Friday, December 31, 2010

Top 10 in 2010


Facebook recently offered a way to see what 10 words were most commonly used in your Facebook status throughout 2010. Mine were a pretty good representation of what I have been up to this past year!

10. Semester - talking about school
9. Dinner - sharing my plans for the evening
8. Work - 5 days a week during the summer and fall semester
7. Heading - about to go do something
6. Game - one of my favorite things to do!
5. Friends - who I like to spend time with
4. http://blessingforlife17.blogspot.com - sharing my blog with others
3. Run - just about every day this summer
2. Weekend - gotta love 'em!
1. Morning - saying what I was going to be up to the next day

I'm sure Bible Study, SIFE, traveling, and church weren't too much further down the list. I am thankful for such a great 2010 and look forward to what my commonly used status words will be in 2011!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Breakfast with Mrs. Reed

This picture is of me and Mrs. Reed at a wedding over the summer. She is the mom of my good friend, Heather, so I've known her since elementary school. She was my youth group leader during high school and a spiritual encouragement to me over the years. I left for college, but we kept in touch, getting together for breakfast while I was home on breaks. We continued that tradition today and met for breakfast this morning. It was nice to spend time with her and catch up a bit. I will always appreciate her mentor role in my life, and I am thankful for the friendship we have!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Time for Reading Again


It's been a while since I've been able to read for fun! I borrowed another Nicholas Sparks book from a friend, and this one is a favorite! The Wedding is told from the perspective of Wilson, a husband who completely forgot all about his 29th wedding anniversary. He was determined to make their 30th memorable and began planning. His plans were altered when their daughter announced she was getting married and wanted her big day on her parents' anniversary!

As the daughter and wife are planning the wedding, Wilson continues to try and show his wife he really does love her. He decides to celebrate their 30th anniversary a couple days before their daughter's wedding and plans a whole evening together. (Don't read on if you want to read the book yourself and find out what happens in the end.)

The wedding day comes, and the wife is surprised to find out that their daughter is not getting married, but the whole day is for her - the wedding she never had 30th years ago! Wilson had spent the whole past year planning and preparing for this big day! It was kind of a fun twist at the end, and their marriage was strengthened through this act of love.

I have several more books on my reading list and hope to finish another one before heading back to school!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Bubble Tea


Bubble Tea: a sweet flavored tea beverage invented in Taiwan. Delicious and a must have when visiting at home.

Bubble tea comes in a variety of mainly fruit flavors sometimes mixed with milk or blended with ice. You can get the tea cold or hot, with or without tapioca bubbles.

My older sister, Amy, first introduced my to bubble tea, probably in Jr. High or high school. I used to not like tea and was not a huge fan. However, over the years, my taste buds have grown to really enjoy the delicious combination of tea and fun bubbles!

There is a place near my house in Vestal called K&K's Old Tea House - this is the place to go for bubble tea. It's a fun place to meet up with friends from high school and catch up on life. My younger sister, Julie, and I went there this afternoon. I got my default green peach tea, cold, with tapioca. The fun part is the big colorful straws you stick into the top to drink the tea and suck up the bubbles!

I did find bubble tea in Rochester with my friend, Kristen, but it was not as good as the one in Vestal. Maybe I'll keep looking, or just always anticipate a trip home!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Focus Outward


We were at my grandparents' house yesterday to celebrate Christmas. As my grandpa prayed, he used one of his favorite phrases, "Focus Outward."

He has used this phrase for a few years now. As he says it, he does a hand motion similar to the arrows in the picture on the left; he starts with his hands together toward his chest and moves them apart as he moves his hands to point outward. His point is to get you to think about how you can focus on others instead of yourself.

