Christmas Vacation!!

Charis and Beth were trying to get at Phil's
curly hair.














Stephen, unaware of Beth's vampirish ways.

















Josh, at 4am, ready to take on the nosey neighbors.











The newly engaged...practicing their stunt for the wedding
reception.


















My beautiful Mommy!!













How cute is she? The California freckles :)













What??












Lunch with a best friend.













My awesome brothers!!














Like father, like son.

Not so wise anymore...

Yesterday morning was somewhat a traumatic morning for me. I waited until the last possible moment, until I could put it off no further. I held out longer than each sister, but alas, the time had come. I visited the maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. Mohler (appropriate dental name, huh?) He is a very nice older man and made me feel at ease--well as much ease as one can feel before going under the drill. I felt like I was being strapped down: they put these clamp things on my arms, I assume to keep an eye on my pulse, and then the little finger-clamp thing for my pulse as well. I had a blood pressure wrap on my right arm and then the IV went in my left arm. Before the IV, came the nitrous gas. I've encountered the gas before when getting a cavity filled, so I knew what was coming. "Breathe through your nose." Okay..so I begin. Really though, it didn't have quite the "floating--whoa" feeling that everyone talks about. However, while breathing I remember Phil's story of his hysterical laughing while breathing this stuff. I started to giggle, but knew if I started, I wouldn't be able to stop, so I quickly brushed that thought out of my head and waited for the said crazy state of mind. The nurse came back in and said, "Breathe deeper, Miriam!! Deep breaths!" OHHH! so that was why I couldn't feel any effects. As I began to breathe deeper, Dr. Mohler comes in to put my IV in. The nurse prepares me, "This might hurt a little." Dr Mohler informed her that I've given blood a few times so I knew all about it. The last thing I remember hearing is, "This will put you to sleep in a few minutes." And BAM! WHAM!! One hour and four less wisdom teeth later, I hear, "Miriam, open your eyes.." I slowly opened them, because it felt like I had 2 tons of steel resting on each eyelid...I peeked them open but decided it was much better to keep them closed. The nurse returned with the wheelchair and reminded me to open my eyes again, and told me that I needed to wake up. UGH! All I wanted to do was sleep, didn't she know that!? But like an obedient patient, I got into the wheelchair. I don't remember being pushed down the hallway, in the elevator, or getting into the car. But there I was and Mom was putting a blanket on me, brushing away my tears and handing me Kleenexes. I came home and chilled the rest of the day, slurping down some chicken broth and applesauce. My first experience with Vicodin...wasn't really one to talk about; Nothing unusual really happened except I was really nauseous and at one point Phil looked like he had black make-up around his eyes. Yesterday (Day 1) was one of pain and sleep. Today (Day 2) I'm feeling much better--but much more swollen, kind of like a chipmunk collecting acorns for the winter. Hopefully the swelling will go down and I'll be able to go back to some state of normalcy this Christmas.

Merry Christmas, guys! Don't forget to thank the Father for his gracious and merciful gift: His Son. XOXO!

Who Says Women Can't!?

My dad Kurt-O was blessed with four daughters to love and raise. This in itself shows God's humor. Because you see, my father grew up building cars, constructing engines, etc. I mean how could he not? His dad was the one who built a homemade helicopter and his grandpa built one of the first lawnmowers in Indiana! He had in his genes to be an automotive man. My dad was the coolest kid on the block. When he was five, his bicycle was the only one with a steering wheel instead of handlebars! Beat that, Joe Smith! He helped his dad build motorcycle engines as was his profession. My dad drove a motorcycle as his ride on the first day he got his license. (Ask him about being pulled over by an officer for not looking old enough to have a license..on his first day!) He has owned a plethura of cars of the years: Fiat, a couple Jaguars, a Scirocco (only 600 ever made). We girls always ask in disbelief, "Why did you sell the Jags!!!?" He answers as only the best dad in the whole world could answer, "Well, I had to choose between a family or cars. I chose a family." So with starting this new family, I'm sure my dad had visions of having a couple sons, at least one to pass on the family name and the car knowledge....but instead God chuckled and said, "Girl." "Girl." "Girl." and "Girl." Now if you ask him, he says he wouldn't have it any other way---yet I can't help but notice how happy he was to talk to Phil about his Jeep when he was having problems; or better yet, how excited he got when Scott told him he owned Slot Cars. It was like watching a kid open their favorite toy at Christmas. His eyes lit up and he began talking faster with a higher pitch in his voice. :) Slowly, my dad is gaining the sons he never had. But let's back up and talk about what a man is supposed to do when he has so much car knowledge to impart, but no son to impart it to. He does the next logical thing: pass it to the daughters!! Brilliant! While we were growing up, Dad was always sure to name every car in every movie made prior to 1975: brand, model, year, special accessories, etc. I mean, this guy knows his stuff! Dad and I used to play the headlight game---name the oncoming car by the headlights--I got pretty good at it. Every year he and my grandpa go to a car show in Auburn, IN and Cindy has gone with them the past couple years. His love of motorcycles has been passed down: Cindy has her motorcycle license and I'm hoping to get my permit this coming summer. He's taught each of us , the obvious: how to check the oil, two or three of us how to change the oil, how to change tires on our cars. So you see, my dad has done a nice job of infiltrating us to some degree. There are two of us daughters who have really taken an interest in cars: Cindy and I. The other two--well they care, but there are more important things than gaskets, cylinders and pistons. So now the object of my narrative:

