Guess who has her very own cordless drill set!!

*grin*

And it came with a mini hammer, a crescent wrench, a stud finder, a pliers, a tape measure, and drill bits. What more could a girl need!?

I got some other cool stuff too. Like a U of I lab coat. :)

Merry Christmas...God Bless us every one!

Shopping

So my sister woke me up at 11 this morning to go shopping. I'm not sure how I managed to sleep that long because I went to bed before midnight! O well. Anyway, so I took her and my cousins Kendra and Clayton to Peoria. Kendra and Shelly went and shopped by themselves so I got to help Clayton find presents for his family. :) It was kind of fun. Although I prefer shopping by myself, and for myself. It's just a lot faster. Clayton did treat me to Dairy Queen. (Awww)

After supper I had to go to Carli's and my birthday party at G and G's. woot. We had some pretty cool sparkler candle things on the cake. They never serve caffinated pop which is a crime in my opinion.

Well anyway, I should go to bed now and try not to sleep all day tomorrow. :)
Blessings.

I fell down the stairs

It still really hurts. *sigh*

So in the past few days I've been caroling for a bunch of nuns, went to the YG Christmas party, baked some cookies, turned 22 (so old!), slept a lot, read some RJ, met my cousin's fiance (they're from California), and been lazy a lot.

Tonight I went to a Christmas party with the girls I hung out with "back in the day," ie, bible class. :) It was lots of fun- we had a gift card exchange, ate some good food, played what if, and even busted out some MASH for old times sake. Good times!

Heidi even brought me some birthday cupcakes.... and food coloring to decorate them! *grin*

It's bedtime. Blessings.

Home

Finals are over! Woot! They weren't too horrible I guess, but I'm glad to be done and off of my chocolate and Dr. Pepper finals week diet. :) Hopefully I passed.

Last night those of us who were still around went out to eat and played games at shaker, kind of an unofficial goodbye party for Bob. Sarah and I totally destroyed everybody in trivial pursuit and then we played loaded questions for a while. It was really fun. I love U of I people they're the best.

I left for home afterwards and got there kinda late. Eh, o well. :) I need to unpack today...

Christmas Card

Left to right: Ashley M., Jenny M., Meg D., Alyssa L., Gab R., Amber M., Amanda B., Me, Sarah D.

We got some funny looks when we walked back to our house completely soaked. We left wet footprints all the way across Lincoln. :)

Many thanks to Chris our official photographer.

Waiting....

For Matt to come back from Congerville with my car so that we can take Christmas pictures and I can go back to school and study like crazy for my final tomorrow at 8.

I wish he'd get here already!

Last day of classes! Woot!

I'm kind of excited. :) This semester was really long, but flew by so fast. Crazy. I feel like I learned a lot, but my grades don't really reflect it.... mur. O well. So here are some things about my classes....

Biochem- biological processes are amazingly complex and so much is because of Chemistry! It would have been a much better class with better professors. I slept a lot. (In lecture, only sometimes in my bed).

Astronomy- "The big bang created flowers." Haha. The God that made the stars is amazing, and it's hard for me to comprehend how astronomers don't see His touch on the cosmos. O, and Bob was in it with me, so that was fun.

Organic Chemistry- I like orgo. My professor for this class was the best I've had at U of I, mostly because he really cared and really wanted us to learn it well. "Resonance is the answer to everything in life." - Professor Peter Beak.

Organic Lab- 100 kids, 2 TA's, not enough equipment, and a lab that was covered in construction dust constantly. Not my favorite, and I usually love orgo lab- so frustrating!

Instrumentation of Chemical Systems analysis- The guest lecturers were good. They didn't put me to sleep like the professor did. I don't like instrumentation theory because a lot of it is over my head and doesn't make sense until you actually use it. We learned about NMR- it was invented in Noyes Lab. :)

Instrumentation of Chemical Systems analysis lab- So much fun! We had really nice research grade equipment and everything worked like it was supposed to. A lot of stuff clicked for me finally so that was good. I did have to write lab reports every week and I'm glad that's over.

Senior thesis project- translated some computational lab instructions for one program to WebMo. Kind of fun. The professor I work under is a really cool guy who demonstrates Rutherford's gold foil experiment with a paintball gun in the classroom. *grin*

I wrote 17 lab reports this semester for a total of 136 pages, not including prelabs. Kind of a lot. Hooray for being done!

Now I just have to pass my finals....

Blessings.

Christmas Caroling

I think I missed it at home. :( But last night instead of singing at the nursing home we went and Christmas caroled at Schnucks. It was pretty cold out and their weren't a lot of people shopping on a Tuesday night. O well, I liked it. Hopefully shivering helped burn off some of the calories from the wonderful supper Saltshaker made us. :)

Afterwards we had hot chocolate at 711, and watched the fire burn...
Lys put whipped cream and candy canes in the cocoa- so good!

I need to finish my ultimate lab report (not to be confused with my penultimate or antepenultimate lab reports- they're already done).

Oh! I got a new t-shirt. It's black and says chemistry on the front (the I is a big block I, of course). And the back says "The name is Bond, Ionic Bond. Taken, not shared." I laughed out loud when I saw it. *grin*


Blessings.

Memories are made of this...

So it's been a really great weekend. Friday evening and early morning was spent at "The Castle" (the name I suggested, right Mike!) playing games, singing, and just plain having a lot of fun. The KS girls showed up pretty late so I barely saw them even though they stayed at my house. :) I made good use of Amber and Sarah's futon- it was kind of weird sleeping in my old room again. I forgot how loud the door is when you're half awake. And how light it gets in the morning.

We had babysitting day at the Church on Saturday. It was lots of fun. There weren't a million kids there like we always have in Washington, so it wasn't mass chaos kids everywhere jenny can't take much more at all! We made gingerbread houses and played lots of sardines. :) And us "adults" (so weird!) did the "Hi, my name is Joe, and I work in a button factory...." routine for the kids. They thought it was hilarious. Addie and Kedron must think I'm really old. I was keeping an eye on them in the kitchen, and Addie said something about how, "you're a mom." I said "uh...not quite," and she replied, "but your hair's in a bun!" I was trying to keep from laughing and racking my brain how to explain this to a 3 yr old... I just told her I was a grownup and that's why. So funny!

Saturday night Amber, Sarah, Bob, Matt and I went to Dos Reales for supper before the Other Guys. Matt practically killed us several times while driving my car. My friend Holly (from high school) met us at Follinger and turns out that she is in a class with Amber! So random! It was good to see her again. :)

Church today was good. I didn't do much this afternoon, bummed around. I did get some homework done. I went out for supper again with Amber, Sarah, Bob, and Matt. Troy and Josh joined us from CV. We went to Village Inn Pizza, which has a game room a few steps down from the main dining room. Level with the back of the booth we were sitting at is a railing affair with posts that were fairly narrowly spaced. Sarah started talking about how it would be a great place to film a martial arts video and Bob said he was pretty sure he could jump through those posts. The guys weren't so sure it could be done and Troy even busted out with "teach the young men to be sober" and Matt "when I became a man, I put away childish things." He had to wait a while for the employees to all be out of sight and move a table...but...to make a long story short Bob ended up jumping through the posts- it was beautiful! So smooth, with a perfectly timed twist! And the only other people who saw were the kids playing darts who wanted a repeat. Wow. Made my week. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time!

So I should really start studying for finals. Or send out christmas cards. Or something productive.
Blessings.

two weeks

The semester is almost over! I'm excited for Christmas but not at all for finals.

It's sleeting....mur...so no ISU bible study tonight. I really wanted to go since next week will be out of the question.

On Wednesday nights at Champaign Church they have student announcements after the service. Here are a few of my favorites from the semester.

"If you could all come out to the world relief room Mark has something in the closet to show us."

"Paper copies of the calendar are out on the... credenza...yeah."

"Tuesday night we are going Christmas caroling.... at Schnuck's.... we'll have a salvation army bucket thingy."

