in the midst of chaos...

...I'm still here! 

Surprise! It's much easier for me to update my blog when it involves procrastinating on homework than when it means taking up good family/relaxation time. It also helps that I'm sitting in a class that no longer holds my attention because my brain just dead. 

I know it's been a long time since I updated and I apologize for that. Sometimes it's hard for me to motivate myself to do writing "for fun" after spending my time doing writing by force. Thank you graduate school. Plenty of fun things have happened in my life in the past couple of months and I hope to put up some pictures of those activities when I have more time.

At this point, I only have three (!) days of class left and next week is finals. I have spent all day trying to fathom the fact that (1) it's December (umm...what??), (2) I have almost completed my first semester of graduate school and (3) in a week and a half I will be back in the Midwest for a whole month. 


My time out here in Colorado has just flown by. I feel like I have barely moved here and now I'm winding up the semester. The best part of all of this is that I get a break for a WHOLE month when this is finished. I never thought I would say that I would be excited to get back to the midwest. But I am. Don't get me wrong, I love Colorado. Unfortunately, I have not been able to enjoy this state as much as I would have liked. And the taste of home that I got in the 5 days over Thanksgiving just about did me in. I was pretty ready to skip my final projects and my finals and never come back to Colorado. Yeah, I'm that stressed out.

I think that's all for now. I'm only allowed to procrastinate for so long these days. The rest of this week and the beginning of next week will be pretty close to the fire down below but knowing that I get to spend quality time with family and friends in the very near future is the only thing that is motivating me to continue. Your prayers for peace, sanity and concise writing will be greatly appreciated. 


On a MUCH happier, sunnier note, constant Christmas music makes me smile. And is much needed. And seriously awesome. **Simply having a wonderful Christmas time!**

sneak peek.

eastern slope of the rocky mountains.

western slope of the rocky mountains.

much, much more to come!! 

public education at its finest.

We spent the first hour of my 3 hour night class watching the Tigers/Twins game online because my professor is a huge Twins fans. Good thing I'm not paying a lot of out of state tuition for this class...


::insert annoyed face picture here::
                

SLP love.

I seriously love my "job". I have one client this semester and she is just adorable. I'm so happy to finally be working with kids. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed working with adults at Calvin. But, to have an idea of the direction I want my career to go and to have it proved in just a few short weeks at UNC, awesome. Even better, I'm turning into a total nerd. We were working on a sound today that I thought would take several weeks to even get a semi-correct production. Right towards the end of the session, she got it! and I wanted to jump up and down with joy. I was just so excited that she was figuring it out and I was the one helping her do it!! So rewarding, even on this tiniest level. Sigh. I just LOVE it. :)

the familiar.

Not gonna lie, I have really been missing the familiar lately. Between all the fabulous pictures I've seen of ArtPrize (extremely bummed I can't see all of that beauty, by the way) and the updates from my fabulous roommates that I've been getting, it makes me a little bit sad that life has moved on.

I know I've said this before, but every once in a while, the fact that I am a fourteen hour car ride away from everything I've ever known decides to just slam me in the face. So please bear with me as I make myself a little list.

I miss:
*my roommates (all 6 of them) and every interaction, planned and unplanned, that living in a house with 6 beautiful, funnay (yes, not just funny), talented, powerhouse women entails.
*other friends that saturate my memories from the last four years (the hope house, vassar boys and girls, rossman girls, almont girls, just to name a few).
*grand rapids. downtown. reeds lake. kava house. having the mall close by. mom and dad scholten and vanderlaan's houses. the derb. queen's pub. wolfgangs. marie catrib's. pita house. wealthy street bakery. calvin college. the campus store.
*ada bible church. pastor jeff's sermons. anne ferris and the rest of the DV team. the kids and their enthusiastic participation in their favorite music! DV:FX and my brief foray back into acting.
*the general feeling of being at home and the sense of belonging and comfort.
*the beauty of fall in michigan. the changing leaves. the crisp air. enjoying michigan football games (go BLUE!).

Needless to say, I loved living in Grand Rapids and thoroughly enjoyed the four years I was there. I really just wish I could somehow combine that experience (well, mostly the people) with where I am at right now. That would make life just wonderful. But, instead, I am working on loving Colorado, Greeley, UNC and loving the memories that I got to make in the center of the mitten state. :)

Officially Official.

As I sat down to write this, I realized that I have been living in Greeley for a full month. Time has flown by! School has been in session for three weeks. We've mostly gotten past all the intro/review work in our classes and we're finally starting to dive into new material. I'm definitely still working on getting back into the school/homework mindset. It's been a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, mostly because a lot of people that I know are not back in school and doing homework.

