Things I Used To Believe That Weren't True

1) I thought the word condom was a shortened version of the word condominium, so whenever people said the word condom growing up, I just assumed they were talking about houses.

2) I used to think that brown cows produced chocolate milk.

3) I thought that pizza came from deer, after my parents were cutting open a deer and we had pizza for dinner that night.

4) I thought that if the power went off in the house, we all would die.  I remember it was the middle of a storm when I had this thought, and I was reading a bedtime story with my dad and started crying.

5) I thought your heart was made of wood.  The gym teacher asked what the heart was made out of, and I said wood, because I had saw a picture of Jesus, and his heart looked to be made out of wood.

6)  I thought God gave your mom a baby when he thought she was ready to have one.

7) I knew mostly what sex was, but thought that urinating on each other was apart of the process. :P

8)  I thought I could talk to birds

9) I was convinced I would be a famous singer one day at the age of 5

10)  I didn't know Alaska was connected to Canada, so I assumed it was an island, because it's always shown separate from all the other states like Hawaii.

A Lovely Weekend December 19th-21st

Saturday December 21st:  I wrapped presents with my mom, and we got most of them done.  That night I went to a Christmas party at Lizzy and Anna's friend Alyssa's house in West Bend.  Once everyone arrived at the party we went to Regner Park where there was a Christmas light show going on. (Enchantment in the Park).  There were around 17 of us so some of us walked through the park, and the others drove.  I thought it would be more fun to walk through.  I had never been to a Christmas light show before.  Even though it was very cold that night, and I had thighsicles by the end, I loved it.  I was really excited at the beginning. Lizzy, her friend Stephanie and I took a lot of pictures. Including:

We took some more pictures, but these were the ones that turned out the best.  Once we got properly frozen we decided to go back to Alyssa's house for some apple cider and punch.  We then played Christmas Charades and Catch Phrase.   I usually somehow ended up on the team that won :D Except for one game.  Before playing Catch Phrase there was a crazy sock contest.  I thought I would win because I had hamburger socks that Hazuki had given me, but sadly it wasn't enough to win. :P The night was finished off by the movie "Elf"  I was actually wearing my "Elf" shirt that day ironically. 

Sunday December 20th:  I woke up early to drive down to Racine to go to church and visit Mike, Laurette, and Trae.  Mike would be in town as well.  The church message was about Christmas, but the speaker, Dustan put a funny twist on it.  It was probably the most interesting talk I have heard on Christmas.  I also liked how he had slides of what Christians think happened during the Christmas story, but how we can't actually be sure of it.  Like in "The Bible" it says there were three gifts that were given to Jesus, but never if there were three wise men.  There could of been more or less wise men.  He also talked about what the manger could of looked like, and how Mary got to Bethlehem.  None of these things are really described in the story of Christmas.  During the break Jeremy's sister visited.  Her church gets out when Living Light is having a break between worship and the message.  She talked about how her brother had performed in a play at her church as a shepherd in a musical version of the Christmas story.  (So cute!).  Trae also discovered Mike and I, we were trying kind of to surprise him.  He noticed us before we could sneak up behind him.;D It was nice to catch up with him.  I also got to meet the lovely Arwin (a little girl that goes to our church, that apparently made the best fort with Trae :P).  

    After church Mike and I picked up Laurette and we all went to lunch at Main Moon restaurant, which is a Chinese place in Racine, and caught up with each other.  Then Mike had to leave, so Laurette and I went to a coffee/tea shop.  It was really fancy actually.  They had coffees from all around the world.  They also had tea diffuser things, where they put the flavoring and leaves in then they give you a timer so you know when to push down the leaves.  (Some of you probably have seen those before and probably think its funny that I was so intrigued by it).  I had a herbal chamomile lemon tea.  I have so much to learn about teas yet.  Still trying to decide if I'm a tea person.  After the coffee/tea shop it was time for Laurette to go to work.  I looked around her place of work for a bit (CVS Pharmacy) then headed home.

    Before I went home I went to my brother's new house which is actually about a mile down the road from us for a Packer Party.  It was the third quarter when I got there.  It was the first time I sat down and relaxed at that house.  It used to be my dad's mom's house.

Monday December 21st:  Met up with Christian at Starbucks this afternoon for coffee and sandwiches, while we had a great hour and a half talk, catching up on things.  Christian is doing so many things it's crazy.  He is so genuinely happy though.  I'm so happy about that.  He says that he can't wait to be grown up, and is excited to see what exciting things happen for all of his friends. (I don't know how often, if ever I've heard a college kid say they're excited to grow up/adult) :P  It seems like college is going really well for him.  I love seeing him so positive about things.  High school really stops you from being who you really are.  I'm glad college has let the real side of Christian and I come out.  :) I'm glad that he's in my life still, even though our colleges are so far apart from each other.  Some people you just lose contact with after high school.  

God's Blessings

For Thanksgiving tomorrow, I thought I would honor God, and list off some of the blessings that I'm thankful for.  :)

1. Thank you God for taste buds.  God you could of made our food bland.  Food is just meant to give us nutrients, and fuel our bodies, but instead you let us experience and enjoy it God.  You didn't just give us one flavor, but so many flavors so all the foods we eat our unique!  
2. God Thank you for sweaters.  They are so comfy and warm to wear during the coldness of winter!
3. God thank you for nature.  The nature around us is so beautiful and enjoyable.  Nature causes sunsets every night, and yet we are fascinated every time we see one.  
4. Thank you that I have a car, so I can go to different places at anytime.  
5. Thank you God that you are so loving, and not a God who's far away.  You're a God that sees everything, and that you actually are interested in having a relationship with all of us.
6. Thank you God that I can have conversations with you, and you actually listen and speak back,
7. Thank you for a supportive family and group of friends
8. Thank you God that you actually bring a lot of strength in times of suffering.  That suffering is actually a part of your purpose of bringing in your kingdom.  That you teach us, and make us stronger and mature us.  
9. Thank you God for always giving me hope in times of struggle.  Whenever I thought I couldn't go forward, you always gave me the hope to keep going.
10. Thank you that you actually want us to look like and be like you Jesus, and actually give us the power to do so.
11. Thank you Jesus that we don't have to be afraid because you are the center of everything.  You are all-knowing Jesus.  You have the keys Jesus, and Satan has no power over us.  He can only react to the things you do, he is not an initiator.  That in your presence the demons actually shake and tremble in fear.  We as Christians are untouchable to then because we are your property God.  That we actually are your treasured property.  
12. Thank you Jesus that you took the weak people and made them strong.  That when you picked your disciples you didn't pick the best people or the strongest, but you picked average men, and turned them into conquerors, and that you turn us into conquerors as well.
13. Thank you that you have given us new life. when we were born-again.  
14. Thank you for Thursday mornings God, that I get to worship you with a group of great friends, and your presence is always there with us.
15. Thank you Jesus, that we are never alone that you are actually there with us in every situation.
16. Thank you God for dogs that they are such loving animals that are so full of joy and compassion.
17. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross, so that my sins could be forgiven (the greatest blessing of all)
18. Thank you God that you continually provide growth in my walk with you, and feed me and continue to blow my mind.
19. Thank you God that you are such a good father!
20. Thank you God for providing my a church I really enjoy going too God, and a fantastic, caring church community God.  That I actually enjoy going to church that every Sunday morning gives me such a strong feeling of excitement.
21. Thank you God for the gifts you have given me.  The gift of patience, compassion, love for others,humor, tongues, and prophecy.
22. Thank you for music God, that we can relate to others through the lyrics, and the beats and rhythms are beautiful to listen to.
23. Thank you God that you encourage rest, you don't insist on overworking us.
24. Thank you God that you are a comforter and you comfort our fears.  

