NBBC vs. MBBC

Tuesday, February 15, the big basketball game between Northland and Maranatha took place at MBBC. Laura, Amy, Meg and I were able to find a ride and make our way down there! We got there at 6 to meet Jules and some of her friends at Perkins for a muffin and then went straight to the game where we had friends saving seats - good thing or we would have been standing - it was packed in there! Laura, Meg, and Amy stood on the Northland side, but I must confess my main intention for going was to be with Jules, so I sat with her on the Maranatha side (but I did my part cheering for the Pioneers!) It was insane in that gym! It was SO loud with cheering, but it made it fun :) Julie and I still managed to get some talking in :) I'm so glad it worked out!

At half time we went over to the Nland side to find friends. This is me and my cute and sweet roomie, April!

This is where Jules and I were sitting :)

NBBC friends: Ida, Helaine, Amy, Jules , and Me :)

MBBC friends: Ashleigh, Jessica, Jules, and Me :)

I love friends!!! :)

And here's the final score: WE WON!!!! 88 to 76!

Valentine Banquet 2007

Every year the Valentine Banquet is hosted by the Sophomore class. This year, that would be our class :) But we didn't volunteer to help since none of us girls (as in Laura, me, Amy, and Meg) are class officers and it was the last time all of us girls will be able to go to an artist series together (because Laura will be in the Spring Concert). It's so sad how much is going to change after this semester -- I'm so excited about Spring break, yet I don't want to rush time! Anyways, this year the theme was "Pioneers of the Carribbean" - instead of Pirates - hehee! So the dining hall was all decorated like a tropical cruise or something :) The best pic I have of "the place" is quite fuzzy, sorry! And here's some pix of us girls all dressed up :)

Big Air 2007 Team Xtreme!

On the weekend of February 8 - 10, the first weekend of snow camp, I had the privilege of counseling. I admit that at first I wasn't really looking forward to dedicating my weekend to it because I had a lot on my plate with school and church stuff, but as soon as I got my first campers I was COMPLETELY pumped about it. I ended up with the best cabin - I'm absolutely sure of it! The Lord helped me to remember each of their names and who's name was who's right from the start - which is not normal for me - and all the girls bonded really well! In the short time that it was, the Lord provided time for me to meet with each of them one on one and a couple of the girls made decisions for the Lord through the preaching of Will Galkin - the evangelist for the week. Friday night there was a banquet for all the campers and they had "open mic night," which was a contest for whatever cabins wanted to put together a poem/cheer and perform it in front of everyone together. Well, this is what we came up with:
First we sang:

"Our team has a first name,
It's E-X-T-R-E-M-E
Our team has a second name,
It's O-R-A-N-G & E
Oh we love to scream and shout and cheer
whevener orange is near...
cause team Xtreme has a way with
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!"

Then we cheered something - i can't remember how it went, but all the girls put their heads together and made it up and it turned out awesome! During final scoring our cabin was announced as the winner for the cheer, and then our team Xtreme was announced winner of the weekend! We were all so excited!! :) If you could say a prayer for "my girls" after reading this post I would appreciate it. They were all very good girls - definitely some hard home situations, but they all seemed pretty tender to the working of the Lord in their hearts. And just to pray for all the snow campers in general. The first weekend, the weekend I got to counsel, was the biggest weekend of Snow Camp Nland has ever had, I guess, and then there were 2 more weekends of it after that. It's been fun to see a bunch of kids running around campus! It made me all excited for summer camp!! :)
(here's our silly picture):

(left to right starting at the top):

melanie, cindy, me, erin
jenn, larissa, jing, laura, sarah, and joannah

NBBC Crisis

Well, there have been numerous crisis here at school this year...

Crisis #1: Last semester, we had a toilet paper crisis. For some reason the girl's dorm kept running COMPLETELY out of toilet paper! I stopped drinking water because I wasn't about to use the kleenex box our room leader had sitting next to the toilet! One night I found myself going door to door asking people if they had an extra roll of toilet paper they'd be willing to part with. I was almost all the way to the other end of the hall before I found one and then on my way back to my room I was attacked by one of my friends (true story) and had to fight to keep it...I won... Not long after, the girls dorm had a new rule: "if, while checking rooms, an RA found more than 2 rolls in your room at a time, u would receive demerits!" AGH! I suddenly felt obsessive compulsive about having TONS of toilet paper rolls and hiding them under my bed! Then I started sleeping and studying in front of our bathroom door so no one would steal ours (actually, i didn't do that,...but it crossed my mind). Anyways, this is what I envision for girls' dorm bathrooms next year:(ps. somehow this semester this is not a problem and for that I am truly thankful, but I enjoy all the toilet paper holders we installed anyways) j/k! heehee!

