Quad Life

Today we played apples to apples and had pizza. A few days ago we made snowflakes.....even if they turned out umm let's just say interesting.

It is hard to believe that this semester is almost over. I'm finding free time in my days and it is so unusual I am not quite sure what to do with myself anymore. Don't worry, I find things to do!

Thankfully, academics are winding down this week because somehow dance picked up. We are all looking forward to a Dance Ministry Christmas performance this weekend. The students also have a choreography showing on Monday so that means lots of rehearsals and a sore Emily but that's ok!

Listening to Christmas music is getting me excited about the coming season and New Year. I cannot believe this new year will be filled with many lasts and firsts. We are all about to begin a new phase of life.

At RUF last night we were reminded and challenged-Jesus' resurrection from the grave is our only hope, so live like it!

"And he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him."-Mark 16:6

Ultimate Frisbee

Some people are just really good at ultimate frisbee. For some reason, I have not figured out the art of frisbee throwing. I've been taught how to do it, I've attempted to do it, but it just won't go where I want it to go. Sometimes I can run fairly fast so I could actually attempt to receive it. There's one slight problem. I am a bit short. So sometimes no matter how hard I run, there's still no hope.

I always forget why I don't play it more. It doesn't take me long to remember once I start. There is so much running. One time I played on the football practice field on a sunny day. It must have been near the beginning or end of the year because it was hot. Ultimate, in MS, in the summer is a bit dreadful but some people are troopers. They are like mailmen, rain or shine, they play! Almost every Sunday there was a group of people who would play in the afternoons. After that dreadfully hot hour of running, I took probably a year and half hiatus and didn't play again until the beach retreat. Apparently I'm not a trooper.

Needless to say, if you're specialty is ultimate, I'm impressed. If you can throw it upside down with two fingers, also comically labeled the "bunny fingers" by our HPCY, again I'm impressed. To those of you who dream about Ultimate Frisbee, well enjoy....

Merry Christmas Early

This is such a great clip, I think I can guarantee a smile....

I love my family

Mom: Hey honey, why don't you put the star on the tree like Elf does....
Dad: Because the sofa is not in the right spot!

also Indiana Jones never gets old, love the classics!

Stone Mountain

Spent the afternoon with Evan at Stone Mountain and didn't get too terribly lost (even if we did walk a lot) which is pretty good for two people who don't know their way around Loganville. Ok, I have lived here for two years now (so I probably should have known my way around) but I was at school for much of those two years. Unfortunately we bypassed the road that would take us to Starbucks but we did manage to find some Christmas lights and a Mellow Mushroom.



Stone Mountain is beautiful at night around Christmas! They have their big 'Snow Mountain' exhibit and are making lots of snow! The lights were beautiful and they had a cute version of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol!' It reminded me of all my theater friends at Belhaven. Harry Potter, Justin Beiber, and Dale even made it into the show!



If you ever go, I think you should try the Harvest Farm. We thought it was an actual farm, and it is but the word Harvest should have given us a clue. It's not an animal farm but a fruit farm. Alright, you have to use your imagination here but it is full of fruit (or colorful squishy nerf balls). We were warned not to 'bruise' the fruit (throw it at people) and got to climb around the playground, 'pick fruit,' and play fruit tic tac toe. That is the hardest tic tac toe I have ever played (see the pic above, you have to throw the fruit into the baskets) but, I won best out of three so it was worth it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It must be thanksgiving.....

My voice is disappearing but that's ok. Watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, had hot chocolate and pumpkin pie (for breakfast, we were a bit anxious to eat it!), video chatted with Josh and Alli (we miss you guys!! and are so excited to see ya'll in a few weeks!), started Thanksgiving dinner, tried to get mom set up on pinterest, watched Bear play outside in the leaves, and now its football time (we sure hope the Dolphins come out with a win!).

I have been so blessed to have such a lazy day today!

I've got about four papers to write but it's Thanksgiving, I think they can wait...

Thankful that

"None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." 2 Corinthians 2:8-10

the list goes on and on! What are you thankful for this year?

Mary Gets Married

On November 19, 2011 Two of our very good friends, Mary and Luke married each other! It's a special treat when two of your good friends get married.



We headed to Olive Branch, MS for the big day! Mary was beautiful and the two were so excited! I remember when they first started dating Freshman year. Time flies, we will always remember those game and movie nights! Throwing candy at them as they cuddled during a movie. Oh how we love our friends :)



We pray that God will continue to bless them as they begin this new life together!



Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Luke Andrew Mittwede!

49 Books Later

I did it! I finished my 50 Books Project. I read one over the summer but all the rest I read this semester! Here's the list....i didn't include the 5 controversial books I read because I did not like most of them and probably wouldn't recommend them to anybody to read. Some of them were highly offensive and just not worth reading.

