From Cross 'til Now

Sooooooooooo... I figure it takes at least that long of a "so" to express my utter shame at the fact that I have not written on this blog in what, at least 5 months? perhaps even longer? I'm sure my much loved friends will be more than willing to clarify that little detail ;).

So, I'm going to give my little recap and "take" on this semester and all its shenanigans, and perhaps this will remotely begin to make up for my past failures? Hey, a girl can hope... Anyways... as you've seen from said friend's past and recent posts, it has been a very, very interesting-jam-packed-eventful-off-your-rocker-betty-crocker-kinda semester. School itself kind of really sucked for all of us this semester... but that's okay because it rocked in other ways that more than made up for it! We made tons of new, aweseome friends, including Dillon and Austin from the tunnel adventure, Kathy, Alyssa and Megumi from our floor, Jason, Raquel, Gillian, Tiffany, Rachel, and the list goes on :). God blessed us so much with all of these people this semester, and thankfully, with their help and jojo and brenna's help, I somehow made it through this semester without losing my mind and everything else along with it.

I've been through a ton this semester, from awesome things like the cross and tunnel adventures to not so awesome things like my grandfather dying. But through it all God has been so gracious and SO good in teaching me what I can take from all of these starkly contrasted experiences. I am so thankful for my friends and even the simple little joys they bring to my life :). You have all heard about the tunnel adventure... so I will relate to you the cross adventure, the brilliant start of my semester!

Right off the running blocks my semester was admittedly pretty darn bomb... First weekend I got to go with a large group of friends to the John Williams concert in Hollywood! And if that didn't make the night epic, what four of my friends and I did afterward more than made up for that. Jason Leith, Christine Fuchs, Christopher Girard, Riley Gilmore and I piled into a jeep and went on an hour's search for the base of the hollywood hill that has the giant illuminated cross on top of it... for what reason you might ask? What else but to climb it and go to the cross! As Jason put on the song "lead me to the cross" by Hillsong, we drove the confusing one-way streets of Hollywood at 11 o'clock at night, searching for the infamous hill with the giant glowing cross. After failing one attempt and being warned by locals of the hill's danger, we finally found a sketch backroad that led us to a hill that we were sure was at least close to the one we wanted.

And then we climbed... in dresses and sandals and dress slacks we climbed the less than pleasant terrain (i.e. extremely steep hills covered in dirt that slid right out from under us, various cacti, prickles and pointy grasses) until we finally had to resign ourselves from shoes and just go barefoot. Let me tell you, that trip was friendship and character building... we had NO idea where exactly we were going, and we had to help each other the entire way up, else I'm pretty sure we never would have made it. As we climbed, we realized that the hills just kept going... pretty soon one hill turned into five or six, and after passing by a camp of sleeping homeless people and being scared out of our minds by a jack rabbit, we came out on top of what really ended up being more of a mountain than a hill (well... it would definitely be a mountain if we were back east... lol).

There we saw it... on the hill BELOW us... As the five of us descended down a rocky pathway, all of us were blown away by the scene before us: a 200 foot tall, illuminated cross in the foreground of the still entirely lit city of Los Angeles stretching as far as the eye could see! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. When we reached it we took a moment to observe our surroundings, and after a few minutes of recooperations from minor injuries, we decided we should do something worthwhile after all of that effort. For some stretch of time the five of us took turns praying over the city so conveniently laid out before us. Then we sang a few worship songs that we all knew and prayed for each other and the semester to come.

After we had remenisced about how crazy we were and how our recent journey and its difficulties perfectly mirrored the realities of a Christian's walk with God, we made our way down a different way so that we wouldn't die... and after walking down the same sketch road we drove in on, found the jeep. We high-tailed it out of there, hit up some Tommy's for 2:30 am chili burgers, went home, showered all of the caked dirt off, and nesteled into bed around 3, 3:30 in the morning.

It was freaky, it was daring, and I can't deny that there were times that we all got pretty freaked out of our minds... But all in all, what is an adventure without all of those things included :)? And now we can say, whenever we think about that night or see that cross, that we didn't just go back to Biola and hit up some Inn-N-Out after the concert... No, my friends... we went to the cross.

~Kendall

The Wait is Over! (Tunnel Adventure)

Well, I guess I had better write about our tunnel adventure like Brenna promised I would. (Or else she might beat me up...hahaha! Riiiiiiight.)

It was a dark and stormy night. Not really. But in honor of one of my favorite "great" writers, I figured I would begin this tale in that manner.

To be honest, it was a California night like any other: a little chilly, no matter the daytime temperature. Dillon and Austin met us at Hope shortly after we ambushed them in Horton with our Nerf guns. We were dressed warmly in clothes that could withstand the unknown dirty dangers that lay in wait. Dillon was the only one who had previously explored the dark depths of the drainage tunnel to which we were headed, and because of the recent inundation of rain, even he didn't know quite what to expect.

We began our adventure by exiting the lower end of campus, sliding under a walking bridge that crossed the stream that runs through campus. A couple steps later, we spotted a large pipe, also spanning the waterway. Dillon informed us that we had to shimmy across it. He led the way, followed by myself, Austin, Brenna, and Kendall. The pipe wiggled under our weight as we slid along, which wasn't exactly a comforting sensation. We managed to traverse the pipe successfully, albeit slowly, without major mishap (i.e. falling about ten feet into the stream below).

