Day Eight: Create a bucket list, whether or not your aspirations or rational.

Listening to The Frames, in the Mac lab at the library at school! Wow. What a week and half it's been! Definitely a roller coaster ride. All blessings. Some in disguise, but definitely blessings anywhich. I'm truely happy to be here! It's pushing me and challenging me in ways that sometimes make me uncomfortable, but ways that I know will profit me ultimately. I'm trying to embrace all of my changes, making friends, embracing God's wisdom. I feel like I'be been here for a month, not a week and a half, but I know time will fly right past me from here on out. God is so good. All the time. He is all knowing and all fulfilling, and that has never been made clearer to me than since I've been here.

This bucket list will sooooo be a work in progress, but what the hey. Let's do it.

Completely Unofficial Bucket List:
1. Go to Europe, the UK, Bali, and Africa.
2. Make a pair of underwear. And want to wear them.
3. Graduate from college.
4. Pet a deer. (this is a Judson specific goal)
5. Get a tattoo.
6. Live in an apartment.
7. Live in a major city.
8. Go on a spontaneous road trip.
9. Learn conversational hebrew.
10. Keep an open mind.
11. Learn to play piano.
12. Take up some sort of sport.
13. Eat goat meat.
14. Jam with some one & learn to make jam.
15. Fall in love.
16. Befriend a homeless person.
17. Have a garden.
18. Learn to quiet my mind.
19. Lead a small group.
20. Own a pet.

Whoaaaaa that was cathartic. Look for more to come!
Here's to keeping off the freshman 15!
I really need to buy some jeans.

Grow up or throw up.

This is the theme of my life right now I feel like. haha. I start COLLEGE tomorrow. Well... technically I start college on Tuesday, but I move in tomorrow. Today will forever be termed "the day before my life changed for ever." Seriously. I'm going to call it that. Anyways. As of tomorrow where I eat, sleep, shower, socialize, learn, cry, laugh, trip, etc. will be different and, for the most part, new. Am I excited? Yes. Am I equal parts terrified? Yes. I am not a character who necessarily meshes well with change, so this whole idea scares the pants right off me, but I do love an adventure. And I gilmore girls taught me that eventually it is important to separate from your mother. haha. I have grown and gotten so much stronger throughout this process of applying, phone calling, emailing, scheduling, and finance organizing. It's really strange to think about where I was in my maturity this time last year, versus where I am right now, and where I will be 5 years from now. Granted. I still don't think I am mature enough for half of what I've needed to do for college so far... But it's in the principle I guess. So my next post will mos likely be made from the comfort of my top bunk. I never thought this day would come! haha. I always thought I would feel so grown up and ready! (which I don't fyi) But you know, as miley cyrus so famously sings, it's the climb! Sing it girl. haha :) I am so blessed by this whole experience. Now that all of the getting ready and organizing is over with, I can finally sit back and appreciate the process and how much it's meant to me. As stressful as some of it was. More than anything (I know I've said this before) growing up has taught me how to appreciate having fun. How to balance my priorities. & how growing up isn't all that bad, it's just different. I'm incredibly thankful for how much I've learned this year, this summer, and even this month. The Lord has been doing a number on my heart as I've been preparing for this new journey, and I can't wait to see what opportunites, lessons, and friendships I'm blessed with through out this year.

Tomorrow begins new experiences. New friends. New responsibilities. New battles. & New faith. I can't wait to write more about it :)
Yeah God!

Day Seven: Provide pictures of 5 celebrity crushes

Haha. So this one is funny to me/reveals a lot about my character. I've never really been much of a "celebrity crush" kind of girl. I've never really even been much of a "crush" kind of girl! haha. Meet Robert, Jack, Robert, & Zach. I know it says 5... but even 4 is a stretch for me. haha. This is 100% legit.

Day Six: Time to face morph: Pick one of the categories.

Oh my lanta. THAT is alarming. haha. I suppose instead of 30 day challenge this has become a "whenever I have time to do it" challenge. ahhhh well. can't win'em all. That's what I always say. Footloose is over now, & summer is drawing to a close. The ending of the show was so bittersweet. I can't believe that so many people are going to college and starting on new adventures, myself included. I don't know when I hit the point where friends of mine started dating for marraige and having children, but I did. I've certainly learned from it though. Number one lesson: Growing up means learning to enjoy life amidst responsibilities, not using stressing over them. God provides & works all things together for the good of those who love him, and that has yet to be proven to me more than it has been this year. I movie in at Judson by the grace of God in 10 short days and my time until then will be spent saying goodbye to those leaving and praying for the future of all of us. With some dorm shopping, job hunting, and text book ordering. College gives me sticker shock. Satan has really been attacking my heart lately while the Lord has been trying to change it. It's been exhausting to try and maintain my joy while being so down, but I have been trying! We are weak but he is strong. We talked yesterday at bible study (we were reading ephesians 5) about realtionships and activities that fill you up, and that is SO on my heart right now. Starting school I really need to surround myself with people who fill me up, and pay attention to those who don't. Just a thought!