10 Classics

Pinocchio
A Christmas Carol (daddy's favorite)
Alice in Wonderland (I finally read it! still have to see the movies)
Robin Hood (enough said)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (love Ms. Potter)
The Secret Garden (favorite! great quotes)
The Night Before Christmas (everyone knows it!)
Treasure Island (adventure!)
The Cat in the Hat (on a rainy day...)
Winnie-the-Pooh (precious!)

10 on one Topic (Favorite Little Girl Characters)

Eloise Takes a Bawth (love this book! has some fold out pages!)
Olivia…..and the Missing Toy (never read Olivia before now)
Angelina at the Fair (sparkly cover, good message, everyone loves the fair)
Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire! (fun projects inside)
Madeline at the White House (love the story behind the book)
Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth (all my second graders read her)
Amber Brown Wants Extra Credit (fav. growing up!)
Pippi Longstocking (I dressed up as her for halloween one year)
Ramona and Her Mother
Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock

5 Caldecott Winners

Baboushka and the Three Kings
Make Way for Ducklings
Jumanji (classic! first introduced to this at my grandparent's house in Naples, they owned the movie and it was a bit scary when I was little)
Madeline’s Rescue
Seven Blind Mice (must read, love the illustrations and good message)

5 Poetry/Mother Goose/Nursery Rhymes

Mother Goose
Michael Foreman’s Mother Goose
Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book for Children (love!)
Amen, Brother Ben, A Mississippi Collection of Children’s Rhymes (interesting)
A Child’s Garden of Verses (love!)

5 Folk and Fairy Tales/Fable

Rumpelstiltskin
Sleeping Beauty
The Ugly Duckling
Cinderella
Little Red Riding Hood

5 Non-fiction

Noah’s Ark-Caldecott winner (silver medal)
Jonah and the Whale (and the worm)
You Can, Toucan, Math: Word Problem-Solving Fun (great for math teachers, could use for bellringers!)
Our Seasons (so interesting, great for science teachers)
Jump: From the Life of Michael Jordan (like the illustrations, well done)

Newbery
The Slave Dancer (sad but happy ending)
The View from Saturday (Favorite and a Must-read!)
Strawberry Girl (time period piece)
Missing May (short and sad)
Walk Two Moons (page-turner)

Video Time

Two music videos I've seen on facebook that I like.....

Yes, its a boy band!



My friend posted this one and it reminds me of what my mom always encourages me to do: figure out how to dance for fun, like no one is watching....forget about technique, a grade, and what other people think. Dance, enjoy it, have fun. Dance for the Lord, honor Him with your gift! Audience of One.

Another Friday

Face, to the ground I'm not proud of all You must see when you look at me
I tremble at first as You was the dirt
The dirt from my feet and I see my need for thee

You life me up, Holey One, Holy One
When I but come, You're enough, You're enough
You fill me up, with Your love, with Your love
To You I run, Holy One, Holy One

-Rush of Fools

Happy Friday! and to some of you happy start of vacation week!

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

Christmas! Ok, I know, I know you can't have Christmassy stuff until AFTER Thanksgiving but let's face it, Thanksgiving is only a week away (and this makes me super happy for a number of reasons-especially since I get to see family and a friend, hopefully, this go around) and here at Belhaven we kind of get overly excited about Christmas, overly early....

sign number 1-Christmas trees go up in the Student Center
sign number 2-They start unloading the platforms for the Singing Christmas tree.
sign number 3-It's 80 degrees. Wait this shouldn't qualify, but trust me it does. MS weather is so odd that it could be snowing next week! Well not really but you get my point? We will never forget that day it was sunny and 70 and dropped to oh maybe 45 and clouds in a period of 3 hours! so even though it doesn't feel like Christmas it could next week!
sign number 4-We are decorating Gillespie lobby tonight! It will probably be completed with Christmas music and hot chocolate and sweets of course!
sign number 5-Kimber combo decorated our quad (Christmas and Thanksgiving) about a week or two ago.

I know, it's too early, but hey we are only here until mid December or earlier so most folks like to enjoy it while they can!

I must say I do love Christmas lights!

Today I had to read controversial books for my Children's Literature Class. Let me just say I hope to never read some of them again. Some of them were awful and I feel like they should not have been written. This makes me sad, but now I get to read Winnie-the-Pooh so I'm hoping and thinking this will make up for those other ones!

PS Is it starting to look like Christmas where you are? If so, what are the signs?

Camping!

Last weekend my feet were in the sand, this weekend they were in the leaves!!



I drove up to Clark Co State Park in Quitman, MS to join a few friends campin' in the woods!



I had dance ministry performance in the morning and after doing a few chores I headed out. I was a little nervous I was going to carry the traditional Schreck rain storm that somehow always develops when camping, especially since the clouds were rolling in on campus, but it held off!



