Time Machine!!

Hope you all are ready for a marathon, because that’s what I’m going to try to do – to get you all caught up on the last month and a half! So hang on to your seats…here we go! [The brackets are comments made from outside the time machine, knowing what I know now :D]

Thursday, September 17
Worked on revising my essay for English Comp. which was due the next day. Also made a “map” of the block I had described for the assignment. Stayed up a little past midnight.

Friday, September 18
Turned in the “Map of a Block” essay…did our first day of in class reporting for News Writing, had a “library day” for OTS, and left for Breakaway at about 6.
This is Sarah – she and I are in a couple classes together and we sat together on the bus ride.
Breakaway is the yearly student retreat. We went to Camp War Eagle, about two hours away I think…east and north of here. We had a main speaker (one of the Student Ministries workers I think…not a student anymore) who talked about osmosis – being filled with Christ and then going and spreading Christ’s love to our culture. We also had smaller groups that we met in to discuss what we were hearing. My group was mostly girls who are now in my Passion group (the small campus Bible study groups). I had a runny nose all evening/night…not exactly fun (the second half of my cold had definitely caught up with me).

Saturday, September 19
Spent the whole day at Breakaway. Sadly, it was kind of cold and rainy. L Another girl and I were going on a walk in the morning and we saw these two deer!!! They weren’t very scared of us at all and we just got to watch them for several minutes before they left – it was fun!
We had another big session in the morning and also met with our “breakout groups,” a group of two or three small groups led by a faculty member from JBU. Then all afternoon was free time. Camp War Eagle is amazing…it has a rock climbing wall, miniature golf, shooting ranges, archery, a skate park, etc. etc. etc. etc….. It wasn’t all open while we were there, but I was definitely impressed! Like I said, it was rainy all day. If it hadn’t been raining and if I hadn’t been feeling lousy, I would have gone on the Blob.
That’s the Blob. :D
Instead, I took a nap, did a little homework, played some sand volleyball, and also played some a couple card games.
We had more sessions after dinner, then left Camp War Eagle at about 10:00 pm and I got to bed about midnight. I was definitely very tired.
Here’s a picture of my small group. All but one girl is in my Passion group.

Sunday, September 20
I spent the morning babysitting at a church. If I hadn’t been gone all day Saturday I would definitely have contacted the lady and told her I couldn’t go…I still had somewhat of a runny nose and a horrible headache. Another girl and I were taking care of seven 4 and 5 year olds if I remember correctly. They were pretty good and a couple of them were down right sweet. It was nice to be around little kids again, but it would have been even better if I had been feeling 100%!
I think I took a nap after I got back to my room. Don’t remember what happened the rest of the day. Oh wait…I had to work my four hour shift in the caf because I had been gone on Saturday.

Monday, September 21
Nothing special comes to mind…and my journal entry doesn’t help any.

Tuesday, September 22
I think this was the day when the chapel speaker was a former professor from JBU. He was basically telling his life story. He and his college sweet heart got married, but then she got Multiple Sclerosis. For a while, he, as he put it, “deserted” her at an emotional level. God worked in his heart though, and he is now very devoted to her. His wife is now confined to a reclined wheel chair, and he still takes care of her every day. I think she’s had MS for almost 30 years. It was really neat to hear his story.
Spent two hours reading newspapers in preparation for a news quiz we might have had the next day. Also spent two hours watching Battle Over Citizen Kane which I had to do for Mass Media…so I didn’t get as much other homework done as I would have liked. In English Comp. class that day we were talking about evil…it was quite an interesting discussion…all about predestination vs. free will etc.

Wednesday, September 23
Went running that morning – two miles in 20:43. I sent in an application for an outside scholarship [which I didn’t end up getting…], but didn’t get a whole lot of homework done. Worked that evening and had my first Passion meeting. The first couple weeks we took turns telling our testimonies so we could get to know each other better.

Thursday, September 24
Ran again that morning…and got a much better time! Two miles in 19:53, then another mile on the treadmill in 9:40. Got back my essay from Comp. class, and I got an A :D

Friday, September 25
MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!
Went running again that morning – I forget how far or what time. I had gotten several cards in the mail, so I decided to put them all on my door. I really should have gotten a picture, but I didn’t. L Oh well. Had my first college test – for Mass Media [I ended up with an A+ thanks to a few bonus points]. Dad and Mom and Nathan got here about half an hour before I had to go work in the caf…so we went out to grab a bite to eat at Arby’s, then they took me back to campus and went to set up camp while I worked. After work they came back to get me and they all got to see my room (since it was open dorm hours!). I don’t think we had a campfire that night…but I can’t remember for sure.
We camped at Natural Falls State Park in OK, the same park where we honors students had our cook out Labor Day weekend.

Saturday, September 26
A TERRIFIC RELAXING day!!!!!!!! Went for a walk with Dad after I got up, then went for a run with Nathan…4th day in a row of running…I hadn’t done that in a long time! We definitely had a cross-country style run…ran down a really steep hill and then Nathan expected me to run back up it!!!!!!! NO WAY. I walked up. At the end we tried to cross a creek across the trail and I got one shoe full of water……it was still fun and definitely worth it. We went about a mile and a half or so.
After breakfast I took my family down to see the water falls…they admitted later that when they got there Friday night and set up camp they were wondering why in the world I had wanted to go to that state park….and they’re right. There isn’t much at all to the park that’s easily visible. It’s once you hike down the trail a little bit and see the falls that you recognize the park’s beauty.

(by the way, that’s one of Nathan’s pictures…he got lots of really good ones!!!)

We went on several long walks that day in the park. I think we hiked every trail they have :D After lunch I opened my presents. Here’s what Nathan gave me:
That’s a picture of my budgie Bluebonnet. It’s already been kissed several several times :D
In the afternoon we went back to campus. Mom took a nap, Dad used my laptop, and Nathan tried to fix my bike…..the pedal had broken and we were trying to get it off in order to replace it. We couldn’t get it to budge though. [a couple weeks later one of the guys here was able to get the old pedal off easily using a better kind of tool, so I finally got my bike back].
We went to Braum’s and got some really yummy ice cream. That night we had a camp fire, cooked hot dogs and smores and enjoyed the stars and being out camping. It was GREAT!

Sunday, September 27
We all went to a church here in town together. For my Honors Orientation class, I had a group project coming up where we were supposed to learn about an assigned neighborhood. The church was in my neighborhood. Sarah (in the picture above from the bus ride) is in my small group for Honors Orientation, so she went with us. After church we went out for lunch at a restaurant in town. I had to work at 4, so I said farewell to my family. I was SO glad they had come :D (a picture of us all at the falls)
Work was pretty fun. For the first time I did a 4 hour shift without having to vacuum the whole place! I scanned people’s cards as they came in during dinner. After The Gathering (Sunday night student-led chapel) we had a little surprise birthday party for Brooke (the Resident Director of my dorm). A couple of the guy RA’s blindfolded her and made her get in a box which they then carried up the stairs….so here’s Brooke explaining it all to one of my hall mates and her sister.
And here’s me with my RA Steffi.

Monday, September 28
Didn’t get a whole lot done….was feeling a little overwhelmed with stuff that I needed to do.

Tuesday, September 29
Had a much better day – “Did pretty well on homework today and feel pretty happy about what I did” (quote from journal). Got to watch Up on the Quad that night – it was really really fun to see that!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, September 30
Got some laundry done that morning, ran about 1.75 miles (around the cemetery a couple times) and read some of Jack’s Life (a biography of C.S. Lewis) for Gateway while I waited. I love it when I “have” to read easy fun books for classes!!!! :D I was able to get quite a bit of homework done that day, so that was nice.

Thursday, October 1
Had a pretty busy day and didn’t get as much homework done as I probably would have liked. After chapel I was able to borrow a friend’s car so I could go to the local animal shelter. Our mid-term assignment for News Writing (due 10/26) was to write a feature story about a certain place, and my place was the animal shelter. So I spent about an hour there trying to get an idea for a story. I came up with two or three really good ideas that I was looking forward to writing about. [The people I needed to talk to for those ideas ended up being unwilling to talk to me…]
Took a nap before English Comp, and afterwards my group for Honors Orientation went to our neighborhood to walk around, talk to people, and learn about the area. We had three people in our group, Sarah, Taylor, and me. It went ok. I would have liked to talk to more people, but we talked to everyone we saw (only two people). It felt awkward enough to walk up to people and start asking questions…it would have been worse to knock on someone’s door. We ate dinner at a little Mexican fast food restaurant in the area.
That night I worked for quite a while on my essay that was due the next Monday in Mass Media. That’s also when I got my bike fixed.

Friday, October 2
That was a VERY long day…..I had classes from 10:00 am–5:00 pm with only one hour of break. That was because we had a special homecoming chapel, then I had a “Friday session” to go to for Gateway, then my four regular classes. I went running before all that and finally got back up to 3 miles (in 30:45!). I hadn’t been able to get myself to go three miles since I had gotten sick a couple weeks before.
That night I worked and then I packed for our English Comp. weekend field trip.

