debate on whose style is better. The romantics won, of course.

I can't believe it's April 8 already. In one month, I will be flying to Eastern Europe. Crazy. Spring is definitely here, and with its arrival the motivation goes. The sun is shining through my window right now and the weather is gorgeous! The projects and papers and tests seem so trivial in the face of the cycles of the earth. The world will keep turning whether I write a paper on spina bifida or not.

And it's Passion Week. I feel like Lent comes and goes and I hardly notice. I feel the Passion for about three days, and then the rest of the year, I go about my own business as if it's unrelated to the cross. It's a syndrome. And I want to get rid of it, but I'm not sure where to start.

To all of you who are reading this blog.....Go outside and enjoy the weather!

sometimes you just need to throw a frisbee

La de da. I love wandering through life, pretending that I don't have a pile of homework to do in the next week. It's so naive of me. But it's wonderful.