So instead of studying.... Elf awaits! :)

For Gab

ahem. this blog is for gab. i love her a lot. she is great. she is my faithful blog reader and bugs me when i should be writing my lab reports. this picture is us in mexico with our drills.
the end.

*GRIN*

Manhappening Part 2

Scott made an excellent supper of hamburgers Monday night, we played some games and then they had prayer meeting at their apartment. Afterwards I got to experience a KState stairwell singing. :) It sounded pretty cool. I hung out with Scott and his roommates until pretty late and we made pizza rolls and chocolate chip cookies. I don't think they have swept their kitchen floor all semester...

Tuesday I slept in- thanks Tifani for the bed! A bunch of us went out for breakfast...well, it was breakfast for us lazy visitors anyway. :) Scott and Matt and I went back to KC in the afternoon and played Rook with Ned until Karen and Randy got home. Then we went to Jackstack. It was wonderful. :)

We left for home this morning and I ended up driving all the way back. Traffic was really bad...I forgot how many people would be traveling this weekend. But gas was still only $1.98 in Missouri. :) I'm tired.

We're going to Gridley tomorrow. Woot.

Manhappening

So I survived my craziest week so far this semester. Barely. :) Three tests, two lab reports, and some random homework do not make for a relaxing week. I was glad for Friday.

Friday evening a group of us went out to eat at Papa Del's pizza for supper and then Coldstone for dessert. We ended up hanging out at the Shaker, posing thought provoking questions, listening to some amazing musical talent, and just having all around good times. :)

I went home Saturday morning and didn't do much all day...very nice for a change! On Sunday Alyssa and I went to Fairbury for Darl and Janelle's wedding. We didn't stay for the reception, which was sad, but I had to get back home so Matt and I could leave for KState. :)

I spent approximately 10 hours on the road yesterday- good thing I like driving!

You would think that I've been to KC enough to know the way...but I was too busy talking to Matt to pay attention to the road, so we took a slight detour through St. Louis. It was nice to go interstate all the way, and we still made it in 6.5 hrs. Even with the ten minute emergency stop. Matt's power adaptor broke off in the cigarette lighter and was sparking and smoking. So he had take the fuse out, get the pieces out with a tweezers so my car wouldn't start on fire, and then put it all back together again.

We got to KC at 10:30 and then went the rest of the way to Manhattan with Scott and his friend Mike. They talked about food the whole way. It was pretty funny, and it made me kinda hungry.

I crashed at Tifani's and somehow I managed to not wake up her roommate. Today we slept in and got the campus tour- KState is lots different from U of I. The buildings are white limestone and the whole campus is a lot more compact. Tonight we're going to play some Rook....

A weekend in Champaign

It's been a long time. Since august actually. So it was really fun to stay in Champaign for the weekend.

Friday we had thanksgiving dinner at the church, so we'd been cooking up a storm at our house. I had two pies in the oven, and Gab had just left to take the food to church when I get a phone call... Yeah, she got a flat tire and needed somebody to come get our thanksgiving dinner. I didn't want to leave my pies, so while BJ put on the spare, Matt came and got the food. Even though he was "busy"- so sweet of him. :) The dinner turned out great! There were several international students there for their first American thanksgiving...good stuff.

Afterwards us girls were sitting in our hallway discussing how lucky we are to know such great guys! They change tires, come get food out of the blue, help with dishes, clean up tables- they're just plain amazing!

Saturday I ran some errands and bought wedding presents...woot...the mall was packed because it was Dad's Day weekend. Then I got some homework done, surprisingly. Matt, Markus, Amber and I went out to eat at Baker's Square before the Varsity Men's Glee Club concert and barely made it back in time. The concert was so good! They are so good! And they sang this super cool version of Nkosi Sikelel' Afrika/ Africa that blew me away. Wow. We sang Africa in HS jazz choir, and it was cool then, but man- their version was phenomenal!

Church was great- so good to be in Champaign for a change. :) I've been studying almost ever since....yuck. I am not a fan of Biochem. It's going to be a long week.
Blessings.

I might not be ditzy...but man am I dumb!

Last night some girls came to visit me and go to Champaign church. Yay for them! (To everyone else who was invited and didn't come- you're a panz.) I gave them specific directions to church with landmarks and everything so when I got a call that they couldn't find the right road I was kind of surprised. I even commented to Amber and Sarah how some of the W-ton girls were pretty blond sometimes.... Um...yeah...so it turns out I told them the right road, but the wrong landmarks. So much for being a smart chem major. Yikes that was dumb. :p

Our house is full of flowers thanks to Amber's floral design project. They're so beautiful! I'm so excited I get to take that class next semester. :D

Our fridge is full of food for the YG Thanksgiving Dinner. They bought a 25 lbs turkey the other day not realizing that it would take 7 days to thaw in the fridge- so we've been thawing it in cold water in the sink. It kind of cracks me up.

Today is my grandma's 91st birthday.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving break. I will hopefully get to spend a few days with Scott in Manhattan, if Matt gets a deer. Otherwise it might be not quite as long. :)

The whole world is at sixes and sevens...

...and why the house hasn't fallen down around our ears years ago is beyond me!
Gotta love a little bit of Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of our Teeth" every now and again. :) Definitely my favorite play.

Anyway, so I had a busy and kind of crazy rest of the week. Wednesday evening I went to a job fair workshop that was pretty pointless. They didn't really tell me anything that I didn't already know. Nic and I ended up being pretty late to Cissna church because I didn't get done with that until almost 7ish. Cissna was fun! There was a pretty small group of U of I people there, but it was good to hang out with Mike and Joanna and the rest of the Kaeb's. :)

Thursday I went to the job fair, and talked to all Ag companies- I didn't really think about it until later. :) I got a pretty sweet free Pioneer hat that I'm not allowed to wear at home. :) And a free t-shirt from ADM. And I got to wear my new charcoal grey suit out in the freezing cold.

Friday night I went to singing at the home in W-ton. It was a pretty good night- lots of the residents were out of their rooms to listen to us. One old couple who have been married for 70yrs and knew all the words to every song, told us how they had stayed married so long- "because he always did what I told him to do." So cute and so funny!

Saturday morning, bright and early, I went to Jakey's state CC race. They did pretty good, the team didn't place, but he got his best time at Detweiler. I was pretty excited to see Kaitlyn Bastert run- she won the girls race by 50 seconds, and made it look effortless! Second place was from Eureka- woot! Abs came over in the evening and we watched the long version of "Pride and Prejudice." It was great.

So now I'm back at school again- mur. This semester is going sooo fast.

Good times

Monday evening Amber, Sarah, Amanda and I hung the hammers from the piano on the living room wall. We borrowed Chris's drill, but he wouldn't let us have it until we went to Lowes and bought wall anchors and screws. It looks pretty cool. Kind of modern.

Yesterdays organic lab was the most frustrating lab I have ever been in. Ahhh. Way to many people, not enough equipment, only two TA's and not nearly enough time. I was there until 5- pretty ridiculous since I'm usually one of the first to leave.

But it was all good when I got home because Heidi came to visit me. And most of the Shaker was at our house for supper. (I guess some of the girls wanted to apologize for all the pranks or something crazy like that.) They had the table covered with tin foil and then we dumped the food out in the middle and ate with our hands. Amber brought some wonderful steak, and we had marinated chicken, potatoes, vegetables. Yum. And great harvest bread. It was soooo amazingly good. I made pies on Monday...I love pie.

Cleanup was really easy! Just roll up the tinfoil. :) Then Heidi and I did some homework and drank root beer and I taught her how to tie a tie. With my scarves. :) We went to Perkins at 10 to study with some people. I got stuff done...so that was worth it. We even got to bed before 1am. for a change. :)

One of my professors didn't show up for lecture today so we all left after 10 minutes. It was great. Now I need to finish my lab report so I can go visit Joanna in Cissna tonight. :)

Random picture

This was in my "random pictures" folder. It makes me smile.
Clockwise from the left: Osvald, Lenin, Troll, Easter Island Head, rubber chicken, stuffed pirhanna. Middle: Papua New Guinea nose bone.