Saturday, October 3
I had to get up at 7 in order to get ready to leave for our field trip at 8. My teacher was half an hour late…but so was one of the students. The rest of us were waiting in the cold for half an hour, so we weren’t overly thrilled about that and the early hour. Once Dr. Himes got there all seven of us plus our luggage piled into the mini-van. That class only has seven students in it, but one of the girls couldn’t come.
After a three-four hour drive (during which we all slept quite a bit and I got some studying done) we got to Morrilton, AR, the first stop on our trip. We looked around at the train station turned museum there, as well as got a little tour of the town, visited a really really old cemetery and looked at the local library. The library had a pet hamster who rolls around in his ball all day – I found that hilarious! Then we went to Hattieville, where Dr. Hime’s mother was born and raised. His cousin now lives in his grandma’s old house. Here is a picture of Dr. Himes:
And here’s a picture of the class and Dr. Himes and Mrs. Beeson. She was the school teacher when Dr. Hime’s mom was in school.
We visited the local gas station/store, saw a little demonstration of how to grind corn, then went to the old (three room) school house. We ate dinner there around a campfire with most of the local folks, then Dr. Hime’s uncle and some other men played some bluegrass for us – it was lots of fun!
After everyone else left we sat around the campfire for a while. Then Dr. Hime’s cousin showed up to take us to a “haunted bridge.” It wasn’t really all that scary… We slept at the school house that night.

Sunday, October 4
We went to the local church that morning for Sunday school, then headed back to Siloam Springs. I slept part of the way but was also able to get some more studying done. Got back to campus at about 2:30. English Comp. is definitely my smallest class, and it was fun to have a weekend to get to know the other students better. One of the girls, Emily (wearing the turquoise shirt and standing on the left in the picture) live on the same floor I do and we often work together at the caf. She’s one of my best friends here :D Finished my Mass Media paper for the next day, then did my four hour shift at the caf.

Monday, October 5
Went running that morning – was able to go three miles again and had a really fast finish. I might have lost track and gone 3.1 miles…my time would seem to indicate that (I think it was about 31:30 or something). I went another .5 on the treadmill just to prove to myself that I could. Didn’t get much homework don until after I finished my classes for the day. I went to Emily’s room to do some homework because I couldn’t seem to concentrate in my room. It seems kind of crazy, but I often get more done when I’m in someone else’s room or even outside.

Tuesday, October 6
Wasn’t such a good homework day because four hours of my time (other than class) had to go toward other stuff…a two hour documentary that I had to watch outside of class for Mass Media, my first CEF Good News Club, and a meeting with my HO group about our presentation. It was all good stuff and mostly fun. I was so happy to spend an hour with some preschoolers during the GNC :D And the HO group meeting was a great time of exchanging ideas. I think my group had terrific dynamics.

Wednesday, October 7
Another girl (Aubrey) and I went running that morning. We were planning to run the course for the 5k that was on the 10th, but the girl who knew the route wasn’t feeling well. So Aubrey and I just went for a run around town. We ended up going 3.7 miles in about 42 minutes, definitely my longest run ever, in distance or time!
That afternoon I had my mid-term for Gateway. [Didn’t end up doing so well at that (as in I got a B on the test…). It was kind of a hard test though…it was multiple choice with “choose the best answer” which is really annoying.]

Thursday, October 8
My HO group went back to our neighborhood again that day. We were hoping to volunteer at a ministry called “Hunger and Thirst” that feeds homeless people, but they didn’t end up needing any help that day. After we got back to campus, Sarah and I spent an hour or so working on the powerpoint for our presentation the next day.

Friday, October 9
I had my Old Testament Survey test that day. [I got an A on it.] My HO group also did our presentation. I think it went well. We were the first group to go, so we didn’t really know what we were doing for sure…but I like how it turned out. Talked with a friend from back home for almost an hour that night…until nearly midnight. It was a lot of fun :D

Saturday, October 10
I RAN MY FIRST 5K THAT DAY!!!!!!!!! It was a fundraiser for the “Titus Task,” a local ministry to financially help people adopting children.
I went with three other JBU girls (Aubrey, Cassie, and Emily). We ran it “together,” but we weren’t always with each other…actually the only one I saw during the race was Aubrey. She caught up with me at about the 1.75 mile mark and was past me half a mile later. We got a picture of the four of us together, but it wasn’t on my camera and Facebook is being weird so I don’t know if I’ll be able to put it on here or not… It was pretty cold that morning – about 40 degrees or so and all cloudy. So we were happy when we finally started running (they had a bunch of kids/walkers do a one mile fun run first).
I ended up getting a flat 31 minutes, which I was pretty happy with. I had been hoping to get it under 30 minutes, but after having a couple down weeks I was content with 31. From about 2.25-2.75 miles was definitely the hardest part. Right at the end though there were a couple of spectators from JBU who knew who I was so they were hollering at me “come on Esther, you can do it!” which was great :D
Afterwards we four girls went to a rummage sale that was supporting the same cause. When we got there they were doing “everything you can fit in a bag for $5” so I bought several shirts and some other things too. We ate lunch together, I took a shower and a nap I think, then I had to work at the caf. The sun came out beautifully that afternoon and it was much warmer.
That night my knee swelled up pretty bad and was like a bad bruise…Thankfully it’s better now. I’m still not convinced it was because of the running, even though there’s a pretty high likelihood of that.

Sunday, October 11
Went to Fellowship Bible Church that morning with Aubrey and Cassie. I think I have decided that’s where I’m going to attend. The preacher is definitely more topical than I’m used to (all the churches I’ve visited here are like that…), but there’s a Sunday school class afterwards that’s really solid and that I really like.
Had to write a paper on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that was due for Gateway the next day. I had been hoping to write it on Saturday, but I was too tired.

Monday, October 12
Had a not so good day homework wise……….partly because I “lost” three hours in addition to my regular classes…two to watch another two hour documentary for Mass Media (it was our fifth one of the semester…all outside of class and all requiring a one page reaction paper) and one for “Women of Walker,” the monthly girl’s meeting for our dorm. That night Mrs. Smalley from the Center for Relationship Enrichment here on campus talked about relationships between girls. It was really good, but I wished I could be two places at once! (doing homework AND listening to her)

Tuesday, October 13
Did a little better with homework that day… I was definitely looking forward to Fall Break by then! Other than that I don’t know.

Wednesday, October 14
Didn’t get much done…after class Emily and I were studying together for our English Comp. mid-term the next day. One of the other students in the class would walk by and see us and join us uninvited…I wouldn’t have minded, but it caused a distraction that we (or at least I) could have done without. Ate dinner, worked in the caf, etc.

Thursday, October 15
The English Comp. mid-term went kind of okay. My teacher started off by telling us that we had as much time as he needed…so I was taking my time! We had to fix all the problems we could find in 10 sentences, do some matching of definitions and examples, then write a couple short essays. So I’m done with all the grammar stuff and about half done with the first essay, and he tries to tell us that we have 10 minutes left…….well, that really got me going faster. Thankfully he gave us a little more time than that since he had told us we could take as long as we needed. But my second essay definitely suffered from that, because he was still breathing down my neck ‘I need to go, come on Esther, I’m sorry, I’ve got to go, finish up’…. [I got an A on the test, so I really really don’t have anything to complain about…it’s just that my perfectionism qualities were very very rankled].
That evening I interviewed one of my News Writing classmates for her make-believe obituary that we had to do for class. She survived being hit by a car when she was 15, so she just used that as her cause for death. It was really neat getting to know her better…by interviewing her for her obit… That night I had to write an essay for the next morning for OT Survey about Saul, David, and Solomon and the cultural changes during their reigns…it was interesting, but kind of difficult.

Friday, October 16
I don’t remember when I packed…it was probably that morning though. Anyways, all day I was looking forward to heading home after classes!!!!!!!!! I had found another girl going to Dallas from JBU, so I rode with her. We got a later start than we had intended, about 4:30. Met up with Dad and Mom in Allen because the girl I was riding with was headed to The Colony.
We got home about 9:30 and I so could not wait to see Bluebonnet again! Nathan went in to try to wake him up before I came in, but it wasn’t working too well and I couldn’t wait any longer. My little budgie definitely perked up in a hurry when I came in the room though! It had been eight weeks since I had seen him, and he was SO thrilled. So was I.

Saturday, October 17
We spent most of the morning looking at pictures from some of Nathan’s summer activities that we had never been able to see and mine from JBU. Got my mid-term grades for my class and were happy to see that they were all A’s except for one B (the Gateway because of that test). I was happy to be home, being with my family and my bird all day. I even got to go to Ministry Group that night!

Sunday, October 18
I was so happy to go back to my home church and see everyone there…and to work in the library again! It was funny…when I went in Mr. Maness had his back towards the door, so when he turned around I said good morning and he said good morning and then he realized who I was …it was funny. :D
We looked at more pictures after lunch, then Nathan and I went running together! It was my first run since the 5k, because I had wanted to let my knee settle back down. We went two miles in a not very fast time…I think it may have been 19:30 or something along those lines.

Monday, October 19
That day was my ‘see all my friends that I can!’ day. I started off by having breakfast with Mrs. S – I really miss being in her classes and being her TA L Mom and I did some shopping and I was able to get a couple new tops that I really like! I dropped Nathan off for classes, then went to see a friend who had recently gotten her own horse. Then I went to see one of my best friends, Mollie. Her birthday had been on Thursday, but she didn’t know I was coming home – I wanted to surprise her!! And I did :D We had a lot of fun talking. Stopped by another friend’s house for a couple minutes, then had to go get Nathan from classes. That evening after supper I walked over to see a family I babysat for pretty consistently for the past year. One of the boys is 2 and the other one just started school. They were both really excited to see me and I was happy to see them too!
Dad and Mom and I watched a couple I Love Lucy episodes and an episode of Emergency! for another Mass Media assignment. That was one of the more fun ones though! I was going to work on my paper that was due on Friday for English Comp. that night, but the Word document didn’t ever open up…and then my computer wouldn’t go into hibernation….little did I know what was coming next…….