Crisis #2: THIS semester, the campus store has officially and permanently locked and blocked what used to be the main entrance of their store. Because it is blocked we now have to walk at least 15 steps farther - no big deal really - except those 15 steps are not shielded by the building from the sharp and biting wind that takes your breath away (and ruins your hair, I might add) as you come around the corner of the building to use the side entrances which are now the only available options. Also, sometimes I end up wasting time in there pretending to shop because I was going to go out that door, forgot it "didn't work", and then felt too stupid to turn around right away and walk out, so I have to pretend I went in there for a purpose. I was actually buying a book in there one day when I overheard the person in front of me talking to the cashier about why the door is now closed. It is blocked to minimize theft and all the traffic in and out the door was letting in too much cold air. Well, I guess they have good reasons, but all the same, I sure do miss that door!


Well, I also want to say "YAY" for an old crisis that has been wonderfully taken care of as of the beginning of this school year. Northland repaved ALL their roads and the girls no longer have to walk across a lake of mud and yuck in the springtime. I have been especially thankful for it since we've had a taste of spring this past week - got up to 50 degrees on Tuesday , it was wonderful! - and all our snow has been melting (though I hear we're in for it this weekend or coming week). I found an actual picture of our campus online, so for those of you who have never been here to visit me, this is where I am!! :) Come see me soon! ;) Heehee!
ps. I don't want to be a complainer, I just found some humor in these things. hope u got a laugh, too! :)

Party in Apartment B!

Jennifer and Jordan went to a wedding in Chicago the first weekend in February and offered for us girls to use their apartment for chillin' ;) So Laura, Emily, Meg, Amy, and I went down Friday night and each cooked something for the delicious homemade meal we had and then played games and watched movies late into the night. Thankfully some of the girls brought their laptops down so we could still keep up on our emailing and facebooking (haha!) I can't believe I'm actually posting these pictures cause we all look pretty bad in them, but oh well...it was a fun time. I also put a picture up of Amy on the phone...not a significant picture until I tell you that she is now officially dating!!-and she was talking to "her boy" Josh! (she probably was glad when we finally snapped the picture and left her alone) heehee! We didn't fall asleep till early morning hours and then bummed around pretty much all day saturday because it was too cold to walk all the way back up to the dorms. It was -30 below windchill and we couldn't get a hold of any of our friends with cars until the afternoon was pretty much over. Needless to say...we didn't get much HW done that weekend, but we sure had a lot of fun!! Thanks Jenn and Jordan!

Happy 20th Birthday, Charity!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday dear Mrs. Charity Dawn Streblow...(wink*wink)
Happy Birthday to YOU!!

Please be sure to wish my dear friend Charity a Happy Birthday!! Visit her blog at charity-s.blogspot.com and leave her a comment, or comment on this post! Charity, you have been such a precious friend to me since the first time we had a slumber party together - that was when I really got to know you - do you remember that night? we stayed up and drew pictures of each other's houses, showed pictures, told stories and memories, shared our testimonies and life lessons, laughed our heads off...I don't think I've ever gotten to know someone so fast (it was better than 20 questions ;) heehee!) and from there we just kept having good times and made more memories of our own together as friends! I'm so thankful for the friendship we share! God is so good. I hope you're having fun with married life - I'm sure you are! Love you!

The Lovely Reception

The cutting of the cake

Didn't the church basement turn out to look so elegant!? Who would have thought Calvary Baptist Church of little Granada, Minnesota could ever look like that! No more orange....no more teal tile...wow!

Charise played for almost the entire reception and she just played beautiful arrangements from off the top of her head! She has an incredible ability! She's amazing!!

Me and Charise (love u, Charise!)

(Below): The Happy Couple! :) heehee!

Well, I was going to post about 5 more from the reception, but blogger won't load the pictures I click on - it loads completely different ones (Jordan would say it's operator's error, but I know it's the computer ;)) Anyways, if I can ever get them to work - I will post them. It was a beautiful reception! :)Off they go!! :)

Seth and Charity's Wedding!

January 13th Seth Streblow and Charity Schofield got married and are now always and forever Mr. and Mrs. Streblow - so exciting!!

Here's all the Schofield kids: starting with Charity and going clockwise is Charise, Justus, Josiah, Johnathan, and Christa - I love this picture!

