Um...Yeah

My roommate is crawling around on the floor looking for nail clippings.

Something about her old apartment.... I didn't ask.

In which I wax longwinded...

I miss Lindy's. I love that place. I miss my bosses, the checkers, the deli boys, the Lindsley's, the guys in the back, seeing Lindy in the morning, the customers, everything.
I love walking in the back door, running into Jim and Bob (the owners), sliding my time card, and just being privy to the total mess and chaos that is the backroom. It always amazes me how awesome the front looks, compared to the back.

I was afraid I would forget how to check since it's been two months since I quit, but I remembered pretty quickly. I still remember most of the numbers for the different kinds of produce. (Ask me! Although it's kind of pathetic how many I know.) My fingers just typed them in automatically. I got to work with some "old people," who were there when I still worked there. I miss Collin's stories, and Laura's books. I miss looking across the store to check the clock in the Deli, and seeing Ryan and Kyle waving like idiots until I waved back.

I miss how customers would tell me anything. Even if I didn't want to know it. :) About their days, their jobs, their dogs, their children, and their grandchildren. The scores of the Illini games. And the score to every Washington High School game.

Saturday, a little old lady came through and bought two frozen pies. The first thing she said to me was, "Hon, if you ever get married you need to buy this brand of pie, because they are soo good your husband will think you are the best cook ever!" It was so cute, and I didn't have the heart to tell her I like my own pie better than frozen pie.

And all the men that came in. Invariably they were pretty clueless, but they were all very nice- a lot less picky than some of the women. :) And they all tried to be so macho and wouldn't let anybody carry their groceries for them. One of the older men would always tell me "maybe next year" when I asked if he would like some help.

I loved all the cute little kids that came in. The little boy on Saturday who bought marshmallows, chocolate and fruit snacks, and was bouncing off the walls and telling everybody about the wiener roast he was having that night. The little girl in red cowboy boots that liked my skirt. The boy that randomly asked me when my birthday was, only to find out ours are about a week apart. Sarah, who is 5 who knows all of the checkers on a first name basis.

Most of all, I loved the chance it gave me to be a witness. Most of the girls and guys I worked with went to church very rarely. They were too busy with High school and having fun to really give anything spiritual a thought. I was different. They asked me questions about a lot of stuff. Although they never did understand why I didn't party on the weekends. :) And if I had a dollar for every customer who asked me "So where do you live?" meaning, where do you go to church, I would be rich.
I love how I really got to know the community. Jerry, the owner of Katy's Cafe came in every night around closing time. Brian Bell barbequed every Saturday, Mrs. Kimpling came in for fruit dip.

Well.

I miss my job. :)

So anyway, this is really long! I also went to the women's seminar in Washington on Saturday, which was a blessing. It was a good weekend, a good start to a crazy week.

One thing I dont' miss is being called "Hon" by everyone over 30. Or at all by anyone. Drives me crazy. :)

Lindy's and Things

Fall is crazy at our house. Between harvest, young group, cross country meets, band competitions, and all the other random stuff we do, it's busy! So this weekend I'm going home, again, to watch my little brother march in the homecoming parade, go to a wiener roast, go to a women’s seminar at church, work at Lindy's, and go to Jake’s and Clayton’s birthday party.

I'm so excited to go back to Lindy's! I miss my job so much sometimes. I always go buy food there when I'm home and see all the fun Lindy's people. So I jumped at the chance to work Homecoming weekend- cause I guess all the girls are going to the dance. :) Although, I'm sure that after an 8 hour shift on Saturday I won't miss it quite so much.

Today is Clayton's 12th birthday. Somehow I have the dubious distinction of being his favorite cousin, so I thought I would try to live up to it and I called him this morning out of the blue. It was fun! He told me all about the party he is having and who was coming- it was so cute.

So that’s what I’m doing this weekend, instead of studying. :)

Why would anyone go anywhere else?

I knew there was a reason I wanted to come to U of I. Check out the Tribune Story about my Physical Chemistry Professor, Todd Martinez.

By the way, P-Chem is my favorite class again. :)

Kansas

Weekends are the best! Friday night my family made apple cider- and its good stuff this year! Not too sweet, not too sour. Abby stayed over night with me and then Saturday we headed to Kansas.
I love going to Kansas City. It's one of my favorite cities, and if I had to live in a city I would live there over any place else. I got back to Champaign really late last night, and I am still pretty wiped out. So here are some of the highlights of the trip:

• Having Abs along
• Dad pointing out all the farms and farmers he knows between Morton and Springfield
• Dad wishing he was combining because it was a waste of a beautiful day
  
• Looking for the McDonalds that used to be in Pittsfield but isn't any more.
  
