Thanks mom!

My mom sent a care package with shirts. Now me and my roomies match! :)

Greek Day

We have spent the day decorated in togas, eating gyros, discussing Homer, and playing ultimate frisbee with "gods"
How else would you spend Greek Day ;)

yup, that's my professor they're carrying

Trek Pictures

Are up on Facebook! :)
(Link is on the photo Page! )

We're Back!

Trek was amazing! It was the hardest thing I have ever done physically, but it was well worth the pain and suffering. The back-country is simply breath-taking. I am really missing it right now.
There are no buildings, no trash, no electrical poles, nothing man made. It is all as God intended it to be. There's something incredible about standing on a summit and seeing God's pure creation. It's hard to express the feelings that flowed through me when I reached the top of Gale Summit. Feelings of awe, accomplishment, joy, amazement.
In short, this experience showed me just a fraction of who God is. He is the stillness in the evening air, the gentle breeze that comes with the morning, the ripples in the lakes, the deer grazing, the stars that light the night, the rock that holds the mountain together; he's incredible!

This is happening!!!

And we're off!!! AHHH

Talk to you in six days!

Trek!!! #1

Trek is tomorrow! Well in six hours actually. :/
I am FREAKING out!!!! 6 days in the wilderness! Oh my goodness!
I can't wait to see how I grow from this even though I'm scared sick.
Prayer is very much appreciated!
Feel free to send fb or texts while I'm gone. I'd like to see the love when I return! :)
Can't wait to tell you all about it! (and for it to be over...)
Talk to you all soon! <3

Thanks Mom and UG Theo Dept!

You girls are the best!!!

We love you guys!!!

Small Groups!

I love my small group! Tonight we went out on a speed boat and just hung in the middle of the lake and discussed our spiritual disciplines and how we did this week. I love how I feel like I can be completely vulnerable with them and they won't judge me for anything. :)
Plus, tonight was extra special because we got to watch the sunset and see the stars come out. I love being able to identify starts since I'm in astronomy!
Life up here is amazing! God shows that his presence is EVERYWHERE!

(freaky story: on our way back from the lake we saw two little baby scorpions on the path....strangely I was the only one who wasn't freaking out. Probably because it was so small)

Sunday-Monday :)

HOMEWORK DAYS!!!
I spent most of these days reading the Odyssey (yesterday) and Plato's "Republic" (today). I am really enjoying the Odyssey, but the Republic is throwing me for a loop. In fact all of these philosophers are. :/
This is why Philosophy is NOT my major

:(

Sorry for the lack of postings, homework has been kicking my butt :(

Thursday Astronomy Lab

We had our fist lab from 7-10 on thursday night. It was way better than I could ever imagine it being on main campus!
We went to the house of our professors friend to use his telescope. He showed us Saturn as well as a whole other galaxy that was over 200 lightyears away! It was awesome! All this on top of naming various constellations that we could actually see! :)
I love the mountains! It's the way God intended for it to be <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">

Pictures form the past week!!!

 Sentinel Dome, Yosemite

Random Costumes

 Kayaking! 

Roomies!

"Indians" (Race Through Neverland)

Photos courtesy  of Weston and Emily

Friday! (FUNDAY!!!)

Yesterday was awesome! (completely unproductive, but awesome).
First we had chapel which was great I am part of the worship team and this week they had me on piano. I have never performed in front of peers before so I was super nervous, but as soon as everyone filed in, a peace came over me as I realized that no one cared about how well I played because it was for God not them. So worship was an incredible experience :)
Then directly after we went into Oakhurst to buy more forgotten things for Trek and we also went thirsting :) It was $5 per paper bag you filled (with summer clothes) and I found a brand new/unopened copy of Pinocchio for $2 so of course I had to buy it :)

After lunch we went down to the lake to cool off. The water felt amazing, and the view wasn't so bad either. I was with my two roommates (Christa and Emily) and Aubrey. While we were down there we went kayaking which was amazing. The only other place I have kayaked was at Forest Home and the lake there is tiny so to have so much space to go was great! I can't wait to go night kayaking! :)

When we went back to camp we had an event called "Race Through Neverland" (in case you didn't know, Peter Pan is kind of our theme up here this semester). This race had various stages
Pre) dress up to match your team name

1) Archery (team won)
2) Cinnamon Challenge (I did) (TERRIBLE) (team won)
3) Catching Cheerios in whipped cream on your face (team won)
4) Cereal Eating and Soda Chugging contest (team won)
5)Bike Race (I did)
6)Pass a lifesaver with toothpicks in your mouth (everyone did) (team tied)
7) three legged race (step-step-summersault)
8) egg toss (everyone did)
9)Toilet paper bride (team won)

Hopefully I will be able to post pictures of each of these stages in a way to explain what they are. Otherwise just ask :)

It was a ton of fun though, our student leaders up here are genius!

