Yup. I'm home.

Dad: "Something smells hot. Oh, that's right. You said you were thinking."

Oh, Dad.  But I suppose that just goes along with the job description.  :)

Tidbits

 

Google usually comes up with some fun art around Christmas time. I like it.

I also like the fact that the sky is no longer clear blue. It is also a little windy today. The gray sky is much more Christmas-y since we can't have snow. Some morning fog or rain would make the day perfect. I hear they are getting quite the storm back at school. It will be interesting going back in January. I must say it is nice to be able to jump in the car here and not even have to THINK about the possibility of ice on the roads.

Have I mentioned that I'm happy to be home? It was so nice seeing everyone at church yesterday. I missed my church family while I was at school. It is REALLY nice to have a brother around again too. :) Peter's random movie quotes keep me laughing and I missed our conversations together too. And, of course, there's the teasing. Brothers. Gotta love 'em.

Saturday pizza. It's tradition.

Tonight I am making pizza for the first time in over FOUR MONTHS.  Whoo-hoo!  Garlic!  We need more garlic in the sauce!  Mark and KT will be joining us along with another friend from church, and we will be watching our more recently added Christmas family tradition of "Home Alone."  It gets funnier every year.  :)

Home sweet home

Enough said.

Brrr!

The forecast for tonight is calling for a low of 17*. (Good thing I put on my down comforter today.) The low for tomorrow night is supposed to be 36*.

And that's only because tomorrow night I will be sleeping in California weather.

Roomies

... Up until August I never really had to share a bedroom with anyone. (I might have when I was really little, but since I am the only girl in my family with three brothers, it was the boys who shared and I had a room of my own.) This semester there have been three of us together in a room. And what fun it has been! But now I find out that there is a possiblity that I might be losing BOTH of the girls next semester. Becka is getting married, so we knew she wouldn't be around the whole year, but today Jenna shared with me that she might not be able to come back in January because of finances. The thought of having a room all to myself makes me feel lonely. It has been such a joy to get to know these girls. We have had plenty of fun and laughs together over the last several months. As you think about it, please pray that things will work out for Jenna to return next semester. It was really sad watching her pack up all of the things today "just in case." But God is a whole lot bigger than the initial payment that is due January 1. So I pray.

...for a Christmas party!

It was beautiful!








My dear Hungarian friend, Edina.



This is a VERY typical Lindsey pose.



I want to bring them home with me!!!



My wonderfully, fantastic dorm! (minus two who were unable to be there) The number of camera flashes going off was a bit overwhelming. Hanna said it was the most embarrassing thing that's happened to her all semester. (hee, hee!) You would have thought the paparazzi were after us or something.

Preparations...

Emerging Church assignment

"For this assignment each student is required to write a two page paper that explains how the Church would look in a postmodern culture. Each paper will be graded upon the student's ability to explain the issues of contextualization and syncretism.

"There must be a clear distinction between what is acceptable as culture and what deviates from the Biblical worldview. Your job is to evaluate what you know about Postmodern culture/Emerging Culture and put the church in that context."

This is going to take some major brain power. I'm not entire sure how to even begin. The assignment is for the Emerging Church elective I have been taking. Good class. I really did not know anything about the Emerging Church movement before.

And now for that paper. Hmmmm.....

Woo-hoo!

I'm so happy.  They had EGGNOG at lunch today!!  And the snow is flurrying again.

It's the little things in life.  :)

More weather related

It is foggy today. And rainy. We usually don't have those two conditions at the same time back at home.

Last night's storm was not too bad after all. The snow was pretty light, but I did have a good layer of ice to scrape off of my windows before I left for church this morning. I wasn't too comfortable about driving on the roads yet, but thankfully my dorm mate Liz drove with me to church (I let her sit behind the wheel), and I felt better about driving home later on. Whew! We'll see how it goes after the next storm.

*Edit*

It's amazing how a simple note scrawled on a scrap of construction paper can totally make your day. :)

Happy for gnomes

The radiators are pounding and I am rejoicing! For some reason, they did not turn on all day. (And here I thought I slept through the racket this morning.) We usually enjoy their serenade several times throughout the day. It stayed in the upper 20's all day, so needless to say the dorms were pretty chilly. My two roommates and I like our room on the cooler side, so we keep the valve on our radiator closed tight, but I think we'll make an exception tonight.  :)

I am told there is supposed to be a big storming coming through tonight. I hope it waits until Monday or at least until tomorrow afternoon. I am scheduled to work in the nursery tomorrow, and I haven't yet learned how to drive in the snow (or ice). With the exception of the pictures I posted from last Monday we haven't really had any snow that would make driving an issue for me.

