December

Decemeber seems like it flew right by! Finals ended on the 17th and before that was pretty much just getting projects done, etc. I stayed in Fargo through the 23rd for work and then headed home for Christmas. Unfortunately I failed to take any pictures over Christmas, as did all of my family members. I have to get back into the picture taking mode! Thus, all pictures posted today are thanks to my fine roommates. Here are a few of the things captured from December.

My friend Rebekah's husband and brother are in the band Sonstruck and they recently had a concert to release their third, and final, cd. They did a really great job and it was also a good time to catch up with friends!Rebekah did a great job selling cds! :)Me, Rebekah, and Leah

The next weekend we had a HUGE snow storm! We were trapped in the apartment all of Sunday, as there was no possible way we would be able to drive anywhere. Although it was fun to watch the storm and just hang out inside, we started to get a little stir crazy. Sometime in the evening my roommates and I decided to head outside for a bit to get some fresh air. It lasted all of about 10 minutes.

Ashley wanted to capture my excitement for getting to leave the apartment.

Turkey Trot, Home Visit, Sweet Kjasa, and a Wedding!

It has been a busy month and a half! (These pictures are chronologically backwards...sorry.) Starting with what has happened most recently-my cousin Bethany got married yesterday. It was a fun to catch up with family and help Bethany and Sven celebrate. Here are the immediate family members that made it. :) We missed Ingrid, Aaron and Heidi.
It's been fun living close to my cousin Mark and Liz and to be able to see their girls Kjasa and baby Greta! I have been able to watch Kjasa a few times, and here's a picture from the most recent. She's such a sweety and has perhaps the biggest imagination I've ever seen.
Leah and I visited my mom during deer season in November. We had fun checking out the local shops and having coffee!
Right before Thanksgiving Leah and I ran the Turkey Trot with some of our friends here in Fargo. It was a really fun 5 mile run! Hope, Jess, Kelsey, Leah and I all had matching tye-dyed shirts, so that was fun, too!

Musical Shares-3

This is an absolute MUST listen to song....or at least I think so. I don't even want to try to describe/explain it. Just soak it up. It's by Kim Walker and the lyrics go like this:

He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC1ec-lYps

The Social Part

You may have thought I disappeared from the face of the earth, but I didn't! I am alive and well...doing better than I deserve (to quote Mr. Dave Ramsey). Here are some of the fun things that have taken place in my social life most recently. Early in November, the 3rd, it was my friend Rebekah's birthday! A group of us went out for dinner at Paradiso to celebrate her and had a very good time. (Above: Rebekah being sang to by the Paradiso crew. Below: Rebekah, Leah, me, and Jess)




Leah is a hardcore Bison fan and frequently tells me how much fun the football games are. So, one day she informed me she had gotten me a ticket to go with her to a game...what a friend. We met our friend Jess and other roommate, Ashley, there as well. It really was a good time.
I may have pretended to be a Bison that day but Dragon is in my blood. (Leah drew this sweet tat on me....FYI: The Minnesota State University Moorhead, the school I attend, mascot is the dragon.)
Jess is also hardcore Bison...she even had Bison suckers for us!
The half-time show was put on by the NDSU marching band. They did a song from Batman and formed the Batman sign-we thought it was pretty cool!

Last week Martin Sexton came to Fargo! If you haven't heard his music before, you should definitely check it out-quality stuff. Once again, a group of us got together (we like hanging out) and attended this sweet concert. Another fun time! (L to R: Jordan, Rebekah, me, Leah, Ashley, Tom-up above behind Ashley)
The man himself: Martin Sexton.
The concert was downtown at the Fargo Theatre...sweet place.

Maplewood State Park

This past Sunday afternoon I went out to Maplewood State Park with my friends Leah and Roxie. Even though it was cloudy it was still SO beautiful. It was so nice to get a break from homework, work, and the city for a bit to just enjoy being outside and the fall weather. It was a perfect, perfect day. The first picture is of Leah and I next to perhaps the largest pelican in the world. :) The park is just past Pelican Rapids, where this pelican happens to be. (Pelican Rapids is about a half hour from Fargo.)
Here's the beautiful Roxie.
Greta, Leah, Roxie.
Sweet Leah.

The park is actually right behind us past the lake...isn't it beautiful?
Ha!
This is what we got to enjoy when we got to the top of the hill.

Playing in the leaves. :)

I love this picture of these berry-type plants.

Good friends.
There was this really cool/nice shelter that we thought we should have a picnic at sometime, or some other event, that I was trying to show off but instead blocked.
All these pictures are courtesy of the amazing photographer Leah Kent. :)

This Is What Procrastinating Looks Like

This is my life most recently:
-learning tons of new things (in the educational sense)
-learning life lessons
-making new friends
-checking out new churches (and trying to decide which one I should make my "home church")
-attending Chi Alpha (a Christian organization on campus Thursday evenings)
-babysitting (Mondays and Wednesdays)
-trying to get a "real" job
-living with two cool roommates
-studying
-exploring Fargo/Moorhead area
-and finally PROCRASTINATING! :) Doesn't it sound so negative? I think so. I know so. It really is not a good thing to procrastinate, but somehow I do get everything done on time. I try not to procrastinate as much as possible, but here are some pictures documenting a day that I did happen to procrastinate for half an hour. My roommates, Leah and Ashley, and I rediscovered the joy of "photo booth". If you own a Mac, I suggest you look into this feature...if you have spare time. Well, here we are. You can check out our progression of photo taking. Sadly, these aren't even all the pictures we happened to take this particular day. There are probably 10 or 15 more. I know. Horrible. There was a positive side to this, though, (this is me justifying our procrastination). Roommate bonding took place. We laughed together, cried together (because we were laughing so hard), and overall had a good time. It was a priceless half hour of procrastination. Ok, enjoy the pics...I'm done talking.

Berry Season

Sunday evening I went blueberry picking in Canada with my parents. It was a great evening for picking! We thought it was going to be a little on the warm side, but it wasn't too bad. Now just imagine these little guys on your cereal, in a shake, pie, or just plain! :)
My mom always looks cute-even picking berries!
Dad was mostly our 'scouter', but he definitely did a good job of 'clean picking' too.
The prize? A five quart pail after only about an hour and a half!