At it again

Well, school is in full swing after break. Everyday is full of pretty much the same thing as the day before. ugh. At least spring is finally starting to show up a bit more.

I quit work officially last Thursday. I have plans every weekend until the end of May. So, I had to quit. I'm going to miss parts of it but, it is so nice to have my weekends. Now I need to find a job for the summer. Right now I'm doing a real good job procrastinating. :)

Last weekend our yg had an invite a friend. It was a really good turn out and a ton of fun. I helped out in the kitchen before supper. It was a little hectic. Less than half an hour before we were supposed to be eating we realized that some of the chicken was still frozen. The chicken on the sides of the roaster was burnt and getting dried out. So, some of the guys went and bought BBQ sauce while us girls ran around the kitchen shuffling chicken to and from the oven. It turned out ok I guess because people ate it and went back for seconds.

This week I finished reading As I Lay Dying by Faulkner. That was probably one of the strangest books I have ever read in my life. If you think I'm being dramatic read it for yourself. The shortest chapter reads: "My Mother is a fish." And it gets weirder than that. "The reason for living was to get ready to stay dead for a long time" says the main character who is actually dead the majority of the book.

So, in class recently we've been discussing gay marriage...(stepping onto soap box)....arg! Really. Since when has believing something because of your religion not been accepted as an argument? Christ is why I believe what I believe. If you don't agree with me at least respect me for it instead of brushing it off as less than a reason. They are trying to separate church and me instead of church and state. :P (ok....lol stepping off the soap box) I should be used to it by now. But, I'm not and I don't think I ever will be. Oh, the joys of majoring in an almost completely liberal field. :)

Anyway...besides the everyday college annoyances, life is just plugging right along. :)

In Christ ~Michelle

Nashville!

Last spring the Cumberland River (which runs through Nashville, TN) and the Harpeth River flooded their banks.



Last week ICC yg took a trip down to Nashville with World Relief to help rebuild houses. WR is stationed at a Christian summer camp in the hills west of Nashville. The camp had bunk rooms for us, which was really nice. Each room had its own shower and only six bunks!

my bunk room

The Camp

We went to Nashville church on Sunday and after church we had orientation and learned what we would be doing all week. As is usual with a group of hyper college students we didn't go to bed until well after mid-night. :)

6:00 am - alarm goes off
6:15- roll out of bed
6:30- dressed and ready, packing lunches
7:00- breakfast and job assignments
8:00 - we arrived at the job site
12:00pm- lunch break
4:45- clean up
5:00- back at camp
6:00- supper
7:00- Bible study
9:00- games
12:00? - maybe we should go to bed ...:)


That was the schedule almost every day. So, its needless to say Monday was full of rude awakenings. I hadn't gotten up that early and worked that hard in a long time. Also, the hot water heaters didn't work, so... yah. There were a lot of shouts and shrieks and quick showers.

My job on Monday was at the McCutcheon house. I grouted kitchen floor all day long.
Tuesday I switched job sites to the Nelson house. There I scrubbed the tile floor, sealed the grout, and scrubbed it again. My knees kill.

The rest of the week I stayed at Nelson's and did odd jobs. I stained, painted, cut and hung trim, built and installed cabinets, dug up garbage from the flood, helped hang doors and put on door stops, and ran back and forth from the trailer grabbing whatever I was sent for.

The Nelson's house

We took a hike to a tunnel sunday after church :)

Another hike we took on one of the shorter work days.

lunch on the job

paint fight with Brooke :)

This was my little box. I spent a very long time cramped in here sanding and then painting it.

my crazy crew rode back to camp like this

my crew for the majority of the week

Jeremiah Sundown.

He is a home owner who comes and performs for WR on Tuesday nights. He sang, played guitar, and the harmonica. He sang the orange blossom special, Long Black Train, Ring of Fire, Angel Band, Country Roads, and a lot of other good country/gospel songs.

By Friday, they didn't have enough work for us, so we quit at noon. One of the home owners, Dave, owns Foggy Bottoms Canoe Rental, and gave us a free canoe trip down the Harpeth river. It didn't take long before we were all soaking wet. :) I was stupid and took my camera. It was in my pocket, in a zip-lock bag when I fell into the river. The bag must have had a hole because my camera was floating in water the next time I looked at it. :( My camera no longer works.

I learned a few things down south. Poor people in Tennessee all have a lot of dogs and when it floods you save all nine of them before your wife, they like hush puppies and fried sweet 'taters, rules of the road aren't that important, and if its not fried chicken its shake 'n bake. :) It was hilarious to hear them talking about "ya'll a-po-stolics," "them folks from Ill-ee-noise", "the big ol' state up by Minnesota" (referring to Canada), and washing down in the "crick."