Christmas party #1

I am in a small group with several other freshmen on Tuesday nights. We meet in the home of one of the couples on staff. It is one of the highlights of my week. This week we had a Christmas party complete with decorating Christmas cookies and making a gingerbread house. "White Christmas" was playing in the background and there was plenty of hot chocolate and a variety of other cookies Missy had made. It was a fun time just goofing around together.



It has been a loooong time since I made sugar cookies.



Ben and Missy (our small group leaders) have three young children who had a blast cutting out the cookies as fast as we could roll out the dough.









We attacked the cookies with the frosting after the kids went to bed.



These were definitely the most colorful Christmas cookies I have ever made.



Most of our group. Missy is behind the camera and there are three more guys absent.



Yes, they really are that tall. (And yes, I really am that short.) I get plenty of brotherly ribbing from the guys in my small group. Thankfully, my own brothers (and a certain Peter M.) have conditioned me well when it comes to teasing.

"And now for the evening weather."

The low for tonight is supposed to be 29*, but tomorrow's high should be a balmy 29*.

Can you say "nippy?"

Winter wonderland

Dorothy and I were blissfully working on our homework project when Lindsey called my attention to the window....



This is the view from my bedroom window. See our nice hospital across the way? There is even a helicopter pad. :)



The view from Lindsey's room. See! There's my car down there!



There are not any windows in the common room in our dorm, so Dorothy and I opted to move our homework down to the student center where we could enjoy the snow. I like our back yard.



And yes, there were several brave souls who ate lunch outside today for Eat Outside Monday. I was all bundled up and ready to join them when I was reminded that I had dish crew for lunch. Oops! Maybe next week.







This is definitely a first for my little car. Now all I need to do is learn how to DRIVE in it....



Beautiful!



And here is a sampling of the "homework" that Dorothy and I were working on. Our class is building Solomon's temple in Old Testament HIStory. Dorothy and I are responsible for making the utensils and such that would have been used/stored in the storage unit. The priests also lived there, so we'll be making mats and other appropriate things. It feels more like playing that homework. We are using modeling clay for the bowls, plates, lamps, and shovels you see here.

There's no place like home

As I drove back to school after spending Thanksgiving with Uncle Jan's in Indiana, I found myself thinking about NTBI as being "home." Hmmm... No, not really. I was not looking forward to diving back into the books after a nice long weekend away, but I have only three more weeks of study before I can REALLY go home for Christmas. Hurrah!

Following is a picture tour of my Thanksgiving weekend. It was wonderful! I am thankful that Uncle Jan and Aunt Karen live within a relatively easy driving distance from the school. I'm looking forward to going down again next Thanksgiving. Or maybe if I can get away for a Purdue football game with Uncle Jan next fall....



Aunt Karen said James was bouncing off the walls all day Wednesday waiting for me to get there. (I believe it!) It was fun having a little brother to hug and tease again.



Yesterday afternoon James gave me the grand tour of their place. It doesn't look too cold, but my fingers and cheeks were almost numb by the time we were finished.



This is looking out back behind their house.



As you can see, James took his role as tour guide very seriously.







How cool to have your very own creek!







The family.



That crazy dog would curl up on Aunt Karen's lap and then lay his head on her shoulder just like a child. It was so funny.



This is what a philosophy professor's office looks like.



Twins! Sort of.



He might look like a wild mountain man, but don't let that fool you. With a degree in biochemistry/biophysics and a doctorate in philosophy, he's a genius, but he's also the most down-to-earth guy you'll ever meet.

Sentimental fool

*sniff!*

Good grief. If I'm getting choked up over saying good-bye for Thanksgiving weekend, what in the world am I going to be like at Christmas?? Or next SUMMER???

I'm off to Indiana for four days. Hurrah!

Christmas is in the air

The school is transforming before our very eyes. The hallways are filled with the sound of Christmas music being played over the speaker system and staff and students are hard at work putting up decorations. Such fun!

But seriously…. How is one supposed to concentrate on something as blasé as homework with such festivities going on?





Note the somewhat scruffy beard. Some of the guys on staff are also participating in "No Shave November."



Front lobby.



Reception desk also in front lobby.



We have nice wide hallways. And yes, I have already seen students tossing things (keys) through the wreaths as they walk past.



The front of the auditorium. This is where we have chapel.





Mailboxes!





Good o' you, Scott!

I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished project. Maybe we'll even have some snow to compete the mood. We'll see!


And now I pull myself away to my books. Charge!!