Tuesday, October 20
I was bound and determined to get some homework done that day. So I started up my computer soon after Nathan left for his Richland class. But it wouldn’t boot up. It just got stuck on one of the start up screens. I was on pins and needles trying to do other homework stuff until Nathan got back….only to find out that he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it!
[To make a long long story very short, my computer had a virus. Don’t know how, but it did. Before we found that out, we thought I’d have to completely reinstall Windows, so Nathan kept my hard drive in Dallas to back up all my files first. That’s when he found the virus. After he deleted it, he mailed the hard drive to me. I had taken the rest of my laptop back JBU, so once I got the hard drive on Thursday the 29th I was able to just plug in the hard drive and it worked perfectly!!! No reinstall needed!!!!!!]
The other girl from JBU and I left the Dallas area at about 5 pm and got back to campus at 10:30 or so.

Wednesday, October 21
So I found myself entirely without a computer and needing to have a rough draft of a 4-5 page paper to take to class the next day…understandably I wasn’t too happy about that. Thankfully they have plenty of computer labs here! There’s one in my dorm on my floor, one in the Walker Student Center (which my dorm is actually connected to!), and one in the library. I basically lived in one of those three whenever I wasn’t in class that day. I stayed up until 12:45 trying to write the paper and still didn’t have it done. I was VERY down in the dumps.
Thursday, October 22
That morning before chapel I spent another couple hours on my paper and finally finished the rough draft. I sent that one off to Mom to see what she thought of it because I felt half asleep when I wrote most of it and didn’t trust myself on it very much…
Sometime Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday I also had to write the obit for News Writing. Don’t remember when I did that.

Friday, October 23
Don’t really know what all happened that day…other than the fact that I was only in my room for tiny bits of time in between things because I was living in the computer labs. Spent a good chunk of time revising my paper. Dr. Himes expects us to do lots and lots of revision, so I was really glad I had emailed my paper to Mom…because the girl in the Writing Center Thursday night didn’t give me much help at all with anything that needed revision. Thanks to Mom and Nathan, every single page of the rough draft was pretty heavily marked up :D (and Dr. Himes has us turn in a copy of our marked up rough draft so he can see it!) [I will hopefully get this one back on Tuesday!]

Saturday, October 24
Since no one that I wanted to interview from the animal shelter would talk to me, I ended up spending a couple hours at the shelter just hearing about interesting stories from the last couple years that I would somehow have to turn into a feature story….
Talked with Nathan for a long time that evening…poor guy…my phone battery died on us while we were talking for the second time in two days. At least both times I was able to give him a little bit of warning!

Sunday, October 25
Went back to Fellowship that morning…ended up having to walk there and was 10 minutes late. I had a list that said a shuttle would come to campus, but it never showed up as far as I know. So I had to walk the mile or so to get there instead. But it was worth it!
Spent the evening writing a paper on The Horse and His Boy for Gateway, in a computer lab of course! The worst thing was that the computer lab in my dorm is FREEZING (it’s 10 degrees colder in there than in my room!) and I don’t think the regular computer labs were open… So I gave up for the night because I was too tired.
Oh yeah…I also had to spend two and a half hours in the cold lab before dinner writing my feature story about the animal shelter for News Writing. I was decently pleased with how it came out…I don’t know yet what Prof. Warner will think of it though! [I will get it back tomorrow!!!!]

Monday, October 26
Finished up the paper for Gateway that morning, turned it in at Gateway and turned my feature story in. Spent quite a bit of time in the library doing some reading for a couple of my classes.
I found out that I haven’t been working enough work study hours. I was on the schedule for eight hours a week, but we usually finish 15-30 minutes before I get all my time. So in order to get all the hours I can this semester, I will have to actually work 10 hours a week. So I picked up a shift Monday night to add to my Wednesday and Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. That day was my first time to work Monday night, and I was in the dish room for almost three hours. Definitely not what anyone would call fun. Got some more homework done after that, then headed to bed at the early hour of 10!

Tuesday, October 27
Spent nine hours in bed, but got up tired and was tired all day long. Part of the problem is that my back was really really bothering (I think partly from working in the dish room) me and so I didn’t sleep very soundly. I took my laundry all the way over to the Honors Center (about half a mile from my dorm – but it’s free there!!), only to discover that the washer was out of order. I ran anyways…went about a mile. Ended up getting most of my homework done for the day!

Wednesday, October 28
Spent another nine hours in bed, with the exact same result. My back was still complaining. So I was tired, my back hurt, I was fighting a headache all day, it was a bad day in at least one other way, and to top it all off Mom had lost her phone so I couldn’t call her…..suffice it to say there was a whole bunch of “stuff” going on and I felt the most homesick I have felt since being here. Thankfully the sun was shining though and there was no rain in the sky!!!!!! I sat outside and just enjoyed it for an hour or so. I had taken studies with me, but I felt more like I just needed some quiet time. It did me good.

Thursday, October 29
Only got seven hours of sleep that night, but woke up feeling so much more refreshed!!!!!!!!! I had seen the day before that the washer at the Honors Center was working again, so I took all my stuff back over there and got it going. Went for a run while it was going – about a mile and a half in 16 or 17 something. And I found a $20 bill in a rain puddle!!!!! Running pays! :D
Had a much much better day than the day before, even though it was overcast and a little rainy – at least it was warmer than it had been recently!! And then to make a good day even better, my hard drive arrived in the mail and my computer worked perfectly!!!!!!

Friday, October 30
Didn’t get much homework done that day…I had my second test in Mass Media. After my classes I went to the “Medieval Faire” that one of Dr. Hime’s other classes was putting on because I could get some extra credit for English Comp! I worked that night, then did some pleasure reading before heading to bed.

Saturday, October 31
I “slept in” until 8:30 (all my college peers think I am absolutely nuts to think that being up until 1 is staying up really late and that staying in bed until 8:30 is sleeping in…….) I went running that morning…ended up with two 1.5 mile runs, one on the little track (a 15:23) and one on a treadmill (a 15:45). It felt pretty good! Breakfast, showered, did some homework, and ate lunch.
Then Kaley (my roommate), Grace (her friend who lives in the next suite) and I went bowling. We had tickets for a free game that expired that day, so we figured we’d better go use them! I didn’t do very well…but I hadn’t been bowling for ten years or so, and only two or three times before that! After we got back I did some homework out on the Quad because the weather was gorgeous. Worked in the caf that evening…and got an “extra” hour of sleep because of the time change.

Sunday November 1
Today I went to Fellowship with Kaley and Grace. That’s where they’ve decided to go too, but they don’t stay for Sunday school…at least not right now. So I think I will ride with them to church and then walk back after Sunday school…that’s what I did today. The weather is still beautiful. We’ve had so much rain here this fall, but now the last few days have been clear blue skies without a single cloud and nice warm temperatures. After I got back from church I made myself a picnic lunch out of some leftovers I had brought back from working in the caf, then headed outside to enjoy the sunshine!!!! I was out there for four hours doing homework, and I concentrated a whole lot better than I usually do in my room! Ate dinner, then started working on this long awaited for update. Went to The Gathering (the speaker was ok…but he had a couple annoying habits and I didn’t agree with everything he said…and I caught myself not paying attention a couple times), then came back and am just now finishing this up! So I had a good day today :D

more catch up....

Sunday, September 13
That morning one of the churches in town was doing a community service day, so I decided to pitch in. When I walked out of my dorm building, I realized it was raining...I probably should have gone back in to get a jacket, but I didn't. My group was picking up trash around the town for two hours. It was fun...I even found 60 cents worth of coins! Thankfully it wasn't raining very hard at all, just an off and on drizzle. My feet got really really wet though, and I didn't have anything to change in to.
After we got back to the church we had the church service (they had been hoping to have it and a picnic at the park, but didn't because of the rain). I really enjoyed the pastor's message and I may end up attending that church. I haven't really decided yet. Afterwards, we had a potluck.
I took a nap that afternon because I had gotten up early. When I got on Facebook after my nap, I saw that Nathan was on...so I asked if he had time to try out the web cameras Dad had bought, so we did! We had kind of tried it a couple times before I left, but it didn't work right. It did this time though! So I had my first web cam "call" home :D It was nice to be able to "see" everyone again, including Bluebonnet! I'm pretty sure the little guy recognized my voice (which he doesn't seem to do over the phone), because he got REALLY excited. Sadly, I had to get off after about 30 minutes to go to dinner :(

Monday, September 14
I don't think I was overly smart that day.....I had kind of had a scratchy throat when I went to bed Sun. night, and I still had it all day Monday. I think I was kind of coming down with something from having sat in wet clothes (especially my socks/shoes) for two hours in an air-conditioned building Sun. morning. I decided to go running anyways (mistake #1), but only went a short distance.
Had classes and such...tried to drink lots of water. That afternoon there was a blood drive on campus, so I decided to go donate blood (mistake #2!). I didn't have a fever or anything. I had donated last September and been just fine, so I figured it would go fine this time too...not. Just as the nurse came over to unhook me, I just about passed out. So they lay me down and put me feet up and all that...I felt better after a little while so they sat me up, but then I felt like I was losing it again, so they put me back down. The nurse said I was really pale, so they gave me something to eat and drink and all. It took about 20 minutes after I finished before they would let me leave...and I still felt a little lightheaded.
That night we had our "Women of Walker" night. A JBU alum who now lives and works in India came and talked to us. It was really neat to hear her story. She ended up marrying a man in India and now has a daughter. They work with orphans and have 8-10 staying with them at any one time. Later that evening we all got to meet our Passion group (small Bible studies on campus), so I was really excited about that! A couple of the girls I kind of know from the Dallas area, and one of the girls is in my Gateway class, so I think it will be a great group!

