Fun Times

Here at Dordt, fall begins with Heartland Break. This break consists of teachers coming to Dordt for a conference taught by Dordt’s professors. This also means that Dordt students get a four-day weekend! It’s a pretty great way to start fall.

This year my dad and I loaded up his truck and headed to Madison, Wisconsin, for the World Dairy Expo. Dad was working in his company’s booth but he was more excited about meeting all of his Twitter friends. I was going there to see what World Dairy Expo was, since I had never gone. I was also going to see if I could find any leads to get to New Zealand to study abroad for a semester. Dad and I both agree that the weekend was a huge success!

Dad met many of his Twitter friends at different “Tweet-ups.” I got to tag along for these and I met a lot of great people! They were very welcoming and a lot of fun to hang out with. I hope I can meet up with them in the future.

I also got to see some of my friends from California. Brenda made it up to expo on Friday and we hung out for a few hours. I also saw some of my friends from Oakdale.

While all of this was great fun, the highlight of my weekend was making contact with people who are helping me figure out how to study abroad in New Zealand next year. Thank you to all the people who helped me make these connections! We will see where they go J I’ll keep ya’ll posted on how things are going!!

Life is Exciting!

Lately I've found myself being incredibly excited about life. And here's the thing: I have no idea why because I have no idea where I'm going to end up. I have no idea where God's going to take me! Maybe that's the very reason for my excitement: I'm embracing the unknown.

Saying that kinda freaks me out. Not gonna lie! When I really think about it…yeah, it freaks me out! I used to hate the unknown. I really didn’t care for doing new things. Now I beginning to realize what I’ve always been told: everyone out there is just a person. I’m learning to talk to people. Meeting new people doesn’t scare me (as much). God is allowing me to grow in ways I have never dreamed of.

I got to talk to my friend Kristen on Monday night. Our talk was cut short because I had to go to work, but it was really good to talk to her. Last time we talked was at school last May when we packed up our dorm room after exams and headed home. Sure, we kept in touch over Facebook, but it wasn’t the same as talking over the phone. I told her about my internship and how much I missed being out there and how much I didn’t want to be at school. I also told her about what I want to do next summer and next fall. She looked at me over Skype and said into the phone, “You’ve changed so much!” I think she meant it as a good thing. She’s such a good friend; I can’t wait ‘til I get to talk to her again.

This coming week I will be going out to the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI! That also has me very excited! It happens to fall right over a two-day break at school, so I’m not even missing any classes for it. I’m going up there with my dad. We’re driving Thursday, attending Friday, and while he’s working on Saturday I’m hoping to be hanging out with my friend Brenda. We’ll head back home on Sunday.

Last night I spent time at my aunt and uncle’s house. We were celebrating my cousin’s 11^th birthday and my grandparents were there! God has blessed me with an amazing family! It was so good to be able to visit with everyone. Even though we only a few hours away from each other, schedules fill up and we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like to. Last time I saw my grandparents was around Easter, I think. Last night we were able to catch up on what had gone on in the six months since we had seen each other. My family did get together during the summer but I was in California. That was probably the thing I disliked the most about California: missing out on family get-togethers back home. However, my family is incredibly supportive of what I want to do and they make their support known. I am so thankful for them!

I got a little side-tracked from the beginning of my post, but that’s okay. I’m thanking God for the opportunities that He has presented in my life and the ones He hasn’t revealed yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what He has planned for me. It’s been amazing so far!