As a whole, graduate school has been a bit of a mix between what I expected and not at all what I expected. I decided not to get a job right away because I wanted to make sure that I could get this new schedule under my belt before I added more to the mix. But, after working along with my course load at Calvin for 3 years, I feel like I have a ton of time on my hands. I really like it but it's definitely different to get done with class at 12:05 or 1:45 (or 8:50 on Wednesdays :D) and not have anything to do.

I'm also still working on getting used to the fact that I'm in Colorado, halfway across the country from anywhere else I've ever lived. Even though I did the drive myself, it's still not quite sticking. Just this week, one of the girls in my program was talking about finding some Michigan State gear (her husband is a fan. gross.) in the local Wal-Mart. In my mind, that was not strange at all. I'm used to seeing UM!/MSU stuff in stores all the time. I didn't get it until one of the other girls started laughing about how far away we are from Michigan. That kind of rocked my mind a little bit.

Speaking of the girls in my program! They are beyond awesome. We are all quite different but I've connected with a group of them that I think I'm going to become really great friends. This weekend, a bunch of us went up to one of my professor's cabins in the mountains and had a great time hiking and hanging out. Although, I must admit, the more I hang out with them, the more I realize how much I miss everyone from back home (both MI and IL). I was homesick for the first time this past weekend, especially after I remembered that I couldn't just make a quick drive to see my family or my friends. So, know that you are all missed sorely.

But, don't take that to mean that I wish I wasn't out here. Like I've said before, I really feel like this is the place for me. I am absolutely in love with this city and this state. I'm doing my best to get involved in things and see as much as I can. That way, when you all come to visit me (hint, hint), I will be a fabulous tour guide. :) Seriously though, I have an air mattress that is just begging to be used. Come visit!!

New beginnings.

It's kind of funny how big changes and new adventures in your life make you almost forget what came before. I haven't even been in Greeley for a week and I already feel like I've been here forever. While the still unsettled state of my apartment and lack of a social schedule tell me that isn't the case, I feel like Chicago and Calvin are lightyears away. Obviously, I miss them immensely (the people in those places even more so) and it feels strange to not be in either place but I'm really excited to be where I am now. As I said before, I'm settling more and more into the comfort that this is where God wants me to be and I'm ready to see what He has in store for me while I'm here.

The trip out here was both eventful and uneventful at the same time. Other than the obvious 'I'm-moving-way-across-the country-away-from-everyone-I-know' thing, nothing big happened. We, my parents and I, drove west on I-80, then I-76 and then I-34 (a super easy trip. you should come visit) with an overnight stop in Nebraska along the way. We arrived in Greeley around 11 on Tuesday morning and (mostly) had fun unpacking and getting set up. We were able to find some of the furniture that I needed and made several trips to Target for other necessities, plus fun things of course. :) My parents were actually only here for 24 hours but I am beyond thankful that they made the trip with me. I don't think I would have survived such a big move on my own. My dad made things happen and my mom made sure things didn't happen (mainly, any panic attacks on my part). And since their departure I've made a friend, got a library card, got a UNC id card, got my books (all $2387498345 worth), unpacked more boxes, explored more of Greeley, climbed part of a mountain, visited Estes Park and so much more.

And so, that brings me to the next adventure on my list. School starts tomorrow! I'm both nervous and excited. I'm ready to get started, to have something to do with my days (even if it is lectures and homework), to make friends, to learn more about what I love to do. But I'm nervous about being at a new school, about making new friends, about being a good example of Christ and His love, about the lectures and the homework and the clients. Your prayers are much appreciated!!

Pictures of the trip out to Colorado and my apartment!

Climb every mountain...

I feel like I've climbed several mountains in the past week, both literally and figuratively. Obviously, the move across the United States to the beautiful state of Colorado has been a bit of an adventure (more on that later). I'm adjusting pretty well and I'm very excited to share pictures and stories. After several failed attempts, I created this blog (welcome, by the way) and now feel more technologically stupid for the endeavor.

And, just this morning, I climbed an actual mountain (well, only part of the way up. stupid lack of oxygen) with my new friend, Diana. It was a beautiful small mountain called Crosier Mtn. near Estes Park that afforded some great views of beautiful peaks and valleys. Part of the way up, we decided to stop and catch our breath and found this great rock formation to sit on that overlooked some pretty fabulous scenery. (Part of the view from our rock ^) I'm not usually one for silence but sitting up there around 8:30 in the morning, it was incredible to just hear nothing. It was so peaceful and definitely a place I will return to with my Bible because God was just so evident there.

Even though I've only been here for 3.5 days, I have already fallen in love with Greeley and the mountains and Colorado. My overall consensus, despite all the hard work I'm going to have to do for school, is that I'm really going to enjoy living here. I truely feel that this is where God wants me to be, where I can grow and learn a whole lot about myself and enjoy some adventure all at the same time!