College Times

I am moved back in at school and it feels like I have not ever left. Although this year is different than the past 2 years. This year Elizabeth is here with me! I love getting to see her on campus, and now she is a part of my sorority!

I was reunited with my wonderful roommates. I am so thankful to them, especially working with the freshmen and seeing how I have made so many deep and fulfilling relationships. These relationships are evident in my 3 roommates.

During this semester I have done some craziness! We went to the fair. I love fairs. Not only because of the rides, but because of all of the crazy people and the best food ever. At the fair we attended a glorious magic show, and did not ride any rides. This girl loves her fair food more than the rides.

Lastly, Elizabeth and I went on a spontaneous journey to see Les Miserables! We were going to go with one of our friends, but that did not work out and the sisters decided to go on our own. Girl power! I sobbed through the entire show, and we had such a wonderful time together. It is such a blessing to be able to see her whenever I want. She is such an encouragement to me, and I love getting to share college with her!

New Beginnings

The eldest three sisters are now settling in (I think I can safely speak for the other two) at our respective colleges.  I am with Sarah, and Anna is on her own, but surrounded by great friends.  The change from high school to college is a drastic one!  First there is the fact that I had to leave my parents for the first time, not to mention Mary Claire, knowing that their lives at home would keep going, but I would be completely separate.  It is so strange to think about.  Secondly, I would leave my home!  All of the familiar places would be traded for ones I had only glimpsed a few times on visits to see Sarah.  I am a disaster when it comes to directions, so moving was an intimidating concept for me.  Also, Anna and I had to separate for the first time EVER.  We are twins, so we have been together literally since birth.  Actually, since before birth!  The longest time we have been apart has been when we went on different mission trips.  I did not know what to expect with all of these changes.

I think I auto-piloted my way through the first week or so.  I was physically and emotionally exhausted but I did have a lot of fun experiencing college life for the first time.  God comforted me and blessed me with Sarah, who was a huge encouragement to me.  I did not miss my family too badly, and am starting to feel at home here.  I think it is when I really do feel settled in that I miss my family the most.  I wish that they could be here with me, not to see how well I am doing, but just to share in my joys and triumphs.  I wish that they could know every detail of my day, good or bad.  I just miss sharing every aspect of my life with them, which used to happen almost effortlessly at home.  

Communication is just different now.  In this new stage of our lives we are learning how to connect in different ways.  We are still close, and the distance between us makes us want to talk to each other more, and gives us more to tell each other.  I cannot wait to see Anna, MC, Mama, and Daddy again, though.  That will be fun.  In honor of the beginnings we are having, I think I will post pictures of Anna's and my dorm rooms.  Sarah has moved in a few times now, so her room was not documented...maybe she will post some pictures. :)  

We moved Anna in first.  Her college is a state school so the process was strictly timed and organized.  It was just a little bit stressful, and very hot, but we made it through and her room turned out great!

My moving-in experience was more leisurely, and I love the way my room turned out.  I got more pictures of my room than I did of Anna's, maybe she'll upload some more of hers.  

MC was tired of my indecisiveness, I'm sure. :)

This last picture is a painting done by a dear friend of our family, actually one of Mama's friends from college.  She painted this from a picture of us four at the beach when we were little; we used to go to Destin every summer.  She makes prints for each of us girls and gives them to us when we go to college. This picture is so special to me and I love having it in my room.  My sisters and I have made so many wonderful memories together, and I know we have many more ahead of us!  Love y'all so much!

Elizabeth

Oh, I should mention that beneath the picture is a chart that Mary Claire made me.  It asks a series of questions, and every answer leads to "Don't worry about it."  Such a good life lesson!  That girl is full of wisdom. :)  

The Winding Down of Summer

It is now August 27th.  AUGUST 27th!  I cannot believe it.  Our four lives have changed drastically, but before I go into all of that I feel like I must mention the wonderful things we did our summer days came to a close.
First, we visited Sarah at the family camp she worked all of July.  We visited a favorite Mexican restaurante and enjoyed our traditional fajitas.  What a predictable family we are!

