My 18th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me! lol. After my one class Mom picked me up and I spent the rest of the day with my family. We hung out in their hotel room and I opened my presents :). I got food, polos and a Lacoste beach towel!!! Awesome!

Mom and I went out to Dover to exchange some of the riding pants we had ordered but didn't fit. The store was huge!!! I had never before seen so many things that I could actually try on! The whole experience blew my mind and I loved it. I was able to get a nice pair of show pants, 3 schooling pairs and a show jacket!

Later for dinner we found a Cracker Barrel and had really yummy dinner. I had Chicken & Dumplins with mac and cheese and an extra side of dumplins lol. I had a great time and loved spending it with my family.

On our way home we randomly stopped at a grocery store and of course I didn't see all the balloons and cake because they were a surprise lol. When we got back to campus we had a birthday party! Garrett and Jess had gone out and gotten me a cake too and all of Reeves enjoyed the cake and told me happy birthday. It was so sweet! Thanks guys for doing that!

Dover!

We found this in an elementary school parking lot! How fitting lol.

EAP

This morning in Gladstone, at the USEF Headquarters the level 2 EAP clinic/show thing was being held and since it was pretty close Garrett and I thought it would be pretty cool to check out. Garrett made it on to our 2nd level so he wanted to see what he had to look forward to. Julie Winkle and Melanie Smith Taylor were both there and we got to say hi to Melanie. We got there a bit early so we looked around the beautiful facility.

After it was over we headed out to Horseman's Warehouse. The school was going and we wanted to be able to help Mimi out with buying the right riding stuff. Mom, Dad and Audrey met us there to take me right to the Midevil Dinner! Super stoked!

The dinner was great! Well lets just say the show was great and the food, well they plopped a whole bird on my plate and expected me to eat it. I couldn't so I just watched.

I was knighted!!!

These two little boys practically made my day! lol.

Go Yellow Knight! He lost in the first round :(. He threw me a flower though lol.

Cool to watch. I want to go to a real show of this.

Go Yellow!

Jousting.

So Cool!!!

New York, New York

Today was supposed to be Community Plunge but because of rain my site got postponed. So instead I went to New York with my family. After the questions about why in the world we drove all the way over her people ask me if I've been to the city yet lol. Its almost like "welcome, have been out of here yet?" haha its great.

Since pictures are worth a thousand words I'll let my pics do the talking.

Audrey's mustache.

Major fashion showing happens here.

Little Miss Photogenic!

I L.O.V.E. my family!

Awe Pony :).

This poor horse :(. It makes me angry!

Tavern on the Green. One of the cab drivers totally posed and I missed it!

Audrey and Dad climed the rocks so...

Libby did too! :)

A freakin 5 story Abercrombie! Disgusting!!!

I <3 Lacoste!

Grand Central Station.

TOGA!!!

I only had one class today, History of Modern Art from 1:10-4:10. So the day was a really light one. Like my other once a week class, math, it didn't take the full allotted time which I will always like, and the teacher seems pretty cool so I hope I learn lots and get a good grade lol.

There was a IHSA team meeting this morning that I tried to make, but after opening a bank account at Chase my mom and I could not find the barn. Once we finally got the Garmin to tell us to go where we wanted it was time to go to class. Ugh! That Garmin has a personal vendetta against us I believe.

Yet again it is pretty boring around here so Garrett, Jess and I decided to take a little tour of main street. There wasn't much to see! Probably about 5 antique stores though, I thought they looked cute but the other two thought they smelled bad so we didn't go in. We found a pet store so we decided to check it out. They had so many different kinds of fish food and only goldfish, so we were confused until we found that the whole basement was full of every kind of fresh fish you could imagine!!! I think Garrett had to come back and get some lol.

Tonight was also the TOGA PARTY!!! I had been super excited about this since the moment I saw it on the handout. But my friends had second thoughts about going, but once the night really was boring we all pulled our sheets off our beds! It was super great fun :D.

Only the beggining of Garrett's woredrobe malfuntions.

Me, Jess, Pheobe, and Garrett.

The whole gang.

Day #2

The second day of classes went by super quickly too! And again it was just terrible being at the barn for most of them ;). On Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days I have my riding lessons. We didn't ride this week :( but we will next week and I am super excited!!!

From 6-9:20 at night I have my math class :(. I found out that both Collin and Garrett are in that class so it shouldn't be too terrible but its so late! Until we actually got to class and the teacher talks about a hundred mph and hardly gives us any homework! Glorious!!! We got out of there by like 7:45. Now thats what I'm talking about. And the homework assignment sheet for the whole semester is less than what we would do in a week. Yeah be jealous!

