Minnesota and things

I like Minnesota a lot. And the Twin Cities are cool. Mostly because they are home to my super cool former roomies, Meg and Amanda. It's a long drive though... Matt and I had fun though.

Last Thursday my Grandma Schlipf had a bad stroke. They don't think she will be with us much longer.

So Mom hasn't been home much in the last few days. Shelly and I have been cooking a lot. Tonight, after a few minor catastrophes we had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn on the cob. I'm still not sure how gravy can "jump" off the stove and get everywhere. *sigh* She's not very domestic.

Then we scrubbed down the kitchen. And the bathrooms. It smells really clean. :D
Should be some crazy rollercoaster days coming up... prayers would be much appreciated.

California Dreamin

It was a good trip. It's good to be back though... I missed having my bed to myself.

Some observations:

• there's no one at Peoria Airport at 4 am
• take off is fine. landing hurts my ears
• San Francisco's 45 degree streets are kind of cool
• California architecture is refreshing
• Frisco is Foggy and cold
• Chopsticks aren't that bad
  
• Red wood trees are much bigger in real life
  
• There are a lot of cows in California
• never buy a Town and Country mini-van with stow-and-go seats... they are super uncomfortable and really hard to get in and out of
• Yosemite is really cool
• 15 minute weddings are great
• it really hurts when you drop a can of furniture polish on your foot

Ok, so the last one wasn't in California, it was tonight. And it kills! I'm gonna have a lovely bump and a bruise to match...

Anyway, we saw a lot of stuff. Went a lot of places. I think I liked Muir Woods and Yosemite the best. Or the amazing lobster bisque at Scoma's.

One highlight was touring China town with Matthew Schrenk and Dan Luthi. And of course Amy and Alan's wedding and reception was fun. (I didn't catch the bouquet, I made sure to be in the very back) And now I can add running through O'Hare to catch a connecting flight to my list of accomplishments. We made it. Our luggage didn't.

So we were there and back again...
Blessings.

ice cream and old friends

Tuesday night Dorothy and I went to the ice cream place in Eureka that changes owners and names every year. I don't know what it's called this year. I had a chocolate tornado (previously known as a barn buster, snowstorm, and blizzard) with Reese's peanut butter cups. It was amazing. It was good to see her again and catch up... we talked for a long time after they closed.

Last night Nic invited some people to his house to play mini-golf and volleyball. Gab was too busy redoing her bathroom to come with me. (*tsk* such an excuse) It was a fun time even though the girl-guy ratio was a little bit small. The weather was beautiful for being outside playing games. And for taking Bob's sweet new ride around the section. :)

I almost gave Heidi a heart attack- and it totally wasn't on purpose!

Wedding #7 is tomorrow. Then I'm leaving for California with my family. We're going to San Francisco for a few days and some other places; then next weekend we're going to my cousin's wedding (#8). Woot.

Blessings.

Nothing much

So my life is pretty boring. I go to work every day. I don't really have anything to blog about...

I went to wedding #6 last friday. I knew Jordan from High School and I went to homecoming and Prom with him and Rachel. Rach and I also used to hang out a lot at ICC. So it was really weird to be at their wedding. They were very cute and I got to see a lot of people from high school. :) I skipped the reception... I'm tired of them.

OOOOOOO I did hear some wonderful exciting news at church on thursday night- my co-trumpet section leader, a.k.a. 'the trumpet god', started repenting last week. I was a little bit wound up. Still am. Woot!
Blessings.

Jobs and Tickets

So. It's been a busy week I guess. I started working Monday. I don't like getting up early. But I enjoy the lab. So far there has been a fire and a flood (neither of which were my fault). I test water. Waste water, drinking water, ground water- I didn't know there were that many kinds.

The Tuesday before Heidi's wedding I was coming home from world relief sewing at church. I had stopped at the library (somebody had checked out the RJ I wanted, mur) and accidentally passed a stopped school bus on my way out of town. Yes, I knew it was illegal, but I didn't see the lights, and it was too late when I saw the sign... so I just hoped that no one got my plates. No such luck. I got a phone call and a ticket from the w-ton police later that night. It was kind of a rough week.

