Luv is a verb :)

2007-01-15T16:04:00.000-08:00

I just feel like journaling right now. So here's a bit of me...
January 15, 2007

Dear God,

I’m sick. Right now I’m physically and spiritually sick. I’m in a weird mood. I just want to sleep. I’m thinking about different things right now, and doing some self analyzing and trying to learn about You and life too. Here’s some things that I’ve been thinking about lately. My future; I don’t know about my options. Should I go straight to Loma Linda and start working, or should I work at camp as the nurse? Should I look into going straight to Mercy Ships? I’ve been thinking about Boys a little bit. Not nearly as much as I have in the past, it’s not like the sole thing on my mind, but it’s there a little bit and it makes me overwhelmed if I think too much about them so I just won't. Man, I think of an ideal, a perfect way of how things should play out. But that’s in my mind God, and my mind is sick. I don’t know the very best way. The only thing I know I’ll hold onto is that You love me and that the truth is that Your ways in how this universe should run is the very best.

I’ve also been analyzing myself in how much of a servant I am for you. I’m just disgusted because no matter how much I want to have pure motives and an unselfish heart, I don’t. There’s a part of me that wants to be glorified with good works, the label of being such a good person. I think way too much about how I come across, or how many people can I get to adore me? I guess that’s better than wanting to outright rebel, but it’s so much more poisonous because it’s not as obvious and I have to search more to find that rottenness than just outright rebellion. But it is poison and it kills.

My perfect scenario for myself to solve that problem is to just go away on my own, go where nobody knows me and start over. I would live humbly, and honestly, full of love for others and for You, and slowly I would see a change in people’s life and my own because I would allow You to fill me with those fruits of the Spirit that change people and others around them. People would be drawn to me and I would give all of me for love of others. I would also realize my needs and open up to people too and I would make new “bosom friends” as Anne of Green Gables puts it. And we would just keep encouraging people around us and ourselves to be better and better people, drawing so near to You. I would be so happy.

Maybe happiness is the wrong word to search for in life... Here’s a problem. I am so moldable. I feel like I have no backbone of my own. I hear someone who has a good argument, and it seems to make perfect sense to me when I hear it. Do I realize when things contradict each other? Do I know what I actually think and can I put my thoughts together? God, I’m searching for truth. Here’s what I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. How black and white is truth? It seems to me like if it’s not the truth than it’s not true. But this is so broad and when specifics start getting in there, the 2 contrasts seem to blend to make that grey area that we feel safe in, but I’m not sure about how content I am there. In my readings lately in Patriarchs and Prophets, I am seeing that you are a God of order. Not so orderly though that us un-orderly scattered people can’t be forgiven. You are incredibly merciful and full of love.

I was just pausing and thinking about Anne of Green Gables and thinking about the different characters roles. God, is there people that are supposed to be the multitude movers and those that are supposed to be the multitude mover’s mover? Like Mathew in the movie, he was a quiet character who didn’t have the personality or energy level to impact multitudes of people. Anne Shirley on the other hand, she was a multitude mover. She had a way with people. They loved her dearly, and she seemed to change their lives and make so many into better people. But Mathew, he was the one who cherished Anne the most. He understood her best. She wouldn’t have been the same without him. I’d like to be a multitude mover, but I don’t really think I am. Maybe I would like to be because I am insecure about what people think. After all, it’s the more popular of the 2. And if so many people love someone so much, it just seems to say something. But then, that’s not at all true is it. It can be an indicator of that person, but it isn’t everything. I guess God, I tie this together a little bit with the verse, “faith without works is nothing”. I think I’m just learning what that really means. I think that something in my mind was twisting that phrase before. Works though, no matter how big or small they seem to us, are all still works. Big and small are of the same importance. And works aren’t to prove anything to anyone; it’s just the best way of how things are supposed to be because of the direct result of You changing our lives. Works aren’t just the rules. There’s a foundation to them and fundamentals to them that make them precious. I guess that whatever person I am, whether a multitude mover, or a multitude mover’s mover, or a mixture of the two, I can always take the best that I am and apply it. I’m worried about copping out though. If I think that I’m not a multitude mover, and that I’m more of a multitude mover’s mover (actually I think I’m in between this) then I’m worried about missing something, something that I shouldn’t.

It also makes me think of gifts. Like I heard that one dude talking about gifts and Your will. He was talking about “callings” and how we know we are “called”. He doesn’t think it’s any calling, he thinks it’s a matter of recognizing the gifts that You’ve given each of us, and using them, because that’s what we are best at. That makes sense to me. He used the example of preachers that maybe shouldn’t be preachers because they are terrible speakers. That sort of seems mean and trampling, but I think I agree with him. Why would you give us abilities and gifts to do things well, if we didn’t use them? But then I think, well, we can’t cut out the fact that many things we can acquire and learn. We aren’t just born with everything we need to amplify our gifts. I do think it’s possible to acquire gifts. Or I think of teachers that are terrible with their social skills. It always bugs me to think that they are very smart, and know material very well, but they can’t inspire and engage people enough to pass on knowledge. But sometimes don’t we need other blocks to help us use our gifts in the best way possible?

So God, what are my gifts? What kind of person am I? Is the person that I think I am the person that You think I am? What am I supposed to do with me? But I can’t just wait around to try to figure these questions out. I have to live moment by moment and day by day. Therefore, Your will for me must be to do my best for every moment, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with You.

This must be the part of Your will that I can know. Yes, I believe that you can intervene and put things in our lives and use a massive amount of experiences and people and anything miraculous for Your will. But I’m pretty sure the bible says, that Your ways are higher than mine.
Here's a good verse. I don't know if it's the same one I'm thinking of or not.

Isaiah 55:8-11
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

snow bunnies and jumps

2006-11-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

I had such a good day yesterday. I didn't have classess because of a testing schedule. So, David Brito calls me up and says that there's a sledding trip going on!! Man o man. I've been itching to go sledding since it first snowed. So up to Tolgate we headed where we found this sweet hill with about 3 ft of untouched powder. We built a kickin jump and had our self a fly of a time. The people were pretty crazy that I went with. I knew David Brito, and I had met a couple of these guys before, but they were all from the Fire house because they work with Brito. But they were funny, except for the fact that every other word out of their mouths was a swear word. But otherwise, it was grand. Sunny.... aaww... I'll have to get some pictures from one of the guys. There are some crazy ones!

New news: Our Christmas party is coming up this Saturday night! YAY! As soon as I'm done blogging, I'm going to call some people up and get some things organized. It should be a good time. If you look at this blog, you're totally invited. There's going to be fun games, cookie decorating, and a white elephant gift exchange. Fun stuff. I'll post pictures soon!

Oh no. OOOOHHH no.

2006-11-17T22:56:00.000-08:00

Oh yes. It's true. I conformed. I know that it's horrible. I wasn't going to do this because everyone does it. But wa la. There I went. I signed up for my space. I need to figure out how to link these 2 things together. We'll see how this goes. Ya know, with the new internet and stuff.

Man, I don't have any new pictures right now either. After break I'm sure I'll have some.

Guilty

2006-10-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

I am guilty of the very thing I was talking about late this summer. I haven't blogged in so long. But no worries! My roomates and I have finally decided to get internet. So after this weekend, it will be much more convenient to jot down life blips.

From Today

2006-09-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

Wow. Look at this food. I was going to put it on the post from earlier today, but for some reason, the picture wouldn't upload. I love Sabbath dinners. Dinners in general are great. I love especially when they look so colorful like this meal. Isn't it weird the things that people take pictures of to blog about? I took this picture of my plate of food with my blog in mind. "I'll blog about it," I thought.

pictures of the first bit

2006-09-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

before:

Yep. Pretty much discusting. That's probably an understatement. We had our house turned off for the summer and look what grew. But no fretting. 2 1/2 hours later, I got it spick an span.

after:

Oh look. My favorite thing ever. This guy and his family thought that I was gone forever. Well I'm back buddy. I'm back. And this particular guy will never be back again.