 God their are more than 10,000 reasons to be thankful! :)  Thank you for all the blessings you give your children God.  

To end:  A link to the song 10,000 Reasons- Matt Redman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

A Week of Encouragement November 1-7 2015

Sunday:  Church was held at Mahone Middle School for a Joint Meeting.  The 5th meeting in a row to take place there.  Usually we have a joint meeting once a month, but this month was different.  God had the need for us to become one Living Light body for multiple weeks, which each week focusing on something different.  Afterwards I took Mike to Commongrounds.  (I knew he liked Chai Tea, and Commongrounds has really good Chai Tea.) He would drink it within two minutes before we got back to our table.  Before we left the church meeting Mike asked me if we should have Trae come with us.  Trae is the type of person you need to plan with advance because hes usually really busy or meeting with someone else, but he wasn't and came with us. I was pulled over for the first time ever on the way there for not stopping at a yield sign.  He let me go with just a warning.  Trae got to Commongrounds before us, and was shocked.  I told him how I had gotten pulled over. I guess Kenosha is a really common place to get pulled over.  Once we settled in Trae gave a ton of encouraging words to Mike, and shared stories from bringing the Holy Spirit on people when he went out to Oregon during the summer.  It was nice out as well so we took a walk along a boardwalk by Lake Michigan, and talked some more.  This little trip made me feel so inspired the rest of the day.

Tuesday:  Tuesday was really fun.  Tuesday night my friends an I piled in a car and took a trip to Wisconsin Lutheran.  My friend Ethan would be performing an acoustic guitar show.  To show support as a fellow child of God, I went.  Spending the night with Christians who are strong in their faith is super uplifting.  A girl named Haley came with us too.  She is a local musician who gets quite a few views on YouTube. Most of her videos have a couple hundred thousand views.  Ethan and Haley both are such humbling people.  Ethan connected with the people in the crowd, and just loved him but he never let it go to his head.  He's one of those people I never thought I'd ever be more than acquaintances with, but as I've gotten to know him more this semester it just makes sense.  His genuine love of people has shown through.  Before the show the people putting on the show provided us with Chinese food and we made an impromptu song about Broccoli, and Butterfingers.  The song was created after Aaron kept trying to get us to eat the rest of the cooked broccoli in his meal, and Trae asked how many calories were in a Butterfinger. It was a really great show and I'm really glad I got to go.

Wednesday:  Got breakfast with Felcia, Trae, Ethan, and Courtney at Bob's Diner.  We think if we go enough times they might but our picture on their wall.  Meals are half-priced on Wednesdays. Courtney tried to make butter by shaking the tiny cups of half-and-half, very determined it would work.  It didn't.  Most of the breakfast Courtney and I just observed Ethan.  He does the weirdest things, but they're overly funny, especially when your tired because you have yet to be fully awake.  I had to cut the breakfast short though, because I had to get back to class for a Spanish test.  Trae and Ethan obsess over Bob's diner.  Bob's also has a wide selection of animals you can get prepared in a skillet.

Thursday: Today I got up at 6a.m. in the morning for a morning adventure to the Pleasant Prairie Living Light. Trae and I had set up for Mike to be prayed over, because he was in need of encouragement, and also to help him out with his fight of brain cancer.  We decided to meet in Pleasant Prairie, because one of the prophets of our church had, had his body filled with cancer and it miraculously went away.  Trae thought it'd be good to have him there to pray over Mike.  Pleasant Prairie has prayer meeting every Thursday morning starting at 6.  We started off by singing a worship song then Trae, Ethan, and I along with all the people at the prayer meeting laid hands on Mike and prayed over him.  Mike got baptized by the Holy Spirit as well as prayers to help fight the cancer.  (He goes in for an MRI sometime this month).  After the prayer meeting Mike wanted to go to Commongrounds once again. I followed Ethan's car not knowing exactly how to get there.  When we got there Ethan made fun of me for driving really slow.  I told him I had just gotten pulled over near there a couple days before, and he reminded me I could still get pulled over for going under the speed limit.  This time Mike ordered three (Large) Chai Teas. Ethan started out as his normal self this time he kept trying to throw something into the trash bin and missing so he kept doing it over and over until he finally got it.  Him and Trae had gone back to Bob's for dinner where Ethan had ordered a kangaroo skillet.  Trae then told us how once him and his friend or just him? caught a snapping turtle, cooked and put Buffalo wings sauce on it.  The second half of the conversations we had were lead by the Holy Spirit.  Things we would of never known on our own.  Mostly about how we can't rush things or rush into things.  That we need patience, and God will let us know when the time is right.  Too many people in society today rush into relationships because they think they should be in one.  A lot of people rush into them without thinking about it, and that just makes the relationship unfruitful.  After this conversation I was so joyful, and so blessed and thankful for God.  I just felt God's love so much.  On the way back to campus the Holy Spirit would speak through me to Mike.  That afternoon after classes, My friend Cynthia and I met up with Milly at The Buzz Cafe in Kenosha, and talk about Chinese culture, as well as Milly's job.  With Milly's job she gets to travel to different countries evangelizing or attending conferences through Living Light.  I really want to do something like that as a job.  Talks with Milly are also always inspirational.  After meeting up with Milly I would think I was getting a cold, because I got a sorethroat and felt gross.  I still made it to the Thursday night bible study on campus where we discussed handling things in love, and dealing with anger.

Friday: My 1st week in 3 weeks I had actually been on campus.  After classes I had Mike over, feeling the need to share some Living Light podcasts with him for encouragement, while having hot chocolate.  One about spiritual maturity and the other on the Importance of Rest.  We talked for awhile after that. About Apologetics, and knowing God is really there, and the sadness that comes with someone who doesn't believe.  I also showed him all the Twenty One Pilot Debate videos.  

Saturday:  Picked up Tyler at 10:30 to meet Anna and Lizzy at a Park and Ride in Racine.  They would be taking us down to Chicago to celebrate Anna's 21st birthday.  They edited the post that told us to meet them at 10:45 to 12:15, and I was totally unaware of that.  Until it was around 11:45 and they still weren't there.  Tyler and I went and got Starbucks, and came and waited some more when he saw the post.  A little before 1 they finally arrived, and we made our way down to Chicago.  We first stopped at the Shedd Aquarium.  (With your student ID you can get in for $5!) At the Shedd Aquarium they have dolphins...what?  I wasn't expecting to see dolphins in Illinois.  After spending a bit there and taking pictures of the beautiful skyline we went to Chinatown.  At Chinatown we went to a restaurant that served roasted duck.  (Cynthia has said it was her favorite Chinese food) so I ordered it and it was only $5.  It was pretty good too.  I also got a kiwi smoothie.  There were 13 of us in total to help celebrate Anna's birthday.  We took there family 14 person van down to Chicago.  :p (13 Christians. so more encouraging conversations were had.) 

