365 Day 54

February 23-
Today and every Thursday I go the Sioux Center Christian Elementary School to give reading assessments to a little 3rd grade girl. She has such an imagination and it is always so fun to meet with her even if it is only for 15 minutes. Today I had to record our conversation and her reading and answering some questions. It's been kind of fun to go back a listen to it :)

365 Day 53

February 22-
Today my joy was eating one of my Dove chocolates :) My wrapper told me to remember my first crush... which is funny because that was Scott!

365 Day 52

February 21-
Today I got a care package from my mom and sister!!! It contained Dove chocolates, heart peeps, the cutest card ever, granola bars, hamburger helper, and the movie Valentine's Day! It was perfect because I was just running out of snack foods and candy, and it's always nice to have a little extra love :)

365 Day 51

February 20-
Today marks the first day of the Week of Encouragement on Dordt's campus. haha! Today we went and made cards for people to encourage them to have a good week. Here's the card I made for Scott to tell him to have a good week :)

365 February 19

February 19-
Tonight I went to hear my English prof read some of his writings to the public. James C. Schaap is a published author of both fiction and Religious books including devotionals. He is my responding to literature class this semester and just LOVE him. He is such a great guy with a child's heart and such a wise mind. I have never loved literature before but I love reading his writing. We read of a lot of his pieces along with classics and other popular literature but his are always my favorite. He is reitring after this year to focus solely on his writing so this was kind one last hoorah for him. Merissa came with me and we listened to two of his shorter pieces. They are always a bit humurous and he plays with life after death, love, and God's grace. He has always kind of reminded me of Grandpa Kloosterhouse in a way. But it was such a joy to get to hear him read and explain his own pieces.

365 February 18

February 18-
Today was the culture fair on campus. Our international students spend the day putting up booths about their home cocuntry with authentic food, pictures, and clothing. Then they put on a fashion show to share their native clothing. Me and Scott stopped by after studying all day for the fashion show. There were representatives from Korea, China, Indonesia, Haiti, Montegro, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Nigeria, Taiwan, Philippines, Ethiopia, Eccuador, Mexico, the Netherlands, and India. I didn't realize we had so many countries represented in our small college. Some also did native dances, or songs, and Tae Kwon Do performances. They were so good!

This little girl in front is Mia Taylor, Curtis and Sheryl's daughter from South Korea. She was so cute.

Paraguay- She is so beautiful and is always smiling whenever I see her.

Part of the Tae Kwon Do performance including jumping off a wall and breaking that board in two! Notice how high he is off the ground.

Korea is the most represented country at Dordt College and they performed an original song wrote by one of their students. It was a rendition of How  Great is Our God and How Great Thou Art and was sang in their native language. It was so beautiful it gave me chills.

We had a Korean girl live with us first semester but she had to go home now due to some family issues, and I know quite a few others from education classes so it was fun to see them in their "element" so to say.



365 February 17

February 17-
Tonight I went on a Perkins run with some friends to meet our nursing buddies in Sioux City after their clinical at midnight! I got an oat bran muffin, and we didn't get back until almost 3:00 a.m.! Late night for me, but I'll get to sleep in :)

365 February 16

February 16-
Tonight me and Scott made supper together. Scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, sausage, and hash browns were on the menu. He is such a good cook :)

365 February 15

February 15-

Today was fairly uneventful. I got to sleep in a little since we got back pretty late last night, which was a great way to start my day. I also found joy in my scarf I got from aunt shelly for Christmas. I always get so many compliments whenever I wear it. :)

365 February 14

February 14-
Valentine's Day!! We had morning practice this morning but I came back a lovely bouquet of flowers waiting for me :) Me and Scott didn't see each other again until the afternoon. We went to the visitation for Tina Heilman, and then we went to Sioux City for a night out on the town! :) Scott took me to see The Vow. It was so cute! But I'm totally into all that hopeless romantic stuff. I loved it all the way until the ending, which completely leaves you hanging, but I think deep down I liked that too because it leaves you to finish the story however you want, and I have a very creative imagination :) Then we went to Olive Garden for a late dinner. We planned everything perfectly. We got out tickets early enough to secure our seats at the movie, got to walk around the mall a bit, and didn't have to wait at all for dinner. We did a lot of laughing and of course the food was delicious. Then had a nice ride back to reality singing the whole way :)

