Powerpoints

The life of a business major - powerpoints! I am in the middle of creating 5 different powerpoints for various year-end presentations. I actually kind of like doing them as including pictures, charts, and clip art can be fun. I love to be organized, and a powerpoint helps you do just that with all the thoughts you want to form into a presentation.

Between now and December 17, I have 5 presentations, 3 papers, and 1 final project. Did you catch that? No final exams! I would much rather put time into a good powerpoint than spend time studying for a test - I'm glad this was a project-heavy semester.

And now I'm off to work on one of those powerpoints!

Rejoicing Each Day

This is a sunrise in Hawaii, signifying a brand new day. I was reminded of a verse today, Psalm 118: 24 which says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." I love looking back at my blog posts and realizing I was able to pick out one thing each day that made that day special. I have been writing in this blog for 7 months now, and a lot has happened in my life! I am so thankful for the days full of experiences I have had.

Psalm 118 starts and ends with the same words, "Oh gives thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever." I am thankful that, day after day, that truth remains the same!

It is great to be able to rejoice and be glad in every single day the Lord has given to us!

Kansas Friend

Jordan and I met 2 weeks ago at a GAP event. She has been in Rochester since the end of the summer doing an internship in music therapy for kids with special needs. She is from Kansas and got plugged into Browncroft recently.

We had fun playing games together at the GAP event, then we went out for coffee the next week. We chatted for 2 hours just getting to know each other. We spent some time together at another GAP event, and she came over for lunch after church today.

It's always fun to meet new friends and watch a friendship form. I am looking forward to spending more time with Jordan during her time in Rochester!

Bachelorette Party

Honna and I celebrated with Jillian tonight at her bachelorette party! She is getting married January 1, and we had a fun time tonight while looking forward to the big day. We hung out at Jillian's apartment first, playing games and getting to know her friends from home. Then we headed to the Distillery for appetizers.

One game we played used the beaded necklaces you see in the picture. We could not say the words "Justin" (Jillian's husband-to-be) or "wedding" and if someone caught you saying one of those words, she got to take a necklace. As you can see, Jillian really liked talking about Justin tonight!

35 days left until Jillian says, "I do!"

Black Friday Breakfast

These are some friends from home: Heather, myself, Bri, and Brittany. We did not all go Black Friday shopping, but got together this morning to make a yummy breakfast! We had waffles with fruit, baked oatmeal, and cinnamon rolls - delicious! Some of us did this 2 years ago on Black Friday, and I think it needs to become a tradition!

While we were there, Heather told us she is having a BOY! She is due in April, and it's very exciting to hear there is a healthy baby on the way! It was great to spend the morning with friends during my quick trip home.

Turkey Trot

I ran my first Turkey Trot today with my cousin, Becca! She has been running for quite some time, but this was her first organized long distance race. It was fun to do together!

The race was in Webster, about half an hour from campus. It was a cold morning, but we were ready for the 10am race! 3500+ people were there for either the 4.4 mile race or the 2.5 mile race - we did the 4.4. The Turkey Trot really started out as a trot! There were so many people, we were hardly moving. We were weaving in and out of people nearly the whole race. I finished at 44:16 - 44 seconds under my goal! Becca was the 34th female in our age group - a total of 147 racers.

It was a fun way to start our Thanksgiving. We headed back to Becca's parents' house for our meal, and my family and our grandparents were there as well. It was a nice day spent with family, and I have so many blessings to be thankful for this year! Happy Thanksgiving!

Day Off in Rochester

I remember during freshman year thinking it would be fun to have a day off where students didn't go home, but got to spend it in Rochester with friends and no classes. Today I got my wish!

This morning I had a lengthy To Do List of errands to run and projects to work on. You know what makes a To Do List even better? A friend to do it with! My friend, Honna, came with me, and we had a fun day together!

We picked up my race packet for tomorrow, grabbed pitas for lunch, found Christmas decorations, shopped for a gift in Target, browsed electronics at Best Buy, and enjoyed some frappes! It was great to have a friend along for all those tasks! I also ran into 2 friends while we were out - always fun to be able to unexpectedly chat with friends for a bit!

When I got back to campus, I decorated my townhouse, worked on some creative projects, and started packing for my time at home. It was a very fun and productive day off in Rochester!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving Break has begun! I have off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends! Now, on Monday, I saw my friend, Rachel, and said, "Hey Rachel! How was your break?" She looked at me like, "What are you talking about?" Then I realized, we didn't just have a break, I simply had a really excellent weekend! Now I really get my break - what a deal! Here are my plans for my time off:

-Tuesday - Bible Study at my townhouse.