Carley and Brito are the best. We did loads of yard work. There's still more, but man, we did good. Brito found the coolest prop. Too bad I don't know how to upload the video.

Here's some more crazy fun we had one day before we started school. This day, we had a picnic, then we met up with some firemen that work with David and we played a good game of football with them.
Here's Rachel. Her and Carley are living with me and Brooke too this year! Hurray! I love these girls! Rachel, you're super! This is Cory, Rachel's boyfriend. They are super cool. He is from New Mexico. Do you know anyone from New Mexico? I didn't before now. I just found these pictures on my camera. I wonder if they wish that they hadn't have take them. :)

In all my years in art, nothing is more artistic than loving people. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

If you're coming to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let's work together. ~ Aboriginal woman from Australia

updates and such

2006-09-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok. I know that I said the next post would have pictures.......

maybe next time!

updates: ultimate frizbee really is the best game ever. I'll be sad when the cold weather takes away that social event.

school: do I need to say anymore?

new phone: Hurray! I finally updated my ancient one and can now talk to cingular users for free!! don't worry, it's the same phone number.

weather: few! that was a close one I thought the cold weather was here to stay for awhile! But, we are getting some awesome fall days. We need to live it up outside when we can! (not often due to studying unless studying outside.)

God: still there, still awesome

You: I don't know! comment and tell me at least one new thing about yourself!

back to the grinding of books

2006-09-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

Ah yes. Fall. Leaves, a crisp air, people, books. It is always so nice to see everyone again! I'm so excited to see all of you who are in Walla Walla this year! You make life so bright and fun! So let's study hard but have lots of fun!

It's been a good kick off. My house pretty much rocks. There's the newbies, Carley and Rachel, and they pretty much are the greatest. I love them tons and tons and tons!! Brooke should be here soon too, and I'm exctied to have her flare around again!

Oh my gosh. Our fridge was DISGUSTING! I have pictures that I'll post when I come to this lab next time with pictures. And there were some other unwanted things living around. This last week was the clean up the house and move in week. Now, it's the first school week for us CC kidos.

It really takes some getting used to. It's definately a whole different realm of stress. It doesn't feel like acutely "AHH! I'm stressed!" but it just gives me the overall general anxiety for a bit, do you all know what I mean?

Here's a cool quote. I don't remember the author. It's on my fridge though. "I didn't know how to worship until I knew how to love." This was in a really cool book that I'm reading that I recomend to everyone called "searching for a God to love". Tommy Poole, it reminds me of your talk you did on Sabbath.

Ok, lata lovely people.

Lessons. They Never Stop.

2006-09-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

I broke 3 drill bits. It was like 3 in 2 weeks. Jeeze. You’d think I’d learn my lesson and learn to be extra careful. See, my job was to pre-drill the metal siding so when we screw it up, the screws are lined up and it’s easy. I don’t know what my deal is. I still can’t do it very well through a thicker stack of the metal. My boss of coarse makes it looks SO easy and it takes him probably half the time. The times I broke the bit, I was not going strait enough and it would just snap. Another time, when I didn’t break them, but I was still not strait enough, and after awhile, the bit was bent a little.

Object lesson time. Lesson 1:

As humans, we make the same mistakes over and over and over again! It would seem logical that we would learn from our mistakes, and sometimes we get consequences that break us a little more (that wasn’t my case here), but more often, we are not logical and keep making the same mistakes. After I broke the first bit, my boss told me to go get another one and keep going. He did the same after the 2nd one. He even did it after the 3rd one.

It’s like God, saying, hey, pick yourself up, you get another chance if you want. Not that he doesn’t want us to learn anything and try to not make the mistake again, but He is more than willing to tell us we get to try again. Hebrews 12:11-13- No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for you feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall, but become strong.

Lesson 2: (this goes along with the first one)

This is a good reminder to keep on the strait path. We become bent and broken when we don’t. It’s not a thing about rules or anything like that to have no freedom or fun, but the other way. We work better when we keep strait. God knows what’s best for us. He wants us to be healthy and happy.

Where in the World....fellow bloggers

2006-09-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

Oh where oh where are the fellow bloggers out there?
I look at my links but don't take time to stare.
I see only a few that seem to keep this alive,
But really everyone, write it down, please don't deprive.
So thank you to those who keep writing their groove
And those of you who haven't, it's time for you to move!

:)

Etc.

2006-09-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Super thirsty after a hard days work. We recommend Gatorade Rain for a refreshing drink that quenches your thirst with excellent flavor that goes down like water. This was my first experience with Gatorade Rain. My personal favorite is lime.

Isn't she adorable? This is my boss's daughter Jenna. We painted this door the other day, so I just had to get a picture of it before we painted it because really, isn't it just a cool door to take a picture of? And Jenna is the perfect prop.

All in a Days Work

2006-09-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch of pictures of various people and shots that are related to work.

Let's start with the crew:

My Boss: Andrew Phelps
Fun facts about Andrew: He's goofy. He likes to sing and is good at it. He sings a lot on the job site, pretty random stuff. He could probably be in an opera. When he sings sentences, it reminds me of my roomates and I singing everything we said one morning after seeing the movie, "The Phantom of the Opera". But it's good to keep things like that. He says that the singing comes for free for us lucky workers, and he's got a good sense of humor. His favorite line I'd say is "For Heaven Sake!" Props to Andrew for being a super boss.

Next is his brother, the 1st mate: Paul Smith (must be cool to have that last name)

Fun stuff about Paul: Paul is a funny guy. He's one of those guys that is just funny without trying too hard. He's got a way of saying little things with a tone that makes it funny. He's also good at teasing Andrew and jokes a lot. Him and Andrew play off eachother well. I'd say his favorite line is "Crap." (in a funny tone of course) He's got an all around good personality.

This is: Tommy Poole

Fun stuff about Tommy: I actually don't know Tommy very well even though I've known him for a long time. This is the first week I've worked with him. He's a dude of few words but he does have a reputation of being witty and super funny as a performer and in other random ways. He's pretty chill and is also pretty good at ripping 'em back to Andrew. I haven't figured out his favorite line yet.

Then there is me. I'm the girl. But I think I'm doing pretty good at not being girly but definately claiming my girlness too. These guys are super fun to work with.

Oxymoron

2006-09-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

Above, these pictures represent an oxymoron. 2 things that don't really go together. This summer I've been working with a contractor building pole buildings. This translates as a construction worker (I'm not proud of that or anything ;). But why would someone working construction have their nails done like that? (in reality, my boss's wife did them for shauna's wedding.) It looks a little off with dirt and grime on my hands huh? Also notice my smashed thumb. That happened my first day. I'm not really proud of that except that it sorta proves that I worked with hammers and nails this summer. :) That can be twisted into an oxymoron too right? Me, a girl, doing that? Don't get offended you femenist out there, obviously we are capable, just not as normal or proficient for the most part... anyway, let's not get into that.

blip

2006-08-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

So this summer has been full of all sorts of experiences. I've been so fortunate to learn so many different things. It's super cool that we just keep learning ya know? We never will have it all figured out until we get to have all our questions answered by sweet Jesus. But I'm so glad that we can question him all we want. I love saying, "God, what about this?" sometimes he says something through other people, sometimes it takes months or years to look back and see answers. Some he might say, I'd like to tell you that one face to face. So we figure out what we can, but don't worry too much about all the nitty gritty details because if we ever get stuck, it always works to go back to the basics. Kind of like when you lose something and you have to back track. Go back to where you started. The basics are the most important.

taking something old and twisting it into a new shape makes a new picture. That's what happens over and over again with things I've heard all my life and sometimes they just hit me at a different angle. And every time that happens, a new picture of God is in my mind, enhanced.