First Day of Classes!

WOW! The first day of classes, already? I can't believe it came and went so quickly. It was a pretty rough day back considering I only had to go to one class that was at the barn :). I think I'm going to be able to survive this torture. Don't throw me in the brair patch! lol. Thats totally how I feel about this entire college thing. I seriously have to ride to get credits! How awesome is that!?

Anyway. After class I met up with Drew Toucher from Breakpoint Community Church to see what the church was like a little bit and get a tour. Its pretty tiny but it seems like a real family so I'm excited to get to be there when people are there. Things are pretty chill and slow around here at campus. Hopefully classes pick up or something because I can't handle this much free time lol.

Orientation and Hip Hop

Today we had orientation at the barn. A pretty big group gathered in Founder's Parking Lot around 8:30 because thats where they said there would be a bus to take us up there, that time came and went and we were all still standing there. By 8:45 a few people had decided to drive themselves, but by now we were going to be late if we waited much longer so we piled into Garret's, Kathleen's and Nicole's car to get a big bulk of us over there.

We all made it on time! We sat in the USEF building and listened to all the professors tell us all the rules and all that jazz. Once that was finished we had were to either fix our schedules or go on a tour of the barn. I had to check and see if one of my classes was at the barn, and it is so I should no problem with getting to everything! Then we had lunch at the barn till about noon then we headed back to school to sign up for Community Plunge.

A while later Garrett came up and wanted to see if I needed anything from Target, so I decided to catch a ride with him to grab a few polos since that is all we are supposed to ride in. I got three polos and Garrett got some hangers then we stopped at the Starbucks inside the Target!

Later Garrett and I decided that instead of doing some kind of workout we would do the hip hop class. HAHAHA! It wasn't pretty. We drug Jess with us and we tried. Jess left about halfway through the class, but we stuck it out. Slowly an audience grew and I think a video or two are out there in cyber space now :/. Oh well it was funish.

Showers and straight to bed because tomorrow is the first day of classes! I have Practical Horse Management at 8:30 at the barn and thats it. It could get rough.

Scavenger Hunt

Today was Cyclone Day here at Centenary, which meant a huge town wide scavenger hunt. Jillian and I went down to the gym and we were assigned a team. What we were to do was go into different buildings and try to answer a question correctly, or take a picture doing something, or find a grab item to put in our bag. It was fun, but towards the end its started to drag on.

For lunch we ate at Frank's Pizza, yummy stuff. We turned in all of our stuff and then waited to see how our team fared. We got 33 points which tied us for 5th. No cool prizes for us :(.

Later Garrett, Jess, Jillian and I went out to the barn to look around for a bit. We got to see our care horses, and we met Heather Clark and Michael Dowling, the coaches of the IHSA team. Lesson learned don't forget the name of your care horse lol. I know now that my horse's name is Marcus. Because we were out and missed dinner Garrett took us all to Panera's. It was super good! I recommend the broccoli and cheese soup.

After finishing some dinner we were on the hunt for a Walmart. Which happened to be in that same parking lot lol. The guy at Panera's thought we were crazy for asking! So we went into the tiny Walmart and looked for the fish. Garrett and Jess were going to put some in their room. That turned into quite the adventure! But all of them made it home alive, even the one that was dead for a while.

Once we got back to the campus it was time for the Ice Cream Social! Cold Stone came to the school and everyone got a free bowl. The toppings were pretty scarce though. We played some Scategories, then went to the Reeves lounge to play some pool. After that got old we played Apples to Apples till midnight.

Tomorrow is the Equine Orientation! Can't wait!

Be: Advancing

Q: Have you ever found yourself running from the world?
A: I'm not sure. What would running from the world look like? I need an example.

Q: What is something you consider worth fighting for?
A: Freedom. My dreams and beliefs. Love. Family.

Q: How is the Church veiwed in your world?
A: Stangnant. Like its just something people do because it makes them look like better people. I'm missing seeing passion. I am a passionate person and I need to be in that environment.

Q: If it is veiwed as irrelevent and withdrawn, what can you do to change that?
A: Well I will be attending a new Church and I plan on steam rolling my way in there with the passion I have for God and hope all works out.

Moving On Up

Oh man yesterday was move in day! It was so crazy. Now I am fully unpacked and living in my dorm with my room mate Jillian. We both ride so I think we will get along just fine.