After Dillon's menial mental capacities allowed him to recall the specific location of the drainage tunnel, we cautiously crept down the steep embankment to its mouth. Since Kendall had lost the "nose goes" game earlier, she was the lucky adventurer selected to lead the expedition into the darkness.

We shook hands and exchanged grim looks, fully aware of the perilous course we had set for ourselves. I fixed my comrades with a firm gaze and murmured, "The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted. It belongs to the brave." The beams from five flashlights cut through the inky darkness as, one by one, we entered the cavern. Five began the voyage. We didn't know how many would complete it. But with courage in our hearts and shakiness in our knees, we set out to conquer the mile-long tunnel.

Ok, maybe I embellished that last bit, but if I had been calm enough to think clearly at the time we entered the tunnel, it might have wound up looking something like that. As it was, I could hardly stop the adrenaline shivers that raced through my body.

Long story short, the tunnel was awesome. There was some "interesting" graffiti on the walls, our feet got wet from accidentally stepping in the trickle of water running through the tunnel, and a multitude of less-than desirable companions joined us (i.e. cockroaches and spiders), but the journey was well worth it. We explored a side tunnel, which led to a rectangular room with a drain at the top, but quickly returned to the main tunnel when we saw a suspicious spider. Dillon hid and tried to scare us, but failed because we were expecting it. I had no trouble standing up straight in the tunnel, and it wasn't too short for Brenna and Kendall either. The guys weren't so lucky.

When the tunnel finally reached its end, we found ourselves in a small triangular space, covered in a pool of water a few inches deep and surrounded by 5.5 foot cement walls. Dillon and I had little trouble scaling these walls and standing on the top. The other three found this a little more difficult. Dillon pulled Austin up (with a little help from Kendall and Brenna down below?). That just left Kendall and Brenna. I hopped back down, and with the guys lifting from above and me pushing from below, the girls scrambled their way to the top of the wall. Lastly, the guys lifted me up by my arms. A few chain-link fences later, and we were in the La Mirada park, ready to walk back to campus.

After a couple valiant attempts by the guys to catch some water fowl in the park (they came pretty dang close) and running across a street (during which I had the grace and nimbleness to trip over the curb and fall flat on my face), we returned to campus. We were tired and dirty, but in high spirits. No adventure could have been more epic.

We finished our night off with an appearance at Study Break in the Caf, where we fed our weary bodies. Then we parted ways with the guys and went back to Hope, to savor hot showers and comfy, warm beds.

So there you have it. Easily the most monumental escapade of our semester. Hope you enjoyed living vicariously through us. We're all home now, and perhaps we'll have stories to relate in the near future. Check back and see.

Merry Christmas!

-Jojo

Surprise Attacks, Tunnel Adventures, and Wishing Upon A Star[bucks]

Brenns here.

And it's Finals week!!! Jojo and I are currently studying at the Starbucks on the corner of Biola. Well, Jojo is studying. I'm finishing a paper and taking a break to blog about our awesome night last night!

I just decided that I'm going to let Jojo tell all of you about the tunnel adventure, since she is the story-telling extrordinaire.

But the rest of the night went like this!

Church- Epic... see my blog to hear just how epic I think it was

After church we stopped by Target so I could pick up my Nerf gun!!! Woot! After much practicing we then decided to go to Horton and attack our friends. But not until after my Chess game!

I was a White Knight. I got to kill a pawn, a knight, and the QUEEN!!!!! Muahahaha!!! The entire time I was singing "I'm in a box!" to the tune of I'm on a boat. I was also recreating this video. And singing the song "my white knight"from The Music Man.

After that I went on a McDee's run with my 4D peeps, since we were STARVING!!!! Then we got back in time to go massacre our friends in Horton, along with others in Emerson and those we met along the way back to Hope.

After that was The Great Tunnel Adventure! You'll hear about that after finals week, when Jojie has time to write.

Now we're in Starbucks. Kensington joined us.

How Jojo feels about studying:

Papers!

All of Jojie's French flash cards:

Me, hiding behind my comptuer, per usual:

and Coffee!!!! the thing that gets us through:

That's all for now! I'm sure the next post will be much more enjoyable. I saved the best part for the best writer.

Good luck on finals and such!

-Brenna Kathleen

A Very Halloweenie Day

Sorry we haven't updated in a while. We've all been pretty busy. But we've still been having some fun times!! For Brenna's 20th birthday, Kendall and I made her an awesome scavenger hunt. Then all her friends piled into our room to surprise her when we got back. It was pretty awesome!

But that's obviously not the real reason for this post. Today was Halloween. Naturally, we went all out in the costume department.

Brenna dressed as Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series.

Kendall was a dementor, again from Harry Potter.

And, me, breaking with the HP theme, I went as a Scrabble tile!

Our friend Amber was a flower.

