Study, study, study

I think my slacker days are over. This semester is forcing me to kick into high gear. This week, Ryan had an A&P test over endocrine and the blood. Personally, I think endocrine has to be the hardest section of A&P. I think we studied for this test 3 nights this week. It's a great review for me! Ryan got tired of being cold in my only slightly heated house so he made use of my Christmas robe. Stephanie couldn't miss this photo opportunity. I think this problem would be alleviated if he wore more than a t-shirt in the middle of January... ;-)

Isn't he cute? Ryan, not the bear, but the bear is too... :-) Ryan brought me Smokey the bear from Gatlinburg this summer.

And this is what I found when I got home this afternoon. He's amazing...

It all began with a toothpick...

Perhaps yesterday was the most jam packed crazy Saturday on record. After church we (should I clarify? refers to Ryan and I in case you didn't know) went to Kari Shultz house for lunch and enjoyed an amazing Sabbath meal with cottage cheese loaf, a potato casserole, homemade bread, veggies, and german chocolate cake. Then we went over the Kelli's house to meet up with a big group of friends.

The Saturday night fun started with a game called "Bigger or Better", a version of a scavenger hunt, where you drive around and knock on doors trying to trade people for something bigger or better than what you have, starting with a toothpick. We played guys against girls. The girls game went like this: toothpick, apple, orange, blazer made in Mexico, computer keyboard, outside decor speaker that looks like a rock, and finally a toaster oven (that worked but was headed for the Samaritan Center) from Paul and Lynda Smith's house, for those of you that know them. Thinking the boys couldn't possibly get something better than a toaster oven just asking people for things, we went back to the house in triumph. 10 minutes late, the guys came back in blowing horns and yelling with a van somebody had let them borrow. But alas, amidst screams of "it has to be something you don't have to take back!" they showed us the real booty: a couch, loveseat, and a computer monitor in the back. Can you believe it? Somebody gave them all that stuff and somebody let them borrow a van to haul it back to school just by knocking on a door and asking to trade... Maybe we should all try this game more often.

While they unloaded and took the van back, the girls went to Taco Bell for a quick meal. Then the boys insisted we take them to Baskin Robbins all the way on East Brainerd as their reward. By the time we got back to Kelli's, her keys had been locked inside in the chaos. So we all packed into 4 cars and headed to my place to play games. Uno Attack makes a great game for a big group of people, we played with 13! And the night ended with two circles playing Thump Thump. Strange how this all started with a little piece of wood...

As Ryan said, "I've never seen so many shoes in this house."

The group

Friday night at the Heilmans

Check out MJ's blog for pictures from our Friday night. It sure is nice to go sit in a home on Friday night and just talk and play music...

Real peace

Ironically, this is the first post in awhile because I've been busy kicking off a new semester (which could quite possibly be the busiest of my graduate degree). For those of you who are avid Jaclyn's World readers, you may remember a similar post I made a year ago. I felt then that my life was becoming more balanced and I had time to enjoy the small pleasures in life. "Life is still busy, but not frenzied." I included the quote on the front of my journal for the year (which is not full yet by the way):

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

When I look back at 2006, I realize that my understanding of those words has grown into something beyond what I envisioned. For me, peace means an inner calm that no matter what I face, I can handle it with God's help and a knowledge that His plan is better than anything I could ever dream. Reliance on God brings peace. 2006 brought many changes, challenges, and rewarding experiences. But here I am on the other side, blessed and humbled by the peace I have been given. It has truly been a year of peace.

The road back to Collegedale...

On Friday I took a train to Ryan's house in Charlotte. It was exciting and very strange to ride on a train and see people stopping for you and hearing the whistle blow every 3 minutes. It reminded me of my days on MPA's bus for tours actually. I didn't even think to pull my camera out while I was at Ryan's house so unfortunately I have nothing to share.

On the way back to Collegedale... We're back to the grind of school, how lovely.

Ryan comes to visit!

We went into downtown Raleigh for the New Years celebration. It's like a progressive party where you go to concerts, see improv, plays, make things, and gather at the end for the acorn drop and fireworks.

Jennifer, Stephanie, Jaclyn and Ryan under one umbrella

A little damp, but still having fun.

Almost all the way down...

"YOU!!!!" Stephanie and Ryan fighting over who won Rabbit Rabbit... Somehow I think the Regime has lost again, eh Buddha?

Playing a little Thump Thump, Old Thunder, 7 Up, whatcha-ma-callit

The Ford favorite: 5 card hand Sorry. Stephanie and I redeemed ourselves against the boys, winning by ONE MOVE!

We had a great time shooting down some cans in the woods with the BB and pellet guns but here's a little Nerf War that broke out last night... Ryan kept up quite well even though he had the lesser weapon.