• Taking 54 because Dad is sure it's faster
• Arriving at Karen's and walking in to a HUGE discussion on whether Scott needed black pants (which would mean going to walmart) or just wearing khakis.
• Hearing that my grandparents stayed up til 3AM talking to Luke, Alan, and Cody :) I wish I could have been there.
• Uncle Randy :)
• Helping Ned decide what to wear
  
• Scott's Proving
• Singing at Wales'
  
• Wishing I could sing bass
• Staying up late with Brent and Beth
• "Watching" Cailer in church
• Jackstack
  
• Discovering that there are only 3 kinds of retail in Missouri- fast food, fireworks, and adult entertainment
• Farming 101
  
• Hearing my parent's testimonies again
• Seeing how pretty Missouri is when the sun is setting
• Watching the lightning in the distance
• Getting back to Champaign after midnight

It was waaay too short of a trip. :)

Rain and Randomness

It's raining today. Pretty hard. I decided long ago that rainy days should just be universal lazy days. Everyone should stay home and curl up with a good book, and a mug of cocoa.

Thankfully I remembered my umbrella this morning. And I'm cold for the first time since May! Wednesday the high was around 93 in Champaign, and today it's 63! It almost feels like Fall! Although I'm not really looking forward to walking to class when it gets colder. :)




The other day, Heidi and Meg were being creative- come visit and you can see their masterpieces on our living room wall! This was Heidi's idea, but she didn't know how to paint it, so I made it on my laptop.

Gab makes me do crazy things. :) We went to walmart in our pajamas (read: blue capris with whales all over them) at 8:00 last night. And then we saw some church people at the gas station. They didn't see us. It was hillarious.

This weekend I am heading to Kansas for my cousin Scott's baptism. Abby is meeting us in Washington and riding out with me! I'm so excited, it's going to be a great weekend!

Thank God I'm a Country Girl...

Pretty sure I watched them spread manure on the quad last weekend.

Pretty sure it smells like a cattle shed.

Pretty sure there are still girls laying out on the grass.

The Weekend

This weekend went so fast. Fast but fun! Friday night I went to my first ever Purdue Singing. By far the best part was getting to hang out with Abby, and getting to tell her about Matt. :) I don't get to see my cousins nearly often enough! Sarah and I got home at 3:45 saturday morning. I was sooo glad I wasn't driving. My mind just shuts down that late at night. I felt bad for Sarah, cause I couldn't even sustain a conversation. I'm surprised I remembered how to get home. :) My Mom and I went shopping in the afternoon, and then went to testimonies in the evening. It's still a new experience for me, and it's nice not to be nervous! Afterwards I was convinced to go hang out at Heather's, even though I should have gone home to bed. It was a good time, worth the loss of sleep, and I'm glad I got to spend time with some of the old ICC crowd. Heather and Jeremy and I headed back to Champaign right after church today, and now I am putting off doing my P-Chem homework. Even though it's my new favorite class. Sometimes I am such a slacker! :)

There's Joy in the Camp!!

Tonight I got the phone call I've been waiting for.

My little brother Matt started repenting tonight!
Hallelujah!! I am sooo excited!

I have been praying for him a lot lately, he's 19, and over the next two weekends his two closest friends will be getting baptised. I was hoping he would start repenting before then because otherwise he would have had a pretty miserable time. :)

God is GOOD!

And I know this is a bad picture, but I dont' have any of him on my laptop.

Me and My Newspaper

If I have discovered one thing about myself since moving to Champaign, it's that I can't live without a newspaper. I made it about 3 days. Its hard to get news and comics online that aren't buried in ads or are subscriber only. So when Gab and I were out buying books on Green Street, I stopped to talk to a Tribune rep and Gab totally talked me into buying a newspaper subscription. Not that I needed any convincing at all.... Plus I got a free U of I hat. And a whole bunch of random Tribune emblazoned stuff. And now I get to go outside in my pajama's every morning to get the newspaper! Which is kind of ackward now that I have neighbors. :) Ah the joys of moving from the country to town. But I really love my morning newspaper, without it I would have no idea what is going on in the world, and I wouldn't know what to do with myself while I ate breakfast.

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heaven's embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats