minnesota weather

so yesterday, here in bemidji it reached a high of 84 degrees!! i was outside raking lawns in short and a tshirt! it was gorgous! today? there was supposed to be a high of 48. last night it was supposed to snow. it needs to be 32 degrees outside to snow. something up there is dysfunct because IT DOESN'T JUST DROP 40 DEGREES IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS. this is unbelievable. have a great day and don't forget your hat and mittens (o wait, those are for wimps, the un-minnesotan. my bad).

manly

according to the "studs" of the habifam, there are many things that may make you manly. us girls of the habifam, well, it's not that we try to achieve these manly goals...it just makes us tougher if we do! so, out raking today i believe i can add to my list of manly things i have achieved:

-blisters. 7 of them! woohoo!
-powerhousin' it when it came to bagging. (everyone did an extremely well job of this).
-not caring about all the dirt that seemed to be attracted to me.
-wearing shorts

now, the last one the manly studs had to differ on. they told me that i was not manly for wearing shorts. they said that i could get cut or a majority of other things. but as i recall, according to what they published in the trips journal, blood on the work site is manly. i pointed this out to them. they said that there is a dress code. i said, who said there was a dress code. they said there just is. i said that i'm president and i can overrule. nate said i was v.p. i said i was president until the end of the semester. nate said, in his earl impressionism, "i know the president, she's that good lookin' girl." i glared at him, turned around and started working again. he went on and on about his, i'm just kidding andi! i'm just kidding! in his you-should-have-known-that voice. and i did. it's just fun to play with his brain!

another question that was pondering in my mind while raking....why is it that all the little old ladies don't want anyone else other than "a young man" to do their work for them? what aren't we capable of? the first house we raked at the lady wanted nothing to do with us girls...she only talked to the guys. she did ask me who to write the check out to and i told her who and then she asked if the amount was enough. i simply stated that that sounds good, it's a free will donation. then she started asking for the big guy that was in charge and i said that i was president and then she kinda looked at me and asked us if we wanted a pop. then she asked ekren if this amount was enough. ekren said that it was plenty. then she wanted to hire him over the summer for some around the house chores. WHY CAN'T SHE HIRE A GIRL? I CAN LIFT A BAG, I CAN SWEEP, I MOWED MY PARENT'S LAWN FOR MANY YEARS, I CAN RAKE, I CAN CHANGE A LIGHT BULB (unbelievable, but yes it's true. and it only takes one of me, no one else. but i can't do it in bemidji. apparently we can't change lightbulbs here because there's no electricity. or so the joke goes.) I CAN LIFT UP A PAINT BRUSH AND EASILY PAINT A FENCE, ONE OF MY MAJORS HAS TO DO PAINTING!!!

deep breath. whew.


anyways. i've never dealt with so many little old ladies who think that only guys can do yard work. It's been quite a few in the couple of days. after we left this ladies house, me and the girls (peaches, d-dog and erica-who needs a nickname, i think we've recruited her to the habifam!) drove over to the next house and stated instances where this has happened. unfortunatly, none of us will state anything to these little old ladies as we don't want to jeopardize our donation to habitat and further more, we don't want to insult them or cause any criciticals. so we just leave it alone. but, o, if i had the guts....

my hands hurt. i had to ice them at the corner bar after we were done working. blisters suck. doesn't make typing fun. i think my hands need some tlc.

on some lighter notes:

we got all our raking done for the day. only 7 more lawns left! eh...the cheering for this has died done a bit...too tired.
campout and clean up at itasca state park this weekend! i can muster up some enthusiasm for this one, wooohooo!!
my sister is going to be in town friday, so hopefully i will get to see her. i also have an 8 am class, then my eye dr. appt. (no more glasses! back to contacts!), then go check on the guys, then i have to go check some garage sales for a dresser...kinda need one at the new house. then off to see my sister and have lunch with her. then some raking along with finding square! (she's left me for a couple of days...no one to talk to), then off to swim practice, then to get groceries for this weekend's campout.
supper at the corner bar tonight was excellent as usually...nate and ekren paid with the money they had made from helping lo j and earl.
made me think of square tonight when we were raking and everyone's instructions to everyone was to "find their own square." i couldn't, mine has temporarily left town!
i talked to squeak the other night. i hadn't talked to her in awhile so it was good to catch up. at my brother's graduation party we are going to run the kitchen so it should be a fun, hilarious time. i also showed her my funny face making skills with the webcam at work today. always funny. always.
be careful. laminated sheets straight off the laminater are hot. may cause burnt flesh. not hot enough to brand my thumb though. not special enough i guess.
we had an equal amount of girls as there were guys out raking today. usually we have 1 maybe 2 guys with us and a handful of girls. but today, we were equal in numbers! (this is big for our group!)

i think that's all. i know there was some other good quotes from tonight. there always is with the habifam. anyways. that's my story for the night and i guess i'm sticking to it. cause it's the truth and you wouldn't want me to lie would you?

all my hairs...

i had my hair(s) cut today...it's short, i like it. but i will love it more as it grows out...it always happens that way. i like it once it's cut too short and then in a couple of weeks i love it!

it's been awhile

i know, i know...it's been awhile since i've posted. i'm surprised no one has yelled at me to post yet. no threatening comments so far! i know square is a little disappointed in me as checking my blog has become a part of her daily routine and i haven't been keeping up to snuff. my life has been such a busy whirl of events and activities that it gets hard to actually sit down and post. plus, i've got to have the patience to sit down and post. but i think i'm ready!

so. in the last couple of days, i don't think i've ever experienced so many emotions. especially on saturday. that was a day not to forget. some things not to forget about saturday:

-bottoming out in the back of lueken's, only because it was the fastest way to go...over the curb...and it kind of got there somehow...i didn't see it commin...the sun was bright...i just wanted mcdonald's for breakfast! and all of a sudden...ooffff (thoughts running through my head: o my God, stupid!, my car!, and where did that come from?
-driving out of town for 30 min. on powerdam road...didn't realize that civilization existed out there....we couldn't find the house we were supposed to rake leaves for! (TRTMH: how much farther out can she live?, we're lost!, and greeeatt...this lady doesn't even know where she lives)
-finding her house (TRTMH: yeeeeeeeeeesssssss, we found her house!)
-at lunch time: getting joanna, going to get gas (expensive!), getting lunch for the habifam rakers, going to get pete, not finding pete, going out to the next house, not seeing the crew there who i am supposed to meet, missing my meeting because the crew was late, not being able to reach them on the cell phone, almost getting my foot bit off, running 45 min. to the other site, not finding them, passing an ambulance, thinking the worst, extrememly worried, what happened to them, scaring joanna with my worries....and then finding the crew 2 hours later, all well, and then giving them their cold lunch. (TRTMH: uh...what wasn't i thinking?)
-finishing up raking for the day (TRTMH: jump for joy!)
-having a hot guy show up and giving me a ride on his crotchrocket (read: motorcycle but not quite as authentic), cruising along at 90 miles per hour-just an awesome feeling! (TRTMH: YYYYEAAAAAHHHH!!! WOOHOOOO! life is good!)
-taking a shower, i was grundgy dirty
-almost getting killed at stamart (tesoro) gas station because of an incompetent drunk driver who almost ripped off half my car and me along with it...square and big booty also experience (TRTMH: how did he not hit me or my car????? thank GOD for watching over us!!!!)
-moving after our 5 min. shock session after almost dying (TRTMH: i am SO LUCKY)
-the movie Jersey Girl (TRTMH: awwww....i want that baby! she's so cute!)
-talking to my mom. note to self: never talk to mom with square and kelly in the background (TRTMH: can they not see i'm talking? what did my mom say? woah woah woaaahh....back up!)
-"something's gotta give" (the movie not our lives) with the habifam (TRTMH: eeewwww! old people making out! i can't watch i can't watch!)
-going to bed that night (TRTMH: aaaaaaaahhhh...sleep.)

and that's my saturday...i've got more fun stuff to post...soon anyways...maybe not tonight, but i felt i had to give you something!

just realizing....

ok, i just realized this and although it's not a really important realization, it just hit me smack dab on my head and i thought to myself....how, strange? i have just found it odd (which seems to be a favorite word of mine, i don't think anyone could ever over use it) that i don't have any really close friends that are my age. that is, outside my roommates (which i love and adore and all that jazz). all my friends are either a) a year younger than me or b) a couple years older than me. most people have friends who seem to be the same age as them, in the same place of the game of life, and here i am in the middle of all of it.

first off, i have my friends who are a year younger than me. i get so much joy from them, watching their carefree lifestyles. i think i enjoy having them as friends as i can relate to them all the stories of experience that i had last year. (it might also be that they like me and want me to be their friend...i don't know, i could be completly wrong about this and the whole world could just be conspirisizing against me...is conspirisizing spelt correctly? is it even a word?) i've kind of always been that type of person, one who likes to give advise. the hard part is knowing when to give it and when to bite your tongue as some situations are much better without your input (most stories that involve a boyfriend for instance). plus i hate it when people tell me what to do instead of giving me support...just a pet peeve of mine and now we are getting off subject. but anyways, i've always had younger friends. my first best friend ever, laura, was a year younger than me. we bonded as we both had the same personality. erica (squeak) is 9 months younger than me and we bonded as she found out i can make everyone laugh because i'm such a dork (i think...?). we're also cousins and usually see each other all the time at family gathers, so what's better than having your cousin as one of your best friends? i also have numerous friends in habitat that are a year younger than me: peaches, d dog, stan (short for stoic ann) and all the rest. they all make me so happy and can easily make me laugh.

then there are the number (numerous) of friends that i have that are older than me. some are a year older than me and the others are anywhere from 2-3 years. i get along so well with them, it's amazing. it's so funny when we'll be talking and i'll tell a story from my life and they'll realize how young i really am. "you were how old when that happened?? wow..." yeah, really puts things into perspective. i think it's great that when i'm with them i neither seem too young or they too old. we're just together to have a great time. when i'm with nate and square, i never realize how they are 22-23 and are graduating this year. i'm sure that most of the time they never realize that i'm still 19 (almost 20! well, not quite yet...) and am in my second year of school. facts are, i don't feel like a 19 year old. in fact, i don't know how old i feel most of the time. i rarely feel too young or too old. i used to joke around that i would never mature...i would always be crazy andi for a long time (i told squeak and rebecca that one year in high school FLA state in the cities, 3 in the morning while sitting in our hotel room...we were all mad at kaylie!). in fact, i don't want to grow up...yes i want to hit certain milestone's in my life such as a job, marriage, family and so on, but i never want to loose my spark and the ability to see things as a child. but i know it comes eventually and even though you're hanging on to your innoscence, eventually the wave will wash over you and you'll realize how much of an adult you've become. personally, i didn't realize how matured up i've become until i went swimming with some high school girls that i will be coaching. their topics of conversation were limited to school and other "gross" things and every other word out of their mouth was "like" this and "like" that (and if you ask square, i still do do that...but believe me, not to their extent!). it just seemed after high school that i never wanted to leave that part of me behind and i fought to hold on to it, but college life and all of the world that revolves around me swallowed me whole and my eyes and thoughts and everything that i experienced changed me...but not by much. i still have my crazy, wacked out, andi ways but in a way, i have changed so much and grown up quite a bit. in fact, compared to some other college students my age, i consider myself to be more grown up then i wanted. but i embrace where i am. i love the responsibilities that come with growing up and where they can take you.

