I finally graduated!!!

Yes, believe it or not, I've finally graduated from college! May 2, 2008, I walked across the front of the gymnatorium (yes, that's really what it's called: it's the gym; it's the auditorium; it's the gymnatorium), collected my diploma (or the folder thingy that the diploma was to eventually end up in), shook hands with Dr. Phelps (the president of the college) and Dr. Ledgerwood (the music department head), who turned my beautiful pink tassel. You want to see pictures? Here are a few:

Senior Recital

So, I had my Senior recital on Friday! It was the last thing that I had to finish to qualify for graduation, and now I'M DONE!!! Here are some pictures...hope you enjoy!

Burckart Hall, Maranatha

"Dank Sei Dir" trio

"De Gospel Train"

Mrs. Ruffin (my teacher) and me

Ruth (my accompanist) and me

My Dad, me, and my Mom

Dr. Budahl (my presider), me, and Ruth (my accompanist)

Rebekah and I sang "Evening Hymn" from "Hansel and Gretel"

Two of my ushers serving cake and punch (non-alcoholic, of course)

My program with one of the flowers from my parents

The inside of the program: translations of my Italian, French, and German songs

Next installment coming soon: GRADUATION!!!! May 2, 2008

Wow...it's been a long time...

Sorry for the long pause since the last post. I don't even have much of an excuse, other than that I've been busy trying to finish up school for the semester, which ended well! Thanks for asking! I took Choral Arranging and voice lessons this semester. For my project for Choral Arranging, we had to write an arrangement for a choir (hence the name "Choral arranging"). Well, last summer sometime, I heard a verse from Psalm 31 in a message. I liked the verse, so I wrote down the reference for the future. I went back later and read the whole psalm, and as I read it, I thought that it would make a really good song. Since then, I've been working on setting some of the verses to music, which was mostly done before I started the class. The class helped me actually finish what I had started, and I'm pretty happy with the results! I might even try to get it published someday! Hmmm...

I also had my Sophomore platform this week, which went well, also. I passed! So, that means I get to give the school more money next year!

Last week, we had a game night. We've had gym nights at a local rec. center, but this time, we had the activity at church. Since we don't have a gym, and the weather is nice, we decided to call it a "game night." We played games outside, then had some skits and a salvation message. I'll post some pictures at the end. But it was definitely a blessing for me to be able to take Shawna back and show her how to get saved, and she was gloriously saved that night!

We also had a meeting on Sunday. We ordered KFC and went to Riverside Park for a picnic, then had a meeting to decide who is going to do what next year at church. It was definitely a good time, and I'm excited to see what might happen next year, though sad to see Amy and Titus leave. I'll definitely miss them a lot.

Anyways, here are some pictures!

Game night:







Picnic at the Park:

girl's day out

Ok, so yesterday was a really fun day. Beckah, Jen, and I skipped classes and got off of work for a "girl's day out." I enjoyed it a LOT!

We had certificates for some free services at a salon in Madison. We got our hair cut and styled:

(My first salon haircut in a while)

We got our nails done:

My first EVER maincure! Very enjoyable!
We went out for lunch...here are Beckah and I

Adam gave us the certificates for the salon, so we met him for lunch...here are Jen and Adam

We went to the school play, "H.M.S. Pinafore." It was a cute play, though not completely logical...but it's a musical; what can you expect?!?
Jen, me, and Beckah with some of the sailors:

Ok, we didn't notice this until someone pointed it out...on the front of the "ship" was Dr. Oats! We had to get a picture with him!

Then, we went to the Late Night Skate! It was so much fun!

cell phone

So, I've had my new cell phone for 2 weeks. (yes, that is a picture of what my phone looks like! Isn't it cute?!) Tuesday was a busy day. After working from 7 am until 3:15 pm, I ran home to change into a skirt to go over to school to practice with Hannah, my accompanist, because we haven't been able to practice together very much. Then, I had my voice platform. Don't worry...this has a point!