Tuesday, September 15
Had my first homework freak-out that day........in the morning I started typing up my notes from Saturday about the block for the essay that was due on Friday. Then, when we got to class (English Comp.), the teacher spent several minutes talking about what a tough grader he is and how we have to take time to revise and we'd better not wait until the day before it's due to write it and so on so forth....so I freaked out. Got back from class and spent most of the evening (from 4-11) writing the essay. I didn't get much of my other homework for the day done because of that...but at least I finished up the rough draft for the essay and that made me feel much better!
I still kind of had a scratchy throat for part of the day, but by the evening it was gone and I was pretty sure that I had escaped without getting completely sick.

Wednesday, September 16
I tried to go running that morning....but it did NOT work. Between being kind of sick and giving blood on Monday, I just didn't have enough energy! I went one mile, but was feeling like I was just going to go to sleep running...so decided to quit!
Classes went well. For Mass Media we started watching some of the first silent movies...it was pretty funny to see what they would pay to watch - movies of people jumping into the ocean, of people crossing a street in New York, etc. For News Writing, we wrote our first story in class and I really enjoyed it. Writing news stories seems kind of easy...you have all your facts and parts of the story on a sheet of paper and you just reorganize it to tell the story...I got an A on that assignment, but the professor was going around looking over our shoulder suggesting changes we should make...so it seems a little bit like cheating...but not really.

[Well, now I need to head for class.......I have my first test this morning. Thankfully it is my first class (Mass Media and Culture) so I can get it over with. The teacher has basically told us exactly what's going to be on the test about five times, so I feel decently good about it. My family is headed to see me...I am SO excited to see them!!!!!!!!!]

catching up! (or trying to)

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...but today I had my homework done by about 1:00! I had English class this afternoon, and since then I've just been enjoying some free time! :D I'll try to keep from getting too long winded here.....

Friday, September 11
I definitely had a long day......
Had a GREAT run that morning, three miles in 29:43!!!
At 10:00 I went to a special class where we talked about our strengths. All the freshman here are required to take a strength finder test (very similar to a personality test). We had taken it before we went and the class was kind of explaining it...so it was interesting to hear more about that.
During my Honors Orientation class, the professor took us to State Line Road, the border between Arkansas and Oklahoma. We were supposed to interview people to find out more about Oklahoma. I saw a sign for a Farmer's Market, so my group headed down the road...but it was too far away...and a lot of the stores were empty...so we only ended up talking to one guy, who didn't think there was any real difference between OK and AR!
I worked that evening, but don't remember anything in particular about it...I think it was my first time to work in the dish room though.... :P College students are so messy and wasteful sometimes :P

Saturday, September 12
I was able to get up in a good time and over to the Honor's Center to do my laundry by 7:30! And I was still there until 10:30 waiting for my loads to get done.....ugh! I was able to get some various stuff done in the meantime though, so that was good.
When I got back to my room, Kaley (my room mate) and her friend were about to go downtown to do some shopping, so I went with them. I needed to go downtown in order to start working on an assignment that is due tomorrow (don't worry, I have finished it!!!! :D), and I was thinking I would have to ride my bike. But I was able to catch a ride with them instead. So I spent the next two hours describing all the buildings on one city block!!!! It was definitely a very interesting block...and I like how it worked out for my paper too :D
I finished just before one, but Kaley had already gone back to campus (she offered to take me back, but I wasn't quite ready to go yet). I wanted to get back for lunch by 1:30, so I walked the 1.25 miles really fast, and hurried up the 100 stairs on campus and reached the cafeteria by 1:10, quite pleased with myself........only to find out what I had forgotten...that the caf closes at 1:00 on Saturday :( The California Cafe (here on campus) wasn't even open...so I got some crackers from a vending machine and ate that and an apple I had in my room for lunch.
I did some homework, then headed to the caf for my four hour shift...they had me vaccuum the whole thing again, but this time it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes rather than 2 hours and 30 minutes! :D I worked at the salad bar during dinner...there wasn't much for us to do, so I ended up cutting honey dew melons for an hour. I think I did about 10 of them. As a result, I got a pretty bad blister right on the inside of my right index finger's middle joint. It hurt almost like a bruise on Monday, so I went to the school nurse and she gave me some interesting little squares of a gel type stuff that soothes the skin by giving it moisture to absorb...or something like that. It's fine now.



[I wrote all that yesterday........now I need to head for class.....At least I got caught up on a couple days! This evening I am leaving for Breakaway, a student weekend retreat for any JBU students. I think it will be a lot of fun! I won't get back till late Saturday night though....I will update again as soon as I can.]

Three busy days....

Tuesday, September 8
Thought I had to watch a video before MMC class on Wednesday...turns out I didn't, but at least I got it done that way. Entitled Empire of the Air, the two hour video outlined the history of radio especially in light of the lives of three of its main promoters. Right after I watched that was chapel.
This week was Spiritual Emphasis Week here, which meant we had an extra chapel Wednesday morning and the same speaker Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Her name is Margaret Fineberg, and she is a really good speaker. This week she talked about hearing God's voice. I enjoyed listening to what she had to say....now it's just the application part.......
The rest of the day was basically homework and my English Comp class. We didn't really get into any serious discussions that day. Lots of reading that afternoon/evening since I had spent most of my morning watching the video.
In the evening I had three back to back meetings for various CAUSE ministries...One is a Nature Society, which I think will be really fun! The other two were a community service group and a group to provide leaders for CEF Good News Clubs. I don't know which ones I'll really be active in...we'll just see how it all goes.

Wednesday, September 9
It rained off and on ALL day....definitely annoying and somewhat depressing. I ran in the morning. Three miles again, but in a MUCH better time! (30:10!!!!!) Because of the special chapel, all my classes were pushed an hour later than they normally are. So instead of finishing at four, I finished at five....I'm definitely glad that's not the case everyday!
My News Writing 1 professor returned the letters to the editor we had written. He didn't really really grade them...he just wanted to get a feeling for where we were at with our writing. He said mine was "pretty well written" even though he didn't agree with what I said.
After class I had 30 minutes before the BBQ back at the honors center. Sadly, I could basically only eat before I had to head to the cafeteria to work :P Working was a lot more fun this time though, for several reasons: 1) there were a lot of other student workers there too; 2) I was only working for two hours instead of five! 3) I was doing a great variety of things rather than spending most of the time on one job. One of the things I had to do was go get new ice cream tubs from the freezer room. This freezer room was FIFTEEN DEGREES!!!!!!!!!! I had to find four kinds of ice cream amidst dozens of tubs...all while trying not to touch the metal rack...I found and retrieved three without too much trouble, but the last one was back behind some others and really really hard to get out...it wasn't really as bad as I'm making it sound, but I was definitely ready to get OUT of there! When I came out into the warm steamy kitchen, my glasses clouded up really bad. I just took them off until they warmed up...next time I'm tempted to leave them outside the freezer room or something.......
I went with Shannon (my Ogroup leader) to the dodgeball tournament championship. Her boyfriend was on one of the teams, and his team won! :D That was fun....but I should have thought about doing homework before I went to see that....I wasn't late with anything, but it would have been better if I had worked on it some last night. I was tired though and didn't want to think about doing homework.

Thursday, September 10
This morning was kind of rough...it may have been partly due to a "hangover" from yesterday's cloudiness. I feel much better now. My RA Steffi is great...she could tell I wasn't really having a good day, so we ate lunch together and talked it over...basically it just registered in my brain today that my grandpa has cancer now....after my grandma died of it in July...and I was feeling helpless and not understanding why this was happening. I just needed someone to talk to about it. Before I did it was really weighing on my mind and I couldn't concentrate.
Classes and homework filled up the rest of the day...this evening we had a "hall dinner" but I could only stay for the first few minutes because then I had my first Worship Ministries Ensemble. It went ok...I don't really know what I'm doing yet though...it's a different style than I'm used to. Always before I have just read music when I play, but this time all I had was a chord chart...the teacher was very understanding that I was really new to all this. So hopefully it will get better...I just tried to do my best playing along by ear. She said I was doing great, but I don't think I really did all that well.
I finished up my homework for tomorrow...sometime tomorrow I need to start on my first real turn-in essay. It isn't due for at least another week, but I still want to get it going now. I work again tomorrow night...then Saturday will be a nice quite day off!!!!!

Labor Day - a quiet day here

I ended up staying up till midnight last night (mostly on my computer, but I did get some homework done too...Kaley and I also played a game of Phase 10!!!), so I "slept in" until 8:45 this morning. Ate breakfast right away because I was thinking the cafeteria closed at 9 (actually it closed at 9:30), then sat around and talked with some friends who had stayed here. I came back to my room and worked some on reading from the textbook for News Writing 1, then went running at about 11:30.
Had a pretty bad run...I went three miles, which is a new distance record for me (I can eat the chocolate bar a friend gave me at my going away party now!), but I had a much slower time than I wanted (32:15). I had a sore muscle on one leg (I guess from walking so much yesterday), my knee on my other leg was kind of bothering me (from my bicycle accident a year and a half ago or so), and then I got a stitch in my side at the beginning of the last mile that would not go away.......but I made it through all three miles.
I was thinking about going up to my room to take a shower, but I decided to go eat lunch first. After lunch I called Nathan for a little while, then showered. Finished the reading for NW, wrote my "reaction paper" to the video we had seen on Friday in MMC, and did some other stuff too.
After supper my RA, Steffi, got back from her trip home for Labor Day....lots of other girls on the hall are getting back too. It's nice to not be "alone" anymore!!!!! I also did some reading for the HO class....so now I have finished all the homework that I was supposed to do today that I am able to do today (the library is closed so I can't get the DVD I'm supposed to watch, and one of my teachers hasn't posted an article that we are supposed to read yet......)
So that was my quiet day at JBU!

the other half of last week...