-Wednesday - Errands, shopping, fun , and lunch with Honna.

-Thursday - Turkey Trot with my cousin, Becca, and a Thanksgiving Feast at my aunt's house. My family is coming up to Rochester for this, then I will travel home to Vestal for about 48 hours.

-Friday - Making breakfast with my girlfriends from home, then putting up our family Christmas tree in the evening.

-Saturday - Back to Rochester for my friend, Jillian's, bachelorette party.

-Sunday - Church and relaxing to geer up for the final 3 weeks of the semester!

I am looking forward to the next few days of fun activities!

SIFE Non-SIFE Event

Tonight we had another SIFE non-SIFE event! Basically, SIFE friends hanging out outside of SIFE. We held tryouts for presentation team tonight (determining the 4-6 people that will represent our team at competition in the spring). Afterwards, a group of us headed to coffee at Boulder. We had fun until they closed at 10, then we headed to my friend, Rachel's, apartment to play some games.

It was fun to relax with SIFE friends and celebrate a job well done at tryouts!

High Falls

My friend, Danielle, came to visit from Buffalo today. She is also friends with my friend, Kristen, so the three of us spent the afternoon together. We checked out High Falls, which is in downtown Rochester. We browsed the Visitor Center then viewed the 96 foot waterfall. It was a bit windy, but it was fun to explore!

Afterwards, we headed to Park Ave for dinner. A lot of my friends have been recommending Jine's lately, so we ended up there. We all enjoyed our chicken sandwhiches and spending more time together.

It was great to just take the afternoon off and spend it with friends exploring Rochester!

Gotta Love Saturdays

I had a wonderful Saturday! It started out with a morning run with Audrey. We hadn't ran together in a while and headed to the canal for a nice 5 miles. Then I took the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes we had packed on Thursday to the Christian Bookstore - I also started my Christmas shopping! After that I spent some time working on my support letters for the Ecuador trip. Then it was time for euchre! There was a tournament on campus, so Audrey, Jayce, his roommate, and I headed over to join in on the action! We were all out within the first 2 rounds, but played more euchre, hearts, and dutch blitz - it was a fun afternoon!

I took an unplanned trip to Walmart after running out of ink for my printer while working on my letters, but I made a lot of progress in getting those letters out! My roommate, Michelle, was here while I was working on stuffing envelopes, and we just had a fun night being goofy together. I am thankful for days where you can just relax and have fun with friends - gotta love Saturdays!

New Job

I switched up my schedule and was able to start a new job on campus - while keeping my other 2! This opportunity came through working on grants this semester. I have been meeting with a lady in the Development Office, named Kelly, to discuss grants, and she mentioned they were creating a new position for a student to help with grants. I was very interested, and she later contacted me about the specifics of the job. I ended up meeting in the President's Office to talk about the grants I was working on and the possibility of working with Kelly - I had never been in his office before! Kelly was offering me 6 hours a week, hoping I could start this semester. I was able to work out giving her 3 hours a week for the rest of the semester, then working the full 6 next semester. I will drop one of my other jobs, but continue in HR and work at my internship.

I went in for training on Monday, and today was my first full day in Development. I am bascially researching grants and foundations. I organize important information I gather into a spreadsheet, such as deadlines, past funding, and contact information. Kelly said I would also be helping with the new policy and procedures manual. I'm not sure I'll be doing any actual grant writing, but more of the behind the scenes of preparing to write a grant. I think it's a great learning opportunity for me and a definite resume builder!

Operation Christmas Child

Ever since elementary school I have filled shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. You fill a box with toiletries, small toys, and school supplies to be sent to a child in a needy country.

Tonight, my friends, Jayce and Audrey, and I headed to Target to fill 3 shoeboxes. We had fun shopping for little gifts and thinking about where they would end up. We registered our boxes online so they can be tracked, allowing us to know what country our boxes end up in. Prayfully our boxes will be a blessing to those in need.

Grant Complete

I prepared and placed a grant in the mail today. This is the first grant that I found on my own and completed the entire process from start to finish. It's also the biggest one I have written - requesting $8,000!

I wrote the grant for a set of camps SIFE hosts on campus during February Break - Women of Hope and Women of Courage. Women of Hope began in 2003 for high school girls to learn life skills. Women of Courage is new this year, and an extension of Women of Hope. It was created for returning Women of Hope campers, focusing on business skills.