Then to finish the day we watched Peter Pan on the big screen outside in the amphitheater.
Such a great way to de-stress from the week :)

1) 

2)

3)






4)

5) 

7) 

9)

BOOM!

My mind is being blown!
Gotta love Philosophy with Dave Williams

Thanks Christy for the study session! :)

Weekly Schedule

I am in Plenary, Great Works, Great Ideas, Leadership, and Astronomy :)

Urgent Prayer

Today in Plenary we were told that Professor Dave William's father-in-law fell into a coma and will most likely not make it out.
He and his family are currently on their way to his bedside to be with family in this time of mourning.
Prayers for peace and comfort would be greatly appreciated.

First Intense HW Night

Last night we had study sessions, each about an hour each and it provided a time for us to all gather together to discuss the texts we read and to share ideas we had for our critical analysis form. It was really helpful but also not at the same time because for one of the texts (Heraclitus) I was just lost in general.
After a long night of stressing, reading, typing-erasing, typing-erasing, I have finally produced something that I think makes a little bit of sense. (hopefully)
Today is my first day of actual humanities classes so I'm hoping they don't completely shatter my view of my intelligence.

Quotes of the Night

While in our sleeping bags on star rock, these statements were repeated frequently...
Emily: :They didn't text me yet"
Christa: "where's Rachel?"
Me: "guys, I'm freaked out about scorpions"

My roommates are so much fun! :)

Sunday/Fun Day (kind of)

Today we got to experience church in Oakhurst!...it made me miss CCV :(
Then I had to read the Odyssey like crazy!
Then at 4:30 we headed out towards Yosemite!!! (I got to drive there...yikes! but it was fine :)
We hiked up to Sentiel Dome this evening to watch the sunset...it was incredible!!!
The mountains stretched as far as the eye could see. It was breathtaking. It's amazing to think of how large Yosemite is in person but how small it is on the map. God is great!!!

Friday

Today was a day of no class!!! After chapel (in which our teachers were the worship leaders) we went to the lake and I got to wake board! I forgot how fun it is!!! :)
Then after dinner I started on the dreaded homework :(
Goal: complete leadership homework (check!!)
:)
I also got to talk to Greg (best boyfriend ever!) uninterrupted for a while...made my day! I miss him so much :(

Getting Hard...

While this past week has been amazing I am really starting to struggle with being here. I miss home and the course load feels unbelievably overwhelming. I have been over come with emotion this evening and it sucks. :(

Last Night!

Last night was amazing! We went to an old run down ranch-like property that Emerald Cove owns for a fire pit dinner! It was so neat! We combined potatoes, meat, onions, and bell peppers in foil wrap and threw in the fire. It was surprisingly delicious :)
Then as it got darker we sang praises within a circle of trees that surrounded the fire  which provided a gap in the trees to marvel at the stars. It was an incredible scene!

Then afterwards some of us went on a late night hike to Fresno Dome, which was beautiful! It provided a view of the Oakhurst lights all the way to Fresnos lights.  Plus there was an absolutely breathtaking view of the stars! It was so neat to just lay there staring at the stars! It was definitely worth staying up later :)

HW?...no thanks

I am sucking in the homework department today...
So far todays activities have consisted of chapel, wake-boarding, coffee in Oakhurst, and now I'm heading out for roommate time! Hopefully I'll be productive after dinner :)

End of the Weeks Classes!

Today I had my first exposure to my humanity classes....dun dun DUN!!! Yes, that is literal. These classes are going to be great!...but, so much reading! For history we have to make all the connections on our own between the various texts we will be reading...intense. Same with my Philosophy class. This is definitely going to stretch me. I am not a very strong critical thinker and it is hard for me to discover the deepness of texts, especially when it doesn't catch my interest :/
Nevertheless, I am excited to see what growth I acquire from taking this course :)

More Mail!

Krista, you rock! Love you big sis!

First Mail!

My momma sent me my jacket along with several other goodies!
Best mom ever! <3 class="Apple-style-span" span="span" style="font-size: x-small;">class="separator" div="div" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">

Mouse Damage

:( never even had the chance to try them

Second Day of School!