so now that i have almost run completely in the other direction with this....i don't know. this was a start about my friends and how i realized that i only have 1 to 2 that are my age and the rest aren't...and then i start blabbering about how old and how young i feel...where did this post go wrong? hmmm...

i do have some friends my age. i don't consider then my close friends. it takes a lot to get to know me...before i come full fledged out of my shell. i have a lot of acquaintences but only few close friends. of course there are my 5 roomies (now going down to 4...lindsey's leaving :( ) but as close as i am to them, they are my roomies, which qualifies them to be my friends, but only a couple of them know the real me. i told danielle one night how much she really doesn't know about me...in fact, it almost scared me how much she didn't know about me. i've known her for so long and there's just something missing that is preventing me from telling her about how i tick. only certain people have that ability to open me op and let me spill my life story and lessons and just everything about me. i think it's a gift....i don't know...but i don't open up easily at all. tessa noticed that one. i'm uncomfortable around strangers (especially if they're drunk) and it takes some true bonding to get me to open up. i have many acquaintances but only a handful of friends. right now my closest friends are from habifam...i can't get enough of them...they make me laugh, cry, and we can all really open up to each other. it's just a bunch of us all helping each other deal with real life while doing God's work and helping people out...and somehow i'm leading the way with help from all of them. i love them...they're my family away from my family.

so that's my extremely long post. i could go on for longer but i figure this is enough for now. it's about 5 different topics and it all started out as one. not quite sure how it happened, but hey, i'm sure that there are people out there who like reading long posts! but i'm going to close this one out. here's a good quote: friends are your family that you have chosen for yourself. God Bless! andi

Dru...in angels' arms you'll stay

another odd one...

i just had a chicken propose to me! go have fun with the chicken!

you preach it mandei!

Here is what I am like. I am a Christain.

and if you were in habitat (well, you don't have to be in habitat but it's one of our sayings), this is what we would tell you:

"YOU PREACH IT! I'LL TURN THE PAGES!"

God Bless Mandei!

this summer...

i realized that i have to plan my summer. first off, i have 2 jobs. one being really flexible and the other one not quite so. and then i realize that i need to fit these happenings into my schedule:

-winger centennial with nate and square...i'm pumped!
-winnepeg trip with my family (not the habifam and no, i don't drink so don't get any ideas)
-all my swim meets with BASS
-i want to fit a trip to go down to the cities in some time so that me and whoever can go to valley fair, a twin's game and who knows what else..i've never been to the state fair though...that might be fun!
-square wants to go road trippen...i want to go to maine...when we leaving? IDEA!!! WE SHOULD GO RIGHT AFTER GRADUATION!! we'll see though..that costs money!
-a trip to texas to see kelly

that's what i want to do with my summer...hopefully it happens??? hopefully

in a nutshell

so i didn't post all weekend. basically because i have a crazy and hectic life. so here is the top things that happened this weekend that i feel that i should make public just because they were the best parts of my weekend...in no particular order and with some inside jokes...sorry!:

-driving down to the cities...6 people, one car
-the WARM GORGOUS WEATHER in the cities
-the cool seats nate picked out...it was an amazing view! ..until they hit it deep into right field and the outcome of the catch was determined by the rest of the audience as we couldn't see!
-"the way that guy laid his body out" for that amazing catch!
-the little girl beating up the guy with her twins poster in the seats infront of us that she didn't know...his friends chipped in too!
-asking mike to "tell us about baseball"
-square's back massages...i think she should go to massage school!
-20 hundred, thousand, bajillion questions with square...very entertaining!
-waking pete, our driver, up and letting him know we were back in bemidji
-after having a conversation with square about my best friend when i was little, laura, mentioning how much i miss her, and then also talking to square about the best type of presents, the one's you get when you don't expect them and how they have more meaning than your birthday presents and then coming home and realizing i got a package from laura and inside were three christian music cds! she said that she reads my blog and i don't thing i've ever told her i had a blog! amazing! God works in mysterious ways i tell you, mysterious ways! thank you laura and i'm going to write back! also, i'm going to add a link to you here
-"so what'd you do saturday morning?" "weeelll, let me tell you how i watched tree's fall..." clearing tree's out of the new habitat lot in bemidji with the big habitat members along with square, peaches, nate and ekren
-watching the tree (big tree) after being chainsawed off "jump" over off the stump and just stand there
-watching the guys put their "guns" to use (disclaimer: not real guns! we're taking biceps!)
-the adreneline rush of one of the tree's almost falling on a garage, power lines, and then almost on roy's wife and her car, and then finally deciding to go the other way and got stuck at a funny angle against some other trees
-ekren trying to pull the tree down all by his lonesome
-nate coming to his help
-peaches, square and i watching in awe....
-nate whipping a rake out of his pick-up...unfortunatly he didn't have a wheel-barrow....
-going to the wedding on sat...and the ride there. listened to some good music and had some me time
-putting baby savanah to sleep...she's my 6 1/2 week old cousin...it was just fun dancing her to sleep and i haven't held or played with a baby in awhile...i want a baby but it won't be happening any time soon!
-finding out that if brianne and i combined our wardrobes we would have a complete outfit!
-bringing zach back to bemidji with me and watching him and nate "bond" it was fun
-watching peaches and d dog try out their home made wine concoction
-nate's face when he tried the wine!
-"the picture"
-sunday morning church! always on my list!
-nate stripping in the back of my car
-square's look on her face when she realized what he was doing!
-the habitat stock banquet and letting everyone see my finished powerpoint
-an hour of nap time...much needed
-watching the 5 hour trips movie with habifam and all the candy!
-giving ekren a ride home...he always knows what to say
-getting to sleep at a decent time!

i think that's my weekend in a nutshell (i say that and i think of nate sitting in the front seat of my car pretending he's "in a nutshell" funny!)...good times i tell ya! now back on to my regular, spring feverish, boring life...how many week's till summer?

mmmmmm

you don't always realize how much you love something until it's brought back into your life....