It was a process to gather all the necessary information and documents. I felt so accomplished when I proudly took the stuffed envelope to the mailroom! We will find out in mid-February if we were awarded money for this year or next year's camps. It was a great learning experience for me, and hopefully only one of several more grants to come!

Hospitalization

A year ago today I went into the hospital. A was there for a week and a half, being discharged the day before Thanksgiving so I could enjoy it with my family. I missed the rest of my semester at Roberts so I could continue recovering at home. Professors were gracious and gave me grades based off the work I had completed. I had a relaxing time at home, enjoyed celebrating the holidays, and came back to school in January. It's been a journey, and I am thankful I am not in the same place I was a year ago. Here's a little picture of what was going on last year:

-Weird Weekend: The weekend leading up to my hospitalization was really strange. I was very confused and had a hard time communicating with people. I was crying a lot and very frustrated. I couldn't sleep well and woke up the morning of November 16 saying weird things to my roommate. I decided to not go to any of my classes, but had to e-mail my professors, letting them know I would not be there - that took every ounce of energy out of me. It was like a race against the clock as I sat at my computer trying to type out a note explaining why I wouldn't be in class. Again, I was having a hard time communicating, so this was very difficult.

-Ambulance: I ended up calling my mom that morning, screaming and crying, not sure what was going on. She told me she was hanging up to call my aunt who lives right down the road. Pretty soon, my aunt was at my dorm and took me to her house. I was hesitant to get into her car - I felt like I was an elderly person she had to take somewhere for an appointment, and she had to coax me to get into her car. We eventually headed to her house, where I picked at some food and tried to take a nap. Eventually, she got me to head back to Roberts to go talk to the counselor I had been working with that semester. She had to help me walk inside, and I again, felt like an elderly person that needed all kinds of help. I sat in the office of the Director of the Counseling Center, trying to explain what was going on, but I was struggling to get them to understand - I didn't even really know what was happening! Next thing I knew, there was a police officer in the room with us, asking me all sorts of questions - that was intimidating! I thought they all thought I had done something wrong, but I hadn't! His name was Eric - strange what I remember from the whole situation. Eventually, I was placed in an ambulance. I was screaming because I didn't know what was going on. Doug was the ambulance worker, and he strapped me in and started asking me more questions. My aunt was able to ride with me - I was thankful for that!

-Hospital: We arrived at the hospital, and I still didn't really know what was going on. There was a wait for a room, so I was just strapped to a bed in the hallway. I thought this was some sort of joke, and everyone was going to leave me there to figure out how to get out all by myself - I was so confused! Eventually my dad showed up. Thankfully, he was without a job at the time, so was able to stay with me the entire time I was in the hospital. My mom was in Texas, so came part way through the week after her duties there were over. Eventually I got into a room, and I don't remember a whole lot that happened. My grandma was there and was trying to explain where I was. The whole time I thought everyone was using special codes to communicate. I was so frustrated because I couldn't figure it out! Talking to them later, there was no secret code! That night they ran a bunch of tests and just tried to get me to sleep. This was all on Monday, the 16th, and I really don't remember much of anything until Friday, the 20th.

-Getting Better: On Friday, I had some visitors, and we played some games together. My aunt had brought a hymnal for me, so I remember singing some songs. My cousin brought letters for my wall that spelled out, "We Love Laura!" I had a very decorated room, complete with elephants! The doctors would come in and talk to me every morning. I had a routine down with meals, showering, visitation hours, and going to group activities. It's funny because in the beginning I had a hard time understanding what day it was - and for someone who likes her planner, this was a problem! I would always ask the nurse what day it was, then eventually, he would be the one asking me - I was so proud when I could confidently answer him correctly! As I got better, I was encouraged to fill out a packet called a Wrap Plan. This helped me to identify my triggers, who I can go to for support, actions I need to take when warning signs come up, and more. After adjusting some medicines, the doctors were able to find a good balance for me and released me, hopeful for my future.

-The Past Year: I continued going to counseling during the spring semester, and met regularly with a doctor to monitor my medication. I was on two medications, and we have been tapering down on one of them. At first, my goal was to be off both medicines after 1 year. However, I have noticed a big difference in my life this past year, and do not think this is the right time to be changing things with so many changes coming up after graduation. I am content with being on the medicine because I know it is making a positive difference. I've really only had 2 rough days since last year - what a blessing! They were recently and probably due to the stress of this time in the semester and coming off the one medicine.