And our buddy Lydia was a lumberjack man. :D

We decided to go trick-or-treating, because we wanted free candy and especially because Kenny has only been trick-or-treating once before. But beforehand, we needed to head on over to Chipotle to get our free burritos!! We wrapped parts of our costume in tinfoil in order to secure said complimentary food. But when we got there, we realized that everyone else had the same idea. The line was HUGE (and the picture doesn't do it justice)!! But tooootally worth it!

After enjoying our free food, we drove to this neighborhood our friend had told us about. She had gone trick-or-treating there last year and had received a ton of candy. We, unfortunately, weren't so lucky. We each probably got about 30 pieces of candy, if that. It bummed us out a bit, but it was still fun.

A lot a people couldn't quite figure out what we all were. People recognized Brenna as a Harry Potter character, but most didn't recognize her as Luna specifically. Kendall was mistaken for death, a ring wraith, or just a creepy person in general. People were confused about my costume, thinking I was part of a math problem or an element on the periodic table. One girl even thought I was an M&M...WHAT!?!? One elderly man recognized Amber as a flower. And Lydia...I don't think anyone argued that one.

When we got back to campus, we walked around for a bit and ventured down to the painting studio in McNally. There, we happened to spot a guy dressed as a ring wraith (from Lord of the Rings) walking through the parking lot. Lydia freaked out and told Kenny to go have an epic battle with him. Due to a wardrobe malfunction, Kendall wasn't quite able to catch up with him. But we all cut across a field to cut him off as he made his way to the gate leading down to Hart Hall. We must have looked hilarious...a dark blob, a waddling square, a school girl, foliage, and a fat man running as fast as they could and shrieking with laughter.

We met up with the ring wraith right in front of the sand volleyball courts, where some friends of ours were playing. There, on the sidewalk, with an audience on both sides, highlighted by the volleyball court lights, an epic battle took place. Harry Potter vs. Lord of the Rings. Dementor vs. Ring Wraith. Kenny didn't have a weapon, since dementors only suck souls, so she was at a slight disadvantage. But she fought as hard as they could and after a bit, they just parted ways. We stood in awe as we watched the ring wraith walk off into the darkness.

There's a bit more to this story, such as Luna trying to help the dementor (lol, never thought that would ever happen) with a spell and us following the ring wraith and talking with him, but it's late, and it's too complicated to record accurately. Besides, you've already heard the best part.

All in all, it was a pretty good Halloween. Hope yours was wonderful as well!

-Jojo

This is How We Spend Our Friday Nights

This past Friday, Kendall went to the movie Up with some of her other friends. Brenna and I had already seen it, so we didn't particularly feel like going to it again. Instead, we stayed in our room, poking around on the internet and being bored.

Bored, that is, until Brenna asked to play with my Play-Doh. After a while, I joined her. We spent a few minutes creating your ordinary Play-Doh creatures: snowman, dog, pig, etc. Then I made a dinosaur, Brenna made a mini city, we got out my camera, and the rest is history.

-Jojo

Haiku to life

evil evil life
life is so flippin' evil
evil evil life


written after [edit] 5 hours of sleep with bloodshot eyes

Our Embarrassing Adventure of the New Semester

Leave it to us. 

We WOULD accidentally go to a new student mixer not realizing the "new" part of it. So now everyone who saw us there probably thinks we're freshmen. And if they bothered to engage us in conversation, and found out that we're really sophomores, they might have come to the conclusion that we're transfers. Or just stupid. (Which is what I happen to lean towards.)

It probably should have dawned on us shortly after we arrived that it was just for new students. We already know some people on our hall, and in our dorm, whether by name or face, and none of those people were in attendance. 

But no. We merrily continued socializing with the new people. Our RAs probably figured it out first, but they, being fine ladies of tact, didn't mention our silliness. Part way through, one of them mentioned that we weren't freshman, or sophomore transfers, but just new to the dorm, and then it dawned on me. The sign had read "New Student" mixer. Not "Bumbling Sophomore" mixer. Not "Weren't Really Paying Attention to the Sign" mixer. Not "Glad All Those College Classes Paid Off Because You Clearly Don't Know How to Read" mixer.

By the time I realized our predicament, it was too late to escape. But as soon as was humanly possible, we made our hasty exit. As we ran down the stairs from the fourth floor balcony where the mixer had been held, we laughed at our accidental mistake, and proclaimed that more people should hang out with us, cause the funniest stuff always happens to us.

-Jojo

This is why we're all roommates.....

I'm sure that no matter what sort of hardships we go through this year. No matter how hectic, messy, or clean things get between the three of us there will always be the little things that connect us.

Like tea cups.

We're all different and similar in many ways. And I know for a fact that we'll all have our moments this year when we're silently steaming at one another, not realizing that we all know when the other is upset.

And we'll all have our grand adventures and amazing moments. The quote board will be filled to the brim. And our facebook photo albums will be many.

I'm so blessed to know you two. You're both honestly a gift from God. I know we always talk about how odd it is we met. Kenny in the bathroom, Jojo because we were neighbors and played a game of BS that first night.

Our first year of college was unpredictable. Who knew we'd become sisters? Who knew we'd all be excited every Tuesday night about our weekly Chuck episode? Who knew we'd make friends with a bunch of guys who like Disney and play Ultimate Frisbee? Or discover the most amazing joghurt place in the known universe!

We'll be reunited in a mere 3 days.

We can return to Biola with confidence, now that we know our way around and know so many amazing people and professors.

I can't wait to discover what God has in store for us this year. And I can't wait to update this blog with tales of our epic shenanigans.

Love you guys!

-Brenna Kathleen

Waffle Irons

My life is the best. Seriously. I'm not joking.

My summer at Trout just recently ended. Nate came to pick me up on Saturday and bring me home. After seemingly hundreds of hugs and goodbyes, we headed on our way. As we drove through a little town called Crosby, my antiquing gene started to flare up, so we stopped to poke around a bit. You have to understand that Crosby has more antique shops than people. I'm not lying. Really. It's the antique capital of northern MN.

Before I continue with my little tale, you must know that I am a big fan of coffee/tea cups. If you have kept up with my personal blog, you know how excited I was to get my new red mug last year. I was elated. I am quite selective, and have little storage space at college, so my collection is small, but it is very near and dear to my heart. Vintage tea cups are the best, since they're often cheap and have much more character than modern cups. And since I'm a college student lacking a dishwasher, it doesn't matter that they're not dishwasher safe.

So as I entered into the dens of antiquity, I was especially mindful of the chinaware displays. At one of the shops, I snagged a bulbous green teacup and a dainty tan coffee mug. Grand total: $4. Grand total after Nate's generosity: $0. A few shops down the sidewalk, I came across a blue teacup too good to pass up. I plopped it down on the counter and the older woman behind it began to ring it up. Like any self-respecting small-towner, she began a conversation with me, questioning why I was buying one teacup. I told her I was fond of them and had just bought two at another store. Her response was something like this: "Yeah I used to get turned on by waffle irons. I'd see a different style and have to buy it. You know how many different types of waffle irons there are?"

As if it couldn't get any better (WAFFLE IRONS!?!), a man just about to leave the shop piped up, proclaiming, "Probably about 500. There's the ones that make a big round waffle, some with four smaller square waffles, and some with pictures on the top." This prompted the saleslady to remark, "Yeah, and then I realized what the hell am I doing?" She then attempted to sell me these really weird blue glass "mugs," but I was too wise for her. Nate paid for the mug ($5) and we made a swift exit, somehow managing to hold our laughter in until we made it a few steps outside the door.

This is a completely true story. No joke. My life is hilarious.

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Ogallala, Nebraska right now, trying to figure out if I should go to bed or not. I also need to order textbooks...boo hiss! Two days until I set foot on California soil again.

-Jojo

Taking a Break from Summer

Hello friends!

Wow! Where do I even begin? At the beginning? That sounds like a nice place to start.

Well, after my family and I survived three straight days of driving, we arrived back at home in Minnesota. It was sooo nice to finally be home. I spent the first day or so sorting through everything I brought back with me. Whew! What a task! I also spent a lot of time hanging out with my boy and catching up with a few other friends. It was a good week and a half.

Following that, I packed up again and drove up to northern MN to work at Trout Lake Camps for the summer. I'm employed as a counselor, watching over 8-12 young girls every week. It doesn't pay much, but it's lots of fun.

It can also be pretty challenging sometimes. The first week of camp, I had a down syndrome camper in my cabin. She was a total sweetheart, but it was her first time away from her parents for an extended period of time, which presented some issues. Yet despite all of my confusion and frustration with learning how to take care of her, it was a blessing to have her in my cabin. One night when I was taking her to the nurse (she had frequent stomach aches), she looked at me and said, "You're nice." I think my heart melted right out of my chest and dribbled down into my flip-flops. It made it all worthwhile.

We did have one extremely interesting night however. On Thursday, there were some thunderstorms coming through the area, which freaked many of the girls out. When my CIT (counselor in training) and myself finally got the girls calmed down, I began to say our evening prayer. Just then the smoke detector started going off (it had low batteries). Of course that caused a huge fiasco, resulting in one of the program staff members coming to cut the dang detector off the ceiling. We ended up getting to bed 45 minutes after lights out. Looking back on it now, it's a humorous story, but at the time, I was exhausted and nearly at the end of my rope.

The second week of camp, I went with Trout's VBS (Vacation Bible School) program to assist a church with running their VBS. It was SOO much fun. Andy, one of the male counselors, and myself worked with the third-graders, and they were totally awesome. The families at the church were all really great too! The host family I stayed with was so gracious and it was refreshing not to have campers in my sleeping quarters at night. I needed to catch up on sleep after the week before.

The sleeping arrangements in the Mergins' basement.

Last week, the third week of camp, I was counseling the junior high age group, which is definitely my favorite. We had so much fun, even though my poor little body was so worn down that I got a cold. One of my campers nearly died on the mountain scooters and I almost broke my shoulder slacklining, but it was a great week.

Walking the line...

Some of my girls from week three.

This week, I'm at home for my week off. It's great to see my family again, especially since my mom's birthday is today. I also got to spend the 4th with my family for the first time in 3 years, which was a lot of fun.

