Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 was a day full of grace. We got up and did our Bible study and then the guys went to Vermillion Bay while Mom and I did 4 loads of laundry and swept the floor. When they got back we had some yummy brownie stew that Janet had left for us. Then Dad declared it was nap time. Everyone was asleep when I headed out to the camper to read. After awhile I had started to drift off to sleep when Scott came in and said hello. He and dad were getting ready to cement the new steps to the beach. He left and I started to go back to sleep when Mom came in to ask me if I wanted a peanut butter and jelly for dinner because we were going fishing in about an hour. After she left I crashed out. I don't know how long I slept but when I woke up I had to really make myself wake up. I stumbled out of the camper and Dad announced we were going fishing. It seemed kind of windy so I was a little unsure. We headed to Deer Trail to get gas and minnows. Then we headed to our walley hole. It was really windy when we got passed Sunset Island. We were really bouncing and the fish were really not biting so we decided to head through Canoe Narrows which was nice and peaceful waters. It was beautiful. Dad caught one northern on a black Daredevil. After that we headed through the Back Channel into the first turn of Portage Bay next to Boat Island. The wind had died down and the water was calm. There were already about five boats there. We dropped our lines and had a couple of nibbles. While we were there we saw about 6 or 7 walleyes caught. Most of them were in the slot and so they were throwing them back in. Every once in awhile you would hear a big splash and look over and see a shad jumping out of the water and a walleye following it to catch it. It was really cool. We were relieved we didn't catch anything because we realized there was no net in the boat! Around 8:30pm we headed back to Connaught Point and took a quick break. Then as we began to cast it started to lightly rain. I looked over at Boat Island and there was a huge rainbow. The water had become glass, it was breathtaking, especially as the sun began to set. Shortly afterward we headed home, seeing the sunset and the rainbow the entire way. When we got back the sunset had turned into this brilliant pink-red. It looked like the sky was on fire. The rainbow had settled in over the cabin. Mom and I took pictures. Then Scott and I hopped in our kayaks and paddled over to Muse's and back b/c it was getting dark. As we took our bath we were swatting mosquitos the whole time. They were really bad! :( John and family were supposed to make it in tonight but their 8am flight kept getting canceled. They finally made a flight that stopped in Tennessee. They made it to Eveleth by around 9pm and were still looking for a room for the night.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Notes from this morning's Bible study: Jeremiah 17:08, “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream The stability of your spiritual life depends upon Filling of the Holy Spirit, circulation of metabolized Doctrine in stream of consciousness, and sending out problem solving devices on the defense line of your soul. And will not fear when the heat (outside pressure of adversity or prosperity – Stress in the soul means old sin nature control of the soul and that is where the apostasy begins.) comes; its leaves (result of 10 problem solving devices concentrated on the FLOT – prevent outside pressure of adversity becoming inside pressure of the soul) will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of depression, Nor cease to yield fruit.” Water is often used as an analogy of doctrine. The stream is analogous to Scriptures. The tree is the born again believer. The roots represent a stabilized condition in the spiritual life – establishing problem solving devices on the FLOT of your soul.

We had to come into Dryden today to take care of a bill. So Scott and I came to the library. The water is like glass and it is about seventy degrees. It was about sixty degrees last night. We are looking forward to Alan, Bridget, Hannah, and Paul getting here this weekend! John and his family made it in this morning but we have not seen them.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

It was pretty windy most of the day and Janet was packing so we hung around the cabin most of the day. Janet left around noon so we ate lunch and headed down to the beach. We decided to kayak but it was really windy. Mom and Dad paddled up one side of the island and floated back but Scott and I fought the windy whitecaps and went all the way around. We saw the young eagle and two adult bald eagles. The young eagle flew pretty close to Scott's kayak. It was really cool. After we got back, Mom and I took our baths and headed up to serve leftovers. Ron came over because the guys were supposed to go fishing but then we heard thunder and it got pretty windy. Finally around 6:30pm it calmed down some so they went out to the walleye hole. Mom and I played Spite and Malice and then around 9pm went down to shoo away the ducks and take pictures of the beautiful pink sky. The wind had died and the water was beautiful. While we were down at the dock the guys returned without any fish although they had thrown back some keepers.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Today Dad, Ron, and Scott went to Dryden and didn't get back until about 1:30pm. The girls took it easy until they got back. I'm not sure how much coffee they had but Dad and Scott were loopy. They insisted they didn't have any but there is no way! They all bought new poles, fishing lures, and some groceries. Also, the clover had come in while they were there. Dad insisted that we fix the hill when he got home. We had to rake with the garden rake, sow oats, sow clover, and then rake it in with the leaf rake. After that Scott and Dad covered it with this long roll of straw. It was very, very humid. We were really hot. When we finally finished the whole hill I got in the water and took a bath it was after 5pm by this point. Dad, Scott, Janet, and Mom took the boat out around Canoe Island and through Canoe and Boat island. We had a chicken dinner and Ron and Dee showed up to play dominoes.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

We decided we were going to kayak Clear Water before Janet left. It took us all afternoon to get ready. Dad put the fishing boat in the water and Mom, Janet and him drove it. While Scott and I took the pontoon boat with three kayaks on it. When we finally arrived we got into our kayaks without incident and took off upstream. It was beautiful. Janet was enjoying the water lilies. It took us one hour and fifty minutes to get to the bay. Once we were in the bay Scott got out his pole and Janet and I paddled out of the bay. The water was fairly rough. Mom and Dad took Charliegh and went to scout places to camp. Eventually, we headed back. It was very peacful and much easier to paddle downstream. It took us one hour and twenty-five minutes. Toward the end, Mom convinced Janet to hold on to the boat for a little. She was in a double kayak so it was only her weight on the back. As he began to pull the back of the kayak was sinking in the back. As they turned a corner Janet noticed a large rock coming straight toward her but instead of letting go she just held on and Dad took her right over the rock. I was ahead of them but I could hear Janet screaming.


When I reached the destination I threw everything up onto the pontoon and got in position to get into the pontoon boat. That is when everything began to go downhill literally. Scott grabbed one arm and I was almost on the boat when the kayak slipped out from under my feet. I was yelling at Scott not to let go. Dad was yelling at me to put my feet down but I refused b/c I didn't have my shoes on. Finally, I took a dive for my boat but missed and landed in the drink. I stepped on the weeds and it scraped the bottoms of my feet so I lunged for my kayak and sat in it. Then Janet came along (worried about Charliegh because she hadn't used the facilities all day) with Charliegh in her kayak, I heard a noise and glanced over just in time to see both of them fall off the kayak. I was worried about her being hurt but she was laughing so hard I decided she was okay. So she tries to step on the ground but it bottoms out and she "falls" in further. Meanwhile, Charleigh is swimming around trying depsarately to get into one of the 4 boats. Finally, Scott grabs her by the handle on her life jacket and pulls her onto the pontoon. Mom, laughing, points to the pontoon boat and tells Scott he might want to pick up our towels. He looks back and starts laughing. I look on the boat and see Charliegh wrestling with the blue beach towel. She is rolling around on it but it is wrapped around her. Then Dad tells Scott to put the ladder up. Brilliant. If I had remembered there was a ladder this would never had happened. The problem was that the ladder only worked on the other side (not sure if I believe that!) so we had to get around the other side of the pontoon boat. Janet calls me over to that side and helps me get my shoes back on. Then she instructs me that there is a ledge and it was very narrow. She said that I had to stay on that ledge all the way to the ladder. So I take my paddle and use it like a walking stick to check the depth in front of me. I took a step and it was good. Then I take another step and my right leg fell into a thirty foot hole. So I yelled, "I just fell into a thirty foot hole!" The only thing that stopped me was that I had my other foot on "land" and my paddle. I used the paddle to get up and once I was up I felt something pulling my paddle. I yelled, "Something has a hold of my paddle." Then Scott yells, "It's me! I'm trying to take it for you!" I looked straight up and saw him standing there holding one end of my paddle. I yelled at him to let it go because it just saved my life. Janet and I were laughing so hard we could hardly move. Finally, I make it to the ladder and climb unto the pontoon boat. Scott told me to sit down before I cause anymore trouble. I look over at mom and dad in the other boat, who were being soooo helpful, and they were doubled over they were laughing so hard. Then Scott tells Janet to get on the boat. She says, "I'm not going to fall in that thirty foot hole!" What do you think happens to her? She takes a step and her entire body goes into the thirty foot hole. Scott is laughing, Charleigh is running around the boat. Finally, we are all on the boat. Scott gets all of the kayaks loaded and Dad turns us around with his boat. Thank goodness it started right up and we started the trek home. We pulled out our peanut butter sandwiches and all kind of collapsed. Janet and I compared injuries on the way home. She had the most blood and I had the biggest bruise. It only took 50 minutes to get back to the dock. We unloaded the kayak and Scott and I took a bath and headed up. Dad burnt all the garbage so we could have a lovely evening with a smokey cabin.

Friday, July 24, 2010

Today was a great day. We got up and did our Bible study around 7am. After that we began to work on the retaining wall down by the beach so that the hill would not keep "falling" into the lake. Scott and Dad dug and placed them while Mom, Janet, and I carried all of the bricks down. Then they also extended the steps down to the beach because it is so muddy right now. When we finished the wall we had lunch and took our daily nap. Then we decided to take the SS Esteem out. We started to grab everything and we would get down to the dock and then someone would remember something we forgot. Then we loaded two kayaks and were ready to go when we realized we didn't have a fish stringer. Mom went up to find one and she couldn't so then dad went up. Then they didn't come down for awhile, then mom came back and said dad was calling Grandma. Then he didn't come and didn't come and so finally Janet went up. Then Scott realized he didn't have his Tilley so he went up while Dad and Janet were coming down. Some time after five pm we got off but we had to go to Deer Trail to get gas and minnows. Sad for us there were other guys there so we had to wait while Dad talked. Eventually we headed out. Our first stop was at Tivo (Eagle) Island. We saw a few eagles and lots of vultures. Then we went to our walleye hole from last year. It was quite successful. We used our jigs from last year while Janet navigated for us. God graced us out. We had a lot of fun and caught 5 keepers for dinner. Scott caught 2-3 northern. Dad caught the most and the two biggest. Scott, Dad, and I all caught a tiny perch. I caught a small northern and about 3 walleye - only one keeper. Mom and Janet used Dad's new propane grill to cook burgers. They tasted really good. The wind picked up and it looked like it was raining over at camp so we left sometime around 7pm. When we got back Dad filleyed the fish but dropped the knife off the dock in the water. I was trying to find it but couldn't see it and didn't want to cut myself. Then Scott came around and saved the day finding it under the dock. Then Scott and I made a special delivery out to Paradise Island in our kayaks. By this time it was 9pm and we were pretty tired. We played Spite and Malice for about an hour and crashed out.

Kankakee River July 17, 2010

After I got back from Champaign, Scott and I went out to the farm then we decided to take a last minute kayak trip on Kankakee River.

Day 10 - Last DAY!!!

Thought for the day: God doesn't require you to be faultless, He requires you to be faithful.

Last night around 9:30pm I had hit a brick wall. My eyes were glazed over and what I was reading wasn't even registering. That's when Sarah called and asked if we wanted to go to Coco Mera. SO I met them downstairs and there were quite a few of us: Sarah, Annie, MaryAnn, Jessica, Matt and Scott. We all got some frozen yogurt and tried to visit but it was very noisy in there. We did not stay long but it was a nice break and now I had some fruit for breakfast! As soon as I got back, Stephanie skyped me to see if I wanted to go to Coco Mera with her and Megan - although it was tempting to go back out and not study, I declined. I went to bed sometime after 11pm. I was up at 6:15am so I took a shower and started to pack. Then I did my Bible study. Currently, I am eating cold leftover steak fajita meat and V8 Splash. It's actually pretty good but it would be better heated. I don't have anything except for this Styrofoam to heat it up in.

Our last lecture is at 8:30am. At 10am I plan to finish packing and check out, then spend the rest of the time going over my notes. Test is from noon until 2pm. After that I am going to run Stephanie and Megan to the airport so they can rent a car to drive to Chicago.

Day 9 - Almost Done!!

Thought for the day: Every once in a while you are going to have to go through adversity and suffering. It is always to your benefit when you rely on the Lord and apply Bible Doctrine. You can handle adversity and you grow faster. Your experiential sanctification speeds up.