It's beautiful

2006-08-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Thankyou to my sisters for buying me a super cool, beautiful, fabulous, great, awesome, etc, etc, tennis raquet for my birthday. I have a feeling I'm going to love it.

You may kiss your bride

2006-08-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Shauna dyer married Donny Reed on Saturday, August 26, 2006. Simple, beautiful, fun. Shauna is going to have a TON of cool pictures for her wedding from the photographer at her wedding.
Here are a couple from our snapshots.

This is the beautiful cake that Donny's dad, a chef, made for them.

Here are the catchers of the bouquet and the garter, myself, and shauna's bro, stephen. (hey, that's 2. what does that mean? absolutely nothing.)

Crazy bridesmades took a plunge off the dock at the very end of the wedding. What in the world.

snapshot of bridesmaids with the bride .

All in all, congragulations shauna and donny reed!

How violating. Brooke and I got robbed.

2006-08-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

Oh man. The craziest thing happened this weekend. Yesterday afternoon, the Walla Walla police department left me a couple of messages. They said that they had found my phone number in an address book along with multiple items that were found in a stolen car!!! I called them back and found out that some of the stuff also had brooke spiva's name on it, like a bible... So they thought at first that our car was broken into because it was things like a bible, and some CDs and that address book. So they call brooke, her car hadn't been broken into, so I talked to her and tried to figure out where in the world they had would have gotten these items from. The only thing we could imagine is if someone broke into our house!

So I called David Brito because he is back in Walla Walla already and asked him to go check out the house. So he went and found that Brooke's room window was wide open and the screen had been taken out. And then the back sliding door had been opened too! Our house totally got burglarized!!! AHHHH! He also said that it definately looked like Brooke's room was disheveled. So we played phone tag a bit with the police and with brooke.

Then I went down there with my Dad today to check stuff out and to go claim the stuff they had recovered from this stollen car. brito had locked up the house. So today was long. It took awhile for the cops to finger print parts of the house and stuff. We had to write up a report and stuff. then we went to the walla walla police department to go look at what there was. It was the craziest thing! So I guess that this guy had like at least 2 warrents out for his arrest in Oregon and Wa. And I guess that he had burglarized multiple houses and multiple cars and then had stollen a car. I guess there was a big police chase and the best news is that they caught him.

So we went into the evidence room and there was tons of stuff, not just ours! But alot of it was Brooke's. The crazy thing is the things he took.We spent about 2 hours going through and identifying stuff. He took a ton of clothes, some nice, but some were like junk shirts in a goodwill pile. he took some jewlrey, some random toiletry items, like really random. Fingernail polish, toothpaste, hair curlers...etc... just wierd. So I had brooke on the phone explaining items to her to see if they were hers and we were able to claim and take a bunch of it. The only thing that I know of value that I didn't get back was my gold promise necklace from my parents. :( But thankfully, the rest of the stuff wasn't extremely valuable. I mean, some of those clothes would have been a bummer to lose, like both of our leather jackets, but not tons of stuff because we had sorta emptied out a ton of stuff for the summer. I was suprised at some of the stuff that they had taken that I didn't realize I was missing. So it is sorta scary! But it is ok.

Thankfully, the dude was caught, and it wasn't like we were being targetted. It was more of a fluke thing. isn't that the craziest thing? But all is well now. There was no vandalism or anything like that. It could have been alot worse. Crazy huh???

5, 4, 3, 2, 1............

2006-08-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yep. Emily, Carley and I took the leap. 440 feet off of a gondola in the swiss alps. craziness. Ya wanna know more? ask. I'll gladly share.

Boredom

2006-08-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

So, I'm bored right now. You can probably tell because I'm blogging. And I haven't blogged like I said I would when I returned from Europe. You know, boredom is interesting. It's like a mix between laziness and anxiety. Wierd combo because usually I associate anxiety with high stress which is caused by stressors such as an overly busy schedule. So it's wierd that boredom produces the feeling of anxiety. hmmm...

I could go exercise. I actually feel like doing that, exept it's like 92 degrees outside and there are only 3 ways to go on our road; to the right, to the left, or strait. After that, they are pretty much the same. And along with the boredom in general, I feel bored of those 3 routes. Too bad we don't have a punching bag. A kickboxing class of some sort sounds fun. Maybe I'll just set up some pillows or something.... or cushons; they are heavier. I played the piano a little bit. I don't really feel like playing the guitar. I could brush my dog. He's super hairy and shedding right now. I could call people. It's always nice to catch up with people when you feel like you have all the time in the world to blow. I could read. I could wash my car. I could trim my toenails.

But see, the problem with boredom is the lazy part of it. I don't feel like doing any of those things. I could come up with lots of ideas, but none of them motivate me enough to do them. What a dilemma. It would be nice to have someone to do something with. My parents are reading and napping. My dad is snoring as I type. hmmm...

I am going to have to get a new drivers licence soon. 9 days from today actually. But I can't do that right now.

But while I'm at this blog thing, I guess I'll post some pictures of Europe. I don't have them all, so they're are TONS more but here are some good ones that I do have.

grrrrr..... this is being pretty slow to download pictures. There are more way cool ones. But I guess I'll just have to try again later.

Europa!

2006-07-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

So it's been FOREVER since I've written on this thing. I know. But right now I'm in Europe traveling around (almost done) and so I'll have lots of fun pictures to post when I get back. Back to free internet, back to a real towel, back to ice in drinks, free ketchup, free bathrooms (actually, i haven't paid for one yet. :), not a sleeping bag... ya know. all of those little things that sometimes we take for granted. I hope your summer holiday (as they say it in europe) is going well! I can't wait to touch bases with people again. It will be fun to swap some stories and start new ones! chao for now!

Danelle

A new what?

2006-04-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finally got a new car! I've been driving my sister's while she's been away in Australia, and now she is coming back in one week, so it's time for me to get another one. I'll post a picture of it when I can get to my computer and get online, but it is a 98 subaru outback. Emily, we kinda match. And Tori too! We can all drive functional mom cars together!

What else?

My mom, my sister Sara, and I went up to Spokane for a Women of Faith conference. Wow! It was amazing! They have such an increadible team of speakers! I laughed so much and shed a few tears and it was so cool to be singing praise songs with 12,500 other women!

No Way!

2006-04-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here I am for just a moment. I just took a test. ahh. but I only have 7 mins before I have to go back. so, here's a quicky of what I want to say, and then hopefully, sometime soon I can actually post an honorable post.

Firstly- Everyone needs to go check out Carl's blog. It's super cool and he's super cool. You should even comment on his and say hi. :)

Next, more seriously, this weekend I was thiniking about the bigger picture. I went home and Sabbath school was cool because we talked about the Holy Spirit and the effects in our lives. We talked about our earth down here and how each of us are spectacles that the universe is watching. We talked about Jesus' life and how he was being tempted in the dessert and how he had the Holy Spirit with him, but why he had to be temped like that, to the point of death was a testimony for the whole universe to see that he would go until death. He wouldn't budge. And that proved to the whole universe, the angels, everyone, that he could do it and after that, he could ask of anything and it would happen because his motives were that of the Holy Spirit's and his Fathers.

Ok, here's one for y'alls

2006-03-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

A man sent 20 diferent puns to his friends, with the hope that at least 10 of puns would make them laugh. But.... no pun in ten did.

