Denny's

Delicious carmel apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream

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Grilling

Noah and I are home for Easter break. Mom's taking advantage of having me home because I've  made dinner twice already. The house is pretty hectic as usual: planning for dads birthday, Hannah signing for her new condo, mom and Isaac playing a recital and Caleb coming home after an all nighter at Rose.

I found myself grilling dinner last night in the warm sun on the back patio. The frozen patties sizzled into juicy meat them began to brown.
After the burgers, I threw on some bratts and chicken legs.
The flames licked around the raw meat blowing a smoky flavor in my face.

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Noodles and company

Indonesian spicy noodles with peanut sauce. This was so satisfying, but I don't recommend eating it with a carbonated drink. 

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Carpenter's Hands

After a week of 8 a.m. classes I couldn't sleep in even if I wanted to. My eyes shot opened at 7:55 this Saturday morning just as golden sunbeams were dancing on my closet door.

But today was really spectacular. A few hours after waking up I found myself in the Olson Hall parking lot helping Carpenter's Hands ministry build a house. Over a hundred volunteers showed up and after dividing into groups, we were swinging hammers in no time.

Each group had instructions to build one wall. In four hours my team built three! Last time I used a hammer and nails I was thirteen years old building a clubhouse with my brothers and sisters. But I soon remembered how difficult it is to nail it on the first try.
We finished over sixty walls total and next week the walls will go up for the family who will live in the house. Serving is truly rewarding.

a pile of finished walls and powerful blue sky

my team on our last wall

Faith of a child

Chapel this morning was one of the best we've had in a long time. Householder from the English department used the analogy of his children to explain how God cares for us.

He said his two-year-old daughter, Olivia, is afraid of trains. In the dark of her bedroom she hears the howling train through the cold window panes. Putting his baby to bed is his favorite time with her. She melts into his shoulder. Her body relaxes and she feels safe with her daddy.  When she hears the train off in the distance,
slipping through the silent night, her body stiffens with fear.  But he holds her tight, caressing her head and gently stroking her hair.

It was a beautiful picture of God holding me in life. It made me realize that I can surrender my uncertainty to him. But it also reminded me that God's love is not based on what I do. He loves me because I am his little girl.

China Town

Lunch at a little dumpling restaurant 

"What do you want to see in New York?" My sister asked as we swept through the streets of Manhattan.

"China Town," I replied, with the first thing that came to mind. Honestly just being in New York made my spring break. What I saw wasn't so important. Hours later I was slurping noodles and drinking bubble tea.

Leaving the subway station I found myself two blocks from a world within a world. China town was a world in itself. 

As far as I could see, Chinese people crowded the busy streets: young men dressed in fashionable clothing darting through the crowd, old women so tiny their scarves touched the sidewalk, and little babies wrapped in slings.  

My sister led the way past carts of fresh vegetables, and raw fish, and stores where the scent of a seashore seeped through the doorway. The buildings were just as crammed as any street in New York, but each stood out from the next with bricks of bright colors and shiny brass fire escapes hanging outside the windows. 

We came to a park where a man was playing traditional Chinese music on a little stringed instrument. In the park sat a crowd of old Chinese men and women. At little wire tables they were playing cards with lots of people crowded around them. The women were separate from the men, all playing so intensely, and the temperature was just above thirty degrees. China town was absolutely beautiful and so were all its people. 

Spring Break in a nutshell

Shake Shack: a great restaurant just a block from the guest house at which I stayed. 

 A 22 hour train ride isn't the most comfortable means of transportation, but I'm a poor college student so it was my only option. My Dad dropped me off at the station three minutes before the train pulled away. I ran up the stairs and out to the platform looking desperately for an open door to the train.

 "You had to wait 'till the last minute?" The lady called a few cars down. She scanned my ticket and helped me on.  I found a seat in the crowded car and tucked my bag between my feet.

"We've got the runner you may proceed," The lady said into the intercom as she past through our car. "What's you're destination?" She asked me.
"New York City."

After eating two sandwiches, watching two and a half movies, and making it through most of Harry Potter, we crossed the Hudson Bay.

In short New York City was fantastic. Every day was an adventure. I strolled through Central Park, explored China Town, ate at the Cake Boss Cafe, mourned at the 9/11 memorial, rode the crowded subways, and walked beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. In my five days there I soaked up every moment.

Home Again

With a rapid change of plans my brother told me he found a ride home for us yesterday for 11:00 a.m. Seeing that my classes get out at 3:00 I realized I may have to skip a few. I sat squashed between my suitcase and my brother in the back seat, as the car sped down the interstate.
Walking through the front door was just as it always is. Mom's the first one to greet us, smiling and hugging before I have time to set down my stuff. My little elf of a sister squeals excitedly from upstairs then pokes her head around the corner with a dangling front tooth.
"Livy what happened to your face?" I say with a smile as I dart to the bathroom. She laughs and runs to her room. 

Dinner is home-baked, whole-wheat pizza, and before we get the dishes cleared we're out the door to see one of the home school theater productions. 

The frying pan was sizzling in our glowing kitchen when I woke up this morning. My Mom was frying eggs while Olivia was slurping down a bowl of cereal. Today will be long seeing that I need to be at the train station by 11:30 p.m. I'm excited and nervous for NYC. 

SB

Lately everyone is asking the same question: WHERE ARE YOU GOING FOR SPRING BREAK? For most people it's the sandy shores of Florida, for others the snowy slopes of Colorado. My roommate is doing a mission trip to Honduras. Me? . . .The big apple. Yep. In five days I'll be staring up, like a tourist, at the swaying skyscrapers. It just so happens that I have a sister who lives right in Manhattan. My plans right now are to simply enjoy the business of a big city. Taylor is in the middle of nowhere. It's probably the only school where over five hundred students will line up for a lip sync competition or dress up like a bunch of clowns to go to a basketball game. If that doesn't make any sense to you, just YouTube it. 

College Days

Today was Monday. But not a terrible Monday. I tend to see Mondays in an optimistic way. It's the start of a brand new week where anything could happen. I could finally get a devo published, I could meet my future husband, or I could just live another mundane week where life is normal and similar to the last week. But what I love about the start of a new week is that you never know how it's gonna turn out. A few cool and unexpected things I did last week were: eating at Johnny Corinos (A fabulous Italian Restaurant in Muncie) Discovering a website full of short stories called eastoftheweb.com (Read my first horror story) and read
Harry Potter for the first time ever (ok, my parents didn't let me read it as a kid). So Mondays are what you make of them. Today actually was rather great with a high of 40 degrees and sunshine.