of life...
:random photos:

of feet painting (splatting)

of day trips during the last rays of summer.

of mud facials

of multi colored walls in nyc

of meeting friends and facing challenges

of red doors, cities, and catching up with friends

(my dearest shorter friends)

of hanging out with my four big siblings...

of the splash of color displayed by fall.
and the chilly air that begs you to stay home, grab a book, and enjoy a hot cup of tea.

trip'in south
3 weekends in a row.

:passion 08:
description: intense weekend, way out of my comfort zone, filled with new friends, learning, & inspiration

    
^waking up at 3am ^was the first time in a while i've gotten up to see the sunrise

^a night celebrating our nobility as daughters of the king.

:the "homies yo" camping trip to skyline:
description: relaxing weekend, superb fun, filled with my best friends, smiles, & many laughs.
 

:and then south carolina this last weekend. :
a delightful weekend that consisted of attemping to catch up with very many of my friends, a smashing road trip, a wonderful stay at miss veronicas, an afternoon in a small southern town, an old courtyard with frapps and frens, singing with my old bma choir lead by our very own mr. lyle, many *yawns*, random visits & superior southern hospitality...

____
and here is to esther...
i personally love suprise visits
   
"you don't know how hard it is...* *angel, mother, angel*
*and may we remember those frozen corpses... the soon to be widowers, and widows... the cabbage...*
*ice cream... or die* *busy, busy roads, nice truck driver, & sundaes* *fountains*
*accents of every sort & kind* *shy... or too friendly* *crammed jettas* *desserts & coffees @ prince street*

__
 next week i will be on the river.  of which always looks rather huge to me... since i still haven't attained the "bush chic" or "new jess" or "buff" title . rough'in it still is a bit of a stretch.  but as i've slowly been learning... God can use me most when i give up my pride, am out of "my turf", and must rely only on Him and his strength.

Our Day – Monday, June 23, 2oo8
(in a nutshell)

7:30 am – Rise and shine. Ria braves driving the train. (A.K.A one big camp van with 12 passengers and 1 big trailer with 6 big canoes, 30 gallons of water, and just generally lots of big stuff. Krissy brings up the caboose with one small car)) DESTINATION: Clarion river 5 hours north west.

10:50 am – Van suddenly stops. Does not work. Will not start. Will not go. 15 girls eat lunch beside busy highway. Ria makes millions of calls.

11:30 am – Girls climb on trailer. Trucks honk at girls on trailer. Girls make desperate runs to port-a- johns across busy road. Girls sing. Girls sit. Girls wait. And wait.

12:00 pm - Connection is made with Ria’s mom’s cousins friend who agrees to bring van to helpless girls sitting by roadside.

12:30 - Girls detach trailer from van and 15 girls are seen collectively pushing van down highway.

1:00 pm - Dear lady angel arrives and delivers van. Takes Krissy’s car. 15 girls pile in 12 passenger van. Yay!! On the road again.

3:30 pm - Arrive at river!! Unload 6 big canoes from big trailer. Load canoes. Look nervously at sky that is threatening to dump buckets of rain.

4:30pm - Krissy and Maria wave goodbye as 13 girls in 6 big canoes float down river.

4:31pm - Krissy and Maria suddenly realize they do not know which way is east and which way is west. Ask for directions (1^st time) from nice old man in little old store. NOTE::: atlas was left in 1^st van by NOT US. No atlas. No maps.  Know nothing. DESTINATION:: drop off trailer at pullout point

5:30pm – Maria drives train (aka big van with big trailer) throughout mountains. Arrives at state park. State park is big. Not know where to park. Office is closed. Drive in circles. Back big train around. Finds permit. Finds parking. detaches trailer. Looks for camp host (A.K.A. man in orange shirt). No luck finding man in orange shirt. leaves note at camp host camper.

5:55 pm – Ask directions (2^nd time) i.e. how do we get out of here?

6:00pm – Storm hits. Hard. Thunder. Lightening. Rain. Rain. Rain. No cell phone service.

6:15pm – Turn around. Ask directions. Again (3^rd time).

6:20pm – Turn around. Again.((very loud, very close thunderstorm) wishes very much for atlas.

6:30pm – Screams of delight fill the van. Civilization!! Pizza Hut!! – very first food stop in hours. Hungry girls stop to eat. Starved. Drink TOO many cups of very sweet ice tea.

