Tuesday, June 26, 2012

white rocks.

So I'm kinda behind on my updates. There are several things I'd like to share with ya'll but I'll just update you on what's been going on a bit, and leave some for a later day.

Right.. What's been up? Lots of homework and studying!
I had a Mimicry Test yesterday. We had a file of this lady speaking another language and we had to mimic her. We got graded based on timing, intonation, and the correctness of sound! It was kinda fun, but I am wondering when the phrases are going to get out of my head
[unsai ino panihapon aronabi'i']
[gusto kong mokaong ogista']
[un saoman pagluto angista']
[la mi ka'aio angista']
....
Then!
Today.
I had a Phonetics theory exam.
Which didn't have too many surprising things on it.

So. Ha. No fun right?
Maybe not...
Here's some friends and fun



My roommate Lindsey! She's awesome! I'm glad to have her as a roomie. 


As you can see, she's fun ;) It makes for some good late night chats.


This is James. He's a lot of fun! He heads up the Monday Movie Classics (procrastination) Nights. So far we've watched Alien, and Aliens, East of Eden, and Maltese Falcon. Ha! He also has pretty much talked me into most of the things I do that keep me from my homework.


Grace is a sweetheart <3 And I want to record everything that comes out of her mouth because it's always seasoned with Salt. She's just a lot of fun!


Andrew. The main man. Literally. He's the only guy that's brave enough to venture to the girls floor and he's not afraid to accompany us in our we-swear-its-not-a-girls-night outings.


All these pics were taken at White Rock Beach. As you can see, it gets its name from the white rock.. on the beach. Our group decided to climb it! 


So we got back from the dorms to find that the power was out...


This is one of many missionary training sessions we've been through this summer. The water has been shut off twice. The power outage. No hot water this weekend. And to top it off, the fire alarm went off last night at 2 am. We all groggily stumbled outside, sleepy eyed, yet in good spirits and waited for the fire department to give the all clear.


It's been an adventure to say the least.


I'd love to hear from you.


<3

Monday, June 18, 2012

[wik w∂n]

Week one down! ...
Canada is kinda cold.. for a Kansas girl. 
Averaging about 60 all week. 
It's also sunny 1 out of 7 days... total.
Ha. Like really, I think the sun comes out from 5:30-6:30 three times a week.
With a sporadic half day in there somewhere... 
One day (after dinner around.. 6:30) the sun came out!
And in the enjoyment of my sunny splendor, I made a friend:
He landed on me and flew away, so i went to see him and he just let me hang out with him for a while! (This is news to most of you, but I really like dragonflies! And they never let you touch them!)
My cooking crew cooked this week!
Chili, chicken noodle soup, quesadillas, gouache, and breakfast for dinner!
I survived classes the first week and was pretty eager to enjoy the weekend!
So eager, that I managed to jam my pinky within the first 2 minutes of volleyball on Friday!
We had brunch on Saturday mid-morning and then a crew of us decided to hike Golden Ears despite the fact that constant rain was in the forcast.

It was a beautiful hike.. and really wet. Ha!
Most of us tried to dodge the massive puddles of muck but one girl just tromped through it saying that we'd all give in eventually...
which we did.. ha!

This picture is the only one that can remotely depict our wetness....*
 The waterfalls were amazing! 
Unfortunately it snowed so much, thus so much gushing water, that there wasn't a good way to get a shot down the falls but... use your imagination ;)

Church was fun. 
Went to the most expensive coffee shop on the planet to do homework.
I've been going to bed at like 10:30 every night.
Brain overload.
I had my first phonetics test today!
My TA in passing said I did well (but not perfect)
Haha! I'll take it.

It's 10:24.
Time for bed.


<3






Wednesday, June 13, 2012

a bubble above Bobby.

What is today? Wednesday?



Today was day three of classes! Lets just say there it seems like that's all I've done! Ha, but I guess that is why I'm here. ;) And they're fun! If you like Articulatory Phonetics, Phonology Analysis, Grammar Analysis, and Language and society types of things.



This is some of the intro Phonetics that we've been working on:


Haha, lets just say I love this kind of stuff haha! But when day 3 starts getting hard, I'm not gonna lie, I'm start questioning my brain capacity.

