Another Day Another Destiny

There are plenty of things I am good at and plenty of things I don't do so well. Estimating the number of people in a group is hard for me, as is guessing how much time has passed, guessing someone's height, and understanding how far something is. 

I also don't review well. That is to say, when people have asked me "How was this semester?" I can only think about the last 2 weeks where the world of learning became a world of chaos and "how much of this work can be completed right now because it's due very soon". 

Even if I had an accurate description of the whole semester, that only covers September - December 2012. 

I worked at Arrowhead Bible Camp this summer and that covers June - August 2012. I'm going to Arrowhead tonight with my mom and spending New Years there. I'm so excited!!

Thinking about the last semester of my freshman year feels impossible. I have not exerted a lot of effort in the 'remember when' department but it's weird how little is coming up. 

Last January I went to the Dominican Republic with my dad and a group from Rockford. The team is there now and I am so excited for their mision. 

Sometimes I sit in chapel (11:00AM) and can't even remember if I've had a good day thus far. I forget if I was in a good mood or not. It's a little comical but it's pretty great because I can shake off the bad things that happened earlier this year or earlier this day and move forward. 

At some point, things will come back to me about last semester, last year, etc. In that respect I tend to idealize but that's okay. God is really good and focusing too much on the negative can make that truth feel not so true. 

Perhaps I'll spend some of my time in the car on the way to camp today thinking about all that happened this year. There's still one day more of 2012 left and I plan to enjoy it with friends. 

Ahh Christmas Break

I keep thinking "Aww this should go in my next post" but I haven't sat down long enough to actually write a post. So here it is, the jumbo post. Lots of photos and stories.
Jess and I spotted this American beauty at the McDonalds on the main street in Marion:

'MURICAH

Also her little brother Joseph is HI-LARIOUS. 

The wedding of Joy and Ty was on the 15th. Here's the wedding photos I took:

Rehearsal party (Dec 14)

This dress was $15 at H&M

Spot the goofy friend

Jess let me take a photo with Elvis!

The only photo I took at the party- Kailynne and me! 

Ready for the wedding!

This dress $35 at H&M 

Jess loves him. 

Color coordinated! 

Our seat at the church

The program

zoomed

unzoomed

just hitched!

Look at that smile! 

Roomies

Erin the bridesmaid! 

Erin and Tyler <3

Goofs. 

Our suite! Kailynne, Joy, me, and Erin

Aww

Tyler, Erin, Joy, Ty, me, Gage! 

Kay and me :)

The party was so fun! I headed back to Chicago on Sunday and made record time. Seriously. Someone hand me a medal. 

I proceeded to spend the next few days chilling out. My dad recently finished remodeling the upstairs bathroom and it's like a spa! I took a bath, lit candles, and listened to Norah Jones and it was the best thing I have done in a long time. I never thought I was a bath person but now I know I am. I also organized ALL of our movies. That project took a whole day. For real. It was out of control before so it's nice that they are now under control.

Look at this weird ad. 

Kate and I reunited over Chipotle and a mall visit as we are prone to do. We saw 3 Bears players at Chipotle which was cool, but it was made less cool by the fact that I didn't know who they were :-( I also went to our church Christmas program. The little kiddos were so cute!

So cute! 

The boxes said "1 2 3 4 5 6 7" then "M I R A C L E" then "* J E S U S *" 

Dad and I started a puzzle:

It's really hard. Boo. 

On Friday, Kayla flew in from CA for Christmas! Her hubby had to work so hopefully we will catch him next year. Dad had to work too, so the ladies (me, Mom, Kayla) headed up to WI.

Saturday was a BIG day. It included Christmas and a 7th birthday party. Everyone gathered at Auntie Julies. Here's some photos from the festivities:

Aunt Julie, me, Mom, Kayla, Grams

Me, James, Joe, Grams, Gramps, Kayla

Grams, Gramps, me, Mom, Kayla

Cousins

Goofy cousins 

Ladies!

Love you :)

Grams, Kayla, Uncle Dean, James sporting the Packers cap. 

Julie, me, and Grandpa

Showing Grandpa my iPhone, I took a photo while he was looking at it :) 

Joe and his birthday cake. So cute! Happy 7th, dude!

Then when the party was all said and done, Julie thought it would be fun to go see the rotary lights! So I snapped a few photos of my stylin' outfit (already ready for bed)

Radar isn't quite ready for my love.  

So. Hip.

The lady guarding the entrance wouldn't let us in because it was 10:03 and not 10:00 when it closed. Boo. Julie parked around the corner and we ran through the park to see the lights! We were freezing but it was totally worth it.

Some relative generations ago was the conductor of this historic train. 

trippy due to impatience. 

much better 

Aunt Julie!

Chillsters. 

Real reindeer! 

come on. that's pretty funny. 

They actually had flames coming out of this dragon's mouth! 

USCG

Your favorite Norwegian festival and mine 

It was a chilly adventure that was totally worth it.

Then Sunday came and we went to church and I got to see some people I worked with this summer at camp. Yay! 

The family went to brunch, we packed up and said our goodbyes and headed home. 

We had a taco night (delicious) and did presents for each other. I don't have photos of that, but we always get underwear and socks in our stockings so believe me the photos are good every year. 

Dad got called into work tonight (Sunday) and they said "Go to Missouri, Gus!" so his schedule is shifting. That might mean I get to see him more before I go back to school. Kayla flies back to CA on Monday. It was a quick visit but so good to be together. 

Whew finished! Hopefully I will have some New Years photos in a week or so. In the mean time, have fun, Merry Christmas, stay safe. Thanks for reading!