Love From Liberty

Oh Canada

2011-07-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

I have spent the last few days on a short, but busy trip to Canada. Several weeks ago my boss asked me if I would be interested in helping a family he knew move. They needed someone to drive a U-Haul truck up to Kingston, Ontario. Of course because it means crossing the border they needed someone with a passport and knowing that I had just gotten back from Italy earlier this year I was the natural choice. We got all the details worked out and left on Sunday morning. Although it was two days of long driving this trip came with a bonus! Kingston is only about two hours where my very dear friend Regina lives! I was able to take and extra day off work to go see her. Yesterday we spend the day walking around a cute little town called Port Perry. There was a nice waterfront and little shops. We had lunch here and then went back to her little town of Uxbridge. Here we again explored little stores and went to a bakery. In the afternoon we put in a movie and both fell asleep and took naps. Later we made dinner and then went to see the new Harry Potter movie. She loved it and thought it was great, I mostly laughed and thought it was ridicules. I am sure I would have enjoyed it more if I has seen moves 5-7 before I watched the final number 8. This morning we spent walking around her farm and she showed me all the things that were in season. (Stayed tuned for pictures of me "helping" her so some chores!) Now I am sitting at the airport, waiting for my flight to Chicago. One nice thing about the Toronto airport is that they have free Wi-Fi, unlike most airports theses days. I am ready to be home and in my own bed but I will dread going back to work tomorrow!

Well I guess that is is for now. Just had a little bit of time so I thought I would update about my quick Canadian adventure!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Welcome to the World

2011-07-03T11:14:00.001-05:00

Oh my gosh it has been a long time since I have posted anything. I was doing so good there though for awhile. Well I am back and with some very exciting news! I am officially an Auntie! That's right Jenna had her baby in May and although I am slacking in the blog department it is only because I spend every second I can with my precious little niece Madison Ray. She really is pretty much the love of my life and I already have her spoiled rotten.

She is getting so big. And I just love her so much! Isnt' she pretty much the cutest?

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

All Roads Lead to Rome

2011-05-03T10:32:00.000-05:00

While this may have been true at some point what it doesn't say is that not all roads lead to the convent in Rome. Before starting my bus tour through Europe I got the chance to spend three days in beautiful Rome. While there I met up with my good friend from Liberty University, Kristina. Kristina is currently serving as a missionary in Romania for a year. But finding her in the huge city proved to be difficult.

I arrived in the morning with no problems. I had hired a car to take me from the airport to the convent where we were staying for a very good price and just like they said they were waiting for me. I arrived to discover that Kristina and group had not yet check in. This surprised me as their flight arrived before mine, but I didn't panic we had a plan, meet at the Vatican at 11 for our 11:30 tour. So after checking in I took the bus to the Vatican City. When I arrived I was astonished by how many people there were. The place was huge and so busy so I did the logical thing, I looked around the monuments, the fountain, the steps. Finally I found an information center where I learned that the museum entrance is different from where I was currently. At this point I only had 15 min. to walk to the entrance, find the group and start the tour. Well I did arrive at the museum but could not find them anywhere but it was not 11:35. I assumed that they had started the tour so I bought a ticket and the lady dropped me off at the first point of the tour.

I ended up wondering around for hours looking for them. Finally I decided that I would simply follow the day's itinerary on my own and hoped that I would find them some where along the way. This of course never happened but I did see everything that had been planned. At 7:30 I decided to call it a night and head back to the convent. And this is where the real trouble began...

I am pretty sure that I took every bus that Rome has to offer. I kept asking the bus drivers for help and they tried their best but no one seemed to know where this convent was. What was worse was that I had lost my paper which had the address and phone number to the place on it. At 10:30 I gave in and called Cristina, my host mother, and asked her to look it up for me and to call the convent to tell them I would miss the 11 pm curfew. She of course was worried but was able to give me the address and phone number for the place. At one point I have about 5 bus drivers helping me at the same time. They seemed confident that if I took bus x to such and such and switched to bus y it would take me right there. It was all I could do not to start crying right then and there. I was so tired and my feet hurt and I could not bare the thought of taking any more buses so I simply asked them to help me get a taxi.

Rome is not like New York, where you can just hail a cab on the side of the street, you actually have to do to a taxi stop. A very nice off duty bus driver drove me in the not in service bus to the taxi stop. The taxi driver didn't know where the convent was either so he called the number Cristina had given me to get directions. Finally at about 12:15 I arrived "home" where I am pretty sure I fell asleep even before my head hit the pillow.

The next day I finally got to meet up with Kristina and her group and the next two days were wonderful. We saw all the major sites and we could not have asked for more perfect weather...well almost, but that's another story!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Salad in Spanish

2011-05-02T13:08:00.000-05:00

Well I promised more stories from my Europe tour trip so here is one that should make you laugh. On the trip there were two girls from Columbia. As such they spoke spanish which proved to be useful when we were in Italy as the two languages are very closely related. In Florence a few of us went for a walk and to find something to eat. Joanna kept saying how hungry she was and could we please find someplace to sit down and have dinner. Well we finally found the local hang out place and we were getting ready to order. Joanna decided that she wanted a salad and she asked the waiter about an item on the menu. She gathered that it was a pasta and lettuce salad that had cheese in it.

When we got our food I had a wonderful plate of ravioli, another girl a pizza, and the other a pasta dish. When Joanna got her dish she was very surprised to see a plate of 5 pieces of cheese arranged on her plate with a few sprigs of lettuce in the middle. It was possibly one of the funniest things that happened but to make it even better we had not even controlled our laughter when a man trying to get us to donate money to some cause or another walked in and put a card and a mouse keychain right next to her plate of cheese. Of course we laughed even harder and then took pictures of the mouse next to the cheese. Joanna was a good sport and ate the whole thing. It just goes to show that although somethings may be close in language it is important to know the differences.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Home Sweet Home

2011-04-30T06:21:00.000-05:00

I am ready to go home. I know that is not something you are supposed to say when you are in a beautiful foreign country like Italy, but it's how I feel. I have been here for 80 days and I am simply ready to spend time with my family and have a room that is really mine and be in my own bed with my new pillows that I got for Christmas, and cook in my own kitchen, and simply be home. The thing about home is that it is were everything is familiar and you come to know what to expect, especially from those who you are closest to. After nearly three months here I still don't know what to expect each day from Mike or Cristina, or Ale or the baby. Their moods, reactions, assumptions, and feelings are still in many ways a mystery to me and it's tiring trying to read them all the time.

There are so many thing that are different here but one of the main ones is the hospitality. Both of my parents, but especially my mom, have taught me a great lesson in this area. They always have an open door to the house. And what's even better is that they LOVE it when people stop by. They love meeting my friends and putting names with faces. My mom would take in anyone. Once I called to ask if I could invite a girl home for Christmas who had no place to go. Before I even asked my mom suggested that I bring her home with me. She then went on to say that if needed she would personally call this girl to invite her, and that she would do some shopping to make sure that the girl had presents under the tree to celebrate. This melted my heart and although it did not come as a surprise, amazed me how generous and open hearted my parents are. Mike and Cristina are great people but they just do not have the same mindset. They plan on having me take the bus from Bergamo to Milan to the airport, instead of taking me themselves. This would be unheard of in my family. It saddens me somewhat to think that they don't want to take me to the airport to see me off but I keep telling myself that this is a different culture and that not everyone sees things the same way but it is difficult.

My experience has been great but now I am ready to be home. As Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz says, "there's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's not place like home."

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

My New Time Waster

2011-04-26T15:20:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh! I have to tell you about me new time waster. I have discovered Pinterest! It's like reading a blog that gets updated every few seconds and instead of having to read through long paragraphs it is just pictures! And one of the best parts about it is that it automatically gives credit to the original website so if I really want to read more I can just follow the link. I have already found so many great ideas that I can't wait to try. But maybe I am getting ahead of my self. Let me explain.

Pinterest is a website that allows you to catalog ideas, kind of like a creative scrapbook. Instead of ripping out the recipe in a magazine you can "pin it" to a "board" and come back to it later. It's kind of like being able to look at all your bookmarks at the same time. I also love that you can look through other people's boards and repin to your own. Because people are constantly updating it is easy to spend a lot of time on the site just looking at pretty things.

The only downfall I have seen so far is that you have to be "invited" to join, and there is currently a waiting list. And so while I have not been accepted yet I have been doing lots of looking at other's boards and can't wait to start working on my own!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Insert Creative Title Here

2011-04-23T05:55:00.000-05:00

Before I begin this post can I just confess that I hate trying to think of clever post titles. On the other hand I also hate boring and obvious blog titles so you see the problem. Today I am just not able to think of a creative title so sorry about that. I also apologize for my long absence. I don't even have the excuse that nothing has happened because lots has happened. Today I am really tired so this will be a short post but I hope it will make you smile.

Recently I went to a bus tour of Europe. It was an amazing experience a you can look forward to more stories about this experience soon. One of the funniest things that happened was on my way back from London to Milan. In Holland I bought a pair of traditional Dutch clogs (you know the wooden shoes?). They were so fun I couldn't resist. The down side of this is that they are pretty heavy and take up a lot of space. I flew on a very cheap airline and because of this they only allow one piece of hand luggage. This means that your purse or laptop has to fit in the hand luggage, or in my case my wooden shoes. Well I simply did not have room for anything else in my hand luggage and was at the maximum weight limit as well. So to "cheat the system" so to speak, I wore my regular shoes all the way to the gate carrying my clogs. Then at the gate I switched my shoes and wore my clogs onto the plane. This was surely a site to see as I had never before walked in the wooden shoes and to make it even better you had to actually walk outside to the plane and climb the stairs onto the airplane. And when I landed I had to carefully make my way down the stairs in these shoes and to the baggage claim before I could switch back to my regular shoes. I got many stares and weird looks but I got the clogs back and did not have to pay and extra fee so in all I feel it was a successful plan.

On another note, in exactly two weeks from today I will be home! The time has gone by so fast I can't believe that it is almost over. I have so much more I want to share from the trip but it will have to wait until later because I desperately need a nap.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Bridges and Canals

2011-03-10T06:07:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I set out on an adventure to one of the most beautiful places I have ever been... Venice! This magical city full of quaint bridges and flowing canals looks just like it does in the movies. For the most part it is peaceful and astonishingly quiet due to the lack of cars. While walking through a busy street I was reminded of walking up to a high school. There were many people, some hurrying to class or an activity and some just standing around enjoying the company of others passing the time before the obligation of learning became necessary to fulfill.

Traveling to this remarkable city was a story in itself. I booked my train ticket all by my self (like a big girl, mommy aren't you proud?). When Mike got home he was helping me to print the ticket and was looking it over to give me instructions for the next day. He noticed that they had only given me four min. between my connections. Of course I did not notice this when I booked the ticket. I assumed that they would provide an itinerary which would be acceptable. As I would never make the connection Mike said that he would drive me to the second station and I would simply take the train from there. The next morning I got to the station and found my way to the platform. When the train arrived it was very crowded but I managed to push my way on before the doors closed.

As the train pulled away from the station I became aware that this was going to be a very long three hour journey. I never made it into the car of the train but instead was crammed into the space between two cars with about 25-30 other people. For most of the trip my body was at a 15 degree angle from my legs. I supported my self with my arms on a rail and tried very hard not to fall on top of the people around me. Most of the way I was supporting not only my body weight but also those around me as we turned and swayed along. At any given time I was touching at least three others.

When we arrived in Venice I was sore and tired and felt very dirty, but these thoughts were taken away but the beauty of a city I had only seen in pictures and movies. Walking around, being able to stretch and relax turned my mood around and I soon forget the over crowded train ride.

Venice was in the middle of its very famous carnival celebration this weekend which meant costumes, masks, and lots of extra people. It was fun to see the bright colored costumes and street performers. The very famous St. Mark's Square was what I imagine New York's Times Square to be like on New Year's Eve, very crowded and chaotic. Those dressed in full authentic costume were instant tourist attractions, with people wanted to take pictures with them. I of course also got my picture taken with several to mark the occasion.

Although I am glad that I got to experience the carnival in all its glory, I am also grateful that I have the opportunity to go back, when it is hopefully not as busy, to see more of the sights and attractions. The train ride home was peaceful and quiet. I was glad that I purchased a more expensive ticket which included an assigned seat. It was well worth the money! Overall I think I lost about 5 lbs. from walking that day. I got some great photos, and I highly recommend making Venice apart of any trip to Italy.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Banana Bread

2011-03-06T14:05:00.000-06:00

Today we made banana bread, by we I mean Alessandro and me. Making food here is interesting for two reasons. First, Cristina has to help me buy the ingredients because all the names are in Italian. On top of this, packaging is much different. For one thing they don't really sell things in bulk here so items that I am used to coming in large packages are small here and you just have to buy multiple. And some things like cheddar cheese, and sour cream don't exist so I am having to improvise. The second reason that making food here is interesting is the metric system. Measuring in cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons is replaces by grams and oz. This can be very frustrating and although I could translate every measurement I have given this up for estimating. I have made enough cookies and cakes to know about how much a cup or half a cup is. I use and actual tea spoon or tablespoon for measuring smaller ingredients.