HA bet you wouldn't have guessed i was talking about good ol ORANGE JUICE! had some this morning and it was soooo good...didn't realize how much i loved that stuff!

odd...

odd. watch this and then imagine me staring blankly at the screen with an open mouth and a look of complete confussion on my face...

a good read

"those crazy methodists always said that the party never got started until the baptists arrived."

"so what's the point? what have i learned? three things. first, always remember to take your medication. secondly, you can not have a blonde dog and wear black clothes. thirdly, God is always in control."

via a beautiful distraction

the last 24 hours

here's what's been going on in my life over the last 24 hours....

-worked...which was really boring...no phone calls, no emails...so i just blog away
-went to my three hour class on printmaking. also really boring. so i actually just stayed until the demos were done because i can't stand sitting there for 3 hours.
-so i skipped out of class and went shopping! i know, not very responsible of me but i had to go shopping. i didn't have a nice outfit to wear for the wedding this weekend and i was desperate to find one - and i did! and i got rave reviews about it from my roommates plus...it was on sale! double score!
-talked to my mom in that time...i was trying to call her about the kick butt skirt i got on sale. she was calling to tell me that i had jury duty. all summer long. may to september...ick. she asked me the needed questions to fill out my form and is bringing it up on sat. so i can sign it.
-after shopping i went and traded my purse for my schoolbooks and headed over to katie's to work on the infamous, surprisingly scary as ever honors report. the paper has been written and it's been sent out for proofreading...now on to the powerpoint presentation... :(
-during the making of the honors paper i took a slight break at square's room and we talked over bananas (odd phrase...) that katie had given us. unfortunatley square's was a little rotten. she told me to thank katie for the rotten banana. i did...katie's face after that was priceless!
-went back and chatted with square for a little while in her room before heading back to the house
-went back to my room, typed more papers and finished scanning pictures into my computer for the habitat powerpoint...it's so cool! i also talked to square some more...she found me my "the lord liveth" song! rock on!!! finished that at 3:15 in the morning.
-slept for 3.5 hours
-woke up, went back to bed at 7ish...woke back up at 7:40 realized i didn't care if i was late for my intro to media writing class and was late. at least i got my assignment turned in!
-worked for an hour
-went to the ultra boring and tedious class exhibit design. we're drafting an exhibit on a grid that doesn't make our design come out correctly as the grid has been drawn wrong...it's completely screwed up but no one in the class wants to say anything....(i had two really great words to use in this sentence but i have completely blanked out...)
-went to lunch and had nachos and a churo for $3.49! that's a deal at the union!
-said hi to julie...didn't realize how much i missed talking to her!
-ate lunch and went back to work
-got an email from my mom...since i don't TECHNICALLY live in polk county at the moment, i'm off the hook for jury duty...yay!
-got an email from someone with the swim team...asking me to sign up for an interview time along with the "other possible coaching canidates for this summer." i thought i already had the job! i'm picking up my test book tonight...one would think...i'm royally confused...i'll have to ask tonight and see what dave thinks....hmmmm....
-wrote in my blog...now back to work!

in the mood for christian music

so after easter i kinda got in the mood for lots of christian music...not the all new, music from bands and stuff. i want the songs from my mission trips! which some of them are new...i've got certain songs stuck in my head but it would be all so much more fun if i had the actual music...here's a couple of the lyrics of the songs (or at least the ones i have in my head right now) that i can think of:

every move i make i make in you you are the way jesus
every step i take with in you woohoo!
every breath i take i take in you you are the way jesus
every step i take i take with you woohoo!
waves of mercy waves of faith
every where i look i see your face!
your love has captured me
o my God this love how can it be!
(not a hundred percent sure of the the exact words...some might be off. this song comes complete with actions and back up singers when sung at good news bearers at sharon lutheran sunday nights)

i shall call upon the lord
who is worthy to be praised
so shall i be saved from my enemies
the lord liveth (ugh!)
and blessed be the rock
and may the God of my salvation be exalted! (repeat from the lord liveth)
this is my all out favorite...can't find the song anywhere...anyone know?? i love this song...complete with actions!

lord prepare me
to be a santuary
pure and holy
tried and true..
with thanksgiving
i'll be a living
santuary
for you

we are marching in the light of God, we are marching in the light of God!
and the rest of the verses

Newsboys....Shine and another favorite...Breakfast! ...Captain Crunch is waving farwell! when the big one bites you let this song remind you that they don't serve breakfast in hell!

i'm still looking for the " ah ah ah ah ah le-e lu-u ia!" song from easter...not that you guys would know what that song is from my alleluia dragged out over there...

i can't think of any more for now...i also love awesome God but i've found so many copies of that...no problem there...i'm also getting some more songs...don't remember which ones off hand...o well...i think i'm gonna go buy a cd....

fun shirts

so this weekend i decided that i had to find an old twins shirt to wear to the game on friday. so i go diving head first into our storage room downstairs which is full of seasonal clothes and decorations, garage sale items along with mountains of pillows and blankets. so while i was whipping open rubbermaid box after rubbermaid box full or old shirts from our younger years, searching for a twin's shirt, i found a box full of my siblings and mine's old swimming shirts. i found one's that dated back to 1993 - 94, when i was 8 years old! i found my first ever barracuda swimming shirt that had my name on the back. the cool thing about it is that it still fits me...back when i was younger, it was cool to wear L and XL shirts so all my shirts were ordered that big! so now i have that one to wear and i found my sisters old barracuda swimming 50 mile club, which is a big joke to all of us because i was well into the 150 mile club when these shirts were given out (it was the number of miles you swam over the summer). zerek and i joke that i should get one that says 5 mile club or something. i love that shirt because it's like a vintage shirt you could buy at american eagle. i also found our old lactic acid, we thrive on it! shirts and some old other old state shirts with my name on the back. they were fun to find and bring back out again. almost like new clothes. o, and i did find a twins shirt...it's zerek's old shirt he gave to alli, that she's probably only worn once. it's a smaller jersey, short sleeve, that i'll need to wear a long sleeve shirt under (don't need to be flashing anyone!). it's the perfect size too...fits perfectly...i'm pumped for friday! too bad i don't have a homer hanky anymore though....or at least i didn't look...they might have went with the flood....

