A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep

Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true

wishes wishes wishes.
i wish my wishes could come true.
--
in case you were wondering, my blood blister is still alive and kicking. it seems to have gotten bigger again.

today was good. sam took me to the barn again to meet her horse, Victor. he's huge and only 5 years old but he's a good boy. i explored some while she was riding and found out that i can ride any horse i want on Mondays and Thursdays from 7-9 and Fridays from 3-5. so that's good. the only thing is i have to clean its stall beforehand and all the tack i use afterwords. not too bad of a deal if you ask me. there are also two shows coming up..one homecoming weekend which is Oct 2, and one December 11. i have to do at least one class in that one to pass my Horsemanship 1 class. i also found out about a time trial/endurance ride they are having here Sept 10-12, and are looking for people to help volunteer with the vets and learn how to do pulse takes and evaluate the horses at each station. i think i'll definitely volunteer for that, it would be a lot of fun and good basic training.

i also went to church today..the Houghton Wesleyan Church. it was a lot like White Oak but no hymns, all contemporary songs. i went to the Student Oriented service at 9:40, but there is a Comtemporary service at 8:20 and Traditional at 11. i might try all of them, but the college sunday school is at 11, so i don't know. i went today and it was awesome..about 12 girls were there and it was nice to be able to open up a bit and meet more people. i met a girl there named Joanna who has lived in Uganda the past four years, which is totally awesome. her parents are doctors and decided to become missionaries and move there 4 years ago. they are with Cure International and started the 2nd hospital through them anywhere in the world. it was really cool talking to her.

samantha and i are getting along fine, despite my parents thinking we would never talk. we do in fact talk (though neither of us are morning people...hoods UP!) and i've gotten to know her a lot better. she's neat and really God-centered, and that's great for me because it's forcing me to watch how i keep my stuff and set my mind on God each morning and throughout the day. we are in a HUGE room that was originally built for 4 people, but it's just the two of us in it. we were supposed to have another girl earlier in the summer but she cancelled early on and they never put anyone else with us. it's really nice, we have room to spread out and have people in without it being super crowded. i've pretty much finished putting things up and on the walls. got my liverpool flag and tons of pictures next to my bed, and pictures in frames on my shelves. lots of pictures. i have plenty of space for frames, so if anyone wants to send me a frame with a picture in it please feel free!

i have a brief interview with the French prof at 10:30 in the morning, then nothing till 1:30. classes start on tuesday full force, and i've already got three papers scheduled to be due by mid-October. we haven't even had class yet. they are fairly easy papers, nothing big and research-y. one is for Horsemanship regarding the benefits of riding as recreation. that one should be fine.

goodnight dear.

the ridley family has made my day.

first benjamin called and talked to me for an hour while doing laundry and other stuff about random things and school and weight training and such.

then i talked to david online for a bit, and then anna for a bit.

THEN i talked to david on the phone for an hour before bed about more randomness and beds and funny stories that helped me feel better about leaving, and i also got to talk to mum for a few minutes and hear her lovely voice i love so much.

amazing. chuffing amazing.

well.

hello sailor!

here i am.

Houghton College class of 2008.

scary, yes, though i think i'm gonna manage. classes should be fun. i mean that in the most academic way possible.

i miss everyone at home a lot. a lot.

my roommate is cool, i like her very much. she has a horse and a car here so that's cool. at least i can grab rides to the barn.

off to decorate. lame entry sorry.

hi.

so.

i have said goodbye to more people in the past 3 days then i have in a long time. ever. maybe.

tues night my mom and i went down to the ridley's to have dinner and say goodbye. wow. umm. hard? yeah. we had something really good with eggplant in it and ice cream and tea and not-from-a-packet hot chocolate made by The Best Hot Chocolate Maker Ever In The World. assisted by Anna his sister and her chocolate chip ice cream. we played billionaire and talked and laughed and relaxed.

so yeah. they are the family i will miss most this year. it has been wonderous to escape my life at their house during the summer. they are in fact i think the most generous loving people i know. they always are standing with open arms to hug me and gently shape me. i am thankful for their prayers and love...so it was hard leaving them. they are my second family.

wednesday was more goodbyes..Michelle, who hugged me for so very long and Milton and Shelly. I will miss their Bengali-ness and are praying for them hardcore. The Quinto's, who rock my world, and the Bennetts.

