I LOVE MY FRIENDS!

Oh man....I love them so much.

Fun Weekend!

So....friday night was so much fun! A bunch of us played tennis soccer on the third floor of kresge. It was Me, Hallie, Jared and Josh against Mark, Brad, Nancy and Lauren. It was a blast and it felt so good to laugh really hard :) I got the most amazing battle wound (bruise) on my foot. You can't really see it that well in the picture...oh well. It's huge. And it hurts...but it makes for a great story and memory :)
After dinner tonight we went to Wal-mart. I bought the bourne identity (whoo!) and hallie and i bought tulips for our room! They're beautiful. Instead of studying Mark, Isaac, Josh, Hallie and I watch the Bourne Identity. I LOVE THAT MOVIE! I love both the movies...sigh. hopefully in the near future I will invest in the second one. Its at Wal-mart for $7.50. That's a good deal!! It's definitely calling my name...
Hope you all have a wonderful sunday tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures...I was having fun with the tulips and my new camera :) I dedicate those pictures to Sheri. :)

Lots of Hard Decisions...

"But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness." Psalm 69:13

Have a wonderful day in the Lord!!

Because I miss them...

Called to be in Each Others Lives

I'd like to share a Piper quote...related to the text of Hebrews 3:13.

"Satan, the world and the flesh are trying to harden, dull, blind and deafen the soul. And we are in each others lives with word-saturated exhortation to keep the soul alive and sensitive and supple and touchable by the word of God and the Spirit of God." -John Piper

And here are a few more verses on the same line of thought...

"See that no one repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone." 1 Thess. 5:15

"And let us consider how stir up one another to love and good works..." Hebrews 10:24

(Some other references if you wish...1 Cor. 12:25; 1Pet. 4:10; Eph. 5:2; Eph. 4:32; Heb. 10:25; Col. 3:13; Eph. 5:19; Rom. 15:5;2 Cor. 13:11; Rom. 12:10...)

I think this is a fascinating and really convicting subject...something the Church could stand to learn a lot about.

AAAAAAACK!

Kristen and Jay get married two months from today. crazy! :)

Resting on the Promises of Christ

"Jesus! What a friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Jesus! What a strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my strength, my victory wins.

Jesus! What a help in sorrow!
While the billows o’er me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my comfort, helps my soul.

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine."
-Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners.


God is so incredible! He is so merciful and sends so many hidden blessings to me each day. He is (as my friend Angie said recently) the greatest distraction of my life! He interrupts me when I am sleeping, doing homework, in class, at work, walking around campus, even when I am just sitting still. What an incredible Savior! What an incredible Lover! In the midst of my weaknesses and failings it is wonderfully reassuring to remember His promises and fall into His sure and ready embrace. I'm glad God has taken my life and shaken it up and is continually making it new. It's exciting...even if it is also terrifying.

Missing Arizona...

Look at that sunset!!!!!

A Cold Snow Day

First day of classes! So far so good...I'm done with classes on Wed. and Fri. by 10:50. That's really nice. Today I have to go up and watch a Physics video, though. Yuck. I think Hallie and I are going to study in the library for a bit first.

Today is so cold but so beautiful! We went out on a picture walk...it was lots of fun. Here are a few...Its weird that last week I was in Arizona enjoying 75 degree weather. Wow. I like this, but I must admit I am very much looking forward to March in Tucson.

Back at Hillsdale

Crazy!....i miss my family...but its nice to get ready to get back into my routine. But i miss my family. I bought my ticket for the wedding in March! I am SO excited about it!!!!!!!

Do You Ever Feel Like You Just Need A Hug?

I need a hug.