  

Spiritual Encouragement

  Here are a couple of teachings that were held at my church in Racine that encouraged me and taught me a lot.  I hope they can encourage you all as well.

• Spiritual Growth and Maturity (Scott Goodwill): http://www.onechurchministries.com/?powerpress_pinw=3991-podcast
  
• The Power of Words (Joey Papa): http://www.onechurchministries.com/?powerpress_pinw=3587-podcast
  
• The Important of Rest (Scott Goodwill): http://www.onechurchministries.com/?powerpress_pinw=3471-podcast
  
• Spiritual Gifts in Action (Milly Garvin): http://www.onechurchministries.com/?powerpress_pinw=3645-podcast
  

Realization After the 6 Week Evangelism Training

   A lot has happened since I last posted (before yesterday's post).  Tonight was the last Evangelism Training of the 6 week class taught by my friend Milly.  Tonight was all about debriefing about what had happened during those 6 weeks, and things to make the class better, as Milly is going to take the Evangelism class to the other cities with the other Living Lights as well.  (Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, Cadillac, Taughton, Wellington, and Germany).  A flood of realizations came to my head that I thought I would share.

   During the summer as stated in a previous blogpost, God told me to get more involved with my church, and the people of the church.  I asked God for an opportunity to do this, and on the second week I went to church after summer break, Milly's Evangelism Training class was introduced,  I knew this is what God wanted me to do.  That day was the first time I officially met Milly, after I had heard so much about her.  Now being that the class is now over, I realized I have gotten to know a group from the church so much better, and they have been so encouraging to me.

    It was so great to be taught about genuine evangelism.  On the first night Milly taught us that Evangelism shouldn't be boxed in.  There are so many ways to do Evangelism, and you shouldn't follow a certain technique.  Evangelism should be lead by the Holy Spirit.  The way we had been taught to do Evangelism with Cru (Christian group on campus) is to do spiritual surveys, or to share a a booklet called a KGP (Getting to Know God Personally).  I feel like the use of the KGP and surveys are more like forced Evangelism rather than genuine Evangelism, all though they are easier to use if you don't really know how to start an evangelistic conversation.  I just think it's more fruitful to have the Holy Spirit lead you in the conversation, and gives you away to talk about God.  In the class it was kind of also taught that  God will lead you to who you should talk to, you shouldn't go up to people randomly.  In Cru we were taught to just walk up to random strangers and start talking to them.  Of course God wants everyone in his kingdom, but he also knows when they're ready to hear it.

   Through these 6 weeks there has also been an immense growth in my walk with God, even being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I used to have an open-mind about all the Christian topics, but I feel like God has given me a strong opinion on things so I can talk to other people confidently without doubt that I'm saying something wrong to others, and has just made me way more bold as a person.  If I feel lead to do something, I just do it.   I without hesitation share my testimony, and my faith.  I can talk about things that usually I'd feel uncomfortable talking about with people, and was given knowledge to be able to answer other people's questions that they may have.  Through having such a strong opinion on faith though I have been discouraged.  A few people have definitely disagreed with me, and thought that by me having such a strong opinion that I was actually putting myself above them.  They thought that I thought that I was more spiritually strong then them.  This doesn't matter though.  We are all children of God, therefore equal, but all of us are in varying stages of our faith with God.

   I have been also exercising my faith muscle.  I've been praying over people, and trusting that the images I see or the words I am given are prophetic.  You won't always be right of course, but you need to keep trying, because God "is" talking to you!  I asked God to show me the world differently and he sure did in such a wonderful way.  I thought this post would be longer.  I was inspired to write it last night but got discouraged so I don't know if this is all I wanted to say, but I'll add to it if I think of anything.

Things I've Learned This Semester so far

1) Don't rely on one person too much, this will keep you from growing.

2) Being alone is comfortable, I don't need to be with someone 24/7 (I can eat meals alone comfortably)

3) There's no need for me to feel insecure

4) I can easily befriend cute guys, and they'll like hanging out with me too.  (This isn't high school)

5) Prayer is so powerful.

6) Take my problems to God first instead of other people.  

7) Yik Yak should never be downloaded ( I didn't gain anything from it, except for one day when someone let me in the dorm when I forgot my keys.) Everything is so negative on there. 

8)  Since being alone is comfortable to me, so is me being single

9) Making goals is helpful.  I made a goal to get more involved with my church, and I have met so many wonderful people this year through it.  

10) I like talking about God, I could keep talking about him, and my life for hours.  

11) Things might be awkward when you first meet someone, but you'll get through it

12) Don't do too much 

13) It's impossible to eat healthy on campus, and I'll probably gain 10 pounds.

14) I'm glad I chose Parkside.

What happened in September?

September 1st-4th:  Read my first week of school summary blogs.

September 5th:  Went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Laurette, and hung out at Regency Mall.

September 6th: Joint Church meetings.  (All three Living Lights in the area met at one place for a message and worship)

September 7th: Went to Waukesha with Chris and Robert to pick up supplies for the Freshman Kits we were making for the Org Fair.  Stopped and got lunch at the Soup Depot, the later put the kits together.

September 8th: First Cru Meeting of the year.  Met up with Aly for our first Discipleship time, and caught up over dinner at a stir fry place.  Only a few new people.  Talked to Mike and Jeremy for a long time.

September 9th: The Org Fair took place under the bridge on campus.  The Cru stand was placed by the icecream stand, which provided more traffic but also attracted bees.  A lot of surveys were filled out, and "Jesus Without Religion" books were taken.  I walked around myself, and got a ton of free stuff including like 7 CDs.  That night we sorted all the people into piles by if they were interested in a bible study or not, and who to follow up with.  Snoopwhale was reborn.

September 10th:  Went and did a survey followup in the dorms, was only able to meet up with three people.  There had been a fraternity/sorority gathering/party in the Den that night.

September 11th:  A day filled with nothing and relaxing?

September 12th:  Got frozen yogurt and talked with Christina.

September 13th: Went to church, and got to meet two of Trae's friends.  We met up at Starbucks afterward where we had spiritual discussions.

September 14th:  Went to an Advising Meeting for Cru with Jeremy.

September 15th: Had Discipleship with Aly where we went through part of the Cru Doctrine.  A lot of people showed up to Cru this week, my roommate Christina being one of them.  We all went to Varsitea Flatts afterwards where we were provided free food and drinks, and got to know each other.

September 16th: After classes I went swimming with Kelsey and a few other Intervarsity people.  We played a game where we through a water bottle in the pool, and had to go find it. (The water bottle was completely invisible under the water).  We also played Sharks and Minnows, and just hang out in the water.  Afterwards I met up with Felicia at a pizza restaurant in Racine before our first Living Light Evangelism Training which took place afterwards.

September  17th:  Met another one of  Trae's friends, and hung out with a few Living Light people in the morning.  That night saw the "War Room" with Nicole, Jared, Mike, and Jeremy.  Which is almost the exact people that were in my car on the way to the Brewers Game.  After seeing the War Room went to Culvers for icecream where it began to downpour, so much so there was a Flash Flood Warning.  We eventually got back to campus after deciding to bear the rain after it wouldn't slow down.  Once we got back to campus hung out with Jeremy and Mike for a little bit.

September 18th:  I went home for the weekend,

September 19th;  Relaxed at home, mom took me to Walmart.

