you don't look like anyone i know

this is me with my good friend amanda, our professor heather sellers, and her friend amelia.

on saturday night, amanda, maria, and i went to an art gallery in holland to attend the book launch of heather's memoir, you don't look like anyone i know. ((this is a link to her website)) she was also recently featured on good morning america! her memoir is about her life as it relates to her rare neurological disease that causes her to not be able to remember the human face. this is very interesting, and she is SUPERB! check her out!

fall so far

the fall 2010 award for the worst blogger goes to me.

i have neglected to document the fun events of my life via blogger in the midst of the mounds of lesson plan writing, poetry writing, and book-reading i have had to do lately.

but now i have some time!

here is a quick update on how my senior year has looked so far:

this year, i have a few friends living on the beach on lake michigan. they call it: dee's place (after their landlord). we broke it in at the beginning of the year by going for a swim! (corinne was there too!)

one day, the waves on lake michigan were the biggest i've ever seen them!

this is the view from the boys' deck.

one night, we had a bonfire at dee's place. quinn and i gathered lamps from around the house and lit up the deck. it looked like a treehouse.

my good friend johnrob turned 22! so we celebrated.

lindsey made him this awesome chocolate candy cake!

and then my good friend and housemate corinne turned 22!

so we went to cityvu to celebrate over dinner.

and then my good friends, lindsey and johnrob, got engaged!!

chris and i went apple picking at crane's orchards (after a delicious lunch at crane's in the city).

we had a fun afternoon walking around tasting apples and picking a few of our favorites.

we were told the honeycrisp section was cleared out for the season, but of course we had to investigate because honeycrisps are the best! there were hundreds on the ground, so we searched and searched and found a good one and ate it! without a doubt, it was the best apple of the day.

i went home for a weekend and spent time with my family.

here is my mom and dad at the plymouth orchards and cider mill!

emma and i went to a rugby game!

who knew hope college had a rugby team? not me.

i imagined i was back in england the entire time.

while i was there, a mom standing next to me explained everything about the game.

so..got questions about rugby? i can answer them for you! (maybe)

for my curriculum and methods education class, we had to write direct lesson plans.

lauren and i got to be partners! this is a picture of us with our lesson just after we finished it.

we were excited to be done! (and still alive)

kendall, lauren, and i went out to happy hour at cityvu to celebrate finishing our first lesson plans of the semester!

i like chris, and i like that he lives on the beach.

we have been soaking in each others' company and all of this beautiful fall weather we have been having here in west michigan!

i climbed a tree for the first time in years with one keri maxon!

kendall, lauren, and i had a dinner party!

quinn joined us, and allison stopped by to say hi!

it was a wonderful evening.

here is the feast that we cooked up: shrimp alfredo, strawberry/spinach salad, pumpkin/apple bread with vanilla caramel ice cream for dessert, and white wine and red "witches' brew" wine. oh my was it delicious! the best meal i've had in a while.

in between all of this, i have attended bbqs and bonfires, artprize in grand rapids, coffee shops, and i have been spending a lot of time with good friends.

that's my semester so far. more updates to come soon!