The staff members at camp this year are so awesome! There are very few people (such as myself), who have worked at Trout before. I was a little nervous about this at first, but it has turned out great! The staff members, and the counselors especially, have really bonded with each other. Weekends at Trout are tons of fun. Some of the activities so far have included a girls' movie night with funfetti cake, driving two hours to get to Chipotle, and seeing Transformers 2. We are still planning on a cliff-jumping trip and possibly another journey to Chipotle.

So that's been my summer so far! I also had a week of training at the beginning, in case you are wondering why my summer has only been three weeks long...it hasn't...it's been four. I head back up to Trout on Sunday morning, hopefully well-rested and refreshed. Even though a break is nice, I definitely miss Trout. This is my 13th summer being at Trout in some capacity, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

-Jojo

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!

And we all went out separate ways. I, Brenna, am back home in sunny San Diego. Kenny is home in Santa Rosa. Whilst Jojie is at camp in trout, being the shortest and best counselor ever.
Kelsey is..... at home? I noticed she went on an adventure, she's probably at her new pad by now.
So, we all moved out of our beloved First East. Kelsey is living in a house next year. Kenny, Jojo, and I are living on HUSH (hidden under south hope).
So we're on first south now?
As far as the rest of our summer plans go. Jojo is, as I already said, at camp.
Kenny is home, working at the wee shop down the street and baking delicious things that she will be forced to remake once we all get back to school :]
I am working as well. I got a job working at the same theatre my dad works for. Lamb's Players Theatre. I'm the assistant stage manager for the musical The Fantasticks. So I do follow spots in the grid up above the audience, and run down to the pit below the stage to set up the trap door several times throughout one show. And in between that I'm setting up the props making sure everything is where it needs to be. It's hectic at times, and tiring because of running all over the world, but fun.
I'm planning on visiting Kenny in Santa Rosa for her birthday at the beginning of August, and I am very excited.
But what of Nunu? what are her plans for the summer?
Well, all I know is that she'll be coming' down my way for a few days!!!!! :D
I don't know why, but I do know that I wont let her leave San Diego without getting a hugemongus hug from me.

That's all I know as far a summer updates. Maybe I'll get a few facts wrong or leave out some kind of awesomeness and force the others to update themselves :]
but for now, it's just me bringing you greetings from Southern California.

-Brenna Kathleen

A Proposition for The Fellows of Emerson

By: Kelsey 'Jojo' Osterman

My friends and I want to be the first females to live in Emerson. Yes, that's right. I know what you're thinking: "That's crazy and the dumbest idea I've ever heard!" Maybe. But hear me out. Here are some of the benefits:

Brenna Peirson:The Mom Figure
-Brings oranges and juice boxes to sporting events
-Mends socks or other torn clothing
-Decorates and likes cleaning other people's rooms (makes your room look nice and smell good: think how the chicks will admire you when your room doesn't smell like a boy's locker room)
-Snow White complex: taking care of her boys

Kendall Robins: The Foxy Cousin
-Bakes delicious treats and cooks wonderful pasta
-Likes washing dishes
-Likes vacuuming
-Plays video games (Halo, Guitar Hero) and guitar (jam sessions)

Kelsey Osterman: The Little Sister (no annoying included)
-Perfectly ok with being picked on (in moderation) and loves being sarcastic
-Will look up to you (literally) and admire your accomplishments
-Loves doing laundry
-Always up for some sports action with her bros

As a combined group:
-We own blacklights and strobes...enough said
-Spontaneous Disney numbers (in a gender inclusive way)
-We believe in nerf wars whenever possible
-Always willing to get rid of that one chick who keeps stalking you creepily
-We can all knit/crochet toasty warm clothing items
-Super big fans of hugs

Think about it. It could work.

my long awaited and belated post :)

So.... GUESS WHAT?!? I kinda have been putting off/ forgetting to update this for F O R E V E R... or at least so it seems. Mmmm... basically I'm supposed to blog about my spring break... and it's now summer break! Yay for procrastination, right? ;)

Hm... okay... spring breaaaak... RIGHT!

For my spring break, I drove first from LA to my home in Santa Rosa. The very next morning, we awoke at 3 and headed for the long haul to Wyoming. The night of the first day we stopped at Sun Valley Idaho and stayed in our friend's cabin ^_^. The next day we drove through some national parks, took some sweet pics, and made it to Buffalo, Wyoming (aka my grandpa's house). We spent a couple days there hangin' out with my grandpa, playing pool, taking long beautiful walks out in the middle of nowhere... It was really nice to just get away from everything! We had some CRAZY south-western food... they do it in courses out there!! haha. Then we took the long trek home, had a couple days at my house, and went right back down to college... so basically I was really tired by the end of the trip!

Next order of business: THE RESCUE!!! (aka the most awesome thing ever!)

So... Me, Jojo, and Brenna went to the Invisible Children Rescue in LA, and it was awesome!! We got there with all our stuff and lined up for the single file, 4,000 person procession to the "abduction site". There we set up camp, filmed for Invisible Children, wrote letters to our officials, hung out, ate food, and even played a tad of Ultimate Frisbee, though I swear the people we played with were pretty, how shall I say... "high in the sky"? ;) But, nevertheless, it was a super fun night! The best part was definitely getting only an hour of sleep and having to drive back at 3 in the morning! *heavy sarcasm* But really, it wasn't too bad. It was pretty cool... good music, good company... and I wasn't too tired either! :)

K... I'm tired, just got done with finals! I'm guna go pack up some more! C Ya'all laterz!!

