Monday, January 28, 2008

The Un-Welcome Resident

Last Wednesday night I got a knock on my door, and answered it to find to rather alarmed female residents asking for assistance with a "messy situation"(Their words not mine) in the hall. I went out, and seeing nothing asked what they needed. They directed my attention to the disgusting not so little roach roaming the hall and attempting to crawl under doors. We mannaged to bag him so I could take him to the Residence Hall Maintenance office the next day but I left the bag in the hall where there was no chance he could escape into my room.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Ski Weekend!

This last three day weekend Luke and I went with a big group of people north of Spokane WA to stay at our friend Chris's (Pictured below) Family's Cabin.

Then on Sunday a bunch of us went up to night ski at a place called Schweitzer. I really wasn't planning to actually go skiing but when I talked to my dad before the trip he reminded me that I did sort of know how to ski and encouraged me to go. I still wasnt planning on skiing but when we got to the cabin my friends said it would be fun and that I should go with them Then Luke threw in the straw that broke the camels back and said that he would hang out with me and help me out if I needed it soooooo I went skiing too. Yes it was cold. Yes my muscles are sore. Yes I freaked out the first and only time I got off the bunny slope. But I had soooo much fun! Below are some misc. pictures from the trip.
Luke and Cody before they went skiing on Satuday when most of the group stayed to make a cake, save money, and play in the snow etc.
Kelsi, Corey, Megan and I took a field trip to the store. On the way back we took the scenic route and I requested we stop for a quick photo op.
Turkeys in the yard near our photo op.
Me, Megan, Kelsi

Theres a deer near the middle of the picture. Can you find it?

This pretty horse was just hangin' out near the road. We saw so many animals in one 20 min trip! It was cool!


Since I got so much practice making grilled cheese sandwiches at camp this summer for just about every group, I figured I could make em at the cabin for the group that stayed behind!

Poor Kelsi got worn out from trying to engage me in a snowball fight. She didnt realize that when it comes to snow and fighting, I'm Switzerland.

Corey and Lindsay were carving tunnels into Coreys Fort. They met in the middle and then Corey started hollowing it out! It was cool! I kept trying to get one of the guys to write "Corey's Fort" on in with yellow snow but they refused. Some dog must have known what I wanted though because the next morning there was yellow snow on the side with paw prints leading away.

The whole group, (minus me since I was taking the picture).


Soooo apparently Luke likes to shovel snow...






I got to help, and he even let me use the rectangular shovel to square off the sides. What can I say, I pay attention to detail.



The bunny hill lift looking up at some of Schweitzers other runs. Dusk was pretty.


It was so cold Luke's face mask froze up! This is us on the chair lift hence the blue pole.

Us and our chilli fries! Yum! They were huge!

We got a picture of the whole group after skiing. Its a little dark cuz I set the camera on the back of Chris's truck and it was a little far away but its still cool we got everyone in!
On the way back to the cabin we stopped at the store to grab some last minute things. When we came out Cody couldnt start it. So the guys compression started his car.
On the way home, I had to take one last picture so here are Corey and Luke...on the way back to U of I!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Such a Sweet Date

Jenny came to pick me up for our dinner date at Bob's, our Residence Hall's Food Venue, and she brought a corsage! Who says chivalry is dead?

RA Field Trip

Just last weekend I took a field trip with some of the other "Eastside" RAs to Andy's home and Farm/Ranch. (I cant remember specifically what he called it.) Anyway it was a grand adventure. There arent too many photos of the views and animals because I was too busy looking at them myself. They had lots of animals, they had 2 dogs, six indoor cats, a guinea pig, chickens, a rooster, ducks, geese, a turkey, sheep and a ton of barn cats! Sheep are big did you know that!?! Much bigger than I thought they would be, seeing as Mary had a little lamb and all. They also had a bazillion cats in the barn. There had to be at least 50. There were big ones, and super fast cute little ones, and even kittens! And there were hay bales. Real hay bales (not just the ones set up at dances) with the escalator like machine that moves the bales up there. AND there were allergies which reminded me why Ive never really hung out at farms. But it was cool! Here are some pictures of some of the people I'll be working with this semester.

Jake/Jacob the other RA in my building, _________, Derek, and Heidi

Aaron and a gi-nor-mous cat who is allergic to his teeth?


Torrey and Me



SPRING Semester?

Well...the Spring semester has officially started all though I struggle to call it the Spring semester because it keeps snowing! Its kind of a shock when i head out into the icy wonderland for my first class every morning at 8:30! Yikes! I also didnt think about the concept of climbing freshly plowed ice paths across campus to the top of the hill/mountain just to get to my class. Ooops. :) Well exchanges are supposed to provide me with experiences right?



The Rec Center under a fresh new coat of snow. The building in the right side of the picture is my old hall, Upham.

The hill/ mountain I climb up to get to my crazy "mourning" class. (Its not really a class that teaches you how to mourn but Im getting good at mourning over the idea of hiking to class for time on a regular basis) If you veer to the left the hill/mountain goes up higher and my class is there.

These are the "heated" sidewalks I was telling some of you about when I was home. Some kind of steam or something runs between the buildings to power furnaces I think, and serves a double purpose keeping the snow from turning into ice on the sidewalk.




These pictures show you the view from my window which is pretty much the best part of my room. 3 giant panels of view.


Monday, January 7, 2008

Winter Break...

...was interesting this year. Since I had spent the Fall semester as an exchange student at the University of Idaho it was my first time "going home for break. My parents moved into a smaller house thinking that their nest was emptying. It seems they had no idea it was to be a Full House for break, with nowhere to put anyone.
I arrived in Fresno on the 17th of December after an eleven hour car ride from Moscow, ID to Pheonix, OR with Luke and then a ten hour busride from Medford, OR to Fresno. It was an adventure, but I can now say that I am a more experienced person because of it. The first thing Mom and I did after she picked me up was hop on 41 N to go to In n Out (Where else should you go if youve been out of CA for so long). I decided two things. The freeways in central CA leave something to be desired compared to those of Oregon, and Californians really do drive fast.
For those of you who have ever experienced living away from home, and then going back for an extended amount of time you may or may not be able to relate to the emotional shock I had when I realized I wasnt going "home" persay, I was more visiting my parents house full of memories. (That and getting time to "hang out" with people I miss and love and was glad to be with again. )I was staying in my sisters bedroom that is my moms sewing room with a twin bed in it for the first few nights, then my Grandma Dixie came in from Spokane, and my sister got back from Canada. After one night of sleeping on the floor I was more than willing to accept Mark and Cindy's (My adopted parents from around the corner) offer to stay in their guest bedroom. I felt just like Anne from Anne of Green Gables when she got to stay in Diana's Aunt's "very best guest bedroom." Another bonus: I got to fabric gaze as I fell asleep!
I also realized just how much I missed my home church! Visiting other churches is fine and dandy but really there's no place like home. Call me biased but there is no chuch with a music team as good as NFC's. I got to go to the choir service the first Sunday I was home, I sang in the praise choir the second Sunday, I got to sit with my whole family at the Christmas eve service, and I got to get caught up on what NFC has been doiong this year at the New Years Eve reflection service. (The picture on the left is my sister Val, and me on Christmas Eve.) It was so nice to catch up with my church family and go to college age Sunday night dinners. All the awsome fellowship gave me a great spiritual re-charge that I was definately ready for!

I was super suprised at how many friends and family I got to see.

Aunt Maggie hosted a Harper Family get together. (See Below)

L to R George(Dad), Aunt Cyndi, Grandma Dixie, Aunt Maggie, Aunt Dorris, and Uncle Jimmy

My Cousins Kim, Tanya, and my sister Valerie



Tallest to shortest: Clark, Kent, Reid, Grant

Guilty!


The "Bugs" got to have our annual Christmas get-together which Destinie was so great to host!

We had our Christmas Morning Brunch...

(Insert Pictures Still on Aunt Maggies Camera Here)



...a day after Christmas dinner...

...a field trip to Yosemite with Beth, and Luke...



...and a New Years Party that ended at 10! (Val, Laura, Mark and Cindy made it 'til about 11:30 and then Luke and I made it until 121:15 ish? It was fun!

I got to go to the New Years Day sale/party at Quilters, and while Luke stayed and watched football with Mark all day, and that night Luke, Val, Laura, and I raided Whole Foods and got to have a very special "Whole Foods" meal of different apple varieties, clam chowder, cheeses, sparkling rasberry cider, steaks, twice baked potatoes, and salad. YUM!

Luke and I left the next day (Jan 2) starting the long trek back to U of I so Luke could take his PGM tests and I could start my RA training. We stoped in Phoenix OR and stayed at Lukes home for the night. The next morning Luke expertly repacked his car with BOTH of our stuff (his was bringing more sports equiptment, mine was more...well stuff) and we finnished the drive in a day, taking turns driving and listening the audio books Eragon, and Eldest. Luke also got to try out his cool Christmas Garmin, which successfully got us to what I think was the last In n Out of California (and back on the freeway again) and told us how far until the next Chevron. It was pretty cool.

I'm Giving Blogspot a Try!

So after almost a year of Internet stalking my friends' Blogspots and contemplating the format vs. MySpace and Facebook, I've decided to give it a try. The biggest perk that won me over was they're in chronological order! This could be a good thing as I start fresh posting new stuff for the "Spring" (in quotes because its supposed to be winter here until July) semester here in Idaho.