HHHAAAA!

hmmm

2006-03-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

So, I might update my blog soon. I don't know if I can go all out quite like Tori and Carley can, but we'll see. I might post somethin' soon.

2006-02-26T14:40:00.000-08:00

2006-02-26T14:18:00.000-08:00

latest happenings at Danelle's house

2006-02-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

So Life has been a little crazy lately. So, some social time is a good break. For a quick study break, some people came over to my house for cookies and milk. Carl had to save the cookies because I was burning them. But I promise it wasn't my fault! He found out that my oven was broken. But I was glad that he saved the day.

Here is Eric and Carl saving the cookies.

Here is Chris, Aaron and James with the old school nintendo. I love having that thing at the house. Even though I don't like playing, it's good entertainment.
Here's the rest of the gang Trent chillinwith the mandoline, Phil and Alan jammin, and Carley, Kelly, Dave, and Tyson playing Hungry Hippo. What a game, what a game. We're all about the old school around here.
This is from another day when I was wanting some social interaction. So a bunch of people came over for a quick lunch that I threw together. I have to say I was quite proud of this ministroni soup. It's a pretty darn good recipe. Maybe I'll give it to you.

This is Casey chillin by the fireplace, which I love, and he was playing the mandoline, which I also love. He lives across the street from us and is over all the time. It's super great. We like him.

Here is a couple of people that were there, Tori, Aaron, Mark, and Carl. Not photographed is Anika, Brian Brashear, and Phil.
The soup. See note above. :)

Other:

Emily!!! It was sooo good talking to you for a bit the other morning. That was so cool that it was right before my alarm.

Bethany, I would love to talk to you more sometime. Email is hard. But I love you sooooo much and wish I could come hang out with you in Australia.

Carley and Kelli, dude, we rule. It felt so good to go swim super early. That definately needs to happen again. and again and again and again... :)

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I love this verse. It is cool to disect each characteristic and realize how good God is.

wrecked but not wrecked

2006-02-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

So, I totalled my car. Yeah. You never think it's gonna happen to you. I didn't. It did. Man. Things like that happen and we get shaken. That's cool that good comes with bad. It's good that we can learn and grow from things that should tear us down. It's just another way that God shows he is trustworthy and that his way is the best way. He builds us up instead.

So the story: "Hey Danelle, you wanna go to UCA this weekend and play an alumni game of bb and stay at Brent's house and then go to the mountain the next day?" "Oh dude, sure Carley! That sounds good, except for the mountain because I've got a ton of homework the next day and the superbowl. But I'll bring my own car." So, I follow Brent up to Spokane, this really cool back way that is more fun and faster. Except I was going too fast. Lesson number one. Slow down when you don't know things. In anything. If you don't know the situation or the person or the place or the whatever, in my case, the gravel road. Slow down. So I was going along fine. It was ok except I didn't know the road so when the "S" turn came, I wasn't ready for it. The first turn I squeeled around, I might have been able to pull out of it, but then the second turn, and trying to make that one was like an overcorrecting motion. Carley and I braced ourselves. It all slowed down after that, until we landed anyway. The beginning was the slowest. Being tipped up. Then, boom. We were back on the wheels and I had just rolled my car. "Dear Jesus... oh my word." I look over at Carley, "Are you OK?" It actually couldn't have happend any better if it had to happen. It was a complete roll, so we landed on the wheels again. We must have bounced pretty good or something because the whole middle of the car was fine, just the corners. The windsheild was still intact, the driver's window was still intact. I still had one headlight. Crazy. Brent came back for us after we didn't catch up. Brent, if you're reading this, thank you SOOOO much. You were super nice. He bought Carley and I hot chocolate, and offered to escort me home. But seriously. I'm so thankful that it wasn't worse. I was able to drive it home and hour away. Carley went with Brent and it worked out just fine. Carley, I'm seriously so sorry that you were there with me. I feel aweful. It really gets to me. But I'm SO thankful that we are ok. Really ok.

So, this was very much a humbling experience. A tough one. I'm thankful for insurance and I'm thankful that my parents were so calm. I just am so thankful. I can't describe how thankful I am. What a wake up call. So, here's some pics.

Other sorta fun news.... let's just say valantines day is coming up. tee hehe. :)

there's more, but you get the idea.

another quicky and bunches photos!

2006-01-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

I am so incredibly thankful for all of these fun times that are in this blog! I pray that I will always remember to give thanks to God for the friends and family he has blessed me with! And to always be thankful for everything!

More wedding pictures at: www.josephmilton.photoreflect.com

click on sara and noah and away you go. Then, these are some new years pics. Oh man. Feel the intensity of the games catch phrase, and round robbin ping pong. Tori, I admire your.... well uh, smack talk abilities. :) you can also see the Billington family being the coolest hosts ever, yum yum and way fun!

and then the last picture is back at my house in Walla Walla. People are starting to come over alot more this quarter. that's the way it should be!!! :) I love it like that! Tyler and Alan, it was good seeing you guys!

Don't you think it's SOOOO cool that God will never fail us? and even though there's valley's there is always mountains too? And it seems so weird that there has to be mountains and valleys, it would be so much easier if there were just a big flat line. But, then, like in nature, the mountains are so very beautiful and make such a beautiful scene. isn't that weird? He always makes something so good even of the bad. man.... CRAZY LOVE!!! :) i was just thinking about that. anyway... well, back to studying huh??

a quicky

2006-01-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! Oh man, this quarter has started out very fun. I really just love winter and spring quarters much better than fall quarters for some reason. Even if the classes are harder, it seems like people just get in the groove of everything. But I just wanted to say hi and I hope that everyone is doing chipper. It is a BEAUTIFUL day here in Walla Walla, exceptionally warm for Jan. 8 and sunny. Carley and I went on a nice jog this morning and now we're off to eat french toast at my house. Love to all!!!

God is so good and gives us so many gifts, big and small, and it is so nice to ponder both of them!

Danelle

Thoughts on my last day

2005-12-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

These are some thoughts that I was thinking today at work for my last day.

10:37- I love people. That nice man gave me a good push for my day that started out rough. Thanks God, for sending people like that to encourage other people! Be with that man today. I wonder if he knows you. I pray that he does, and if not, that he will.
hmm... last day.

11:44- But then again, some people are jerks. They are rude, inconsiderate of anyone but themselves, and play the blame game. Oh well, smile and show him a better way; the Jesus way.

rest of time- AHHHH it's so busy in here I think I might be losing my mind. Why did Jeff have to call in sick? Bummer. The rest of the store is busy too, that means no reinforcment for me. "That was a size 12 you wanted sir? and a 7 1/2 for you maam? and that one in a 3? Sure thing. I'll be right with you maam. Was this just the wrong size? Thanks so much, and have a great day!"

1:50- YAY! lunch break; drop off mom's dry-cleaning, and grab a bite at Quiznos. yum.

1:20- Back to work- millions (not really of course) of boxes of shoes to put away. hmmm. ope, "may I help you find anything in particular maam?"

4:20- Oh, it's 4:20. "It has been so great working with you Cecilia!" wow. I'm done. For now anyway. I'm thankful for my education! But, this is a good seasonal job. or maybe part time.
I want a salad.

So, now I'm done. And woo woo! I've got more money to save for Europe!

And now what? New Years? Sweet. I'm so excited to see you all at a party!

Happy Sabbath. AAHHHH.... I love my pajamas. I'm so excited about putting them on and eating salad with my feet up sitting in the super comfy purple chair.

juss'morstuff (i didn't realize this hasn't been posted for a long time. oops)

2005-12-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Guess what Doug! You won't need to call me on Christmas day anymore.