Our dear friend, Hannah, lunched with us.  She served at another branch of the same Christian camp.

A small side note was a College Night that Anna and I attended at our local container store.  This would not be of enough importance to mention, except for the fact that Anna won a raffle for a large tower of shelves.  We rejoiced in her winnings.

Next up was our tie-dying (or is it tye-die?) party.  Mary Claire, Anna, and I tie-dyed t-shirts in our garage in the relentless summer heat.  Typical of our personalities, Anna and Mary Claire finished quickly, while I labored in the heat, unwilling to rush through the dying process, even though I was baking alive.  The shirts were worth the effort, though!

(The pictures of the dying process are on Anna's camera... maybe I can convince her to post!)

The next major event in the lives of the sisters at home was a cookout Anna and I threw for our friends.  We (mainly Mama and MC) cooked all day long for this extravaganza.

Aprons are a big part of the cooking process.

As you can tell, we did much cooking and the party was a success.  It was a "last supper" of sorts for Anna and me, though, because the next day we got our wisdom teeth taken out.  Trust me, you do not want to see those pictures...they are so pitiful, even I can barely stand to look at them!

Mary Claire and I love getting snow cones, especially from our local Purple Penguin stand because our friends work there.  Or maybe we just made friends with everyone who works there.  

Anyway, we are regulars, and I decided to document our favorite summer activity.

Obviously, my snowcone was the one on the left.  :)

These times are my favorite summer memories, and I treasure every minute I am with my sisters.  I am writing this from my dorm room which still feels very new and very unlike my room at home, and I long for my sisters.  Thankfully, Sarah is with me!  But I miss my other two.  I am so glad I got to have these memories with my sisters this summer.  Stay tuned for our moving-in stories!  

Elizabeth

The Good Stuff

We title this post "The Good Stuff" because that's what our last two days were, plainly and simply put.  Mary Claire, our mom, and I went to visit our grandfather, W.C., in his hometown.  W.C., or PaPa, is the best grandfather ever, and being with him is such a joy.  We played wii bowling, tennis, and golf, and just enjoyed each others' company.  We are so thankful that we can spend time with our grandpa.  We went to our favorite restaurant, The Bulldog, to pick up ice cream.  The Bulldog is famous for its strawberry shortcake only served in the summer.  It's my personal favorite, and I think it weighs as much as a small baby.  I always surprise myself and eat the whole thing!

Mary Claire's favorite is the butterscotch flavorburst cone...yumm.

PaPa owns a lumberyard and we love to visit it.  On the side of one of the buildings is a Coca Cola ad that they had restored... we love it's nostalgia factor and the fact that coke is such an icon.  As we were leaving, a salesman took a picture of it with his phone.  I think that makes it a full-time tourist attraction!  PaPa joked about charging admission.  :)

PaPa also has farmland that we decided to visit, and it was amazing!  We hadn't been since we were very little and would ride in PaPa's truck to go feed the cows.  MC and I loved going back and breathing the fresh open air.  

We call this the Red Barn. :)

We loved the orange flowers on that tree.

These are my favorite colors.

As I get older I realize that I would not be half the person I am without my family.  There are few things I enjoy more than being with my family and seeing where I come from.  Mary Claire and I are so blessed and wish our sisters could have been with us on this trip!  We loved being with our mom and with PaPa!  We love you!!!

Sun Sun Sun!

Hey, guys! This is my first solo post... get excited! :) I wanted to give a little update on my summertime activities, which have so far included nothing spectacular. Don't get me wrong, my summer has been glorious- but simple.

At first dear Daddy insisted I get a job.

Mommy and I did not like the sound of that. We ho-hummed around until the decision was made which has allowed me this simply glorious summer. Mommy and Daddy concluded that my job this summer would be to hang out with my sisters, seeing as this was our last summer together and that Sarah would be leaving for Pine Cove and eventually all the girls to school altogether too soon.

Mary Claire- 1 Job-0

Just the way I like it.

So besides some light exercise and pool time, my summer has been generally uneventful until recently when I took a lake trip with two of my dearest friends. What a blast it was!

