A Thanksgiving Feast!

Nov 19, 2009

As you all know, Thanksgiving is approaching quickly.  With Thanksgiving comes amazing food and family.  A Westside Apartments tradition took place yesterday afternoon.  At 6:00, most of the residents on Westside took part in a Thanksgiving feast!  The school bought four huge turkeys, while all the students in both apartments brought sides.  Each hall was assigned a different side.  For example, our section was told to bring either salad or bread.  Other sections brought deserts, stuffing, corn, and anything else that you can imagine being at a Thanksgiving dinner.

This is definitely one of the best events of the year.  Honestly, this past week has been ridiculous for me.  I have had more tests and more assignments due than I have ever had before.  It was such a relief to go and take a break, hang out with friends, and just enjoy a good meal.  Last year, I was not able to make it to the Westside dinner, but this year there would be no excuses.  It was really cool as well to see how hard the Residents Assistances and Resident Director care about us.  They were the ones that planned everything out. 

I left that evening with a full belly of goodness and a memory that will not be forgotten.  There was something about that time that relieved a lot of the stress in my week.  It is interesting how community and a fun time can do that for you.  I actually got the chance to talk to one of our volleyball players, Sarah Miller, to see how she liked the meal.  Check out the video! 

What's All The Ruckus?

Nov 15, 2009

             This past Saturday was an event called “Rivertown Ruckus.”  At this event, all of the Sherpa’s went to Rivertown Mall in Grandville, Michigan in different apparel.  The object of this event is for the Terra Firma students to find all of the Sherpa’s in the mall.  I was a part of this last year when I was a Sherpa and decided to come check it out again this year.  My Sherpa was also involved, so I wanted to make sure I saw her as well.  Her disguise was amazing!  She looked totally different than she did two days prior!  Here is a picture of what she looked like before and after her transformation.

Mandi before the transformation

The punk rocker after the transformation!

            It was weird to not be involved in the Ruckus this year, but it was fun, however, to see all off the different disguises.  One Sherpa dressed up like a pregnant lady, which was by far the best disguise that I saw.  Tom, Ben, Melody, and I got to observe though, which was really nice.  We actually had a good turn out from our group compared to my group last year.    It is always a lot better when more students participate.  Here is a picture of Jonathon Burns, the Sherpa I was talking about earlier. 

Jonathon Burns, best disguise EVER!

            Overall, this Saturday was really awesome.  I got to experience one of the most fun events of the year for Terra Firma.  It is always fun to do something different and spontaneous, and that is what Rivertown Ruckus is.  Everyone should definitely attend this event next year when it comes around again.  

A Day At The Chuck

Nov 8, 2009

             This past week was RA Appreciation Week.  For those of you who do not know what an “RA” is, it basically stands for a residence assistant.  They are the leaders of the different sections throughout the various halls at Cornerstone University.  My RA, however, happens to be my roommate this year.  All throughout the week, different sections have been doing different things to show their appreciation for their particular RA.  My other two roommates and I thought it would be a great idea to kidnap ours and bring him to one of the best places on earth: Chuck-E-Cheese.

     Ben, Matt, and Tom posing in front of the Chuck-E-Cheese coin

            It was a Saturday, and everything seemed normal.  Our RA, Matt, just got back from doing his laundry and was about to start some homework.  Before we started to do “homework,” we cranked some music on our sound system in the living room.  Before Matt knew it, we picked him up and carried him away to my car.  We started driving to a bunch of random places to make Matt super confused.  After a few pit stops, we finally arrived at our sacred childhood memory.

Matt and Tom awaiting our pizza

            I’m not going to lie, when we first got there, it was really awkward.  I’ve never seen so many wild and crazy kids running around before.  I guess that should be expected though, as we did go to a place where kids usually run free.  We ended up getting a pizza, drinks, and tokens while we were there.  The really awesome part, however, was that our friend was also working there that day.  She ended up hooking us up with a ton of free tokens.

This guy wasn't very excited to be at Chuck-E-Cheese            

            Overall, we ended up having a really good time at a place that we use to cherish as kids.  We got to celebrate not only a great RA in Crawford’s apartments, but also a great friend.  I can’t end this blog without showing you guys a video of one of the coolest games ever.    

A Song From Us To You

Nov 5, 2009

             Hey guys!  Sorry it has been such a long time since my last post.  I have been trying to get over a nasty bug that I’ve had for the past few days, but I have started to feel better.  Anyway, this past week, my roommate, Ben Butters, has been taking a piano class.  One of the most recent songs that he has had to learn is Good King Wenceslas.  So I thought, “why not give the readers an entertaining video to enjoy for the upcoming Christmas season?” 

Well, this video isn’t exactly what I would call, “entertaining” by any means, but I’m curious to see what you all think.  The quality isn’t the greatest, but it is the spirit that really counts.  And if you really feel the spirit compel you, I have attached lyrics below the video for some sing-along action!  So here it is me, Matt, Ben, and Tom singing, “Good King Wenceslas.”  Hope you guys enjoy!

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel

Where Da Treats At?

Oct 30, 2009

            Every late October, Cornerstone puts on one of the most memorable events of the year, Treats-in-the-Hall.  Cook, Van Osdel, Pickett, and Kethley halls all decorate their dorms into fantasy dream lands.  Students, faculty, and their children are all welcome to this once a year event.  Each hall has a different theme, and the residents in the halls help participate to make that theme come to life.  One very sad thing about living in the apartments is that I am not able to participate in this campus-wide extravaganza.  My freshman year, however, I was able to help make props and even be involved with our hall’s theme.  Here are some people from my Terra Firma group who did an awesome job at helping out this year.

            The even cooler part about this night is that we had our Sabaoth Ministry kids with us.  Instead of us going to them, they came to us, and by golly did they love coming to us.  I have never seen these kids have so much fun!  They would run around to all of the different activities and collect as much candy as they could.  I had one boy tell me that it was the most fun that he had ever had and that he wanted to go to college someday.  I had to gently tell him that college wouldn’t be all fun and games forever, but he didn’t care.  It makes me so excited to see younger kids get pumped up about their future, even at a trick-or-treat party like Treats-in-the-Hall.  These kids will now hopefully have something to shoot at in the future and continue to pursuit their college dreams while going through high school.  Here are some pictures of our group before and during the festivities!

What an amazing night!  I hope that you all can experience Treats-in-the-Hall sometime in the future!  Have a great weekend everyone!