It's a simple phrase, but a great reminder. I challenge you to think about how you can start to focus outward each day.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Gift Exchanges


I have participated in 5 Christmas Gift Exchanges this year! The first 4 were white elephant, find-what-you-have-laying-around type exchanges, and for the last one, each person had to bring a homemade gift. Here's how I made out:

1. Jayce's Christmas Party
Brought: Candy in a flowery, Spring basket
Recevied: CD from Jayce's friend's band

2. SIFE Christmas Party
Brought: CD from Jayce's friend's band
Received: Blonde hair dye

3. GAP Christmas Party
Brought: Blonde hair dye and Brunette hair dye (Thank you, Rachel!)
Received: Pick Your Nose Cups and a bottle of Coke
Also Came Home With: Spam in a box with a cat on the lid

4. Faith Bible Church Reunion and Gift Exchange
Brought: Spam in a box with a cat on the lid
Received: Homemade Plum Jam

5. Tischer Family Homemade Gift Exchange
Brought: Set of Flannel Christmas Pillow Cases
Received: Wooden cutting board made by my uncle

These gift exchanges were a fun way to celebrate Christmas with family and friends!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Nativity Scene

My sisters and I each got a nativity scene for Christmas. Our family had a nativity scene growing up, and we always enjoyed positioning the figures around the manger. As we are growing up, we each have our own areas to decorate for Christmas. It will be fun to bring this memory from growing up into our own homes.

My family and I had a wonderful morning celebrating Christmas together! There is usually a big discussion about what time we can wake each other up on Christmas morning, but this year we all decided to sleep-in and agreed on 9:30am! We ate our monkey bread when we woke up, then spent time giving and opening gifts. Then we had fun using all our new stuff - we played a game, worked on an impossible puzzle, and watched new Christmas movies. We are preparing cornish hens for dinner and there are more new games to learn!

It's fun to set aside a day to do stuff as a family while remembering the reason for Christmas. I am thankful for the manger and the gift the Lord gave to each of His children all those years ago!

Friday, December 24, 2010

A Life You Have Imagined


A few years ago for Christmas I got the necklace pictured to the left. It has a quote from author and poet, Henry David Thoreau, "Live the life you have imagined."

I really liked the quote, but must say, I was not living the life I had imagined for myself when I received it. Ask me about my high school graduation, my freshman year of college, or the summer after sophomore year - not quite what I had pictured for myself.

Lately, I can really say that I have been living the life I have imagined. I enjoy my classes, do activities with friends, have a spiritual support system, keep in touch with my family, have jobs I enjoy, have gotten involved at church, and strive to make the most out of every day! I have really been thankful for life lately and all that God has allowed me to experience.

I think part of living a life you have imagined is actually imagining it! Picture what you would like to do or accomplish and aim to make those a reality. I've enjoyed creating lists of goals and imagining what I want to accomplish in the future. Of course, the Lord ultimately knows what I will do with my life, but it's fun and rewarding to have ideas!

Think about what you want for you life and strive to make that a reality!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Grandma's Cookies


It wouldn't be Christmas at Grandma's without her peanut buttter cup cookies. She has made these for as long as I can remember, and they are delicious! She made them when she knew we were coming this year. I don't think our family has ever made them for ourselves - they are a special treat at Grandma's house!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas in Maryland

Above are my Maryland cousins with me and my sisters: Brian, Amy, Bridget, Julie, Laura, and Jason. We traveled down to Maryland late Tuesday afternoon and stayed at my grandma's house that night. Today we went to my aunt's house for lunch and Christmas activities - singing carols and decorating sugar cookies. We all headed to my grandma's house for dinner and presents.

We were able to video chat with our other cousins in Texas and even included them in the cookie decorating - below is a picture of my grandma with all her grandkids:

There are 12 of us in all! Six of us had a fun day together celebrating Christmas!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Winter's Official Start


While it's been snowing for the past 3 weeks, winter offically started today. There is some snow on the ground here in Binghamton, but the weather last week in Rochester was more winter-like. When I think of wintertime, I think of:


-Snowmen
-Snowplows
-Scarves, Gloves, Hats
-Sledding or Tubing
-Skiing
-A Fire in the Woodstove
-Hot Drinks
-Cold Noses
-Slush
-Christmas Lights
-Scraping the Car
-Snowflakes
-Christmas Movies
-Winter Weather Warnings
-Winter Jackets
-Boots
-Extra Blankets
-Isicles

Today is the shortest day of the year - may all your winter days be filled with warm memories!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Birthday Tablecloth

Tonight my family celebrated my birthday - that meant the snow scene tablecloth was out! I can remember using this tablecloth (pictured above) for my birthdays over the years, and it has become a regular for my birthday dinners. My mom believes it was given to her by my grandparents for Christmas one year.