today I spent a lot of time at the barn saying goodbye to Spot and the people there. then i went and said goodbye to Robert, Benjamin, and Callie (triplets) which was sad. everything's sad. ugh. i'm so tired of being sad. they gave me big hugs though and they are going to be so big when i come home. then i came back to my home and packed hardcore with Chad helping me so very greatly and the Angerosa's came to say goodbye and THEN the hot chocolate extraordinaire himself came TO MY HOUSE and ate my food. ha and then loaded my car assisted by none other than..his assistents. chad and jackie and mandi and crystal and megan and ashley and ralph and cam TAYLOR and sten and tom and dean all gave me lots and lots of extra hugs to take with me for when i need them. and ate all my cowboy cookies and brownies. i am so glad they came to say goodbye to me. they make my heart AND face smile like this: :) until they left. and now i no longer look like that. it was like poof they were gone and my life has changed until thanksgiving when i will see them again. except for David. because i will have to wait until christmas to experience his presence once more.

i am sad. and worried and nervous and excited and overwhelmed. i know everything will work out great and fine and wonderful. except, now..

i'm still sad. and worried. but david prayed for me and i'm a little better but homesick and i'm still home.

call me dear friends i left behind. i will be so excited it doesn't matter when it is as long as it's on mine and crystal's same birthday. and right now.

CALL ME NOW.

oh. my. goodness. really really spontaneous weekend. on friday morning at approximately 10 am, i found myself leaving for a road trip to ohio to visit Sarah with Dave and Ashley. we left at 12:30 after much, much confusion and chaos. basically, the weekend consisted of driving driving driving, loss of sleep, lots of sarah, lots of free food, and cooking salmon in a parking lot on a camp stove. which was possibly the best salmon i've ever had because it was cooked in a parking lot in the sun.

Things I Learned About David

1. He is a perfect gentlemen and makes it a habit to respect the female gender.

2. He likes his oranges pre-peeled for him.

3. He likes to drive with the sunroof open.

4. He drinks lots of coffee. LOTS.

5. 3 of his top 5 places he want to visit in the world are the same as mine.

6. He doesn't know who Hilary Duff is. Thank God.

7. He likes praying out loud better than silently.

8. He snores.

9. He still likes Delirious.

10. He memorizes poems about platypuses. (i think he's obsessed)

11. He WILL own a Mini Cooper and a Land Rover. Someday.

Things I Learned About Ashley

1. SHE GETS CARSICK.

2. She doesn't wear Ralph Lauren.

3. She dances sporatically.

4. She doesn't eat french fries, even when she takes them. She just doesn't.

5. She is obsessed with reading certain people's blogs. Including mine. <3

6. She wants to be a pediatric or maternity nurse.

7. She likes Lonestar.

8. She likes taking pictures. Lots of pictures.


Sometime during this trip I realized exactly how much these two people mean to me. They have influenced my life in so many more ways then they know, and strangely enough, after 8 years of friendship with David Ridley and 2 years with Ashley Pelletier (pel-ti-ay) :) it has only been recently that we have had the level of friendship that we have now. I am incredibly blessed and thankful that they allow me to be their friend and welcome me into their lives without trying to change me.

Thank you for everything. Love you guys.

<3

jackie, i know you're reading this.

and because you are, i love you.

: )

I got a new rad cell phone.

I hate how people who pretended to be your friend in all actuality are not. That seems to apply to a lot of people I know.

I love Ashley Pelletier.

I hate that I have to house-sit/work this weekend so I can't go on a cool road trip with her and Dave.

Ridleys came home!

I miss the Texas people.

Sometimes I wonder why I didn't go to school in Virginia.

Erin Henry makes my heart smile.

I miss Dayna DeMarco.

Down comforters are on sale at Linens N Things for $30. yeeeeeaah.

Spot wasn't lame for the first time since June on Tuesday. rock ON.

I ate a 16-Wheeler at Bickford's yesterday. I think the waitress was really scared when I ordered it. ha.

I saw Hanson (yes. Hanson.) in concert yesterday. May it be well know that it was Erik's idea, I did enjoy it. The opening acts were really good and Hanson is waaaay classic rock now. I think the teenyboppers didn't really know what to do with themselves because they've changed so much. Death to the teenybopper.

wow. awesome weekend. Friday night i went with erik to new haven, and we hit up the cool places like Urban Outfitters and Cosi. after that i went to the Shmitz's house where jackie was babysitting overnight and we watched The Prince and Me. the two of us are most definitely moving to Europe and living together. that is, until we each find a prince to marry. i call Denmark. or Italy. is there a prince of Italy?