It has just worked out perfectly. Because Christmas falls on Sunday this year, I do not have to work on Christmas Eve because that day is Sabbath! That means that my mom found a SUPER cheap ticket from Seattle to Lewiston Christmas night. So, when I get off work on Friday, a little early, I can drive over with my family to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with them. Then I will fly back that night so I can go to work the day after. I don't have to spend Christmas by myself after all! Splendid!

Emily!!!! It was better than I can express to hear you and talk to you! Man! it was just so good! That's all I can say in my super excited, happy jumpy tone. And hey, I guess my Dad has skype on his computer for when Bethany was traveling the world. So all I need is you contact info and a date and wa la.

My family is weird. Last night especially. I've been super tired lately just because my schedule for work changes all over the place from super late, then super early and stuff, so I went to bed like at... 8:30 or something like that (actually a little later because I was reading the book you got me Andrew) and was nice and asleep when my oldest sister Bethany came in and tried to be quiet, but she is still sort of a wimpy californian and depends heavily on the electric blanket. I don't know what was up with it, I was knocked out, but she got in bed and proceeded to spaz her whole body violently to warm her spot up. To me, and to anyone in this state of being woken up, feels like she is jumping on the bed and jolted me awake, a VERY unhappy, groggy person. So I use my lungs to there full potential (which I don't remember) and go back to sleep. But you see, I've had quite the insomnia lately, so I was upset. So then, she decides she can't sleep without the electric blanket working as hottly as she'd like, so she gets up and swooshes her pillow and stuff out of bed (these noises also sound incredibly loud when one is in that half and half state) and went to crawl in bed with Lins. Well, poor Bethany didn't have very much luck snuggling with her sisters this night, because she woke lins up enough for Lindsey to also be in this weird half state of mind where she was absolutely terrified to what might be next to her. She was dreaming weird, and then felt a weird sensation of something being pulled over her and freaked her out even more (this was actually just Bethany getting some of the blankets that Lins was hogging). So lins was half awake in her horror, deciding what she should do. Bethany thinks lins is just totally zonged out. But actually, lins is building up the courage to beat this "thing" up. So finally she gets the courage, winds up and kicks as violently and has hard as she can to the thing. "Bethany" and is just about to deck her, when Bethany calmly wakes Lindsey up and says "calm down, it's just me, calm down." Anyway, My point is that it is just such an akward state to be in that half awake zone. It's weird how you can't remember from it, and if you do, it's so vague.

actually, my internet is being weird right now and not letting me post pictures... So, I'll just have to wait until next time!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Other: here are a couple more pics of the wedding. I still don't have very great ones, but I'm sure that we'll get a hold of some that people took eventually. Here's my mom and Dad. I thought they looked hot.

This is the view from the country club of Mt. Hood. Very splendid.

Then, there is one of Sara and Noah again with Pastor Karl who did an excellent job!

and here's one of us sisters.

They're off! Off to Cabo!

2005-12-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

The wedding was beautiful. It was a beautiful sunny day (rare this time of year in Portland), lots of people were there, oh! I just had a blast! I don't have very many pictures of the wedding because I was to busy being a bridesmaid and these aren't the best, but they'll do for now. Oh man. I can't wait until I can post pictures. Carl did an AWESOME job on the slide show, it was cool because he was able to get a video clip off of Noah's phone of his pre-proposal to Sara. Very cool! Us girls got spoiled and stayed in a super cool B&B, and got our hair done. oooo. Karl H. did an excellent job on the ceremony too. My song for Sara even went ok! anyway, I was going to write more eloquently about it, but I just sorta don't want to right now. So, here's a few pictures from what I have at this point. There will be more coming.

oh yeah, and I totally caught the bouquet. Emily, didn't you catch Ashley's? Or was it Tori? We need to find us some men! :) jk.

And some more juice:

Persistance pays off. There are some very rude, pushy people out there. And as a customer service person, I have to be very nice. Even to those customers who are super rude, and make you feel like crying. But today, there was one of those types, she tried on a number of different shoes and was very very unhappy when one didn't fit right, or if we didn't have the right size. But, after continually being very, very accomodating, and nice to her, at the end when she finally picked a pair out, she told me, "Thank you darling, you have been very kind" in the sweetest voice ever. So moral, keep being nice!

Phil. 2:14-15 : In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them.

Eph. 5:1,2 : Follow God's example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.

...

2005-12-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Time: 2:00pm
wedding: in 2 hours.
status of everyone: Suprisingly, not too freaked out..... yet. hair is done, makeup and nails done. Picture time.

Friday, Saturday, and then SUNDAY!

2005-12-09T16:13:00.000-08:00

It's Friday. Sunday is in all caps because on that day after 4 pm, I will have a brother-in-law. oh my word. My dad said he was even feeling a little nervous. But he says it had more to do with the shot of coffee he had while we were driving today. I don't know. I think he was thinking about his speech thing.

I am also sooooo thankful that I have a 4 day weekend away from work! Don't get me wrong, I love selling shoes, but I think I'll be happier with the education of Nursing. :) ok... I'm sure I'll be making little posts here and there. Free internet in the hotel. yay.

some thoughts, comments appreciated

2005-12-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking about stuff today here is a little blurp from a bit of my journal.

work is pretty crazy. well, work itself is not bad at all, i really like that part of it, and i really like every part of it, but it just makes me so..... i don't know... Just listening to the girls i work with makes me realize so much. It's just so different. Like, they are only 19 and one of them smokes, they both have sex all the time, they are both pretty much on their own. And none of it is really their fault. They just have had no guidence at all. It's just such crazy drama and just... i don't know, their lives. But they are the nicest, coolest girls. I like them so much. I pray that I recognize opportunities and can think and respond clearly to them. I just pray that oh man... I don't know. I just hope that I can share with them.

I don't know though, i feel sometimes that I really want to make such a big difference. LIke, I sometimes feel like, sure they will know that i'm a christian and that they like me and really think highly of me, but it seems like i could do more. will i get to see that God? I'm curious. I guess i'm just asking for encouragement so i can keep pressing on. is that little faith? I mean, I want to live for you all of my life, but seeing is nice sometimes.
It seems like there is a fine line between "pushing" that stuff on people, like really pleading for them sincerely, and going about it without making them feel like "ok, she's uh.." but then it's like, why should i be scared of that? but oh man.. i don't know.. do you know what i mean? what do you think? And it's not like i can relate to them at all. I am not living on my own, my parents aren't divorced, I've never had sex or drank or smoke. it's like... man, common ground is skinny. But, you know when you are just struck with, Man, this world NEEDS you [Jesus]!! We need you [jesus] SO bad! And with the people I work with, it's like it seems like it needs more personalizing, more close contact to make the kind of difference i want to make. but i know that that's not always possible. that takes time and i'm only going to be here for like 3 weeks. and it's not like it's a "oh, this is a little project" it is that I know I have something they need! YOU[jesus]!

and you guys that are in prague, it seems like i read something on one of your blogs or something about how things are gradual, like how you have been planning things and stuff. so, tell me what you guys think?

to the reader, what do you guys think? what are your thoughts on witnessing effectively and relationships with people? What are some stories or just whatever, tid bits or whatever?

I think prayer is a huge part of it, but i don't want to just to "toss up a prayer" when i am right there interacting with people, ya know?

comments and discussion are very welcome!