Day Five: Share your favorite recipe.

I love to eat, and I actually think I'm getting to an age where I should start journaling my favorite recipes for when I move out/get married. So I'm going to do my 3 favorites :) Lasagne, Blueberry Cake, & Cheese sauce.

Let's start with the easiest!
My grandma's cheese sauce!(not to be confused with my grandpaws cheese sauce, that stuff is nasty.):
Ingredients:
Milk
Velveeta
Sharp cheddar cheese
Flour (to ratio of milk. approx 1/8 cup flour to 2 cups milk.)
Mustard powder

Combine milk in a saucepan with flour and just a pinch of mustard powder on high heat. Stir until the mixture starts to rise, turn off burner and let the mixture sit to thicken. Next add equal parts of the cheeses heat to mix and stir constantly so that it doesn't burn.
This sauce it good over chips, noodles, baked potatoes. anything really. Yummm. Thank you grandma!

Grandma's lasagne!:
3 1/2 c. canned tomatoes 8 oz pkg. mozzarella cheese
8 oz can tomato sauce 1 c. cream-style cottage cheese
1 envelope spaghetti sauce mix 1/2 c. greated parmesean cheese
2 cloves minced garlic
1 box lasagne noodles 1 can black olives, sliced
Cook noodles, strain, rinse w/ cold water, and set aside. Combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce mix, and garlic in a pan. Cover and let simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt to taste. place HALF (usually 4) of the noodles in a baking dish, cover with a third of the sauce, half the mozzarella, black olives, and half the cottage cheese. Repeat layers, ending with sauce. Top with parmesean cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.

Mrs. Schauer's Blueberry Cake:
Mix together 1 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
pinch of salt
add 2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
little water
grease and flour baking pan. Top with 2-3 pts. blueberries & bake.



This made me ridiculously hungry. I'm going to do it more often :) I'm typing this all from my brand new laptop by the way. What a huge blessing!

Day Four: Smile! We want to see your teeth today. Post a self-portrait.

I stink at consistancy... I know. haha.



There are three huge things in my life right now that show me how real and present God is. Footloose is magically going really well, which may seem like a weird thing to see God present in, but I really didn't think it was going to be that great and it really IS. Atleast it seems like it! My financial aid came throug for Judson. Dave went to the dean and FOUGHT for me. & LRAP looks like a huge possibility also! I'm so excited and it is a huge blessing. Praise God for he is GOOD:) Third and most sad/exciting is the passing of Mr. Viegas this past weekend. I never met him, but he fought illness for so long before he finally went home, and he tried to take EVERYONE with him. How incredible is that? Just by itself. I don't understand how people can NOT try to bring others with us. I'm hypocritical in that area of life because I struggle with evangelism... But I believe people should also be able to see Jesus in our very essence. And THAT I'm working on :) haha. In Mr. Viegas' last few seconds his eyes just brightened and Mrs. Bienert asked him if he saw Jesus. He said YES! Then he reached out his hand and died. WHAT THE HECK. How cool is that? It's so incredible to me. And I love how reassuring it is. As if we needed reassurance of God's presence, but he just saw him! I can't even fathom how cool that is.
I'm in a really good place with friends right now. I don't want to jinx it by talking about it, I'm just really content with the friends in my life and what a HUGE blessing they are to me. Seriously. Life is good and blessed. I have no strength without Jesus, and I'm working to be rooted more in him :)

This was so choppy! But I just woke up so... haha. I just had a lot to say and thoughts that werent coherent enough to say them. Enjoy this beautiful remainder of summer!

Day Three: Share your favorite quote/song lyric.

I think this is definitely one of the hardest of the 30 days, mostly because I like so MANY quotes and song lyrics! So... I'm just going to post more than one!

"The only people for me are mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like a fabulous yellow roman candle exploding like spiders across the stars." -Jack Kerouac

"Choose being kind over being right and you'll be right every time." -Richard Carlson

“All humans realize they are loved when witnessing the dawn; early morning is the truimph of good over evil. Absolved by light we decide to go on.” -Rufus Wainwright

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." -Romans 12:1-5

[edit 7/27/10]
"Each day, human beings breath & move, yet have the amazing ability to fail to remember that they are alive." -Edgar Allan Poe

I like this actually. I didn't even get IN to song lyrics. haha. There's just so many! But I think I'll add on to here as I think of and discover other quotes that I like! It might be nice to have one day :)

This week consists of: Bible study, rehearsals, seeing Rob Bell at Willow with small group, finding out about loans for school, constant college and job discussion, seeing Natalie, Seeing Erica, 18th BIRTHDAY!, birthday dinner, staying at Natalie's, SO much friend time, & growing closer with God :)
Thats the synopsis atleast <3
Enjoy this beautiful summer!