Down here in Tennessee, I drive quite often. Indeed, I drive my car almost everyday. I'm about to make my 400+ mile journey home to IN, but my oil needed to be changed first. I'm always a promotor of "If you can do it yourself, do it." Right? Right.. first step: go buy a filter, 4 qts of oil, oil wrench (because I couldn't find one to borrow). 2nd step: find an oil pan to borrow (got it!). 3rd step: find a place to change the oil. See that step was a little trickier than the rest. I don't have jack stands or blocks--and couldn't find those anywhere around here. My genius friend CT decided to make use of the small ditch bordering the outside of the parking lot. I pulled my car up to the ditch, balancing one side on the pinnacle of the cement ditch and the other side in the grass. This worked out very nicely. So there I am in the middle of campus crawled underneath my car, unscrewing the oil bolt. I'm not gonna lie, a few males walked by and stopped and stared...in awe. Out comes the oil---down with the filter---in with new--dump in 4 quarts and buddy we're back in business. Approximate time: 20 minutes; which might I add was pretty good for me being my first time by myself and only watching my dad once. As I arose from underneath the car, I hear a male voice saying, "I'm impressed." So Dad---Thanks for teaching me how to prove to those unbelieving males out there: who says women can't!?

Dead Week.

So this week is known as "Dead week" on campuses across the nation; for good reason too. You see, now is the time when college students have realized in less than a week and a half, there will be no more school. No more school = freedom to sleep in without the downfall of missing a class or a meal; freedom to stay up late just for the heck of it rather than trying to finish a paper due in less than 6 hours; freedom from the ugly grasp that a bathroom has on a college student due to it's tag team partner: the cafeteria; freedom from the monotonous professors that unconsciously use hypnotic devices while lecturing. There are many advantages that come from the end of a semester. But alas, in the back of the mind there is this thought: I still have FINALS week! And before FINALS week...I must face Dead Week! And so now...dead week is upon us. This is the week students remember all of the projects, posters, papers and portfolios assigned at the beginning of the semester are now due in less than 2 days = "ohhh snap." Or for some, it's the time to take the "pre-final" tests that profs intentionally or unintentionally (you decide) assign for this week.

So please, if you remember: pray for those of us who are in this unfortunate, draining week. Also, for those of us who, procrastination is second nature and lose many hours of sleep trying to catch up and complete all assignments, and then try to function with 4 hours of sleep. (Not me, of course, but others....)

Never before..

The date of my last haircut was sometime in the winter of 2004. That's a pretty long time to let a person's hair grow. At first, I was just growing mine out to grow it out, but then I realized I could donate it to Locks Of Love for kids with leukemia and cancer who have lost their hair. It's a pretty cool thing. The minimum of hair they accept it 10 inches. Folks, that's a LOT of hair. Here is my before and after shot:

I really miss all my church family!!!! I love you guys!

