Living With FOUR Roomies!

It may sound crazy, but yes, I live with 4 other girls in a townhouse 4 miles off the K-State campus. We have a great place with 5 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen, a living room, and spacious closets and cupboards.

It is usually quite cozy in our place and many people who visit comment on the "home"iness of our place. We enjoy those comments! We like to live in a "Home-y" place! Some of the activities we like to take part in together is eating cookies and chocolate, watching movies and the Disney channel, laughing so hard it hurts, eating the Popcorn I make, dancing, being silly, making fun of each other, and just chilling.

Three of my amazing roommates attend MCC (Manhattan Christian College) along with K-State and are also on the Women's Basketball team at MCC. They are such great athletes! Way better than me!! My fourth roomie is a journalist major and enjoys writing for the campus newspaper, The Collegian. She likes to seek out interesting and out of the norm topics to write about.

We all have super times together, and besides the normal challenges of living with other people, I really LOVE my roommates and am so happy they are a part of my Kansas State experience.

I have not been able to post any photos, so I figured I would finally put up some that show a little of the fun I have been having here in Kansas!! I think without my roommates, I would not have had nearly as much fun as I have already!! From just a simple night out with friends to a Halloween Barn Party, we make things fun and silly and unforgettable!! Thanks Roomies!!

Just a Night out on the town!!

Oh yeah, working the cowgirl get-up! We were the hotties of the night!!


Yay Roomies!!

They are just so CUTE!

Woo-hoo!!

Just Rocking out to some tunes...you know the way I roll!!

The Gangsta and her Gypsy!! And...someone else!!

I could totally be a gypsy!! Right?

Dressing up is one of the funnest things to do! You can be whatever or whoever you choose to be! It is always an adventure and always so fun! Unfortunatley, I do not have a picture of my fourth roommate yet, but that will be coming in due time! You only just must be patient!

Enjoy the photos and drop me a line and catch me up on whats up with you!!

Sounds of the World

There are some things in life that are just so simple, but so wonderful. Music is one of those amazing wonders that seem so simple, but bring joy and happiness to so many. And music doesn't just make people in certain states or countries satisfied, but music is heard around the globe across four oceans and seven continents.

Music is heard in many different forms also. Some like music with a slow, calm feel while others prefer pieces with serious beats and interesting rhythms. Some like hip hop, rap or rock while others prefer jazz, country or classical. Whatever the preference, music is appreciated everywhere.

Last year in Salzburg I grew a great appreciation for classical music and those composers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Back here in the United States and Manhattan, Kansas, I have been definitely feeling the void and absence of this influential music.

Thursday night I was able to step back into that cultural world I held so dear in Austria and experience the sounds of the world again. K-State was able to bring the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra to the McCain Auditorium on the Manhattan campus. Directed by Leon Botstein, this 70 year old orchestra brought a new and rare act to Kansas. The three pieces played were very beautiful and pleasing. These pieces of the night included Erich Walter Sternberg's, The Twelve Tribes of Israel, Leonard Bernstein's, Serenade, with Robert McDuffe on Violin; and Aaron Copland's, Symphony No. 3.

The performance was filled with sweet and easy listening tones and helped me be taken back to the magnificent opera houses and concert halls of Europe. Such a simple aspect of the time I spent abroad, but it has such a prominent piece of me now I will never be able to give it up.

Orchestras and concerts of classical music are not always the norm here in Manhattan, KS, but those who seek out such wonderful art forms will find them in the end and be rewarded with solid performances that satisfy.

For now I still long to walk along the Salzach River or bike down Hellbrunner Allee on bright, sunny days in Salzburg, but, I am making the most of my time at K-State and counting my blessings that God has provided me with here. Taking some moments of a busy week to experience a piece of Salzburg I left behind will keep Austria with me while appreciating what ALL the parts of my world bless me with.

It is a great day to be alive. Although our lives are changing with a new president, an unsure future, and the challenges of daily life in a world of recession; God is good and He is still here. He will guide us, no matter what!