Today I had only two classes! Plenary and Astronomy. Plenary was all about attention today, which was funny because I was having a difficult time paying attention. Astronomy is going to be so amazing! My professor (Leslie Wickman) is a beast! She is a trained astronaut, she helped make the hubble telescope and the Belogio fountain, she played pro volleyball and football, and she has some top secret government work. Crazy!!! I am so excited to be learning from her! I love gazing at the stars so I am going to love knowing more then the eighth grade science behind the sky :)

After lunch the girls all went to town (Oakhurst) to buy anything we forgot at home. Then we also stopped by a thrift store, which was essentially a house made into a store but it poured out into the front and back lawn. It was so huge and we only had fifteen minutes! Emily bought an awesome dinosaur costume though lol :)
Then we went to the Lake where a pontoon boat was waiting for us. Half the group went then the other half waited on the shore. I went with the second group so me and several other girls swam out to an island in the lake (maybe 1/10th miles away). It was so fun! I love being able to do crazy things with these girls. We have so many laughs at ourselves and each other, which makes it even better! Going on the boat was really fun too, I've never been on that kind of a boat so it was definitely an experience :)
So far today has been amazing...tiring, but amazing!

It was also really neat to be able to just hang out with the professors. Prof Wickman wen to the lake with us and hiked back to campus with us girls so we were able to just talk and get to know each other better outside of the classroom. :)

Failed the Goal :(

So unfortunately Timothy got into our room and broke into a bag of goldfish..and chocolate.
However after a long chase and lot of missing trashcans being thrown, we finally caught the mouse!!!
Team Mouse Catchers: Anneke, Christa, and Me
Footage Taken By: Emily
It was crazy!!!
After we caught the mouse we let him out in the meadow and he headed straight back towards our dorms again :/ but he stopped at the supply shack so hopefully he will stay there :)

First Day of School, First Day of School!!!

I just had my very first class in the Sierras...Plenary! (a class to bring all three humanity courses together). It was great but terrifying all at the same time. Basically they said that these courses are how college scholars are supposed to be. Intense... :/
I am excited to see my growth as a scholar throughout this semester :)

Goal of the Day

Keep the mouse on the hall, Timothy, out of our room.
So far it's been a success. :)

Day #1

As I posted earlier, I woke up to the sunset on star rock...beautiful!!!
Unfortunately though it was two hours before breakfast and we didn't have our stuff until we unloaded the U-haul after breakfast. So we just walked around and explored the campus.
Then after breakfast we started an assembly line to unload the U-haul! It was great to see everyone helping everyone. It was also great to finally get all my things and to be able to unpack. :)
After lunch we did some group bonding activities. These included a campus wide scavenger hunt (which my group won :), rock climbing then breaking into smaller groups and doing team exercises on the ropes course. It was so much fun! It was so neat to have everyone so open to working together even in the difficult times. God has brought together an amazing group of students! I am getting excited to become even closer with them then I have in just this one day!
(There is so much that we did so I am sure I am missing something amazing!)
For dinner we had a banquet, which was formal as a way to say goodbye to good looks for the next three months (crazy!) and it was also where we met all of our professors and Emerald Cove staff.
Afterwards we had our very first "community meeting" where we played the famous "name game", which was a lot more fun than I had anticipated along with some other get to know you games. (Normally those games which require reciting things in front of people freak me out) Then we had a prayer time, which was incredible. We all prayed to ourselves then we headed out (in our own time) to star rock where we popcorn prayed as a group. It is amazing to see such a group of student come together before God and give to him all the glory and power for things to come this semester.
***
Tonight made me really grasp how real this is. It has been feeling like just summer camp and it has been difficult for me to conceive how long I will be gone from friends and loved ones. I know that in reality it really is a short time, but it feels like it is forever away. I also know that I will have lifelong friends and memories from this experience, but it has just been difficult to grasp that at this point.

First Arriving!

Last night we arrived around 11:30 in Bass Lake! I got to drive almost the whole way, which was actually pretty great and with the drive being pretty much straight it wasn't difficult at all.
When we first arrived we picked our roommates and our room. (8 is great!)
My roommates are great, and I am continuously discovering just how much we have in common.
We then proceeded to Star Rock (a huge piece of the mountain that is as titled, a rock) and had a bonfire and s'mores.
Afterwards most of the students (me and my roommates included) slept on star rock :)
It was beautiful! It was freezing even with the zero degree sleeping bag, but it was worth it to see the sunrise! :)

We are here!!!

We made it safely to campus!!! I'll post more soon! :)