Saturday i worked all morning hardcore, after only getting 4 hours of sleep. yeah it was fun. then erik, chad, my parents and sally moved Grammy's things from storage into our garage to sort through everything for the tag sale next weekend. while doing so, the three of us spontanaously decided to go on a bike ride, which led us on an adventure through town trying to find a part for Chad's bike. no luck so the adventure was dropped, pizza was eaten, and tom's house was visited.

most fun of the weekend: last night Ashley, Erik, Sten and I went to Cosi again and got the make-it-yourself smores. ashley, never having roasted a marshmallow over an open fire before, had a heart attack when the marshmallow caught on fire. wow. complete hysteria reigned. i love her so much.

today was church and then chili's with the Romine girls. i have seen them so much this week it's amazing and oh so encouraging.

off to pack, clean, and see what tonight brings.

the meyer home is by far the most entertaining one i have come across in a long time.

in the span of approximately 2.5 hours, Curtis discussed "naughty movies" while in the same sentence mentioning my horse, Katie had bug-invested broccoli, Chad received two slightly suspicious phone calls, and Benjamin went to the bathroom on the floor TWICE. Benny is a dog, in case you were wondering.

indeed though, the time was quite enjoyable because i haven't seen Dorothy or Katie in so very long and Curtis only once this summer. love them so much.

in other news, i triplet sat today, and oh boy was it adventurous. first Robert took a header off the back of the picnic table when we were eating lunch onto the concrete floor. apparently he forgot there wasn't a back to his bench. after we finished lunch, he and Benjamin (not the dog) were playing inside one of those plastic houses and came across a wasps nest. wow. Robert got stung around 15 times and Benjamin twice on his head. R's left hand and right ear were swollen really bad. i had to give them both Benadryl in case they were severely allergic, which thank God they were not. it was scary times. Ben was really good about it but Robert not so much. i had to use ice cream as a diversion. THEN we were playing with bubbles outside, and Ben stuck his wand thingie into Robert's eye. my guess is it wasn't Robert's day today. he took it rough. i'll miss them a lot when i leave.

15 days. mmrrr...

mom and sarah left today. for three days, it is only myself and chad, and my dad when he is not working. amazing. i think i am going to get so much done.

i started going through all of my stuff to bring to school yesterday. wow. sometimes i just sit on my bed and try to think where to start. i did pictures yesterday, so i have those all ready. i think i'll do clothes today, separate the winter from the summer and the most wearable from the not wearable. that sounds productive.

in case you were wondering, as of yet i have not pierced my nose. it is a work in progress.

benjamin left yesterday.

i miss him.

it's strange to think that i won't be able to see him or have him try to scare me every 5 minutes or have long conversations in the car or watch him play baseball. i miss listening to him play the guitar and sing and get nervous at a small coffee house in Shelton. i still want to learn how to throw a rugby ball, watch Dodgeball, and meet Brian and Shawn, but i guess they will have to wait until another time.

i'm so proud of you and all you have accomplished. it's been a long road to Liberty, but i know you're going to do wonderfully and are in the exact place that God wants you. thank you for all the laughter, stories, tears, and challenges you have brought to our friendship. you have helped bring joy back to my world.

thanks for being my friend.

<3

I miss watching scary movies next to Ruston, jumping on Mason's bed to wake him up, Franklyn's black jokes and pillow stealing efforts, and Lacey's amazing patience and Texas accent. I miss playing cards till 2 am, listening to music till 2 am, watching movies till 2 am..I think we had a pattern going. I miss dancing to VBS songs, cupcake fights, beach trips, and knowing that at any given time I can walk upstairs and find someone to talk to and make me laugh.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

:)

Happy Birthday Dayna!!!!

it's been an interesting week.

vbs started on monday. i am having so much fun it's incredible. we have a team of 20 from Texas that came up to help our church with it. the four teens, Franklyn, Lacey, Ruston, and Mason are all staying at our house. it's hilarous. they are all awesome people and i'm so glad they are staying with us. vbs itself has been going really really well. we have an average of 80 kids every day (30 being preschool age!!) and i'm the snack lady. whooohooo. so far i've made 300 rice krispie treats, chocolate covered pretzel sticks, and trail mix. yeaaah. it's a good time.

benjamin leaves on saturday for ever and ever. not really just till thanksgiving if he can get a ride home. but still. he is leaving with david but i'll see dave again before i leave thank goodness. i'm so happy that benjamin finally gets to go to Liberty cause i know he's gonna have such an awesome experience there. but i'll still miss him.

thanks to everyone who's been really supportive and given me an ear to listen to my problems or a hug to help. i'm glad to have people like you in my life. :)

*note*: in case you were wondering..i'm a hug person. if in fact you do not hug me at least twice when i see you i will get offended and possibly end up crying. hugs are awesome. i bet Jesus was a hug person.

i'm off to go to the mall and further contemplate getting my nose pierced.