Verse for the day: II Peter 03:18, "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

Today was LONGGGGGG. We had to be at lecture at 9:30am. Then we had a 45 minute discussion session - our last one - Yay!! Then we pre-registered for next fall over Jimmy Johns. I registered for the 4 hour required 501 class and for a 2 hour computer programming class. Then I met with Stephanie, Kyle, Monica, Lori, Rebecca, Sarah, and Megan to study and pull together some notes based off of broad topics. We worked from 1:30-5pm. Then we went to some Mexican Restaurant. It was alot like El Campesino but not as good. I got steak fajitas and have tons left over for breakfast. I am going to "personalize" our notes for the next couple of hours and try to go to bed early. Tomorrow I come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 8 - Check

Thought for the day: Ephesians 02:10,“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Two days left!! I just submitted my group response paper and our group presentation went great. We also got good news that we get to use our notes for the final. Tomorrow after our lecture, discussion group, and pre-registration for fall we are going to have to organize our notes and STUDY, STUDY, STUDY!!

Today was very long. We had our first lecture at 8:30am, then we had a discussion group which ended at noon. Kyle and I went to Subway and then came back and studied in Room 109 from 1pm-3:30pm. Then we had another lecture. After that Kyle, Sarah, and I went to iHop for dinner. Lori showed up and ate with us a little later. We then headed for the fourth and final session of the day. The groups all did a great job and it was nice to relax and watch the other groups. After that Stephanie, Megan, Jessica, Annie, Sarah, and I walked to Cocomera and bought some frozen yogurt. Then I came back and uploaded our presentation to the Moodle. Then I had to go help Megan upload the bibliography. I have spent the rest of the time re-writing my reflection paper and editing it. I finally submitted it at 11pm. So we have a full morning and have the whole afternoon and evening to study.
Night!

PS I got my tracking paper back and I got a B on it.

Day 7 - Check

Three days left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I slept in until 7am this morning. Then I got up and did my Bible study. After that around 8am I took my lovely shower. I had forgotten how much I hate taking showers with shoes on! :( Then I headed over to the GSLIS building to finish up the movie with Sarah. I caught up on our Moodle posts and designed the powerpoint slides for our group and did as much of the movie as I could until Sarah could come and record. I had about 20 minutes to kill so I called Aunt Janet in Canada. We talked for quite awhile and she caught me up on all of the latest stories.

One of the stories was about all the birds that came to eat the oat seeds she had planted on the hill. She said there were 15 mallards, 6 Canada geese, 1 Heron, and 1 loon. Hannah and I were discussing whether to believe her last night before church b/c neither of us had seen a Canada goose in Canada. Then Janet said the same thing. She said she had never seen a Canada goose in Canada either!

Sarah came in and we worked on the movie. We had it completed shortly after noon and around 1pm I headed back to the room. I talked to Mom and she said Grandma's phone should be in so I called Grandma and talked to her for a few minutes. I had about an hour to kill so I pulled out an article that I really needed to study and popped my only bag of popcorn as a special treat. I was going to hop in bed and rest and read and enjoy my popcorn. Well things didn't go as I had planned. First, the popcorn didn't pop hardly any of the corn. I figured it was good for my diet so shrugged it. Then I opened the steaming bag and poured it into a ziplock bag I had brought. Instantly the hot seeds burned through the bag exploding all over the floor, in the bed, and an especially hot one landed on my foot. It was a mess. I had to go find a broom and then used my Clorox wipes to scrub the floor -- I won't even go there except to say I will not step barefoot in this room EVER! My article was ruined and the whole room smelled like the popcorn that I was unable to eat. By then it was almost 2pm and I had to meet my group so I packed up my bag and headed back to GSLIS building.

Aunt Jane called me to invite me Saturday to see Rodney - I only mention this Bridget to make sure someone told you too. Call Jane if they didn't. I talked to her on my way over. Then my group did a dry run of our presentation and agreed that we would work tonight until it was all over. I sat through 1.5 hour lecture by the prof and then we hadn 1.5 hours of discussion group. Immediately after that my group ordered Pizza Hut and began to finalize our presentation. I ran the movie and finished the powerpoint. We got the presentation down to the required 7 minutes and decided to call it quits around 8pm. As I was leaving, Skyla from the other group told me that I where the best colors and always look nice. Then some else in my group said I always dress nice and look good. So as we were walking out I told Sarah that my niece helped me pick out a lot of the stuff I had been wearing. (new blue shirt - Lou) Then she said that what she noticed was that my jewelry always looked so cool and matched my clothes perfectly. :) I then told her it was b/c my niece and I made our own jewelry. (black long necklace w/ black earrings). It was really nice.