Happy Mole Day!

What a happy day! *grin* Mole day is the best- what other day do you have an excuse to eat a mole of smarties? Or tell great mole jokes?

Q: What kind of fruit did Avogadro eat in the summer?
A: Watermolens
Q: What line from Shakespeare do high school moles have to memorize?
A: "To mole or not to mole, this is the question."
Q: How much does Avogadro exaggerate?
A: He makes mountains out of mole hills
Q: What is Avogadro's favorite kind of music?
A: Rock 'N' Mole

Sorry, I've already been informed I'm a troll.... :)

Anyway, this weekend was great! Friday I went suit shopping and then went home and was a bum all evening. Saturday was college weekend- good stuff. I got to hang out with Scott and Ned for a while.

Matt and I dropped them off at Grandma and Grandpa’s afterwards, but first we had to stop at Wal-Mart so Scott could buy black pants for church. He forgot to bring his suit…why does this not surprise me?

Sunday the whole family went to Fairbury. The Zehr’s had all the Shaker boys and their families for supper. It was a good time, hanging out with Kris, Alisha, and Janelle. And I got to meet some of my fellow Shaker sistern. Three of them are engaged…that’s pretty much all that got talked about, which is fine, but I think any more of that would be waaay too much. The parents told some pretty funny stuff about their boys. Good times. :)

When we left, Quinn gave me directions back to Champaign, but I was checking my phone messages and Matt told me to go straight so I definitely didn’t turn when I was supposed to. Thank goodness Bob and Nic were right behind me and heroically took the lead and got us back to Chambana by some crazy back roads. :)

So yeah, its another week. And it's cold! I am not a fan of winter.

Church

Was on campus tonight. In Noyes lab. It was kind of weird because I have had at least 3 classes in the room we were in. And I usually fall asleep. I didn't tonight. It was fun to be singing hymns in my classroom. :)

My biochem test last night went really badly...mur...definitely not looking forward to getting it back. I have a test on Friday as well. *sigh* Last year I never had to study, and this year has been almost every night. O for the good ol days of being in bed by 11pm. :)

I spent one of my study breaks in Gab's room doing handstands. She has the perfect spot to do them, no furniture close to kick, and if I fall over I hit the bed. I'm very out of practice.

The great outdoors

I feel like I lived outside this weekend. Friday, Champaign YG took the Sunday school kids camping. We picked such a cold weekend...wow. It was really fun even though I didn't get to stay overnight. I signed up to bring a tent, and got put on the setup committee, and then my brother signed up to bring the same tent. So I got to go early and set up other people's tents. :) We discovered that when you put your tent away wet, it doesn't dry in the bag. (*cough* Josh)

When the kids got there we played games, did some crazy bible charades, and sang around the fire. Good times. I still don't get how they were running around in just sweatshirts with no gloves, hats, etc. and I was huddled by the fire with my cocoa. :) It was really hard to leave, but I said I would go to Apple River...so I missed an opportunity to psych people out about why I was leaving early, but that's probably for the better. :) Even with Nic's directions out of the park, I still didn't get back on the interstate in the same place I got off. Although I did make it home in pretty good time.

I rode up to Apple River with Heidi in her car so she wasn't all alone and promptly fell asleep. But not for the whole time, we did get to talk about stuff. :) And listen to Luke's CD's. She didn't let me play bluegrass. We hiked, ate, sang, and ate some more, slept, had church, ate, hiked, went to Walmart, and got home late like every year. Why does it say 7:30 on our itinerary?? *sigh* So after picking up Matt and Fred S. I didn't get back to school until 11:30. O well.
I was pretty tired in class today. And I have a test tomorrow that I am not at all motivated to study for.
Blessings.

Our neighbors think we're nuts...

Yes, that is a piano on the balcony. Shaker put it there with a forklift, and we couldn't get it down through the house.















Justin, Cam, Mike, and Gab assess the situation.















Over the railing.















Don't Jump Moby!















Too late...
*grin*















Alas poor Moby, I knew him well. ;) Ok, not really, but we did give him a proper "burial" later that night in the backyard of the Saltshaker.















Me and a few of the roomies survey the damage.

Moby A. Piano

Urbana- Moby A. Piano, 104, formerly of Champaign, died at 7:05 p.m. Monday, Oct. 9, 2006, at his home, after an unfortunate fall off of a second story balcony.

Born Jan. 8, 1902, at the Baldwin piano factory, the son of George Piano and Florence Elizabeth Steinway Piano, he married Julia M. Grand on May 29, 1952. She died Feb. 14, 1982.

Surviving are three sons, Mel O.D. (and Flo) Piano of Broadway, N.C., and Tune D. Piano and Yamaha Charles (and Carrie A. Tune) Piano; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and one brother, Guy Witha (and Lotta Notes) Piano. His parents and one son, Strika Chord Piano, preceded him in death.

He was a 1953 graduate in Music from the University of Illinois in Urbana, Ill. He first taught in area schools for 9 1/2 years. Then he was a bus driver for 11 years. He last worked at the Saltshaker, finally retiring in 2006.

He was a member of the Champaign- Urbana Area Piano Union. He was a member of the Apostolic Christian Church, Champaign and its Thursday Night Singing Society.

He was voted “best legs to come out of the Saltshaker” in 2006.

Funeral services will be at 3 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2006, at the Saltshaker in Champaign. Visitation will be one hour prior to funeral service. Burial will be in the back yard.

Memorial contributions may be made to 709. The Mob House, Urbana, is in charge of arrangements.

Condolences may be sent via email to themobhouse@yahoo.com.

*pictures to follow*

Everything's up to date in Kansas City....

So I made a random trip to KC this weekend. Dona was going so I decided to ride along. :)

It was really fun. Ned, Scott and I played Monopoly and I came in second to Ned. That kid is so lucky! It's just not fair. :) And we played Rook.

Saturday morning we went to Robek's for breakfast. Yum. They make the best smoothies ever! Then we went to help with the KC young group's work day. I helped stain a widowed lady's deck and I managed to not get any on me. (Unlike some people who were painting) We went to supper and singing at church that evening and they had Jackstack. There really isn't any better brisket than Jackstack. Alan had people over afterwards and we hung out there for a while. Good times.

I rode home with Heidi and Kenton. Luke rode with Tony (I think he's avoiding me...all those mixed signals I'm sending. hehe.) Kenton is my new best friend because he played his bluegrass CD... even though he almost got us all killed when Luke passed his half finished sherbet to me through the window. I don't even like orange sherbet- the things I do for you Heidi! I told Kenton the wrong Springfield exit so we got to drive past the sewer plant twice. They were complaining, but I definitely had to go past it three times. :)

Aunt Karen sent a whole bunch of stuff back for the family, as usual. She picked up some stuff at Cabella's for dad and my brothers so I brought back two shotgun barrels and scopes. It was funny.

We have school today...
There is a large white "ideal piano" on Gab's porch. Crazy boys.

It's a beautiful night

And what better way to spend it than with good friends....

'Looked' at stars. Sang about the moon.

Took a long walk on campus following the sound of the marching band.

Found it just as they were all leaving with their instruments. :)

Rode the bus for the first time.

Almost as much fun as jumping in the fountain with my roomies...

*grin*

There is a very large green wagon at my house...

Hm so, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Pearline, and Abby came to visit on Wednesday. We ate at Biaggi's per Shaker suggestion. Good times. They are so funny...they really aren't sure how Matt can live in such a small space. :) And they were so worried about getting Abby back to Bloomington so she could get to bed...they left here at 9ish. :D

Sang at Shaker on Thursday, or I should say, everyone else sang; I croaked...I'm a lot better now. They sang "Pull for the Shore" for me. Ask me sometime why I think that song is hilarious...

Friday was Jakey's 18th birthday. Woot. So I got him a present. I had a hard time deciding between the incense sticks and the glow-in-the-dark moldable foam. (Circle K's just don't have a real big gift selection) I went with the foam. It was his favorite present until he opened the machete. *sigh* I just can't compete.