So I've been asked where I live. Whether it was in someone's basement, a white house, or a tree house (common living arrangements of fellow students). So I thought I'd give you a little idea of my space!
I live in a dorm called Fraser Hall (Room 318!). My room is right off of the lobby so I get the privilege of having everyone hanging out in my "living room." If I get tired of my room, I just open the door to the smiling faces on the comfy couches (usually enjoying their lunch or not enjoying their stack of homework!)

Here is my side of the desk:


 Right behind my desk is my closet:


And through the closets are our beds!


My roommate is fun! We have the same name (spelled Lindsey) and are both from Kansas! We also have a lot of mutual friends from back home so it's kind of a fun story to tell. We both think that whoever was doing rooming thought it would be funny to put the two "Lindsey's from Kansas" together. 

Anywho, I'm sure I'll introduce ya'll to her sooner or later. Until then, I thought this would give you a little bit of a taste of where I am and (kinda) what I do!


<3





Saturday, June 9, 2012

days go by.

The last couple of days have flown by! Lots of laughs and lots of catching up. We hopped over to Missoula on Thursday morning for some cousin lovin'. We were treated to Mexican food as well as.. what would you call it... sweater walking. To say the least, my cousin's are a crazy hoot of fun to be around. It was definitely a blessing to get to spend the day with them.

(sweatshirt walking....)

Yesterday we left for Seattle around noon. We tried to beat the rush hour of traffic in the area, but it was still pretty slow last hour to my other cousin's house... Last time I got to come up here, she wasn't home. So it was great to be able to hang out with her and her first little one five month old, Gideon (a sweet heart to say the least!)! 

(Mr. Precious)

Today. Cinnamon rolls. The best caramel americano I've ever had. Seattle skyline. Pike's Place tour: First Starbucks and the infamous gum wall! P.F. Chang's. Grocery shopping. Border hopping (only permissible by Stone Wall the Interrogator himself!). A friendly welcome from CanIL move in crew. Some settling in. And now: The lovely rushing oceanic sound of Highway 1 and a nearby train blowing its horn into the distance.

(gum wall)

It's all very surreal.


<3

(Lake Couer d'Alene) 

(Wahington)

(Twilight country)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

light before the sunrise.

There is light in Colorado well before the sun in seen.  
The coffee pot is set to brew itself at 5:35. 
There are 10 drawers in the kitchen. Ha! 
You can imagine how amused I was after standing there doing the math of my chances of finding the silverware, and logically concluding where a family would put them on the first try. I laughed out loud as I stirred my "sorry-its-kinda-strong-I-like-it-that-way" coffee.  
An hour at Einstein's waiting for the car. 
Two more in the VW lobby. 
The road was long. And travelers moderate. 
All fast food sounds repulsive.  
After 6 hours of driving, we had 8 more to go... which is what we drove yesterday. 
We stopped with 3 more to go. 
It'll be nice to drive through the mountains during the day. 
Montana is an absolutely breathtaking mass of green glory mountainous terrain. 
The sun sets at 9:30. 
There is light well after the sun is seen. 



<3

you're kidneying me.

Day 1...  

We started out with a nice morning walk around Salina, thinking we knew where the medallion was. HA! It was nice. And we weren't even close. 

So we set off on our week long driving adventure! and then.. it got interesting. 

I had pain in my stomach all week and I was just assuming the norms. But on the road I started googling my symptoms. Pain in the abdomen. Sharp. Also in the back. Kidney stone. So we detoured to Ellsworth and went to the ER... 5 hours later (doctors taking their time and assuming nothing was wrong because of my calm demeanor) it was confirmed that my self diagnosis was indeed correct. 

They told me to go back home, pass it, and drive after. So naturally.. we hit the road... for about 45 minutes. 

The car started failing on us. Wouldn't accelerate. And kept telling us that the battery was not working. (lies). We went 35 miles an hour to the next town to find out that it just needed cold gas and that the vapor lock turned itself on. My dad later finds out that VW gas pumps go bad and start failing to run. It was miraculous: we made it to Denver. It only took all day, but it was for the most part enjoyable! We have a car shop appointment in the morning, and I've been off meds since the hospital (hoping and praying that it'll pass without problems). 

It's been a good reminder. Questioning if I'm suppose to be there (in Canada). Understanding that I am not in control. Ha, humbled, and in a weird way, glad that I'm not. 

I'm tired. It's been real. Please keep praying! 


<3 



(Colorado is gorgeous)