So I came back to the room and Megan showed up to get the laundry detergent that I brought from home. Then I put my PJ's on and started typing my paper due Friday am. Jillian knocked on my door looking for the detergent - I guess I should have brought an entire bottle rather than a small jar. :) Then Scott called and I knew church was out so I called to tell Hannah the bird story but ended up talking to Bridget for 57 minutes. It was a really nice break to talk to someone with divine viewpoint and a real life! Thanks!! Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to Lou but I do want her to know that I love her!

Tomorrow is a full day - 2 full meetings, a discussion session and then our group presentations. Kyle and I are going to have lunch at noon and study until 3pm for the Saturday final. Please pray that we will study the right materials.
Night

Day 6 - Check

Day 6 was weird b/c our class got pushed back to 2:30pm. So if you were done with your paper you had all morning. I did my Bible study, worked on group work and around 10am decided to go to iHop for breakfast. As I was finishing my hair one of my "suite mates" said she would go with me. It was pouring down rain so I wore my old tennis shoes and took my umbrella. We were getting pretty wet still but it was only a couple of blocks down the road. We had a very nice breakfast and then decided to go to the Granger Engineering Library. When we walked out the rain was still going full blast and it started to thunder. We walked 7-10 blocks to get to the library and were pretty soaked by the time we got there. We went to the front desk and introduced ourselves and asked if someone could point us toward some things to look at. At that moment, Barbara walked up and decided to give us a tour. She is one of the main staff members there. She took us back to the administrative offices and gave us handouts and took us on an hour and a half tour of the library. While we were in there the sun came back out but so did the humidity. By the time we left the library we were both late for group meetings so we headed straight back.

When I got to the room I noticed that I had an email for Hannah so I tried to type back but half of my keyboard was not working! I went to the IT Help Desk and of course they said they couldn't do anything so I called the ONU Help Desk and asked for Gary or Richard. Richard gave me a couple of ideas to try. The first one did not work. The second one was to attach another keyboard to the computer. So I checked out an extra keyboard and started backing up some of the files - especially the group project I am almost done with. Then I called my office and had Andrew and Tania get another laptop and an extra keyboard packed so that Scott could pick them up for me. I went to a counseling session in the middle of all of this and needless to say, I did not get much out of it. I don't think it's a big deal because I will probably sign up for the other required course 501.

After our lecture session I hopped in my Jimmy and headed home. I was home at 5:30pm where I started a wash, made a quesadilla for dinner, shaved my legs, took off my nail polish and packed a few items that were needed (like a buzzer for our presentation). Then an hour later I went to church and then by 8:30pm I was back on the road again to Champaign. I arrived at 10pm and resettled in. I watched a TV episode at went to bed around 11:30pm.

Day 5 - Check

This morning was so long ago I barely remember it. I know that I took a shower and did my Bible study but was running out the door so I wouldn't be late for class. When we all got there the TA's announced that Professor Estabrook was sick and class was postponed until 11AM. So for two hours I worked on adding to my Tracking Paper assignment about Open Source Software. Then twenty minutes before class started. Megan and I walked to Expresso and got some lunch. I got some chicken salad in a cup and a cup of fruit which is still in my refrigerator b/c I never ate it. I don't know why but I'm just not very hungry, I didn't eat breakfast either.

Part of the lecture today was about a book, Pernkopf Anatomy by Eduard Pernkopf who was a self proclaimed Nazi. He worked at the University of Vienna and fired all of the Jews that worked for him. His book is one of a kind and there has been nothing to match it in the last forty years. This has not been proven but there is strong evidence that it was holocaust victims that were used for the drawings. The University of Vienna conducted an investigation in 1995 and found that 1377 bodies of murdered victims had been taken into the Anatomy Institute. These bodies had included children. Even though there is no evidence there are details that point to it - like a crudely shaven head on one man that obviously had a wasted body and another drawing appeared that the man had been circumcised. Article about whether it should be used or not: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/26/science/doctors-question-use-of-nazi-s-medical-atlas.html?pagewanted=all

The prof cut the session short b/c she was really feeling sick so Kyle and I went to Subway and compared notes on the class meeting and our Tracking Papers. After that I went back to the room and called mom to help me edit my paper. Then I went back to the GSLIS building where our group met. I showed them what I had done for the group project and we came up with a game show theme for our presentation. Then we went to Meeting 6 at 4pm where she again let us out about 15 minutes early and changed our Meeting 7 time for tomorrow (which was supposed to be during our break) to 2:30pm.

