Crazy Cousins' Campout

Well, it's been awhile but that's mostly because I wasn't sure if I would be writing on the metropolitan blog if I'm currently living in the country. And also, I just don't always feeling much like doing anything besides eating and falling asleep after working all day. That may sound lame, but my cousin Janine and I wake up at 3:15am every weekday for work. Right now, I'm living with my aunt and uncle and their family plus my cousin Janine because her and I found jobs up here in Washington.
Just a few days ago the three of us girl cousin went on a campout. We went to Larrabee State Park for one night. Before we settled into our beautiful campsite for the night we met a motorcycle camper (the best kind of camper there is) who was going all the way from Florida to Alaska! He was also kind enough to exchange us quarters for dollars so we could shower in the morning. It was good to go camping and relax. It was a very nice campground for tent campers, which we were. Most of the RV and trailer spots were not as scenic and beautiful as the tent spots. Overall, I would definitely recommend the campground to you but hopefully you're a heavy sleeper because a train runs just outside the camp. I'm told that the train went by during the night but I didn't hear a sound. Our campout was complete with a campfire s'mores, a delicious breakfast, and some good campfire songs. Our favorite is:

Catalina Madalina, Hoopin Stina, Walla dina
Hogan, Bogan, Wogan was her name.

She had two hairs on the top of her head
One was alive and the other was dead.
Catalina Madalina, Hoopin Stina, Walla dina
Hogan, Bogan, Wogan was her name.

She had two eyes in the front of her head
One was green and the other was red.
Catalina Madalina, Hoopin Stina, Walla dina
Hogan, Bogan, Wogan was her name.

She had two teeth in the front of her mouth
One pointed north and the other pointed south.
Catalina Madalina, Hoopin Stina, Walla dina
Hogan, Bogan, Wogan was her name.

She had ten toes like me and you
But all ten toes were in one shoe
Catalina Madalina, Hoopin Stina, Walla dina
Hogan, Bogan, Wogan was her name.

Then one day a truck hit poor Madaline
The man had to buy a whole new machine!
Catalina Madalina, Hoopin Stina, Walla dina
Hogan, Bogan, Wogan was her name.

San Francisco and the Space Needle

I have been so amazingly busy! Over Memorial Day weekend I went on a giant road trip with about 100 other SPU women down to San Francisco. It was a service trip called Quest. On Friday we drove 18 hours in 19 cars, through the night, to San Francisco. There were several stops to use the restroom, switch drivers, eat some food, dance, etc. We finally arrived Saturday afternoon in SF. We ate lunch and had an hour or so to see what we wanted to see before we headed over to the Rescue Mission in the Tenderloin district. We spent about a day at the Tenderloin with everyone doing a variety of things- office work, cooking, organizing the donation closet, teaching Sunday school, and cleaning. We slept in the Rescue Mission on Saturday night. The most interesting thing that we did was bring meals to various apartment buildings in the district. In the apartments we went door to door offering free food and prayer to people. We also enjoyed In-N-Out while in California. A lot of people were very excited about that. Sunday night we stayed in a church gymnasium and headed back to school early Monday morning! It was quite the trip!
On a different not, this last Thursday night we had Ashton Hall Ball (the dorm where I live this year) in the Space Needle. It was a lot of fun!

Finally, in a week from Tuesday I will have completed my first year of college. So much is happening in such a short amount of time!

Time Well Spent

I had spring break just last week, although it already seems like it was weeks away. That's the thing about school, you go back to it and it feels as if you never left. I don't know if that's ever a good thing. In other circumstances it's good though. For example, when you see an old friend again and it's as if you were never apart.

Anyway, I actually had quite a long spring break because I was finished with exams on a Tuesday, so I had from Wednesday the 18th until Sunday a week and a half later. First I went to Salem, OR and stayed with Nick and his family. I would just say "The Brouwers" but that's a little ambiguous in this case. It was a very relaxing break once I finished a final paper I had to email in on Friday. I went paintballing for the first time there but I don't know if I really got the full experience because I didn't get any huge welts. I did actually get hit a few times of course but there was no lasting pain. It was pretty fun! I would put in a picture but unfortunately, this computer in the library lab won't let me. Maybe I'll add one later.

On Thursday, the 26th, I took the train and bus from Salem to Bellingham to see the TeVeldes! I have been so close to them all school year but I hadn't seen them yet. I got a lot of sleep there so that I could be ready to start a new quarter. I also went into Canada and got my haircut. It's now ten inches shorter and hopefully what I got cut off will make a nice wig for some child. I hadn't originally planned on sending my hair in because I didn't know how many inches I was getting cut off but I had enough! On Sunday I returned again to Seattle, to a week of rain, new classes, and hanging out with friends.