5,4,3,2,1....SUMMER!

4 more classes
3 more papers
2 projects
2 finals
1 oral role-play exam
1 more week.


I. can. do. it. :)


In Christ
~Michelle

Visitors

This week I had some visitors. Jenny and Cecily came down to see me Wednesday afternoon.


We ate out and then took a walk around campus. 

indoctrination at an early age :)

this made dad's heart melt :)

Cecily enjoyed her tour of the Social Work building. 

Cecily was as cute as ever and charmed every passerby. 


They left for church and I had to leave for a lecture on Asian Americans. 


Tonight, we had the Shaker over to the Upper Room for supper. And now I need to start cracking down on my five papers that are due by Tuesday. 


But, in less then two weeks I will be home for the summer. :)


In Christ
~Michelle

Sacred Harp

So, over the past few weekends whenever I'm home Matt, Jake, mom, and I and sometimes Jenny have been trying out a very old form of singing. It's called Shape note singing. It is so much fun to sing. They are all hymns from the Sacred Harp hymnal. 

The first verse is sung on solfege notes (shape notes) so that everyone can learn the song before you go into the verses.

Traditionally singers sit in a square with a part per side. The leader stands in the middle to keep the beat.

Here are a few examples:

Just stomp your foot and sing along. :) Doesn't it just make you want to go live in the Appalachians? 

Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

In Christ 

~Michelle 

Hiccups

I have had hiccups off and on all day. I can't get them to stop and they are very loud. I feel  sorry for my roommates. :P 


I've tried holding my breath, breathing deeply, drinking water and coffee, I've eaten...I've tried pretty much everything that has worked before. And they've gone away but then they come back. sneaky little hiccups. 
It's almost midnight and I'm nearly screeching every three seconds. (I really do hiccup that loudly)


I'm strange. I know. 


In Christ
~Michelle

when the week seems more relaxing than the weekend

Last weekend was, as you know Easter, but it was also Brooke's personal shower. Wendi, Kendra and I drove out to Princeville for a night of games, skits, and tons of laughter. 

my skit.  We're pretending to be Brooke and
 Kory on their 50th Anniversary.
"My lifetime doth pass away...." :)

 This weekend I stayed down in Urbana for Friday.  Saturday morning, really early, the U of I yg met and drove to West Lafayette to College Weekend.
We met Teira's parents from Oregon and ate breakfast at Panera before going to the church.


It was a wonderful day. The theme was Unity Matters.  Each speaker had a different topic that tied in to how unity is necessary within a body of believers. It was a great reminder and left all of us with a lot to think about.


 That night I drove back home with three other girls. Belinda spent the night. We actually didn't get to sleep too late. In the morning we drove to Princeville for Brooke and Kory's wedding. It was so sweet. Brooke could not stop smiling. Which is not surprising.

Awww...

I was a waitress first shift. yay. We actually didn't have to pour drinks so, I didn't spill anything! 
I got to see so many people I knew. Some of my friends from Oakville, Cissna, Princeville (of course), and I got to see Larissa and Troy and Ellie. :) It was great.

some of the table waitresses with Brooke

After my shift ended at the reception, I drove back home. Bob, Jenny and Cecily were waiting for me. :) Aaa :) I have the cutest little niece in the whole world! 
Anyway, Steve and Renee and their kids came over for supper. They showed us their pictures of their trip to Guatemala and we sat around laughing at Cecily.


I finally headed back to the apartment later than I'm used to. It was raining really hard. I hate passing semis in the rain. Everyone was driving really slowly. But, I got back safely. 
And I actually got more sleep last night than I did all weekend. I can't wait until summer.


In Christ
~Michelle

when you're having fun

This week went by very quickly. Unfortunately, that means I didn't get much done.


Monday night one of my groups got together here at the apartment. We had to make a Japanese dish for class the next day. We made Gyozas. 

Frying the filling-
pork, egg, cabbage, carrots, onion, and garlic 

filling the won-ton wrappers

and frying!