Look how gorgeous.

We did a lot of lazing around, watching movies, and eating. We tubed and skied and one of my friends learned how to slalom. I enjoyed their sweet sweet company and the relaxation of the lake.

Besides the lazing about, we also got into some heated games of what our family calls, "Speed Scrabble." (It's basically Bananagrams if that helps at all.)

Y'all. I won.

And when I say "won," I mean: dominated, beasted, killed, owned... any myriad of words...

Seriously. And I felt bad! They even paired up against me and I still won.

It was luck. or awesomeness... whatever. :)

I will credit the Debsta (nickname for Mommy) for my vocabulary from early childhood reading and much experience with her Words With Friends obsession. Here are a few pictures from our Speed Scrabble adventures:

This last one here is my favorite picture from the weekend! I initially took it to send to Elizabeth, you know, because of the "E,"but the corner shot with my friend laughing made it tons better. You can imagine the laughter we shared.

JOY.

pure joy.

I hope you experience some joy this week! Here's to simply glorious summers and laughing till your stomach hurts!

--Mary Claire

Surprise Bag

For as long as we can remember, we have always had a surprise bag on our trips.  Mama's solution to long car rides with four little girls was to pack a bag (preferably one with fish on it) containing many things to keep us entertained.  

Surprise bag contents:

• Candy...lots of it.
• Stickers to use as rewards for good behavior.
• Travel games (Don't Wake Daddy, Old Maid, Hangman,  etc.)
• Fruit-Stripe Gum.
• Movies.
• Books-on-tape.
• A good book for Mama to read aloud.
• Paper dolls.

We always looked forward to the opening of the surprise bag.  Mama delayed it until we could wait no longer and the contents never disappointed.  We are lucky to have such a creative mom.  On our last trip Mama packed a surprise bag, although our favorite fish bag has been mysteriously misplaced.  The favorite treat was a snack we had in the past- Dunkaroos.  Only found at Wal-Mart.  No surprise bag is complete without them.

The Girls

Foodcation

Our family took a quick vacation this past week.   The theme of this vacation?  Food.  We won't pretend otherwise.  Not that all we did was eat, but it did take up a fair amount of our time.  Our first stop was the Viking Cooking School.  We attended a cookie decorating class and learned how to use fondant.  We watch a lot of the Food Network at our house, and so we were well-acquainted with this icing substitute.  Our instructor promised that this particular brand was tasty.  To our dismay, our cookies were inedible.  Oh well.  We had 3 hours' worth of fun decorating the cookies.  Also, our instructor made muffins, sandwiches, fresh lemonade, and potato chips, all of which our mother thoroughly enjoyed as she watched our progress.  It was a successful day.

That night we stopped to visit some old family friends.  This family is very special to us, and their daughter, Sarah Barry, is our go-to-gal for all things blog.  We had a wonderful afternoon at their house watercoloring, and ate at Doe's Eat Place that night.  We had heard much about this local favorite and came very hungry.  Our expectations were met, to say the least.  Though Elizabeth and Anna were sitting downhill of the rest of the family due to the sloping floor, we all enjoyed every minute of the multi-course meal.  Our dear family friend ordered hot tamales, salad, broiled and fried shrimp, garlic bread, steaks, and fries.  We felt like we were at a feast!  We loved the food, but the fellowship with our friends was just as sweet.  

Our next stop on the road trip was The Shed.  We heard about The Shed through the Food Network, and stopped for some barbecue.  It was okay, to be honest with you.  The food was nothing spectacular, but the ambiance was worth the stop.

Then we headed to the beach!  We ate at the normal seafood (and chicken tenders, for most of the girls) places.  Here are the highlights: we almost got struck by lightning, Sarah got a sunburn, Anna had a mild heatstroke, Mary Claire got flipped numerous times by the waves, and Elizabeth got a sand burn.  Mom and Dad escaped unscathed.  Dad kept his glasses from the waves for the first time in a few years.  Don't misunderstand us, we had a great time!  It was just adventurous.  But that's us!  Adventurous and hungry.

The Girls