September 20th:  Circumstances brought Amber back to Allenton so I was able to hang out with her.  We went to a pumpkin farm, got icecream at Dairy Queen, and painted pumpkins.  :)

September 21st: Got my blood drawn, then went to my first IV meeting.  Jeremy decided to make it his first IV meeting too.  After the IV meeting they were giving out Liquid Nitrogen icecream.  It really good. Door got jammed so I had to wait out in my apartment living room, drained after giving blood and 5 hours of classes. Did tie-dye that night with Jeremy at the Art Club tie-dye event.

September 22nd: Another Cruesday.  I felt super overwhelmed with all the work I needed to do, so I canceled discipleship.  Turned out it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I was able to work on most of it and get things done.  Only a small amount of people came to Cru, including my friend Felicia from church who seemed skeptical about the whole message.  I honestly think Trae did an immensely better job describing Grace last year then the speaker did tonight.  Hung out in the den afterwards.

September 23rd: Had another Evangelism Training.  Before I went to that I washed the tie-dye shirts, and worked on homework.  At the Evangelism Training we discussed cool things that had happened during the week, then watched Holy Ghost.  Holy Ghost is a documentary about Evangelistic Miracles.

September 24th: I was suppose to meet up with Milly today, the leader of the Evangelism trainings today, but my door decided to be jammed again right before I needed to get my keys to head out so we had to cancel.  My roommate bought us a pet fish.  He is a pure white Beta fish with an orange mark on his head and bright blue eyes.  Went to the first bible study of the year.  The bible studies are divided by genders now.  Only one other girl showed up at the girls bible study, and I guess the guys had 6.  Made myself Orange Chicken.

September 25th:  Had an interview at 9am for a Spanish tutoring position at the tutoring center.  Then went to Kelsey's bible study at 2pm.

September 26th:  Went to Milwaukee with Tyler and Jeremy to meet up with Lizzy and Anna, (I have a separate blogpost of details of that adventure.)

September 27th:  A bunch of my friends came to Living Light with me today.  We all hung out after church: going to Applebees, a corn maze, and making caramel apples.  (Also have a separate blogpost for this one to.)

September 28th: Went to my 2nd Intervarsity meeting (the other Christian group on campus) Met up with my friend Milly at Starbucks after my classes were done to get to know each other better and discuss spiritual things.  Trae ended up going to Starbucks that day too even though it was his day off and creeped/took pictures of us from inside.  Once I got back to campus Nicole did my makeup.  Too bad like no one got to see it. :P

September 29th: Tuesday Crusday: Had a small breakdown after the busyness of the last 3 days, I was overly tired,  Tuesday nights always seem to be overwhelmed with homework.  Cru's message tonight was about joy and God's promises.   Hung out in the den afterwards, I basically had a whole meal there.  No one able to stay in the den the full time, which is good because I don't really like missing out on anything, but had to study for a test.  Jeremy has the same problem, Kyle basically had to drag him away to do homework tonight.

September 30th:  Another Evangelism class, this time everyone was split into two groups and we went out to dinner.  This would give us the tools to evangelize in a realistic setting if the opportunity arose.  My group talked to a lot of people, but weren't really given any opportunities to share our faith.  The other group got to share their testimony, and relate one of the girl's tattoos to the Bible.

A Fantastic Fall Weekend: (Sunday)

       Mike and my freshman friend Alex showed up at my apartment at 9:15 so we could carpool to church.  I was planning on leaving at 9:30 so I figured they'd have 15 minutes to get here if they woke up late etc, but they both ended up showing up right on time.  I showed them both my room, and parts of the apartment then we drove to the church.  We got there pretty early so we were actually one of the first people, the worship band was even still practicing.  We got first pick at the breakfast table though.  Milly was the first one to come up and meet Alex and Mike.  Shortly after meeting Mike, Milly prayed over him.  Sometimes when she prays miraculous things happen right away, this wasn't the case however for Mike.  But we have faith God was listening and will answer our prayers.  Kelsey and Courtney showed up then Jen and Josh.  I guess everyone was super surprised and excited to see a big group of new college kids at the church.  A lot of people came up to us after church to meet them.  Courtney got prayed over, and sat on the other side of church from us.  The whole message about how after we come to Christ we are generally nicer people because of God, and people are able to sense that about us.

         After church we all met up at Applebees.  A total of nine of us.  Trae is doing a "Daniel Fast" so he can't eat a lot of things.  He can eat any fruits and vegetables, but no animal products.  Kind of like a vegan diet.  It's 40 days, and the last week he needs to fast completely except for water and juices.  I guess Applebees doesn't have fruit bowls on their menu.  At Applebees since there was nine of us I was the one in between the two groups of 4, so I could be apart of both conversations.  One time I said yes to the other side of the tables questions, and Courtney on the other side of me thought I had been answering her question. ha ha.  Our waiter was kind of rude/sassy though, and seemed to segregate our table.  I guess Trae's side was cooler then Courtneys.  Apparently there's a restaurant in Milwaukee who purposely hires people to be rude to the customers, and people go there for the experience.  Sadly Kelsey took the picture so you can't see her!

   After Applebees we went over to Courtney's house.  Trae and Alyssa went home.  Trae takes Sundays seriously because their his day off, so he considers them his day of rest. We joked about how he could get a half hour start and hide in the maze and lay down somewhere, when you heard him snoring it would be a clue. "I hear a clue!"  At Courtney's house were two white eskimo dogs.  I literally could put together a zoo of just the animals I witnessed this weekend.  They were super adorable dogs.  We then headed over to a pumpkin farm in Racine!

    We waited for Courtney's friend Leah when we got there.  We checked out the animals and the store, then went on an adventure through the corn maze.  Before we went in, we had to watch an instructional video about the rules of the "Maize Maze", and repeat after the man on the screen including: "I will not smoke in the maze!" Along the way we took two Snapchat videos to send to Trae.  One of me acting like we had been in the Maze for three days, and one of everyone singing and marching through the maze.  I wish I could of seen his reaction.  At one point Kelsey and Courtney ran off in a different direction, but it turned out it was a loop, so we both got to the same place.  We successfully got out of the Maze after an hour.  (I walked too much this weekend I think.)

     Courtney bought everyone pumpkins afterwards.  They were pretty cheap actually.  We then went back to Courtney's house where we made and decorated caramel apples, and played Old Maid.  Courtney invited her new friend Zach over, which happened to be the Zach I met from Living Light through Trae two weeks ago.  There was no new people for me to meet today.  We played Old Maid, and Pass the Ace, then took advantage of the beautiful weather outside.  Courtney lives right next to a park, so we played Frisbee, tag, and volleyball in the park.  The mosquitoes began to attack us after a couple hours so we had to go back inside where we talked for a bit then had to go home.

    We didn't get back to campus until about 8ish.  Our fun-filled day ended with the lunar eclipse and blood moon! :) God is such an artist!

A Fantastic Fall Weekend (Saturday)

     This week just seemed to be kicking my butt.  It was all worth it though, since this weekend turned out to be so much fun/fruitful.  Weekends like these, make me remember how blessed I truly am!