I am so thankful for the journey I have gone on! I was blessed with great doctors and nurses and wonderful family and friends to support me this past year! This past year has been the best year of my life, and I am hopeful for the future!

Facebook Memory Maker

For one of my classes this semester we had to create an original invention. I thought about how you spend time uploading pictures to facebook, then have to upload them again to a photo website when you want to order physical prints. I figured it would be much easier if you could order pictures right from facebook - by using the Facebook Memory Maker!

The Facebook Memory Maker would have the option to include picture comments printed on the back of the photo. Users could select up to 5 of their favorite comments or type in their own. The back of the photo would also have the date, caption, and any tagged friends' names.

As you upload photos to facebook, a box would pop up asking if you wanted to give up your rights to the pictures, allowing friends to order prints from your album. There would also be settings so you could select which friends were allowed to order from you.

I created a powerpoint showing the interface of facebook and how the photo order, comment selection, and giving up rights would look. I also had prototypes of the pictures, with the date, caption, tagged friends, and comments printed on the back.

This would be such a handy feature of facebook! It takes all the fun online memories from the photo and puts it in physical form to look back on. It would be fun to see facebook come out with this photo ordering option!

Ecuador Trip

I had a meeting tonight for a trip to Ecuador! I had been thinking it would be neat to go on a missions trip during my February Break - really, my last long break before entering the working world. I went to the chapel that introduced all the trips, but none of them struck me, so I figured it wasn't meant to be.

Mid-October I was at church and there was an announcement for a trip to Ecuador in February 2011. I contacted someone to get more information, hoping the dates would line up with my February Break - and they do! I went to the next interest meeting and met more of the team members.

At this point, I have filled out the application and am making steps forward to join them on this trip, February 19-27. We will be building a house, conducting VBS for a school and orphange, leading worship nights and sharing testimonies, and running a soccer clinic. I believe my gifts, abilities, and interests line up with what we will be doing on the trip, and I am excited to see how the Lord can use our team.

I am also excited because the missionaries we are ministering to, the DiCrastos, are part of Mission Aviation Fellowship - the same organization Nate Saint and Jim Elliot were part of. These were 2 of the 5 missionaries who were speared in the 50's by the Auca indians. Their families later went back to minister to this people group, and since then, the men who speared them have come to know the Lord. There is a movie and a book that share this story: End of the Spear. I've recently read the book, and have always appreciated the story, so I am excited to go see their homebase.

As you think of it, be praying for this trip - that our team would effectively bond as a group as we plan for our time in Ecuador, and that my funds for the trip would be covered. I have to provide $1,500 for my food, lodging, and transportation, as well as supplies for the building project. I am excited to share this opportunity with family and friends, and pray the Lord would lead them to join me in this endevour.

Visit from a Friend

Above is Liz, Mark, and myself. We were all involved in SIFE last year, but Liz graduated and moved to the DC area. She came up for the weekend to visit with friends - and her and Mark stopped by for lunch with me today! It was great to catch up with her, sharing about what I have been up to and hearing about her life outside Roberts. Her 13 hour bus ride here has been worth it as she has spent time with lots of friends. I'm thankful for the many ways to keep in touch these days, but it's always great to actually spend time with those long distance friends!

Nap Time

It's a great day when there is time for a nap! I took a nice, hour and a half nap today, and it was wonderful! They don't happen often enough, but when they do, I love it!

Maybe I'll start scheduling in a nap every Friday afternoon - wouldn't that be a nice way to always start the weekend?

Learning to Say No

I have slowly been learning an important lesson: how to say "No." I love being active and involved in activities, but it's important to know when there is enough on your plate.

Lately, there have been two instances when I've decided to say "No." to an activity:

1. Bible Study - I go to Bible study with people from my church every Tuesday night. A few weeks ago, I had just come back to Rochester from a trip to Pittsburgh. I had slept in a different bed 5 nights in a row, I had projects and papers to work on, and I was exhausted. I let the leader know I would not be coming, and took the night off to get work done and relax. I am so glad I didn't pretend I was Super Woman by going to Bible study that night as I felt so refreshed the next morning and had a great rest of the week!

2. Buffalo with Friends - I was planning on heading over to Buffalo tonight to go to the Chocolate Bar with two friends from high school. However, while I was at work I just began feeling drained and was dreading the hour drive to Buffalo and the late night home. It was hard, but I called my friend and said I wouldn't be joining them. It's that point in the semester where there is so much work piling up, and I need to be sure to get my rest.