For my birthday dinner, I requested potato soup and flan for dessert. We ate our delicious soup, then I opened some presents. We played some of my new games, then enjoyed the fruity flan.

It was fun to be able to celebrate my birthday with friends in Rochester, then with my family at home. Hopefully there will be many more years of birthdays with that snow scene tablecloth!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Congrats!

Honna and I went to Jillian and Rachel's graduation ceremony this morning! They finished their business degrees a semester early and will be missed in classes next semester. I am thankful they have both been part of my Roberts experience! We have had fun in classes, SIFE, dorm life, celebrations, and life in general. Thankfully, they are both still in the Rochester area for now, and we will still get together next semester - just not to work on a homework assignment!

Congratulations Jillian and Rachel!

Friday, December 17, 2010

8:26am


Around 8:00 this morning, I woke up to Birthday text messages from friends. I signed on to Facebook to find more Birthday wishes. As 8:26am came, I suddenly felt wiser, as my already-22-year-old friend, Mike, informed me I would! That is the time I was born, 22 years ago.

I had no finals scheduled for my birthday, and I took the day off from work, so I have been relaxing and enjoying my day! My newly gained wisdom did come in handy as my roommates and I figured out how to remove 3 foot icicles from our townhouse. These icicles spread across about 3 feet of the roof right above our door - waiting to fall on someone as they entered! We removed the screen from a window in the other bedroom and stuck a broom out to whack each of the icicles. Well, these icicles did not need much whacking as after the first contact the whole 3 foot row fell to the ground - SUCCESS!

As long as no one else needs icicles removed, I have plans to go to the Cheesecake Factory with Honna this afternoon for dessert, and there is a GAP Christmas Party at church tonight. Michelle and I are thinking about making waffles for dinner, and watching a movie or playing games after the Christmas party at church. I'd say today is looking to be a pretty good 22nd Birthday!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

21: The Best Year


Tomorrow is my 22nd birthday, and I can say that 21 was the best year of my life! I'm going to use this post to recap my favorite memory of each month of this past year:

December: My 21st Birthday - I spent the day at home with family and friends. I had an almond poppy seed cake for my birthday! I was up in Rochester the next day for an appointment, and visited my grandparents in Canandaigua - they made me a cake as well and had 21 large Christmas candles lit as I entered the house.

January: New Year and New Memories with Friends - My roommate, Michelle, and I started a new semester together. I also went rock climbing with another friend on campus, Kristen, who is actually from the Binghamton area as well.

February: Vacation in Hawaii - I went to visit my friend, Heather, for 10 days. We enjoyed watching the sun rise over the ocean, hiking, snorkeling, boating, and trying out paddleboarding. It was such a relaxing trip and great to spend time with Heather!

March: SIFE Competition - Our SIFE team headed to Cleveland, OH for regional competition. We shared about the projects we had been working on during the past year and moved on to Nationals in Minneapolis!

April: Easter in Philly - I headed to Philadelphia to visit my sister, Amy, during my Easter Break. We explored the city, ate Philly cheesestakes, made an Easter ham, and went rock climbing.

May: New Friends in GAP - I joined the young adult group, Graduates and Professionals (GAP), at my church in Rochester. We played volleyball at the beach every other Saturday, I attended a weekly Bible study, and we met regularly for get togethers and service projects. I formed many new friendships as I was welcomed into this group!

June: Visiting Family in Maryland - My family spent time with our extended family in Maryland. We celebrated a birthday, had fun in the pool, played games, and my grandma took the girl cousins to the Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant!

July: Home with Family and Friends - I spent the summer living and working on campus in Rochester. I was able to go home for a week during the 4th of July. I spent time hiking, hanging out with friends, geocaching for the first time with my sister, watching fireworks, and running my first race - a 5K!

August: Start of Senior Year - My roommate, Michelle, and I moved into a townhouse on campus with two other girls, I was involved in SIFE leadership with many of my friends, and I took classes with some of my favorite people!

September: Running the Half Marathon - I had seriously trained since May and ran the 13.1 miles in downtown Rochester with 5 friends. I was only a minute and 15 seconds over my goal!

October: Bike Ride to Canada - My friend, Danielle, goes to school in Buffalo. I met her in Buffalo with my bike, and we rode across the Peace Bridge into Canada! We rode for about 5 hours and figured it was about 30 miles altogther. It was defintely an adventure!