Saturday I slept really late...it was beautiful. I spent several hours making cookies for Jake to take to his friend's house after homecoming. (He forgot them on the counter.) So then I rode my bike to the field and rode around on the combine with Dad for a while. I drove for a couple rounds...I think Dad was ready to switch back. :) Beans are way harder than corn!

I got to see Abby's house. It's so cute, and it is fixed up a lot better than ours.

I didn't go to Taylor. I'm sad I missed out on seeing people. I'm not sad I stayed home. I feel much better now, and I think I would still be pretty miserable if I hadn't got some rest. So yeah. Blessings.

Motivation is elusive

Chris and Ashley got engaged last night!! Woot! It's about time....

So I really don't want to study for my Instrumental Methods of Chemical Characterization class. It's just plain awful.

My throat hurts...Gab gave me some wonderful stuff for it though. I needed some tylenol last night when we were all studying together and nobody had any! I went to the health center and got some free after lab today. It's generic so it starts dissolving right away...ick. I should just make my own.

I was in lab today working on a very annoying qual lab. (Don't they know that nobody does qual analysis anymore?? Most chemists send it to the friendly NMR technician and get a complete analysis with out all the fuss) Anyway, so I was watching my sample distill and hear somebody saying my name- I turned around and there was Caleb, CORE hard hat and all! I was excited. I was also surprised that he recognized me in my lovely green goggles, but I guess the skirt gave it away. :)

I was starting to feel like I had a voice again and then I went to singing at the nursing home. Not anymore. I sound like I've been smoking a pack a day for 20 years. It's great.

Grandma and Grandpa are coming to take Matt and I out to eat tomorrow before church! Yay!

Blessings.

Stuff and nonsense

I had two test last week....and two lab reports so it was pretty intense.

But there were some high points, especially this weekend.

The fall picnic was nice...not too hot, but not freezing.

Thursday I took a 'study break' and went to the planetarium for a HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT. The planetarium pretty cool, the only other one I've been to was on a school field trip. It was one of our many 'let's go visit the Journal Star and something else in Peoria' field trips, so it was much better this time. *wink*

Justin K came for bible study at Keith and Joan's on Friday. It was excellent and very thought provoking. Somehow they started talking about economics and futures markets afterwards....wow...totally over my head. Lys and I hung out for a while and I stayed up way too late.

I got up early on Saturday and went with Mom and Donna to Jakey's cross race in St. Jo. It was really fun- I love CC races, they're over in 15-20 minutes. :) We took all the cross country bando's to Danville for their band competition- brings back memories of good times. They're marching a good show this year...gladiator music...it was fun to watch.

Then I had to go back to C-U to meet up with the group going to Mike's baptism. Cissna was great. Testimonies were long, but it really didn't seem like it. Alyssa, Rhonda, and I stayed overnight with an older widow named Lorretta. :) She was sooo cute. And she said some really funny things. There were lots of people in church! It was good to see some KS people, although I'm still sad Neal and Kim didn't make it.

So it was a good week, and a good weekend. :)
Blessings.

Chalk Quadding

I couldn't go since I was taking a test and then I went to Chipotle for free food.

They did a lovely job, I especially liked the one right outside Noyes Lab:

www.freebiblenow.org
-no cost -no obligation
God Loves Chem Majors!

*GRIN*

My roomies are great!

They cook awesome food!

They say funny things.

"Bread and Water? Prisoners get better food than that!"
"So...are you a closet delinquent?"

Pretty much they're just the coolest people ever. :)

It's friday!

So Gab says I need to blog. :)

Hm... this week started out with a bang. Sunday night I was sound asleep when I was rudely awakened by 8 guys in masks and dark clothes destroying furniture with axes in our front yard. They also had poor Herman strung up on our front porch in a noose....who knows what our poor neighbors thought. :) And poor Herman! He barely pulled through the ordeal.

I was pretty sleepy monday....but I made supper for the girls, and they ate it so it must not have been too bad.

Sang at the home on tuesday....and stayed up way too late updating the freezer list.

Wednesday was church....keep the curt was in Champaign...then we ate pie with our almost room mate afterwards.

Thursday I spent way too long in a very annoying lab and then went to ISU bible study. On the way, our carload was entertained with an hour long lecture on mammals. :) It was a good night, but I was very sad that Abby wasn't there. Joanna was! And Janelle! Yay! We went for ice cream afterwards and then I came back to C-U with Matt, Lil sow, and Bob. It was a quiet ride. We talked about well drilling. :) And I saw a shooting star. Now I really should go to bed....but I'm wide awake from the Polar Pop I drank in the car.

Blessings.

Randomness

We have some funny conversations around our house sometimes...
Me: Where does mom keep hilda b?
Shelly: I don't know, maybe upstairs.
Me: O wait, the hall closet!

I like pie. A lot. And making pie makes me happy. :)

Jakey took such nice senior pictures....

Midnight- at a normal volume
Me: Why are you taking so long in there?
Jake: I'm not you are. Do you think somebody will wake me up tomorrow?
Me: Probably you left a note on the table....
Jake: Maybe Dad won't do chores tomorrow, maybe I should wake them up... (the bathroom door was wide open and the light was definitely on, and we weren't whispering)

Went to a hog roast. Had to get out of my bubble- it's good for me right?

Grain bin singings are....rough.

Gab doesn't like me anymore.

When I go home for the weekend I miss out on the fun......

A note to Herman, we miss you here at 709- but I'm sure you'll be welcomed in your new home... *grin*

P.S. How does furniture walk across town?

Blessings.

Ft. Scott, Kansas City, and curtains

So I had a great weekend in Kansas! And we had a stellar turnout of W-ton yg types. (HA!) Matt, Shelly, Abby, and I left Friday after school and spent the night in Kansas City at Aunt Karen's. Saturday morning we went down to Fort Scott to go canoeing and we almost set a new record, we were just 3 minutes off. :)

Canoeing was fun. I didn't get tipped because I had my camera and I had forgotten to bring a dry bag. Whoops. :) It was a really beautiful day- not too hot and not too cold. And there were lots of fun KS girls there. I had never been to Fort Scott church before so that was good.

Sunday night we went back up to KC to Aunt Karen's and hung out til Scott got back with Ben. We played some Rook and stayed up way too late. Monday morning we went to Brent and Beth's to see Kambria. She's pretty cute. I didn't hold her. It's kind of weird that Brent, Galen, and Neal all have kids now. And Neal owns a minivan. I about died when I heard that....

So then we went home. Traffic wasn't bad and I filled up for $2.39 in Columbia. :) We spent almost 20 hrs in the car and I drove about 14 of them. My car smells like wet shoes, people, trail mix, and who knows what else. Good stuff.

When we all got back to Champaign we found a rather large stuffed man on our porch. His shirt says that he is the "Ideal Man" of 709. So we hung him on the wall. With lots of big nails. And we named him Herman, as in Handsome Herman. Hot Rod works too. It doesn't really matter since he's ideal- he doesn't talk back, he does what he's told, and doesn't expect regular meals. ;) He still makes me jump every time I walk in the room.

Heidi came to visit me yesterday. :) We went to bible study at the union, and then at 10 I decided I wanted to make curtains for the kitchen. So we went to walmart (in our pjs) and got fabric. They turned out really cute! And then I actually let Heidi share my bed.

So anyway. Church tonight.
Blessings.

Today was a good day

Or yesterday now.

I had a meeting today with my senior project professor. It went well, even though it was at the early hour of 8:30am. I was going to come home and go back to bed, but he invited me to come to his chem 102 lecture at 10. So I went home and did some stuff for a while and went back to school.

It was great! He is a chem education specialist and an excellent teacher. Part of his lecture included shooting a paint ball gun at a target to "recreate" Rutherford's gold foil experiment. He missed once and hit the wall. It was funny. And he was doing a stoichiometry problem that was longer than the board, so he just continued on the wall. Good stuff. It was the first time I have ever been to a lecture that wasn't mine. :)

Then I ate lunch at sbarro because I had a coupon. It was good.