    On Saturday Jeremy and I went to Tyler's house to hang out for a little bit before going to MSOE to meet up with Lizzy, Anna, and their friends.  Tyler's house contained three cats and three dogs.  One dog they were babysitting which was a Pitbull mix, the other two were yellow labs.  For cats their was a giant fat, black kitty. (I had to pick him up, because of missing Fluffer.), and a multicolored kitten named Chewbacca,  I was covered in hair by the time we left, and had chosen to wear black pants that day. :P.

   After lint-rolling my pants, we drove to MSOE.  It had been my first time driving in downtown Milwaukee, so I didn't really know what to expect.  I have been driving for 3 years now, and have driven through the craziness that is Racine, so I figured I'd do fine.  I did pretty well, although it wasn't really a busy traffic time of day.

    We got to MSOE 15 minutes before the rest, so Tyler and Jeremy passed time by playing a word game.  The word game involved trying to guess the same word.  They started out by saying a random word, then had to think of something that related to both the words they said.  That way they could more easily guess the same word.  They were still doing the game, after we met up with the rest.
 Lizzy, and Anna had invited their friends Josh, Cassie, and Hannah.  I had met Hannah a couple times before.
     We started the afternoon off walking to an art museum right across the street from MSOE.  A lot of the paintings had super obvious names including: "Five guys by a Fire." Tyler commented about how there was art surrounding us, and Jeremy commented that Tyler was actually the art.  At one point Jeremy's blood sugar was low, so I went with him to get his backpack from the front desk.  He went back to go get, and the secretary kind of just stared confused as he did an insulin shot.  She figured out what he was doing, and was super worried he would pass out in the museum, and how terrifying it would be. Hannah, and Anna were taking an art class at UWWC so they knew what was considered wrong with every painting, and the cool aspects of each one.  We went to the museum gift shop when we were about to leave, and I got a questioning look from one of the employees who worked there after she saw me smelling a book.  Jeremy said the smell reminded him of something.  There ended up being a picture of me representing me when I do my homework.

    Josh goes to MSOE, so after we were done at the museum he took us on a little tour of one of the buildings.  This required many stairs.  I guess the number of the classrooms aren't orderly at all so its basically like a maze.  Jeremy decided while touring the building it would be a good time to play "The Science Museum" song on his iPod.  (We were in one of the science buildings).

    

     By the time we got out of the MSOE building Lizzy, and I were super hungry.  We walked to a Panera Bread down the street for lunch.  They had Clam Chowder soup :3!  

     We walked back to the MSOE parking lot and drove to a movie theatre to see "Hotel Transylvania 2."  I honestly thought it would be a really bad movie. (I hadn't saw the 1st one, so I didn't know what to expect.  We got to the movie theatre a little early, so we walked to a walk up custard place down the street.  We all ate our icecream, then stopped at Walgreens on the way back for a bathroom break.  We got back to the theatre just in time.  The movie was honestly so cute and hilarious.  The funniest part probably was when they made a diabetes joke, and our group all looked at Jeremy and laughed.  The other people in the theatre seemed really confused.  

  

          After the movie was over Anna and Lizzy needed to get back home because their mom was sick.  After saying goodbye Tyler, Jeremy, and I finished off the night by visiting Jeremy's dads house so I could pick out one of his old Imacs for my brothers birthday. It was super strange when we got to Jeremy's house.  His dad must have hired a babysitter for Josh, because she looked scared when she saw Jeremy, Tyler, and I.  Jeremy assured her this was his dad's house, and she let us in.  Apparently that happens a lot.   Jeremy told us a lot of information on apple things, and about the computers themselves.  

        

             It was pretty foggy after we left Jeremys.  When we got back to campus, I made Jeremy wait in the living room as I quickly cleaned my room, and made space for the computer.  If I'd known it'd take less then 3 minutes to clean my room, I probably would of done it a lot sooner then I did.  Jeremy showed me how to use the computers, and all the different programs.  I played a couple games before unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep.  

I'm Growing and Things are Changing

     Last Sunday evening I was able to put the two church teachings I had been too together, as I really thought about the messages God sent me a revelation.  One of the things talked about at the first church teaching was about how sometimes the people you enjoy hanging out with the most are the ones who keep you from growing.  When I thought about it more I knew I had that problem.  That there was a person in my life like that, that had kept me from growing in faith.  It was time to move on, I had spent too much time trying to show them how to grow, but it just wasn't in my hands.  I needed to surround myself with people that were mature in their faiths, and would encourage me even more in my walk with God. It wouldn't be easy and I felt that it was crazy at first, but then at church they also said that sometimes the things God tells you to do, are not the right things.  The hardest part about dealing with a person who is immature is that they are deceived into thinking they are already mature.  This is because Satan is the master of deception, and controls the feelings and culture of the world.  I focused too much on my own feelings, giving Satan the power to hurt me, I love the person I am writing about to death, and would never want to hurt them, because they have made me so happy, so I'm not going to just cut off our friendship.  We'll still be friends, but I'll be growing now. When they start to put God first, and mature in faith, we can grow together again.  God had also put on my mind that it was time for me to get more involved in church, and form relationships with the people of the church.  It's been almost one week since that revelation and I've already gotten so much more involved with Living Light, and have met so many people as well.  I just want to get to know everyone there, and all their stories, and be encouraged even more.  One of my friends from church I feel like I could talk to them for hours on end just discussing things or telling each other stories, and feel so encouraged/inspired afterwards.  It's so amazing to be able to have such inspirational people like that in my life, that through talking to them I can see God and his love and everything shining through, through them.  That's the people I want to surround myself with, people that are super spiritual like that.  I know now it was the right decision to follow God's word for me.

Sometimes Chaos is Beautiful

    I saw "War Room" with some of my friends on Thursday night.  After the movie we went and got ice cream at Culvers.  It started down-pouring really hard after we had gotten to Culvers.  After an hour of being there, there was a flash flood warning.  The rain just wouldn't stop, and it had started to lightning since then.  I had one of the others drive back to campus, not really wanting to be the one to do it.

    On Sunday at church a lady brought up a word of how Chaos is sometimes Beautiful, and it just reminded me of this situation.  If it hadn't been raining, it wouldn't be as memorable or as much of an adventure as it turned out to be.  The rain made us have to stay at Culvers longer and talk, and instead of thinking the rain as negative we saw it as a beautiful thing.

An Injury Away From Home

      A little bit after I posted my blogpost yesterday about maturity and growth, I experienced growth.  Not in a super cool way where I decided to take a leap of faith, but by cutting an apple.  I didn't know exactly how to cut an apple, but apples and peanut butter sounded like a really good idea.  I got about half the apple cut into pieces, when I cut into my thumb.  My roommates were in the living room of our apartment which is right next to the kitchen, and didn't even know this was going on, and still probably don't know it happened.  There was blood on my apple and all over my finger, and hands.  I ran to the bathroom, soaking it with as much water as possible.  Too much blood had been covering my finger, so I couldn't look to see how deep the cut actually was.  I then ran back to my room, and put on a bandaid.  The blood just soaked through the bandaid, so I knew I needed to just keep pressure on it for awhile.  The bleeding wouldn't stop, and it had been a half hour so I contacted my aunt and other friends for advice.  The time it happened was 11:30 at night, and calling my mom at that time would of probably really freaked her out.  I ended up just putting Neosporin on it and putting another bandaid on it before bed.  I woke up, and it was miraculously healed.  It looked more like a papercut, then a gash.  I was super freaked out though, being away from home at the time, unsure of what to do next, or if I needed stitches.  I had to grow up in that moment, and take care of myself and it was scary.  Your not always going to get it right the first time, like cutting an apple you might bleed the first time, but you'll learn from it, and be able to do it in the future.