When you pass a school bus in IL it's a $150 fine and 3 month license suspension along with a court appearance. Soooo.... since I need to get to work somehow, and my insurance would have gone up exponentially... dad talked to a lawyer. This past Monday was my court date. Nothing like the first day at a new job and going to court all in the same day... it was kind of nerve wracking. But... I kept my chin up. :)

When we got to Pekin, I wasn't on the docket for the day. There were some tense moments until my lawyer got there and figured out that they had changed the day and not told either of us. So he fixed that and then sat down with the prosecutor and got it worked out that I pay a bigger fine, but the ticket got reduced to improper lane usage. And if I don't get a ticket in 6 months it doesn't go on my record at all. I still had to stand in front of the judge which is really kind of scary. I was so glad that I didn't have to say much... my lawyer did all of the talking and it's over and I'm not in jail. (I wasn't really worried about that... but you never know!)

So thankful for my advocate on judgment day. -1 John 2:1-
Aleluya A Neustro Dios!

Curtains, another wedding, and a present

I've been meaning to make curtains to match my blue wall for a few weeks now... and never got around to it. But then I was in Walmart and saw some fabric that would make the perfect curtains for the landing and I was inspired. So Friday I made curtains for three windows. It was fun. They are very cute, at least, I like them.

Today I met Sarah in Gridley and we went to CP for Chris and Ashley's wedding. Number 4 of 9. (I'm skipping number 5, it's tomorrow). Sarah and I went for a nice rainy drive in the country, I think we took a route to Cissna that's never been tried before... but we made it. We almost couldn't find the church but then Sarah and her amazing church finding skills got us there as I was on the phone with Jer for directions. I was excited to see Karen at the wedding...good stuff. And hearing "Chris" and "woo" in the same sentence was huh-larious. I'll miss them both... it's kind of hard to believe that I lived with Ash for two whole years, and that Chris was my quasi-roommate-next-door-neighbor for that long also.

When I got back my graduation present was waiting for me. I am now the proud owner of a beautiful Singer Sewing machine!!!! It has 10 stitch options, a serger attachment, and automatic button holes. It's sooo cool. Too bad I already made my curtains. :) I spent most of the evening trying it out. And I learned how to smock with it. I like to look at it, it's sooo pretty!

Anyway. Church in the morning.
Blessings.

"You know what I think when I hear W.M.?"

"Waste Management!" hehe.

Leo was really relaxing. Lyssa had Dippin Dots at her graduation party and they had tons left over so I got to eat a lot of those. I spent a lot of time reading by the pool and hanging out with Abby. And rode the go-kart and played Wii and shuffle board and volleyball. I went shopping with three of my aunts one afternoon and we spent at least an hour in Christopher and Banks. I don't even like that store. I guess it's good for me... or something. Abs and I went jet skiing one evening on the mighty st. Jo river. It's not the cleanest river... I think I would be afraid to actually swim in it.

Joanna and Will's wedding was this weekend. Matt and I went on Saturday night for the singing. I stayed with Gab and Meg at Wayne and Gloria's. I haven't seen Meg in ages so it was good to catch up with her and Gab. And talk to other U of I people that I haven't seen since May. Sunday was good...lots of Mexico trip people there... they said yes. The reception line was waay too long, but I was with cool people so I really shouldn't complain. :) I guess a little wait to see real people is better than a drive through with a plastic figurine. Gab rode back with Matt and I... fun times. We stopped for "the Great Guzzler" which of course meant a bathroom stop... It's good for Matt right?

I have one more week of freedom.
Blessings.

200

This is my 200th post. Wow. I feel accomplished or something. Too bad I don't have anything profound to say. :)

I got a job. Woot. At PDC Laboratories in Peoria. I'm excited most of the time, but there's still a part of me that wants to be lazy a little bit longer.

Today is Katie's wedding. She asked four of us girls who aren't on vacation to sing, so I'm a little nervous about that but it should be ok. We practiced yesterday at Heidi's and we don't sound too horrible. I attempted to help Heidi a little bit after practicing but I didn't get a whole lot done. O well. It was good to see her again and hang out.

After the reception Mom and Dad and I are going to Leo for Alyssa's graduation. I think I'm staying until Thursdayish. It should be a good time!

In which I venture into large crowds

So Gridley this weekend was really good. The weather was beautiful, and everything else was really enjoyable. I was really excited to see my roomies again, and the other U of I people that came. I did branch out a little bit and met a few new people. :)

I never get headaches ever... and I did Saturday night. It hurt. I almost threw up. So weird... but I was feeling a lot better at Amber's. It was sooo fun to stay with Kris and Sarah and Amber and Kaleigh. I miss those girls. So what do you call a lady with one leg? Eileen! Where does she work? IHOP!! Wow. Gotta love laffy taffy jokes and Sarah jokes.