My first instrumentation lab was less than 45 minutes.

I got a lot of homework done.

I ate supper with Amber and Amanda.

Another first today was liquid nitrogen ice cream. I went to the American Chemical Society Student Affiliates meeting tonight, and they had a bunch of fun demos. After the meeting they made ice cream and it only took 5 minutes. It was pretty good stuff; very creamy and chocolatey. And it was cold! (obviously)

When I got back from that, we put together some songbooks and yes I spelled reigns, rains. So I wasn't totally focused on my work- good thing Gab was there to spell check. :) We sang around the piano for a while when we got them finished, it was definitely the perfect ending to an excellent day.

Hot and sticky

Ick. I don't like this weather.

So I spent most of the weekend in Elgin. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I went. It was a good excuse to visit Amanda and hang out with all the fun people in the Elgin yg. The wedding was good too. It was kind of weird though, brought back a lot of random memories. Like how when I was in kindergarten and I rode the bus to congerville with the triplets; they taught me different words to lots of Christmas carols. I don't know if mom has forgiven them yet for turning 'Joy to the World' into Joy to the world the teacher's dead.... :) Going to the Zoo with Jaclyn's family when I was in gradeschool. Band with Travis in High school. Visiting Kellenbergers in Elgin the Sunday Jaclyn started repenting. Time flies. :) And I got to see Warren- it's been a long time so that was good.

I should start out the year right and hit the books. But I just don't want too. Plus I went to the Eureka library booksale and got a bag of books for $2. I was pretty excited. And I borrowed the next WOT book. So I'll probably spend too much time reading that and not enough doing homework. :) So anyway.
Blessings.

Back to School

I like the first week of school, it's so relaxed. And I have no homework or tests so I got to do some hard core hanging out. I've done something every single night this week- it won't last, but it's been fun! I laughed so hard playing telephone pictionary...wow. Good times.

The guys next door are hosting a concert tonight....they were nailing speakers to their porch roof this afternoon. Definitely didn't want to be around for the craziness so I came home after class. I'm going to Elgin for Travis and Jaclyn's wedding tomorrow night...a little bit out of the way, but this way I can go to W-ton bible study tonight and debunk all claims that I have dropped off the face of the earth. :)

So far the year is off to a good start. Classes are good (most of them anyway) and the new roomies are fun. :) Matt's a shakerite and it's just plain weird. I actually got to talk to Dona at church. I have some good professors this year that are teaching and not just lecturing. My Astronomy prof has been at U of I for 40 yrs and is hilarious! The only thing that would make it better is a good book, but someone isn't on top of www.freewotnow.org requests and I'm still waiting. ;)

Anyway.
Blessings.

Summer time, and the livin is easy...

And it's over. School starts tomorrow. *sigh* Not very excited about the studying. But at least I had a really fun week! I finished my project at work, so I had almost nothing to do. I read books, including my favorite book of the summer, C.S. Lewis' The Great divorce.

Saturday I went shopping with my sister and got stuff. And then I packed up to move back to Chambana. Jakey didn't want to hang out with me so my entire evening was ruined. ;)

We got up early Sunday and went to Champaign church for the new student welcome. It was good...I've almost been in Champaign more times this summer than Washington. I got to show the fam the house...my new room...how filthy the kitchen was. The picnic was a whole lot less awkward this year, it's nice not to be new.

Gab and Meg and I left after supper for Oak Run. We got to hang out with Vinnie and Irene- good times. :) And I did something totally out of character....I actually shared a bed. With two girls. I barely survived.

We spent most of Monday, skiing (I actually got up!), jetskiing, and tubing (I claimed the prize for best wipe out of the year), and getting slightly sunburnt. I didn't drink enough water so I had a slightly unpleasant evening. :) Gab: you have to drink something. Me: I don't wanna! Gab: You have to! Drink it!

Finally spent the night in Champaign last night. Mom came down this morning to help clean the kitchen. It was horribly dirty. But since we had Ash and Chris and Amber helping it only took 3 hours. And it sparkles! We lysoled everything after we found the liquid onions and liquid potatoes. Ugh. Never again. At least we know why we had ants....

So I went and bought some books. And bought groceries because I had nothing to eat. And then I wasn't hungry for any of it so I just ate watermelon with the magazine salesmen. There was a singing at Mike, Josh, Cam, and Kyle's apartment in the ghetto. However, I was having a hard time not coveting their kitchen and humongous bathrooms. *sigh* It was good times.

I should go to bed tonight so I'm well rested for the first day of school. Or not. :)
Blessings.

I'm not jealous.

I'm really, really, really, really not.






O.K. maybe I am just a little.




Fine, I'm a lot jealous.




*sigh* maybe next summer.

Quality time with quality people :)

So I had another wonderful weekend. Friday after work I headed to Gab's house at Oak Run for food, singing and fun. It was a very random group of people, and it was great! We played "I have never" for a long time. I was the only person who had watched all three Lord of the Rings movies back to back (and they were the extended editions). :)

I got home pretty late so I slept in on Saturday, then packed up Matt's truck and took some stuff down to school. I got my new room cleaned and pretty well put together. I like it! Even though the floor definitely slants. And they just covered up the moldy wall with paneling. Woot.

I was out shopping for stuff for next year, and got a phone call to go mini-golfing with some people. Keith and Emily were around, and Bob, B.J., Brent, Mark, and Eric were all in town so I met them at the Shaker and the driveway and all the street parking was taken so I parked in the front yard. :) I like driving trucks. According to B.J. I won at mini-golf (since I did get the highest score...), and then we went to TGIF for supper. When we got back to the Saltshaker Meg joined us and we played Poker with somebody's change jar. When the groomsmen got back from the rehearsal dinner, we still were playing cards and they pulled out the songbooks and we sang for a while. It was pretty funny- poker and hymns just don't go together. :) I left around 12:30 and went to walmart- I was going to go earlier that afternoon, but my shopping was interrupted by mini-golf. So I got to bed pretty late.

The wedding Sunday was wonderful. Church was packed! Brent and J-nelle were so cute. And they both said yes so it was a success. Their reception was in the Illini Union- very cool- and the orange Shaker ties were awesome!

After the reception I loaded up my bed from last year, and had an awful time trying to strap it in. I couldn't get Matt's tailgate to stay shut, so I had to make sure that Gab and I weren't going to be picking up mattresses on the highway. Then Gab, being the genius she is, figured out how to keep it shut. :)

We went to Mike, Cameron, and Josh's new apartment for pizza. It was fun, but we left for home pretty early. So anyway. One more week til school. I like summer better I think.

When Life gets tough, use a bigger hammer

Hm...so anyway. My brothers are in Canada. I am soooooo jealous. Anybody want to go to the BWCA next summer??

I've been working on formulating a resin and it's finally at the point where we are testing strength, glass transition, etc. So I poured my lovely polymer into the mold and put it in the oven overnight. I must have put a little too much in, plus the mold isn't very tight, and it's sticky stuff. My mold was stuck to the tray so tight it took my boss and a hammer to separate them. We bent the tray. And I was scraping polymer off the mold with a razor blade. *sigh* The next batch I got smart and covered everything with tinfoil.

Today was my 'going away' party (with the other 2 students), even though I have one more week. FIO is a fun unit. :) We went to the Mongolian grill- different but good. And then somebody put too much sample in the DSC and it got all over and needs to be cleaned so I didn't have to do anything for the rest of the day. I read a book.

Then my boss smashed my reaction flask with a hammer....

Quote: White underwear do not match charcoal socks. White underwear coordinates with charcoal socks, but they don't match.

Food, Fellowship, and Family

The weekend went great! I spent most of it in the kitchen, but I enjoy that part so it was all good. Our food turned out very well; the porkchops were delectable and everything else tasted good too. And we didn't' set anything on fire! We did manage to burn a pan of garlic bread. Stupid broiler.

