14 Signs You’re Back At Grinnell

      1.     You have a tennis racket, a computer, a phone charger, keys, and a book on your twin-xl bed.

      2.     You nap in that bed anyway

      3.     You take naps regularly.

      4.     You take cold showers because there’s no air-conditioning in your dorm.

      5.     You spend half your time explaining you’re actually a third year, NOT a second year

      6.     You can’t believe how cute the first-years are.

      7.     You can’t see the top of your desk, and school hasn’t started yet.

      8.     You looked incredibly intelligent carrying a fridge from one dorm to another.

      9.     You’re multitasking: watching tennis on-line, typing in poems for a literary magazine, and texting your mother (who is more bored than you are – haha!)

      10. There are many photos and quotes stuck on the walls.

      11.  You’re wondering where you got so much crap!

      12.  You make two trips to Wal-Mart in as many days.

      13.  You already have plans through the day school starts (in a week)

      14.  You’re being ‘recruited’ by two different Christian groups to play piano.  J

Float On, once more

I am safely and happily in Iowa, but right now my heart goes out to the White family on the loss of their beautiful daughter, Micaela.  I did not know her personally, but she and my beautiful cousin Anna lived side by side for most of their lives, even sharing the same bed during chemo treatments.  Through Anna I felt a connection, so I am devastated by this loss.


In memory of Anna and Micaela:


Alright don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy.
We'll all float on...alright. Already we'll all float on.
Alright already we'll all float on, ok.
Don't worry we'll all float on.
Even if things get heavy, we'll all float on.


Isaiah 65:17-25:


 ¹⁷ “See, I will create
   new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
   nor will they come to mind. 
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever
   in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
   and its people a joy.
¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem
   and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
   will be heard in it no more.
 ²⁰ “Never again will there be in it
   an infant who lives but a few days, 
   or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
   will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach^[a] a hundred
   will be considered accursed.
²¹ They will build houses and dwell in them;
   they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
   or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
   so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
   the work of their hands.
²³ They will not labor in vain,
   nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
   they and their descendants with them.
²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
   while they are still speaking I will hear. 
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
   and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,”
            says the LORD.



AMEN.

Iowa-bound and feeling reflective

Well, this is it.  My last post from Texas.  I can’t believe it’s the end of the summer already, but really, this past year has flown by remarkably fast.  A year ago I was debating a semester off from school, and when I decided to forgo Denison, Mom and I road-tripped it down to Texas, where I went through my teenage anger/rebellion years in approximately four months (oops – I’m still apologizing to Mom.  Love you lots, Mom!)

By the time my twentieth birthday rolled around and I escaped those dreadful teenage years, I had been at the wonderful, the glorious, the amazing GRINNELL COLLEGE for approximately three weeks, and while I did have to throw a birthday party for myself (with the help of a few transfer friends, of course), lots of people showed up.  J   The following evening I met Klevi, who somewhat soon thereafter became my boyfriend, and then suddenly we were playing tennis matches, I was hacking up a lung (or three) in Florida over spring break, we spent under 24 hours in California, it was finals week, and what am I going to do this summer?

In other words, this past year has been a whirlwind of activity, and although I never would have predicted where I am today, I wouldn’t change a thing.  And why would I?  I’m now a sociology major, which I love more than I ever loved English (side note: I read at least four soc books this summer).  I’m on a tennis team where I feel welcome, appreciated, and loved for who I am.  I’m able to play piano and to perform in a stress-free environment in the Christian worship band – can’t wait to start rocking out again.  I became involved in volunteer work at school.  I had my beliefs positively challenged in numerous ways.  I’m dating a wonderful, intelligent young man.  This summer I had a tasking but fulfilling job working with kids, which kept my spirits high and my thoughts positive.   

And tomorrow morning I fly back to Des Moines, Iowa, where I will catch a shuttle bus back to the quaint town of Grinnell, where I will lug my suitcase up two flights of stairs and then go to security to pick up my key.  On Monday I start tennis practice at 6:30 in the morning (which could be exciting – and possible devoid of any tennis whatsoever – due to my ongoing back spasms), and that day my roommate arrives. 

It’s going to be exciting.  I can’t wait to see where life takes me this year.

Now y’all take care.  ;)

Urban

Check out my new blog post at Urban Connections.  While I'm excited for the summer to wind down and school to start back up (a.k.a. bowl me over with all the opportunities and assignments), I will miss these precious kiddos.  :)