"alleluia! christ has risen!" "he has risen indeed! alleluia!

i don't know about you all but i had a fantabulous easter. it started with waking up and finding my easter basket, which was cleverly hidden in my duffle bag to go back home with me ("is this supposed to be a sign?"). then i had one of my cadburry cream eggs for breakfast, only because it was easter and i didn't have time to eat anything else. i got dressed in my khakis and a nice shirt. i think all i wear are my khakis these days...but they're so fun and i love how i look in them!

church was wonderful. we got there about 2 min. late which was a big mistake. the contemporary service is the most popular service our church puts on and our church is also the largest in grand forks (there were about 500 of us or more in that room and that was one of the 4 worships of the day) so we were waiting out in the hall for someone to find us chairs. i think we were a fire hazard all packed in there. i ended up sitting with alli in the middle of the room, zerek and my parents were up by the band and brass section and zach was over on the other side of the room by himself. my parents and zerek were a little hard of hearing afterwards with the brass section and drums right in front of them. the music was awesome though. we sang the alluleuia chorus "ah ah ah ah ah le lu-u ia!" aaaa...it was wonderful and loud and joyous! with all the musical instruments and all of us in our fire hazard room...wow. and then our new paster, pastor deanna who puts on humourous worships lead the service. she started with asking us to be seated but to first make sure we still had a chair under us with all the shifting. then with the children's sermon she talked about how she and the children had put away and forbidden a word about a month ago, and they had hid it under the front podium (contemp. service is in our large fellowship/worship/everything room so no real pulpit in there). now that P.D. took it out, the work alleluia was all pretty and decorated because it's a loud word and we can now shout it at the top of our lungs! then during the sermon she elaborated on how we should be shouting it out and everytime she said "alleluia! christ has risen!" we had to shout make, even more joyously "he has risen indeed! alleluia!" this would happen at spurs of the moment when we were least expecting it. then she gave a wonderful sermon on what easter means to her and what it should mean to us. then we had a baptism...which i love to watch and had not experienced one in awhile. our pastoral intern, pastor stephanie, explained that back in the day, baptisms were only given on easter, which was an interesting tidbit. and then afterwards we sang jesus loves me, a great song! brings back memories. we ended the worship after communion, the lords prayer, the blessing and some jamming out to a couple of great songs. at this point all the kids go up and play with some percussion instuments adding more to our joyful song. all in all...a great, wonderful, joyful easter sunday worhip....makes you miss contemp worship at sharon lutheran!

on another plus note...i got a whole LOT of ham to bring back to midji with me...i'll be living off ham for awhile! whoohoo!

the end is approaching....

i realize how many days of school we have left...1 month! i signed up for fall classes today and i'm fearing the end. basically because all of my habifam friends will be gone... :( i'm trying to look for the up side of the many months to come...summer and freedom and getting another school year behind me...but it'll be so hard...change sucks.

great quote

"YEAH! because, she was like, super catholic or something like that!"

-my sister alli, referring to mary, queen of scots, as we were searching for a costume for her to wear (at the make believe room) for her class's living museum. she shouted this out after my brother held up a huge cross necklace, noted that it was pimp like, and my sister freaked out as mary wore a huge cross around her neck in all of her pictures.

and why i'm not a princess....

when you think princess, you think pink, dresses, crowns, tiaras...which are all fun of course, but definetly not me. i do like the ocassional dress up but if i can help it i stay as far as i can from pink...and ruffles, bows, little flower prints, frilly things....and the list goes on. my favorite kind of clothes are bold colors...blue, red, green, black, white, khaki, maroon, yellow...all of those in solid color. i'll also wear strips, polka dots (it seems to be a fashion coming back), and some large flower prints. but could i find that this weekend? noooo...

my mom took me shopping. now all of you should know that when your mom offers to take you shopping you jump on it as it doesn't happen often. but on saturday, it turned into more of a headache for all of us than i expected. we started out at marshal fields, which did have some decent stuff. but i made it clear there that i would not be seen in pastel colors unless blue or green and absolutely NO PINK. or for sure pastel pink. if i like the cut and style and it's in a dark pink, i'll at least try it on. at MF we found a black skirt that had a nice flow on it and that was it...i think i tried on 20 outfits...none of them satisfying enough for me. which leads me to my other problem...my mom's and my views on clothes. she thinks that skirts and pants should be worn up above the belly button. i believe that they should be right below, that's where it's most comfortable for me. i also couldn't find any shirts that fit me nicely, even though she says that they did, i really disagreed. i think part of the problem was that i was trying to find a spring shirt and it was 30 degrees outside and i was freezing. trying on a tank top and thinking i would be able to wear it the next day just wasn't appealing to me. so out of MF we went with the black skirt on hold. then we went to maurices. and i LOVE maurices. but every time i held something up, my mom would disagree. then my mom would hold something up, and i would disagree...usually because it was pink, frilly, ruffly, had a bow or some other demented item attached to it. i did try somethings on, but none of them were working for me. then we went to jc penny's...nothing was spotted there...i tried on a couple of dresses and discovered that everything there, alot like target, is unproportional. if it fit me well in the waist, it didn't fit me on top...basically due to swimmer's shoulders and other unporportional objects. then we would find something that would fit me on top...and i looked huge as it was too big on the bottom! i was slightly pissed off after the whole ordeal as i find that no one knows how to size clothing anymore. it's the same way with jeans...they may fit me in the waiste but usually the thighs are WAY too tight...i'm lucky when i find a good pair of jeans which feel comfortable on me. so i think that i should either 1)write to most of the clothing companies and rip them out for not making porportional size fitting clothes (does that make sense?) or 2) start my own clothing company and make sizes that actually FIT people. and i'm not ranting because i'm larger than normal and i'm jealous of the skinny, size 1 girls...because i don't consider myself large. i'm actually a size 11, which makes it even harder for me to find clothes as that is the size of the normal american girl.