We shared a delicious chili dinner with the Callens and sang some songs around the campfire. Then we had smores with chocoloate covered graham crackers! (I was thrilled because I didn't know these delightful treats existed!) I even attempted to roast some marshmallows! (Normally I just eat the fixings without smushing them all together because they are a bit messy.) Then we played Big Booty (which I failed miserably at, I got so stressed when they called my number :P) and then the animal game. I was better at this one but Kim, not so much. The elephant sign was tripping all of us up but sure made us giggle!

Then we got a special treat of cookie dough ice cream at another friends' camper! Finished the night talkin' by the fire. Oh and Ellen and I attempted some sand pictionary! It was a beautiful evening of about 50 or 60 degrees (much warmer than the previous night that I missed) and all seven of us girls squeezed in the tent while the boys braved it in the hammocks.



Ellen and I say Goodmorning! It wasn't terribly early but we were still a bit sleepy...




Sang worship songs and looked at Ephesians 4 in the morning before heading back to Jackson. I especially liked Ephesians 4:32, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, foregiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." I think we forget that our friends and brothers and sisters in Christ are not perfect. Nobody is perfect. That's why there's forgiveness.

We had lunch at an AandW great burgers, milkshakes, and floats!



They have chilled mugs you use for your drinks, so fun! (the above mug pic was taken by Mysie!)




What a blessing it is to sit outside! If God created such amazing seasons and nature that are so diverse and beautiful, Heaven must be incredible!

Sand on Friday

It's Friday! I wore the shoes I wore to the beach today....without socks. This could have been a bad life choice. I apparently brought back a lot more sand than I realized. But hey, it was the beach and you can't really beat that!

11/11/11 11:11am Did you make a wish today? Would you like to tell us about it?

Happy Veteran's Day! We cannot thank our serviceman enough! Praise the Lord for them as we continue to pray for our friends and family members currently serving!

Just to make your day, we attempted an awkward family photo at our late night breakfast hall party last night. For some reason I do feel quite awkward in this photo....

Some youtube videos are quite funny and cool.....



The best is the last scene...well there's some others that are good too



This guy is just great!

"The Encyclopdia is not something that will get your heart excited."-Ms. Quinn.

Ms. Quinn has read the whole Encyclopedia. She's amazing. She found the time as a 10 year old due to a bout of rheumatic fever that kept her bedridden for over a year!

Beach Retreat 2011

This weekend I got to spend with about 20 highschoolers at a beach in Alabama at Gulf Shores! It was just beautiful! We had a lot of fun taking walks, getting to know people, playing ultimate, watching football, and of course eating delicious food! The Crosslands at HPC sure now how to cook!


Cayla and I even sprinted to get our cameras to catch a glorious sunset (God is so good!)


On our walk, Cameron and I found a tiki hut where you could leave your mark-literally and sign the posts! What a fun place! It was a bit windy but it showed the distances to a lot of famous places!



I discovered why I don't play ultimate very often: its so much running! and since I'm a bit short, sometimes it is hard to jump high enough but it was still lots of fun!



We even had a bonfire and were going to have smores.....but somehow there were no marshmallows. But the HS still ate the chocolate and gram crackers :)



Watching the waves and the tide come in and out I was reminded of God's faithfulness and in awe. Every day the tides come and go. Every day God is there for us.

We also watched the movie "To Save a Life." If you have never seen this movie, you should take the time to watch it. It could very well change your life. There is SO much in it that is worth considering! 3 precious lives in MS were lost this past weekend in a car accident. Things like that shake up your world. In light of the difficult week many shared, the youth pastor decided to do something a little different. We watched "To Save a Life" and talked about it.



Here are just a few powerful thoughts...

"I built my life around you, and now I don't even know who you are."-Who or what do I build my life around?

What is your goal? Is my goal to glorify God, is that my soul purpose?

What in life is worth it?

"You treat some people like a penny and others like $20." every life is valuable and precious, every person deserves my time (showing I care). I care because Christ cares for me (1 John 4:19).

"Whats the point of all this if you're not going to let it change you?"-has Jesus, the Church, the Bible, the name Christian, changed you? Is it more than a name? Is it your life?

A quote the HPCYM youth pastor shared from a book, "One life will soon be passed....only what's done for Christ will last." Check out Ephesians 5!

This movie brought up a lot for me to work on, makes me look at life and the world a little differently. Maybe next time I won't keep walking when I see someone eating alone. Maybe next time when the student looks miserable and standoffish, I'll take the time to ask how she's doing. Maybe next time, I will be the hands and feet of Christ. Father help me! May it not take a tragedy to bring about that change. Help me say today is the day, not next time!

"Prayer is surrendering to God and allowing his presence to fill you."
Sometimes I learn things in Kingdom Life class...