Happy Valentine's Day!
xo

365 February 13

February 13-

Today my joy was snow?! By this time of year we are usually so sick of snow, but not this year! We have barely had any since weeks before Christmas out here. We got about 4 inches last night and it was such a pretty snow. I woke up to the sight and sounds of this lovely tractor/plow outside my window. I LOVE watching these. This is the big one. There are a couple other little ones that have plows rigged up on them. I think they are so funny :)

365 February 12

February 12-
This morning was a difficult morning. We found out that the pastor's of the church we regularly attend here daughter died yesterday in a skiing accident. Needless to say it was a solemn morning at church. We sang a lot of songs, and had an extra prayer time for the family and the friends who were with her skiing. The fill-in pastor gave a short message on the hope we have as Christians that there is life after death. He also spoke on the relationship between God's love for us and his deep grief with us that this life is not what He intended for it to be. He grieves right along with us when we hurt. However, this life is not the end, but simply part of our eternal journey. Tina now lives in the place that IS what He intended life to be. By request of the Heilman family all after church activities were cancelled so families could spend extra time together. They also requested that you tell those around you that you love them. Therefore, in honor of this request, the fact that there wasn't college coffee house this morning, and that this week is Valentine's Day me and Scott made cinnamon rolls together in the shape of hearts as a reminder of all those we love and who love us.

So, even though we couldn't be with all of you today know that WE LOVE YOU!!

Forever and for always!

Aubrey

365 February 11

February 11-
Tonight was our Valentine's dinner! I made baked pork chops, bacon ranch potatoes, veggies, and peanut butter balls. My first fancy dinner. It was sort of like playing house. :) It all turned out good for the most part. We had one little hiccup when I put the meat in at a little too high so the sauce got a little burned. But the meat was all still good! We had so much fun together!! ♥

365 February 10

February 10-
Today I finished making some peanut butter balls for the Valentine's Dinner I made for Scott. These were our dessert. I used Valentine's sprinkles on top :)

365 February 9

February 9-
Today I got an unexpected package in the mail! It was from Grams and Gramps with sweet Valentines goodies in it. Now I have some goodies to snack on :) Thank you!

365 February 8

February 8-

Today is Merissa's 21st Birthday!!! Me and our roommates went out and got her 21 things to open :) They were pretty creative if I do say so myself. We had pancakes, eggs, and sausage for supper, and her mom and dad sent her a cake from the commons. My little girl is growing up so fast :)

365 February 7

February 7-
Today I am sick. I got maybe an hour of sleep total last night and have a fever and a stuffy nose. My lifesaver has been my little box of tissues. I carry it around with me all over the apartment but usually it stays in my bed in close distance. I got to take two naps today so hopefully I can start getting better.

365 February 6

February 6-
I'm running out of snack foods and I don't want to go to the grocery store again just yet so I made some muffins from my mother :) I LOVE to bake so it was such a joy today. AND they tasted wonderful.

365 February 5

February 5-
Today I got to take Merissa and Ryan, and Brittany and Alex to do a photoshoot for me for an army wives sort of thing. We laughed a lot! Dordt has a costume shop that you can get constumes from and a photography room with backdrops and lights to play with. It was a good time.

365 February 4

February 4-
Today was the Dordt Track Meet so I got to watch Merissa and Ryan run today! I LOVE going to track meets. They are so fun and exciting. It makes me kind of sort of want to try it :) Both Ryan and Merissa have been struggling with some injuries but they both did so well today and I'm pretty sure they both came out with second places. Merissa's mile time was 5:17!! I can only dream about running a mile that fast! lol

365 February 3

February 3-
Today the trees were covered with a frosty ice crystals. It was so beautiful. There was a weird thick fog last night and then it froze onto the trees. There still isn't snow on the ground, but the trees looked lovely.

365 February 2

February 2-
Today I stopped at 55th, the coffee shop on campus and got an apple cinnamon scone on my way back from class. It was warm and gooey and oh so yummy!

365 February 1

February 1-
Today was so warm that I got to run outside! AND I ran in only shorts and t-shirt :) It felt great! It isn't every year you can do this in February :) Lots of joy today.