Thursday, September 3

Chapel that morning was very good. We had communion (they do it once a month at chapel on campus), so there wasn't really a speaker. The chaplain, Mr. Reed (who is actually a childhood friend of one of my mom's cousins!) did talk a little bit about why we have chapel in the middle of the day rather than first thing in the morning...to remind us that Jesus is to be ther center of all that we do. I definitely agree with him...it's hard sometimes because chapel makes me really feel closely connected to Christ or something, but then when I leave and go eat lunch and go about my day, I almost lose that feeling. It's kind of weird...and I definitely wish it didn't happen. Always remembering that Christ is to be at the center of my life....meditating on His Word throughout the day....praying without ceasing...I know these are the things I should be doing to have a deeper relationship with Him, to keep that chapel feeling of worship all the time, but it's difficult..... So please be praying for me!

English Composition that afternoon was a very interesting class.....we were discussing the Genesis Creation story, somewhat in comparison to the Koran's mentions of creation and the Native American creation stories. But we were mainly talking about Genesis. I don't remember if I already said this on here...but our textbook has lots of different articles/selections from western thinkers on various important topics. The editors wrote an introductory essay for each section, and that is what got our discussion going to start with. Gaps in the Genesis geneologies, where did Cain get his wife, the beginning of Genesis is poetry, God may have added His image to some common ancestor between us and a monkey (basically theistic evolution), we don't know how long the days in Genesis are, etc. etc. all came up, which I honestly found VERY annoying....... What about the crazy idea of accepting God's Word as authoritative and true from the very first verse????? I definitely added my two cents worth, several times! I always tried to hear the other people out first though, and I tried to be nice about giving the explanations upholding the Bible. So on Tuesday we will be adding Paley's argument for design and some of Darwin's writing to the mix, and the discussion should be just as interesting, if not even more so. If you don't mind praying that I would behave myself decently towards these, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that would probably be a really good idea.........

I'm not sure what I did between class and dinner...after dinner I went to the cathedral for a short meeting with the teacher and other members of the Worship Ministries Ensemble. We just went over what the expectations and schedule are for the semester. I was glad it was short that night, because I wanted to get to Walker's Float or Dye!

The Float or Dye was a dorm activity that we had out on the Quad. It consisted of enjoying rootbeer floats and tie-dying shirts! I kind of like how mine turned out. The design part was great, but I should have left it in the dye a lot longer, because the colors aren't very dark :/

I did the tie-dye on the back of one of my free JBU athletics T-shirts...here's the front:

Afterwards I went with my suite mates and a bunch of other folks to play wallyball (again!). We played for about three hours I think....until 11 pm...I probably shouldn't have stayed up that late, but it sure was fun! And I did have all my homework done! :D

Friday, September 4

I got up early....at 6am! (You'll see why in a bit....) Went running at the inside track, 2.8 miles in 27:42. I stayed under my 10 minute mile pace the whole time!!!!!!!!! So it was GREAT! :D Took a quick shower and ate breakfast, then met up with Shannon (my O-group leader) at 8:30 so that she could take me to run some errands. I finally opened up a bank account here in town (I've been needing to do that ever since I got here!), then we went looking for a thrift store so that I could get some black pants to wear to work (I am doing workstudy in the cafeteria this year...more on that later...). The first two we found didn't open until 10, and she had to be at her workstudy job by then...we went into the Dollar General and I bought a pair of black exercise pants just in case I couldn't find anything else. We asked about a thrift store, and the lady told us about the Manna Store. It's a really nice thrift store that had evidently just moved to a new location. So we went there and I found two pair of terrific black slacks that fit me really well! They were marked at $3 each, but one pair was half price!!! So that was really nice! :D

On my way to classes I stopped by the cafeteria to pick up my sack lunch since it was Friday and I was going to spend my hour break down at the honor's center. As I was going into the building where my first class was, I saw something weird on the wall...it almost looked like a little turtle! On closer examination it turned out not to be a turtle, but rather.......

a small bat!!!!!!!!!! He was hanging there, sound asleep, right at my eye level! He looks bigger in this picture than he really was...he was only about two inches long. I actually went to see if he was still there this morning, and he was...so it's pretty weird. He had moved a little bit though.
Anyways, my classes went pretty well. MMC was fun because we watched a video about the history of print media. With OTS we started talking about Genesis...interesting timing in light of my English class discussion... One of the guys who is in the same OTS and the same English class as I am asked the OTS professor about Genesis 1 at the end of class, and the professor said we would talk about it next time....so I will be very very interested to see what he says. Ate lunch and called Dad during my break since I didn't have any homework I needed to do for Monday. We had a pretty good discussion in Honors' Orientation about learning and how to encourage deeper learning rather than just surface learning to spit back out on a test for a grade. News Writing was my last class before the long weekend...we had a spelling "test" of sorts...thankfully it won't actually affect our class grade. The professor had put 50 words on the sheet of paper, some of which were spelled right and some of which were wrong......mostly it was confusing words...the difference between an s and a c, or between having a double l/f/m/s/etc or a single one. We were supposed to change the ones that were wrong to the correct spelling and leave the ones alone that were ok. I got 32 of the 50 correct....and a lot of the ones that I messed up on I had an inkling about, but I ran out of time. No one in the class got over 40 right...the professor said he would actually give a cash prize if anyone did.
Once I finished with classes I went to my room and got ready for the freshman honors picnic!!! We were supposed to go camping for the night, but rain was forecasted and so we just went for the evening. We left JBU about 5:00 and drove the 8 miles or so to Natural Falls State Park. It was very very VERY pretty!
After supper a BUNCH of us played the "signs" game...we all sat in a circle and each person came up with a sign for themselves, then showed everyone else (mine was a "butterfly"). One person had to stand in the middle, close their eyes, and count for 10 seconds. While they had their eyes closed, the "sign" was being passed by one person doing their own sign, then someone else's. That person then did their own sign to except it, then another person's to pass it again. Once the person in the middle opened their eyes, they tried to guess who had the sign...so the big trick was to try to pass the sign to someone behind the back of the person in the middle...and to keep track of where the sign was without giving away its location! An interesting game....kind of challenging too, but it was fun.
We also sang some praise and worship songs at the picnic pavilion before heading back to campus. I wish we had done it around the campfire, but it was a very very small campfire and we probably had about 50 people there, so that wouldn't have been practical. We were back at JBU by 8:30. Then I went with my room and suite mates to watch a movie ("The Emperor's New Groove") here on campus...it's definitely a comedy and a cartoon...the funniest part is that even though it is supposedly set way back in time, they keep making references to modern times.
Once we got back, I finished hanging up pictures on my closet door!!!! Then we were all on our laptops in our room doing Facebook...I put up some new pictures and stuff and stayed up too late (midnight!)



Saturday, September 5
So I slept in until 8:30 the next morning, then went to the honors' center on my bike to do laundry. It's nearly half a mile from my dorm to the center, but it's worth it because it is FREE! Once I finished, I ate lunch, then got online for a while. I went to work at the Cafeteria for the first time at 3:00. I thought I was doing a four hour shift, but since it was late in their work week and my first time, I did a five hour shift instead. I vaccuumed the whole dining room (which I estimate might be about the same square footage as my house!!!!), which took about two and a half hours....then I helped at the salad bar during the dinner hour, then all the workers ate, and then we spent the next hour or so cleaning up. I was really really tired by the time I finished. Talked to Dad and Mom awhile, then chatted with a couple friends on facebook, then to bed!

Sunday, September 6
This morning I got up in plenty of time, ate breakfast, then went to Sunday School at Siloam Springs Bible Church. The teacher is actually a professor here at JBU (of math!). He was just filling in for a couple weeks, so he's doing a two part series on Jude. Today he mostly focused on the Old Testament allusions in Jude...it's amazing how many there are in such a little book!
I liked the sermon a little better today. His emphasis seemed a little more on the Scripture and not so much on the topic, so that was good. Afterwards, the man who drives the shuttle van for JBU students and his wife took the four of us who rode with them out to lunch. We went to a Chinese buffet that was really good!
Once I got back and changed clothes, I called Nathan to hear all about his weekend. He had been at the national CAP conference where he officially received his promotion to full colonel! He also served as an aide to the CAP national commander! While I was talking with him I went on a walk....we talked and I walked for an hour and a half :D I walked about 3.75 miles in that time...it was fun. While I was doing so I saw a robin all spread out on a little hill of hay sunning himself, AND what I think was a badger or woodchuck or something along those lines.....life is never boring here!
Since then I have been on my computer and had dinner! We don't have The Gathering tonight because it's a holiday weekend. I have some reading I should probably do for Tuesday...I meant to do it Friday, but I ran errands instead; I meant to do it Saturday, but I worked on my computer instead...so I think I'd better do it today!

The first half of this week........