I love spending time with people and taking part in fun activities, but I am beginning to understand what I need and saying "No." when I just need a break to recharge. I almost said "No." to a blog post tonight, but thought it was an important lesson to share!

Game Night

My Wednesdays typically consist of a movie night, coffee with a friend, or a game night. Tonight was a game night, and we played Hoopla - one of my favorites!

Everyone works as a team to guess the Who, What, or Where on players' cards. There are four ways players can get others to guess their card:

1. Soundstage: Acting without using words, only outrageous sound effects are allowed.

2. Cloodle: Just like pictionary!

3. Tongue-Tied: Choose a single letter and all the clues given must start with that letter. Example: Ice, Igloos, and Iditarod for Alaska.

4. Tweener: Fill in the blanks, "It's bigger than _________ but smaller than __________." Example: "It's bigger than a bracelet, but smaller than jail." for Handcuffs.

I had a fun time spending time with friends playing Hoopla tonight!

Counting Down

There a quite a few things to look forward to in the months to come! Here are 5 events that are quickly approaching:

16 Days until Thanksgiving - Classes end Tuesday, but I am staying in Rochester until Thursday morning for the Webster Turkey Trot. After the race I will have Thanksgiving Dinner with family. Then Friday morning some friends from home are getting together to make breakfast. It's back to Rochester on Saturday for my friend, Jillian's, bachlorette party!

38 Days until my 22nd Birthday - This is also the last day of the semester - what a nice present!

46 Days until Christmas - I have already sent out my Christmas List, and I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends.

70 Days until I start my Internship - I will be spending 10 hours a week at Heritage Christian Services doing fundraising and grant writing. I am looking forward to this learning experience!

179 Days until Graduation - After that, who knows what my life will look like! One thing's for sure - no more homework!

Strong Enough

I blogged about Matthew West's new CD, The Story of Your Life, recently and wanted to share another song from it. Each song is based on a story submitted by common people. Strong Enough was submitted by a single mom whose 19 year old daughter, Haleigh, was in a car accident. 11 surgeries and 3 years later, she is still recovering. Haleigh's mom said to her one day, "Haleigh, God won't let you go through anything you're not strong enough to handle." Haleigh's response was, "Well, He must think I'm pretty freakin' strong!" Matthew West ties Philippians 4:13 into the song as he reminds us that no life circumstance is too much for us to handle when our strength comes from God.

Click here for the full story of the song, read some of the lyrics below, and check out a video of the song here.

You must
You must think I'm strong
To give me what I'm going through

I know I'm not strong enough to be
everything that I'm supposed to be
I give up
I'm not strong enough
Hands of mercy won't you cover me
Lord right now I'm asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enough
For the both of us

I can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength
And I don't have to be
Strong enough

Scraping the Windows

I had to scrape my windows this morning - probably the first of many mornings to come! I'm not sure what the temperature was, but there was a nice layer of frost on my car before heading to church. Scraping the car made me think of winter coats, gloves, scarves, hats, and warm socks - all of which I already have with me here at school. I am ready for the long, cold winter in Rochester!

Jell-O Museum

My friend, Brittany, came to visit me for the weekend! She is going to be a guest blogger for today's post.

Laura's First Suggested Sentence for Brittany: I have no idea what to write, and I am so stumped as to what to write that will live up to Laura's high blogging standards.

Brittany's First Suggested Sentence: I would like to thank my mother, father, and the Academy for the high honor of being asked to blog for Laura on this esteemed website...

Either way, the moral of the story is that today we had a WONDERFUL plan for the day: sleep in, go swimming at the pool, make some pancakes for lunch, and then hit up the Jell-O Museum and finish off with good ole' fashioned Garbage Plates for dinner. MOST of those things went as planned. The pool was closed for the day, so we skipped that and went right to pancakes. After a yummy Brunch of sorts we were off to the Museum, mapquest directions in hand. That's where the adventure starts - apparently mapquest isn't as reliable as we thought, and we ended up 19 miles in the wrong directions. We called, and the woman at the museum was VERY concerned about how far away we were - so she gave us directions, and we were back on our way.

