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!

I love these guys!

Church on Fire!

This is a church on fire,
We have a Holy Spirit flame.
We have a burning desire
to lift up Jesus' name!

Let every tongue and every heart
Light the way
Defeat the dark
Let a flame of love burn higher

This is a church...
This is a church on fire.

This song was written awhile back but it was in my head today. Correct me if I'm wrong, but from all the blog readings and communication I have up there, it seems like this is true of our church right now. Perhaps I'm speaking in faith, but aren't we R.U.N. Revival right now? Even though I'm not there, God is still moving in me and changing me. I've found a church down here called Calvary Church and I really enjoy it. The worship is SO awesome and the pastor gets fired up just like PBR (ok, maybe not to the same extent, but it's there). I've found a girl down the hall who is Spirit-filled and we've already prayed together. I think we might start meeting in the morning (I'll be crucifying the flesh this way...making myself get up before 8am! ahh!) to pray in the Holy Ghost and seek God. Pretty cool. I miss you guys so much and I love you even more! Be blessed today!

Logarithims, Rice Krispies, and Male-Bonding

One thing I can say is that the weather down here has been pretty amazing. I would dare say ::perfect::. The average temperature is about 76 and there's always a breeze with partly cloudy to clear skies. Yesss, i love autumn! I remember being in middle school and high school and asking the teachers all the time if we could go outside for class. The obvious answer to a 9th grader would be "Yeah, sure!" But I was rejected and told time and time again, "No, because we won't get anything done." SO WHAT!?? Anyway, relentless and ready to give the "outside class" idea another stab, i worked up the courage to ask my math prof. We had been in the 55 minute class for only about 15 minutes. He had done a few problems on the board and then paused for us to soak it in, for him to ponder and collect his thoughts too perhaps. I shot my hand up..."Dr. Glover? Since it's so awesomely gorgeous and nice outside, can we go outside for class?" Giggles and snickers were heard throughout the classroom as Dr. Glover looked at me, then checked his watch and looked back at the class. "Well okay, i don't see why not?" And so we gathered our bags and out the door we went into the beautiful sunshine. Dr. Glover ran to his office to retrieve something and the class settled onto a big circle of cement. Glover came over to us with a pink bucket in his hand. He dove back into the lesson with sidewalk chalk in hand. (Why a math professor has a bucket of sidewalk chalk in his office, i have no idea? Perhaps for times such as this).

This next picture displays the artistic talent of the Hart dorm. The cafeteria staff put on a contest for each dorm to sculpt a buffalo (school mascot) out of rice krispie treats. Each team (consisting of 3-4 people from that dorm) was given a big mound of rice krispie treat, candy for accessories, gloves and 3 minutes for sculpting. This one was the winner: from Hart hall. We all get fresh baked cookies! Mmmm!

Scott (the tall one) and Christian are two really awesome guys that I've met down here. (Chill out girls: they're only friends). Scott's a sophomore and it's been rumored he has the best singing voice on campus, and I would have to agree. He also has a really dry sense of humor and it's hilarious. Christian (or better known as C.T.) could go by the alias of "Mr. Milligan." He's a senior at Milligan and everyone knows who he is. He's vice president of SGA and a leader for Vespers (our student-led worship service on sunday nights). C.T. is all about having fun and sometimes too much fun (perhaps lighting speed bumps on fire and then "lowering" them by applying a pick-axe is a little much; or how about changing the dynamics of the school's pool with red kool-aid?)

Anyway, these are just a few happenings around campus presently. I went on a rescue mission tonight and was successful. I'll have to write about that and my new job later. It's currently 313am and my body is shutting down. Goodnight!!

I woke up at 1030 this morning to the bouncing of someone on my bed. Brett and I have bunkbeds, I'm on the top. Brett got up and left earlier this morning to go to a community event. I decided to use Saturday morning for God created them for: SLEEP. My sleeping habits recently have not been adequate enough (i.e.: going to bed at 330am, getting up at 715am) My body doesn't like it too much, so I'm getting myself into a routine. So this morning when I opened my eyes, I found a young lady on my bed crawling towards me. Her name is Jax. Jax (or Jackie; girl in pic w/ me w/ pink shirt) was the one that first "brought us in" to the Milligan COOL KIDS. :) She's an awesome woman of God and I'm really blessed to have a friend in her. We sat on my bed and had some girl talk (of course) and then she convinced me to go to brunch. It was pretty tasty: biscuits & gravy, hashbrowns, etc.
Today is my FIRST day that I've woken up and been able to just relax. There will be some activities later tonight such as an Organic Fest in Asheville, NC (apparently, all the hippies go there?) and then maybe some star-gazing tonight on top of Roan Mtn; maybe I'll get some homework done in there somewhere...hehe. Brett and I are supposed to go couch-hunting sometime this weekend. We've rearranged our room, making a space for a couch/sofa because there's nowhere for our guests to sit when they come to visit us. I mean, we don't want to be known as anti-social because we don't care enough to let our visitors have a seat.
There's not too much happening right now, but I realized I haven't posted in awhile. So it's a small update.

(Pictures:) #1. Jax and I. #2. Isaac and I on the late night trip up the mtn to the Firetower--I'll write about that later. #3. Milligan soccer boy: Justin. he's pretty tall. #4. We did a photo scavenger hunt for Bible study and we had to pose with mannequins.