So we made the banana bread estimating and improvising ingredients and you know what? It turned out just fine. It is a little spongy but other than that it is good. I even put some nuetella on one of the muffins and that only increased it's deliciousness. And the best part was that I think Ale really enjoyed making it. He helped me pour and mix things together. He even helped me wash the dishes! (I think he thought it was a game since I let him play with the water in a bowl afterwards.) And we had a really good time, without the t.v., or the ipad, or iphone! And that was my favorite part!

If you have any other creative ideas that I can do with a 4 year old boy I would love some suggestions! As the weather has not been very nice lately I would welcome advice from those pros with young ones!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Inspiration Station

2011-03-02T14:47:00.000-06:00

Many of you often ask me where I get my craft ideas from. Well tonight I have conveniently posted the links to three of my favorite blogs in my blog list on the right. Jones Design Company has some great and easy to follow tutorials. I love How About Orange because they offer a lot of free printable and downloadable files. And finally, if you are in the mood for some home decor changes Design Sponge has a great before and after section to inspire you. They also have some great ideas in the DIY section. So if you are looking for some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing check these out. Enjoy!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Snail Mail

2011-03-01T11:24:00.000-06:00

Today I went to the post office to mail some postcards. The cost of mailing three said postcards was bout $6.00. Therefore, there will be no more snail mail for the duration of this trip. If you are one of the lucky three who gets a postcard, consider yourself blessed. I will continue to write postcards and then simply mail them or hand them out when I get home. I know this sounds cheap but I feel my resources are better used on other things than mailing a simple postcard for two dollars a piece.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Milano

2011-02-25T04:46:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we took a surprise trip to Milan, or as they say here Milano. It was a relatively nice day outside so it was good just to walk around and see the city. The first place I went to was the Duomo. The Duomo is a huge church, but I have to admit that it is prettier on the outside then on the inside.

It also just happens to be Milan fashion week so there were tons of people running around. You can see the runway tents set up, but you have to have a invitation in order to attend an event. There was a smaller public stage but there wasn't anything going on when we were there.

After passing through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, which is home to the original Prada store, we saw the famous statue of Leonardo DaVinci.

Next we hit up the Michigan Avenue of Milan. It was very easy not to spend money here because most of the things at these stores cost more then my plane ticket to Italy!

Finally we visited a very famous restaurant, known all over the world, McDonald's! It tasted about the same but it was so busy in there!

Over all I loved it and can't wait to go back and see more of the city. I also fully plan to see the famous Last Supper painting if I can get tickets!

Ciao,
Peggy

Sweet vs. Salty

2011-02-21T08:37:00.000-06:00

I am not really a chips person, I am what they call a sweet tooth. I love sugar in all forms, fruit, candy, chocolate, etc. If you are a sweet tooth you understand exactly what I am talking about when I say that I crave sugar most of the time, even if I am full. But some times, every once in a while I get this huge craving for chips. And when I can't seem to help my self but just keep eating. It is really out of control. Its like the way people eat popcorn in the movie theater, as if they have been starving to death and the popcorn is the first nourishment they have received in weeks. If you have ever seen the Ellen stand up you will know what I am talking about. That is how I end up eating chips when I get this craving. It's kind of a problem. I guess the only good part is that this only happens about once every three months or so.

So which are you? Sweet or salty? And do you ever get mad craving for the opposite?

The Catholic Chruch

2011-02-18T06:47:00.000-06:00

I love going into old Catholic Churches. The are and architecture are so overwhelmingly beautiful that it is hard to understand why we now prefer functionality over ascetics. Within all this beauty though there is one thing that most Catholic Churches have that I don't find enjoyable and that is the large scary looking Jesus, usually located front and center. Granted not every Catholic church is like this but nine times out of ten there he is, staring at you making you feel guilty and afraid. Or worse yet he is looking away as if he is ashamed of you. This is one of the biggest differences between the Catholic approach to Jesus and the Protestant approach. They Catholics focus on guilt, while the Protestants focus on grace. Personally if I was not a Christian and I walked into a Catholic church with a big scary looking Jesus I would probably run the other way, but that's just me.

Just some thoughts from my touring experience today.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Rain, Rain go away.

2011-02-15T12:12:00.000-06:00

Today it was raining. This does not make for good sightseeing weather. I did go for a walk today but I didn't take any pictures. Mostly I went into shops and looked at baby things for my sister. They have some really cute baby items here but I resisted to save for another day. Between the rain today and not feeling well yesterday I don't have much to report. Alessandro is getting better and numbers and he is very good with colors. We have been working on "where is" compared to "what is it". Depending on his mood he either does really well or doesn't want to do anything.

As for my Italian I am sad or report that I am not doing as well. I think I might need to look into a language class or a tutor so that I have a specific time and reason to work on it.

Tomorrow I think Cristina and I are going to go shopping after we drop Alessandro off at school. This should be a nice outing and a good chance to spend some time with each other outside of the house. Well I guess that is about it for now.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Destination Wedding

2011-02-12T07:58:00.000-06:00

Today as I was exploring the beautiful city of Bergamo I found a wedding planner, a wedding dress shop where they do custom wedding dresses, and numerous bakeries, so can you say destination wedding! On top of that there are so many beautiful churches, even if they are Catholic. Now all I need to do is find a man.

I also visited the museum of modern art, which is conveniently located right around the corner from the house, literally. The fact that it is free is also a plus. It is a nice museum with three floors of galleries. The first floor is the best because they have a print out in English of each piece and information about the artist. For some reason they don't have this for the second and third floors which made them less enjoyable. Also on the top two floors have much more obscure art, and displays that I would not consider to be art but who am I to judge.

The weather today is beautiful, drastically different from yesterday. Yesterday it wasn't cold like in Iowa but for some reason I just couldn't get warm. It was one of those colds that just gets into your bones and no matter what you put on or wear you are still cold. Today is was nice to be able to walk around outside with only a heavy jacket. So while most of you who read this are dressed for snow know that I am here enjoying an early spring! Miss you all lots!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Today I Went for a Walk

2011-02-10T07:37:00.000-06:00

Today I went for a walk in the city of Bergamo, Italy. The city is divided into two parts, the top and the bottom or old city and the new city. I am living in the new city but at the very base of the old city. On my walk today I took the steps to the old city. I wondered around trying not to get lost. I found a cute little park with a great view of the bottom part of the city.

One thing I learned today is that in the city of Bergamo the streets are not formed in blocks like they are in the states. If you wonder down a street you may never find your way back unless you turn around and go back the same way you came.

Last night I discovered that I live almost directly above and ice cream shop, which they call gelato. This could be very bad for my waist line but it was really good.

I made this discovery after coming home from pizza. It was so good. Here everyone gets their own pizza, they don't share.

The family I am staying with is really nice. The little boy Alessandro is cute. He doesn't speak English but that is the whole point of me being here. So last night we worked on colors and some toys. He is very smart and I think he will catch on quickly. It will probably help that I don't speak any Italian, well maybe five words if that counts. I am hoping to improve this by the time I come home.

Well that is all for now! Ciao!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Update

2011-02-02T22:36:00.000-06:00

Well my mom did not get to have a snow day today. She went to work as usual, but I enjoyed a day inside. Awhile a go I told you about an opportunity to go to Italy. Things have changed a bit since I wrote that post but I am still going. First the visa paper work has still not come in and so I am unable to go and stay with the family I originally was planning to go to. On the upside they have a friend who is in need of some help has she and her husband have one little boy and are expecting another in April. This family lives outside of Milan in a cute little town with lots of old churches. After speaking with them I am really excited to be staying with this family. They seem very nice and laid back. I think this will also be a good match for me and I am looking forward to meeting them. I have book my flight and officially leave on Tuesday!

My mom helped me pack tonight, which was a challenge as I only get one checked bag. She never ceases to amaze me with her packing ability! So in less than a week I will be off to the country pasta, romance, wine, history, and art! I can't wait!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Snow Day!

2011-02-01T22:08:00.000-06:00

It's official, we are in the middle of a blizzard. My mom and I stood marveling at the force of the wind and snow out the window tonight. It just reminds me of God's awesome power and the way his hand is in control of everything. He knows every snowflake.

The storm is supposed to last until mid-morning tomorrow, which means (hopefully) that my mom will get / have to stay home from work. So, I am planning a wonderful, relaxing snow day! It will include reading a book, watching a movie, cooking some good food, and hot chocolate! And maybe even turning on the fireplace for fun! Any one else have big plans for the snow day?

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Irony

2011-01-31T17:12:00.000-06:00

Today I got a call about a job opportunity in Chicago. It sounded like I would be a great candidate. Then the recruiter asked me what I got on my ACTS. I told her a 23 or 24 I don't really remember to be honest. She then said I had to have at least a 28 to be considered for the position. 28! Really! First of all I took the ACTS 6 years ago. Second I have a MASTER'S in business! But nope I am not qualified for the assistant position because I did not score at least a 28 on my ACTS. Good thing I went to college so that I can get a good job! What irony.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Out of the Carpet Bag

2011-01-25T19:52:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite movies growing up was Mary Poppins. I loved the big carpet bag that held surprises that just kept coming. You never could tell what was coming next. In creating my own line of crafts and homemade items I hope to carry over the same idea. I hope that you will check back often to see what new item I am offering. To start this new line I am excited to showcase three of my favorite new trends: tutus, chunky felt flowers, and dainty satin flowers. Each come in a variety of colors and sizes. To purchase simply comment and let me know what you are interested in. Shipping is included in the listed price. If you don't see a color that you like let me know and we can work out a custom order. Enjoy!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Pouffy Princess: $28
(Pink and Purple, Long)
Pink and Purple Satin Flower: $5
(On a pin, headband not included)

Garden Party: $28
(Green and Purple, Long)

Black Felt Flower: $5

Basic Ballerina: $28
(Pink and White, Long)
Pink Satin Flower: $5
(Three or Four layers with white perl center on a pin, headband not included)

Things I Love

2011-01-24T23:51:00.000-06:00

Reading blogs
Easy craft tutorials
Sun chips
Children's Bible songs
Fluffy pillows
Black and white photography
Spending time with my grandparents
Cookies
Traveling to new places
Road trips
Stained glass windows in Churches
Fresh flowers
Children's picture books
Sleeping in

(These are not in any particular order)

Just thought I would share some random facts about me.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Roman Holiday

2011-01-19T21:58:00.000-06:00

At the end of November or the beginning of December, I made a comment on facebook that I was thinking about being a nanny in Italy. It was mostly a joke just to see what people would say, but then I really started to look into it. I found a website where nannies / au pairs could connect with families looking to hire. There was one family in particular that just look so sweet and friendly. It was the only family that I would have truly been interested in working for. Well several weeks went by with out hearing anything back from then, until two and a half weeks ago. They wrote back saying that they were interested in hiring me to take care of their two little girls. Since then it has been a whirlwind but I have decided to take the position and move to Rome for three months! We are now waiting on the Italian government to grant me a work visa so that I can stay longer than 90 days. I will leave sometime between now and Feb. 11th. I am so excited about this opportunity and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me over there. The family lives in the city center of Rome about a 5 min. walk from the Vatican! So instead of my usual sign off I will say

Ciao,
Peggy

New Year New Record.

2011-01-08T14:59:00.000-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! A new year always means a time to set new goals and to evaluate the past year. I would like to point out that in 2010 I had more blog posts than any other year! A new record! In 2011 I will try to again keep this blog updated on a semi-consistent basis. No promises though.

I have set a few new year's goals, not resolutions as that world kind of intimidates me. They are as follows:

Eat healthier
Exercise more consistently
Read more books for enjoyment
Read the Bible from start to finish

I know they sound a little generic but I have a plan set out to make them more specific. So what are some of your new year's goals or resolutions? I love hearing how others are hoping to make this year better than last year.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Chicago Update

2010-12-14T18:57:00.000-06:00

Well I did not get the job in Chicago. On the one hand I am a little disappointed. I really liked the company and the people that I interviews with. I think that I would have been a really fun place to work. On the other hand when I left the interview I was very confident. And even looking back two weeks later there isn't anything that I wish I would have said or done differently. I feel that I represented my self and what I believe well and so it is hard to be discouraged. I know that everyone is trying to be positive by saying that the Lord has something better, and I know that he does, but it isn't really something that I need to be consoled about. I am excited to see what he has in store and until then I will keep seeking his guidance.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Confession

2010-12-09T23:18:00.000-06:00

So confession, I am a blog-aholic. I love reading blogs and I will check the ones I follow several times a week just to see if they have been updated. This being said, I must admit that if a post is too long I will not read the whole thing. I think one of the things I love about blogs it that they are often a quick snap shot of what some one is going through, a quick life update. When a blog post is long and drawn out this defeats the whole point for me and I stop reading. There are a couple of blogs that I like to check that do this quite frequently, and although I try to make it through the whole thing, I often find that if I don't see the point towards the beginning I loose interest. Please don't think less of me but I just wanted to let you know that I am more apt to read your blog if you update more but write fewer words per post. I hope that no one is offended by this. I guess I am just part of the journalism statistic that says that the most important information should be at the top. And that people hate to click and scroll to get to what they are looking for. Just thought you might want to know.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Some Alone Time

2010-12-05T22:30:00.000-06:00

I am a pretty outgoing person. I like to be around people and I find that I don't need tons of "alone" or "me" time. As I get older, however, I am finding more value in the quite times. Times when there isn't 100 things to do, or homework or work pressure to deal with, and everything is just still, in those times I am finding value in taking some time to be by my self and to enjoy the still. My new favorite things to do for alone time are craft and design blogs, a good pandora music channel, and candles. After five years of living in a dorm room with a strict policy of no fire hazardous luminaries, I have found a new appreciation for the soft light of candles. Black and white movies would also be on the list.