Happenings in East TN

Everything is still going smoothly down here--well, depending on your definition of "smoothly." I mean we can say that the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is still holding true: Entropy increases...constantly. But enough of that. Here's what's been happening: I resigned from my position at one of the big electronic powerhouses: Best Buy. There were a few complications and it became too demanding for me, working 20+ hours and taking 18 credits at school. My two weeks will be ending right before Thanksgiving break...convenient, huh? :) Up next, there's been a lot of bonding with my group of friends. God's been awesome in letting me get to know these people! The girls on the left and I went to a local highschool football team...we missed highschool football and freezing and screaming. It was their homecoming and some of the kids from one of my field classes asked me to come. Shooo!! Why not!?
Every year, at Milligan's homecoming there is the extremely competitive football game. Milligan Alumni vs. Milligan students. Alumni ALWAYS win...but there was something new in the air this year. Perhaps it was the bitter cold or the stellar game plan or the amazing fans who braved the frostbite to cheer their team on. Whatever it was, the underdogs came through and in the last minute scored the winning touch down. In the first time of Milligan history---the stream-line students take the V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!
Michael is the owner of that incredibly awesome backwards somersault in the air. We were at the soccer conference championship game (i'll talk about that in a sec) and the fans were getting pumped up. Michael is known for his acrobatics off of tall objects....in this case, a tall man's shoulders were the jumping base. It was pretty sweet. The conference game: WE WON--again, another first in Milligan school history. This weekend is Regionals and the student body is pretty pumped about that! The men's soccer team has never gone this far...so: GO Buffs!
The last happening is that our heat was broken for a few days. We spoke to the maintenance and they promised to come fix it. I came home from class one day...and found this. I thought it funny and took a picture, without Mr Fix-it's permission...he didn't even know I took it.

Some more crazy costumes...

The Beautiful Brides Spidy-Spiderman Yee-haw Cowboy



















Daring Dash Cow + Farmer Evil Witches





Peter Pan clan:

Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Adult Peter Pan, Wendy

Crunk Your Trunk

Tuesday was a memorable day here at Milligan College. It was the first annual "Crunk your Trunk". A few weeks before the event, students on campus begin planning and designing their tru
nks for this great occasion. They say it's for the kids, but the students deep down are in it for the $50 gift card to the restaurant of their choice. On the day of, students are anxiously and quickly "crunking" their trunks. The automobiles are parked in the designated parking lot and everyone sets up. At 6pm, the children are allowed to begin their festivity of trick or treating. Most of these children, are sons and daughters of faculty and staff, here at Milligan. (ABOVE: The Black Pearl and its
mates---notice the plank!)
Others are children from the neighboring areas. It is pretty cool because it lets kids trick-or-treat in a safe environment. Not only are the college students competeing for "Best Trunk" but the kids have theirown competition of "Best Costume" "Most Originality" or
even "Scariest Costume."
I was able to capture the winners
of each of these categories on camera. To the right, you can see Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean:
"Best Costume". Next, was "Most Originality" and the winner is: Slice of Pizza. The remaining costume is "Scariest Costume"---this kid was dressed well and did a good job of being scary. I was kind of worried when I was taking the picture. His parents really knew what they were doing...Dracula.
All of the kids were dressed so well!! The students were dressed up as well, ready to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters! Unfortunately, Brett and I did not participate because 1. we didn't have time and 2. we are poor college students. But we did go and take pictures and look at the cute little kids!

For His love endures forever...

I have a couple updates with how things are going down here. I'm still struggling with a few things regarding my job at Best Buy. But I'm listening to hear what the Lord has for me to do in that situation. About the purse situation: one of the cell phones (not mine, the other girl's) was found the next day, smashed in three pieces on the side of the road. A graciuos citizen picked up the pieces, put the phone together and contacted the owner; so my friend now has her phone back. As for all the other items: still missing. However, an investigation has been underway to identify and find the suspect. Today, I met with the investigator to try and pick the guy out of a line-up. I was pretty nervous about it. I narrowed it down to 2 out of the 6, and chose the one I thought it was. The investigator immediately corrected me, pointing to the other of the 2 of whom I had narrowed it down. I looked at the investigator, surprised and said, "So you know who did it?" He told me Yes in fact they know who it was, they have his name and know where his parents live. As it turns out, the other guy that was there Saturday night: Person B, admitted to knowing Person A and gave his name: Person A was Person C's ex-boyfriend. I asked if it was bad that I couldn't identify the guy, and he said it wasn't that big of a deal, because I didn't have a face-to-face conversation with him, like one of the adult chaperones had. And that adult chaperone did indeed identify the correct guy, so everything turned out okay. Now, it's just a waiting period until they can find the guy. So: we wait.