[I started this Wednesday evening in the computer lab but am finishing it up this morning]
Sunday, August 30
Sunday morning I did go to Siloam Springs Bible Church...it actually made me the most homesick I have been since getting here. I and a couple other guys rode in the van that they had come to JBU to pick up students, but I sat by myself in the service. Seeing all the little kids made me want to give them a big hug...which would make more sense if I had little siblings, but I don't.
I liked the service all right...I really can't say that I liked the preacher though, which is a pretty big part of why I would go to church. Basically, he was even more topical and less expository than the one at Fellowship from last week. There just really isn't any place quite like CBC...that's for sure!
Afterward they had a potluck lunch. I was feeling kind of lonely (even though several people in the church were trying to make me feel included) but then I saw a girl who goes to JBU who I kind of know because she is also from the Dallas area. So I sat at a table with about eight other JBU freshman. Looking back on it, I wish I had sat with some other people from the church...but at that moment I wanted the comfort of something that was at least a little bit familiar....... As a side note, it is amazing how many students here have international experience! At our table of eight, two were MKs! (not including me)
I don't remember right now what I did Sunday afternoon...I am in the computer lab because my laptop wasn't connecting to the internet right...I'll have to come back and fill this in later.
[Fill in time! Sunday afternoon I spent a WHILE writing one of the three 1000 word essays for a scholarship I am going to be entering. Then I was just in my room wondering what to do next and feeling a little bummed out. Then our suite mates came over and asked Kaley and I if we wanted to play WallyBall. I was like YES!!!! So we went and played for two hours or so :D. I wasn't very good, but it sure was fun!
Then I went to dinner and ended up sitting with three other girls I kind of know, and after we finished eating we just sat there and talked for an hour and a half!!! :D Then I went and saw their rooms, they came and saw mine, and I was feeling in a much better mood!
At 9 we had The Gathering (the on campus, student led Sunday night service). I really enjoyed the speaker. (They always have a student speaker at the Gathering) He talked about Lazarus and how Jesus didn't fulfill Martha and Mary's expectations....He loved Lazarus, but He was acting in a way which brought glory to God, the application being that we shouldn't expect God to do things just how we think He should do them, but that we should know that He has it all planned out.
Afterward we had what they call CAUSE and Effect. JBU has lots of different ministries for students to participate in, which are called CAUSE ministries (don't ask me what it stands for...I don't remember!) Anyways, at C&E each ministry has a table and people who are interested come and sign up. I think I put my name down for four or five...but that doesn't mean I am going to be doing them all this semester...I know I'm not, but this way I will be put on their email lists to get more information. So this week I am attending meetings for some of the ones I signed up for.]

Monday, August 31
Monday = start of classes again! I went running Monday morning, and was VERY happy with myself for adding an extra lap (a tenth of a mile) and only adding one second of time to my run last Friday! Classes went pretty well. OTS was about historical context. The professor talked about various aspects in which we should note differences between our own times and the times of the Bible. We had our first quiz in the Gateway class, and I got four out of five questions right (and the one I missed I was strongly debating with myself...but obviously not well enough).
I'm going to have to finish this later...I have a meeting at nine and I can't really remember what happened when! So long for now!
[Thursday morning continuation]
On Monday I mostly had classes and did homework...I wrote the three paragraph "writing sample" for my English class...it was supposed to be on a good book that we had read, so I did it about Lewis' That Hideous Strength. I also wrote a "Letter to the Editor" about the health care reform government option for my first News Writing 1 assignment. I will be very interested to see what my professor says about that......... My MMC professor said yesterday that she will never grade us based on our opinion, but my journalism professor hasn't said that....
For dinner, almost all the freshman on my hall and our RA (Resident Assistant) Steffi went to the cafeteria and ate together. That was fun. After doing some reading for English, I went and played WallyBall again! And I did better that time! :D

Tuesday, September 1
Well, I found out Tuesday morning that I hadn't done all my reading for English...the professor had just put the first page number on the syllabus, but he wanted us to read the whole sections! So.....I had some catch up work to do Tuesday, which got me behind and I didn't finish my homework for the day until 10:45 that night :(
Chapel that morning was really good. Rod Reed, the college chaplain, talked about John 17, and how the focus of the passage is not really on Jesus sending us out or loving us. Rather, it is about how the Father loves Jesus, and how He is really just passing that love on to us. Mr. Reed said it should be like a pivot relationship...we should receive love from God, then turn and pass it on to others. We have to receive it before we can pass it on.
During lunch I sat with three girls from my MMC/NW1 classes. Afterward is when I had to spend the extra time I hadn't planned on for English. I really like the book we are using for English. It is called "Ideas in Conflict: Writing about the Great Issues of Civilization." Basically, the editors have chosen several really important issues (Faith & Inquiry; Male & Female; Divine Goodness & the Problem of Evil, etc.) and provided pertinent passages from famous/influential philosophers on several sides of each issue. In a sense, it's almost like a World View book :D So at least it's very interesting reading...not boring at all! I don't agree with the editors though.........(they have an essay to start off each section and to introduce each passage).
Once I finished that I started reading the next chapter for my MMC class. I was too tired though, so I set my phone alarm and just put my head down on my desk and rested for a little while.....my first college "nap" ;-) Oh, by the way, I won second place in the Freshman Summer Reading Program Essay Contest here at JBU!!! Which means I got a $50 gift card to the bookstore! YAY!!! :D I also did make it onto the Worship Ministries Ensemble, so that's exciting too!
English class went pretty well...we were talking about how to analyze reading and also how to develop crediblity as an author. After class I finished up all my reading for Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 2
When I got up Wednesday morning and went to the reading room, I was surprised at how dark it was....all the other mornings at around 7 the sun has already cleared the horizon and it is pretty light! Then I figured out it was because it was really overcast...not long after that it started raining. So it was cold, wet, and cloudy all morning. I was glad to be running on the inside track that morning! My farthest distance yet - 2.7 miles, and I actually came in under my goal of ten minute-miles! So I was very happy with my run once again :D
Had a peach smoothie from the little restaurant on campus that was delicious! I actually wore pants and a sweatshirt because it was cold outside...
Classes went okay. I find OTS fascinating...my professor is definitely an interesting guy. His style is funny...I'm tempted to take an audio recording of him sometime because of how he talks...and it's not funny in a bad way at all. I enjoy it a lot. It's just unique!
Brooke, the RD (Resident Director) for Walker had asked if we could have lunch together...so we did. It was fun talking with her. We sat over by the windows and as we were finishing a beautiful Gold Finch flew over and landed in the tree outside the window :D They are all still in their summer plummage, so they're just gorgeous!
Next I had my Gateway class...we had our second quiz (this one was about Mere Christianity Book 1) and I got them all right! We also signed up for the group projects...each group is going to present one of the seven chronicles to the rest of the class. I signed up for Prince Caspian because Voyage of the Dawn Treader was already full. :( I think it will be very interesting...we'll see how it goes. My group's presentation is due Novemeber 4th. BTW...my professor is doing them in the "wrong" order....grr...
Last class of the day was News Writing...he had us do a news quiz and I did not do well on it....it's my own fault because I tried waiting until the last minute to read the papers in the library and I ran out of time. I had tried several times on Tuesday, but they were all checked out every time I tried...then I finally got them Thursday morning, but I had to go to class before I finished them all. (We have to read the front page of three different papers: the AR state paper, the county paper, and the Siloam Springs paper...we may either have a quiz on Wednesday [in which case we have to read Sunday-Tuesday] or we may have one Friday [in which case we read Wednesday and Thursday]). So next time I will NOT try to read the papers all at once!
Yesterday evening I did the readings for today's English class...I also posted for my HO class about the article we had read. By 8:30 I was really tired...I had a meeting at 9 to go to for one of the CAUSE meetings, but after that I basically headed straight to bed. Got to bed by about 10 and woke up at seven, still tired :(
Now I need to get started on my homework for tomorrow...I'm glad we have Monday off...it will be nice to have a tiny break.

This afternoon!

Well, I did go out to work on my bike, and I am SO SO SO glad I did! (You'll see why in a minute!)

I got my odometer installed without too much trouble...evidently I lost a little nut that was supposed to go with the screw to keep the bracket in place on the handlebars though...thankfully I had ONE extra cable tie that I could use instead. Then I started working on the brakes. I think I said this already, but when I rode my bike this morning the brakes were having NO impact AT ALL. So I was trying to figure out how to tighten the brakes...I eventually figured out how to do it, but the process was really really involved.

I was just getting started when I heard a thump. I looked over beside me, and there was a little hummingbird lying on the ground. The poor baby had hit a window. I don't know if he hit the first story window, but he might have hit the second or third story one! Right after he hit the window, he was lying on the sidewalk with both wings spread straight out. I had to pick him up (VERY gently!) and put him in my hand....but he still had his wings all spread out.

In a copule minutes, he kind of sat up in my hand...he wasn't lying down any more. I tried to find a flower to give him some nectar, but he wasn't interested. He shot his little tounge in and out a couple times though. A little while after I took a picture of him with my cell phone, I moved him to my leg and he squeaked at me (I did it so that I could try to hold the flower better).

Then he perked up some more, and started getting nervous whenever I moved. Eventually, he flew to a bush. I was just about to get another picture of him sitting in the bush, but somebody walked by and he flew up into a magnolia tree. I checked on him again a couple more times, and the last time I went over there, he had flown away. I was standing there looking around when a hummingbird flew by me. I don't know if it was the same one or not, but I like to imagine that it was!

