Thanksgiving

What a nice Thanksgiving! Church in the morning, and then home for lunch. My Aunt sure knows how to make a turkey! They invited a few college students over too, and the guy played wii with the other guys (a lot of vacation was spent on the wii, good guy bonding time). After the meal we sang hymns together, it was really beautiful. We had all the parts going and my cousin on the piano. I love music, so it really meant a lot to me to be singing with my family, all about the same faith and hope. In the evening Grandpa and Grandma came up too and we ate leftovers together. After that the cousins played their instruments. One on the saxophone and my other cousin played the violin. At night we played a group game.

The next day we did all the fun stuff, wii, walks together, shopping, karaoke, and more. That night we went out to Pizza Ranch. That place is the best! It's a buffet of different kinds of pizza and you can have as much as you want! Below is a picture of my Uncle's whole family. Then we gave Grandpa and Grandma their Christmas present, because who knows where they'll be and where we'll be. They got a MP3 player. They're pretty good about technology and they'll be able to store a lot of recorded books on there. Can you believe Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is here again already!?

It's a sobering thought that that may have been my last thanksgiving with my family.

We're Heeeere!

A senior never really takes a vacation, they're always learning. :) When we made it to our destination we left A and J and toured Dordt College, my Mom's Alma Mater. It's a really nice place, as you can see from the pictures. Their photography looks strong and so does the education department. I actually got to talk to three profs! The day before thanksgiving too! The English prof, the education prof and and art prof. I liked the tour, it looks like they have a lot of things to do there. Of course, they have to on campus, because the town isn't that exciting, if you know what I mean. :) Anyway, I got another college shirt! I've got a pretty good collection.

After the visit, we went to actually start the relaxing. The last pic is my family in the mall with my cousins and their family, though they're missing two members in the pic. They're so fun! It was very good to see them again.

Okay, so we did celebrate a little the next day. I got to eat the leftovers of last night's feast, and Mom decorated the car. :) We stayed at a hotel with an amazing pool, and we were poolside! It was so cool to walk out our door to the pool. And to end the night, we ate the leftovers of my birthday cake in the hotel room.

My Birthday!

Okay, so this wasn't my birthday, it was the day before but since we were driving on my actual birthday we celebrated early. No, the cake isn't the ten commandments tablets as my cousin remarked while searching through my photos, it's a book. Which one? Haven't decided. My birthday entailed going to school, doing lots of homework, opening gifts, eating at Entre Amigos (Why did they change the name?) and enjoying cake! The house was nicely decorated too, including an arrow above my chair. :) It's tradition now.

Volleyball Memories

The last post I will ever make about MCS Volleyball... how time flies! I was sooo blessed this season. I didn't play, but there were so many things the girls did to make me feel like part of the team. I got to put my hand print on the volleyball alumni memory wall, since I did play two years in high school and many times before. That was a privilege. Another honor was being allowed to go to the sports banquet at the end of the year where we celebrate the season and give awards to the athletes. Won Hee wore the horse shirt for me. :) But the sweetest thing they did for me wasn't letting me stand up with the athletes up front to be acknowledged, the thank you note signed by all the girls for being statistician or the chocolate bar, they actually made up an award for me- Best Statistician. That night I got my first sports-related trophy. The humorous thing is I played for five years and never got a trophy until that night. :) Funny how things work.

That night was one of the best of my life, I knew I had a class that cared about me, but I don't think I really realized how great, making up an award to make me feel included and letting me even stand in the team photo. MCS is a school like no other. When you see the bottom picture of the senior girls, it's a picture of the best class ever!

Los Angeles

Even at the Hotel, I was still learning. We commanded an excellent view from our room. I learned that it is smart to take up silverware with takeout than to try to use a straw to eat fettuchini, and that some buses don't go to the airport- I'm just thankful some random guy told us so before we were driven to "The Ships"! I would have added a picture of the hotel pool to give the impression of a luxurious vacation, but since we didn't actually use it, that would be sort of cheating.

Pictures of Providence

These photos show the pretty and artistic aspect of Providence, a small Christian College where Mom and I got to travel to this past week. I really loved it! Am I going there? Not sure yet, but so far it looks really good.

Yes, the campus is very small and there are only fifty two students right now, but they're such a genuinely nice fifty two students! They went out of their way to sit by us during meals and invited me to classes and meetings and all sorts of things. The jet lag prevented me from going to everything, I was tired and turned in really early, but I had already got a feel for how much there is to do on campus. And if size worries you, they're expecting a big incoming class this year.

I got to sit in on several classes, including two business classes (pictured) where I got to be involved in a debate, Hebrew (I couldn't tell a jot from tiddle, but the students were good!) and my personal favorite- English! If I hadn't liked it it would have been a deal breaker, but I did. The professor was very humorous, and I could easily believe he was a comedian on the weekends. He really loved his subject.You should see his extensive poetry collection! The professors are very carefully chosen. Anyway, the academics were really good and I liked the professors a lot.

One of my favorite things about the college are it's 4-W programs, standing for Weekends of Work and Worship in the World. These are required field trips where you can go out into the culture and learn about how Christians should relate to it. These are included in tuition and include but aren't limited to: A day mission trip to Mexico, trip to a LA film studio, Museums, and the Philharmonic Orchestra, along with plays and on an unrelated note, the students go to the beach about once a month- even in the winter!

Speaking of winter, you wouldn't believe it, over here we're tolerating snow and they're over there in 90 degree weather wearing jeans and long sleeve shirts! Where are the flip flops?!

Other funny things, my camera flashing in the middle of business class.. oops! (I was trying to take it without flash, but hey..) The librarian turning out to be a lady my Mother used to babysit for out in Lynden. And many more. There is no way I could tell you everything I learned about Providence in a post. Please send me any questions you may have, I'd be more than pleased to answer them, and if I don't know, I can call my admissions councillor (Yeah, he's the smiling guy in the picture above the writing.)

Below are pictures of the interiors. Lounge, cafeteria, business class, library.