After that we had another hour to kill and I wanted to review some of the articles we had already discussed so Sarah, Chris, Lori and I ordered a large pizza from Pizza Hut and had them deliver it. Our discussion groups are one of my favorite sessions and will be the most helpful in preparing us for the final so that time went pretty quickly. At 8pm I headed back to my room and proof read my assignment one more time. Then I officially submitted it! I hope it is what they wanted. I have basically been done with it for two days so I really need to submit it so that I wouldn't keep changing it.

Now we don't have class until 2:3opm tomorrow and no one wants to meet for group b/c they all are working on their papers. Kyle and I might do a late breakfast. He's going to let me know in the morning if he finishes his paper. I will probably try to study some articles and start an outline for my next paper and maybe work on group project a little bit. Tonight I go to bed and maybe watch a movie or TV show. Night!

Day 4 - Check

I went to bed around 11pm and got up at 7pm. I took my shower, did my Bible study, and ate a breakfast burrito.

We had tech training at 9:30 and learned to use our I Drives and Sea Monkey. Then I worked on the Camtasia movie for my group project for an hour. At noon we had another meeting with our prof and then met w/ our group.

After that I took my things back to the room, I went to Walgreens and bought an ice pack. Then I went to Panera Bread and bought a strawberry, poppy seed, chicken salad with a French baguette and came back to the room.

I read Moodle entries to help prepare for Saturday's final and worked on my part of the group project. Our group discussion was from 5-6:30pm. Jeff gave us back our "Mills" paper. I was pretty happy I got a B+ on it. Then Monica, Jim, Dana, Beth, Sarah, Rebecca, and I went to Za's. It was a fast, food Italian place. I got fettuccine alfredo and a smoothy. We had a very relaxing time getting to know one another. I got back to the room around 8pm. Now I plan to work on group work, review my paper, ice my ankle, and read the discussion Moodle.

Day 3 - Check

Good day. Got into a good group. I didn't really care which topic I was in. I would just do the best that I could on any of them so when she said go everyone rushed to their sign and I stayed and packed my bag. Once I got it packed I headed toward the end of the row where there was a group standing when I reached the group the instructor asked if everyone had a group. I quickly counted the group and there were only 7 in the group and 8 are allowed. The topic was RFID. I had no idea what that was but I just joined with them anyway. I could not have picked a better group! One of the group members worked for ALA and had already researched the topic. She gave us a great overview and lesson on it. We threw up an outline and timeline and assign a section to each member. Sarah and I are doing the examples and definition. We hope to put together a 1 minute movie with it.

Then I went to the help session with the librarian to make sure I was on track w/ my tracking paper. Not only was I on track but I had used 3 out of the 4 sites she recommended so by God's grace I am almost done with the paper. My goal is to finish it tonight or in the morning so that I can move on to my group assignment.

From 6:30pm-8pm, we had our first discussion group. It went really well. I enjoyed discussing the articles and hearing what everyone else pulled from them. We are answering questions which evidentally practice for our final exam. :(

My ankle is the size of a softball so one of my group members was going out to get some yogurt so she said she would pick me up some ice. My plan is to come home for church Tuesday night and turn around and go back. Our first session is not until Wednesday at 1pm so I can sleep in on Wednesday am. Night!

I got a good nights sleep last night and a good solid start on my assignment. I only woke up at 11:40pm and 5:00am. Otherwise I slept from 10:30-7pm. I took talked to my mom, took my shower and did my Bible study this morning. Now I am working on breakfast and getting organized. Nothing sounded good for breakfast b/c my allergies are bothering me so I'm having V8 Splash and chicken noodle soup. Today is a late start so it will be a rough day.

Thought: God is not a God of confusion - Absolutes!

Day 2 - Almost Check

I survived Day 2 - almost! I have one more session left (half hour video at 8:30pm). Then tomorrow we our first session is not until 10:45am. I hope to sleep in and work on my assignment.
Today we had a two tech sessions, two library sessions and our first meeting with instructor. It was fun but exhausting. For lunch, I collapsed on a couch in the hallway of GSLIS and ate a protein bar. I made some fun connections today with Carrie, Eti, Kathleen, and Beth. After the meeting with our TAs, Kyle and I went to dinner at Noodles, Co. We met up with Kathleen there and had a nice discussion. Then Kathleen and I went to Cocomero for some yogurt. I was pretty full so I put most of it in my freezer. It will be a nice midnight snack while I'm working on my assignment!