So, I remembered turning my cell phone to "silent" so that it wouldn't be making noise as I was doing my platform. After I had finished my platform, I went to the library to return some things before Christmas break and pick up Beckah's keys so I could make copies of them so I could move into the apartment over break. Then, I went to Walmart to get the keys copied, stopped at Culver's to eat something (and talked to Noah briefly while I was there), went back to the library to return the keys, and back to my car to leave. As I was driving back, I remembered that I had turned my phone to silent and was going to turn the ringer back on, but, alas, my phone was no longer in my purse!

I checked all of my pockets (the only other pockets I had were in my coat) and could not find my phone there. So, I decided to check everywhere I had been. I first stopped at Culver's (since I was driving by there, anyways). Noone had seen a cell phone. I drove back to school and stopped by Burkart Hall....it wasn't there. I checked the Welcome Center....they didn't know anything (surprise ;D). I checked the library...noone had turned in a cell phone there. Jen (my other future roommate) was working at the library, so she let me call Walmart...my phone wasn't there. I checked my backpack; it wasn't there. I decided to try to find "the dorm sup on duty," since they could get into the dean's office, where cell phones are normally turned in when found without an owner. Libby was substituting for the dorm sups, who were, to my dismay, in the faculty/staff Christmas party and wouldn't be out for hours, and Libby didn't have a key to get into the dean's office to check. I decided to look in my car. Keep in mind that it was about 8:30 pm by this time. The sun had gone down several hours before, and the parking lots have only a few dim lights. I checked to see if my phone had fallen out of my purse and next to the seat. Since it was very dark, I got my flashlight out and turned it on. Well, I tried, at least. It would turn on for a few seconds after I shaked it for a few seconds, but it would only stay on for a few seconds, and the light was dim, at best. Well, I was getting very tired, and I didn't think that my phone would be in my car, so I gave up.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. James and Nikki both tried to call my cell phone; James on the way to church, and Nikki while we were at church. James got a busy signal...only because he called my OLD cell phone number, which was cancelled a couple of weeks ago. Then, once he tried to call the RIGHT number, he got just my voice mail. Then, Nikki tried, and she said that it sounded like someone answered then hung up. She tried again and just got my voicemail. But, that had me worried...what if someone got my phone and was raking up a huge bill? I decided to suspend my phone service until I found my phone again. So, I called Alltel, but noone was in the office at that time: "Please call back tomorrow." Nice. So, at work on Thursday, I called them and suspended my phone service. I called my dad to let him know. After work, I decided to check my car a little more thoroughly, since there is more light at 3 pm than there is at 8:30 pm. What do you think I found between the center armrest and the passenger seat? You guessed it! My cell phone! It was pretty far down there, so it was a little difficult for me to find, even in daylight, but it was there! I'm guessing that it fell out of my purse when I went to go to Walmart; my purse doesn't close at the top other than a strap that is about 2 inches across that snaps onto the other side. It could have very easily fallen out. I called my dad back to let him know (he is the only one who can re-activate the phone since we're on a family plan under his name). About an hour later, I heard my phone ring! My dad had been able to re-activate my phone!

So, until this time, I didn't realize how important my cell phone is. No, my phone isn't attatched to my ear, like some people and their phones. And no, I don't HAVE to have my phone with me all the time. But, it is a good tool to have, and it can get very expensive if it gets into the wrong hands. This time, I was safe. But I think I'll be getting a new purse!

Ok, so I've had a rough week, and I needed a little "pick-me-up." This one helped me a little, at least for a little bit. You'd have to follow the comic strip to really realize what's going on. Pig has been reading a book on levitation, and he learned how to levitate in the second chapter. I thought we were done hearing about the levitation, but....So, zebra is trying to sell his house because the crocodiles that live next door are always trying to eat him. He has consulted a real estate agent to put his house on the market. Now, on to the comic strip:



So, we are also having Spirit Week here at Maranatha Baptist Bible College. Here are some pictures of me, Nikki, and Ashley on Monday, which was superhero day.





In case you can't tell, we're the powerpuff girls!