The Simple Things

Yay for fun times with mom. We are home alone for a few days. Kristen and Jay are in Michigan visiting his family and dad and luke are canoing. It's fun to spend time alone with mom. Today we stayed at home but decided to go shopping around 3:00. We went to Old Navy and Borders and then went out to eat at PEI WEI (yum!). We came home and read together on the couch (each our own book). Then we talked a lot...and even cried a lot. It was really wonderful. I love my mom. It was nice to spend time remembering and looking to the future. I think there is just a lot of change happening or about to happen and it has got us both feeling sad and sentamental. We're excited about the change, too. But it is still sometimes hard. I'm still not ready to go back to school...mostly because I'm not ready to leave my family. And I'm not ready to leave all the wedding plans here and miss out on all of it off at school. I've been realizing how much I'm going to miss...most of the planning, the showers, the decorating...lots. Oh well. God has wonderful plans for me this semester. I feel at peace knowing He holds the future. That's the reason I can feel joy when I look to the future. I'm excited to see what God holds in store!

That's all...just a short update. I love my mom :)

Home Sweet Home

Sorry I haven't updated in forever. Dial-up internet connections tend to decrease the likelihood of a post. Everything just takes way too long. But I have lots of news!! First of all...MY SISTER IS ENGAGED!!!! Jay came on monday with a CANOE that he BUILT (its beautiful). The ring is also beautiful. I helped pick it out :) Remember that weekend that piko had the surprise and we went to "hang out" in Grand Rapids. Well, i was really in Detroit with piko AND Jay...helping him find a ring for my sister. What a wonderful surprise!!!!! ack!!!!!!!

I had a wonderful bday. I got the iron and wine cd (yay!), swedish fish (yum), a book about hymns, a ring, money for my camera, a David Wilcox cd (from Jay!) and THE BABAR MOVIE (from kristen and luke). Yay! It was such a great bday.

I've worked a few days with my sister at the store. I'm just the gift wrapper but its nice to earn some extra cash. I'm all finished with my Christmas presents...except I have to wrap a few. I'm so excited! Kristen and I sorted all the gifts and pinched packages last night. it was fun :) I love Christmas. We're probably going to watch White Christmas tonight!!! Or sometime soon...woohoo!

It has been great getting together with old friends. I haven't seen tons of people but its been really nice...i didn't want to overload on everyone. Its better to see everyone here and there.

I need to clean my room today. It's a mess. My suitcase threw up all over the place, there's wrapping paper everywhere...sigh. :) I love my room. My bed is sooo comfortable. i love it!!

Anyway, I have to go. I would post pictures but once again, dial-up is too slow. It would take me the rest of my life. Congratulations to Kristen and Jay! I love them!!

I'M DONE!

I have successfully completed semester ONE of my college career. sigh. what a relief. Let's go home :)

A few things to say first: It has been a good semester...even though i don't love it here yet i think i'm beginning to. For one thing, I am getting SOOOO excited about classes and professors next semester. Can't wait!
God has been so faithful this semester and taught me so much. I have so many WONDERFUL memories!!!! I have grown a lot...I like my new friends a lot. I love my roommate (what a huge blessing!). I am glad to go home, though. I miss my family and my home. Weird thing happened today...I got excited to go home and see Osita. sad. weird that i felt that. :( My family needs a dog.

I'm going to go clean and sleep and watch Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn. aaaahh. nothing to do...
- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -
PS I turn 19 in 3 days. :)

T.S. Eliot

"Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust."
-"The Rock"

Fun in the Snow...Plus More!!!