I got to keep my second cousin and her friend from Bloomfield. Matt had Ryan K-berger and another guy in the basement, so us girls went and showered in our new shop for kicks. :)

My cousins from California have been here the past week so they came over for supper Sunday night. I am very tired of cleaning up dishes and leftovers. We shot off my cousin's model rocket in the wheat field, and then it got lost in the corn field. Whoops. We did get some cool pictures of the whole family in front of the round bales though.

It was a wonderful weekend. Blessings.

Do you hear the people sing?

So I've been busy. Last week I was in Champaign, Chicago, and St. Louis.

Chicago was a shopping trip.... good times. I got curtains for my room at school at Ikea, so that was exciting. I got to drive, and it just happened to start pouring right when I needed to be able to see exit signs the most. It figures. But at least I was driving... :)

Les Miserables was incredible of course. :) It was interesting to note that I cried at different parts of the story than I did the last time I saw it. It's funny how things affect you differently at different points in your life. The Fox theater is cool too- I love old buildings. It has the most indescribable architecture/decorating style. I liked it in a weird sort of way. Austin has an internship in St. Louis this summer and he and his friend Laura met me for lunch at Union Station. Definitely well worth the money and the trip. I'm so glad it worked out since it was so last minute!

I'm back at work. *sigh* My boss is gone so I pretty much can't do anything. I have a report to write about my research and that's it. And the other guy that shares the lab is in China so I can't even be supervised by him. They said they could give me something to do downstairs if I got too bored, I might have to take them up on it. :)

Washington invite this weekend, anybody who wants to come is welcome!
Blessings.

Randomness

I spent the evening in Champaign yesterday. I had a few things to do at the house, but not much. It was hot. I am so glad I am not living there this summer.

Amy came with me so we ate at olive garden. Then we played euchre at the Shaker with Mike and Marcus. I hate that game. Mike and I lost by an unbelievably large amount. *sigh* But it was fun!

I forgot that gas stations in Champaign are scary after dark. We stopped at one a little too far away from 74 for comfort. whoops. It's not like that in Urbana. :)

I'm tired of living out of my duffel bag

Saturday night I went to the Tremont invite. It was very hot, but enjoyable. (For all of you who think I don't do anything with Washington anymore- Washington was invited, it was on the calendar, therefore it was a W-ton thing. And only 7 of us showed up- I want to know where every one else was!)

I left a little early because Gab and I were planning on leaving for Cissna at 10 pm. We didn't actually leave Morton until after 10:30 because the dog got out, and we had to wait for her to come home. So we showed up at Bek's a little before 1 am.

Church was very full! Gretchen was gorgeous, of course, and her bridesmaid's dresses were very cool. I can now say I have been to a 4 hour wedding reception, and worked for most of it. Definitely better than standing in line! The best part was getting to see everybody again, specially Karen. And I got the privilege to work with and talk to Joanna for a long time. :)

I forgot that I had left my bag in the car in the heat all day, so I had a mess to clean up when I got home. My deodorant and my perfume both exploded, thankfully just inside my toiletry bag and not on my clothes. But my hair stuff and favorite headcovering all had a thin film of deodorant and denatured alcohol all over them. Ick. I also have a very warped perfume bottle.

I did have to laugh when he asked Gretch to promise to submit....

the 20th annual Wyss Family Vacation

Every year since 1987, Grandma and Grandpa have taken the whole family on vacation for a week. We've been a lot of places. Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, Kentucky. Some nice resorts, some dives. We've had years where we had plenty of room, and years when the resort overbooked and the boys got to stay in the manager's apartment. Years where we had a lake a boat and jetskis and a pool. It has rained, and stormed, and been beautiful. There was the year Clayton broke his leg. The year that Austin and Neal got mug shots by Junior the cop in Podunk Missouri. And the year there was a car accident right up the rode that half the family responded too. We have a doctor, 3 nurses, and 2 EMT's on staff. Grandma and Pearline make a huge breakfast every morning (if you get up before 10). No one cares if you stay up until 3 am playing Rook, drinking way too much pop, eating junk, and watching movies. But if you try to wake us up before 10- watch out. And almost every year everyone has been there. This year we were missing 7 out of a possible 48 people. Some people need to get their priorities in order. :)

This year was fun as usual. Most of the adults and the little kids were in two nice condos. The guys were in a very 'vintage' cabin right next to the cabin us girls stayed in. They were clean, but definitely circa 1960's. It was great. We were also far enough away from everyone else that we didn't get woken up at crazy early hours of the morning, i.e. before 10. We played rook and watched movies and somehow Abby and I spent an hour lost in Michigan. We were going to go rent the long version of Pride and Prejudice but didn't get directions to town, so we drove around for a while and then realized that neither of us had any ID to rent a movie with anyway. So we went back and played more Rook.

Neal, Austin and I on the very first vacation in 1987. Aren't we sooo cute? And check out Neal's stylin hair cut. :)





1989- we could all fit around 1 table!







1990- The first of many group shots.








1992- Indiana Beach
Hm...Dad isn't in any of these pictures because he had the camera.



2000- the Ozarks











2004- the last time everyone was there for the picture. Someplace in Missouri.

So that's vacation. Blessings.

Leaving...

For Michigan! My fam is already there, but I had to at least stay for Bob's testimony. They all were good. And there were a ton of people at Rassi's afterwards. :) Good times!

I got to bed kind of late.....

Blessings.

Things I've learned in the last few days

• Being at your sibling's testimonies is really weird.
• 5 baptisms means TONS of people will show up!
  (and the Kaebs will turn out- not quite like the Weigands, but still)
• It's a good thing I don't sit by Jakey every Sunday.
• I can sing tenor, bass, and soprano better than him.
• His shoes do not match his tie.
• God is bigger than the boogie man.
• And Matt's farmer tan didn't show.
• No one comes to work on the day before a holiday.
• Getting paid for not going to work is great!
• Spending the afternoon of the 4th laying in the sun by a pool is glorious, but rather painful the next day.
• To much sun makes me sleepy, and not very conducive to a large 4th of July Bash.
• Eureka fireworks....at Aunt Madelyn's....good times.
• Is an up to code septic system too much to ask for?
  
• I might actually have to use Young's modulus at work- I think I might die of shock!

Anyway, next week is the Wyss vacation!! Woot!
Blessings.

My boss and I decided today that people who don't do chemistry for a living might be happy...but it isn't very likely.

*grin*

Guess who just got her FOID card???

*grin*

I miss Champaign more than I thought. It was so good to be there this weekend and hang out with so many good friends. I met Gab and Bob and Nic in Goodfield Saturday evening; it was an enjoyable drive down to Chambana. Although I don't know if the guys appreciated our music selection since half of the songs we played have inside jokes or stories between Gab and I attached to them. O well, they wouldn't pick anything.

We met up with Mike and Joanna and spent an hour or so wandering around downtown Champaign taking in the sights and window 'shopping'. There was a really cool Book shop that I want to go check out sometime... Then we went to Perkins and Naz and EZ and Mogs showed up.

I miss Naz! Even though he knows too much about everything and comes over at random hours, he's fun to have around. :) So I'm glad he'll still be next door next year and I'm sure he'll come over to visit Ash a lot.

Erin and Dusty's wedding was great. It was fun to be in Champaign church again! And Erin's dress and her bridesmaids dresses were so cool! So another successful wedding.

After the reception a bunch of us went to Dos Reales for supper (I like DR, but I think somebody needs a new favorite restaurant-either that or someone else should pick ;) ). Kat, Heidi, Gab, and I got there before the guys did and we sat every other seat...it's kind of sad that we have to make a conscious effort to desegregate. :) O well, it was good times and there was a cool rainbow out the window.

And then we came back home and I was very tired and went to bed.
Blessings.

It's Friday!!

I love Friday!

It was a good week. I spent the night with Heidi and got too little sleep. And we didn't even finish the Notebook. We had fun though.