~Kendall

Brenna's Spring Break

I already typed it all out on my personal blog... So I'm going to copy and paste it here :D
If you want to see pics, go to my facebook

I wish I could say that I'm posting from my home in San Diego, all cozy in my bed with some french toast sitting next to me that my brother brought up. But I can't.

I'm back at school already, that one week flew by so fast, even though coming back here I feel like I was gone for months.
I did, however, get one lovely morning just like the one described above.
This was Monday. but I have to start from the beginning.
It doesn't start pretty.
I had a tummy bug and felt awful on Thursday. I actually skipped my class, because I woke up halfway through it from a nap, and then had to go to the ladies room to puke my guts out.
So I was an invalid that day. My mum and grandma came to pick me up Friday morning. I had a lovely car ride back. And even had the most wonderful nugget experience I've ever encountered. I was half sleeping in the back seat of my grandma's car, and they stopped at McD's for some food. I just got a small sprite and nuggets. But oh! were they yummy! I always had a soft spot for nuggets, I don't know why, I just love them to bits.
Anyways, so I was half asleep, and I would just get a nibble of one and then just lie there munching on it slowly and dreaming away. They lasted me hours! which I don't mind, because I took my time to enjoy them.
So. I got better.
Easter Sunday was nice, just to church and then had some cinni rolls and eggs for a nice breakfast. That's about it. Taran had work at Sea World so I just lazed about.

Monday was the morning of wonderfuls. Taran came in to wake me up and did the job, but of course I'm on break, it's going to take a stampede to get me out of bed before noon! So he left and came back about an hour later with some french toast and strawberry milk. So I browsed the web on my trusty compy as I enjoyed my brother made and delivered breakfast in bed. I suspect he wanted to butter me up for the torture he had planned for me that day. Which I'm fine with, because he also bought me lunch when we walked down the hill to the taco shop, and got some pop, and twizlers pull n' peel, and sour patch watermelons!!
He wanted me to watch High School Musical 3 with him. And I have to admit, it was better than the other 2. You can tell they had a multi-million dollar budget. That much money going into a teeny bopper super camp movie... aren't we having trouble with our economy?
Anyways. Tuesday I went to Sea World with Taran. It was fun, except for the high school band creep that hit on me. I didn't even realize what happened until later when I was telling it to Taran. People don't usually hit on me, so how am I supposed to know what it's like? Anyways, that was creepy. And he probably didn't even think that I could be 2 or more years older than him, which I probably was. It was odd walking around by myself. I don't drive yet, so I haven't really tasted the total independence thing yet. So being alone in Sea World with only my a park map to guide me was a bit unnerving. But I filmed Taran during his show!

First Part:

Second Part:

Isn't he just precious!?

Wed, Thurs, Fri was... going to grandma's house to clean and help out as payment for her helping me with The Rescue, chillin' with Kyla and getting some of the best food known to man CARNE ASADA FRIES!! (soooooo gooooooooood!!!), going to every thrift store known to Chula Vista to find a bird cage for 3D (we didn't even fine one!), applying for jobs at various store locations, and going to opening night Friday night to see The Glass Menagerie! It was really good.

Saturday we drove up to Grandma Peirson's and chilled until Sunday morning, when I was dropped off back here at school.
And that's my spring break in a nutshell.... but not literally.... I know what you're thinking Kenny!
So... (buttons)...that's about it. The Rescue is this Saturday! I got my shirts in the mail yesterday, so today I'm rockin' my "I heart the LRA" tee. :D

It's been nasty hot here, 100 yesterday! hope I don't melt!

OH!! today is April 21! my Unbirthday! only 1/2 a year to go until I'm 20!!! Hooray!

Drink lots of water to stay well!

- Brenna Kathleen a.k.a. that pale girl hiding in the one minuscule shady spot, slathering on the 85 SPF sun block

Sneaks on a Plane

Since no one seems to update the blog anymore (cough cough, Brenna, Kendall), I guess it falls on my shoulders to entertain the uncountable masses who assuredly read this blog. Agreed? Agreed. I am currently cruising at an altitude of 10,000 feet and moving at a velocity of 2400mph. Actually, I have no clue what altitude and velocity we are at, so I just made something up that sounded good.

Well, after what seemed like ages (nigh billions of years), spring break has finally arrived! Hoozah! It’s kind of a bummer that everyone else already had their breaks, since it was torturous to read them gloat on Facebook about being in Florida, while we were still entrenched in our studies, even though we do go to school in sunny California. However, after break we will only have 32 days of class until summer, so that is quite the bonus. Kenny left last night to stay over at her brother’s fiancé’s apartment, in order to get an early start this morning. They are currently on their way to Wyoming, to visit family. Brenna was probably still sleeping when I left at the unearthly hour of 7am this morning. Her mother was driving up from San Diego to pick her up around 9am. As I said, I am on an airplane right now, zooming back to MN to be with my fam for the week. I have a window seat, but I’m pretty sure it’s the only window in the entire plane that has condensation on it, severely hampering my ability to view the terrain below. Aka, I can see nothing. This would happen to me.