The week was very eye-opening. Most of the homeowners lost everything in the flood. They all had amazing stories to tell. Some of them were overflowing with gratitude, and others just wanted us to leave and finally have control of their lives again. It was tough not to feel appreciated but, the whole group learned the blessing of serving either way. It was a very good experience for me. I wish I could have stayed another week.

"Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it." Psalm 127:1

In Christ

~Michelle

Classics

I'm in Lit 111 and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Frankenstein is probably one of the best (and there are many) novels ever. Jane Eyre tops it all. I absolutely loved that book. The discussions revolved around morals and principles and holding fast to Christian beliefs in the face of temptation. Awesome. :) Charlotte Bronte knew what she was talking about.

Right now we are in to short stories. Yay. Such wonderful classics like The Cask of Amontillado, The Lottery, The Bet, and They. :) Strangely (or not) I find I like the slightly morbid stories the best. Edger Allan Poe just knew how to write a creepy story. One of my favorites was The Fall of The House of Usher. Also, I will never forget The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, a creepy Twilight Zone story I read in Middle School.

After Spring Break I have to choose a book to write a report on. I'm stuck between Rebecca, 1984, Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights or something more light, like Persuasion. So many good books :). Someday I will read them all.

Spring break starts tomorrow! :)

In Christ
~Michelle

2 things

Six years ago today I turned my life over to Christ in repentance. :) Such a wonderfully blessed feeling.

"I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." Psalm 40:1-3


Also....

I received my acceptance letter from U of I today!!!!!!!

I am so excited :)


In Christ
~Michelle

Enjoyable

So, I've had a pretty fun past few days.

On Thursday after class me, Rebecca, and Ellie drove down to U of I and went out to eat at Za's Italian Cafe, which is amazing. After we stuffed ourselves on pasta, we drove over to some of the U of I girls' apartment for a singing. We left early due to the huge snowstorm...that didn't happen. But, we had a ton of fun. :) Yay.

Friday was a big day. I blame it all on myself. I decided to have the yg over (I forgot my parents were going to be gone). So after I got home from school I got to clean the entire house and make some sort of food for these people to eat.

We had ice cream so my mind was made up: we would have banana splits. But, I forgot we didn't have bananas and I couldn't find plastic bowls (which I found after I bought more). We went to the nursing home and the yg turnout wasn't great so I invited some of the families too. I made a last minute run to IGA and got bananas and made it home before they all stormed the gates. Topped with cool-whip, m&ms, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, strawberries, sprinkles, peanuts, and a side of puppy chow I think they were a hit. :)

yum :)

Some of the crazy boys who invaded our house :)

Saturday Matt left for Indiana so I was left all alone. :( alas poor me. Jenny and Bob invited me over. We played yahtzee and I realized how much I don't like that game. I introduced them to the game of greed. Bob won.

Last night Joy came over and spent the night. We have the same class schedule so we rode together to school.

And the sun is still out! The days are getting longer. :) hehe Spring is coming.

In Christ

~Michelle

Life goes on...

Monday, I got a full taste of what it would have been like to have three younger brothers. My 3 little Wyss cousins from down the road spent the night at our house. They are at the farm a lot, but it's different when they are sleeping under the same roof . They are probably scared of me now, I treated them a lot like I would if they actually were my brothers. hehe :).... oh, well. It was fun that the house wasn't as quiet as usual and, for once, not to be the last one to bed!

My parents left for Florida today. sigh...now its extremely quiet. Matt just isn't a rowdy kind of guy.

So... with my parents gone that means I get to be in charge of food. Yay. :P I am not a fan. Oh, and smart me volunteered to have the yg over this Friday night. So, now I have to plan a snack for that. The rest of this week should be interesting trying to balance work, school, suppers for matt, and a trip to U of I.

Blah....and it wasn't encouraging at all when I got asked if I was matt's wife in a visitation line tonight. Arg.

And by the way, Gulliver's Travels is the most boring book ever.

In Christ
~Michelle

Revathy

Revathy Nanda Kumar lives in India. I write to her through Compassion International. She lives in a large city on the coast with her grandparents. I sent her some money as a birthday gift and received a thank you.

"Thank you very very very much. I bought one wooden cot and a mattress. I love to sleep on the cot, because I used to sleep on the floor." - reality check. She is 18 years old.

I really like my feather bed. I can't imagine sleeping on the floor every day. Someday I want to go visit her but right now the tickets are really expensive. So, there will not be a Great India Expedition until I am out of college with money. sigh.

Life has been dull lately. The most exciting thing I have done lately is read Jane Eyre. Which is an amazing book...but all the excitement is imaginary. Maybe all the snow melt will cause the great flood of '11 and they will close school...or we could go canoe-ing down the street. :)

Wishful thinking, I know.

In Christ
~Michelle