Sunday Matt and I visited Grandma after church and then he left me in Gridley. (On purpose, I wanted to stay after the festivities were over, and Nic kindly volunteered Bob and himself as a ride home.) A group of us went to Kaleigh's and threw things at each other, played games, and spent a lot of quality time outside in the sun. Good times. The guys had me home before midnight... I guess that's late when you have to work in the morning. :D

Blessings.

p.s. Mike, you still owe me a pie... cause I'm pretty sure you didn't bring me one this weekend. :)

Blue

So I decided to paint my bedroom this week. It's been the same since I got rid of the peach/pink Precious Moments border in 8th grade... so I figured it was time. It also needed a complete scrubbing. (I won't tell you how long its been for that *grin*) I painted one wall stargaze blue. *sigh* I love it. The other walls are white because I didn't want to live in a cave.
I'm also excited that my bedding matches my walls for the first time in pretty much ever!

I did have to miss out on a C-U trip because of painting and the mess it created in the rest of the house. That was disappointing.

But I did get to see a bunch of super awesome girls at Joanna's personal shower Thursday night. Which made up for it. And I got to ride with Amber and Melissa and Kristen, good times.

Ooooo.... and I'm really excited because Mom brought me home a zone 5 hardy crepe myrtle bush!!! Woot. They have them all over down south- they're covered with flowers and they're gorgeous. I wanted to bring one home with me when I was in Florida but I thought that having to bring it inside for the winter was too much work. But now they have hardy varieties! So I planted it today.

Mass chaos in Gridley tomorrow.... I'm mostly going to see U of I people. (I know that's a bad reason but I don't really care.)

Blessings.

One down....

Eight to go. *grin*

Heidi and Luke's wedding was... yeah... I don't know. Really, really, surreal. But good.

Saturday was long and busy, Wendi woke me up at 8:30 when she called to tell me that pictures were not outside since it was thunderstorming. So we took a few at the fellowship hall and by afternoon it was cleared up enough that we went to the river front to take some more.
The rehearsal was fun. I didn't know that they had the whole walking in thing down to such a science. So if you ever sit in the 8th bench on the center aisle in W-ton... you're the spacing for the bridesmaids.

They had the dinner at the Tea Room in Mackinaw Saturday night. It's good food, but it's definitely "chick food." Some of the younger people at my table weren't especially fond of the menu choices *cough* Wendi. We had to go around and share a memory... so fun to listen to but not so much fun to do. :)

Church was full but not overly crowded. I like to watch all the people as they come in, it's always interesting to see who's there.

We had some amusing moments getting ready and waiting for the wedding to start. Like getting locked out of church. Trying to hide kleenex in our Bibles. And rescuing a crying baby. But, otherwise it went really smoothly. I didn't trip. I didn't go too fast. I didn't cry. They said yes. It was a good wedding.

Katelyn and I found the leftover Pepsi from lunch on Saturday at the reception. When you're wearing a purple dress, I mean, lavender, you can pretty much go anywhere and you don't get scolded for being in the way.

I found out that my ice cream punch pouring skills are sadly lacking. Either that or the ladle was poorly designed. :)

So. I'm exhausted and will probably sleep through any Memorial day festivities tomorrow morning. Blessings.

Sewing

I went to world relief sewing today for the first time since I used to skip physics at ICC to go. It was fun, I knotted a comforter for a while. Then we ate pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream. Grandma taught me how to quilt- it's pretty easy but painful! I can't seem to figure out the thimble so my fingers are a little bit sore.



4 more days until I never see Heidi and Luke again.... mur.

Randomness

I was in Hannibal all by myself Tuesday night. It was fun times.

It was weird to be in Washington on Wednesday... but Gab showed up so that made it not so weird.

Last night at bible study Tammy told me she was going to Champaign to surprise Brian and asked if I wanted to come. She gave me two minutes to think about it and then we left to pick up Gab. I think he was a little surprised when his door flew open at 11 pm. :D So we went to Perkin's and then to Merry Anne's because Tammy had never been either place. Then we came home. Hooray for random road trips and awkward conversation!

Tonight I'm going to my cousin's musical. Tomorrow is Jakey's graduation.

Blessings.

(for you TSau and GKR- JLPL *grin*)

Hail to the Orange, hail to the Blue

Hail Alma Matter...