So I finally finished up with my bike, then went on a little ride, then had to re-do my brakes because I hadn't tightened the screw enough and so they had started to slip back. I've got them really really tight now though, so hopefully it won't be a problem anymore. And if it is, I know how to fix it! I talked to Nathan on the phone for a while....then I ate dinner. Came back to my room and worked on a few things, then my room mate and a friend of her's and I went to the JBU swim party. It didn't start until 9:00, and went until 11. We did NOT stay the whole time...the water was way too cold and there weren't really very many people there. So we came back and took hot showers and now I am headed for bed!

Tomorrow morning I am going to go to Siloam Springs Bible Church...that's where the friend who suggested I look into JBU attended while she lived here. Goodnight!!

First few days of classes!!!

Well, I have completed my first "week" of college classes (minus two days)! So far so good :D

Wednesday - First day of class
In themorning I started off by filling out an application for a scholarship that is due on September 12th....I also have to write three essays that are each more than a 1,000 words!!!
The first class I had was Mass Media and Culture (abbreviation = Media/MMC)- I definitely like the professor, and the textbook is pretty interesting. It takes me the longest to read though, because I have been taking notes on it. So far it has introduced various aspects of how we communicate with other people and then the different functions of media in our lives. Interesting stuff! That class is probably my biggest...I think it has about 4o students. A couple of the guys I already know from Dallas, a couple girls were in my O group, and several people are in my major.
Wednesday noon was my first honors class, Old Testament Survey (abbreviation = OTS)- the professor, Dr. Blankenship, is a very very fascinating man. He attended seminary in Boston, which has a system so that if you are enrolled in one seminary in the area you can register for classes for any of the 9 seminaries there. As a result, he has spent time living in monasteries, under Catholic teachers, under rabbis, etc. etc. He has also studied at least half a dozen Biblical languages. On Wednesday he talked about literary context, especially how the Bible uses certain patterns that the original audience would have immediately recognized. For example, what story do you think of if I tell you that a man travels a great distance, stops to rest at a well, meets a woman, makes a good impression, meets other people, and the list goes on? There are actually four such stories in the Bible (Abraham's servant meeting Rebekah, Jacob meeting Rachel, Moses meeting the priest's daughters, and Jesus with the Samaritan woman) and additional ones in other Hebrew literature. Dr. Blankenship's point is that a Jewish reader of John's gospel would see that John was using that pattern, and that the differences between it and the other stories would strongly emphasize what John was trying to say. This class has 20-30 people.
Wednesday afternoon I had my first Gateway class (abbreviation = Gateway/Narnia)...the syllabus gives a better description of what the Gateway class is - it is meant to help students understand how education at a Christian university is different by encouraging us to view all of our subjects through a Biblical worldview (and yes, they used that word! :D) I really like my professor for this class too, as well as the subject matter!!! (Narnia!) We will be divided into seven groups, and each group will make a presentation about one of the Chronicles...so that will be very fun! I think there are about 20 people in this class too.
My last class of the day was News Writing 1 (abbreviation = NW1). Professor Warner talked about the journalism program at JBU, how hard and difficult it will be, and where some of his former students have ended up (literally around the world!!!). He also assigned us a couple little projects to turn in on Friday.
After getting out of class, I went with a couple other girls to Wal-Mart and finally picked up a few things I had been needing. We also stopped by a Dayspring outlet store where I bought a really pretty journal! We had dinner, then the freshman all had our Workstudy meeting. I am going to be working in the cafeteria. The chef said that he would be starting us all out doing cleaning after the cafeteria closes in the evenings (I'll probably be working from 6:30-8:30 four days a week), but that if we do well at that he may be able to move some of us to other jobs. So hopefully I will be able to get a weekend shift and then only have to work a couple nights a week...we'll see.
We also had a meeting with all the residents of Walker (the dorm I live in), going over various rules/safety issues/activity opportunities/etc. I stayed up until nearly midnight putting my various class assignment schedules into my calendar/planner.

Thursday - Second day of class
Since I had stayed up so late, I got a really really slow start the next morning. As in, I probably stayed in bed until 7:45!!!! ;-) I wasn't feeling 100% either (no, I'm not sick), so that didn't help matters any. I did get some of my reading done before chapel at 10:30. President Pollard spoke and welcomed the students back to JBU. After chapel I decided to go ahead and eat lunch so that I would have a bigger chunk of time for studying. I finished the reading for Media and OTS and started NW1 before my 2:45 class. As I walked to class it kind of sprinkled, but while we were in class it POURED and THUNDERED - it was quite interesting! :D Thankfully it stopped by the time we were done with class.
The only class I have on Tuesday/Thursday is Honors English Composition (abbreviation = English/Comp). I think it will be very interesting and good for me, but I think it will also be a stretching experience. We will be doing about 18 pages of essays for that throughout the semester, in addition to smaller in-class assignments. This class only has eight students in it!!!
Once class was over, I headed back to my room and finished up all my reading for the next day. That evening I also auditioned for the Music Ministries Ensemble here on campus (MME/Music). The lady in charge said she would email me...I haven't heard back yet, so we'll just have to wait and see! Got to bed in a much better time that night, partly because I was really tired!

Friday - Third day of class
Getting up on time went much better yesterday morning. I went running for the second time here and decided to go for a personal distance record. I had gone 2.25 miles without stopping a couple times, but I wanted to get up to 2.5. I would have thought that I couldn't stand going 25 times around the little tenth mile inside track here, but it actually wasn't too bad! I was pretty happy with my time too - 26:13. I need to keep working on getting my distance up, because I hope to run a 5k (3 miles) here in Siloam in October.
I took too long taking my shower, so I was afraid I was going to miss breakfast...thankfully I got in before they shut the doors, because I didn't end up getting any lunch! I went back to my room and got a little bit of stuff done, then stopped by the cafeteria on my way to class to talk to the chef about my work schedule. He said to come back in on Monday, but at least I got the non-skid shoes I have to have ordered.
Had my Media and OTS classes that morning. There isn't a whole lot to say about them because we are still kind of dealing with introductory issues...
All of my honors classes are at what is called the Honor's house, which is a little ways off campus. On Fridays I have my OTS class there at 12 and then my Honors Orienation at 2. So I have decided that I am just going to stay at there in between so that I get a more solid study time rather than walking all the way back to my room, having a few minutes there, then walking all the way back again. That's why I didn't get lunch yesterday...but from now on I will be able to pick up a sack lunch at the cafeteria before my first class. Yesterday I did have some trail mix that I ate though, so it wasn't too bad not having lunch. I started the Media reading for Monday during my break, and made pretty good progress.
I started my last new class - Honor's Orientation (H.O.). I am very happy because one of the girls I kind of know from the Dallas area is also in the class with me! And I share other classes with most of the other people in the class. This class also has less than 10 people in it. Yesterday we were talking about not conforming to the world. The director of Honors Scholars Program (HSP), Brad Gambill, is our teacher. He had us watch an old music video and read a poem and discuss each of them. I didn't like either very much at all >:P It was kind of interesting to discuss them though.
I was almost late to NW1, but thankfully Professor Warner hadn't closed the door yet. If he had, I probably would have been in trouble. I will just have to make sure that I leave the honor's house promptly after we finish class! We talked about who a journalist is and what kind of qualities they have, and he assigned us to write a "Letter to the Editor" about the government option for the health care plan. I haven't started writing it yet, but I think it will be interesting to write......
Once I got back to my room I finished the Media chapter, read a chapter of the brand new book "Why College Matters to God" (written by a JBU professor!) for Gateway, and skimmed through the three NW1 chapters Professor Warner had assigned (seventy pages of reading.....he told us to just skim them at this point). This evening we had a Welcome Back BBQ for all students, so that was yummy, especially since I was really hungry!
I spent a copule hours working on one of the 1,000 word essays for the scholarship, and didn't end up getting to bed until midnight again. It was easier to get up this morning than Thursday morning though, for some reason.

Saturday - the "boring" day.
This morning I got up about 7 and took my laundry over to the honor's house so I could wash and dry it for free. I definitely learned NEVER to take the whole bottle of detergent with me though - it's way way too heavy! I also discovered that my brakes have basically no effect...so I'm going to go work on that in a couple minutes here. I am also going to buy a basket to make it a little eaiser to transport my laundry and other things. So I spent two and a half hours over at the honors house doing my laundry. Of course, I had taken some schoolwork with me to work on. During that time I read the article from H.O. that I have to write about before Wednesday, and I also worked on a two paragraph assignment for Media on Monday. I didn't have breakfast until 11:3o, so I'm not having lunch - I grabbed an apple instead that I will probably have later. Since then I have planned out my homework schedule for next week (it looks completely do-able, almost easier than WorldViews!) and started thinking about what I am going to write for the three paragraph essay due for Comp on Tuesday.
Oh, I found out at H.O. on Friday that the Honors students have a camp-out next Friday/Saturday, so that should be a lot of fun! We are going to Natural Falls State Park in Oklahoma.
So now I'm going to go out and install my odometer on my new bike, and try to fix the brakes...we'll see how that goes!

Pictures!!!!!

Well, I have about half an hour until my first class (Mass Media/Mass Culture - it's for my journalism major), so I figured I would post some more pictures!

This is my half of the dorm room - for those of you who don't know, I am in a suite in the dorms attached to the Student Center in the middle of campus. That means that my room mate (Kaley!) and I share one room and have a bathroom in common with the two girls next door. The bathroom has 2 sinks, a shower stall, and a separate little room with the toilet. It is a very nice set-up and is working great so far!