Here's Charise, Charity, and Christa - Sisters, sisters - there's nothing so wonderful as sisters (besides Seth, right, Charity? Heehee!) ! Aren't they all so pretty!?


Josh (Seth's brother) and Christa (best man and maid of honor)

Agh! I don't remember His name...but he's one of Seth's friends and Charise!

Getting Ready

Laura and I were honored to have been asked by Charity to be her personal attendants at her wedding. We got to go to her house Saturday morning at 7:30 and help her get all ready for her big special day - her wedding day!! We had some good giggly girl times in her room as she got her hair all curled, put on her make up, and of course some perfume! And we had fun reminiscing about the good old days when we first met when we were only 13! How the time passes by so quickly! I'm so thankful we are all friends! Charity looked SO gorgeous in her wedding dress! (and her cute little cinderella slippers) ;) and then off she went to meet Seth and take wedding pictures...I'll have wedding pictures coming up on my next post.

He Loved Me

Happy Valentine's Day!

He loved me when I wandered in darkness. He loved me with a wonderful love. He saw me, in my helplessness saw me And He tenderly called me from His heaven above.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

He sought me, like a shepherd He sought me. He bought me when He died on the tree, He found me, on the mountains He found me, And He threw His arms 'round me, saved and set me free

Psalm 86:13 - Great is Your love toward me; You have delivered me from the depths of the grave."

Romans 8:1 - 3 - "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was POWERLESS to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God DID by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering."

I Peter 1:3 - " Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love Him; and .even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."

He keeps me as we travel together. He keeps me from all danger and harm, He guides me, every moment He guides me, From all evil He hides me, not a fear can alarm.

Isaiah 40:11 - "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young."

John 10:3, 4,11, 27-28 -"To Him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and They follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."

He cheers me, when I'm lonely He cheers me. He hears me when I meet Him in prayer; He thrills me, with His fellowship thrills me, And with wonder He fills me as I linger there.

Psalm 63 "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me."

I Samuel 22 "My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my Savior- You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the Lord And who is the Rock except our God It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He enables me to stand on the heights."

He loved me and He made me His own.

Romans 8:15 - 17 - "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ."

Christmas at Our House

I love Christmastime - i think it's my favorite holiday - at least for the winter months (4th of July is my favorite summer holiday) Anyways, we all couldn't get together over Christmas break until close to New Years, so we had our family Christmas December 30th. But it doesn't matter when u celebrate it. :) I love our Christmas tree - it's not exactly a pottery barn tree, but it's way better to me because it's full of memories. Doesn't it look so cozy? (nevermind the crooked angel - i think it's trying to fly! heehee!)

This is our entryway at Christmastime - I wish we could keep the garland up year-round, but I suppose that would be kind of silly ;) (the twinkle lights are thanks to John - he got them for us girls a couple years ago, and then we surprised mom with them...mom went to get jenn from work and jules and i put them up comlete with the garland and bows in about 15 minutes - it was insane, but worth the reaction we got out of mom. heehee!)

Here's our nativity scene. It's in a brand new spot this year. We did a little rearranging in the dining room, so it has it's own little chunky round table. I still remember the day we got this new nativity - i always think of it as brand new, but i think it's about 12 or 13 years old now - time passes by so quickly!

Here's all our presents...this is when it's fun to crawl under there and count them ;) Hee,hee! Yes, I know that sounds selfish, but really, who DOESN't like presents!!?

This is the best part, this year, us kids did a little Christmas decoration splurge for mom. We got her a bunch of presents with a Christmas decor theme. All these ones behind the tree are hers - out of appreciation for all she does for us and has done for us! It was fun to see her smile of disbelief - I mean, common, once you're 39 (did u like that, mom? heehee!) do u really expect to get more than 5 presents at Christmastime? Well, I guess that's why it's a good idea to have 4 kids and marry them off for even MORE kids! Heehee! Love u, Mom! You're the BEST! :)

Isn't she cute?! ;)

Me and Julia :)

Jenny and Julia with their Christmas pillows :)

Jason always reads the Christmas story and videos our Christmas :)

Sweaters from Grandma (Jordan - what's that face?)

I think Grandma got the highlight present - Jason and Jordan spent the rest of the night playing with their little remote control vehicles :)

Grandma and Jordan and Jason playing cars...

Here's the cars - aren't they cute?...I mean, cool? Hee,hee! :)

Here's our mess - I loveit! Hee,hee! :)Merry Christmas!!

Luke 2:11
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulders and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

ps. Jules had the flu...she was there, but I don't think she'd like my posting her pix. Love u, Jules! ;)