Thanksgiving Take 1

Friday November 20th---

I think everyone was looking forward to this day.

Yummy food, and some crazy fun with the gang.

The girls- Jessica, Me, Michelle, Rachel, Kaitlyn, Kristen, Lauren and Morgan
Of course we had to do a funny one----
Well actually, the only one being funny is Kristen--sry had to use it. I love this one!



We did some line dancing and watched for the bus to drive by to see if anyone saw us...


We all got a little tired so Michelle showed off her moves to Cupid's Shuffle




By then we were all starving and hot.
Some people thought updating my status would be fun. (love you guys).

Michelle and Kristen also thought it would be fun to try to be me...in the bathroom, this is what they came up with.


I will have to say nicely done.

Then Michelle, Kristen and I went into the bathroom and took some pictures. Not sure how they would turn out...I have to say they are interesting.

I think we decided that I look like Sully or Mike from Monster Inc.

It was finally time to eat! Michelle and Morgan were dubbed turkey cutters. idk why, but Morgan wanted to and Michelle just got told she was going to. I guess it wasn't that hard they said, it was so juicy that it just fell off the bones.





I do have to say we did a good job. Of course Michelle had to say "We actually cooked a turkey" like she didn't think we were going to be able to. You give us little faith Michelle.

We also made some, let me rephrase that, Morgan and Rachel did alot of the cooking actually I didn't do much. Morgan and Rachel made some potatoes, we had cranberry sauce, biscuts, some yams, stuffing and some stuff that my moms company wanted us to try. They gravy was good, the green been casserole was NASTY.

So if you are buying greenbean casserole from Meijer deli area...DON'T. I mean homemade is always better but this was an easier way for us college kids.

Check out our spread!



We all sat around the table....aka the floor and shared this delious meal. (Its actually making me hungry again)

Morgan made some awesome name cards for everyone. They were really cool.



What were we thankful for? Well Michelle won that one. She was thankful that we were all healthy and together. Awww.....

Afterward we played Balderdash for like 20 min and got bored so we watched some tv and hung out. It was a very fun night. We decided that it will be a yearly think hopefully.

Til Later...

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations. --Psalms 100: 4-5

Thanksgiving Memories

A week from today, I'll be at my aunts in St.Clair enjoying the food, and people around me. This has not always been my Thanksgiving. For me Thanksgiving is linked to death, and tradition until death hit my family yet again.

I was 5. Playing with my cousins in the snow at my Aunt Dee's house was all I wanted to do. But dad forgot our boots. My family was separated that Thanksgiving. Mom was with her family. My sisters and I were in Port Huron with my dad and his side of the family. Poppa, (my mom's dad) had died that morning or day I'm not exactly sure. I was 5. I can remember going to see my grandma and poppa up north and poppa being sick but I never knew what would come from being that sick.

We were his little princesses. I know it. I don't know that last time I saw him. We were visiting a lot when I was little, but that was all I knew. I know now we were visiting every weekend because we didn't know how long. I know mom was gone. My aunts and uncles at Thanksgiving knew, and I can remember them looking out for us more than usual. I know we had no clue what had happened that morning. All we knew was we saw Santa on TV. And we couldn't play outside with out cousins in the snow.

I was 5.

From that year on, Thanksgiving was at Aunt Dee's. I don't know if we ever went there before Poppa died, I think we might have. But after Poppa died in 1995 I spent my Thanksgivings at Aunt Dee's, who was actually my dad's aunt. Her house was small, so the guys hung out in the heated garage.

The house was buzzing. It was so warm and inviting. Us kids had really no where to go excpet the hallway. Piling on each other and driving our parents crazy. The small old farm house was really no place for over 11 cousins to be playing. But it was the memories I remember.

As we grew it wasn't so fun anymore. The house was still buzzing. And seamed a lot smaller, but then again we were a lot bigger.

Our last Thanksgiving there was the biggest. Everyone knew Aunt Dee didn't have long. Family I barely knew all gathered in Aunt Dee's small old farm house to share a meal and play some cards one last time. That was 2006.

She made it one more Thanksgiving, but was too sick to have us all over. (2007) Thanksgiving changed. Instead of all my dad's extened family it was just his brothers and sisters and thier families at my aunts in St. Clair. My aunts family was there too. It wasn't anything I knew. It was different. To me it wasn't Thanksgiving.

What I knew of Thanksgiving would never be again. Aunt Dee passed away in Janurary of 2008.

What I never knew about our tradition of Thanksging was that my dad had spent his holidays at or with my Aunt Dee and her family when he was growing up. This was all we knew. Utill Thanksgiving 2008.

Last year, was different. More different than I was up to.

My mom's mom has always come with us since my poppa died. So off we went the 6 of us to Linda's, Aunt Dee's daughter. It was gonna be like old times right? Linda was hosting, but it wasn't the same.

Not everyone from my family was there. There were people I had no clue who they were and there was not a lot of places to sit. In the past there wasn't either but Linda's living room was a lot smaller than Aunt Dee's. We made due, and ended the night early since my mom and I weren't feeling good from the smoke that was coming from downstairs. (That was the new garage for the men).

So in a week, once again I will be somewhere else for Thanksgiving. Actually my aunt who took it on in 2007 is hosting again this year with some more people, I think. All I know is that she's freaking out. There could just be the small group that we had a coupld years ago, or there could be 50 more people. All I know is that I will be with family, all my cousins will be home and there will be good food.

