Ice Ice Baby

- So I named this post after what I thought was a Queen song named "Ice Ice Baby." It turns out some guy named Vanilla Ice actually sang that song, and the Queen song I was thinking of is called "Under Pressure." Weird.

- The reason for the ice theme??? Well, the initial reason is the Olympics, but more importantly because we had an Olympics opening ceremonies party with ice themed games!!! Here are some pictures from our par-tay:

- Ice Bath: Who can keep their hand in the water for the longest amount of time? Well, the answer is Josh Voth for 14:18. As of yesterday (Sunday) Josh said he hadn't regained all feeling in that hand yet!

- The first round of contestants- they are looking pretty happy at this point! Our other games were corn hole toss and frozen chubby bunny. The chubby bunny record was 12 marshmallows. This was by far the most fun I have ever had watching the opening ceremonies!

- Another highlight of the weekend was making cookies for my horse, Chance. Anna Serven and Lydia Grawe helped me out with this. They were pretty excited to help with this overall, except for when it can to mix in the molasses, which they felt did not smell so good.

- My New Year's Resolution to watch movies I have not seen before is going splendidly. To continue with the John Williams theme, we watched Jaws last week and the first Indiana Jones movie should be arriving here shortly. Jaws is certainly epic, but the suspense was killer (ha!).

- I am traveling to Florida on Friday, staff training Sunday through Wednesday, and then to Gainesville. I am pretty excited to see other interns, family, friends, and Wallace. Wallace is my parent's Westie. He is pretty ridic. As in ridiculously cute.

- Boomer Sooner!!!

Another Exciting Blog Post

Well, after last week's blog chock full of excitement, how can I possibly live up to that standard?? Much to my dismay, there has been no more snow in Norman, so I have nothing to report on that front (get it, as in a cold front...har har har).

We had a girls movie night this weekend, which was fabulous if I may say so myself (which I may). We watched the BBC miniseries "North and South." Haven't seen it? Don't know what it is?? Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417349/. If you have Netflix, you can watch it instantly on your computer!!!

I made a trip to Oklahoma City with some freshmen as they are in need of dresses and shoes for the upcoming "Pink and Black Ball." It is a ball put on by the University of Oklahoma for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I also made a trip with my roommates to my favorite coffee shop in Norman, (no offense Cafe Plaid or Michaelangelos you just aren't as trendy and your cafe americanos just don't measure up) Gray Owl! It was wonderful to spend time with them. They are wonderful girls and God has really blessed me by having me live with them. Here we are at Gray Owl:

My spring newsletter will be sent out shortly, so please let me know if you are not receiving them and would like to.

Boomer Sooner!!!

Snowy, Snowy Oklahoma

- I just got back from my first Tuesday morning Bible study. It was great! We talked about some of our hesitations in reading the Bible, and misconceptions we have about its content. Everyone agreed that reading from the Children's Bible was fun.

- I watched the first movie of my project to see movies that John Williams composed music for with my roommate Sally this weekend. It was the 1974 movie "The Sugarland Express" with Goldie Hawn. This was Steven Spielberg's first film! It is the film that marked the beginning of the Spielberg-Williams relationship. "Sugarland" refers to Sugarland, TX, and not some magical land made of sugar. I was under the impression that this name might refer to the latter, until the movie ended and the story had never moved outside of the dry Texas landscape.

- In order to complete The John Williams Project this year, I have subscribed to Netflix. This weekend I will take a break from John Williams movies and have girls over to watch "North and South." If you have not seen this, you are missing out on an epic tale. We will watch the first two hours, break for dinner and then watch the rest. I cannot wait to introduce my Norman friends to this story of unrequited love!

- Here are some pictures of Chance from the weekend: What do you feel like this face is expressing??

- He was still hopeful that I had more carrots at this point:
- A street close to my house Friday morning. It continued to snow most of Friday!

- As you can tell from the pictures above (and the title of the post), it snowed about a foot last Thursday and Friday. OU had 1.5 days cancelled of class. This was fun, especially because it means that we got to hold the time-honored OURUF tradition of SNOW FOOTBALL!!! This was one of the things I was most excited about when I found out that I was coming to OU. Here are the wonderful girls that came and toughed it out between 10 and midnight!!!
- The whole crazy group of snow football players!
- Boomer Sooner!!!