I got my own laptop today and I'm super excited to be using it right now! I have already been on it a lot. The past two days have been filled with orientation, so many meetings and parties! I'm already tired. Tomorrow there is a picture scavenger hunt and ice cream from cold stone. It should be fun.

Our room.

My closet.

My half.

Microwave and horse stuff.

Bed and desk.

More Reading

Chapter #3 -
~ You don't have to be in Church to see God
You can see him in the eyes of those who love him
*They will know we are Christians by our love*

Chapter #4 -
~ Rather than accumulating stuff for oneself, followers of Jesus abandon everything, trusting in God alone for providence.
Ah! Argh this is one of those things I know I have to do but don't know where the balance is
~When the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty no more.
Wow. Powerful.

Chapter #5 -
~ Preach the gospel always. And when necessary, use words.
~ We aren't all called to give up everything, we are called to respond. Now I've been somewhere stuck in the middle, I can't give up everything, so I need to find the balance.
~ What the world really needs is not more churches, but a Church.

We're Here!

Before heading out of Sandusky we drove around a bit and looked at the beach and Lake Erie. I found a sticker here that has a pirate on it! Its pretty awesome :). When we were looking across the lake we were able to see the theme park we had planned on going to. We decided not to go because we would rather be able to drive without being really pressed for time.

Once we arrived in Hackettstown I thought we were going to have to do the sneaky move in my bed thing but they told us to wait. Hopefully I don't get in trouble tomorrow when I move in.

Sandusky, Ohio

Before we really headed out of Chicago we stopped at the park and looked at all the sculptures. And we got a picture with the bean thingy! lol

When we finally got to Sandusky, Ohio it was another late night, meaning I got pretty hyper. My new jacket provided great fun! ;)

Under the Bean.

A red dino.

A Beach!

Libby is a medium sized dog.

I am a ninja!

Chicago

We had the whole day today to look around, it was really nice to be in one spot for more than one day. The pier was huge and the stained glass museums were really cool. We got caught in a huge rainstorm and almost got washed away on our way to finding some Chicago deep dish pizza! It was SO good!

The pier.

I think yes! :)

Soaking wet.

Deep Dish Pizza!

The Irresistable Revolution

The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

While in the Mall of America Audrey wanted to stop into Barnes & Noble to look for a book she had been wanting. While she was looking around I went in search of a good book, and I stumbled across this one.

After reading the first page I was hooked! So I figured that in order to get the most out of my reading I should take some notes. So I'll go chapter by chapter.

Chapter #1 -
~Who is Jesus? Is He just something we attend? or someone who is real and personal?
~"Jesus Wrecked My Life" wow the way he describes this can totally make sense to me. It is so much easier to live your life without being held accountable to anything, and once you know you are held to that knowledge.
~"I wanted to see passion." This is all I want to see out of a Church too! I truly long for that.

Chapter #2 -
~What are you willing to do for those God loves?
~Matthew 25:40 "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."
~The Church is wherever two or more are gathered in His name.

I completely reccomend this book to everyone! And it goes so great with my devotional book. The true revolution is to no longer act the part but fully have it flowing through your every move.

Be: Different

Q: Do you think of your neighborhood/college/work-place/gym as your mission field?
A: College and my career field are definitely a mission field! I will no longer be in a comfortable environment where I am surrounded by Christians. In order to find Christian fellowship I have to go out and make it my own. And by doing this I will also be a Christian in all other areas of my life, hence making everywhere I go my mission field.

Q: What are some examples of ways that you can be in the world but not of the world in those places where you "do life"?
A: One way I can think of to be in the world but not of it is at the barn. When I think about horse shows I've been to I associate with them swearing, drinking, and unagreeable morals. It doesn't have to be that. I won't be that.

Q: Have there been times that you realized that you have been both in the world and of it?
A: There are times when material objects make me feel of the world. Right now I'm on that adventure to finding what is truly important.

Q: If a judge and jury were sent to your home, workplace, or neighborhood and put you on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
A: I would say yes. I think I live my life in a way that Christian would cross a person's mind.

Mall of America

Off to another late start today. We didn't get to the Mall of America till the time we had planned on leaving it. We did a bit of school shopping and then found a new power cord for my mom's computer and bought the Hannah Montana Movie! Audrey now has the ability to watch movies! Thank goodness!


We've been driving for quite a while and now the Garmin is taking us through every back road imagineable! Hopefully we get to Chigago soon! My legs are falling asleep. The back seat of my car was not made for long legs.


We are staying in the same hotel for two nights! That is really exciting, I can't wait to stay in the same place two nights in a row!