I made some fluffy white polymer in the lab today!!! I was excited. And sorry, since we're still in the developing stages, it will not be possible to process your orders at this time. Plus I would charge you a mint for it so unless you feel like financing my college education, (all you taxpayers are already paying most of my salary) I would advise you check out one of the fine furniture stores in your area.

I'm camping out tonight in Congerville. And tomorrow evening I'm going to Champaign for Erin's wedding. :) My boss was extremely surprised at the number of weddings that I am invited to.

Blessings.

Weddings and Things

This week has been so good. I really, really, really, like my job. :) All I do is watch reactions cook for six hours, and take viscosity measurements every 2 hours, and read a book in between. The annual lab picnic was on Friday. Free lunch and lots of good food. I made apple pie and my boss's little girl loved it. :)

I went to Morton's bible school with Gab Tuesday and Friday night. Friday I dragged my brother along because Bob and Nic and Tim were going to be there. We went to Taryn's afterwards but we didn't stay very late cause I was pretty tired. I miss Gab. I even miss her laughing at me.... hehe.

Mindy got married today. It was a little weird...but fun. Her dress was gorgeous, the food was good, and they're married so I guess it was a success. Most of my memories of Mindy involve father's day at Uncle Roy's pond with her and sometimes AJ and Caleb. And Christmas at the Christian church going every where we weren't supposed to go. :)

I also heard today that Alan Banwart's dad passed away...if you all could keep him and his family in your prayers I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Abs is here for Katelyn and Jordan's wedding tomorrow. :) I think I will be tired of weddings by the end of the summer.

Oooo...and I finally got my hair trimmed. Woot. It's all about the little things..... :)
Blessings.

Bushes and Kansas and Labs, oh my!

I didn't think I was busy this summer, but I kind of am! Although last week my biggest accomplishment was trimming the bushes....and I bribed my cousins with Bible School money to help me. (I gave them money to give at Bible School....I didn't steal it and then bribe them- just to clarify)

And I went to Bern/Sabetha with the Bible Class, it was a good time! Kansas girls are definitely hostesses with the mostesses. :) And they're pretty cool too! So thanks Lindsay, and Maggie, and Anna it was great! The ride home got a little long with so many high schoolers, but I survived.

Monday morning I started my summer job at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. Or NCAUR, the USDA Lab, the Ag lab, etc. It has been so much fun so far! I have an office....and a desk...crazyness. It's kind of scary because Dr. Ken keeps giving me jobs and leaving me. And I have to keep a real lab notebook. Yesterday I uninhibited a bottle of Glycidyl Methacrylate.....it says "harmful" right on the bottle. Tomorrow I start running reactions (by myself) trying to turn soybean oil into office chairs. Good stuff. They had a safety fair today and I got a free NCAUR laptop case for playing 'safety poker'. I like my job. :) Still not used to the early mornings though....sigh.

Blessings.

You know you're a chem major...

...when fireflies don't blink, they fluoresce.

Jake's burn story

So...Jake's burn story. He was camping with some of his friends last Saturday night, and they all had to go to ACYF day in Bloomington the next morning. So their host's parents told them they had to be in bed by midnight. I guess they were playing with gas and fire all night, including spearing an empty pop can with a hotdog stick and pouring gas over the campfire to watch the fireball. Very dumb, but they are 17 year old males, and it doesn't surprise me.

Sometime after midnight (willfully disobeying their curfew) they chased a ground hog or something similar into a hole. It had two openings so they decided to smoke it out. Jake, Fred, and Justin were in charge of making the smoke, and Dan was at the other end with a shotgun.

They had some newspaper down in the hole, and they decided that it would light better if it was soaked with gasoline. You would think that anybody with half a brain would not be stupid enough to throw a match down a hole with straight gas at the bottom. Or at least stand a short distance away. But no, all three were right up around the hole and of course it flared up. All three got burnt, one lost all the hair on his arms, but his shaggy hair saved his face. Jake has whisker marks from shutting his eyes.

So then, instead of going into the house and getting medical attention, they decided that they didn't want to get in trouble for being up past midnight and just splashed some lake water on their 2nd degree burns and spent the rest of the night in the woods. They did go up to the shed to get steel brushes to brush the burnt hair out so they didn't have to smell it!?

Jake showed up for ACYF day the next morning and one of the Bible class teachers, who is a Doctor, told him to go back home and keep it cold and moist. He got him some burn cream to put on it too. So he's been sitting around the house watching DVD's on my laptop for a few days. It looks a little bit better now, he still looks like he's wearing war paint. :) Or a butterfly. And he has to wrap his head in bandages before he goes to bed.

Leo

So it was a good weekend. Visiting the Klopfenstein's is always a blast. I went out Friday afternoon and took my sister and Adam and Haley Herman with me, so Shelly and Haley got to talk in the back seat and Adam and I just ignored them. They just put their jet ski's on the river, so I got to ride them and swim...and got a little more tan. Testimonies were great, Abby was pretty funny. :)
Saturday night there were 35 people, all family, who spent the night at Rita's. It was kinda crazy. 10 boys on the floor in the basement, 5 girls in the living room, at least 2 people in every bedroom, 5 people in a camper, and 3 bathrooms. Abby and I were going to sleep on the dock, but we decided that it would be a lot of work to get an air mattress and sleeping bags through the woods. So we slept on the dining room floor. I was glad for my bed last night when we got home.
I set a personal record on the way home, total trip time was 4:40. We beat both Lori and Herb's and Grandpa's carloads home somehow. They both stopped, but Lori's left at least an hour before we did. I also experienced another first- Haley left her book in my car and we saw them on the way home and Matt passed it out the window to them as we drove. And Gab was there! Hehe. I was excited. :)
And Jakey's got second degree burns on his face because he was try to smoke out a rodent with gas and newspaper. *sigh* Males.
Anyway.
Blessings.

water and birthdays and cookies and fire

It's been a fun week. I washed my car and then somehow got involved in a waterfight with my little cousins. It was pretty funny, they haven't quite figured out how to throw water without throwing the entire bucket. I was only wet from the waist down because they can't pour any higher than that. :)
Tuesday night I got to hang out with U of I/Mexico people for J-nelle's birthday party. We went to Feista Ranchero for supper, hung out at the fishbowl, watched Janelle and Amber play bocci ball in the living room and Sarah and I sang random songs. Good times.
Yesterday Heidi and I decided to bake cookies at 9:00 at night. The oven was smoking a little because her mom had spilled butter in the bottom of the oven, but we didn't think anything of it. But when we put the cookies in, it started on fire! There were pretty tall flames leaping out of the oven, and no fire extinguisher, so Heidi put it out with a glass of water. :) We definitely set off the smoke alarm and filled the house with smoke. (Why does this always happen to me?) So we switched to the downstairs oven and made some that weren't charbroiled and took them to Luke's new duplex for a house warming present.
I'm leaving for Abby's baptism in Leo in an hour or so...yay! Aunt Rita's house is going to be full of family! Hopefully their pool isn't freezing. :)
Blessings.

stuff

So my life is pretty boring right now. I have been sitting around a lot. :)
Wednesday night Gab and Matt and I went to Tremont to surprise Nic for his birthday. That was pretty fun...specially since I haven't seen Gab in waaay too long. Ok, so it's maybe been only 2 weeks, but still! And there were lots of U of I/ Mexico people there and it was wonderful to see them all again.
I was actually home on a Friday night to go to a Washington YG thing! It was good, but there are a lot of new people so it felt different. A good different, but different none the less.
I might head to the library today...have to check out this Wheel of Time series I keep hearing about. ;) Hm...maybe not today they might be closed. Anyway.
Blessings.

there and back again

So I went to Kansas this past weekend with Matt and Shelly for Scott's graduation. We managed to not get lost or fall asleep. And we made it in about 6.5 hours both ways. Even though on the way home we sat in traffic for a half hour.