so yeah. that's how my saturday went. not too happy as i was actually looking forward to finding something new and exciting to wear to all my upcoming events (weddings, graduation...). but what can i do? maybe i will start my own clothing company...hmmmm....

the princess in me

i went and saw the prince and me on good friday. it was the perfect movie to see as i was in the mood for a good romance. and actually, i haven't seen a good romance in a long time. while watching the movie you just get that feeling, oooo, that would be fun if it happened to me! which is the power of a movie, one of the many reasons i love a good movie. and then the movie ends and you're jolted back into reality. i still think about it, what would it be like to marry a prince? but then of course, i do realize all the downsides of becoming a princess/queen...there's so many...but would you let that stand in the way of love? hmmm... most people think that could never happen to them, but hey, prince william's single and i'm going to europe next year! :)

a good hump day

so i didn't have school on wednesday as it was student creative and acheivement day (or something like that...i don't think anyone really knows that EXACT name of that day). i was all pumped for wednesday as i took off work, i didn't have school and i planned a day of relaxation, homework and hanging out with friends. on tuesday night, we had a habifam get together in square's room to watch joyride...which was probably one of the most horrible movies i have ever seen. the best part of the whole movie? while the kids were in wyoming (where sara is from) they stop at a bar and one of the dude's at the bar nicknames the girl in the movie peaches, which is sara's nickname...how ironic! we all burst out laughing. the candy can and rusty nail lines were also good laughs and brought back memories of trucker lingo and walky talkies on the trip. we were all up till 2, 3 something in the morning. then i was up with the birds on wednesday morning as i had to attend the keynote speakers address at the conference listed above for the reason we didn't have classes. i was getting extra credit for attending and writing a paper on the address so of course i was going as it was going toward my honors class. sat through that...not the most interesting of subjects for me, i thought. then i was off to the newman to meet up with more habifam to go in search of easter eggs so that we could win some cash for habitat. little did we know and soon find out that they postponed the hunt for today! i think nate is still fuming from actually having to go easter egg hunting (so unmanly) and not finding anything. he absolutly refused to go today...i think somewhere deep inside he still wanted to go! then the 4 of us who went hunting sat outside and talked for a little while since it was so nice out. at 11 square and i went to tessa's presentation on making the campus "green" friendly. it was very good! then i went and dropped some stuff of (including square) and ran over to rapheal's bakery to meet dave kloha, who is the president of the swim club i'm going to start coaching for. we talked about all things swimming and about the club and my background. it was good to find out what is actually going on and to offer my knowledge to him and the club. after wards i meet up with square again for my second lunch...she was hungry and i told her i would go with...plus i was procrastinating my homework! i ate lots of potatoe oles and we had a good talk...i love talking with you square! then i brought her home, went back to my place, did some graphic design homework for 45 min. and then packed up my swim bag as i was going to go meet the swim team and then head to the rec to practice. i meet the coaches and the kids and i actually got in the water to swim with them! it's been awhile since i swam with anyone so i quickly wore myself out, getting cramps and knotts all up and down my legs...it hurt so much and it still does when i point and flex my toes. i had a good time getting to know the coaches and we had a lot of fun talking. i had overheard one of the coaches, however, saying that she was a little concerned that she didn't know that the board was interested in hiring me, and that concerns me a little too. o well. i also discovered that i didn't realize how much i had grown up...spending time with sophomores in high school will do that to you! all there "it was like"s and the subject of there talking is what will do you in! but i had a fun time getting to know the girls (no boys at this practice). afterwards i went home and got some homework done and the stuff for my critique ready, showed katie's friend the house and then i was off to my critique. i had a very good review there and found out i was getting an A in graphic design! i thought i had a B! yay for me! i think she likes my work though as i have the skill of typography and you don't see that from too many people. then i came home dropped my stuff off, picked up nate and we were off to grab the habifam for our weekly perkins run...it's not so much a pie run anymore...we all pretty much order supper. nate decided he was going to make me mad as we drove to perkins by trying to make me feel the shame since myk and his "yoda" beat me to perkins...i told him that i wasn't about to get a $85 speeding ticket and that if i did, he can pay it. then i cranked up my music really loud and tuned him out. of course i can never be mad at anyone for more than a min. so eventually we were back to our usual banter. but good times and interesting events enveloped us for the rest of the night as peaches but together a math problem so enourmous...just trying to figure out who owed what on her and ddogs trip with some friends to winnepeg...quite interesting. afterwards we dropped everyone off and then i dropped off nate and i was back to homework, dishes and packing to go home...till 2 am. then i turned in for the night since i couldn't keep my eyes open. honors will get done this weekend! i swear kt! but for my sanity and wellness, i needed some sleep. but now i am off to my dreadful honors class...which i get to leave early from! i'm leaving halfway through to pack up, pick up deidra and head on home for alli's first communion. can't wait to be home...i'm soooo sleeping in tomorrow! you have no idea how excited i am! o well...happy maundy thursday and good friday (if i don't blog tomorrow) to you all...i'm sure i'll blog by easter though...if not...happy easter to you!