My desk area all set up with all my textbooks on the shelf above! (This was taken at night with the windows closed, but my desk actually gets pretty good daylight when the windows are open. It faces the outside wall so I can sit at my desk and look out the window. My "view" is mostly of the next dorm though....)

My view out the window, and my pretty window decorations!!!! (You can see the edge of the window on the right of this picture...my desk is just to the right of that)

My dresser and decorations book shelf - I should probably take another one of this in the day time so that you can see it better. Lots of birdie stuff :D

Behind my dresser - some more storage space and my way up to bed (thankfully I haven't fallen yet...so I don't think I will! :D)

Me after BIG Games before washing the paint off :D

Orientation Days 2, 3, and 4

[This was written last night, but the internet on my laptop was not cooperating....my first class is in about 45 minutes!]
So…Orientation is over, and classes start tomorrow! That means now is my last chance to catch you all up on the events of the last three days :D.

SUNDAY – Orientation Day 2
We started off with each O group going to a church together. Daniel, one of our O group leaders, took us to his church – Fellowship Bible Church of Siloam Springs. I enjoyed it, although it is a lot smaller than CBC and the style is somewhat different. If I had no choice at all, I wouldn’t really have a problem going to that church. We’ll see where I end up though. I know there are at least two other churches I want to try out, and I may go to a bunch just to experience other ways of “doing church.” I’d like to get plugged in before too long though. Anyways, the sermon seemed a little forced…I’m not entirely sure why. His main point was good though. He was preaching on 1 Samuel 14 about Jonathan going up to fight the Philistines with his armor bearer. He talked about how we should be willing to take chances (within God’s known and revealed will) even when we’re not sure of the outcome. After the service, we all stayed for Sunday school which was also very good. It was on James 2:14 and I really liked the teacher. He talked about how works are not necessary to our salvation, but they are necessary in order to have fruitful lives and to receive eternal reward.
In the afternoon all the freshman were required to voluntarily take a survey for UCLA to do some research….as in, the schedule said it was mandatory and then when we got there we found out we didn’t have to….don’t know why.
We had some free time after that, and I think that is when I wrote my essay for the freshman contest. It was based on the book we did for the summer reading program (The Chosen). I will probably post my essay after the contest is over. I like how it turned out….I *amazingly* came in well under the 900 word limit on my first time to write it!!! (I hardly ever do that, as Mrs. S could testify….I get VERY long winded!) [this post is also a very good example of that...hahaha] It came pretty easily, and I know it is because the Lord was giving me wisdom on how to say what I felt in my heart. I found some really good quotes to use too!
That evening we went down the hill, across the soccer fields, and over the bridge to have a BBQ outside of President Pollard’s house (we would not all fit in his house, even though it looks quite big from the outside).
Once we got back we all headed to the cathedral for the video introductions of the different dorm RD’s and RA’s. My favorite one was the girl’s dorm Mayfield…they had a video using most of the songs from Sound of Music, but rewritten with different words. The RD and her RAs then danced to the songs…it was really funny! Then everyone split up and had dorm meetings with their own RD and RAs.

MONDAY – Orientation Day 3
Monday morning we had the Day of Caring. That is where the various O groups go out into the community and do various kinds of community service. Our group (with about 7 other groups) had the job of shoveling mulch at school playgrounds. The school we were sent to had about 10 different play areas, each with a BIG pile of mulch that had to be spread out and leveled. It was hard work, but also a lot of fun. However, the really annoying part was that the first area (probably about 15 feet by 20-30 feet???) only had a mulch pile on one side. We had to shovel the mulch into an unused plastic garbage can we borrowed and drag it across the playground in order to get the mulch spread out. Then, when we went to the other play areas, they all had TOO MUCH mulch, as in, we would get the playground all nicely covered and still have BIG mounds of mulch. Also, we didn’t have enough shovels/rakes/scrapers/etc, so a lot of us ended up using our hands and feet to spread the mulch. I really wish I had brought my work gloves from home, but I didn’t…so I got a blister, and of course it popped in the last 10 minutes of work we did :( I really did enjoy it, even though it perhaps could have been a little better organized. As we were leaving, the kids were coming out for recess. One little girl asked us “Are you JBUers?” I thought that was pretty cute ;-) I really put in about 2 hours of work…after that there were too many people concentrated in too small of an area and so I didn’t feel like I helped much (for the last 45 minutes or so). I came back to my room and took a shower, but my feet are STILL stained from the mulch, even though I have specifically scrubbed them with soap twice! [This morning I woke up really sore…my upper arms and one spot on my back are really feeling it…but it’s not as bad as I thought it might be. Also, I later found out that one of my professor’s twin girls go to the school that we worked on, so that is neat :D]
After lunch, we had several informative sessions to choose from. I attended one about studying abroad, one about living in the dorms, and another one about growing spiritually by getting involved in the small group Bible studies or the various mission opportunities. I’ve already signed up for a Passion group (what they call the Bible studies here), but I don’t know yet which one I’ll get assigned to.
That afternoon we all had to take a relationship/spiritual assessment. Lots of people said some of the questions were really awkward….and they did ask things about relationships with the other sex, drinking, smoking, gambling, etc. but I didn’t really find those a problem for me…. ;-) The more difficult ones were about what my friends think of me….I know what people often say about me, but I also know it’s not always the whole picture…..so I had to decide what to answer more on those. Both this assessment and the survey from the other day were SAT style fill in the bubble tests…bad memories. :P
Next we had a rally promoting JBU sports. They taught us some of the chants and the JBU fight song. After that was the scavenger hunt. Most of my O group didn’t want to do it, so those of us who did joined up with another team. We tried really hard, running ALL over campus…and we probably got second place out of the 33 O groups (but I don’t think all 33 participated)…but we didn’t win :(
At dinner time they had what they called the Homeland Rally. Everyone dressed up representing their home country/state. I went all out, as much as I could anyways. Thankfully, I had decided to take my Texas capitol shirt (I was wishing I had one like Nathan’s though!!!!!), and I put a bumper sticker that said “Native Texan” on it that my mom had gotten me on the back. I wore jeans, brown hiking boots (since I didn’t have any cowboy boots L), braided my hair in two braids, and wore my HSAA bandanna around my neck! One of the other guys from Texas had actually brought some home made chili that was really good! It was a lot of fun.
For desert, we all went to the homes of the faculty that are over our majors. Communications division folks went to Professor Gould’s house. She is the mother of the two girls I mentioned earlier. Professor Warner (the journalism professor) and a couple other faculty members were there too. I was REALLY excited to see that she had a cockatiel!!!!!!!!! She was really really sweet and even let me rub her head! (I could hardly believe that!) I promise I did interact more with the people than the bird though :D
Later that evening was the Karaoke. I didn’t sing anything, but I did watch some….some of it was good, and some of it I didn’t like…but that’s kind of part of the game!

TUESDAY – Orientation Day 4
This morning I went to the Walton Health Center and ran on the inside track. I knew as soon as I got in there that it wasn’t a quarter mile track, and when I ran 4 one minute laps in a row without too much trouble I figured it wasn’t a 200 meter track either. I guessed that it was a tenth mile track, and the guy outside verified that. So I’m not sure that I will be running there too often….that would probably get too annoying. I ran a mile there this morning though, in 11:09. It will be kind of interesting trying to figure out pacing for that….have to multiply by 60, divide by ten, then divide by 60….we’ll see.
After breakfast one of the Biblical professors gave us a session on what the professors probably expect of us. It was mostly common sense stuff like come to class, be on time, do your work well, and so on, but it was a good reminder too.
Next we got together with our Gateway class for next semester (I don’t know if I already explained this before here, but the Gateway class is a required class for all freshman, kind of a Christian philosophy/college introduction class. JBU offers lots of different flavors, from Celtic Christianity to Crime Fiction to Pop Culture. I chose NARNIA!). Today, though, we were purely discussing The Chosen. We started off by writing a 20 minute essay evaluating The Chosen from a Christian world view (that’s the words they used!!! I was quite happy to hear that term again!! :D) I had heard that that’s what the essay had been about before, so I had kind of subconsciously been thinking about it I guess…because I knew right away that I would write about the flawed view of God and the flawed view of man represented in the book. Mrs. S, here is a shout out to you: If I had been told to write an essay in class in 20 minutes about three years ago, I would have FREAKED OUT! Because of your class, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. THANK YOU!!!!!! :D
Next we had a chapel service to conclude Orientation, and then we were FREE FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON!!!!!!!! I desperately needed some free time before classes started to get some stuff done, so I was VERY glad to have it! During lunch, the honors students had an information session with some of the current honors upper classmen.
This afternoon, I received a surprise package from home via a family from church who were bringing their son here. I got some kettle corn and the bicycle pump that Dad and Mom had accidentally taken home, as well as a couple other things. I also found all my classrooms. Now I just can’t wait to actually get into it!!!
After dinner, I played Ultimate Frisbee with a bunch of other students out on the Quad (the big grassy area in the middle of campus). I wasn’t very good at it, although I did make a couple interceptions and once made a score by catching a short toss from another player on my team. It was a lot of fun though! I quit about an hour ago. It was getting kind of dark, and then the sprinklers came on right where we were playing. I decided that was a good enough excuse! Slippery wet grass + darkness + running back and forth a lot = a bad combination in my opinion!
Now I’m going to head for bed….this has been much too long….sorry about that, but kudos to any troopers who made it through the whole thing!!! At least now I feel all caught up :D