Day 2

I got to sleep about 9:30pm, someone was messing around in the bathroom around 11:40pm so that woke me up. The I slept until 3:44pm in which I went and messed around in the bathroom! :) Then I woke up at 5:30am sure that I was awake for good but the next thing I knew my alarm was going off at 6am. The bed has this plastic cover on it so the sheets won't stay on. It doesn't help that I can't reach the other side b/c it is against the wall and too high. So that is pretty uncomfortable. Otherwise I slept fairly well.

I caught the showers first again today and then did my Bible study. I am getting ready to have my steak and cheese burrito and some V8 Splash then I will get ready. I'm going with black jeans today so I can wear my black Ariats - we have a few sessions in the library today so I wanted my good walking shoes.

My niece, Hannah, gets her ears pierced today. I prayed for you Hannah hope it goes well and can't wait to see them!

Thought for the day:

Daniel 12:02 & 03 - What you do now has impact in eternity; how you grow now has impact forever and ever and ever! Now there's some motivation!

Day 1 -Check

I survived Day One. It was all orientation. I started in the morning getting my computer set up for vpn & wireless printing. Then I walked with Kyle over to the Bookstore where we got our U of I id cards. The cards allow us access into the GSLIS building 24/7. Hopefully, I won't have to test/confirm that! :) They introduced all sixty of the students in our session and said that there were three sessions this year for a total of 180 students. Someone asked how many applications they turned down and they said as many as they accepted. It is humbling to see God's grace in getting into the program. Our dorm is right across the street from the GSLIS building where most of our sessions are at. It was so humid today that walking not even a block put even skinny people in a dripping sweat! Kyle and I opted out of the optional walking tour and went to Panera Bread.

After lunch we had an orientation session by the two technology departments, they were very entertaining and fun. It was easy to stay awake. Then our adviser did a introduction session on how to plan our degree. It was very informative and everyone asked some great questions. After that there was an optional technology open house so I went back to the room. As I was checking out a new assignment that was posted I crashed out until 20 minutes before our next meeting.

The next meeting was a panel of three students that have taken LEEP courses. They talked about their experiences and then we asked a lot of questions. Then they gave us Papa John's Pizza. The room was too full so I was standing outside the classroom and the Assistant Dean came over to include me. We had a very nice conversation and got to know each other a little bit. She remembered Pam taking the program a few years ago.

Now I am back at my room taking a computer break. Then I am going to go over tomorrow's readings and do a little research for my paper that is due on Tuesday. I'm going to try to go to bed around 8pm.

Day 1

Last night was rough. I think I finally got to sleep sometime around midnight and I was wide awake at 4am. After that I snoozed until almost 6am but I was having really weird dreams. I dreamed that I had an RV and went home and ended up in jail but escaped out a window and when I woke up I was telling you guys how I had to vault into my bed at night. I've taken a shower but my neighbors probably hate me. I'm sure I woke them up. The locks on the doors are really loud, the toilet sounds like the Niagara Falls when you flush it and the shower is one hard shot of water about an inch in diameter.

After my shower I did my Bible study and am currently nuking a frozen steak and cheese chimachanga that I brought. I'll probably have some V-8 Splash with that. I should have brought more food b/c the refrig is pretty good sized and it has a decent freezer on top too. I'm going to have breakfast and then vault back into bed and look over today's itinerary.

Thought for the day: The grace of God will NEVER fail you. "My God shall supply all of your needs according to the riches of His glory!"

I am all tucked into my itty bitty jail cell ready to start my LEEP orientation tomorrow. It's 11:15pm and I have most of my things unpacked except for a few clothes I left in the car. I am having a beef stick and pink lemonade for dinner. Figure I should get the full "college" life experience. I have a corner room that is in its own section of the dorm. There are only 3 rooms in this section. I have not met any of my neighbors but have heard someone out there. There are two sinks in the hallway. One at each in and a tiny, tiny bathroom with a toilet on one side and a very scrudy shower on the other. I believe I share this with the other two rooms. This makes my Grandma's new room look enormous. I'm a little concerned about getting up into the bed the only chair in here is rolling so I don't think I better do that! I am starting to wind down and get sleepy so I'm hoping to get about 7 hours of sleep if I can fall asleep quick enough. I have all my devices charging and am hooked into the internet. I will start the morning with my Bible study and a shower and then go over the schedule to make sure I am squared away for the day. Night all!