November: Visit from Brittany - Many of my friends from home have been able to visit me at school! Brittany came up and spent the weekend with me. We got garbage plates and went to the Jell-O Museum!

I have had the best year of my life, and I am thankful for the many memories and friendships that have deepened this past year! Prayfully, 22 will be another great year!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Shower Trouble

"Laura, we have a big problem!" says my roommate, Michelle, as she entered our room yesterday evening. Confused, I start thinking about who we could be having a problem with. Then she tells me the shower won't stop running and the handle fell off! I laughed as we went into the tiny bathroom, hot water running into the tub. I fiddled with the handle and the other piece that came off, but could not get the water to stop.

I decided to call our RA, who called our RD, who called security. Security shows up at our door asking about our overflowing bathtub - funny how stories grow out of proportion! Security assessed the situation and said the night duty maintenance had been called. Due to the snow, it could be an hour before they arrived. About 15 minutes later, a guy with a bucket of tools shows up. He checks out the running shower and messes with it until water stops running out the shower head - it's now shooting out from where the handle used to be! He decides to turn the water to the townhouse off until he can figure out how to fix it.

At this point, it looked like we would be without water until the next morning around 10am when he could come back with the right parts - that would have been rough to go a night and a morning without any running water! Thankfully, the repair man did have the needed parts and fixed our shower handle. We had running water again that night!

We have had problem after problem with our bathrooms this year, but this was a big problem!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

2010: Mission Accomplished



Back in April I set 17 goals for myself to accomplished by the end of 2010. As of last night, I have completed every goal! I believe it made this past year so much more memorable. I now have a list of life goals, that I will pull goals from each year. I just made my list of 16 new goals for 2011!

I blogged about each goal as I accomplished them, but here's an overview of what I was able to do this year (in no particular order):

1. Run a Half Marathon

2. Pass Western Civ

3. Meet and really get to know 3 new people:
Rachel Caton
Audrey Martin
Jayce Grefrath

4. Go to Charlotte Beach

5. Ride my Bike on the Erie Canal

6. Watch all Episodes of a Show

7. Travel to a New State

8. Go Christmas Caroling

9. Shadow or Interview 3 People
Amy Eisenhauer
Bethany Welch
Shaunta Collier-Santos

10. Play Raquetball

11.Visit Grandma in Maryland

12. Visit Grandma and Grandpa in Canandaigua

13. Start a Blog

14. Read 10 Books
End of the Spear
Amish Grace
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God
At Least We were Married
My Sister's Keeper
Flight of the Fugitives
True Believer
The Fate of the Yellow Woodbee
Mistaken Identity

15. Go to the Zoo

16. Watch Fireworks

17. Go to a Baseball Game

I challenge you to think about what you hope to accomplish in the coming year - it's neat to look back and remember all the activities and successes at the end of the year!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas Caroling


Tonight I completed my last and final goal for 2010 - Christmas Caroling! We had a SIFE Christmas Party tonight, but a group of 11 of us got together beforehand to go caroling at the houses around campus. The highlights included:

-Someone commenting that we were cheerful singers
-A lady taking our picture
-That same lady giving us all candy

It was a freezing cold evening, but we had a fun time spreading Christmas cheer, and we only got the door shut on us once!

After caroling, we headed to the SIFE Christmas Party, where we had our usual white elephant gift exchange, complete with gifts that included pictures of Mark, a friend in SIFE.

After the party, some of us headed to Rachel's apartment to watch Christmas movies. The night before, Jillian introduced me to Santa Claus is Coming to Town - a Christmas classic I'm surprised I missed growing up! It's a good one. Tonight we watched Rudolph, and slid back to campus in the snow!

There's a lot of Christmas activities going on this week, which is a fun way to end the semester!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Lovely Christmas Shirts

Me and Audrey went to Jayce's for a Christmas Party last night. Of course we had to be festive and wear some lovely Christmas shirts! My shirt came from a gift exchange 2 years ago, and I pull it out every year. At Jayce's we ate food, had a white elephant gift exchange, played games, and watched Home Alone. It was my first of many Christmas Parties this season, and I enjoyed spending time with friends.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Princesses


Once upon a time 4 friends had a business class together - Honna, Jillian, Rachel, and Laura. The class was asked to split up into teams and to pick a team name. The 4 friends formed a team and called themselves The Princesses, each taking on the name of a Disney Princess: Honna was Belle, Jillian was Aurora, Rachel was Cinderella, and Laura was Mulan.