7:30pm – On the road again. Talk. Laugh. A lot. Find double rainbow. *wink* Find rest stop ((too much iced tea)). Nearly hit black bear on road. :-O

8:30pm – Leave main road to drop off van and pick up car at angel ladies house. WRONG EXIT. Ask directions (4^th time) … clueless people at Sheetz. Didn’t know anything. Call angel lady for directions (5^th time). Still muttering about no atlas.

9:30pm - Notice that angel lady lives very far off in the mountains. Very foggy. Very dark. Very rainy. We notice we have made very many right turns and are driving in circles. Ask directions ( 6^th time). More very clueless people. Call angel lady for directions (7^th time). Angel lady discovers she told us North when it should have been South. OOPS. Turn around.

10:00pm – Driving further into mountains on very dark very foggy very rainy roads. Angel lady lives in the back woods of who-knows-where. almost hits second black bear (i think by this time they were imaginary)

10:15pm- Arrive at angel ladies house. Recover car. Drop off van. Discuss nearest relation to dear angel lady (we are Mennonites you know). thank profusely.  Get directions (8^th time) on how to get out of this mountainous back woods. Climb into car and realize there is very little gas in tank. We really mean very little. estimated at least 1/2 hour to town with gas station that is open

10:40pm - Realize bridge is out. Must take detour.  looks nervously at the gas tank.

10:45pm - Still no gas station in sight. Call friends and bid farewell. Warn that if still missing in the morning, bodies can be recovered in the Big Valley. No gas station in sight.

11:00pm – Back on the main road. Gas station!

11:15pm - Bleary eyed girls decide to stop for the night. Cannot drive further.

11:30pm - Stop at nearest cabin. Find key on tree with cell phone light. almost runs into a black bear (by this point it was def. imaginary) 

12:00am- Start fire in cabin with damp newspaper. Damp wood. No blankets. No food. No pjs. No toothbrushes. Stare longingly at warm curtains that would make perfect blankets. Attempts are made to remove them. Whoever put those curtains up was definetely warning against such visitors. No luck in removing curtains.

12:28am - Girls check time with bleary eyes and wonder why they are still awake. Decide to try to get some sleep on couches. No blankets. No pjs. No toothbrushes. And worst of all… no warm perfect blanket type curtains. girls collapse onto couches laughing. tomorrow will be another day. one on which, hopefully, we shall make it home.  

Yours Truly,
Krissy and Ria (yes, we survived the night)

*grins*
its friday.
and i get to spend the weekend with some of these ladies
in washington dc.

:this girl is happy:

::pics of my life at bmabi::
these are specially for you ((my dearest bev)) since you have been continually bugging me.

 
walks in the snow with judi : ervina : krista

   
favorite ice cream place = jiffy's
  
christian ed :::::::studying in the library: johnny:kyle:::::::brittany, kaShondra

  
dorm time :::::::::::::::::::::::::racquelle and I:::::::::::::::::
   
2 of me dormies:: becky : rhonda ::::::::::: my fellow "accident" survivor & dearest friend
  
the freaky "guys comb over day" the official day that guys decide to comb over their hair. :-O

  
therisa & camille::::::my two beautiful shorter  lady frens

  
our st patricks alian. aka krista::::::: jana: esther: ervina (oh dramatic ones)::

 
st patricks... all those wearing green.

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choir and ensembles and choir again...  hiding from the electronic scooter… and ice cream at jiffys…  “road trips” to town… sunny days… making fun of small red neck towns… praising God for safety in an accident… missions weekend with Allen Roth… getting new favorite jam session songs… reading and reading… being challenged and stretched … volley ball and lessons with Yalonda… many runs to WalMart… comb over day… and st. patricks… the lame club… voicemails from friends… and talking with my dear girls on the phone… kids club… bible studies… reading martyrs mirror… top bunking… packages in the mail… “studying” in the library… 7:30 classes… and afternoon naps…teaching S.S. to peers…  sun chips and truffles…red hot pokers... 4 hour debates on ((lets not get started))… mi pablos with dormies… new favorite quotes…  finding new kindred spirits… notes and packages from sarah and amy.... reading enough of persecuted anabaptist stories to last me a lifetime... midterms and homework.... inspiring disussions

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"their is a screaming need for men and women who know the living Word of God, who are constant students of that Book, and allow it to grip them so they grow to hate what God hates and to love what God loves.  And as the truth - personally embraced - begins to transform them, they make an impact."