Well. It's over. I had one last week of good times with U of I people and then a crazy weekend of singing and personal showers for Heidi. The personal shower was fun. She owns a lot of rubber duckies. And a lovely pair of lacy pink shorts from... well, lets just say some previous shenanigans. :)

Sunday my family and I went to Champaign for church (it was graduation day). I didn't walk, but we went for Bubble Tea and wandered around campus for a while. Jakey and Shelly had never experienced bubbles before and I don't think that they were very impressed. Of course, they are a lot better the second time you have them. We went to Famous Dave's (because it's in the round barn and Dad wanted to go there) for supper.

I spent Sunday night at 709 with Amanda. It's so empty and lonely. It's crazy how fast two years went. And how much stuff accumulated. :) This morning I met with a potential subleaser from K-State. I was trying to explain to Amanda how she heard about the house... gotta love the random AC connections.

My room is a mess. Better than it was... But still a mess. And there are spiders.... I was screaming about one and trying to kill it and had just smooshed it when Jakey sauntered in. I told him that I had it all under control, and then he said, "two seconds ago the whole world was at sixes and sevens and the house was falling down around our ears!" Gotta love a little Skin of Our Teeth now and again. I laughed.

So a lot of fun and interesting things have happened that I was going to blog about... but I just didn't have time. Like how Abby's car randomly broke down in Champaign on her way to Leo and got to spend the afternoon with me. And how we scrubbed down the kitchen and living room. And the crazy phone call I got on the way home from C-U... o wait... no, wasn't going to blog about that, something about protecting the innocent. ;)

I love summer. Blessings.

Hi Shelly

*grin*

All good things

Must come to an end.

My college career is almost over. It's very hard to believe.

I have an easy finals week so I haven't been stressed at all. It's pretty great. So here are some random pictures from the past week for your enjoyment:

At the young group picnic on Tuesday
Getting ready to leave for the amazing dinner Shaker made for us- formal attire was required. We had to make them modest of course... and fun. *grin*


Yes, that is my little brother serving salad in a bow tie on good china. Yes, I know it's hard to believe...

I've played a lot of sand volley ball the last few days, and almost died at steak and shake, and saw three guys on bikes wearing only their whitey-tighties at 2 am, and tried on a purple bridesmaid dress, and survived my first piano recital, and managed some late night shenanigans, and used a squirt gun on drunk people on Green Street.

*sigh* I'm gonna miss it.

Happiness is...

Making an egg casserole with your roommates at 2 am without a recipe.

Girls and Guys

It was a good weekend, busy but very fun. :)

Friday when I got home from school I headed over to Peoria to check us W-ton girls into the hotel we spent the night at. (I was the only one over 21- the hotel was being a little ridiculous- two of the girls are getting married in a month but they can't get into a hotel room that they payed for) We had a blast! We ate out, went shopping, went to a play, snuck into the pool, sang for the front desk guy and security guard, and stayed up really really late. We did have to institute a ban on communication with the male species... but it was all good. :)

After I got home I mowed for 3.5 hours... I'm a little bit burnt. I took a spin in the canoe on the "lake" with Shelly and Tate. In my swimsuit and mud boots. Mom laughed really hard. No cameras were allowed. :) Matt and I went to testimonies in Eureka Saturday night, I haven't been there in ages. Jakey went to prom- with a girl. He looked sooo handsome in his tux- the picture doesn't do him justice. :)


Sunday afternoon Matt's roommates (and their parents) came for supper. He also got a bunch of clay pigeons and 200 rounds of ammo. So they played with guns for a while. He let me get in on the fun and I actually hit two- a little surprising since I've never shot at clays and it's been years since I've even touched a shotgun. We had a full house for supper and interesting conversation. :) They played some games after supper, lost Gherkins, went on a tour, and generally felt like little kids at potluck. Good times.


This morning I had an interview in Peoria, and then had to come back to Champaign for class in the afternoon. Two more weeks. Yikes.

Pokey Stix

Are pretty much amazing. :)

I was hungry after church and some of my roomies needed study breaks so we ordered some. In four years of college this was the first time I had ever ordered pizza- how sad is that!

I'm not quite ready to give up these random fun nights. *sigh* The real world is scary.





Poor Timmi is out in the rain. I hope he doesn't wake up. Hehehehehehe.

Streamers

Gab and Amanda just destroyed a class project video tape and spread the tape all over the house....

It's quite lovely. :)