Tonight we went sledding! Jared went home last night and brought back two sleds and all kinds of snow gear! So Hallie, Isaac, Mark, Jared, Lauren and I all went sledding down by the tennis courts. We were lucky enough to go where people had already gone sledding...so the snow was packed. It was A BLAST! Lauren, Hallie and I all went together on a one-man sled. It was pretty exciting :). We had snowball fights and I even went down the hill standing up on the sled...going fast! dude...it was pretty amazing :). We did that for probably almost two hours. Then Jared disappeared and finally came back in the car with josh behind him in his car...with others also with him. Jared said, "Andrea, get in. You're taking the front seat." So i got in and he pulled my hat over my eyes...It was surprise birthday party!!! Because my real bday is thursday but I will be home (yay!)...but not with my friends...so they decided to celebrate with me early. We went to the Gathering in Jonesville. The group included: Jared, Hallie, Mark, Isaac, Lauren, Josh, Donna, and Hannah. Jared's mom even made me a cake! It was so wonderful. Special nights like these really make me appreciate special friends like mine :)...and Hallie and Jared are pretty darn good secret agents because i didn't suspect anything.
Enjoy the pictures! :) I love snow...and i love friends....and i love sleep. I need to go to bed now. Lots of studying to do tomorrow...lots of english to read. yikes. i go home in 3 days. wow. lots to do before that. Hurray for the end of our first semester, guys! God has been so good and so faithful! :)

I like my roommate...a lot.

Believe it or Not

...ok so maybe it isn't really that hard to believe...WE GOT ABOUT 9-11 INCHES OF SNOW LAST NIGHT. At least that's what it looks like to me. A bunch of us girls went to Oakley for dinner and it was so beautiful. I have never experienced such a hard snow! The flakes were soft but it was practically RAINING snow...it was coming down that hard!! I was pretty amazed. Nights like last night don't happen very often in AZ :). Then, later on, i was studying for my history final and I heard a "thwap!" on our window....followed by some smaller thuds. I opened the curtain and saw miss hannah stone all bundled up in snow gear throwing snow balls at people's windows! haha...our RA's were out with her too. It was cute. Later today donna, lauren, and I (and hopefully hallie) are going out to the intramural field to play in the snow...and build a snow forts and snowmen!! Woohoo! I am so excited. Oh! Then i am going to drink hot chocolate and watch Gilligan's island. Oh man, this is such a good day. Only two more finals left! wooo! Home is getting so much closer. I can't wait!

Hope you all are enjoying your winters! :) See ya!

About to Dive In

So...finals start tomorrow! ack! I have history at 8am and latin at 1pm. I have SOO much studying to do for history. I've been slacking and so i have a lot of the reading to CATCH UP ON before I can even really start studying...oh man. And that is the final I really need to do best on because its my lowest grade. sigh. Latin shouldn't be too bad. He said it will be easier than our last exam as far as new information...because our last exam tested 8-9 chapters of new info and this will have 2 chapters on the new section. That's good...and i got a 93 on the last exam. woo! We'll see...
I week from YESTERDAY i go home. wow. i can't believe the semester is over! WOOHOO!

So...i really should go study. Hope you all are well and studying hard also! But don't forget to play, too! :) I love you guys...I'll be seeing most of you in about a week! yay!

Inspired By My Paper...

A quote that i love from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader...


“Then the lion said--but I don’t know if it spoke--You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desparate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it. The first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peal off....Then he caught hold of me--I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on--and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment....and after a bit the lion took me out and dressed me....in new clothes...”

Fun Weekend...Now Time to Work

Went with Piko to Grand Rapids this weekend to stay with his friends Dan and Lisa. It was lots of fun...they have a five month old baby girl who is ADORABLE. It was nice to get away from school. I didn't get much homework done...at all. So now I really have to crack down. But it was worth it. The weekend was a blast. It was nice not to do any school work :)
I don't have time to post much but I'll give the gist of it all...

-good food (pancakes for breakfast!)
-shopping (the mall and circuit city so piko could buy a dvd...) oh! at the mall we went into a pet store...cute puppies. sad. piko needs a dog!!
-lunch at panera. YUM! They have the most wonderful bread!
-starbucks (to study and drink yummy coffee)
-hang out
-watched Top Gun (good movie!)
-left early sunday to drive back
-College Baptist for Church...King Buffet for lunch. yummo.

Homework time. Oh. good news. actually, super news. I GO HOME IN 10 days! I am so so so so excited.