Pictures of the Incident

            Before 

                                         













                                                                         
                                                                           After

Growth and Maturity

     What does it mean to grow or be mature?  The passage of time does not equal maturity.  As we grow up we think that we mature simultaneously, but that isn't true.  We need to change our perspective on that.  It takes a different way of living for us to grow up.  Just because days go by doesn't mean that there is any growth.  The opposite of laziness is patience.  Patience isn't sitting around waiting for a change to happen, it's about ceasing the moment so we can do the things that God has intended for us to do.  We need to take the action to actually grow up, and then God's grace will give us the growth and maturity we need.  Things won't happen in a certain year or date.  If you're struggling in a friendship, times not going to heal the problem, it's going to start to be healed the moment you grow up.  We're not waiting to grow up, God is waiting for the growth in us.  It's never too late to grow up, Moses made the change to grow up at the age of forty, likewise it's never too early to grow up either.  The disciples had to grow up, and make the change super early in their lives in order to do the things Jesus wanted them to do.

     Signs of Maturity: Taking responsibility for things/getting engaged in an issue, a new identity, engagement with others, pain, eternal perspective.

Responsibility:  If you want something changed you no longer complain about it, you engage in the issue to help change the situation.

Identity Changes:  The way we view ourselves is the way we live, and we need to give things up in order to experience growth.  God's given us everything we need, so we should no longer view ourselves as too weak. or too shy, because none of that is true in our identity with God.  We can't think of just ourselves alone, but with God we have no excuses.  It doesn't matter what other people say we are because we aren't that it only matters who we say we are. Who do you say you are?  You are what God has called you to be.

Engagement with People:  Life is not about us pursuing our pleasures throughout lives, or doing things to keep us happy, it's about laying your life down for other people.  Sometimes people we like keep us the same, and don't allow growth in us.  We need to find the people who will push us to grow in our faith, not the people who only tell us what we want to hear.  Sometimes we need to find the people important in our faith before we figure out our purpose in life.  Immaturity is relying on other people to do things for you.

Pain:  Pain is important to growth.  With pain we need to embrace the pain of the present, and think about the future glory in heaven.  We can't experience growth without any pain.  You can only put off pain or pleasure in your life.  If you push off pain in your life it's coming in your future.  The one you choose to put off is usually greater in the future.  Where are you avoiding pain in your life?  (Just know by doing this you are putting off growing.)  Change is always hard but we must endure it anyways.

Eternal Perspective:  We need to think of what's best for us in the long run. No more "Yolo" but instead "What can I do today, because tomorrow is coming?"

  Make it your decision, that this year is going to be yours.  Don't keep pushing it off, and saying I'll be more ready in the future, because you won't.  You need to start now! Growing up doesn't mean doing it right the first time, its about the lessons taught.  It's about getting it wrong so you can do better next time.

The First Week (Day 3)

     I started out my morning by setting up the table for the Cru surveys.  It was way to early for me to be social and yell about winning $100 so I just sat and people watched until Robert showed up.  Robert instantly got four people to do the survey.  I had English class at 11 so I left Rob to do the surveys.

    My English professor is the same one I had at the beginning of the year last year.  I had signed up to be in his class this year, but he had been switched out of teaching that class.  About a week ago he added me on Facebook and told me when his section of English was, and I decided to switch into his class.  His classes are always interesting, and he cares a lot about his students.  He was definitely fit to teach a college class.  Quote from class: "How long is a super-model's skirt?"  "Long enough to cover stuff, but short enough to keep things interesting, that's how I want your essays to be."  He must of said 50 random/funny things like that throughout the whole class.  I'm definitely glad I switched back into his class.

   He let us out early and I went back to the survey tables.  At that time there was a stack of like 30 completed surveys, Robert had gotten a lot of people since I had been away for an hour.  I stayed and watched for a bit and talked to Jeremy, then got lunch quick and headed to Algebra.

   After Algebra I took a short nap in my apartment, then drove to Walmart to pick up things I could make.  Like the typical: Pizza Rolls, Macoroni and Cheese, Lemonade, Rice, and stuff to make Pickle rollls.  I also got some other school supplies I needed.

   I came back to my apartment and had the annual "I don't know if I want to be here 1st week of school thought"  the ones that scare you about the year but fade away once clubs start up again.  I know they're temporary but it was still hard.
 
    I met my roommates on the other side of the apartment, I hadn't really officially met them before that time.  Then I met up with Jeremy that evening, where we had a long talk about things.  We went outside to find out that "The Beat" was throwing a music event on campus.  People on campus were playing sets along with random Minute to Win It games.  We stayed and watched for a bit, then Jeremy got cold so we went inside to see if anyone was in The Den.  There wasn't so we walked through the halls.

     We stopped at the App Factory where we saw Kyle.  He keeps a stash of Nerf Guns in the App  Factory, and shot me. The nerf gun bullet hit my cheek, and stuck there.  I threw the bullet on the ground and fake stormed out.  Jeremy then went back to his dorm.

   I worked on my math homework for a little bit, and then heard various quotes from "Mean Girls" coming from the living room area.  I went to join my new roommates and watched it with them.  After that was over we watched YouTube videos about a guy and his Corgi as it grew up.  I found it interesting how I could watch the same dog being absolutely adorable for so long.  (I guess that's the same reason I can go dog-watching for extended periods of times at dog parks :P)

The First Week of School (Day 2)

    My first class started at 9 this morning and ran until 10:40.  My first class of Mondays and Wednesday is Spanish.  For Spanish class we have a smaller room this year, and our laptops are needed for class.  With a small classroom the desks are also small, so I'm a little unsure about it all.  We went over the syllabus the first hour of class, and figured out the online book and wrote a paragraph about ourselves.
     After Spanish was over, my next class didn't start until 1.  I stayed in the school though because Cru was holding a thing on the bridge.  If you filled out a survey, you could win a chance to get a $100 Amazon gift card.  Jeremy and I promoted the survey with a little help from Rob.  We got at least 50 surveys by the time I had to be at class.  Its crazy how a lot of people pass up the chance to win free money.  While doing the survey I realized how many new faces there actually are on campus.  (I do have this thing though where I don't remember faces very well.) so maybe they're not new faces after all.  I expected to recognize a ton of people.  One girl was excited to know that we had a Cru on campus.  Jeremy said that when some of the people saw what the survey was for, they just crumpled it up.
    At 1 I had Algebra class.  This math class gives you a little more slack on things.  You need to get a 70% in the class and a 75% or above on all your tests, and an 80% average on homework to pass the class.  The class I was in last semester you needed an 80% on all your quizzes, a B in the class, and an 85% or above on the Final Exam.  This class will be harder, so we will see how it goes.  My professor is booked with classes this semester so it will be hard to get help from him, like I did a few times last semester.  We didn't get any homework in class today, we just went over the Syllabus the whole hour.  The hours would pass super slowly today because of all the boredness that ensued.
     I had Intro to Asia right after Algebra, and I was super tired because I didn't have a chance to go to my dorm and relax.  How people ever do jobs and college I will never understand.  We went over yet again another Syllabus but the professor let us go early.  Thank goodness because that class is literally an hour and 20 minutes.
      I went to the bookstore afterwards and picked up my books then I headed back to my room where I took a nap.  I then went on got dinner by myself.  My friend Laurette is not enrolled in classes this semester so its been weird.  I would usually have dinner with her or hang out in the den with her, but now she will only visit campus sometimes.  The next time she'll be here is next Tuesday, which isn't too long but kind of long when you used to see her everyday on campus.  Aly and Ashley now live off campus which makes it a little harder too.  I guess I'll have to make more friends this year.  I was hoping I was done with the whole process of making friends on campus, but I guess its not over yet :P.  I know it will get easier when there's actual activities on campus but right now there's not much going on.  It's hard to know when to trust people here, so I can't just go out and make friends.  A lot of people I befriended in the beginning of the year last year ended up betraying my trust.
   Sometimes I think about if I lived off campus.  How I wouldn't feel guilty about not being out of my room all the time.  I could also get decent hours of sleep then, and probably be not as bored, when I have a night where nothing is going on like this one.

