Unexpected Blessings

It's almost been a week since I was blessed with a visit from both of my grandparents. 

How cool is it that Trinity still has a grandparents day?! This day is really special, I loved having all my grandparents at my school and spending the day with them. They all mean so much to me and all have had a special impact on my life. I'm truly blessed to have grown up with all of my grandparents, some of my friends have none! I can't imagine growing up without any of these people. My grandmas also left me with a hefty supply of cookies, yum! Looking forward to spending another grandparents day with them next year!

This past weekend I was part of the 21 Jump Streeters in Trinity's Amazing Race downtown. Let's just get this straight, I don't run, and when I do, I hate it. I had been part of the amazing race before and about died with all the running we did. This year I was very reluctant to sign up but my friends needed a fourth person in order to sign up. I was the fourth person. I was already regretting my decision when we got to our first stop! We went through the race eating some hot dogs, searching for pennies in the sand, finding servals at the lincoln park zoo, bowling, drinking jello, solving clues, and much more, running the way. At the end of the day we were freezing cold, and I felt like I had just run a marathon but we had so many laughs in one day.

It was really fun to see so much of Chicago in one day! 

first stop, lucky strike

cassie was brave enough to eat all the onions and that hot dog.

  

team pic at lincoln park zoo.

just attempting to do a team jumping picture with a stranger for a challenge.

a day finished in a beautiful city.

Birthday Princess

My first little sister was born 18 years ago today! I specifically remember that day Elizabeth was born. It was a blizzard and my dad had to carry David and I up the driveway of my grandparents house before they went to the hospital.

Growing up with Bethie Boo was a challenge. She has a strong head and isn't afraid to say what's on her mind. We didn't always get along but I'm always happy to be able to spend time with her-especially when she gives me her honest opinions when we are shopping. 

Have a very special day, Beefy, love you!

Just to Even Things Out

I have a thing for even numbers or multiples of five. 13? Just not a number that clicks with me.

Last week Milan Andrew rounded out the number of grandkids my Grandpa and Grandma Smits have to a nice round 14. 

I didn't have clinical last Thursday or Friday so I had an exceptionally long weekend home with perfect timing to meet my newest cousin. 

It's incredible how much you can love someone before you even meet them, it's the love of a family and I am blessed to have the family that I do. I spent countless hours with them this weekend; visiting Grandma, playing with L&A, chatting with Lyssie, etc. 

Probably one of my favorite moments was when Adalyn walked in the door to my house and saw me home and said, "Danielle's home! Good! I missed you! Can we play Old Maid?" 

We play Old Maid when I babysit them at my house and sometimes I think they might forget me while I'm away at school, I was so happy to hear that she and Landon remember the time we spend together. 

I was also blessed to be able to hang out with Nathanael and his family quite a bit. My boyfriend and I are both quite competitive and game night got pretty intense. He won't let me live down that he beat me in Skip-bo and I hate every minute of it. I have to get back at him next time! We also had a typical date night which involves us and my brother out for pizza. This time we picked Tony's, never too much cheese.

This is probably the last time I'll be home before the end of the semester. I can hardly believe that a year from now I'll be preparing to graduate, and move on to real life! Scary!

Here's a peek at the most wonderful weekend, because sometimes words aren't enough.

photo credit to rachel. this picture melts my heart. ad is a big sister!

the first picture i ever got of him, looking so big!

family time at Mark and Andreas. L&A even got the boys to play old maid!

precious time with Milan Andrew.

1,2,3...Spring Break

In the middle of March I was able to spend a week in paradise..er...Gulf Shores. 

I have many memories of Alabama from visiting with my family back in high school. There was so much anticipation for this trip with seven other girls. We stayed in a really nice condo with two pools, two hot tubs, and the beach!

The weather was perfect and we spent most of our days laying outside in the sun. After a few initial shin burns and an occasional lobster status burn we transformed into bronze beauties.