i live for this...i guess...

so i figured out my fall schedule as far as school is concerned. basically...it sucks. i don't even think i'll be able to work 20 hours just because i don't want to be on campus after my last class. i'm only taking 14 credits and i'm not understanding how 14 credits can take up so much time. 50 min. classes don't exist for me anymore. it's all 2 to 3 hour classes. how un-fun is that? i don't even want to go through with this but i realize that i have to. i guess i could work after my classes on Mon. and Tuesday and just let those extra hours help me equal out the rest of my week. o well...right now i'm going to go and email dave kloha who was supposed to tell me when swim practice started so that i can start coaching...i'm a little annoyed because i know they have started and i haven't been informed! so...i'm going to go get right on that! and then i'm going to look into my stupid honors project...ish.

:::i saw the "i live for this" while watching a twin's game on tv...it was on the back wall of the feild at the metrodome...liked it so much that it's now my msn messenger name!:::

what i want

i've been thinking alot about what i really want in life. not just everyday choices, but where i want to be in life, what i can say i accomplished in my life time. i've always hated the question, "where do you think you'll be in 5 years? how about 10?" and here's the thing: i don't know! all last year, my roommate teased me about not doing things on the spur of the moment. i grew up with my parents who needed to know the who, what, when, where and why and how, so everything i did was planned out. my life and what i did was all about planning. and today it still is...but when i think about what i want in the future...i've realized that i've pretty much decided that i'm leaving it all up to fate. i used to have this dream that i wanted to move to a big city after college, live downtown, have the job of my dreams working at pixar, or disney or who knows were else...just somewhere where i can make a name for myself in the graphic design industry. i want to be the person that when someone needs graphic designing done, the first person to pop into their head would be me. "call andrea kroll," they'd say. and i want to meet the perfect guy...someone who can make me smile, laugh (which isn't hard), and someone who i can just tell everything to at the end of the day, that one person who i can't wait to see at any given time throughout the day. and i want to have kids....and i want this all within 5 to 7 years. i don't want to wait around hoping....i want to get a move on it! but i have my concerns. first off, i've never had a boyfriend, let alone beem on a date. wait...i went on 2 dates. with the same guy...and after prom, i realized he was kinda (not to be mean or anything...this is just the honest truth) a loser...the guy didn't have any friends that he would talk to at his prom. he didn't dance. he didn't talk. and he sure couldn't make up his mind! he always told me, "you're the leader, i'm the follower." come on kid! have some initiative! but besides that...i've never dated. one would think that you would need to date a couple of guys first before you pick "the one." but by the time someone actually asks me out on a date...it might be so late in my life that...who knows. i'll ask him to marry me right there. (actually, no i wouldn't....as much as it has been said that guys prefer girls who ask them out, i would rather just not...i have a small fear of rejection...i'm all for the guys asking!) but let's also get something straight...i'm not saying i'm desprete for a boyfriend right now...i could do with or without one. i'm just saying that it would be nice to have my first boyfriend. i've also been contemplating this: i've always dreamed of living in a big city. but what if that's not what i really want? living in the country might be fun...i could easily go for both ends of the spectrum. i was thinking that maybe right out of college i would move down to a big city and live right downtown...in a fun apartment (wouldn't that give my parents a heart attack! they realize that my life may lead me this way though and they completely support me). but if i do that...what if the type of person i want to be with, like lets say i end up liking guys with a country personality, what if i miss the opportunity to be with that kind of guy because i want to go and live in a big city for awhile...what if i miss out on that opportunity?

i think about this type of thing alot. i do realize that God has a plan for my life and that i should just lay back and enjoy the ride; stop having criciticals...not that this is one, but one day it very well might be. i'm just thinking...what if what i've always wanted in life, isn't what i really want, or what i really need? i still want the graphic design job... and i want it to be at a big firm...i would rather not have to deal with all the freelance stuff...but would if i had to, obviously. which it all leads into a vicious cycle. "where do you want to go in your life, andrea? what do you want to do with your life? my best answer for right now? i guess it's going to have to be as simple and as complex as this: Everything!


::::my notes::::
-times i ate out with habitat members this past weekend: 5
-amount of homework i FINISHED this weekend: 0...so far....
-no class on Wednesday! my plans? -go out to eat for lunch with habitat...or picnic maybe! -go rollerblading...get homework done!
-going home thursday night for easter and my sisters first communion...God Bless Alli!
-easter bunny's coming y'all! woohoo!
-following thursday...honors presentation...nnnnnnnoooooooooo!!! can't wait to have it done...then i'll just have a final test to take and i can kiss that horrid class goodbye!
-weekend after easter..can't wait! Twins game Friday night, cousins wedding sat., bringing my sister back to bemidji with me sat. night, sunday the whole fam is coming up to meet the habitat fam at the habitat stockholders banquet! i can't wait!

fun pics!

finally...the design is done! i got the banner up as you see and some pics...thought i would do a quick explanation of them...