We got to the museum and soon discovered that the woman on the phone was none other than 4'10'' Ruth - walking talking Jell-O Droid. We were greeted with this phrase "Thank-you-for-coming-to-the-Jell-O-Museum-if-you-would-like-to-enter-the-museum-there-is-a-fee-of-$4,-the-tour-has-already-begun-but-you-can-make-your-way-downstairs-to-the-transportation-museum-which-I-think-you-will-greatly-enjoy-until-it-is-time-for-the-next-group." Little did we know that she could say that speech in her sleep and would repeat it for every guest who arrived during our time there. We also had the privilege of having her as our tour guide. She lead the tour (which didn't actually move from the starting location) flawlessly - and without emotion. Other key phrases from Ruth included "I hope I've "wiggled" your enthusiasm for Jell-O" and "His name was Pearl - can you believe that?" She was busting out puns left and right, all with the inflection of a toy doll. We were also joined by a woman who almost cried for joy at being at the Jell-O Museum, and an episcopalian priest who just happened to be candidating at Ruth's church. And no. I'm not making this up.

The museum was pretty standard - what you'd expect from a small-town museum about Jell-O, but did feature a dvd (on a 12x12 screen) of old Jell-O commercials. Laura and I enjoyed wandering around the museum and looking at old ads and kind of chuckling at the quaintness of it all. It was a fun little adventure and a great way to spend the afternoon here at Rochester!

We finished off the day with Garbage Plates (which now that I've been introduced to I have a tendency to crave every once in awhile) and are looking forward to spending the evening together. I'm so glad I was able to spend the weekend here with Laura and catch up on each other's Fall. Plus, I now have one more thing to add to my "little-known-facts about me" list - I've been to the Jell-O Museum!

P.S. Did you know that the human brain has some of the same properties as Jell-O? Strange but true!

Time in Canandaigua

I traveled about an hour east to Canandaigua today! The United Way was hosting a day for not-for-profits to learn more about marketing and other topics. My professor told me about it because the last session of the day was on grant writing. I went and learn some new things about foundations offering grants, timelines, and who to involve in the process. I also have some new websites to check out! I am going to another grant writing workshop on Monday - this one is at a Library in Rochester.

On my way back from the grant workshop, I basically drove right past my grandparents' house, so I stopped in to surprise them! My grandma showed me the latest quilt she's been working on, and we talked about who they know in Ecuador near Shell (I'll share more details as to why in another post soon!). I was glad it worked out for me to visit my grandparents - it's nice to have family near by!

Adorably Loud

Lately, actually, for most of my life, I have been told that I am loud. People always know when I'm around, and my laugh is very distinct. Well, let me tell you about tonight...

I had to meet a friend in the dining hall, just to pick something up. I explained this to the worker scanning people into Garlock, and she made sure I understood I was not allowed to sit down since I was not scanning in to eat. I assured her that I was just getting something from a friend, and I pointed out where I was heading - no where near the food! I headed over the my friend, and we got chatting. Eventually, another friend comes over, gives me a little hug, and says, "Laura, you are adorably loud - I love it!" Adorably loud?! I've never heard that one before! She knew I was around because of my voice and my laugh. Adorably loud - I love it. Haha!

Leaf and Bean

I spent time at Leaf and Bean tonight with my friend, Abbie, from church. She lead the community group that I joined in May, but has now branched off and formed a new one with newer GAP members, so I don't see her as often any more.

Leaf and Bean is real close to Roberts' campus, and a nice place to go and catch up with a friend. I got a raspberry smoothie type drink - it was delicious!

It was great to chat with Abbie, sharing about life and encouraging each other in what we are facing these days. We scheduled this coffee date weeks ago, so I was glad it finally arrived!

One thing I've learned - you always smell like Leaf and Bean long after leaving the coffee shop!

New Topic

My small group finished up our book on success. We chose to study the books of Ezra and Nehemiah next. We are using a study guide by Max Lucado that breaks the books into 12 lessons. We chose this book because we are in a sermon series on Nehemiah. I acutally went through the whole book of Nehemiah recently in one of my classes. Hopefully we will be able to pull lots of lessons from studying these books in the weeks to come!

SIFE Friends

Above is Mike, Mark, Honna, Amy, and myself - some of my favorite people on campus! We are all in SIFE and had a great night together. We all went to our SIFE advisor, Carrie's, house for Thanksgiving Dinner, then had our regular meeting on campus. After the meeting we headed to the Dollar Theater to see Despicable Me for only 75 cents each! The movie was cute, and we laughed a lot. Once we got back to campus we had a little dance party in the car, then we moved it outside the car in the library parking lot - it was quite entertaining as we found out from the text comment afterwards! Overall, a fun night with great friends - so glad for random activities and making memories!