The professor turned 40 in mid-October, so the princesses decided to have some fun! They colored 40 pictures of princesses (10 of each princess) and put them inside his car with streamers - it was a fun surprise!

At the end of the semester, the princesses had to do a final presentation explaining what they learned in the class and also sharing what they appreciated about each of their teammates. Of course, The Princesses decided to wear princess prom dresses and tiarras for this final presentation! They had a great time sharing about each other and are thankful for how their relationships deepened throughout the semester.

Even though 2 of the princesses are graduating next week, they are staying in the Rochester area. You can be sure that these friendships will continue beyond just a class assignment! As they will all soon be moving on from their time at Roberts, we all know they will live happily ever after.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Winter Formal

Tonight I went to Winter Formal with Michelle and Honna. We had a great time, and I'm going to let Honna be a guest blogger to tell you all about it!

AAHHHH! I've never blogged before! How cool! Well let me just say that for all the people who had the opportunity to go to formal and chose not to, y'all missed out. majorly. SO FUN!! We had a blast dancing the night away to so many great songs. The high heels were quickly taken off for this reason. My fave: the cupid shuffle which we requested because I mean, come on, it's one of the best songs ever to dance to :) Oh yeah, the ginormous conga line around both stories of the building and balcony was pretty sweet too. Basically, formal was a grand ol' time... simply smashing... and I can't wait to go to the one in spring!!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sabres Game

I went to a Buffalo Sabres hockey game tonight! Above is me, Kristen, and Danielle before the game. The company of the guy Danielle works for sponsors the Sabres, so he was able to get us 100 level seats! Kristen and I drove over from Roberts after classes today and met Danielle and her friend at their college in Buffalo. We rode the subway downtown and grabbed dinner at Spot, a fun coffee shop! Then we headed off to the rink!

The game was fun, but there was not enough fighting action to keep us entertained. It was great to spend time chatting and catching up with Kristen and Danielle as we watched. The game was coming to a close, and the score was 4-3, with the Sabres ahead. With about 30 seconds left, they scored another goal - making it 5-3! Well, the excitement wasn't over as they scored yet again with about 8 seconds left! The final score was 6-3, and it was a very exciting ending.

It's been fun having Danielle going to school so close to me. We have spent time at each other's schools over the years and have enjoyed a lot of activities together! She is graduating next week, so I'm sure that was my last trip over to her school. The Sabres game was a fun way to end our adventures there together!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Friends for Rotary


Each week for Rotary (see SIFE Projects for a description) I try to have another SIFE member join me for breakfast. They have a chance to talk about their involvement with SIFE - a project they are working on, why they joined, etc. It's nice to have another student up that early with me!

Last night, the student who was going to join me this morning canceled on me, so I began trying to recruit someone else. Then Dave Haas came to mind! He has been quite the popular guy lately, as a picture of him showed up in 4 out of the 5 students' powerpoint presentations yesterday for a class! I figured, I wanted to spend my morning with this great guy! We have gotten to know each other through SIFE over the years. The picture above (Dave is on the top left) is from SIFE Competition in Cleveland last spring. Dave is a junior business management major, so we have a lot of classes together. He willingly accepted my offer and joined me for Rotary breakfast this morning!

This was my last Rotary morning for this semester. Hopefully I can continue to recruit students to join me next semester!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Joys of Snow


It has been snowing here in Rochester since last Wednesday, the first day of December! I'm not sure how many inches, but after brushing off my car multiple times a day, I know it's a lot!

Thankfully, I was prepared for this first snow. I have by winter coats, gloves, scarves, and hats here at school with me. My poor roommate, however, did not bring back her winter boots and has been struggling this week. Thankfully, our housemate had an extra pair Michelle could borrow today!

The roads have been slippery around campus, and I've even decided not to go to some off campus events because of the snow. Hopefully I won't have to cancel many more plans!

At times, the snow is really pretty - I like when it's nice and fluffy, coming down gently as big flakes! A friend said he just stopped and enjoyed the peacefulness of the falling snow the other day. We may like it now, but what will we be saying come April when it's still coming down?!