In the meantime, I've been checking out the a-mazing trees down here!! This past weekend a friend and I went to the top of one of the mountains here, and watched the sun set. It was BEAUTIFUL! And everything was sooo quiet and still up there. It was a really cool time that reminded me how BIG our God is. These two pictures are products from our journey up the mountain. Enjoy them! Think Brown County + autumn x 10 = East Tennessee in October (hey, what can I say? I'm a math major :)

My Life? or His?

"Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty-handed, but alive in Your hand."

Last night was Milligan fall formal...YAY! Brett and I + 2 other girls got all dressed up and made our way over to one of the most expensive hotels in the area. So there we all are, amidst 75 or so other shnazzy students, dancing our little heart away. The Macarena starts playing--obviously this requires a couple pictures. I walk back to the back of the ballroom --which also happens to be the entrance to the room--to retrieve my camera from my purse. As I approach the table and scan for my purse, two girls quickly come to me, "Are you looking for something that was on this table?!" I told them yes, that my purse was there. "Well someone just took something off this table and ran outside."

Three young adults had been walking in and out of the room, clearly not dressed for a dance and were definitely not Milligan students. The chaperones/doorkeepers asked them for I.D. and they left...but not until one of them had time to take a "party favor" with him as he walked out the door. One of the chaperones (also a Milligan professor) saw the guy pick something up and walk out. She followed him, said something to him and then he bolted in a running frenzy out the door. Five minutes later, I came to the scene. The ONE hotel employee on duty that night was already on the case, trying to figure things out. Person A is the one who actually took my purse. Persons B & C were boyfriend/girlfriend and B actually works at the hotel but was off-duty. They all three conveniently disappeared to nowhere.

I called the police to come to the scene. When he arrived, I started doing my reporting of what was all in my purse: debit cards, 2 cell phones, 2 sets of keys, digital camera; some mascara, hand sanitizer, batteries, extra-strength tylenol, baby pinecones I had picked up the other day because they were really cute, among other things. Before the policeman arrived, I had already called the banks to lock my cards. However, the guy decided to go the gas station first. As I was talking to the policeman in the lobby, four bright white strobe lights begin flashing throughout the hotel: fire alarm. The front desk has no control and are rushing around dealing with burglary, newly arrived guests, and now a fire. The professors from the dance start ushering people out into the lobby and towards the door. Meanwhile, the fire engine rolls up and 4 or 5 firemen in full garb walk into the lobby. Simultaneously, the lone desk clerk realizes that "fire" is actually the smoke from the smoke machines out on the dance floor. At this time, my policeman looks at me and says, "I feel like I'm on the Titantic." It was a crazy scene!! After the uproar died down, Persons B & C returned to the hotel to talk to the police, claiming not have any connection whatsoever with Person A. But one of the doorkeepers saw all three Persons A, B, and C together talking amongst each other.

So anyway, my things are gone, no damage too serious...I'm missing my camera and phone big time, but things could have been a lot worse. The next few days will be filled with police reports, talking to banks, new phone, and sorting through chaos. If you think about it, pray for me: there's a lot of frustration, confusion and on top of this: some problems at work. But this has become my prayer:

"My whole life
I place in Your hands
God of mercy
Humbled I bow down
In Your presence at Your throne

In my life,
Be lifted high
In our word
Be lifted high
In our love
Be lifted high."

Amen.

Hot springs, Norma and Asheville.