So what are some of your favorite relaxing activities?

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Chicago Drivers Ed

2010-11-30T15:08:00.000-06:00

This weekend in Chicago I learned some driving lessons that I never had in driver's ed class. For example, the lane lines are really just a suggestion. You can really drive anywhere on the road that you feel is best. Also the horn is a tool to be used in all situations, for anger, to say hello, if you are excited or frustrated, etc. It was an experience all of its own.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Veggies

2010-11-24T22:49:00.000-06:00

For family Thanksgiving this year my family was assigned veggies. Not like a veggies platter but green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes. This may sound like an easy task to some of you but I have never made a green bean casserole or a sweet potato casserole. So when my mom asked me to find some recipes and make a grocery list, I immediately took out my new holiday cooking magazine and began searching for the perfect veggies to compliment the turkey my Grandma is making. I found several that looked promising and made a list accordingly. What I did not calculate into my plan was all the prep work that vegetables take. There is so much peeling, chopping, and boiling. We started cooking at 6 pm tonight and are just now finishing (10:45 pm). And when I say finished I mean that I left my mom with all the clean up and one dish that still needs to be baked in the oven tomorrow. All in all we made five dished, and not a single green bean casserole, or corn for that matter. Now that hope is that they all reheat well tomorrow. Happy turkey day everyone! I hope that you all can count the many blessings that the Lord has bestowed and remember to have an attitude of gratitude not only tomorrow but every day.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

P.S. I think for Christmas I will volunteer to make something fun and easy like cookies!

Last One For Today

2010-11-23T16:20:00.000-06:00

Well since I am catching up on my blogging I might as well tell you that the phone interview went really well and I have been invited to an in-house interview with the firm in Chicago. I will be traveling up there this weekend to start looking at apartments and to have some getaway time with my mom and then have the big interview on Monday morning. If all goes well I should know soon and could be moving before Christmas! So keeping my fingers crossed.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

The Cheese Stands Alone

2010-11-23T16:17:00.000-06:00

This comes from what a friend said to me last night as we were discussing all the newly engaged couples as of late. I mean really it is to the point of ridiculousness recently. Here is just a small list of the people I know who are getting married in the coming months.

My friend Josie is marring her high school sweetheart Matt.
Kaitlin is tying the not with Jim who she met online.
Jess is marrying into the life of a solider with her love Conrad.
Mandy found herself the country boy of her dreams in Jeremy.

On top of these four I am expecting three more in the near future, my sister and her boyfriend Matt, Leah and Sidney, and Leah and Matt.

I think it is going to be one packed summer full of road trips!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Love / Hate Relationship

2010-11-23T16:08:00.000-06:00

I have a love / hate relationship with the internet. I love the web but it hates me. From the time we got wireless at my house this July we have had problems with it. First it was a matter of getting it set up, then the router that we got wouldn't work. After several hours of talking to tech support we have finally managed to have a steady connection for a while, until about a week and a half ago. For some reason it just stopped working so after four days and several phone calls we finally got the issue resolved...well for some of us. For two days my computer was working great, no problems and then for some reason it just stopped. I tried everything I could think of. I knew it had to be my computer because my sister's was working just fine. After two days of destroying my settings and being completely frustrated I gave in and called the help line, yet again. The lady was so nice and patient with me as I fumbled to do the things she asked. She was able to remotely access my computer and change whatever was wrong and in about 30 min I was back up and running again. This is great news since I am in the middle of an online class. So thank you to cisco tech support, you were most helpful, yet again.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Blast From the Past

2010-11-23T16:02:00.000-06:00

Last night I got to catch up with a good friend from high school, Sarah Springer. Sarah is one of the funniest people I know. She is so full of life and energy its some times hard to keep up. Currently, Sarah is living in L.A. working on movie sets as part of the costuming crew. She has worked with numerous stars including Orlando Bloom, Ryan Phillippe, Matthew McConaughey, and soon Katherine Heigl's new film. I have to say that some times I am a little star struck by her. Here she is a small town girl from Iowa doing exactly what she set out to do. And to top it all off she is a genuinely nice and caring person. It's always good to see a friendly face from the past. And I think I will be needing to plan a little vacation to the west coast soon!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Oh How He Love Us

2010-11-18T22:22:00.000-06:00

Tonight I was reminded of just how much the Lord loves us. I helped plan and event for my women's Bible study called 3:12. These women are amazing and have become such good friends to me. I wanted to help do something special and so I took an idea of an event we did at Liberty University and scaled it down to fit our group. Every year at Thanksgiving Liberty has a communion service. It is a powerful, and very special time of remembering what the Lord has done for us and being thankful for his sacrifice. Each year is a little bit different but always it is a time where we encounter the Lord.

For my event I took several things that Liberty has done and made them my one. We started out by watching a scene from the Passion of Christ set to music. This movie is always a powerful reminder of the true sacrifice that was made on our behalf. It is heartbreaking to watch but then again seeing a perfect God beaten and killed for our sins should be heartbreaking. After this we read some of the names of God and their meanings, reminding us of who he is. 1 Cor. talks about having a clean heart before taking communion so I had every one write down things that needed to be given over to the Lord and prepare their hearts. These papers were then dipped in red paint symbolizing the blood of Christ covering our transgressions. We then nailed the papers to a cross. After this we cook communion and had a time of sharing.

One of the biggest things that struck me tonight was when one of the girls was sharing. She said that she had forgotten the joy that she can have in Christ and that she missed God. I feel like that sometimes, especially when I haven't spent the time with the Lord that I should. I miss him and I forget how much I really do need him. We say that he is enough, that he is satisfying, that we are complete in him, but why then do we "need" so many things. We "need" to do this or that, we "need" to have such and such, we "need" so many things that sometimes we forget that we need Christ. We think of him as an added bonus that we can pull out and use when ever it is convenient. We think of him as a want and not a need and a want is not something that is a priority. I am guilty probably more than most. There are so many things in life that I refer to as needs that simply are not, and yet when it come to the Lord, a true need, sometimes I think of him as a want, something that is desirable but something that can wait to later. I need to change this thinking. Tonight I was reminded that I too miss the Lord and that I need him. Not just for a free pass to heaven and salvation but everyday, every hour, every min. I need him. And I will need him more tomorrow than I did today and even more the next day. I need the Lord, he can not wait till later, he must be the priority right now.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Exciting News!

2010-11-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

This will be very short but I thought it was important enough to post a quick note. I have a telephone interview next Thursday with an ad agency in Chicago! That is all the more detail I am going to put for now as it is just a phone interview and I don't want to get too excited but I would appreciate your prayers on this.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Life Update

2010-10-21T09:58:00.000-05:00

As I feel I have been doing an exceptional job at keeping my few, but I hope faithful, followers updated recently, I feel it only fair to warn you that I may be falling into an old pattern of slacking again. I have recently started a new job at the Dwayne Arnold Energy Center. This is a temporary position as a helper during their refueling outage. It is really hard to explain what I do as I still have not quite figured it out my self yet. The current working schedule is six days a week 12 hours a day. So basically I wake up at 5:45 am, be to work by 7:00 am, get off at 7:00 pm, eat supper, take a shower, my my lunch for the next day, and go to bed. As you can see this does not leave much room for extra activities. I will try my best to post something on Thursdays, which is my one day off, but until the middle to end of November, don't expect too much out of me and don't say I didn't warn you.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Let the eat cake!

2010-10-09T22:50:00.000-05:00

In my new life of unemployment I have decided to try a new hobby, cake decorating! My Grandma used to make and decorate wedding cakes, and my mom did all of our birthday cakes, but neither of these two decided to pass along this very valuable skill to me. At first I tried to convince my mom to teach me, but as is with some things, it was soon apparent that parents don't make for the best teachers. Part of the problem with my mom is that she said she didn't remember, which I think is really just her trying to get out of it. So I bough a beginner's guide for some help and I must say that in my first attempt I was pretty impressed with my self.

I then moved on to shaped pans and tried my hand at the art of stars. This pumpkin turned out pretty well but took a lot of time and concentration.

With two basics down I was ready to move on to learn some more techniques. I traded my awesome babysitting skills (I don't really know about that but I do love kids) for a professional lesson! Melanie Davis, from Melanie's Pink Cake Box, was my teacher and was really great.

After this experience I made one more cake to practice. After the fourth cake I realized that we had way too much cake sitting in the freezer and I was time to give it a rest for while. In the last couple of weeks I have successfully been able to give some of the cakes away to very deserving people and am excited to pick the hobby back up soon! This come with another motivation, that today I got a giant cupcake pan for FREE! at a garage sale. So be looking for another picture soon!

So what are some of your hobbies? I am always looking for a new and exciting challenge. Let me know if you have any ideas for my next project.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Amazing Women of God

2010-10-08T23:01:00.000-05:00

Well since I told you about one amazing woman of God that I know, I thought that maybe I should tell you about another. I was privileged enough to have this wonderful woman as my roommate for a whole year! We worked together in ministry and in the process became really good friends. On top of that she is one of the most discerning people that I know and wise beyond her years. I consider Robin P. not only my friend but in many ways a mentor to me.

Many of you may have heard about the struggles I faced in my first year as an R.A. at Liberty University. It was one of the most challenging experiences of my life! But I was not in it alone. God blessed me with Robin for a partner and a friend and together we managed to some how make it through the year.

During this time Robin was engaged to her now husband Jason. These two people could not be more perfect for each other. Jason is one of the most selfless people that I have ever met. In the time that Robin and I lived together I remember several times where we were having a bad day and Robin would call Jason and he would go out and get ice cream not only for her but for me too! It is not often that you find someone who thinks of others like that.

And Robin? Robin taught me so much that year. She taught me about unconditional love, about endurance, about balance, about commitment, but mostly she taught me about submission. Submission often gets a bad rap and has an ugly connotation in our liberal, feminist movement world. Most often we are taught as women that we are to be strong, independent, and to take charge if we want something. What we don't hear about is the Biblical role of a woman and how that can be a positive thing. Even though Robin and Jason were not married at the time, Robin submitted to Jason in their relationship and choose to follow his leadership. She practiced this before they got married in preparation and I know from talking to her since she has been married that because of her obedience to the Lord's outline for a Biblical marriage, Robin and Jason have avoided some of the problems that they have seen others struggle with.

I really could go on and on about this AMAZING woman. Robin and Jason celebrated the birth of their first child this year, a boy! I got the opportunity to take some pictures several months ago when I was visiting. I know that I posted them already but in cause you missed it here is a little reminder.

As I am writing my mind is flooded with all of the amazing women that the Lord has put into my life. I know I will never be able to recognize them all publicly but these last two posts have really helped me to reflect and to thank the Lord for all of his many blessings, especially those of friendship. Perhaps I will have to make this a little mini-series. It is also good because it helps me to recall the things that I have learned from each one and from the Lord.

So who are the amazing women of God in your life? I would love to hear about some of the people who have pushed, encouraged, challenged, inspired, and influenced you.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Blog Followers

2010-10-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

So apparently I have a blog follower, someone besides my sister! So here is a big shout out to Jess M, one of the best SLD's ever and my really good friend! Jess like me has a love for photography and has her own blog, which you can check out by clicking here. I first got to know Jess when we lived and worked together at Liberty University on dorm 5. I was so blessed to have Jess as a part of my leadership team. She is such a woman of God who truly offers and example of how to live a life that is ruled by Christ. I can't even tell you how many times she has encouraged me and helped me to grow in my own spiritual walk. One of the ways that Christ is evident in her life is in her relationship with her fiance Conrad. These true are one of the most precious couples I have ever met and so easy to be around. They both have such a desire to show people the love of Christ, both in their personal lives and in their relationship together. If you have the opportunity to spend some time with these to you will quickly see what I mean. Anyway, I love them and am so happy to have a follower.

Jess and I at one of many fun game nights!

With this comes a lot of pressure to stay updated but also some motivation. This week I have been trying several new things and some new craft projects to keep checking back in and I will let you know how they are going.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

P.S. If you are a follower/reader who is not my sister, let me know so I can give a shout out to you too! And feel free to leave comments!

Producitivity

2010-09-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

Yeasterday I had a very long list of things I wanted to accomplish today, and for the most part I stuck to it.

Paint the last drawer of the dresser.-CHECK
Print and fill out paper work for temp. job.-CHECK
Print letters for twinkle light board project. (more details to come)-CHECK
Call my grandma and ask her about apple picking.-Oops!
Cook delicious dinner.-CHECK
Make at least one thing from the new cooking magazine.-Well I made cookies for cubbies on Wed. but they were not form the new magazine.
Return movie to the library.-First thing tomorrow morning.
Call Amber about Thursday -Maybe tomorrow.
Read at least 50 pages of my book. -CHECK, actually I finished the whole book!

So as you can see I got almost everything done. Hope your day was as fruitful as mine!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Accountability

2010-09-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

Motivation often takes different forms. I find that I am often motived by accountability. If I tell someone I am going to do something I am more likely to accomplish it. So in a effort to be very productive tomorrow I am posting a to do list. Even if no one reads this, the possibility of another knowing and asking me about a task should be enough to encourage me to accomplish what I should tomorrow.