I know it doesn't matter where you are, but who we are with on Thanksgiving. Life will take me all over in the coming years, but I wil always have these memories of death with tradition until death again associated with Thanksgiving no matter where I am.

I think this verse from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 sums up my Thanksgivings----

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Weekend Recap--Photo Heavy

Where do I begin? How about here.....on 68th Ave.



I was driving back from Evergreen Elementary one day and happened to come upon this right before the High School on 68th Ave. I made me smile a bit. Only in Allendale. So that prompted me to tell my gang. And we decided a trip over there to do this....

Rachel and Kristen came also. Hopefully one day we can stand there with our cap and gowns on.

Then it was time for dinner at Kristens. Though Michelle and I made it...actually Michelle did most of it. I washed the dishes. We ended the night watching someone get busted in the complex with more than 6 police cars. All we wanted to do was get some people home, 45 min later we were able to leave.

Saturday. I was in for more than I bargained for. Rachel and I started off coloring with chalk then we decided to go on a scavenger hunt on campus---nothing in particular we were just looking for anything. Here I am before our adventure.



We then attempted to climb the Blue Structure in the Lakes Plaza. Actually only Michelle tried.


Off to the Arbotretum....



Rachel and Michelle...well me too decided we should hike through the ravine. I always have wanted to and never had the courage. Well someone should have told me not to wear pink winter crocs. Down we went.



We climb on a log....figured out how to cross the water...and found some interesting items down there.






Here's one of our findings....



We also found a corded phone, a toy gun, and some deer tracks. Oh and we found a returnable. YEY 10 cents!

Continuing through the ravine, I managed to slide down the side and grabbed a tree. I have battle wounds to show for it.




2 hours later we made it to the Little Mack Bridge...or at least under neath it.






It was an adventure for sure. In the end I was the only one dirty and with battle wounds. Here I am afterward.




We were starving and tired. Morgan met up with us at Kleiner for some dinner. Later we ventured into Grand Haven to see The Couple Retreat! Must see movie. Not the best movie, but HILARIOUS.

Til Later.....

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

Software Review

Looking to the future, I enjoy finding interesting lesson plans and information to use in my classroom one day from others and online. My friend from home and I also like to share this information among each other. Having a big interest in History I choose to specifically look at some software that is all about Ellis Island. I ended up looking at 2 different sites that reviewed the same software on The Ellis Island Experience by Southpeak Interactive.

The first site, http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/reviews/socstud2/ellis/merge.shtml, gave the product a 5 all the way across the board. It briefly said that teacher and students enjoyed the product and it was easy to use. But that didn't really say much to me, anyone could have said that. And there were not any comparisons of reviews or other products, they just showed one review. I wanted to know more.

The second site that I for a review from, http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/ellis/ellis.html, was from a teacher who has used these kinds of educational software just for fun use in her classroom. Then she rethought that and reviewed this software. Overall, I would purchase this software from her review. She said that this software has a lot of primary resources and transcripts that students can listen to. The pictures of the artifacts are also very good, she adds. If I was doing a project or even small lecture on Ellis Island, I would think to look into using this software in my classroom.

The only thing that could turn someone away from using this product is that Donna says that a lot of the information is also in the books that she uses when doing an Ellis Island Unit. Thus taking away from the students reading. I would be interested in knowing what books correlate with this. It doesn't mean that I would not buy this product because it would have the same information as some books that I could use, but it would allow for different books to be used along with this product.

Overall I think this product would be beneficial to a classroom. The pictures and information that Donna gives on her review looks very interesting and student friendly. This seems like a fun way to share my love for History among students in a fun and interactive way.

Shitty Week but Awesome Memories ahead

Lets just say Thankfully last week is finally over! A emotionally and physically draining week of classes and choices (that have yet to be made) is over. And a new week is starting, hopefully for the better.

After studying for a PSY test, that I better have passed, and writing a HST paper that will be edited this week and an online class that I had to put off til Friday because of the paper and test I got to spend some time with my friends. We headed to Alpine to look for some Thanksgiving decorations for Michelle to decorate the Mailroom, yeah those don't exsist. Actually our plans changed as Kristen and I finished up our online classes. We were suppose to get Michelle's sister in Lansing, but instead we got to meet her aunt, uncle and cousins in Byron Center. So after shopping we debated for a long time what we were gonna have for dinner. After 45 min or so, Pizza was the end result. We ate so much we were all sick. But it was SO good. Then we ventured off to Byron Center, were Kristen kept telling us this was the way she went home...lol.

Eventually we had Collen. Kristen and I passed out and decided after 30min back at the Valley to head home. Breakfast at Fresh with the girls, and then a scavenger hunt tour before the game on Saturday. It was so nice out. Morgan, Rachel and I headed to the beach for the sunset, it was cold and sandy lol. Morgan was covered in it, she decided to slide down the hil.

Anyway, I was thinking about this week ahead and the 11th this week which means YCA beginning week. My roommates and I were talking eariler this shitty week about what we have melted in the dishwasher. I couldn't think of anything that I had but had to qucikly retrack that information, thinking about all the studd we had melted at work. Measuring Cups, Bowls, Practice Flour cups and proabaly some sliverware and so much more. So this week we would have been there 3 years but instead a jewerly store has taken over our once bright building that held laughter and smells of the season that is ahead of us. :Life contines on, and memories are the what is life. Great MEMORIES.


Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Prov 3.5-6)