It was back to reality for 4 days before heading back home for Easter Break. 

I am so blessed to have such great friends! I am looking forward to living with most of these girls in a house next year!

Here's a few pictures of our adventure.

 

Kathy's parents let us use their van, we were pros at loading and unloading the red rocket!

We also had a sign to celebrate spring break!

 

Justine drove from about 3ish to 7ish, and I was the copilot. There were a few times we thought the van was going to fall apart and a few times we had to start talking really  loud to each other to stay awake. I took a 30 second nap at one point but we made it!

  

The view from our balcony! So Sunny!

Living the dream

walking around at night, getting some ice cream!

the last night :(

 after supper at the hangout

 orange you glad we are friends!? ;)

 never a dull moment with this girl

 

the best days.

 

Never Gets Old Coming Home

This blog post is at the request of my sister Elizabeth. Apparently I don't post enough and she really wants to stay up to date on my life. The problem is, not too much has been happening in my life. 

The past weekend I made the term home after clinical. My parents were headed to Milwaukee to spend the night before their flight  to Riviera Maya. Those lucky folks get to go on vacation all the time it seems like. 

I  met my parents along with David and Nathanael for supper. The rest of the weekend was just the siblings at home. It was fun to just hang out ourselves and be together.  I even convinced Beefy to come shopping with me Saturday. I definitely did some damage in  Dells!

I also got to spend  some time with the boyfriend. He is really busy with his new job and I hate it but he likes working there so I guess I'll have to deal with it! 

Tomorrow I have my last OB clinical! I don't think I'll miss the long days but it was a fun experience. Dealing with moms and babies probably isn't what I'll be doing for the rest of my life! 

I'm also looking forward to spending Saturday in Michigan to celebrate Megan being a bride to be! It will be great to see her so some wedding talk.!

Next week I have 2 test and one midterm and then I get the reward of spring break! I can't wait to get to the gulf and see the sun and sand! 

I tried to capture my weekend, this is what I got.

Lost in Ecuador

I came back from Ecuador a little over a month ago. 

I've been busy with school-figuring out all about moms and babies, planning spring break, finding a house for next year, and attempting to be a therapist.

I made this video to share with my church. 

It's a little bit of a whirlwind but reflects my trip and what we did there.

Shout out to Miss Sarah Marie. She introduced me to this song when she made a video about our Peru trip in 2011. I've found it to be the song that reflects missions and where your heart should be while serving the best, so I used it for this video too. : )

And Here it Goes Again

Well, it's been awhile.

Here's what I've been up to.

I came back from Ecuador. It was an incredible experience, ask me about it sometime. I would love to show you all the pictures and share all my stories. In short, we saw 600+ people from the capital city of Quito and the mountainside village of Columbe, outside of Riobamba. 

I returned home completely thankful for health care, hot showers, normal food, and God's blessings of family and friends.

I started the sixth piece of pie. Grandma Smits has encouraged me to look at college as a pie; seeing as my undergraduate degree will be eight semesters long. It's hard to believe that at this time next year this will be the last piece. 

I am happy to be back with my Trinity friends and am ready for a normal routine again. (I was starting to get a little bit lonely at home when everyone was at work or school!) I am looking forward to my OB clinical at Adventist Hinsdale hospital. It's absolutely beautiful there and I'm sure I'll see lots, I'm just not crazy about being there from before 6:15 to 5:15 for the next six Fridays. Those will be long days. 

I'm looking forward to more normal weather, seeing new babies, and finding a summer externship.

South America Take Two

In about 12 hours I'll be headed for Ecuador!

It seems like yesterday I was headed on a plane to Peru. In my head I keep thinking that this will be similar to that mission trip but in reality it's going to be totally different. 

Today my team and I filled 300+ bags of toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, etc, filled bags with school supplies and prizes, and packed shoes and clothes for the people we are going to serve in Quito and Riobamba. 