Paint the last drawer of the dresser.
Print and fill out paper work for temp. job.
Print letters for twinkle light board project. (more details to come)
Call my grandma and ask her about apple picking.
Cook delicious dinner.
Make at least one thing from the new cooking magazine.
Return movie to the library.
Call Amber about Thursday
Read at least 50 pages of my book.

Ok well I think that is plenty to keep me busy for at least most of the day. I'll let you know how it goes!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

I love to bake!

2010-09-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

It's true! I love to bake. Part of the reason that I love to bake so much is that most recipes include the same ingredients. Flour, sugar, eggs, in almost every recipe the staples are the same. And although I am learning to love to cook as well, baking is still my favorite. I know that I have already shared my fool proof cookie recipe so today I wanted to share my new favorite site for baking ideas. It's called Bakerella! This site is filled with fun ideas for sweets in minis. Today I made these cupcake bites.

They are so cute and really not that difficult. (I mean come on if I can do it so can you!) Mine don't look as picture perfect as these but they are pretty. You can find the step by step instructions by clicking here. While you are on the site check out and try some of the other creative ideas and let me know how they turn out!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Paint Your Own Pottery

2010-09-20T15:51:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to meet some new friends and get a great craft idea. Painting your own pottery is so much fun. Last spring the girls in my RA group went to a place in Lynchburg, VA that allowed you to do this. Our boss was getting married and we wanted to so something special for her. We ended up choosing to do a his and hers dinner place setting with coordinating colors. We each painted a piece and picked them up a week later. It was so much fun! But it was also kind of pricey.

Fast-forward to a couple of weeks ago and I learned that you can actually do this fun craft project at home for a much lower cost! Krystal purchased sever plain ceramic pieces from the Dollar Store! Some where white while others were clear glass. We then used acrylic paint to create our designs. After letting them dry for several hours we baked them in the over following the directions on paint labels. I believe that you bake them at 350 for 30 min. Then here is the trick to let the pieced dry in the oven. Once the potter is cooled you are good to go!

They are safe to use and can even be put in the top tray of the dishwasher to be cleaned (yes I have tried this and it came out the same way it went in). It was so much faster and cheeper. I can't wait to try it again!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

On The Job Hunt

2010-09-19T23:04:00.001-05:00

Well as many of you know I have been on the job hunt lately. After spending the summer killing my self with summer classes, I am now down to just one final class to finish my M.B.A. I will be taking this class online beginning in October, and although I am dreading the class I can't wait to be done with school! Finally!

This summer I babysat for three very cute kids, Max (8), Zach (6), and Makayla (5). We spent out days at the pool, the park, doing arts and crafts, and at a wide variety of other places. It was fun to have a break from school and to enjoy the outdoors during the nice weather. Following the start of school I worked for a friend at a recruiting office as an administrative assistant. I really enjoyed this position. I got to call references, work with the database, and search resumes for job candidates. Last week my friend decided to put in her resignation it order to take advantage of another opportunity. Because of this my position was discontinued. Although it was sad that the position was no longer available, I was able to find a new job quickly and this week I began a part time position at a cute little store called the Farmer's Daughter's Market. Although I loved the girls I was working with, and the job its self, after a week it was clear this was not a professional work environment that I wanted to be apart of so on Saturday I turned in my apron and said goodbye to my co-workers. I harbor no ill feelings and if you get the chance you should check out the store. It really is a neat place.

After all of this tomorrow I will once again be heading up the job search, looking for the right fit. I am focusing my hunt in four areas, locally (Cedar Rapids), CHICAGO, Minneapolis, and Internationally. Chicago is really my first choice, well actually an international position would be awesome but not as realistic. So if you or any one you know is looking for an honest, hard working individual with integrity please let me know. I am really interested in the areas of marketing, advertising, public relations, event planning, or graphic design. I am also open to another admin. position in order to get my foot in the door someplace. If the job is in Chicago I am pretty much up for anything that will pay the bills! Haha.

So that's what's going on in my life.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Honesty

2010-09-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

Well it has been awhile since I wrote something truly from the heart. Many times there isn't much that most of you who know me don't already know. My life seems to be pretty stable most days. The Lord is always teaching me new lessons but most of them are too hard to explain or have too much background. I find that he often teaches me slowly and over time rather than big lessons all at once. Maybe this is because I have a hard time listening. Or maybe it is because I often need time to think and digest the things that he is trying to teach me and so he only gives me a little at a time as to not overwhelm me. But this week I have been overwhelmed. This week I am learning about disappointment, heartache, and honesty.

I think so often my problem is not that I am not honest with others so much as I am not honest with my self. If I am not honest with myself how can I possibly be honest with those around me. I find this is true for a lot of people. They can see that what we are saying is not lining up with how we are living or acting or feeling but because we are not honest with out selves we don't listen or don't see what they are able to see.

This whole summer I have been learning about disappointment and failure. It started with not getting a job that I really wanted. It was followed by making a miscalculation in a class and not receiving a passing grade. It has continued with an endless job hunt for a position in the work force. And this week it was once again ripped at my heart with some news that should have been happy but is really more of a heartache.

So what have a I learned through all of this? I have learned that we cannot control the choices of others. I have learned that I must be honest with my self and with the Lord, even if it means telling him I am angry or upset or sad. I have learned that God knows what we need even more than we do. I have learned that sometimes failure is one of God's greatest blessings. The Lord's plan is always better than mine, and I have been reminded that he must often break us before he can bless us. I am learning to be more positive and to look on the bright side. And I think most of all I am learning how insignificant I am and how my idea of control is a facade self manifested to help me justify sin in my life. I am sure this idea doesn't make sense to any one else but that's ok because it is my self discovery.

Learning is hard. It requires change. It requires honesty. It requires pain. But in the end it is necessary. With out change self destruction begins to take hold, eventually forcing decisions to be made and consequences to be paid.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

C is for Cookies!

2010-09-13T11:23:00.000-05:00

I LOVE cookies! I can't help it, they are just so good. I find that I have no self control when it comes to these treats. If I eat one I am sure to eat three... ok if we are being honest sometimes five! So while I am waiting for my cookies to bake in the oven I though I would share my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

2 1/4 C. All purpose flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 C. butter
3/4 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Packed Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 Eggs
1 pkg. Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Now if you are one of those people who follows the directions to the T too bad! I am not and guess what they turn out just fine. Mix everything in a bowl and put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes and enjoy! Thats all there is to it.

And there's the timer! Got to go!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Becoming an Adult

2010-08-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

The other day I was reading a magazine and in the back it had a section called "You know you are an adult when...". Then listed below people had written in stating at what point you know you have become an adult. As I have embarked on a major job hunt for my first "grown up" job it got me thinking, at what point do you officially become an adult? Is it when you move out out of your parent's house? Or when you stop calling them every time you need money? Is it when you turn 18 or 21? When you buy your first house? I am not sure that there is one specific point where to transition from a child or young man or woman to an adult but the following are some indicators from my life that have paved the transition.

When you get up and go to bed of your own accord with out someone telling you to.
When you see the need to establish a budget and not just call mom or dad.
When you know the difference between a need and a want.
When you call and make your own appointments.
When you realize the choices you make impact more than just your self.
You know the definition of business and business casual and have the appropriate attire for those occasions.
When monthly bills start coming in your name and not to your parents.
When you know not only what you believe but why you believe it.
When you are not afraid to stand up for what you believe in.
When you understand that your words hold meaning and power and therefore you choose them carefully.
When grace is something you extend to others.
When you realize that the world does not revolve around you.

I am sure I could think of many more examples from my own life but these are the ones that came to mind first. So what about you? What are some things from your life that have shown that you are an adult?

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Engagement Photos

2010-08-02T12:16:00.001-05:00

I recently had the privilege of taking some pictures of my newly engaged friend and her fiance. Kaitlin and Jim will be getting married next August in Duluth, MN. Thanks so much guys for letting me take your pictures. You guys were a lot of fun to work with, I hope you like them.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

A Little Mood Music

2010-08-01T23:30:00.000-05:00

So tonight I had a homework assignment due (big surprise, I know). Homework seems to be my life lately and it is getting harder and harder to motivate my self to do it. Taking 5 summer classes is turning out to be one of those ideas that seems like a good one at the beginning but now I question what I was thinking. Anyway, to help myself get motivated I put on a little mood music. Sometimes this is classical or jazz but tonight I was in a really girly mood so I put on Pandora's Michael Buble channel. This combined with lighting some scented candles and turing off the overhead light for the bed side lamps I have proved to put me in a better mood and get my work done more efficiently. I will have to remember this trick in the next couple of weeks when I have my big papers due. So what's your relax but still be productive trick? I would love any hints or suggestions you might have.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Bed Time

2010-07-29T22:32:00.000-05:00

There should be a rule that says if you go to bed early you will not wake up tired, no matter how early you get up. I say this because last night I came up to my room at 8 pm, got into my pjs and put in a movie. At 10 pm I went to sleep. This morning I attempted to get up at 6:07 am, after hitting the snooze button three times I finally got out of bed around 6:33 am. This left me less then 15 min. to get ready and leave my house. I did so successfully but the point is this. Even though I went to bed really early I still woke up tired. It is just not right. If you are responsible and go to be early you should be able to wake up refreshed and feeling rested, not like you are on autopilot or sleep walking.

Those are my thoughts for the day. It is now 10:30 pm and past my bed time. Good night!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Success...well sort of.

2010-07-12T22:39:00.000-05:00

Lets review the goals for today shall we...

Clear off my bed and make it so I can move out of the guest room downstairs

Well I made a huge dent in the mess that is my room...however, there is still stuff all over my bed so I guess its the guest room again tonight.

Apply for a job

Except for a phone number and a cover letter I have the application done. This includes the five essay questions that are required.

Return movie to the library

Fail, I didn't even leave the hose today. But I did make some cookies which was not on the list.

Paint the dresser

Success, I got not one but two coats of paint on the dresser and it is looking very sharp (if I do say so my self)

At least take the dirty laundry downstairs so that maybe my mom will do it for me

Over achiever! Not only did I take the laundry downstairs I actually worked on it!

So overall I would say it was a very successful day. Tomorrow I hope to finish the tasks that were not completed today and work on some homework.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Goals for Tomorrow

2010-07-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

Goals For Tomorrow...

Clean my room
Apply for a job
Return movie to the library
Paint the dresser
Do laundry
Get ahead on school work

Ok so I know that doesn't sound like a lot but since my room is a total disaster and will probably take at least three days all by its self maybe we should revise.

New Goals For Tomorrow...

Clear off my bed and make it so I can move out of the guest room downstairs
Apply for a job
Return movie to the library
Paint the dresser
At least take the dirty laundry downstairs so that maybe my mom will do it for me

Forget about schoolwork for the day. I did a lot today so lets pretend its Sat. and that I have the day off. Sounds good. I'll let you know how it goes.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Baby Elijah!

2010-04-30T18:33:00.000-05:00

Crazy! My roommate from two years ago just had a baby! Robin and Jason got married the summer after Robin and I were roommates, and RA partners. I got to go down to North Carolina on Wednesday to see the new family of three. Elijah Daniel Purdy is such a little man! He is strong for being only 7 weeks old. Of course I had to get some good pictures while I was there. I took Robin and Jason's engagement pictures and now I got to take the first semi-professional photos for baby Elijah. Here are a few for you to preview.

Just Haven't Met you Yet

2010-04-07T23:36:00.000-05:00

So I know that I am a hopeless romantic but I really love this song! It's cute and makes me smile every time I hear it.

I'm not surprised, not everything lasts
I've broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track
Talk myself in, I talk myself out
I get all worked up, then I let myself down

I tried so very hard not to lose it
I came up with a million excuses
I thought, I thought of every possibility

And I know someday that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, that I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

I might have to wait, I'll never give up
I guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck
Wherever you are, whenever it's right
You'll come out of nowhere and into my life

And I know that we can be so amazing
And, baby, your love is gonna change me
And now I can see every possibility

And somehow I know that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

They say all's fair
In love and war
But I won't need to fight it
We'll get it right and we'll be united

And I know that we can be so amazing
And being in your life is gonna change me
And now I can see every single possibility

And someday I know it'll all turn out
And I'll work to work it out
Promise you, kid, I'll give more than I get
Than I get, than I get, than I get

Oh, you know it'll all turn out
And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out
And I promise you kid to give so much more than I get
Yeah, I just haven't met you yet

I just haven't met you yet
Oh, promise you, kid
To give so much more than I get

I said love, love, love, love
Love, love, love, love
(I just haven't met you yet)
Love, love, love, love
Love, love
I just haven't met you yet

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Game Night!

2010-03-07T11:47:00.000-06:00

So it is no secrete that I love to play games. I like card games, and board games, and games that make you feel silly. I can't help it. I think it is one of the reasons why I loved camp so much. For the past 3 weekends my friend Jess and her boyfriend Conrad have been throwing game nights at Conrad's apartment. It has been great to get off campus and fellowship with friends and to meet new people. I really enjoy the group that has been coming. Through these game nights I have learned a new game, it's called ninja assassin.