I also received my first ever complimentary bag of peanuts today!! It only took 6 flights to get it. I was beginning to think it was all a large transportation conspiracy, or some sort of mythical notion that didn’t actually exist. I’m saving them for later, for a moment when I can actually savor the 12g snack. Seriously, is that enough to feed an ant? Maybe one of those super tiny red ones. Then again, they seem quite aggressive, so they might actually need more sustenance than a normal ant. I’m not sure. I should ask one sometime, right before I squish him and wipe him on my pants. Since the caf is closed today, due to break, I saved myself a muffin from dinner last night to eat as my breakfast this morning. I’d never eaten a muffin from the caf, but figured I would give it a try. Heck, I didn’t want to pay for some outrageously overpriced pastry at the airport. I should have known it wouldn’t turn out well. After one bite, that was not only tasteless, but also stale, I threw the pitiful excuse for food into the trashcan. Once I arrived at the airport, I was starving! So, I was forced to indulge in a delicious blueberry scone from Starbucks. I also purchased a tall, iced mocha, since I needed something to wash it down with and I also got about 4 hours of sleep last night. I went to be early, but I just couldn’t fall asleep. I guess I was excited, or maybe I just never go to bed before 2am and my body was so surprised that it didn’t know what to do. Either way, I’m tired. Well, I’m now starting to regret my caffeinated beverage, not to mention the free Pepsi once I got on the plane, since my bladder is alerting me to its overfull state. Dang. Stupid window seat. Two people between me and the restroom. Sigh. The joys of traveling. Back when I decided I was coming home for break, I concocted this brilliant little scheme to surprise my boyfriend. I got my parents in on it, and actually managed to keep it a secret from everyone else, so as not to accidentally spill the beans. Well, almost everyone. I told one friend. I found another Northwest flight arriving in the Twin Cities two hours after my flight actually arrives, and told him I was taking that one. My parents have the same fake flight information, so our stories line up. They are picking me up from the airport when my real flight arrives and then taking me home. Nate is set to arrive at my house not long before my fake flight arrives, so he can accompany my parents to pick me up. And surprise, surprise, I will be there to greet him. I can’t wait to see the look on his face!! Hahaha!! I love being devious, can you tell? Well, I just emptied my bladder in the bathroom. Airplane bathrooms are more than a little terrifying. So cramped, with all those unknown levers and compartments. Who knows what could happen if you pressed the wrong button. Has anyone seen Get Smart? Yup, one could get sucked out into the sky, and I’m pretty sure you need a parachute to survive that, and I forgot mine in my other pair of jeans. Darn. Anyway, that’s all for now. I should return to my book I’m supposed to read for class. Either that or attempt to catch a glimpse of the ground through the miniscule hole in the water droplets on the window. Fun, fun!

-Jojo

Wonderful Weekend!!

We just spent the entire weekend doing absolutely nothing productive, unless you count going to church. My boyfriend Nate came to visit, since it was his spring break, and we had the most splendid time. We picked him up at the airport Thursday night and then stopped for donuts on the way back. (There are literally 7 donut shops on the route to LAX.) We got Nate settled in with a friend of ours and then played some ultimate frisbee. We were all really tired (and the donuts didn't help, I'm sure) so we didn't play for very long. After that, I gave Nate a night-time tour of campus and we went our separate ways for the night...zzzz. The next day, we went to chapel in the morning and then chilled in the Alpha lobby and watched the Office until lunch. After we got foods, we went to the Cheese Society in Stewart. It was in celebration of St. Patrick's Day this week and there were all sorts of Irish cheeses. Yum!! :D We then made a trek through the storm gully tunnels to the nearby park area, for a little frisbee time. :) It fell in the stream a few times...

That evening, we partied on over to the Hope amphitheater to listen to a CD release concert for The Fragrance. They were pretty awesome. As our last adventure for the evening, we went to Orange-Orange...I mean...Joghurt, for the some frozen yogurt. It was delicious, of course!

On Saturday, we spent the entire day at the beach, longboarding, tossing the frisbee around and freezing our toes off in the ocean. Kenny learned how to longboard and Brenna was wearing fairy wings...just thought you should know that. We stopped at In n Out on the way back to campus to get some good eats. I offered to pay Brenna $2 if she yelled "Enjoy your food!! Or else!!" at a car coming out of the drive thru that still had it's window down. She made a 50 cents worth attempt.

When we got back to the dorm, we rocked out to some Guitar Hero, before Nate and I went on an adventure back to the park. We talked into the wee hours of the morn and then returned to our respective places of dwelling. We got very little sleep, yet still felt surprisingly well-rested. After church, we got some foods in the caf, then dropped Nate off at the airport. Needless to say, I was sad to see him go. :( The weekend went by so dang FAST! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. Until next time...

-Jojo

This is a test......

VLOG TEST! Woo!!
the vid explains it all..... i had to watch a few youtube tutorials on how to get my footage onto imovie, but after that I pretty much got it all worked out :D

In love with the 80's

Look at those hot mommas!