This weekend is fall break. Since I am blessed enough to have a job, I am required to work this weekend; because of that, I was not able to come home and see my family like the rest of the 98.6% of Milligan students. So Brett, Leah and I all decided to take a road-trip to Asheville, NC. This is about an hour route--if you're going straight there on the interstate. However, down here in the hills of Tennessee, it's better to drive through the countryside and take in nature and all of God's beautiful creation. We loaded the car with the essentials and started our journey and picked up Leah on the way out. We headed to Hot Springs, North Carolina, hoping to find none other than: natural hot springs. However, when we got there--we found that "hot springs" was actually a yard with 4 hot tubs sectioned off for "relaxation with nature." Nothing natural about it. It was complete with chlorine and everything....how disappointed we were to find out their "natural springs" were anything BUT natural.
Our route there took us through some back hills. Imagine the stereotypical Tennessee hills and the yards you find there....that's what we saw. There were many abandoned cars. At one point we began counting them. There was a little Ford escort crashed into a dirt enbankment; a jeep thing from 1948, stashed on the side of the road, sprouting shrubbery; many random trucks...you know, those kinds of things. Also, almost every barn (except the one pictured left) had tobacco hanging from within it to dry it out. I don't think I realized how much tobacco is down here, but apparently there's quite a bit. It seems to be the cool thing for men to chew ther tabacky. Most of them have a "fat lip", signaling the juicy, brown flaky stuff in their mouth--kind of gross if you ask me--.
While driving through the hills, we passed a field and noticed an elderly lady bending over and stuffing hay into a garbage bag. We all saw her and kind of had the same thought. We debated for a few minutes before turning around and driving back past her house and pulling into her driveway. She looked up and noticed us, but returned back to her work. As we walked up to her we said "hello" and introduced ourselves. We asked her if we could help her rake the rest of the hay and put it into the bags for her. She was a little reluctant at first or maybe she just wasn't quite clear as to why
3 young girls were on her property? She let us take over for her and went to "the building" --aka: the shed---to retrieve more trash bags. Leah raked a couple more piles for her and Brett and I began filling the three trashbags. She introduced herself as Norma and she told us she was 88 years old. Norma was in really good health for being 88 years young! For heaven's sake she was outside raking hay and bending over putting it into trashbags. It was cool to get to talk to her for a little bit. We stayed with her for about a half an hour. She talked about her family and how some landmarks around the area were named after her grandfather. Brett asked her if she could take some photos of her for her photography class. Norma said it would be alright but only after she took her shower cap off. Haha! We told her we liked it on and she should keep it on. She had been wearing it because she has just washed her hair and wanted to keep the gnats out of it. (By the way: I've never seen such a perpetual attack of gnats before! It was pretty nasty! ;)



















We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Asheville last night. Today we walked around down
town Asheville and found a cute little cafe to dine for lunch. We then headed back to school. It was a good and relaxing time for us all, even though it wasn't long enough and we each wish that we could've been with our families. The trees are changing and fall is coming upon us. I miss you all and love you so much!!!

twirps

Last week was an important week here at Milligan College. The events throughout the week, combine to make: T.W.I.R.P. WEEK. That is----The Woman Is Required to Pay. Each day of the week is designated with a certain theme. But in preparation for this event, the junior class put on a Bachelor Auction, auctioning off 15 of Milligan's finest. The boys take their turn, parading across the stage in all different get-ups: richard simmons, men in black, and tom sawyer. The auctioneer then describes each bachelor, offering things such as "midnight walks on the beach" or "yoga and pilates" or "fixin the truck" or even as special as "goods under the hood." (obviously meaning: the 16-pak abdominal region) Girls will raise their hands for the bid, some bachelors going for $5 or up to $55---the Australian boy: it was his accent. The idea is to help raise money for student-wide activities and also helping girls find dates for TWIRP week. Brett and I bid and bought the two windsuit boys: Ben and Robert. They're sophomores and seem to be a ton of fun. They claim their outfits were compliments of the local thrift store, but I have my doubts. We bought them as 2 for 1 deal for $15. Pretty good, eh? Mr. Man-in-Black is freshman president Matt. He likes to skateboard throughout the big hills of campus. And Tom Sawyer: that's CT..he likes to think he's from the country and tries to act like it by chewing on that tall grass stuff while walking to class, but really...he's not. Good effort though. Brett and I still have to take our boys out. I worked the majority of TWIRP week, so we couldn't do it then. But the plans are still on and they still want a free meal. Here was the schedule for TWIRP week:

Monday: the Corn Maize--about 30 minutes off campus
Tuesday: AppleFest on campus--baked apples--on the bonfire
Wednesday: 80's skate night at the local roller-arena
Thursday: Rock-star bowling
Friday: Midnight Movie