To start every one is in a tight circle. Then on the count of three everyone must jump backwards into a ninja pose. To determine who is going to start and then in one movement they must try and hit the hand of someone close to them. The person who is being attacked has one movement to dodge. If their hand gets hit then they are out. I know that it sounds kind of weird but I promise it is really fun. We have added a few rules as we have gone just to make it harder, like if you go out of turn you are out. This rule has actually cause a lot of people to get them selves out.

Here are a few pictures from recent challenges.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

A Tradition Continues

2010-02-13T23:10:00.000-06:00

If you have been following this blog for a while you will know that some friends and I have a tradition for Valentine's Day. It all started four years ago when we realized that a good number in our circle of friends were single and had no plans for Valentine's Day. This sparked the idea of celebrating together. We decided that we would get really dressed up and go some place nice and treat our selves. So we made a reservation and put on our heels and when out on the town. It is a tradition that we have done every year since. This year we celebrated a day early since Meghan no longer lives in town as she has graduated. She is here for the weekend and so we went out tonight instead of tomorrow. This year we went to a place called Shoemakers. It is in one of the redone downtown buildings. It has exposed brick and beams on the inside and is full of charm and ambiance, which is what it is all about right? Afterwards we went to Doc's Diner for dessert and then to see Leap Year, which was really cute. This year was probably my favorite simply because is it in all reality probably our last. It has been fun to see how we have stayed friends and how much the Lord has worked in each of our lives. These are girls that I know I can count on for anything and they know they can count on me. It is my prayer that each of you knows how much you mean to the Savior this Valentine's Day and that you basque in his love for you. I also pray that you like me have friends that you can count on through thick and thin and who support and encourage you to grow in the Lord.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Snow, Snow, and Ice!

2010-02-06T12:18:00.000-06:00

Well last week I told you all about the snow we got, this weekend is some what of a repeat. Liberty cancelled classes on Friday and all of Lynchburg as decided to shut down due to the weather. Last night at 9 p.m. you couldn't even get a pizza delivered. Yesterday Leah and I spent the day watching movies and doing crafts. Today we are being slightly more productive as we both have homework that needs to be accomplished. On our adventure to the Rot for lunch yesterday I was able to get some shots of the snow, because as much as I hate the cold and wet, it is really a beautiful sight to see. Enjoy!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Socks

2010-02-04T15:42:00.000-06:00

So last week I accomplished something very important... I bought socks that fit! This may sound like some simple mundane task that no one really thinks about but I promise you that buying socks for me is often a disappointing adventure. I have very normal sized feet. I wear between a 7 or 8 shoe. The problems is not that my feet are long but they are wide and thick. Socks, like shoes are measured by the length of the foot, where the problem is is that the socks that are supposedly made for my size are size 7 to 11. Now I am sorry but in what universe is the heel that fits a size 11 foot going to land in the same place as a size 7 foot? And the size smaller socks are too small to fit my wide feet.

So like I said I finally found some socks that fit like they are supposed to. And do you want to know where I found them?...In the children's department! Thats right for some reason the large socks in the little girls department fit perfectly. Who would have guessed!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Made in the 80's

2010-02-03T00:15:00.000-06:00

It is the goal of Leah and I to do something different at every hall meeting this semester. We started off with a foot washing ceremony, followed by a sardines hall meeting and tonight we did 80's flashback. Dressing up for hall meeting is always fun and some of our girls get really into it. To make it even more memorable, instead of having birthday cake to celebrate the girls who have birthday's in January and February, we had root-beer floats! And while most of our girls are now made in the 90's, some of us earlier models still have the 80's proudly stamped on our date of birth!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Celebrity Look-A-Like?

2010-02-02T19:21:00.000-06:00

So currently the new trend is to post a picture of which celebrity you look like as your profile picture on facebook... and I can't think of anyone that I have been told I look like! So a little help? Any suggestions?

Winter Wonderland!

2010-01-30T13:54:00.000-06:00

Over the past 24 hours we have gotten about 8 to 10 inches of snow and it is still coming down! We went to lunch today with the dorm and took lots of pictures and played in the white powder. It's not the best snow for snowballs or snowmen or sledding but it is really pretty! Here are some of the photos that we took.

Love is in the Air!

2010-01-29T10:38:00.001-06:00

As it is almost February, the month of love, I have changed the look of the blog to match the current season. I know we are not quite there yet but with my track record for updating I figured I better do it now or it won't get done. Let me know what you think!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Jenna's Wisdom Teeth

2010-01-29T10:20:00.000-06:00

So over break my sister had her wisdom teeth pulled out. Being the wonderful sister that I am of course I was there to support her... and to take some pictures of her afterwards. Since I am pretty sure that she is about the only person that reads this blog anyway I thought I would post a picture of her at her best to share.

She was acutally really funny afterwards. She kept asking for her phone. My mom and I did not feel that this was the best idea but she started getting really upset and so mom gave it to her and she used it to text us other wants instead of trying to talk.

Jenna, I hope you enjoy this post! I love you!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Quoteable

2010-01-28T22:45:00.000-06:00

Some things are worth repeating...

"Don't complain. 80% of the people you complain to don't care and the other 20% are glad you have problems." -Lou Holts, told to us by Danny in RA meeting.

"Some people are like seagulls, they are noisy and crap all over everything." -Said by Dwayne Carson in RA meeting.

"Even in the perfect garden of Eden with no sin, there were rules and work to be done." -Miles McPherson.

EIBC Winter Retreat!

2010-01-25T14:01:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that one of my favorite places in the world is East Iowa Bible Camp. It's where I spend a week every summer from 6th grade all through high school. In college I had the honor of spending two whole summers there working as a counselor and I loved it. I have often said that camp is like an addiction, the more I am there the more I want to be there. SO you can probably guess my excitement when I found out that this year's high school winter retreat was being held over my Christmas break from school! I have never been to an EIBC winter retreat! So over break I called up Tyson, the director, and asked to come help out for three days. It was such a blast. There were only 14 kids so it was easy to play a large group game, such as celebrity or telephone dictionary. We also had a lot of fun playing Wii karaoke and rock-band. I also got to spend the weekend with two of my camp friends, Jeremy and Sarah Risdon. On top of that I got to see Tyson and Sarah and the Berbs. If you are reading this and have kids I highly recommend that you send them this summer to EIBC. It holds some of my favorite memories and I met people who to this day are some of my best friends. It is a place of learning and fun and acceptance and of focusing on Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

RA Date

2009-12-13T19:36:00.000-06:00

So one night at RA group Christina gave us an assignment to go on a date with our RA partners. Leah and I decided to go to Little Dickens bookstore. It is a bookstore that has new and used books, a coffee shop, a teacher supply store and tons and tons of children's books. If you can't tell by the above pictures, we had a great time being silly. It was nice to get away from the hall and just spend time together as friends. I am so grateful that Leah and I have been able to become friends outside of our roles as RAs and that we have so many wonderful memories to share already.

Love from Liberty, Peggy

Pictures

2009-12-13T19:24:00.000-06:00

So I thought I would post some pictures from recent events. The top one is of Leah and I in our room that is currently decked out for Christmas!

Leah and I dressed up as elves for the RA Christmas banquet where we found some friends.

Leah and I with our sister and brother RAs.

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it because it looks like a family portrait.

Hope these make you smile!

Love from Liberty, Peggy

Christmas Extravaganza!

2009-12-10T22:52:00.000-06:00

So if you know me at all you know that I LOVE Christmas! This leads me to do insane things like suggest that we have a semi-formal brother/sister dorm Christmas party. Now you may be saying that this sounds reasonable for the season, which you would be right, the insane part is that I decided to put myself, and Leah, in charge of food and decorating for 150 people. Mind you that I am a full time student and serve as an RA on top of this and perhaps you can see why this was not such a great plan.

My mom actually helped me bake over Thanksgiving break. We made banana bread, and pumpkin bread, as well as gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, and chocolate peanut butter bars. Thanks to friends off campus and to my RD Christina Cooper, I was able to make a variety of cakes cookies and brownies. In addition we bought pies and had a chocolate fountain. Because most of these things had to be made ahead of time our room was overflowing with food. It got to the point where we had to lay down our futon in order to have some place to hold the food. One night I was feeling so overwhelmed and claustrophobic in the room that I made guys from the brother dorm come over and get some of the food to store at their dorm until the party.

The party was a huge success overall. I couldn't have asked for it to go any smoother. The guys were a great help with getting things set up and they really did most of the clean up. Thanks to Charlie, Nick, and Johnny we had a good sound system that didn't cost us anything. The games that Zach and others came up with were fun and light hearted. The room looked beautiful with huge snowflakes that my leadership team made. Jess and Tia were a huge help setting the tables and center pieces. Everything just fell into place and turned out so great!

At the end I was so exhausted that I came back to the room and had an emotional break down. I started to cry just thinking about doing all the dishes. I ended up delegating them to a variety of girls on the hall. So note to self, next time delegate more, stress less and relax because in the end it all worked out perfectly.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Christmas Calandar

2009-12-04T10:52:00.001-06:00

So with only two weeks in the semester left it is a sprint marathon to the end. Let me explain. Wednesday was student night for the Virginia Christmas Spatular, aka the Living Christmas Tree at Thomas Road. Sunday I am heading to Richmond with friends for a Bethlehem Christmas walk. Monday night is our RA group Christmas party. Tuesday night is Christmas / whit glove hall meeting. This coming Wednesday is our awesome brother/sister dorm Christmas party and my friends Meghan and Regina's Christmas party. On Thursday is reading day which also means Christmas Convo and open dorms. Friday is the RA Christmas banquet and Christmas Coffeehouse. Saturday is Meghan's graduation and dinner and Sunday is Christmas at the columns. Finally on Monday night we have our leadership Christmas party. The rest of the week is filled with finals, assignments, and white glove check outs.

Whew, with only two weeks to go it looks like it is going to be very busy, but that is better then sitting and twiddling my thumbs waiting to go home!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

New Baby!

2009-12-04T10:41:00.000-06:00

So this year was the first year that I got to go home for Thanksgiving since being at college. Usually it is just too close to Christmas break to make the long and kind of expensive trip home. But this year I decided that I wanted to spend time with my family and that since there was a little bit longer of a time gap between Christmas and Thanksgiving it was worth it.

It was so nice to see my family, especially my extended family whom I don't get to see very often. And even better was that there was a surprise new member of our family this year. My cousin Chad and his girlfriend Samantha just had their third baby 7 days before Thanksgiving. Little Khloe is a cute little bundle of joy with dark hair and really chubby cheeks. It was such a blessing to get to be able to see her and all of my family and I am so thankful for each of them.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Another Day Another Adventure

2009-12-04T10:34:00.001-06:00

So a couple of weeks ago I told you about my experience working in the nursery, well last night I was working in the infants room and as usual with babies it was an adventure. The night started off great. There was one little girl who was sleepy and just wanted to be held which I was happy to do. I gave her a bottle and after a little bit she fell asleep. Unfortunately, she got woke up by the noise that was going on in the room and was quite cranky. This did not make me smile. In the midst of her being upset she decided to spit up. Luckily it was only a little bit and didn't really get on anything. Learning from my previous experience I decided to get prepared for another attack. I got a very large burp rag out and covered my self. Guess what, it didn't work. She did spit up again and she missed the rag and it went all down the sleeve of my sweater, on my pants, my shoe and the floor! It was pretty much disgusting. My friend Taylor thought I was very funny as she always manages to get the babies who fall asleep and I get the ones who make a mess. That is ok though because one day she will have kids of her own and have to deal with all the stuff that I am getting practice with now. And then I will be the one laughing at her.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Day with out nap is crap

2009-11-17T11:56:00.001-06:00

My roommate and I are both very busy people but one of the differences in our time management it the importance of naps. Leah never takes a nap. She always says that she doesn't have time. I on the other hand, can always find time for a snooze. I am a firm believer that a day with out a nap is crap. I even find that I am more productive when I have had a nap. It's funny how two people can see things so differently. She often asks me what I am going to do when I am working full time and am unable to take a nap. I have actually thought about this. My theory is that I will no longer be staying up till 1 or 2 am every night so I should be able to function just fine.

I would like to elaborate further but writing this post is now cutting into my nap time!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Working in the Nursery

2009-11-16T23:38:00.000-06:00

So, I am no longer working at the YMCA. I decided that after four years there and about 100 more at a community swimming pool at home, it was time for a change of pace. This semester I have been working that the Thomas Road Baptist Church nursery once a week. Working here has been great! because of the new subject matter I am studying has created new challenges and made me step out of my comfort zone but it also takes more time. Working at the nursery has allowed for me to make some money but still have time for school.

I work in the infants room with new bourns to just under a year old. They are sooooo cute! One of my favorites is Trevin. Every week he come in with his hair in a mohawk. It is pretty much the most adorable thing you have ever seen. Leiam is also a cutie! He is usually pretty good, but every once in awhile he decided that he needs some love and will start to cry. What is cute is, when you pick him up he will snuggle with you and his lion blanket for a couple of minuets and then decided that he is fine and get up and go play.

Over all the kids are really well behaved and super sweet. This past time working at the nursery was quite an experience. Besides the fact that they pretty much were all unhappy, we had an unusually high amount of spit-ups. One boy, who I was holding, had already spit up three times before I got him. The first time he spit-up with me was not very eventful. He was already wearing a bib so I just wiped him up and put a clean bib on. The second time however, it was no little mess, it was projectile. I was trying to watch some of the other children on the floor when I got a warm sensation in my hand. This didn't phase me for a moment, until I realized that it was also wet! Gross! I know that this is what mothers deal with every day and that it doesn't even make them bat and eye, but it was still gross. Mostly I think because I didn't see it coming. After a kid has already spit up several times you just expect him to be done.