Our GYRAD (get your roommate a date) was an 80's themed night of glow-in-the-dark mini golf and yummy Denny's munchies.
None of us had dates, but who needs men when you have super awesome blast from the past 80's hair? I'm not gunna lie, we had the best and most authentic 80's look out of the whole floor.

Check it. I didn't know Jojo's hair was going to get that big when I started. Yup, I created that. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my creation. Everyone loved it. Most of the girls were 80's but most opted for the side pony tail and bang poof. They had dates to look cute for. We just had each other, so we were free to look as dorky as we wanted. :D

Glow in the dark mini golf is fun to the max.

It was also fun getting to hang out with guys. I didn't realize how fun it is to just chill with dudes and have a conversation with some testosterone in it. It was also cool hanging out with the other girls on our floor.
The only time our side of the floor comes to life is after 11, and most of it is the three of us, so it was cool seeing people from the other side and girls who usually have their door closed when they're home.

Other than GYRAD: we've all had work to do. Jojo has reading and writing all the time it seems. Kenny has all her Torrey do-dads to read and make intelligent notes on. And I have art projects to build for 3D, drawings to be completed, reading to do, speeches to prepare, and a fake company to put together. I have more work than last semester. It's good because it keeps me more busy, which means less time for me to goof off and be alone b/c everyone else has more to do, but bad because I'm the worst procrastinator (take now for example.... 2:10 am monday and I'm blogging instead of doing my art history reading) and I can't keep track of my assignments to save my life.

I need Jojo to do a organizer make-over on me.

We have fun too... let's see.... there's meals, when we get out of the flat. Kenny and Jojo have a group of people they go play Frisbee with occasionally. We have caffeine runs around 9 or so when needed. And errands to run, those are fun too :)

I've gotten interested in vlogs (video blogs) recently, and I think I might give it a try with this, so you get a bit more excitement than just me sitting on my bed in the wee hours of the morning, trying not to wake the roommie with the click-clacking of my computer keys.
So that's it for now! Good night (...morning?) everyone!

-Brenna Kathleen

The Survivors

*cue music(tune to "i will survive")* And now we're back, from every place, I tried to walk into my room, should've seen the look upon my face, brenna broke our stupid lock, and i couldn't get a key, so I sat for two hours in the hall of Alpha 1st E! and then i knocked, knocked on the door, but no one answered, and I sat back on the floor, but that's all okay, it's all good now, I did some Torrey homework, and i'm just glad now! Oh, that I, I did survive! we all moved in, and now we're all back to our lives! We have "adventure fridays", they're really fun and great! to beaches, vintage stores, ethnic markets, all alike, to give ourselves a break from the hard Biola life! ;) *end music*

so, ya! that sums it up! we've just been back for two weeks, and it's wonderful ^_^. We found a sweet asian market, went to the beach to blade/board, went to downtown fullerton to vintage shops and the British market! Jojo had/has a freaky eye problem, and has had way too many doctors appointments, but God is good, life is good... and now I need to go do some homework... :p oh well! haha.

~Kendall

Jojo's Brand New Year!

Hello friends!

2009 is here!! Hooray! I can hardly believe it!

Here's the low-down on my new year:

-I've come to the conclusion that I have an addictive personality. Don't get me started on something, or else I will probably become consumed by it. My boyfriend got me the board game Settlers of Catan for my (upcoming) birthday and I haven't stopped playing it since. That's all we do...poor guy...he probably regrets it. I also just rediscovered the tv show Bones. I've been watching every episode I can find online. Or take Altoids for instance. I can finish a box of Altoids in the span of a few hours. I start eating them and I just can't stop! Needless to stay, I will be staying away from cigarettes, alcohol, and other addictive items in the future. (Not that I wouldn't already be avoiding those things.)

-SNOW!! Since my real home is in Minnesota, there has been lots of the fluffy white stuff. The rays of sunshine glowing on the fresh snow are actually quite gorgeous as well. And, boy, has it been cold! It was about -25 degrees here last night. Brrr!! But we sleep under layers of cozy blankets at night and bundle up when we go outside, so it's not terrible. And believe it or not, I actually missed the cold. Call me a Minnesotan. I also found the most gigantic icicle ever. I used it to ward off all the evil villains in our neighborhood. It is currently standing in a snowbank outside to serve as a warning to anyone else who might have devious plans of wickedness.

-Christmas and New Years were wonderful. By far the best part about being home is seeing all my family and friends. Getting my wisdom teeth out was not so wonderful. My face is still a little swollen and bruised, but not too terrible anymore. The worst part of the whole ordeal was getting an IV. The good doctor gave me laughing gas so it was a little more bearable. The second worst part was not being able to eat solid foods. My parents also made it their objective to cook all the best smelling solid foods during the time I couldn't eat them. They like torturing me.

-I don't want to go back to school. Sure, I love my friends and California is great, but I don't want to start a new semester. I rather enjoy doing nothing over break. Oh well. All good things must come to an end. It won't be the same without Nu-Nu too. I love Kendall, and rooming with her will be great, but Nu-Nu is a part of our little friend family and she will be missed.

Well, I think that is about all for right now. Hope 2009 finds you joyful and in good health. Goodbye!

-Jojo