The First Week of School (Day 1)

   I'd thought I'd do a post about my first week of college as a sophomore so you guys can check in on how I am doing.

   Going back to a campus where you know people there is so refreshing.  I don't have to be terrified by all the people here, of the unknown.  The freshman are the ones who look odd to me, I'm not the confused one anymore.
    This year I decided I wanted to live in the apartment.  The only flaw is living with 6 other girls.  That part scared me, and still does scare me.  The apartment is big though with three girls on my side and 4 on the other.  With a bathroom on each side.  I was originally suppose to live with my friend Ashley, but life went unplanned and she has to live with her grandma and take care of her.  I'm stuck in an apartment with total strangers.  It's a bit stressful, but so far the girl that shares my room with me seems nice.
    I got to campus at around noon with my parents and we had lunch after everything had been moved to my room.  I unpacked everything and got situated in.  Move in day ended up being 90 degrees.  It was crazy!  Once I got everything organized, my friend Jeremy met me in the lobby of his dorm building with his friend Kyle.  Kyle drove us to the police station so they could both pick up their parking passes.  (My parents had taken me there after lunch).  Kyle then drove us to the Student Center so he could show his friend around campus.  We ended up seeing Nicole in the parking lot and I ran after her.  At first I was afraid I was running after a complete stranger but it was her.  We went up to the Suites to see her boyfriends room.  When we got up to the 4th floor, I saw someone who had left campus but I guess he was back for the new year.  I really wished he would have stayed off campus because I really can't stand him.  After our adventures to the suites, I hung out with Jeremy in his dorm for a little bit and  met his once invisible roommate.
    I then went back to my dorm for a short nap, and then went to a Cru planning meeting at 8 which lasted until 10.  I left for 20 minutes to go to the mandatory apartment meeting.  It basically said don't do drugs, don't light candles, and don't be loud during quiet time.  After the Cru planning meeting Jeremy. and I went to the den where we saw Kyle again.  We ate a snack at the den and talked and Chris (Cru staff) joined us.  Then I came back to my room to type this.  :D

Things to Ponder (Part 2)

    I did a post similar to this a few weeks ago.  I thought I would have a lot more posts, but I haven't gotten around to reading "Mere Christianity" as much as I thought I would so this will probably be my last post about it for a bit since it does need to be returned.  The first 1st post is elsewhere on my blog so if you want to read that first.
     
      Free Will?  Parents can tell their kids to keep their rooms clean, but it is their will whether they choose to listen or not.  The parents would rather have their children obey them, just like God would like us to follow his plan for our lives.  The parent's will to not make absolutely sure the room is always tidied has willed it to be a voluntary option for the children.  We have free will to follow God, but he doesn't force us to do anything.  People are free to be good or bad, which has made evil possible in the world.  If evil is in the world you may ask why God created free will in the first place? This is because even though free will creates evil it is also the only way possible to have any joy, happiness or goodness worth having in the world.  God wants to let us have the happiness of being free, and the happiness of voluntary getting to know him.  God knew the risk he was taking when he made free will. and he thought that it was worth it.

      Do We Really Need God?  Just like a car needs gasoline to run properly, we cannot live properly without God.  Since God created us we need him to survive.  He fuels us with the Holy Spirit.  Satan comes in and tries to make us run on the wrong fuel, making us believe we can survive without God.  We can but ultimately something will go completely wrong, and you won't be successful.

My Updated Summer Bucket List

1. Go to Summerfest (My favorite festival :D) Went with Liza and saw Ed Sheeran
2. Go to a beach and swim   Regner Park for work :) 
3. Record "A Beach in Michigan" monologue
4. Go on a hike Hiked at Trek while looking for a lake at night, Hiked with Jeremy in West Bend, Hiked in West Bend for work.
5. Get and enjoy a part-time job  I'm working at the Threshold, working with special needs kids.
6. Record YouTube videos
7. Visit Mayfair Mall
8. Milwaukee County Zoo
9. Spend a day in Chicago
10. Hang out with Amber as much as possible.  She worked to much and lived too far away :( 
11. See a concert  Saw Ed Sheeran 
12. Enjoy Conference :P Can't wait to go again :D 
13. Attend Living Light some Sundays.  I went twice, wish I could of gone more.
14. Learn New things (Learned how to do a new type of friendship bracelets, and what a labyrinth is)
15. Six Flags :D 
16. Wisconsin Dells Trip? :)  Plans got mixed up.
17. 5th Annual Summer Party?  (In planning) Too busy.  
18. Read some books?  I read "A Work in Progress" and "More Than a Carpenter" 
19. Go to the Movie Theatre to see movies such as "Paper Towns" :D I saw "Jurassic World" with Jeremy and Laurette, I also saw "Inside Out".  Paper Towns went out of theatres so quickly. 
20. Graduation Parties  Went to Angela's grad party 
21. Slumber Party with Friends (Ya'll are always welcome though)  Lets have another one during the school year.
22. Family Vacation: Hayward!
23. Fishing:  Yess!!!!
24. Eat a ton of icecream
25. Trekkk
26. Do new things (I went on a giant swing, and on giant roller-coasters, going to the spa)

Summer 2015

   It feels like Summer 2015 has been going on forever.  When I went to Conference in Pennsylvania it felt like I had been there for at least a month.  I'm definitely not complaining as this summer has been so packed and wonderful.  Even though it has felt so long, I'm still not too excited for school yet.  I thought with a longer summer vacation, I'd actually want to go back by the end of it but there's just something nice about free time.  So here's a little peak into what happened Summer 2015.

    May 2015
- The day before Trek Tyler, Laurette, and Jeremy stayed at my house and we watched TFIOS.  This is also where Snoop Whale was born, as well as the Flipping Ships catch phrase that would be used during Trek.
- The first weekend home was spent in Westby Wisconsin for Trek, a Christian Leadership Conference.  There we were put into a group of our school and UWWC.  During the 5 days we were there we learned about the importance of working as a team, our goals for campus next year, went ziplining, went on a giant swing, shared about Christianity to the people of LaCrosse, and went canoeing,  Jeremy's car ended up breaking down from too much twenty-one-pilots.  I made a couple of blogposts about it, so if you want to read more about it you can look on my blog.
- I spent a weekend at Jeremy's house.  We moved my brother out on a Saturday, and the next day would be his graduation, so we'd come back to Kenosha the next day, so I thought it was fitting just to stay there.  I also really wanted to go back to Living Light, and decided Sunday would be a good opportunity for that.  Jeremy's family had done the Color Run earlier that day, so they were full of color when I got to their house.  (After trying to find it for a half hour).  Jeremy was tired and went to take a nap, I ended up falling asleep as well on their couch in their living room.  Afterward Jeremy's little 5 year old brother decided to show off his selfie taking skills by taking his moms phone and taking selfies of us, and a picture of Jeremy and I together too.