Anyway, such is the adventures of working at a church nursery. Tomorrow we are having a luncheon, catered by Olive Garden, I can't wait!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

A Day In The Life

2009-11-16T22:53:00.000-06:00

So lately, being the last several months, I feel as though I don't have a lot to share. This may sound silly, how could there not be anything noteworthy happening for over 5 months, but really there either hasn't been anything to talk about or I have been so busy when something does come up that I can't find time to talk about it. You really shouldn't feel bad, my mom even says that she is disappointed when I call because I don't have any good stories to tell.

One of the biggest changes that has happened occurred right before school started. I decided, or God directed me would be a better phrasing, to change majors. Originally this semester I was going to study Communications with a focus in media, however, the Lord had different plans and I am not a Master's of Business Administration student. This changed not only my classes but also the format of learning. Communications is an entirely residential program here at Liberty. The MBA program, on the other hand, is entirely distance learning online. So while I am still living on campus and serving as an RA, I don't attend classes like a regular student. This has been challenging and very different for me, but it has also given me a lot of time that I can invest into the lives of the girls on my hall.

Speaking of the hall, they are great. We have only had minor problems, such as late to convocation. The girls really have a desire to grow in the Lord. Most of them come from strong Christian families but until now have not truly made their faith their own. It has been such a privilege to see the Lord work in their lives and to use the leadership on this hall to push them even further.

We are almost to the end of the semester now, which means Christmas is right around the corner. I love Christmas! I am so excited for all of the festivities to start. Liberty has lots of Christmas traditions that make finals and the pressure of classes ending seem more bearable.

I make no promises but keep checking back, maybe I will do better with keeping this page updated.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Unacceptable-I know

2009-06-22T15:07:00.000-05:00

It is already the end of June and I just realized that I haven't posted anything since April. This I know is unacceptable behavior and I really am going to try and do better. One of the hardest things is that I don't really feel like I have anything exciting to share.

I guess one of the biggest things that has happened is that I am now a college graduate! I completed my undergraduate work in Communication Studies with a specialization in Advertising and Public Relations in May. Everyone keeps asking how does it feel and to me it is like asking if you feel older on your birthday. Honestly it doesn't really feel any different. I think that part of this comes from the fact that I will be returning to Liberty in the fall to begin graduate school.

It's funny because I always said I would not go to grad school. I specifically choose a major where it would not be required. Four years always sounded like quite enough to me, thank you. But as God usually is when I try to tell him how my life will play out or to tell him what I will and will not do, he has a different plan, and in the end I know that his way is best. This time I even managed to let my heart be molded with out throwing a temper tantrum. This time I will be studying Communications with a focus in media.

Another exciting thing that has happened is I found a summer job! After much searching and debate about staying in Lynchburg or going home for the summer or branching out somewhere else, I pretty much came home on faith that the Lord would provide and he did! I am working for River City Graphic Solutions, in Vinton. It is really fun and I am learning so much. So hopefully this will provide endless blog entries for this summer. Tomorrow I will try to post some of the things I have been working on.

Other than these two big events there is not much else new. Summer is proving to be a time of relaxating and rest. It has allowed me to reflect on all that I have learned in the past year and what the Lord has brought me through. This time has provided me with time to catch up with friends and spend some much needed time with my family. I hope that all of you are enjoying this season and taking the time to reflect and evaluate as I am.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

The Music Man

2009-04-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

Liberty has a surprisingly good theater department. This was brought to my attention my freshman year when my SLD invited me to attend Guy's and Dolls with her and some friends. Having participated in this show in high school I was excited to see Liberty's version. It was no disappointment. The show was wonderful and inspired me to attend several other shows over my course of four years here at Liberty.

On Friday, my once SLD, Christina, now my RD, attended the Music Man. This was of particular interest to me as it takes place in the state of Iowa, my home. I have seen the older version of the movie and the middle school put on this play when my sister was in 8th grade. The night started off in a rush as we went to Docs Diner to eat. We had to wait for 20ish min. before being seated. We then had to order and wait for the food. While the service was not overly slow we didn't even get to Docs until 6:20 and the show was supposed to start at 7:30. At about 7:10 we had yet to receive our food and so we asked if it could just be brought boxed. When it came we immediately left for the show eating a little in the car. Since Docs is about 3 min drive from the theater there was not much time to eat, so we decided that we would take the food in with us and eat during intermission. Where you may ask did we put all of the food? Well as my dad says, "Peggy that is not a purse it is a bag." Well this bag just happened to be large enough to hold two to-go containers in it. Please mind you that this is not one of those over the shoulder type bags but an actual purse that just so happens to be huge.

So we took the food in and during the whole first half of the show you could smell the diner food. It was really quite funny. The most important part though is that we walked in just as they dimmed the lights to start the show. Which meant that we had to try and find our seats in pitch black darkness. After tripping over almost a whole row of people we found our seats and enjoyed the show immensely.

I hope that everyone who has the opportunity will go and enjoy Liberty University Theater and go see the Music Man. It is definitely worth the money.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Icecream and Cake

2009-04-15T18:23:00.000-05:00

In honor of birthdays on our hall once a month we have birthday party hall meeting. For this hall meeting we make cake or cupcakes and pass them out during hall meeting. We also sing a special birthday song. This is not your traditional Happy Birthday song. Danielle and I learned this song during RA training this fall and we had so much fun doing it that we decided that it would really help liven things up for this special occasion. The song also has actions to go with it that we taught out leadership team and then the rest of the hall. It is really fun and although the video link that I will attempt to post does not include the actions I encourage you to try to find another video with the actions so that you can get the full effect. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSj-K0xMcW4

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Summer Plans

2009-04-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

In 30ish days I will be a college graduate and I have no idea what I am doing with my life. Because of this I have decided to go to grad school. As you may have read I am currently dual enrolled and so technically I have already started but I am not officially in the program yet. This being said I have giving my self a little more time to figure out what I really want to be doing long term. The down side is that I again have to find summer employment.

Now in the past this has not been a big deal. Since the summer I turned sixteen I have worked for the Vinton Parks and Recreation department as a life guard and a water safety instructor. And for the past two summers I have worked at East Iowa Bible Camp as a counselor. So I have never really had to look for a job.

This summer however I don't really feel the Lord leading me to do either of those things and so I have began a hunt for a job that will allow me to work mid-May through the end of July, as I have to be back at school Aug. 3rd. It is turning out to be a lot more work than I thought. As I am looking for a job at home, CO, MN, or AZ but am living in VA it is hard to set up interview times or even know where to look. Also I hate the idea of cover letters and don't really know what to say or where to start. If you have any advice of the job search methods I would be glad the hear it. I currently have resumes posted on monster.com and careerbuilder.com but am not having much success.

So that's the story. I may be spending the whole summer on my parents couch doing nothing with my new college degree that I have spent so much time and money to earn.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Welcome Back!

2009-04-05T22:26:00.001-05:00

Well as much as I like to check other people's blogs you would think that I would do better at updating my own. But all well, I am here now and a lot has happened since I last posted. First, I got over my nasty cold. I hate being sick so it was a blessing that it didn't last very long. Secondly, I enjoyed a wonderful spring break with friends. Meghan, Regina, Christine and I all traveled 14 hours to sunny warm Florida. The weather was perfect! No clouds and it only rained one day for about 30 min. and was 80 degrees or better all week! I worked very hard on my tan, laying out all day on the beach. After about an hour or so I strained my self and walked to the water to cool off. As you can probably tell it was a very stressful vacation. We also got to see an alligator on our air boat tour of the Everglades. We stayed with friends of my family, Marilyn and Dean and their son Douglas. It was so good to see them again, since I have not seen them since the wedding last Christmas.

The weekend after spring break I got to take my first trip to Baltimore! A friend from my hall, April lives just outside and we enjoyed a weekend road trip to her house. In addition to seeing Baltimore's inner harbor I also got to meet all of April's family. Including her both sets of Grandparents, three aunts and uncles, her cousin and her baby, her parents siblings and the siblings significant others. It was quite the experience but everyone was so nice. I also got to go to the cheesecake factory which was pretty much the greatest experience of my life! I LOVE cheesecake!

The following weekend I was again headed out of town on a road trip. This time to Winchester, VA for some R and R. I went with my RD Christina and half of our RA group to Christina's family's new home. It is huge and has a theater in the basement. We spent the whole weekend watching movies and eating really good food. Christina's mom was such a blessing, serving us and she even taught us some cake decorating techniques. On Sunday we backed giant cupcakes and practiced our new found talent. They turned out really good and we brought them back to Liberty to share with the rest of our group at RA group on Monday night.

This weekend was college for a weekend and the busyness that comes with having 1500 extra people on campus. Yesterday April and I took 10 of the campus serve kids to the YMCA to go swimming. Finnely the site leader also came with us to help supervise the kids. I was surprised how well it actually went. I think that it was seriously the first time that some of those kids had ever been in a pool. The idea that some people never learn to swim baffles me. I have been in swimming lessons since I was six months old and I can't remember a time where I didn't know how to swim. I can remember when I didn't swim well but I have pretty much always known how to swim.

This week we will continue to interview prayer leaders for our hall next year. We have already offered a couple of spots so it is exciting to see how the team is coming together. Please pray that God will continue to give our big four wisdom in making decisions and discernment in who we choose to lead the girls on our hall next year.

Well I think that pretty much brings us up to date on my life. I know that it really isn't that interesting. Sometimes I think of funny things to write about but then by the time I actually have time to write about it I can't remember what it was I was going to say. Anyway, I promise that in the future I will try to be better about updating.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Being Sick Is No Fun!

2009-02-17T16:13:00.000-06:00

Well I guess if I had to catch this stupid cold that is going around this week was more convenient to do so than most. In an effort to protect myself last Wednesday during room checks I went around a bleached all of the door handles, inside and out. And I guess it worked, I made it through college for a weekend with out getting sick. Unfortunately on Sunday night it hit me hard and fast. I stayed in bed most of the day on Sunday trying to fight it off before it came on full fledged but it didn't quite work. Yesterday I was miserable and only went to one of my classes and only because I really could not miss. Last night I was feeling a little bit better so I took two Benadryl and called in sick to work and slept for over 12 hours. I woke up at 2 o'clock in the afternoon today but I really am feeling much better. I think between the drugs and sleep and fluids the worst is over and hopefully by tomorrow I will be fine.

Tomorrow I am celebrating Valentines day! I know that I am a little late but over the last couple of years some friends and I have created a tradition of getting really dressed up and going to a nice restaurant and celebrating our singleness, our friendship, and the love from our savior Jesus Christ together on Valentines day. We always have a good time and it is a good time to catch up with those who we don't get to spend as much time with as we would like. This year Meghan and Regina were out of town on Valentines day so we are celebrating a little late. Actually it is probably easier to get a reservation a the place we want to go to now then it would have been this weekend so it is really a good thing. I am really looking forward to our night out, I only hope that this cold is gone by then so I don't have to pack tissues in my purse and embarrassing blow my nose at the table.

I Am NOT A Dater-Hater

2009-02-11T13:21:00.000-06:00

I am not a dater-hater as some are. In fact I really enjoy the holiday that is most closely associated with having a significant other, which I do not. Valentines day happens to be towards the top of my list of favorite holidays. Christmas is first, with Easter following a close second, then there is my birthday but pretty must right after that is Valentine's day. This surprises a lot a people as I am notoriously single. But the great thing I think about Valentine's day is that it is about love. And to celebrate love you do not need a boyfriend or a girlfriend. In fact, the greatest gift and display of love comes not from a husband or wife but from Jesus Christ. He loves me more than any other human being ever could. His sacrifice of love for us on the cross comes unconditionally and is available any day of year. So this Valentine's day I will be teaching swimming lessons and hanging out with my cousin who is coming for College For A Weekend and I will be celebrating the ULTIMATE gift of love, JESUS CHRIST. If I am finding my worth and value in him then I can be happy and feel the same love that those who are going out to eat or some other special event can.

Grad School!

2009-01-15T18:30:00.000-06:00

So today I went to my first graduate class. I felt behind before I even went into the room. First, the bookstore does not have the books right now. They are on order and should be here the week of the 21, hopefully before my next class as we have reading due. I would have ordered them off line but they were only like three dollars cheaper so by the time I paid shipping and handling and waited for them to get here I might as well have bought them at the book store, so that is what I am doing. When I got to class some of the other students were talking about a paper that was due today and how we were supposed to have three articles about change to discuss. Well I just added the class officially on Monday, so I didn't receive the e-mails with this information. As many of you know I like to be prepared and so when I found out I wasn't I was a little worried but I tried to not let it get to me.

When the professor arrived at class she had us all introduce our selves, saying our major and what our career plans are. Well I am not actually in the program I am dual enrolled while finishing my undergrad degree, so I don't have an official major in the program. Also I have no idea what I want to do with my life, which is part of the reason I am going to grad school, to give my self a little more time to decide. Several of the students are graduation in May and so they know exactly what they want to do after this. So for the first 15 minuets or so I felt a little out of my league but then the professor informed us that the paper is due next class not this one and that she knew that some of us did not get the message to bring articles and so it was fine if we didn't have them.