The Jesus Storybook Bible

This semester Megan Tevebaugh, a junior here at OU, and I will be leading a small group through the Jesus Storybook Bible. It is a wonderful children's Bible that, besides having awesome artwork, talks about Jesus and his love in a refreshingly honest way. Megan and I thought it would be a nice way to come back to the basics, and reexamine some essential stories of the Bible. In college it can be tempting to be too intellectual about everything, so it will be nice to go through this Bible.

We are, however, meeting at 7am on Tuesday mornings. I am sure that this will be a challenge for us all at some point. My hope is that we can keep each other accountable to get up and come every week.

In other news, we are expecting a winter storm here on Thursday. I am hoping for snow since I missed the first big storm while at home over Christmas break. I can't wait to see Chance run around in the snow. Pray for snow!

The Beginning of a New Semester

Happy 2010, Blog Readers! I had a great break in Florida with my family over Christmas. Here is the "low down" on what is happening:

- It snowed 14 inches in Norman while I was away. Don't worry, Chance actually loved the snow!

- Today is the first day of classes of the semester. This semester in RUF we are studying the minor prophets. Along with the freshmen Bible study, I am co-leading a study on the Jesus Storybook Bible. It is at 7am on Tuesday mornings. Wahoo!

- What will be going on on the weekends in Norman without football to keep us busy??? Only time will tell.

- I have lost my passport, and currently applying for a new one. Pray it will get here in time for my mission trip to Peru, March 12-19.

- As a part of my new years resolution to watch movies that I have not seen before, I am focusing on watching movies that John Williams has composed music for. While Star Wars is on the slate for later in 2010, this weeks movie is The Sugarland Express with Goldie Hawn.

- Despite my brother Joe tearing his ACL during our first day of skiing, our ski trip to Colorado was great. Here are some pictures:

Above: Laura and Justin with their coloring page. Coloring was a favorite nightly activity.

Megan, me, Mary Katherine, and Tristen at a local coffee shop, "The Crown."

Everyone suffering from the heat of chicken curry, which my brother made us. It was really good though!

Tristen, me, and Amy and our coloring pages.

Tristen and Justing excited for the first day of skiing.

Happy New Year Everyone!

The End of Fall 2009

Well, exam week is underway here in Norman, and we have had our final RUF of the semester. It was a night of worship songs and a reminder of the gospel. It was also a night in which to pull out our tacky Christmas sweaters!!!

Love the big buttons on this one!

Friends let Friends wear tacky clothing.

Co-interns all dressed up for the final large group.

Goofy freshmen all excited about their cheesy Christmas-garb.

It has been a wonderful semester of learning, loving, and friendship. While the former certainly characterizes most of my first four months here, there have certainly been moments of hardship, frustration, and disappointment. I would be lying if I did not say that. I would also be leaving something out if I did not mention that in those hard moments my community here has blessed me and Jesus has provided. I have felt very loved here!

I am heading home in 3 days and am looking forward to reconnecting with friends and family. January 6th, however, I will arrive back in Norman as excited as ever to be serving with RUF at the University of Oklahoma. We will begin the year with a ski trip to Breckenridge. Woohoo! See you in 2010, blog readers!!!

Barn Dance!!!

Anna Serven and I after the tragic boar accident:

Some of the RUF enjoying the soul train:

Barn Dance!!!

The Fenricks enjoying some good chili!!!

Staff Picture!

- The RUF Barn Dance was certainly a highlight of the entire fall semester! Friends, dancing and chili- it was all so wonderful. The pictures can't do it justice, but I wanted to share them with you.

- I sent out my Christmas updates today. If you know you are on my mailing list, be watching for it in the mail! It might just be more excitement than you've ever had in one envelope.

- We are having a Tacky Christmas Sweater Contest at RUF on Wednesday. It is true!!! Glitter, sequins, trees, Santas, reindeer, bows and tassels are all fair game!

- It has been right at freezing everyday here for the past 3-4 days. It should get into the low 40s tomorrow. I am enjoying the temperature, even though I am having to remember how to dress for this weather. Chance seems to be doing in this climate too, although I continue to pray for his health.

- Only one more Monday update before I take a break for the Holidays. Whoa!