Top 10 Moments Today

1. Sleeping in late in my old bed in my new room

2. Drinking coffee and eating pancakes with mom

3. Seeing Katie, Nick and Linc again at church

4. Playing in Holland with Mom and getting lunch before I had to start driving back
5. Unfortunately my iPod died before I even started driving, but then I listened to old CDs like Savage Garden, Everman, Touched By An Angel and old Taylor Swift the whole way
6. Getting to meet up with Jamie and old CILT girls Whitney, Abby, Kathryn, Katie, Karisa, Amber and Grace for dinner tonight, most of them I hadn't seen since camp

7. Jamie and I then walked down the street to meet up with camp counselors Kelsey, Kellie, Sarah, Shawn and KJ for Orange Leaf
8. Talking to Ellie on the way back to camp tonight

9. Seeing the camp house again, even if it is pretty sparse at this point
10. Knowing that I get to sleep in till 8 tomorrow and then not even go to school because all my students are coming to Tecumseh on a field trip for the week

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer or El Presidente?

After Lincoln's birthday bash, Katie, Nick, Linc and I drove to Holland to watch the Pull. The Pull is a tug-of-war competition between the freshmen and sophomores. The Pull is one of the longest college traditions in the US. The Pull family is kind of like a cult. The Pull is three hours of insanity. The Pull is hard to understand unless you actually see it.

Today Linc got to see the Pull for the very first time. Since Nick was the Pull God, during his career of being a puller and then coaching, and Katie was also even year than Linc got to wear a red Even Year Pull shirt today too. He'll be the class of 34.

The guy up on the platform gives call sets by yelling things and doing certain arm motions. The moralers, the girls on the side of each pit, yell into their pullers ear what to do next. The pullers are in the pit, lying on top of the rope, working harder then they ever have before. All of this yelling and pulling is totally synchronized. The call sets have been memorized and practiced dozens of times. Whichever team can pull and heave and hold the rope in perfect unison will pull the most rope.

The rope crosses over the river to the Odd Year team on the other side. I am Odd Year and cheered on my friends that did the Pull for all four years of college. Ellen, our friend that works at Hope, is always a line judge for the Pull. Linc got to go inside the pits with her for a little bit.

I was beyond thrilled to see some of my very favorite Hope people today. Tracy on the left was my freshmen roommate and one of my best friends. She pulled and then coached for Odd Year. Sara Nielsen on the right was a SIB a year younger than me but one of my closest friends. I loved getting to see them today.

Odd year quickly took the lead today. The rope is spray painted at a certain spot at the very beginning of the competition. You can tell whether your team has lost or gained rope by watching the orange painted line on the rope.

I also ran into Erin Drews, a Tecumseh counselor this past summer, saw Meg, another old SIB, and waved at Virginia, my GG Sib baby across the river.

Katie and I went on a secret adventure to get a piece of the Pull banner for Lincoln. Nick got to hang out with his friend Mike who is also a new dad.

Odd year won and pulled enough rope to end the battle just after 5:00, usually it lasts for three hours. If your team wins you get to reel in all of the rope and then go swim in the River. Even though it's disgusting, getting in that water is so exciting. I think Lincoln loved his first Pull day.

Next we went to mom and dad's new Holland house! I hadn't seen it since they were just looking into buying it last Thanksgiving. Now they're totally moved in and it feels like their new home.
I got to see the kitchen...

my new room with all of my old stuff...

Mom's new quilting room...

the new fabric cabinet and the living room. I love this new house and am so excited for my parents to be here. For the rest of the night we get to just hang out with the whole family which sounds perfect to me.

Friday Photo Dump

I spent the morning at school with my kids finishing up Starbucks projects. This unicorn = my favorite.

Stopped to see my friend Alli Kenney in the afternoon.

The rest of the night was spent with the family in Michigan. We're celebrating Lincoln's first birthday. It's going to be a great weekend.

Top 10 Moments Today

1. Being crafty in English Comp today and listening to music

2. Playing Where the Wind Blows and Human Knot in FBC

3. Singing TSwift so loud with Natalie
4. Teaching the CILT stomp that fits the beat of "It's Time" to girls in FBC
5. Talking to girls like Lucy and Victoria as they figured out the heart bracelet

6. Watching the 8th grade girls win one of their last games of Junior High
7. Getting to hold baby Weddle--so precious

8. Talking to all of the girls after the game
9. Finally finishing grading all of the personal narrative papers
10. Watching Grey's Anatomy with Annie

"Something happens when you feel ownership. Faith is at it's best when it's that way too. It's best lived when it's owned."

Today I'm thankful for early morning talks about Love Does with some phenomenal 8th graders, other teachers that make me laugh, finally getting enough cups for my kids' project tomorrow, hanging out and staying with Annie Aderman, queso nachos for dinner, hearing from friends I really love, the feeling of relief that comes when you finish grading a stack of papers, cute puppies and time to relax after a really long day.

"You can see here that where the grass ends, gravity does not begin. Art."

Tonight I went back to my roots. It's September which basically means I needed to visit Carmel Young Life. I'm stoked about working with HSE kids this year and all that entails, but part of me still misses my old team and those kids. Conveniently this night was Carmel's first club of the year--the paint war. 

As soon as I got out of my car Mackie greeted me with a huge hug. She is a Senior this year and one of the girls I took to camp a couple summers ago. We don't see each other very often but tonight it was so great to stand their in the parking lot of the American Legion, the new YL Club spot, and just talk. I love Mackie's energy.

The team has already shifted and changed since the start of the summer. A few other leaders have left and there are new people that have joined in to what they're doing at Carmel. It's such a cool thing that as the people that make up the team change the culture and community remains the same.

Jon and Carrie were hilarious in the Art skit. Tom did such a great job with the Club Talk. I loved that kids were leading the music.

Then in the dark of night we all ran to the field for the paint war. Five-gallon buckets of paint slime were stationed with 1,000 cups in the grass. Kids filled up their cups and then flung the paint on their friends before going back for a re-fill.

Soon everyone was a rainbow of the goo and they still continued to hurl the pink and yellow and purple and blue at one another.

If this isn't living life to the full and finding whimsy I don't know what is.

Nothing like a little paint war on a Tuesday night to amp up your week.