After this I felt better and I managed to get through the rest of the class holding my own, sounding somewhat intelligent, even if I had know idea what I was saying. I must say it was nice to be in a class where people want to be there and care about the work that they are doing, which is sometimes not the case in undergrad classes. Also the class was very diverse with a student from China, Brazil/Chile, and one who's parents are missionaries in Greece. I love diversity which is one of the reasons that I think I love big cities so much. Anyway, I am excited to try and do well in this class and to see if the communications graduate program is something that I really want to pursue. Time will only tell.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Peace and Quiet

2009-01-09T19:34:00.000-06:00

Classes don't start again until Monday but, Danielle and I have been back at school for almost a week. I must say that it has been nice to go to bed a little earlier and for the time to relax but, the hall seems so empty without the life of 56 girls running through it.

I don't know that I could ever live by my self. I think I would be board out of my mind and go crazy. It has been so nice this week spending time with Danielle, sharing about our breaks and getting things ready for this coming semester. But even with her company these empty rooms long for their residents to return. It makes it easier to miss people when they are so encouraging and respectful. As a dorm supervisor of sorts I couldn't ask for a better hall. I am looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in the coming semester in and through the lives of the girls on this hall. I miss then and can't wait to see there sweet faces!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift

2009-01-07T16:09:00.000-06:00

A thought from Christmas. I know that it was weeks ago but my parents only have dial-up which as you may remember is very slow and temperamental so I typed up my thoughts and saved them to post later.

It is Christmas Eve and after attending the candle light service at Oak Grove Christian Church as we do every year we went to our neighbors Tania and Bill's for supper. After eating and spending some time over there we came home to open Christmas gifts. We don’t have a particular tradition for opening gifts as my dad used to work a rotating shift not guaranteeing him Christmas day off. On the years that he had to work we would open presents after church, amazing how Santa knew when dad had to work, and then on Christmas day while dad was working mom would take us to a movie. They first year I can remember us doing this we went to see Mona Lisa Smile, with Julia Roberts. The years when dad did not have to work we would open gifts on Christmas morning and spend the rest of the day playing with toys and watching Christmas movies such as Frosty the Snowman and Santa Clause is Coming to Town. When we were little we had huge Christmas’s with gifts every where. Dad used to film us opening presents and even at 20 years old he recorded me. This is the first year that he didn’t video tape us opening our gifts. I suppose now that Jenna is 18 and graduated we are too old for it.

This year marks a very special Christmas as it marks the receiving of my first letter. They were supposed to be a surprise but mom accidentally said something to Jenna one day and she said something to me. Every year since I was born my dad has written me a letter on Christmas and around the time of my birthday. The letters include a summary of things that happened in my life that year, how I have grown or changed, etc. Dad asked me this summer when I would like to start getting them, knowing that they would be very special to me I wasn’t sure I wanted to read them so I replied when he passed away. Of course this isn’t really logical but I didn’t want to say when I wanted the letters I knew that my dad would start giving them to be when the time was right.

It was my last gift tonight and my most meaningful one. I waited to read it until I was in my room alone because I knew it would make me cry. It is so special to think that my parents thought ahead to begin doing this the very year that I was born and to keep it up all this time. I think another thing that makes it special is that they are from my dad. You always hear of how moms saved every little thing but you rarely hear of a father doing something this special. And it is not a thing. It isn’t a dress that I wore or a picture I don’t remember drawing but it is about me and a documentary of my life and of our lives as a family and about the people that had an impact in our lives. Needless to say it made me cry and actually I am still crying as I am writing this. This is something that I will treasure forever and is perhaps the greatest gift I have ever received apart from my salvation.

I hope that one day I can give my children something as special and meaningful as this and maybe it can become a tradition. I am going to keep the letters in my hope chest with other special memories that I have. I think it would be wise to type out the letters as to have a back up copy in case something would happen to the originals. This will also ensure that when I am gone or old and gray and can’t see well anymore that others will be able to read the hand writing and read about my life, even the parts that I can’t or won’t remember.

Forgetful Me

2009-01-07T15:54:00.001-06:00

I just realized that I never finished posting about my wonderful leadership team. I am the worst about coming back to things like this. Its like when you are on the phone with someone and you have to leave suddenly to do something or someone else is calling you and then you forget to call them back, that is me, all the time. Usually it happens when Jenna calls me. She always seems to call at the most inconvenient times, like when I am about to eat or go to work or to a meeting. And I always tell her I will call her back later and I do but by the time I remember my later ends up being days later not minuets or hours. But what are you going to do? I am just fortunate that my sister loves me enough to not hold a grudge and simply call me back if it is really important.

So what you should know about the rest of my leadership team is that God has really blessed me and that they are such a blessing to me and to my hall. I love them all and they are such an encouragement to me. In addition I am so excited to see how God is going to use each of them this semester and in the future. I can't wait to see where they are in ten years and the amazing things that they will be doing for the Lord. So, thank you girls for everything that you do! I love you!

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Lovely Leadership

2008-12-10T00:10:00.000-06:00

I am pretty sure I have the best leadership team on campus and I would like to dedicate this post to naming just a few things that make each of them special and why I love them.

First let me start with my amazing RD, Christina. I have known Christina since I came to Liberty as a freshman. She started out as my SLD and then moved up to RA at semester. I was then a prayer leader under her my sophomore year and she really encouraged me to apply for RA. Last year we were separated as I was on East campus and she was in dorm 33 but the Lord allowed us to reunite this year. Christina is one of the most naturally beautiful people I have ever met, which is accentuated by her love for the Lord and humble spirit. Christina is not afraid to ask me the hard questions and to call me out when I have not acted as I should. It is refreshing to have a friend who is willing to be so honest in order for you to grow as a person.

Next there is my delightful partner Danielle. Danielle is one of the most positive people I know. She is easy to get along with and is a great listener. She challenges me everyday by the example she sets in her life. I love our late night chats and hanging out together. It is a rare thing when you can say that you are friends with your roommate, especially one that was chosen for you.

Stephanie impresses me with her obedience to God. Having gone through the RA process and made it and then to turn it down to be a prayer leader, a non-paid and little thank you job, is just something you don't ever hear of. She has stepped up to SLD this semester and couldn't be a better fit. It is funny how God knows what he is doing, to place Stephanie on our hall as a prayer leader and then to have Rachel move to the hotel and Stephanie take her place, there is no way that humans could orchestrate something like that. She is exactly what our prayer leaders need and has done a tremendous job ministering to them and to the girls on our hall. You would never know that she is a relatively new Christian because she has grown so fast and is always pushing her self to learn more about God's word.

Kat is a whirlwind of ideas. She is always coming up with new ideas and activities for us to try. And she is the reason we have five of our amazing prayer leaders, having brought them with her from her hall last year. Having a returning SLD when we have so many new prayer leaders is a great help and allows us to pull from her experience.

Christina Hadley has the biggest servants heart. She will do anything for anyone and many times she does it with out being asked. If she hears us say that something needs to be done, even if we are not implying that she be the one to do it, she will take the initiative to do it. She does such an amazing job reaching out the the girls in her group, meeting with each of them one-on-one outside of prayer groups, and has been Danielle and mine number one supporter.

Kelsey has the great ability to control her attitude. Even if she isn't happy about the decision she chooses to support the decisions made by authority and to encourage others to do so as well. She also is very honest which I admire a lot. She is not afraid to appropriately confront and ask questions in a respectful manner. She is outgoing and crazy and I lover her.

Ok ,so it is getting really late and I am getting tired and I want to give each of my girls the praise they deserve to check back later for the rest.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

White Glove

2008-12-09T23:44:00.000-06:00

So white glove at Liberty comes at the end of every semester. It requires deep cleaning, i.e. moving desks, dressers, beds, dusting base boards, shelves etc. It seems like a daunting task but we dedicate an entire hall meeting to setting expectations and explaining requirements. On top of this we post instructions on the hall as to what needs to be done before you can check out with us and leave for break. With this said I fail to see why it seems to be so impossible to be ready at your appointed time. You are the one who chooses when your check out time will be and it is you who will be charged for the tasks that are not completed. And yet every semester since becoming an RA we have had to check and re-check and write post-its of what needs to be done in order to complete the check out requirements.

But I have come up with a solution! Next semester at the end of the year I am going to buckle down and not charge their Liberty accounts but the hall fund. For every time I have to return to a girls room and re-check it because it was not completed at the time of their appointment I am going to charge them five dollars which will be given to the hall fund. Since most of our girls claim to be the typical broke college student this should motivate them to do a more accurate job in their cleaning.

If you have any other suggestions on how I may motivate my girls please feel free to send them to me.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

One of those days

2008-12-08T13:10:00.000-06:00

Do you even have one of those days where, you thought you had nothing to do and it turns out that you have a lot to do, and you don't know how it is all going to get done and then, because you have so much to do it makes you want to do nothing? Today is like that for me. And as I am sitting here procrastinating when I should be writing my paper that I just found out is already late because it was do at noon and not a midnight, I opened a piece of Dove chocolate, you know one with the little messages inside, and it said "remind yourself that it's okay not to be perfect." Sometimes God just gives you a little break and reminds you not to sweat the small stuff. Hope your day is productive and that you get done all that God wishes for you to accomplish for today.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Oh D.C.

2008-12-03T23:39:00.001-06:00

So the head of office of student leadership is Dwayne Carson and he loves acrostics and is famous for his quotable moments. Here are an example of a few: "its not about titles its about towels", "if you see a turtle on a fence post it didn't get there by its self". And sometimes he says some really funny things, I am not sure that he always means to but they are still entertaining. Please note that the following quotes are taken completely out of context. "You wouldn't stick your tongue in your brother or sister's mouth would you?" "Some people are like seagulls, showing up making a lot of noise about nothing and crapping all over everything." "We work with a lot of spoiled, rotten, selfish, brats." "People are more important than policies because people have to pee." It is these moments that make RA meetings bearable and also remind me to think before I speak.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

A new look.

2008-11-12T20:43:00.000-06:00

So I thought I would try something new for a while. In spirit with the upcoming holidays I have changed my background. Soon it will be Christmas which will warrant another change. I love Christmas it is my favorite holiday. I am proud to say that I have already started my Christmas shopping and what I haven't bought I know what I am getting.

I am really excited for Thanksgiving this year. I am going to TN with my friend Kelsey to her grandmother's house. I am looking forward to sleep and peace and quiet and time to reflect. No deadlines or group projects or curfew checks just hanging out and helping in whatever way I can. Just over a week to go and then I am home free!

Tell me what you think about the background, I would love to hear!

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Swimming

2008-11-09T20:47:00.000-06:00

Having been a lifeguard for over 6 years now and on swim team since I was in the sixth grade I have a problem. I don't know how to just be in the water without actually swimming. People will say lets go swimming and I automatically think they mean swimming laps. The problem comes when we get to the pool and I realize that they meant just stand around in the water and talk. I don't understand this. I mean if I am going to have to wash my hair we might as well be exercising. If we were going to just talk why didn't we just go get coffee or something? Something that wouldn't require me to change and require a shower afterwards.

On the other hand I have been teaching swimming lessons for so long and getting in the pool with people who want to "go swimming" that I think I had forgotten how much I actually enjoy swimming laps. It is true that it takes a lot of energy and time but somehow I always walk away energized from it and in a happier mood. I used to use swimming as a stress reliever, a time that I could clear my head or truly focus on a problem. Tonight at work we swam 500 meters. Which isn't a lot but when you are out of shape and practice it takes quite a bit if energy. But when I was done I felt good like I had accomplished something. I think I was also a little prideful that I finished 4 lengths ahead of our "head guard" when we started at the same time. So my goal for this week is to go swimming at least once and then at lease one more time next weekend for at least 20 min. each time.

P.S. in case you didn't know swimming is the best form of exercise because it works every muscle in your body simultaneously and it is easier on your joints than running. I also feel that it is very peaceful and empowering knowing that you can survive with out your feet on solid ground and in something so powerful. It gives me a greater respect for the Lord as he walked on the water and was able to control the waves with his words. Knowing that God is in control even of the things we can't grasp in our hands. Just some thoughts.

Love from Liberty,
Peggy

Lessons from the Lord

2008-11-06T21:20:00.000-06:00

I have a tendency to get very emotionally involved in things very quickly. I can't help it. I am a crier. I cry at everything. And I don't think people really believe me when I tell them this because I try really hard not to cry in front of others mainly because they think I am ridiculous for crying at something so silly and two because I am not a pretty crier. You know what I mean. Some people cry and they shed a few tears and they get the look of a lost kitten and they are cute when they cry. I am not one of these people. When I truly cry I hyperventilate, I can't breath or talk. I will try but it really doesn't work. I get red a blotchy and worse of all I can't stop. I will cry and cry and cry until really I am over whatever it was that I was crying about in the first place but I will continue to cry because I can't make my self stop. I thin this is the reason that I hate goodbyes so much is that I am so emotionally involved that I start to cry.

Anyway the point of this post is that sometimes when I hear God telling me to invest in someone who I know is not making good decisions I hesitate because I know that very soon after I begin investing into them I will become emotionally involved and when this happens you instantly make your self valuable. This summer I became very invested in the lives of one of my campers. She was dealing with a lot of hurt and past issues that had led to current bad decisions in her live. The Lord really burdened my heart for her and really broke me when I was listening to her story and trying to know how to minister to her. Ever since this I think that I have held back a little in getting involved in the lives of girls that I know are going to become more emotionally invested to the point that will cause me to be vulnerable.