-on the banner first...that picture is of me and my 5 roomies. carly, lindsey, tessa, jenny, danielle and me!
-the next one is of me and square...sniffing again! we're under the sink posing for our sniffing chemical picture that has to be taken at every habitat for humanity breakfast we had this year! (no we're not really sniffing...we just pretend!)
-the next one is of me...in a dryer in the maple dorms last year!
-the next small one is of me in ok city this year for habitat for humanity over spring break...got my bandana and sunglasses to protect me from the sun!
-and the last one...a classic minnesota picture! me, in the spring sun last year soakin it up! i'm at bemidji state park on the beach and there's still ice on the lake!

the top pictures on the side are just some added ones i wanted in there. the top is of the weisman museum of art on the university of minneapolis. i took this pic and i'm a little proud! it's great in real life...i'm gonna have to blow it up! and the last one is of me and my friend/housemate/habitat prezident (i'm prez when she's gone since i'm technically vp) danielle right before she headed off for europe....i miss her!

hope you enjoy the new look...i figured it had to be done at some point. i'm pretty happy with this one too and i don't see it changing for a long time! love all and God bless!

abcdef...xyz!

i picked this up from my friend and fellow honors class sufferer (sp?), mandei, who says she picked it up from her friend katie...who i don't know who she picked it up from as i didn't check. i thought it would be nice for you guys to know more about me...and also because all i talk about on here is about my time with habitat...which isn't bad, i love it! speaking of habitat, we had another perkins pie run last night and it was fun as always and also...a little deep...ooo, go big booty! and habifest yesterday was fun and educational...i think we did well this year! well...bring on the weekend! and payday (YYYYEEEEESSSSSS!!!! says extremely broke andi).

a - age: 19. yeah. i'm a youngun...i still have a good 4 months till i can kiss my teenage years good bye.
b - band listening to right now: in my car i've got good ole aerosmith on, my fav. but right now i've got my fav movie, ocean's 11 playing on my comp.
c - career future: ok, there are so many ways to go with this...i would love to work for pixar, doing graphic design for them, such as posters and stuff, movie covers. i would also be happy working for disney doing the same sort of thing. or doing magazine layout. or working anywhere with television or movies! o, the list is endless!
d - dad's name: ronald
e - easiest person to talk to: there's so many...kt, julie, the girls i live with, definetly my mom, and most of the people in habitat (SQUARE MOST OF ALL! and nate!) since there are a good handful that are some of the closest friends i've ever had
f - favorite song: WOW. there are soooo many! but right now, if i had to pick just one, it's gotta be maroon 5's this love
g - gummy bears or gummy worms: worms, you can suck em up into your mouth!
h - hometown: east grand forks, minnesota 56721....i'll be there next weekend for easter!
i - instruments: i play the flute and the piano...i stopped taking piano lessons when i was in 4th grade so i'm not as good as i used to be and the flute i played from 5th to 12th grade...i was going to play it in college but i just don't have the time! what is nice about my musical abilities is that i have a pretty good ear and i can usually hear something and can figure out a simple way to play it on the piano...it's kind of a nice gift to have!
j - job: i love my job! people say they're jealous of me since they think i do absoluety nothing at work but in all reality i do...it's just fun stuff! i work for online services on campus and i help teachers and students with troubleshooting and putting together their courses and i also do most of the graphic design for them (the teachers that is). i'm also the go to person for efolio when it comes to online courses. my boss is awesome and flexible and likes to let us get creative...never a dull moment at os!
k - kids: not planning on any any time soon! but some day (hopefully in the next 5 to 7 years) i want kids...at least 2 to 4...i'm deathly afraid of the whole labor thing but look at how may woman survive it everyday...it can't be that hard!...it'll be a harsh reality someday, i'm sure!
l - longest car ride ever: o there's definetly a couple...i travel everywhere for my numerous mission and habitat trips...grand forks to st.louis (we did a mission there and then headed to memphis and then pensacola), gf to orlando (with overnight stops in between), gf to texas (with overnight stops inbetween), bemidji to anniston, al. (no stops! straight on through...26 hours!), and recently bemidji to ok city (16 hours straight on through)....so yeah...in all reality...i think anniston wins!
m - mom's name: debbie
n - no. of people you slept with: define sleeping with....cause i have to sleep with my sister when i go home, so guess what i'll be doing next weekend....
p - phobia(s): falling...i'm fine in rollercoasters, elevators and tall buildings but don't you dare get me next to a ledge or up in on top of something (even 3 ft. tall) because if i have a chance of falling, it's a no. there's also some other minor things but i deal.
q - quote: i have so many....let me pick one from the quote book...hmmm...o there's so many...how about two, "give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. for whatever measure you deal out to others, it will be dealt out to you in return. -luke 6:38 NIV, and if God can work through me, he can work through anyone - St. Francis of Assisi. o and the most recent habitat quote...let's blow this popsickle stand!
r - reason to smile: how about when am i not smiling? i was reading through some letters given to me from my peer ministy group last year and i think i may laugh to much is what they're telling me...the only time when i'm not smiling is during criciticals...and even then i usually end up smiling at some point...my friends know it's not hard to make me smile and they easily succeed in cheering my up!
s - song you sang last: crazy by aerosmith in the car - "i go craaazy, craaazy, crazy for ya baby..."
t - time you wake up: i hate waking up...m,w,f it's at 7 or as long as i can go without missing my 8 am class and on t and t it's the same thing but at 9.
u - unknown fact about me:o wow...there's so much, well actually, there's not much that people don't know about me, i was trying to think of one thing that NO ONE here would know...and there's always someone here that knows some odd fact about me, especially square and squeak....but i've thought of one! squeak might know this one...when i was litte...like from the ages of 3 to 4 or 5, i had to wear leg braces because my feet turned the wrong way, we're talking a velcro belt with metal things down the side and sadle shoes...just like forrest gump! unfortunatly i wasn't told to run and it broke away...hey, i walk straight now at least!
v - vegetable you hate: i actually don't mind veggies...they just don't taste all that great compared to other foods...let's go with squash...i just won't eat it
x - x-rays you've had: besides my teeth, none...though my finger that kelly had to go and slam with a basketba...wait, i mean..that i got caught on the rim when i went up to slam dunk the ball in a bball game in okc should've been xrayed...it's a little crooked and swollen still
y - yummy food:all food! i have many favorites!
z - zodiac sign: good ole cancer!

finally...i'm done...hope ya enjoy...i've got to think of a clever post here comming up....i want some good comments!