"Thank You for Shopping at JCPenny, Have a Merry Christmas"

2005-12-05T23:26:00.000-08:00

So, here's how a schpele goes: "Hi, Can I help you find anything in paticular today?" Or do you have something in mind for today? if yes, proceed to assist further with incredible knowlege about the shoes they are looking at. if no, "Ok, let me know if I can get a size for you." and then, "is that everything for you today?" and "Would you like to put this on your JCPenny card?" I really don't like saying this line, because as a shopper, I hate trying to be dragged into things like that. So, even though I should try to sell this better, I haven't yet. and then there's, "Would you like your reciept with you or in the bag?" I like this line because it says that I have just assisted someone in buying a new pair of shoes which is always great. Right Mandy? And, I have just sold them. I just made someone feel good about what they were purchasing. This is fun for a little while. And that is all it is for. I am a Holiday, Seasonal employee at the JCPenny shoe department. It is fun to interact with people. The hard part is the stock room with the millions of shoes and all the climbing and searching you do to get the right shoe and the right size. But, I'm getting used to where a lot of them are. And a great part? Associate discount baby. ya know, since i'm going to be buying lots of things with the money i'm saving to go to europe this summer... :)

by the way, Emily, Carl and I have a mission to have an MSN date with you this break sometime. I hope we can get something together.

Otherwise, It's just been work for me. I even worked a 12 hour day yesterday. My feet were killing me. It's not like i get to wear tennis shoes. There's the strict dress code. Man, It will be nice when i'm a nurse to wear scrubs all day. I think i like that better. Maybe I should invest in some other ones though...

It's really interesting working with the other people though. I am reminded when they share bits of their lives with me how blessed i am and how thankful i am to know Jesus and to have the opportunity that i do to live the christian life. I know that this life doesn't garantee happiness all the time, but it sure has a lot more peace and hope in it. It is so much more full and whole. And it is SO important to live as lights. "You are the light of the world- like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden" Matt. 5:14. they are really nice girls and they are good workers. I'm so glad that I'm working with such nice, fun girls. But man. It's just so different from me. It is sometimes very shocking to hear some of the things they talk about as if were normal and just fine that way. the sad thing is, is a lot of it these days is very normal. Anyway. As I lay here in my bed thinking about all of this, I know I'll have lots more to say. I'll have to do it in another post though because, I think i am very sleepy. So, goodnight.

smelly

ps: Melissa and Ryan, it was so cool to catch you both. Both of you caught me on my breaks! Karlin, I'm sorry you keep missing me. I'll have to let you know of a time I would be there. The first time I was in church, the other times I was at work.
Aaron Hays, I saw your mom in the store the other day. it was nifty.

ok, love you all. May God Bless your dreams. even if you read this during the day.

Pictures

2005-11-29T13:06:00.000-08:00

These pictures were supposed to go in the last post... :)

This sunday night, I went over to Josh's house with Tori, where cookies were made, and a Christmas tree was put up. I don't have a final picture of how cool the tree looks, but maybe next post. we stayed up until like 2am playing balderdash. I love that game. Especially when there is a shelton or 2 there. Super fun.

Shauna's BF, Donny came over last night and cooked a super good meal for us girls. way to be Donny.

T-day and such

2005-11-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

This year was quite odd as far as thanksgivings go. Usually, our whole family comes over to our house, we make 10-12 pumpkin pies, 10-15 lbs of homemade glutten, and all the other trimmings. But this year, it was SUPER SKINNY! we still made 9 pies, which is good, because I can take them back to Wally world and eat some... but it was only my immediate family, plus Joey, (lins' bf) and a couple of family friends. That's ok though. It was a nice and lazy time. So, as you can see, the table looks great, just not quite as full as usual. Making glutten is super fun though.

My dad and I mass produced it this year. It's fun to slam it around the kitchen and stuff.

pumpking pie was also fun to make. It wasn't strait from a pumpkin like you guys in prague, but man on man, my aunt has a doctored recipe that is mmm mmm. we made like 9 pies and there were 9 people there. that's about right. a whole pie each. :)

Then this week was also a week of sweat shop for Sara's wedding which is in 15 days. AHHHH! So we put together tons and tons of little bell things and such for the wedding.

Outside was super pretty too with frozen trees and at least a couple of hours of sunshine. Most of it was foggy... or mystical shall I say?

It was also SOOOOOO good to see Lisa and Mandy at church. And it was good to have a lot of our youth group home, the Poole boys, Aaron Hays came this sabbath too. good stuff. It's soooo good to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while!

And then it was fun to have a wedding shower for sara. The ladies at our church and my mom put this one on. She got some cool stuff and people had a really good time.

Otherwise, my thanksgiving was pretty uneventful. I think I got a job for over Christmas break. That is super nice. A lot of the department stores and other stores hire for "seasonal employment". So I hope that works out!

I just took my Final Exam today and now I'm FINISHED... well.. almost. I have a cath. check off, and an ICS meeting and then I'm done. what a slacker I am this week.

man. i keep uploading pictures on here, and they say they are done, so i click done, and then nothing happens.. weird. oh well. i'll have to try them on a different post.

Sorry that this blog is sorta boring. Especially since it's been awhile. But I've been really enjoying reading everyone else's blogs!!!

COMING SOON(imagine this being said in that big low movie theater voice)

2005-11-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, I didn't fall off the edge off the edge of the earth. I'm going to update my blog with the latest and greatest very soon. So have no fear, I'm still here. hehe.. it rymes. And to my compadres, you are in my thoughts all the time. I think about how blessed i am to even know you people!!! I love thinking about all the little quarks of everyone. It's so cool. alright. chao

Bear Your Teeth!

2005-11-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

That's all. I was just thinking the other day of how nice it is when people smile at me. And lately I've tried very hard to make sure that people see me smile at them, but sometimes they don't look or don't really smile back. I thought to myself, do I not smile big enough or something? So I am going to try bearing my choppers. Yup. I know that is intimidating when you are running and a dog does that or any other animal that is. But when you smile at someone, try bearing your teath for a more confident smile. Tell me if you get more smiles back and I'll tell you if I do. Emily, you've already mastered this. You're the inpiration. :)

2005-10-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

Hello once again!!! well, another week or so has gone by. Sorta crazy. I'm kind of feeling bad because I am kind of a slacker this quarter. Nursing hasn't picked up it's pace so much this quarter. They say they always slowly start us out, so I guess I should enjoy it while I can. EMILY!!!!! it was SOOOO good to talk to you the other day I couldn't stop jumping up and down! The latest happenings have been hmm... well, the pictures I have are of my roomate's and I, our costume, fall party thing. Super fun. people did really good dressing up. and they did really good at carving pumpkins. Way to go all of you creative people out there. so, here are a bunch of pictures from that.

So....... as you can see, people were creative. I think my roomate Brooke and Carl took the cake though. Carl was strainer man. his motto went something like this. "Save the world without straining." hehe. that one with tori carving her pumpkin looks pretty vicious. Aaron, I think she's going crazy without you. Tara Becker, Tori and I took some "action" shots of us flying. You can see how Tara soars! Chelsea sports around her singlness quite well. And Aaron hays.. oh I mean IdaHaven Man was quite beachy. The pumpkins turned out super! that one there is Anika's. She is a true artist. Nikki is showing us the game of guesstures.

Other happeings I can type about before my battery dies... My sister Sara and Noah her fiance came to my house this weekend. It was super fun. They came to my bible study with me to talk to Karl Haffner and then my parents came for the day on Sabbath. We went through some wedding stuff and picked out a bridesmaid dress. yay! it's going to be fun!! and then that night my parents and I went and saw The Legend of Zorro. super cool. I'm diggin that zorro stuff. anyway... I have more to say really!! but my battery is going to die... so.. i love you all!!

Danelle

The fruits of the spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

another week, more fun times and more fun people

2005-10-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

So, another good week has gone by. It went super fast. Lots of stuff happend with school such as clinicals starting. (picture below) AHH! it was sorta scary, but it wasn't so bad. Some of those people are soooo funny. My client, had quite the sense of humor even though he was very difficult to manuever sometimes. He is this 85 year old 6'3" dude. :) that's tall for an old dude.

Here are some more pictures of some stuff that happend this week.

Here, Friday night after vespers, Nikki has been doing hot drinks and praise songs. This week it was at my house. I love just hanging out like that, singing and stuff.

Here is a bunch of us playing tennis earlier! It was super fun. LOOK it's Aaron Vizcarra visiting from Southern!

here's me in my little nursing getup. this is after my 2nd day of clinicals. don't you love the bright white shoes?

Then on Sabbath, I got to sing for First Serv. It was fun. Tommy Cutting, I'm glad you read my blog! And then for lunch I went to Ashley and Joel's house with Aaron and Tori, and Carley and Cody. Man was I ever a 7th wheel! hehe. just joking. it wasn't really like that. Then Steve and Shane met us at the Frizbee golf coarse for a round. Super fun. pretty funny too. Check out Tori's Pro form. (sorry it's a little blury)

Steve and Shane. What a pair. Steve here, is amazed at my camera. You can see his intense enthusiasm. Carley is just cool. Then, Tori and Aaron left for Spokane, so I met up with Nikki and Trina, at the park. It was soo nice outside. It's cool because it's super warm and it's the end of October! So we played some more guitar and took some fun pictures. Some of them didn't work out so well. Ya know, the timing of us jumping at the same time and stuff... Vanessa came a little later too. I LOVE these girls!
Then, Nikkik, Trina and I went out to El Sombrero for a super yum bite. Then we hung out at the Onion Bowl for awhile. OH MAN!!! I was craving to play football! I miss those good ole' days. Then we went back to Nikki's and watched a Chic Flick. Oh man. It was good. oh.. yeah. Hehe. Here's Nikki next to the scarecrow she made that is hanging downtown.

Quote for this week:
-today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday-

Other happenings: I am still soooo thankful for this small group I'm in. It is so awesome to be around these people. There are a couple of families that are just so inspirational. It is such a good environment. They have young kids that are so blessed to be growing up in those homes. And the bible study is so cool. I love the insight and the perspectives along with the openess of it. Everyone should find a place where there is positive influence and support. I am so blessed to have not only that, but also friends, a good church, and a good family. Man. Anyway, I have more thoughts to write down, but it's already 2:00 and I haven't started my homework yet.

Much love to you all!

Danelle

Walkin' Around CP

2005-10-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

So, I was pretty bored the other day. Actually, there is always studying to do but... ya know, break time. So I went for a walk and decided to photograph it so people over seas can see some people walking around CP.

I saw way more people earlier when I didn't have my camera. But watch out, next time I'll getcha on camera! It was fall classic this weekend at WWC so there are a ton of academies playing vb and futbol. :)

The next picture is where tori spends a lot of time. This is Josh's house where they have on DVD, the LOST series. :) There are some addicted people. :) I'm not talking about Tori of coarse. ;) (sweoisyeahrightsaasoendx)

And then I ran into Taylor and Emily's cousin Lisa and a friend of hers. I'm sorry! I don't remember her name.

Then I headed toward the computer lab and ran into Jason and Ryan just doing there thing. Then I headed toward the girls dorm where there was no Carley and Tori inside thier door.

So I walked back toward the gym and saw Brian and then Maranda. And ooo look, Bri and Steph.

Inside the gymwas Andrew and Carl watching Andrew's sister play a vigorous game of vb. Anika stopped by too.

Shauna wanted to go for a walk to. So Then we went on to see Brent. He just got out of welding class so his face was all dirty. Some UCA alumnists were just chillin outside the guys dorm and Christina was headed toward the Caf.

So we headed back toward my house and saw Brito and Devin playing an intense game of tennis. I'm going to post pictures of another day of more of us playing tennis when I can get the pictures from Shauna. good times. super good times.

So the walk was sorta cool. Next time I'll go during class changes so I see more people. But later that evening, Tori came over and studied. I love it when she does that.

Also, the weekend before, Shauna Brooke and I went to Shauna's Mom's house in Tri Cities and rode her mom's horse. It was Sooooo fun! Brooke did really good. She's never really ridden a horse before.

So, That's kind of a bunch of pictures.

new news: Sophie is married!!!!! My sister bethany's birthday is today, Danny's bday is wed. and sophie's is coming up too. who am i missing? anyway, much love to everyone. Sara's wedding is coming along SUPER. I'm very excited. I'm in a small group with Karl Haffner. I'm very excited to study the bible with really educated people there are some other really cool people in it too. woo woo.

preview: next post will have me in my blues for clinicals.... weeeeee, and more pics... who knows what it could contain. the possibilities are endless... almost. not really. so stay posted. :)

inspirational quote: Your talent is God's gift to you.What you do with it is your gift back to God.

- Leo Buscaglia -

cute quote (while i'm browsing): Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile,and finds in your presence that life is worth while.So when you are lonely, remember it's trueSomebody somewhere is thinking of you.- K. Blackburn -

tee hee hee.

anyway. i love you all!

Danelle

life and/in school (for you overseaers)

2005-10-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

So, the other day, Thursday was it? Was a super day. Tori and I woke up and went swimming, and then she was super nice and took me to the caf. for breakfast. When I was walking home, I finally turned on my cell phone. And guess who had called me? Yes, emily, it was you! I am SO bummed that I missed your call. I don't know the time difference or anything... Usually I am very awake at 6:30-6:45. I just hadn't turned my phone on! So I'm sorry I missed your call, and sometime, we should set up a phone date.

About school. It's going to get very fun pretty soon. Monday is when we tour the facility where we will be in clinicals for the first quarter. I get to dress up in my nifty nursing get up. I'll take a picture and post it. For now, though, I'm practicing bed baths and making beds and brushing teeth on classmates and manikans. here is a picture of me in a diaper. yes, a diaper.

What's happening with Walla Walla? well. It doesn't seem like too much. It seems like everyone is still adjusting to schedule's and stuff. I'm loving that Carley and Tori are here. Thanks for being such good in's guys. :) Week of Prayer was this week with Karl Haffner. I'm sad because I didn't get to go very much. But, I did get to go Wed. and today, Fri. And thanks to Brent, I got to sing for church the previous Sabbath. It was nice to feel involved again. And I met some nice people. I love that!

Man. And I am just loving God more and more. It's amazing really. Lately, I just have felt very close to him, and I just want to go spend time with him. And man, prayer is so cool. I've been reading Steps to Christ, and I've never actually read it. And it is super good. Karl had a really good talk on Prayer on Wed. and then there is a chapter in Steps to Christ dealing with prayer. It's really cool to feel God as a very real friend and He's given me a lot more.... something. boldness maybe? I'm just so thankful for how he changes me. I love hearing about other people's things that they've learned. It's so important to share about that sort of thing. I don't have anything specific to share, I'm just so thankful for who he is. And I pray that anyone reading this can know God's presence in your life.

I'm going to get more pictures of around Walla Walla. I just got my camera back from my mom who just got back from Peru! She has some awesome pics.

I can't really think of anything else very exciting that has happened. We, Nikki Williams, her roomate Christi, Vanessa, one of my roomates, Brooke, and Shauna and I went to Tri Cities the other weekend. It was a blast. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. we did a little shopping, and then we went to the Olive Garden before a hockey game. The Olive Garden was so fun. We were laughing super hard. If any of you know nikki or meet her, ask her to sing you her say no to drugs song. It is the coolest thing I've ever heard.

Brooke has been inspiring me to run a ton. She goes like 6, 7 miles easy. I don't know if I'll ever beable to do that. But, then again, it's a mind thing. So we'll see. 10-4 for now good buddies. :)

Smelly

ooo. I almost forgot. I did go to a demolition derby the other day. It was crazy! It was loud and people crashed and whoa. And this one dude flipped, and there were some fires.... wow. It was fun though. I bet driving in them is even funner. A bunch of the Bechtels and the Lopez' drove. fun stuff.

rodeo pictures

2005-09-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

well, here are some pictures of the rodeo. They are pretty cool. It was fun. Devin and Phil got us free ice cream by cheering the loudest and longest. it was cool. Danny, the cowboy hat is a hit. and it was fun too because we took Marlene on her first drive ever. it's weird in Germany, they can drink when they are 16 but drive when they are 18. She was funny. She says cool with an accent. so it's cooil. hehe. love you all lots!

Giddy up! YEE HAAA!

2005-09-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful sunday mid morning, and It is almost time for, drum roll............... The Pomeroy Rodeo!!! Yeehaa! yes, it's tiny. But it's still cool. I've got my cowboy hat and I'm ready to roll. Devin and Phil are here to giddy up too. They're crazy company. Crazy fun. Marlene thinks Americans are crazy. :) when she met Phil, she told me, "he's as crazy as you!" hehee. And Aaron Hays stopped by and spoke some pretty sweet German. Good stuff. I'll get some pics up for this post soon, but for now, see ya'll later! :) Anika Clark was going to join us too, but very unfortunately, she was in an accident on her way here. She is ok, she broke her collar bone and got a pretty good concussion, and the truck was totaled. But she is ok. And that is sooo good because they said she was lucky to be alive by the looks of the accident. So a prayer of thanksgiving goes up for that. But keep praying for her because it was bad enough that she is going to have to drop out of school for the first quarter. scary. anyway.... love you all lots!

Danelle

a verse from last night

2005-09-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

These are just some cool versus (highlighted) in Hebrews that I read last night. I especially like the one that talks about reminding eachother of God daily. It's so cool that we have the opportunity to encourage eachother and to be encouraged because distractions are eating at us constantly. So, I continue to pray for all of you to remain with courage in Christ and remember his promises to us! Please pray for me too!

crazy happenings!!!!! and some fun pictures.

2005-09-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Ah, one of the last boat rides of the season here in the northwest. It was divine. Dworshak, this beautiful place was lovely on labor day. Marlene seemed to love it. She is a very fun girl! She did very well on the wakeboard (above) and had a blast tubing. It's cool because it's like having a little sister for a little while. And my dad did a back flip off the bow of the boat. I was thouroghly amazed. I didn't think he had that in him. Although, I do owe him a 10 minute back massage. Oh well, it was good to see that sort of spunk in him. I'd post the video clip, but I don't know how...

My super cool mom is off to Peru for a couple of weeks on a mission trip. She is so cool. She does so many cool things like every wednesday, she volunteers at a pregnancy crisis center. What a woman! So keep her in her prayers for these 2 weeks. My poor dad is going to miss her. They are so cute. This is them loving on eachother...

For now, I just finished my job and went down to Wally world for Esther Lopez', now Peterson's wedding. It was very nice. SOOOO many people are getting married! SOPHIE!!!! Leah just told me about you getting engaged. I think this world is crazy and I think I'm going crazy. I would LOVE to talk to you!!! Melissa, I still need to talk to you about who you know that's engaged. You really freaked me out with your message. For everyone else, she left me a message about my message telling her that my sister was engaged. Then she said, "I need to tell you about some other people that are engaged." then she paused.... and I freaked out. But then she giggled and was like, "but don't worry, it's not me." oh man. she got me good.

Carl, I'm SOOOO glad you're going to be in Walla Walla again! Along with Tori and Carley, and everyone else too. It's going to be a good year. Here are some more pictures of Marlene and I having fun. She loves the tramp.

My mom and Sara were relaxing while just laying on the tube. We threw them a couple of lifejackets and off we went. My dad and I are so mean... :)

Emily, way to get those pigeons!

Doug, how's the packing coming?

Tori, any luck finding your camera?

Danny, I love the cowboy hat! Thanks SOOOO much!
Brunch with Deven, Tyrel, Carl, Phil, and Maranda was super! We have to keep that tradition up!
I hope all is well with everyone! Be bold for Christ!!!

Danelle

2005-09-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm new at this new blog thing, and I didn't really know what I was doing when I made my next post. So, I am trying to post it again. Here's the news: MY SISTER SARA IS ENGAGED! Noah, my future brother-in-law, is a super nice guy. So that is exciting. It's not going to be a long engagement at all, in fact, she is getting married in December THIS YEAR! oh man oh man! So that is going to be taking some time and attention this year. But I really like how he is big brotherish to me.

I can't remember what else I said in the blog I deleted. I remember trying to rabbit rabbit you Danny. I am still waiting to hear if you got my message today. Tee he he.

Marlene, our foriegn exchange student is doing well. Right now she is doing math homework and my genius sister Bethany is helping her after like 10 years of being out of math, she remembers the stuff. lucky duck. oh well. But Marlene has a good sense of humor and is really fun. We are going to take her camping this weekend I think.

Otherwise, my job is super cool. I like working and Marv Wilson is super cool to work for because at least once a day, alot of times twice, he stops work for a "drink break" and he talks about something deep and about God. It's super cool to hear some of his insight and to chew on it for the rest of the day. Sometimes when I'm assisting him doing something, like hanging doors, he will tell me a bible story in his own words and a cool thing he got out of it. It's very inspiring because I have seen how he never passes up an opportunity to bring up God and something awesome about God to the people he works with. And, since it's construction, there are alot of "interesting" people that come around sometimes. Super cool ministry opportunity.

School is going to start stressing me out. There is alot that needs to be done before the program starts. But, it's going to be good.

People overseas, you are in my prayers! Man, don't you just love the hardness of it? It seriously teaches us how to depend on God. That's so cool. I can't wait until I get to go somewhere. I think it's an awesome reminder to not get too content with what we have and forget God. We are so rich with possessions and it's so easy to get too comfortable. God is totally the provider though. Anyway, Hugs and Prayers!

Smelly (not really though. Everyone knows that right? :)

2005-08-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family! The summer is fading fast! It was a super summer with lots of learning and fun times at summer camp, and fun times vacationing in Canada, and all that shabang. It is Sabbath right now, and a very nice one at that. Listening to nice music and chilling with my family on Friday evening is just what I feel like doing before school starts up. It's so crazy that life is happening so fast. We are all growing up! It's also crazy how each year changes so much! So many people from last year are all over the world, and people that were far away from me last year will be close. Old friends are so great and making new one's is always fun! I'm so excited to face new challenges and make new crazy memories.
To all of you traveling overseas; you are in my thoughts and prayers. It is so awesome what you are doing. My boss, Lisa and Mandy's dad, was talking to me today and told me about a little exert he really liked. It was about the little things in life being really important; our little actions, our avoidances of little sins, our little successes, all of these things make up a huge picture of who we are. That was very much a jist of what he was saying... You guys are going to make such a big difference in people's lives. That's awesome! Be bold for Christ!
That is a good goal for the year for all of us! In Dustin Billington's words, "Go get 'em champ!"

Danelly

ps: This picture of the week is of 3 cute older asian men at the Banff hotsprings. We didn't actually get in that day because it was super crowded. So, we just people watched instead from above the pool. People are so funny and have so much character. At one point, these cool dudes were comparing belly fat and pinching their rolls. Hehe. And then the guy in the middle showed off his pretty sweet scar. I appreciated how much character these guys had. So, I took a picture! From a distance of course. :)