Yesterday and today I have had the honor of listening to two different girls pour out their burdens to me. And as a sat listening to them my heart melted and I felt my self beginning to soften and to want to fix all their woes. It is a scary feeling to mourn with those that mourn, to bear one another's burdens, to have your heart broken with the things that break Gods. But this is what the Lord has been teaching me the last two days. To stop worrying about the things of the world and to instead invest in the things of the Lord.

I have been interrupted several times during this post and so this is not accurately conveying what I am trying to say. I guess my point is that the Lord has been opening my heart again to be emotionally invested in people that I know may not be receptive to in instruction that I have to give but that perhaps more than them being broken I need to be broken with the things that break God's heart. And by sharing in his heart I will continue to see then need for Him and his love and the gospel even in a Bible saturated place such as Liberty or the US. My prayer is that I will soon be able to rejoice with those that rejoice.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Campus Serve

2008-11-02T12:50:00.000-06:00

This year I have been getting involved in campus serve. It is where Liberty students meet each Sat. morning and go out into the community to show that we care. There are 8 inner city sites where you can play with kids, there are also 2 nursing homes where as you may have read from an earlier post was not the place for me. Campus serve also has a group called respond that goes to the different inner city sites and disciples the adults and does more door to door evangelism. And the last group is called helps. They go around helping with practical needs such as painting, building, picking up trash, etc. The site that I have really invested in is called the Meadows. It is a newer site just started this year and I like it Beckie it is a chance to make a fresh start. Some of the other sites have had the same people going for four years so the kids are already attached to certain people and you can kind of feel left out but the Meadows just started.

A couple of girls on my hall and I have really started to get close to 4 of the little girls at the site. We took them to a football game at Liberty one day and they were so well behaved that then next week we decided to take them with us to our brother / sister dorm event of pumpkin picking. They are such good listeners and don't complain so it is easy to take them places.

Unfortunately, I haven't been in two weeks and I must say that I am beginning to miss them. They just look at everything so differently and everything is so exciting and new to them. It gives me a fresh perspective and a more positive attitude toward what ever we are doing. I think maybe next week we will take them to the Nature Zone downtown. They have all kinds of crazy animals, I think that they will really enjoy it.

The Windy City

2008-10-08T21:27:00.000-05:00

So back in the day when I first started on this collegiate journey we went to school from August to November with out any breaks. I think that so many students and teachers were on the brink of going off the deep end by the time Thanksgiving hit that they decided to throw in a fall break. Now as a student body we enjoy a long weekend at the beginning of October at the very point where you are about to kill your roommates, have a panic attack because of how much school work you have, and have an emotional break down due to stressful relationships weather with friends or a significant other. This year as it is my senior year Meghan, Regina and I decided that we should go all out on a major road trip. Conveniently Meghan's music minister and his family just took a position at a church right outside of Chicago. Although a 12 hour drive is significant for a long weekend we decided that it would be worth it.

Regina, Meghan, Meghan's sister Amanda and I all piled into the car on Wes. night with plenty of junk food, a GPS and an IPOD ready for an adventure. We left at 7:00pm and took three hour shifts of driving. In the course of the trip we almost hit a deer (Meghan and Regina), almost went off the side of a cliff (Regina), and got pulled over (Meghan). Luckily we did not get a ticket and at 6:00am the next morning made it safely to our destination.

After getting coffee and sleeping for a couple of hours we took the Metra (yes, I spelled this correctly it was the Metra not the Metro) into the big city. Before I begin my overview of all that we saw you should know that Meghan and I are very economical when it comes to traveling. We love free things and if it is not free than we have a coupon for it. First on the list of things to see was the Sears Tower ($2 off per ticket coupon). It was a very clear day so you could see pretty far and it was Thursday so it wasn't overly crowded, which was nice. After enjoying the view from the top we headed to Millennium Park, where we saw the bean and the fountain and spent some time walking around and ate our picnic lunch of BP & J that we had packed. Then we went to the Art Museum (free on Thursday nights). Finally we headed back to the McMinn's to get some much needed rest.
(Sculpture at Millennium Park)

On Friday we drove into the city and parked at Moody Bible Institute where my friend James goes to school (parking = free) and met up with him. At 10:00am we arrived at the Chicago Cultural Center where we met our private tour guide (free) who showed us around the city giving valuable information about the buildings and the history of the city. This is an awesome service that they provide and I would recommend it to anyone. After the tour we went shopping on Michigan Avenue (window shopping = free) where James ditched us girls. The Navy Pier (free to walk around) was next on the list of attractions and so we walked across town admiring the architecture along the way. We also stopped at the Lake Michigan beach front (free) to take some pictures since it was close by. This week just happened to be Macy's fashion week in Chicago and we were able to get reservations to a fashion show which was really fun. After the fashion show we met back up with James at his apartment to play Nerts, which James won but we was also the score keeper. Last time I played with him he also won and was also the score keeper I think this is more than just a coincidence.
(On the walking tour: the bean and the water tower one of the only buildings that survived the Chicago fire)

Sat. we went on a tour of the church and went and saw the house from Home Alone and then visited Northwestern and shopped in downtown Evensdale. That night the McMinn's took us all out to dinner in the city at a very nice Italian place.
(At the water front near the house)
Sunday was church and then a quick lunch in the city to say goodbye to James and then a long drive home. We left at 2:00pm which was really 3:00pm with the time change and so it should have been a 12 hour trip but the interstate to Indianapolis was shut down. I love GPS but it does not account for road construction. So in Gary, IN we spent about an hour trying to follow the detour provided which lead to a dead end. Every time we would try to take a different road the GPS would tell us to do a U-turn to get on the interstate that was closed. After about the third time it told us this we shut off the annoying electronic voice and got out the atlas that Regina had in her car. Thanks to Regina's map skills we were able to find our way old school. This set us back about two hours though so we finally arrived back in Lynchburg at 5:00am.

Although I felt like I got hit by a bus on Monday, it was completely worth it. As Meghan said, "at least it was a fun bus". Four and a half days with good friends and no school, what more could you ask for? So take a road trip and see how much you can do on a budget. Make some memories and live a little.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

P.S. Check back for more pictures later.

Girls Night In!

2008-10-07T19:47:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just need a night in with the girls. Food, friends, and fun are all essentials to a good girls night. Luckily I live on a hall with great friends who are always entertaining so all we needed was the food, which our prayer leaders provided. The night was a huge success with a spa room, a game room and later that night a chick flick.

A Picture Date

2008-10-07T18:28:00.000-05:00

I love going on photo dates. Recently I went to downtown Lynchburg with one of the girls on my hall Jess and we spend several hours experimenting with F-stops and shutter speeds. It is a good way to get to know people. One if is free of charge and two you can talk while doing it and three if you go with someone then you always have a model to pose for you. Here are some of the best shots of the day.

It is officially autumn and the leaves are starting to reflect the beauty of the season.

I love her expression, like she just got caught in a hiding place.

My attempt at being creative.

I love the contrast here between the historic and the current culture.

Tan Lines

2008-09-15T15:21:00.000-05:00

I know that everyone always says that they hate tan lines but I must say that I secretly love them. I like being able to tell how tan I have really gotten and not just saying that I am getting tan. The thing is I tan really fast. On the other hand I also spend a lot of time outside in the summer and so I deserve to tan quickly. The sad part is that my beautiful tan fades just as quickly at it appears and so while I am brown by the second week in June I am also back to pasty white the beginning of September.

This weekend I got to travel to South Carolina with some girls from my hall and we stayed at Kelsey's house. She just so happens to have a pool and the weather was perfect for swimming. So yesterday we spent the afternoon playing water polo (my favorite game) and water volleyball enjoying the almost 90 degree sun and last night I noticed I had some very light tan lines from my bathing suite. This of course made me happy as you could tell that I am not always this chalky white.

One of the nice things about living in the south would be that you are tan longer, although I think that I would miss the snow. Even though it is cold it also is very pretty. I always say that I would love the winter a lot more in snow were warm and dry. On the other hand everyone looks nicer in winter clothes than summer clothes. So life's a trade off.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Facing One's Fears

2008-09-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

So I have a really big fear of elderly people. I know that this sounds strange but I can't help it. It is not old people per say that bother me but the elderly. And yes there is a difference. I think that part of the reason that I have this fear is that I am not around a lot of elderly people. My grandparents on my dad's side are adorable. All of my great aunts and uncles and my grandparents are in a camping club. They travel all over the country, they play cards and dominos. They have friends they get out and do things they are actually kind of fun to hang out with. I love listening to them telling stories and advice. They can hold real conversations and don't repeat themselves a thousand times because they can't remember that they have already told you.

So today I tried to overcome my fear of the elderly by going to the nursing home through campus serve this morning. I took three other girls with me from my dorm including one of my prayer leaders Kelsey. She and I became buddies and walked around together. Brookly and April stopped in the first room that we came to and talked with a woman named Deborah. Kelsey and I continued to walk and found a table of ladies sitting together. So we introduced our selves and sat down. What we didn't know is that none of these ladies could speak or communicate back to us. We talked for a few minuets but what do you say to people who can't talk back to you? It was the most awkward thing ever. Kelsey and I kept looking at each other trying to figure out how to leave without being rude and after a while we finally excused our selves and walked away. The building is a square so finally we were back where we had started and hadn't talked to anyone else. April and Brookly were still in the first room so we went in there with her. After a little bit another girl brought a woman named Ruth in to join us. She eventually left because she got something in her eye. So Kelsey and I talked with her and she was very sweet. She told us about her life growing up and how she met her husband and how she got to travel to different states because he was in the Navy and about her two children. Right before we left we got to pray with her and she thank us and told us that we had made her day.

I can't say that this visit helped me conquer my fear, and in fact it may have just increased it but I would gladly go back to visit Miss Ruth. I think the main thing that I learned was that we all have different gift and talents and that although mine may not be ministering to these type of people I still need to love them and that by putting my self out there I can still make some great connections with people.

So my challenge try something new. Face a fear. And allow God to use you in your weakness.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy

Sisters make the best friends!

2008-08-27T15:20:00.000-05:00

As I continue to write these blogs I am pretty sure that my sister is pretty much the only person who ever reads it and I am also pretty sure that because I have been doing fairly well at keeping this blog up since being at school that she has stopped calling me. Actually that is only partially true. She does still call me but always at the most inconvenient times like when I am at the dining hall or at a concert and then when I try to call her back she refuses to answer my calls.

For many this wouldn't seem like such a big deal but considering that we live over 1,000 miles apart and only see each other twice a year, Christmas break and summer break, not talking to her is like not talking to my best friend, which makes me very sad. I understand that she is now in college also and is busy with work and class and making new friends but I miss her and wish that she would keep me up to date with what is going on in her life. Maybe she should get a blog and then we could just read about each others lives.

My sister is very pretty. She is smart and funny and a very talented graphic designer. I think that if we could ever work together with out killing each other we would be able to open an advertising agency and do well with it. I would be in charge of creative concepts and she could design it and put it all together.

Anyway since Jenna is the only one who really reads this blog I just wanted to tell you that I miss you and I hope classes are going well. Love you!

Love From Liberty,

Peggy

It Seems Like Only Yeasterday.

2008-08-24T23:19:00.000-05:00

(Painting at Smith Mt. Lake during RA retreat.)

So I have been at school for almost a month now which is weird considering classes just started on Monday. It is amazing how much stuff has happened in only a short month. I survived training week and lock down, which wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. We have had several brother sister dorm activities, and just yesterday I went to D.C. for the day with my wonderful new roommate Danielle. On top of all of this I have gone to class and meetings and hung out randomly with the girls in my hall and with friends not on my hall. I am also planning a road trip to Chicago in October, with two of the best friends that anyone could ask for.

(Painting the rock and the freshman snack out)

Yesterday was a whirlwind. Danielle and I got up at 6am and drove to D.C. area and picked up some things that I had stored at my Uncle's house for the summer. Then we drove to her house about 20 min. away and spent some time with her family. She got caught up with them while I took a nap and then we all went to lunch, including her older sister and her two kids, who are super cute. After lunch we went to one if my favorite stores, IKEA, where I bought basically a whole apartment for under $80. I love shopping so being in a store where things are actually affordable was really fun. After shopping we went back to Danielle's house and hung out and then her parents took us to Dairy Queen where we had ice cream for supper. At 6pm we left D.C. and arrived back on campus just in time for the Rush Of Fools concert at the Block Party. Once the concert was over we were invited to go to the T-Room, which if you are not from Liberty is pretty much a hole in the wall place famous for there cheesy westerns: a hamburger, cheese, and a fried egg. We finally got back to the dorm at about 11-11:30pm and we still had to try and get somethings unpacked and put away before it was time to do curfew checks. At 1-1:30am the day finally ended and we were able to go to sleep. Thankfully we were able to sleep in a little bit this morning until church at 10:30 and were able to take naps and rest today.

It is amazing that in all of this busyness that God has shown Him self faithful that if I remain in Him, He will give me everything that I need. God is good all the time and all the time God is good. This is something that I am striving to remember and recognize and the semester goes by and things get more and more stressful. Perspective is everything.

Love From Liberty,
Peggy