I was only able to participate in Monday and Tuesday. Monday night, I "twirped" CT, even though I didn't buy him at the auction (I have privileges :) We played a softball game that night, so we were running late for the Corn Maize. So Leah and her twirp: Curtis (aka: CT2) went with CT and I to Chick-Fil-A. After eating our chicken sandwiches and waffle fries, we settled in for a couple games of Candy Land. And might I add,
I won the first game, but we had to play again so CT could have a chance to win..and he did. After Candy Land, we headed over to the bowling alley. Before we started, CT wanted to prove his manliness by forming some sort of bet: Girls vs. Guys....whoever wins: total scores combined after all games, has to buy the winning team Chick-Fil-A the next week. We all agreed: LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Leah tried to warn me about her "unfortunate" bowling skills. I was a little nervous at first, because I wanted a free meal, not to mention bragging rights. Leah and I bowl a decent first game, beating the guys by 23 points. "No biggie, we'll come back," they said. Second game, I lost my touch...I couldn't get a spare or a strike! It was as if the pins were begging for me to SPLIT them EVERYtime, because that's pretty much what I did. Leah, however, remained a firm constant and defeated her self-labeled title of "bad." The boys quietly took their turns---CT2: strike--strike--spare--9 pins--strike..and so it went. CT was not doing so bad himself. I began to get a little uneasy and I noticed CT has a smirk on his face: no good. On the 10th frame, CT starts counting up the scores in his head. Softly he said to me, "If you guys get 7 more points...you win." Leah--up last, no pressure--bowls a spare. HECK YES! WE DID IT! The GIRLS beat the GUYS by SIX points! OH it was glorious! Leah and I even got the scores printed so we could relish and indulge in our victory. Needless to say, the ride home there was barely a peep from the two gentlemen in the backseat..mwahhaha. Since then, they have recovered nicely, minus the 2-foot globe of ego that had surrounded them prior to bowling. Since I have to work every Monday night and Mondays are "Bring-your-church-bulletin-to- Chick-Fil-A-and-get-a -free-sandwich-night", CT has promised me ice cream from Coldstone Creamery instead. I think it's a fair adjustment.

Tuesday night: AppleFest, I spontaneously asked Scotty-G to be my TWIRP date. He was much obliged and so I "took him" to the bonfire. There were quite a few people there: an unexpected 150-200 students; quite a big turnout for Milligan student body. Everyone was crowded around the fire because it was a little chilly. A bluegrass banjo band was brought in to play and entertain. They were pretty good.
Scott and I decided to bake an apple and share it.
Precious, huh? We went and picked out the perfect apple, previously cored, and put our chosen condiments into it: butter and brown sugar. (I have no idea why this is underlined!?!) Then the apple is wrapped in foil and put onto a hot-dog roaster and roasted over the fire. Or like most people did: just throw it into the fire pit in hopes that it won't be too mushy to pull back out after it's cooked. We waited a few minutes and then Scott so manly, braved the darting flames to retrieve our baked apple. We opened it up and the smell was awesome; like warm apple pie! The skin was a bit burned so we neglected that part, but the rest was YUMMY! As the night's end was drawing nigh, Scott joined the bluegrass band and chimed in with his harmonic tenor voice (like I said in a previous post: the best voice on campus).

My TWIRP dates were pretty much awesome and we all had lots of fun! I can't wait to do it again next year! I like the idea of TWIRP too, because it's true that the guy pays the majority of the time and it's nice for the guys to be able to hang out and have fun without having to pay for once. I mean, really it's only one week out of 52.

Refreshing.

These pictures are from this past weekend: my
church retreat in Brown County, Indiana. Basically, it can be summed up to the fact that this weekend made it on my top 10 list of awesome things this year. I brought two of my girlfriends from school Leah (blonde) and Brett (brunette) and Stephen (brunette) and Kyle (blonde) also came. The first night, we drove from TN and got to IN around 830, and it was pouring down rain. Mom and Dad decided it would be best to go back to our house for the night, so we did...but not without surprising Kyle and Stephen first. They didn't know I was coming until they walked into Wendy's and saw me sitting at the table! Stephen, taken aback, exclaimed, "MIRM!!!" and Kyle just smiled at me. It was good to see "my boys" again, including Josh. We had a big slumber party at our house friday night: 11 people = crazy fun! Saturday we set up camp after the rain ceased and had a church service followed by an awesome testimony time. God's so good! I was really excited to see all my church family! I miss you guys soo much!! I almost started crying during a couple hugs---lis and pbr. And of course, seeing my family as well. I have the best family ever!! I love them all and my sisters are still--yes still sisters: attempted wedgies, silly sisterly sarcasm, you know those things. So it was a great weekend, not long enough though. I miss you all and love you even more! (FYI: If y'all get bored up there: I LOVE care packages or cards or anything via snail-mail! ) Hugs and kisses!