We "helped" Aunt Karen get ready for Scott's graduation party. Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Pearline went early Friday morning and pretty much had everything under control. Or at least not quite as chaotic as normal. Grandma took care of the cleaning and food and Grandpa checked everyone's oil and fixed faucets and things. Scott and Matt and I went to Robeks and saw Nate and got smoothies. Good times. We got to go to a Kansas City YG thing and looked at old Christmas cards and played some Rook until late on Saturday night. We left church early to get to the graduation in time- a good thing because Uncle Randy wasn't sure where the arena was so we ended up driving around downtown Kansas City for a while. :) I like KC. People have roses blooming already! I'm so jealous. Blue Valley HS is a lot bigger than Eureka! So graduation took that much longer. But I got to sit by Kim and Brock. And they had Jackstack for supper.

Today I slept in pretty late...whoops. I spent most of the afternoon cleaning the garage so I wasn't totally lazy. It was nasty. And I killed so many spiders and stink bugs. *shudder* It was horrible. And found 3 dead mice in various states of decomposition. Ick. At least it's clean now. And it's summer.

My two ash trees survived the drought last summer! They have leaves!! I'm so excited.

the rest of wednesday

Was actually pretty eventful. The water was off and on all day, hopefully it's on now for good.

I decided to get some exercise after lunch and ride my bike over to Aunt Lori's, see the baby, and give the little girls some of the stuff that I had just cleaned out of my drawers. So since my bike has a perpetual flat tire I took Mom's. I put a little air in the tires because it hasn't been ridden all winter and grabbed a backpack full of 'treasures' for the girls and left. Their house is about 3 miles from ours and I had ridden about two when I heard a bang. It took me a second to realize where it came from and why my front tire was suddenly hissing at me. Thankfully, it happened right in front of Brookside Landscaping, where my lil brother is working this summer. Sooo I just walked it down the hill and left it in the bed of his truck and kept walking to Lori's. I'm sure I looked hilarious with my backpack and rolled up jeans. I looked at the baby and then my uncle gave me a ride home.

When I got home I found out that Mom had invited some of Dad's old buddy's to church and then to our house to surprise him on his birthday. We had to clean quick, but not make it look like the house was clean, and then Jake was supposed to make it look nice while we were at church. And our kitchen is written all over. Anyway, he was surprised and we had lots of cake and as everyone was milling around getting ready to leave, I went to put away the extra silverware. And there was a mouse in the drawer. And I screamed. It was kind of funny...but now we have a mouse in our kitchen- the only one I've ever seen that wasn't carried in by my uncle. Mom's a little nervous about opening the drawers and Dad just dug out a bunch of traps. Good times.

Trogdor is on the wall.

The demon cow and some of his vast arsenal.

Yeah....

None of us are that tall...so we'll never no what we're missing.

The plaster is um, cracking, and its 1941.

The Hobbit, Moby Dick, and the Declaration.

*grin*

Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink

Happy 50th birthday dad!

The water pump is broken. So...no water. Good times. Thank goodness for good neighbors with hot showers. :)

We still don't have wallpaper in the kitchen. And those blank walls are just sooo tempting. So last night Jake (he started it) and I were drawing pictures and writing quotes all over the walls. It's pretty funny stuff. My favorite is below the light switch- "Beauty is just a light switch away." We also have the first line of the Hobbit running across the soffit. I think we should just leave it, call it "Early American Unfinished," and be done. Although the cow-demon and the 'we don't call 911' sign might raise some eyebrows. *grin*

Blessings.

Home

Finals are over! Yay! Now I'm just waiting on grades...ick.

I got a job working for a professor- I'll be in his research group next year and this summer I'll just be doing random things. The best part is that I can do it all from home! So I can work and lay out at the same time....probably not, but technically I could.

Mom and Dad came to Champaign yesterday to help me move back. We tried to look around in the new alumni center. It was very crowded. Then they took me out for lunch and Mom and I went to the mall for a while. We were almost ready to leave for home, but mom wanted to get some stuff for Grandma at Bath and Body works and I was hungry. So she left me and I got in line at Auntie Anne's behind three African American women. I'm standing there, minding my own business when another black lady walked by and yelled several obscenities at the three women standing in front of me. Which they returned....so they are standing about 25 ft apart dropping the B-word and "my sista whipped y'alls butt two months ago" and something about a baby-daddy. (This is the point at which I started slowly backing up out of line...inching closer to the people sitting in the cafe tables in front of Auntie Anne's) They were being very loud and obnoxious and this white guy (40's or 50's) sitting at one of the tables looks right at me and says "make them shut up!" I was slightly shocked since a) I'm a little white chick b) there's no way I'm getting in the middle of that. So then the security guards come, at which point the white guy, with the danger of him getting beat gone, decides to yell at the top of his lungs "Shut the f- up!" Dropped the f-bomb. In the middle of the mall. In front of me. I was too shocked to say anything then but later I wanted to go chew him out, first for not being man enough to do anything without the security guards there and secondly for saying the f-word pretty much in my ear. What kind of a guy does that with ladies present. And little kids all around. Anyway. I got back in line and got my jalepeno pretzel and that was my exciting story for the day.

How to survive finals week

1. Numerous trips to the B.P. for Polar Pops- 32 oz of Dr. Pepper for 59 cents- pure heaven.
2. Dove Milk Chocolate.
3. Random MSN conversations.
4. Dr. Pepper.
5. iTunes.

*sigh* 3 down, 2 to go.

I missed the ACS project, but I hear that my lil brother's video created quite a stir. :)

The calm before the storm

I have four finals this week and they are all going to be pretty hard. Not fun.

I got to go to singing at the home in Washington for the first time in a long time. I was excited to see my kindergarten teacher there...but it was sad when I talked to her, she is pretty much gone and she is so young. And Easter, an older lady that used to come in to Lindy's, is there now because she broke something. She was singing along with every song. And afterwards random Kansas people started showing up including Ned at 5am. :)

I was going to study on Saturday but I ended up cleaning out and putting away and digging in my rose bed. Saturday night was jazz night at the high school. Good times...I miss jazz band. And I got to see a bunch of my little trumpets. They're all grown up now. It's been a long time since I was the trumpet goddess.

And instead of studying Gab and I have been talking to Karen for a loong time. :)
Blessings.

Pie and things

It's been a good last week of class. Now I just have a week of finals to look forward too. Ick.

Monday night our house was invited to Saltshaker for supper. They made lasagna, and it was actually really good! Not that I had any doubts....

Tuesday I forgot about a test and then I made pie and then I felt better. We had a bunch of leftover pie crust from the invite, and mom sent me some rhubarb so I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie. And I had an extra can of peaches and still more crust so I made a peach pie too. Including the pie left over from the invite, we had three pies in the house. I don't like our oven. The dials don't have numbers on them, so we have to guess how hot it is. So I put the pie in for 45 minutes. When I came back to check on them both the living room and the kitchen were pretty much full of smoke. One of them cooked over in the oven and they were both getting a little crispy. *sigh* I never have these problems at home.

Gab wanted to have the guys involved in forgetting the pie in the oven at Wayne and Char's over to eat the extra peach, and then we felt bad just inviting certain people and we had 3 pies so we invited 301, Shaker, 711 and Scott. So at 10pm we had a bunch of guys descend on our house for pie and ice cream. It was amusing- there were a lot of people in our house and the girl to guy ratio was extremely small. I'm so glad it worked out though, definitely a good time and our porch light got changed. :)

So today was the last day of classes. Hooray!! And my last day of work. Not so exciting, I'm going to miss the greenhouse. If I'm not too busy next year I might go back. It was also the last Wednesday night in Champaign for a while. I'm going to miss the church here over the summer. Laura and Heather came to visit Gab, and we went to custard cup after church and then went to hang out with Carissa at the Shaker. And then we came home kind of early, and I'm told we missed a water fight (O darn....haha). But I said I would make an egg casserole for the senior breakfast tomorrow, so I had to go home and do that. :) We didn't have all the ingredients for any one recipe soooo I kinda made up mine own- hope it tastes ok. And Karen and Kat and Gab were definitely dancing to Usher in the kitchen while I made it. Funny stuff!

One more week. Blessings.