Monday, December 6, 2010

SIFE Pictionary


We played SIFE Pictionary at the meeting tonight! We had two teams and had to draw words or phrases associated with our team. Some of the pictures included:

-14621 - the impoverished zip code we are working with downtown

-Tax Preparer - from our CASH program, offering free tax preparation to low income families and individuals

-Zach Swan - our SIFE President

-Presentation Team - the 5 members who will represent our team at competition this spring

-Let's Can Hunger - from our recent food drive, collecting food to provide for 14621

-SIFE Christmas Party - coming up next week!

-Hastings 117 - where we meet every Monday night

It was a small group due to homework, travels, and concerts, but we had a good time together tonight!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

My Family

Dad, Amy, Julie, Laura, Mom - Pittsburgh - October 2009

I talk so much about my friends in this blog, I thought it was time to talk about my family! The picture above is from our trip to Pittsburgh to visit Julie at her school last fall - it's my favorite more recent picture of our family. We have been a family of 5 going on 20 years now! Here's a little bit about my family and what I appreciate about each of them:

Dad - His love for games and puzzles was passed down to me! He's always up for a logic challenge and likes finding new puzzles to try. He's a software engineer and has always provided for our family. He's active at church and enjoys working in his garden in the summer. I appreciate his level-headedness when it comes to making decisions.

Amy - My older sister, whom I have always learned from and followed. She graduated in 2009 from a college in Philadelphia where she is now working various part time jobs. I love going to visit her and seeing her crafty side. She was an industrial design major, which is like product design and development. She is the more artsy one in the family. I appreciate her genuineness whenever we have the chance to catch up and talk about life.

Julie - My younger, always-doing-crazy-things, little sister. She is a sophomore bio major at a Christian college just south of Pittsburgh. She is an RA this year and is always finding fun things to do with her friends. She is completely random at times and is always up for new adventures. I appreciate her unique and creative side.

Mom - Who I get my emotional and sentimental side from. She stayed at home to raise me and my sisters, but has now gone back to work doing office type stuff. She enjoys singing, sewing, and gardening. She organizes our family get-togethers, making sure we keep in touch with each other and extended family. I appreciate her honesty and desire to spend time with the ones she loves.

As the Christmas Season approaches, I will be celebrating with my family. I am thankful for them and the many memories we have had together over the years!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Let's Can Hunger


My roommate, Michelle, joined SIFE this year and is heading up the Let's Can Hunger food drive challenge. Our team's goal is to collect 5,000 pounds of non-perishable food by April. The donated food will go to RWC SIFE's adopted zip code, 14621, an impoverished area downtown.

We had our first big event today - a scavenger hunt in the communities surrounding campus. We partnered up into teams of about 5 and were assigned a community. We went door to door asking for canned goods, peanut butter, etc. The team with the most pounds of food at the end won vouchers for pizza!

My team collected 93 pounds of food, and the grand total was 430 pounds! We've got a ways to go, but it was fun to kickoff the challenge today!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Future Husband and Father


I believe I first heard this song by Sanctus Real over the summer. Lead Me is about a husband and father looking to the Lord for guidence when it come to his family. My desire is to marry a godly man and raise kids someday, and prayerfully these words will be the desire of his heart.

Read some of the lyrics below, and listen to the song here.

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Thursday, December 2, 2010

December Birthdays Celebration

There are 4 December birthdays in GAP - Joel, Aaron, Rachel, and myself - and we celebrated tonight at Applebees! In all, there were 17 of us - fun that it was 17 since that's my birthday - December 17!

Most of us got their half price appetizers, and Jayce and a friend came later with dessert for everyone! The waitress brought out 4 candles, and we were sung to. It was a fun night and great to celebrate so many birthdays with lots of friends!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Roommate Aprons

I received my first Christmas present tonight! My roommate, Michelle, and I bought each other aprons. Michelle has baked a few pies this year and a caramel apple coffee cake, and I've made brownies and pumpkin bread - we are becoming quite domestic! I'm sure the baking will continue now that we have some fun aprons to wear!

Michelle and I have had a lot of fun together lately - random evenings in our room, late night chats, SIFE activities, and now we'll have to do some baking together! I'm looking forward to one last semester with her.