Happy Hour

After church last night, as tradition has it, the yg went out for Perkins.  We say we are going to study but, most of the time, few people actually bring anything to study.  Instead, we played games. I am not very good at monopoly deal, but I was slightly pleased that I did not lose my first game of Quirkle. :)

When we were finally packing up to leave around midnight, a few of us decided that we weren't tired, and that steak 'n shake sounded really good. They have happy hour starting at 2am and you can get half priced milkshakes. So, Tiera, Katie, Laura and I went back to the Upper Room and watched Mulan (tehe)  until 2. :) Then, we drove to Steak 'n Shake for some butterburgers, french-fries, onion rings, and milkshakes. It was so yummy. :)

katie and laura

me and tiera 

As you can guess, I didn't get into bed until 4am.  I am slightly tired today, but it was totally worth it. :)

In Christ,
~Michelle

all grown up

I have officially started job searching. yikes.

Yesterday, I called Jenny up for last minute resume help. She may be smarter but my resume is prettier. ;) 

I sent my resume in to two places. One in Peoria and one in Bloomington. 
I'm considering applying for a third but, I don't exactly qualify. They want two years experience in a health care setting and I was only at the nursing home for 1.75 years. I think I'll apply anyway. 
There are two more jobs that I may be interested in applying for too. 

So, here begins the great saga of Michelle desperately searching for a job. The path may be perilous and fraught with drama :) ...
Anyway, I'm sure I'll get a job eventually. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Snow

Tonight I was supposed to go to a yg thing but I didn't make it too far. It snowed a lot. 

 It took me 15 min to get to the interstate. I made it to Neil and turned around. I didn't really feel like getting stranded somewhere all alone. It took me 40 minutes to drive what normally takes 15. 

out my car window, can't see much

I got back to my apartment to my roomies who hadn't even attempted the drive. 

The started a fire :)

roasting an apple

 After we warned ourselves by the fire we decided to venture out into the snow. 

our apartment looks so lovely

we had a little bit of fun :)

katie and sarah acting strange

snow angel!

Carle park

hehehe more cars have faces

I should probably do my homework now because, obviously I didn't get much done this evening. :)

In Christ
~Michelle

Valentine's

Last week seemed like a very long week. Not going home, or anywhere, on a weekend is really difficult. I get very bored very quickly.

On Wednesday, my roommate (the one we pranked with sticky notes) finally realized that we had also covered her windows in pizza coupons. 

hehehe :)

Thursday, was Valentine's Day. I got a card from Cecily. :) It made my day. 

see :)

 Friday, I didn't have class so, after sleeping in Sharnell and I decided to check out the ARC (U of I gym)for the first time. I can't believe I've never been there before but, I can tell you I'm going to go more often now. It is awesome. There is a pool, tons of treadmills  a track, tennis courts, and best of all a rock climbing wall!

That evening was Valentine's Day babysitting at church. It was a lot of fun. 

playing blocks

the banana

don't break the ice!

a round of life-size Clue! :)

I drove home Friday night and spent the weekend back home. :)  Gussy was happy to see me and I was happy to see Cecily. :)

Today I met with Sherri, she's in charge of my internship, and she said everything looks good. I'm still on course to graduate in May!

In Christ

~Michelle

Nursing Home Singings

About every Tuesday night the yg has the opportunity to sing at a local nursing home. It's always a blessing for us and for them. They are so appreciative and enthusiastic. I love going. 
It never fails that something funny happens or is said at a nursing home. 

Tonight a lady asked one of us girls "is that a tattoo on your foot?"  Nope. just a shoe. 
There is an older man that has a monocle. He actually wears a monocle! I was really excited when I saw him. :)
The other week two older women, who were attempting to whisper, were talking about how I must be Rachel's twin(she was standing beside me). She has dark hair, I don't. She has brown eyes, mine are green. And, I'm slightly taller. ...not sure what made them think we were twins. :)

But, I think by far, the best happened last week. We had all just arrived and were standing in groups. Gender segregated of course. And one of the older women laughed loudly "It looks like you're at a junior high dance. Come on guys get closer." :D hahahah!

You never have to wonder what they are thinking. 

love it. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Weekend in Champaign

Instead of leaving for home right after class on Friday like I normally do I stayed down in Champaign for the Parent and Church Appreciation supper.

Saturday, Ned and Karen came to U of I for an audition. We went out to lunch at Panera and then walked around campus a bit. Ned had never seen the quad, so of course I had to show him. 

I went over to church around 1:30 to lay the chicken out. Katie, Tiera, and Cournty came a little later to help bread and cook the chicken. While the chicken was in the oven we made another pan of dessert and potatoes. 

When the rest of the yg group got there they all pitched in, setting the tables and decorating them with text books, filling water, and cleaning up our cooking mess. 
The evening went really well. We had plenty of food (though, I admit, we did run out of ranch dressing and butter).  After supper, we had a singing. Most of my time was spent in the kitchen cleaning up and cutting dessert.  While everyone was eating their dessert we watched a slide show of the yg. It was quite humorous and a few people (including myself) were embarrassed.

It was a really great evening. I hope all of the parents and church family feel appreciated. Because they should. :)

Only about 80 of the 100 people that RSVPed came so we had tons of chicken and potatoes left over. I had the wonderful job of convincing people to take leftovers home. It actually wasn't hard. Remember, we are poor college students who primarily eat pasta. The hard part was figuring out who all the dishes belonged to. 

Rebecca D. was down to visit Phil so, she spent the night here at the Upper Room. We stayed up late chatting and stickynoting Katie's room. 

Sunday was a nice relaxing day in church with no plans in the evening. Laura, Sarah and I just hung out around the apartment and made a late night run to McDonald's to satisfy out french fry cravings. :) Good times.

In Christ
~Michelle

We are poets

I finally remembered to bring down one of my Christmas gifts from Jenny. 

She gave me poetry magnets. 

(you can click on the picture to make it bigger)

We have been having fun with it on our refrigerator. 

In other news...

Well, actually there really isn't other news. I really have nothing else to report.

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings" - Jane Austen.

In Christ

~Michelle

Hyper Roomies

Not much has been going on lately. 

This was a really light week for my internship. Things are going really well there though there have been a few awkward moments. 
As a Christian organization, they do a lot of praying. Which is great. But, they don't pray like I'm used to. Apparently, closing your eyes and bowing your head/ kneeling is old school.  They stand, sway, hold hands or raise their arms, eyes open, multiple people pray, and everyone throws in a few "yes, Jesus's." If someone is in need of direct prayer. They stand in a circle around them and hold out their arms towards them. 
Now maybe this is more common than I thought, but it was the first time I've seen anything like it in the States. 
It's a little eye opening for this stiff little AC girl. ;)

And, you know me. Sometimes it's hard not to giggle. 

I think there is something in the water at this apartment. For some reason we all have been incredibly hyper.  Events of the week:

• singing Disney songs at the top of our lungs
• Hakuna Matata :)
• learning how to tie a tie from a YouTube video 
• baking a batch of cookies because Sarah told me to
• Sarah baking more cookies because we ate all of mine
• bursting into laughter for no apparent reason
• actually, we were laughing at a roommate who shall remain nameless
• she was singing to herself 

It was a good week. :)

In Christ

~Michelle