  His grandpa also decided to visit that night along with Jeremy's mom's friend Dan.  We all decided to go to the restaurant that Jeremy and his sister worked at for dinner.  Jeremy's friend Steve showed up too, and would also sleep over that night too.  It was a nice restaurant right on Lake Michigan only five minutes from their house.  He's told me many times what its called but I've forgotten again...whoops.  Ridge Point, Reef Point? <---- probably not even close.

  His grandpa is a really cool guy.  That night Steve read fanfiction stories he had written about Jeremy's life until he was too tired.  In the middle of the night there was really loud sirens and the sound of Jeremy tripping over his couch.  The next morning we had M&M pancakes.  (I swear they put M&M's on everything).  Steve went home then I went to church with Jeremy and his family for half a service before leaving to go next door to Living Light.  (Are churches are next door to each other).  Jeremy and his sister stopped by during break then left to go back home.  Trae took me to Carthage where my brother was graduating after church.  On the way we had a super inspirational talk about life.
-Rick graduated from Carthage

June:

- I babysat two kids the week before I would go to job training, Dayton and Addison.  We watched Chuggington, and played house, as Dayton had a crisis at 3 years old about how he was getting old.
- I helped my mom clean our other house that originally belonged to my grandma.  My brother and his fiancee will move in, in October.
-My friend Lizzy from Trek decided that every week of summer she would go out sharing somewhere.  (I checked with her at the end of August, and she didn't miss any week.)  We ended up going sharing at Bayshore Mall.  Lizzy and Anna came along with their sister Haddy her friend, Jordan, and Jeremy.  Jeremy and I went out sharing together and were pretty unsuccessful, because everyone we talked to had to go to work.  We had caught them during their breaks apparently.  We ended up getting Superman flavored ice cream.  We debriefed at the Cheesecake Factory, then went to a Culvers in Milwaukee, and to a beach by a lake to hang out for awhile.  Jeremy and I also went to Jersey Shore that day.

Lizzy, Anna, and Haddy's friend and I would get lost in a Milwaukee ghetto later that night for an hour while trying to find the park and ride I had parked at at night.  All of our phones were dead.

- The next day I would go to Six Flags for the first time ever with Jordan, Jeremy, and Laurette.  It was for a Target Celebration Day.  I made a post about the trip to Six Flags already so you can read about that post.
-  Job Training started, and I sat through it all as a volunteer.  I would have to be a volunteer if I wanted to go to Conference in Pennsylvania, which would take place the next month.
- The week after we went to Bayshore Mall, we went sharing at a nursing home in West Bend.  Our plan was to go sharing there put that never really happened.  Instead we played Bingo with a group of elderly people for probably over two hours.  We went to Arbys afterwards.  Jordan was sick with a cold.  Laurette and Jeremy came home with me.  That night we went and saw Jurassic World.  We watched the old one, one day at University so it was important to see the new one together.  We all shared one couch together at the theatre.  Before we got to the theatre I made the mistake of putting diesel in my car even though Jeremy questioned me about it.  My car wouldn't start after the movie so we needed to be picked up.

- The next day after that Courtney and her boyfriend came over so we could do a Bible Study to finish off our chapter of James.  She had lead a bible study that taught James during the school year that we all had attended.  (Unfortunately that would be the only bible study we would do over the summer).  During the bible study Luke was breathing really heavily, and my brother was sob laughing so it was kind of hard to take it seriously.

 Courtney and Robby took Laurette home and I took Jeremy to Hartford to meet up with Camara.  We walked down downtown Hartford and visited "Faith and Giggles". "Perc Place". and Scoop DeVille, where they had an old record Juke Box.  We then stopped at Hartford Park for a little bit. (That would be the only time I would see Camara this summer since she would be constantly working).
- The day after that Amber came down to Allenton with her boyfriend to go to Angela's graduation party.  Jeremy couldn't stay for the party because he was seeing The Barenaked Ladies in concert.  Amber got to Allenton a little later so I ended falling asleep on the couch while waiting, Jeremy played BNL music as I slept.  We then went to Allenton.  Amber's boyfriend brought Nerf Guns and for a bit it was him and Jeremy against Amber and I.  We ran outside and they were too lazy to chase us out there.  I curled up on the pink bean bag chair.  Jeremy went home then Amber and I went to Angela's graduation party.  I talked a bit but I was mostly super tired from all the events of the week so I zoned out a lot.  There was a ton of great food there though.

- Also in June we had a family get together Brewers Game.

-I was also given a job at the Threshold so I actually got paid :) 

July:

- July began with going to Summerfest with Liza.  She had gotten tickets to see Ed Sheeran.  I was so busy with work that this day was the only day I could make it there.  Unfortunately I had started to get a cold and had a sore throat that day.  I still had a lot of fun.  We went paddleboating, and I got a non-alcoholic Margarita for my sore throat.  We saw a really good band before Ed Sheeran although I can't remember what they were called, and had forgotten to look them up after I had gotten home.  Ed Sheeran was really cool.  It was probably the calmest concert I've been too.  At one point everyone put there phone lights on, and there was just a sea of lights.  It was so cool looking.  We couldn't see the firework show from where we were sitting but caught a few of them on our walk out.   I forgot how long it takes to get to one side of the grounds to the other.  

-Jeremy came over on a day I had off, and I didn't tell him anywhere we were going I just surprised him with places.  It was super hot but we went mini golfing and ended up tying.  (I found out later that 2 years before that exact day I had went there with Christian.)  I then took him to the CD store in West Bend.  I then took him to the gourmet popcorn store and found out he didn't actually like popcorn....  We then went to Candyman then I took him to the last surprises.  I took him to the park with the exercise equipment then we went for a walk in the woods as Jeremy discussed passed Conference stories, and our plans for the upcoming Conference.  

- That weekend I went to go see Shrek the Musical.  One of my musical friends, Amy was playing Fiona, and the theatre director was playing the Dragon.  It was a super funny show.

  - The next July event was Conference and I already posted about what happened each of those days elsewhere on my blog so I won't post that again.  

August:

- I went and saw Spam- A- lot with Angela.  I was laughing so much during the whole thing.  

- My parents and I went to Hayward for a week,  where we went minigoling, canoeing, went on a road trip, fishing, and shopping.  We had a cottage on the lake it was so beautiful.  :)  

- I finished off my last week of work the week after vacation and then attended two bridal showers that weekend.  My brother's fiancee Kaila, and my cousin Erika.  

- We had a Cru Retreat at a big house which I am posting a separate post about.

- I spent a day in the Racine/Kenosha area with Laurette going to Starbucks, Panda Express, the dog park, and a bookstore in Kenosha.
- To finish off the summer I'm going apartment shopping, and going to the spa Monday.