They turned out pretty good but it smelled up the entire apartment. It was kind of gross. We also made green tea ice cream which was wonderful. :)


Wednesday, my parents and grandparents came down and took my apartment out to eat before church. It was a lot of fun. Grandma couldn't believe that our landlord would let us live in an apartment like this. :) We are college students, this is a really nice apartment for college kids. 
They took us out to Biaggi's to eat. I had the same thing as the last time I went. I'm not adventurous with my food when it comes to restaurants I've been to. 


They left right after church and the yg went out to Perkins.:) I didn't have any homework so, I finally learned how to play euchre.  I can't play very well and I have a tendency to forget what trump is but, I can play it now. :)


And, I don't know where the rest of the week went. 


In Christ
~Michelle

He is Alive!

As the Easter week winds to a close, it reminds me how much I love this season.

Communion, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter. It is such a wonderful time of joy, remembrance, and soberness. 

It always seems to come during the most stressful time of the year. And it is wonderful. Nothing drives away school stress like remembering Christ's sacrifice for us all. 

One of my current favorite Easter Bible verses:

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

And He is alive. I am in classes with so many people who believe he is dead. I only wish that they could see. 

 "...why seek ye the living among the dead?" Luke 24:5

So...slightly off topic...During my spring break I sewed my cousins aprons for their Easter baskets.  They say that they both are cute. I'm glad they think so because one is definitely cuter than the other and one is really poorly made. The other isn't much better but I did improve. 

Fabric A

Fabric B

Apron B

Apron A

Four weeks left of school! ...I still need a summer job...sigh.

In Christ

~Michelle

Ned's 21st and other weekend things

Last weekend was Ned's 21st and in celebration of that great event we threw him a surprise party complete with a keg of root beer. :)

famous Ned quote posted on the keg

All of the guys enjoying their frosty mugs

After Ned's birthday was properly celebrated we sent the kids out side for an Easter egg hunt.

Kebe and Shena
it was my first time meeting these two adorable girls

Kendra giving Little Miss her first horsey ride :)

Cecily staring Ned down :)

It was a great day. Cousins, good food, and root beer.


Saturday evening was communion. We were reminded of Christ's sacrifice for us. It was a sobering night, even though there are always a few humorous moments where I nearly loose it.

Sunday afternoon I went cemetery tromping with my parents and Matt. We had to hike through a cow pasture and cross a creek somewhere in the hills of Congerville to find the Cemetery. We were looking for graves of my great-great-great-great...someone. Old cemeteries actually are pretty cool. And I found out that I'm related to a lot more people than I thought I was.

Checking out some tombstones

A different Noah Schrock

:( aw.
PS- Jenny I think you should name your second daughter Cordelia :)

Anyway, yes we are strange. Kegs of root beer and Cemetery snooping and all. :) It was a good weekend.

In Christ

~Michelle

Past few weeks

Spring break has come and gone. I actually was really busy and got a lot done. I spent a lot of it driving around applying for summer jobs. I still haven't heard back from anywhere. So, I am currently jobless. again.

I went shopping up in Chicago with Mom, Jenny and Cecily. I didn't get much...all the attention has turned to little miss. :) She got a ton of clothes.

Last sunday Ellie came to Washington for her brother's baptism.  It was great to see her again. It wasn't long enough but it was better than nothing.
I've been back at school for a week. Not much is new. Just a lot of homework, a lot of projects, and a lot of stress.
Wednesday night after church a few of us played volleyball. I am terrible. Really. But, I have a lot of fun attempting. :)

My classes are going fine. My teachers seem to be trying to cheer us up by assigning TV episodes as homework. We actually do have to do write ups on them but its better than reading research.

Friday night I invited the Washington yg to Champaign for a singing. It was a great turn out. We actually had twice as many people as I had planned on. But, we didn't run out of food and they all seemed to enjoy it. Little did they know that I was secretly planting little seeds of U of I. 

That brings you up to this weekend which deserves it's own post. 

In Christ
~Michelle