This trip has been in the back of my mind for over 2 years now. When I was a freshman at Trinity this interim was offered but I decided against it because I had few nursing skills.
One hard semester of nursing later I feel really ready and willing to serve these people!

Originally the interim was planned to to some work in an orphanage and to do mission and health care work in the jungle. This kind of evolved when Phil from the semester in Ecuador program came to talk to us and found out we were all nurses. He pulled some strings and we actually get to go to an Ecuadorian hospital as well as do health clinics for impoverished families. 

I have been so blessed by all the support I've received from friends, family, and my church.

Please pray for safe travels, few bug bites, and for the love of Christ to be shown through Trinity students each and every day!

I can't wait to tell you all what happens on my endeavor to Ecuador!

Winter Break

I know I never recapped about all of my finals but here's a little bit of what I've been up to lately.

Hopefully I can find the time to gather my thoughts about my classes last semester soon.

 

building lincoln log houses with landon.

 

buying 'torn on the tob' from adalyn at her grocery store.

breakfast with gram and bec.

endless shopping outings.

continuations of my birthday.

time with thanael.

snow days at home.

 

looking out the kitchen window on 12/20/12

 

12/21/12

 

 

farm christmas party.

abundances of food.

season 4 of OTH.

working at the the residents home.

 

I am looking forward to celebrating Jesus' birth with so much of my family and friends in the coming days, and maybe even braving the big winds to play in the snow a few times. : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

21 and Done

How many of you can spend a Saturday night at your aunt and uncle's house watching Madagascar 3 with two munchkins and say it was a good time? This is just one of the simple reasons that there is no place like home for the holidays. As I drove home from Trinity Thursday I couldn't help but fall in love with home all over again-the snow, the fields, the openness, the skies, the stars-beautiful.

Yesterday the family gang trucked out to the Green Lake Christmas tree patch on the farm and picked out the best tree of them all. We had supper at Christiano's and headed home to trim the tree. The house successfully smells of traditional pine needles and all the ornaments with special memories are tousled within the tree branches. 

see, snow! these girls made sure we picked the perfect tree.

 

Rewind. 

The past few weeks have been kind of a blur, here's a shot at remembering.

Almost two weeks ago I turned 21. Officially the worst time of the year to have a birthday while in college. I had the most important exam of the year to study for and exams were the following week. My roommates and friends managed to surprise me and we went out to eat together and made it back to campus in time to do some serious homework. I have become so thankful for the girls I live with and with all the friends I have at Trinity to make everything a good time. My birthday kept on going this year, I got cards in the mail all the time until I came home, and Nathanael had a special present for me too. He told me he was going to have the necklace he gave me cleaned, that little trickster had a diamond put into my heart necklace! I am definitely spoiled!

Remember your college days? Thanksgiving until Christmas break is literally a crawl on your hands and knees, hold on for dear life event. I honestly don't really have anything new to report because my days have been filled with studying, homework, and ridiculousness. Alumni 215 tended to get a little nutty due to a lack of sleep and study overload. I love laughing with them. 

Through the countless hours of studying, I have officially made it through the pits of hell of my first semester of nursing school. My tutor/study group of girls were reminiscing about how we didn't know anything at the beginning of the semester and now can successfully assess patients, administer meds, give shots, etc. We have come so far! 

When I was home for Thanksgiving Pastor Jeff preached on a passage from Daniel, it included this verse and I have kept it close to my heart as I finished the semester. 

"At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever." -Daniel 4:34.

During my break I look forward to watching Landon in the Sunday School Christmas program tomorrow, lighting candles tomorrow night for the candlelight service at church (probably my favorite church service of the year, minus Easter), snowmobiling, snowboarding, seeing the residents at Markesan Resident Home, being with my family, fireplace lounging, shopping with my sisters, visits to Grams, some Oostburg time, seeing Nathanael, preparing for my upcoming trip to Ecuador and just enjoying home.