Living in a Material World

Haven’t had the chance to write for a while…I just finished 2 weeks of midterms. I am glad that they are finally over. The weekend in the middle of midterms was parents’ weekend. Both my mom and dad came down for the weekend. Benjamin was supposed to come, but ended up having to work. On Friday night we had a Variety Show that we put on for the parents. My roommates and my friends Lorah and James made up a rap about PCC. It was pretty fun. We all dressed up as gangsters and rapped. It was pretty entertaining to see everyone’s reaction.

There were quite a few other acts as well. There was a quartet, a couple skits, videos, and some other very entertaining things….even McCain and Obama made an appearance.
Saturday night my adopted siblings for the weekend, James, Josh, and Amy came with my parents and I to dinner with Joan Westra and her family. Joan was one of my mom’s best friends in high school and she lives in Chino Hills…which is about 10 minutes away from PCC.

This past weekend was pretty fun. On Friday night I went out to dinner with Rach, Lorah, and Lynnae to celebrate finally being done with midterms. After dinner we went to the 2 softball games and cheered on PCC. On Saturday we had a car wash and raised about $1200 in only 5 hours. We were pretty proud of ourselves.

Saturday night, my hall had an 80s party. We all dressed up, drank Tab, ate Pop Rocks, and watched “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” It was a really fun and relaxing night.

I am looking forward to this weekend…for PCC’s annual Reformation Day Carnival.

Disney Concert Hall

I am now officially down with my 4Ws for this semester. My last one this semester was going to see the LA Philharmonic at the Disney Concert Hall. It was an absolutely amazing concert. We heard a total of three pieces, two from Stravinsky and one from Tchaikovsky. My favorite piece was Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto. The Philharmonic’s piano player was remarkable. By looking at him, he didn’t look like a gentle, graceful man. Wow, was I wrong. At a few points in the song his hands looked like a blur. Our seats inside were incredible. The orchestra sits in the middle of the concert hall and the seats surround them. We sat directly behind the orchestra. We were so close that we could see the music of the percussion section.

Not only was the concert beautiful, but the building was outstanding. The entire outside was silver. When we walked by, we could feel the heat radiating off. The entire street that the hall is on is pretty cool. It also has an opera building and many other theater type buildings. When we walked up from the parking garage there were four men singing. They were so good. A bunch of us just stood and listened to them for quite a while.

After the concert we all went out to dinner at Johnny Rockets. It was a nice ending of the day. There was a lot of laughing that night. Many memories were made.

This weekend is Parents Weekend and I am pretty excited to see my family. It should be a fun weekend filled with a talent show, games, and many more things.

Wild Animal Park

My second 4W of the semester was absolutely fabulous. We went to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. The weather was pretty warm, but really nice. The last time that I went to a zoo was this summer when I was in South Carolina….it was 103 degrees plus humidity. So the 83 in San Diego was pretty much heavenly.

I started out my Monday by waking up at 7 and getting ready for the day. About an hour later I went to Starbucks and had coffee with Meg. It was nice to sit down and just talk face to face. Around 9 it was time leave for the 4W. It takes about an hour and a half to get there so at about 10:30 we finally arrived at the park. The whole group headed down to the Safari ride through the Heart of Africa.

After we got off the tram we all split off into smaller groups and went to roam around the park. I spent the day with my roommate Jamie, Chad, and Brett. We were all pretty hungry so we decided to go and get some lunch before walking around. Throughout the day our little group had a lot of fun walking around the park and looking at all the animals. I especially enjoyed the gorgeous giraffes.

More pictures can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8649&l=1d627&id=1051860014

Birthdays, Handprints, Vists, Etc.

Where did this week go? It seems like just yesterday it was Monday and I was working hard to get as much homework done as possible. Monday was a pretty fun day. It was Lindsay’s 20th birthday (another fellow Riponite that now attends PCC). At first Lindsay seemed a little hesitant and sad that she wasn’t at home with her family for her birthday, but the entire PCC campus tried to make it the best birthday she’s ever had. During the day, I got a package from home and was pretty excited about it. I knew that I was getting it because I asked my mom to send me a few things, but when I opened the package the giraffe print purse that I have wanted since June was lying in the box. I screeched when I saw it.

Later that night we had a dorm party. Every month each dorm gets a set amount of money and we do something fun with it. The first dorm party for Hesed Hall is always putting handprints on the wall next to the room we live in for the year. Bethy, my RA, and I planned to do something for Lindsay’s birthday. Bethy e-mailed all the girls in our hall and had each person make her a card. Then our RD, Jenn, made 20 cupcakes. Right after we took our group picture we turned off the lit the candles, turned off the lights, and all sang happy birthday to her. She was so surprised.

Now it’s Saturday and Meg and Kels have been here for about 2 days. It’s so incredibly awesome to see them again…after 5 super long months of not being able to sit down and talk with them face to face. I just love having them here. I feel like I am back in my comfort zone and I am loving every minute of it. Yesterday the 5 of us girls went out to lunch with Pat. It was fun to sit and laugh and have it be like old times.

This weekend is pretty filled with homework, hanging out with Kels and Meg, church, and work. AND then on Monday I have a 4W and we are going to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. I am pretty excited to see some giraffes and other fun animals.