School...

So my very first semester as a college student has come to a close. I went as well as I could have imagined, except for my political studies class. Government is not my cup of tea. I had 13 credits, all night classes with the exception on my friday morning class and I enjoyed it. However it trained me to be a night owl. I'm blogging at 3:40...that's just plain wrong. I like going to school. I love to learn. My next semester is going to be very different and very challenging for me. I have 16 credits and a lab science course. Here's my schedule...
Sorry if it's hard to read...I'll break it down for ya.
Monday: Biology class 12:45 - 1:45
Biology Lab 2:00 -4:00
Spanish 7:00 - 9:00
Tuesday: Geometry 10:15 - 12:30
Circuit Training 12:45 - 3:00
College Writing 4:30 - 6:45
Wednesday: Biology Class 12:45 - 1:45
Spanish 7:00 - 9:00
Thursday: Geometry 10:15 - 12:30
Circuit Training 12:45 - 3:00
College Writing 4:30 - 6:45
Friday: Biology Class 12:45 - 1:45

See what I'm saying about it being different?
Last semester it was one class a day. Each class one night a week. Condensed classes. This semester is kind of a test. I wanted to do day classes to see if I can handle it both ways. I wanted to figure out what I like best and in what type of class set up I succeed in.

Okay... So I'm sorry about my last post. I started to update it twice and got destracted both times. I'm a pretty good multitasker however Apples to Apples is a little more fun than blogging...ha.

I need to go to bed but I have a funny story to share. I was driving around tonight and I was out on alpine. I was driving to Walmart to pick up my friend Jenn who I brought to Dr. Grins with me tonight. While on my way there I drove past a lot of really bright and distracting store signs but one in particular caught my attention. I tried to get a picture to share with you all but it didn't work out so well while I was going 45 mph down the road. It said "Bed, Bath & Beyo." You may not think that's funny but I couldn't stop laughing at the fact that this store claimed it could provide you with B.O. Haha.

Fife Lake...

Story to follow...

Auto Insurance

I stumbled across this today while I wasn't doing my homework. I laughed pretty hard...because I've been there.

Ps. dont watch this with your kids...you've been warned.

My 'Family'...

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My new office / sewing room...

Given the fact that I now have lots of time on my hands I've decided to make the best of it...
This is what I finished today...



My sewing machine...old yet faithful



My desk and my iMac...love it



Okay...i had to put this up. It's a self portrait of my youngest brother, Eli.
I love the potato wedge eyebrows...



This may look like a disaster but I assure you it is organized chaos...



This is probably my hardest 'in progress' sewing project.
It's a summer dress I was making for my ex-boyfriends graduation from boot camp.
It'll more that likely stay there just like that for a while...



This is a one of a kind.
Eli drew my name for his make gift this past Christmas and knew I needed a spool holder.
This is what was under the tree for me. Can you tell what it is?
For those of you who maybe don't sew...It's a gigantic bobbin.
I know you're jealous...

Encouragement...

I've recently learned a few things that will better my life in the long run...

-be your own best friend
-when you believe in yourself you can do anything
-when things get tough look to the Lord for comfort...

These may seem rather obvious to most of you but it never hurts to be reminded.

I wrote this on Marcia's driveway as a personal reminder of the last one...

My hair...and stuff

I was told I need to update so here it is...

First...I chopped my hair off. While I did not fully intend to lose 12 inches, I do like it. You?




Oh yeah...it's blonde too. :)

Second...August 24th I'll be changing to 3rd shift at CompX. I'm doing this so I can continue to work while I'm going to school. All of my classes are at night except one so I think this will be better than going to 1st shift. I am fully aware that this is going to be hard but I'm going to do it until I'm no longer able. However long that may be...

Third...and probably most important. My Grandma Kruger has Aggressive Onset Alzheimer's. She is getting bad fast. My mom is out there (South Dakota) for 3 weeks to try and get a grasp on the whole situation. It's really hard on her...she might not admit it but I've known her long enough to be able to hear it in her voice. My grama doesn't always know who my mom is, she asks my grampa 'is that lady still here?' I can't imagine what that must be like for my mom or my grama for that matter. My grampa gives my grama more credit than she deserves in regards to all of this...I'm hoping it's just denial and that it'll pass. She and the whole family need some serious prayer coverage. It only gets worse from here.

Forth...on a lighter note. Remember our chickens? Yeah...well, when we got them we were hoping to have a total of 2 hens and 1 rooster of each breed. As they continued to grow we were having trouble telling the gender of each bird...all of the Chochins seemed to look the same besides the coloring. Well, as it turns out we appear to have 5 roosters and a single hen. We're totally bummed. I'm sure you can imagine...ha.

I guess that's enough for now.

Emilie

Elijah turns 18 months...

Elijah is 18 months today. My emotions are mixed but mostly I'm happy for both him and his whole family. He is the cutest little boy. It's truly hard to believe that he is a year and a half already. He walks and talks and does everything a little boy like him should. I know this isn't as 'momentous' as a birthday or anything but I still wanna show you how he's grown...

Things have moved on since his birth and sometimes I find myself 'overlooking' what happened. It's not to say that I forget or don't think about it, it's just that he's growing up and so am I. We just happen to be doing it with different families, me with my parents and he with his.
-This fall I'm going to school. I'm following through and one of the major personal reasons for my adoption decision. I know that people change majors all the time but right now I'm leaning towards Elementary Education with a focus on Foreign Language.
-I have a job. I work 40 - 50 hours a week doing Metal work at CompX DuraSlide in Byron Center. I really like working there. The people are great and I usually only work 4 [10 hour] days a week. I'm going to stay there until school starts in September. I might look at changing shifts at that point or finding something little less demanding.

For those of you who have been here with me through it all [you know who you are], Thank You. From some place deep inside my being, I need for you to know that without you I'm not really sure where I would be right now.

Emilie

Garden and Chicks Update...

The Gardens are in full swing...

Some Jalapenos and Tomatoes are growing too...

The Chickens are Growing!!

These little ones are the Egyptian Fayoumi chicks. They're about a month old and are starting to change from their original brown to their new silver, black and white.

These are the Cochins running around in the back yard...

Eli has a different kind of relationship with these birds...

they follow him around like he's their mother.

They like to hang out in the gardens eating the ants and other assorted pests.

Evan's Wedding

This is late in coming but I still feel the need to share it with you all. The wedding was April 26th. It was beautiful and well worth all the effort put in to it. It was wonderful to see everyone who could make it there. I think my favorite guests are the ones in the picture below...

In case you couldn't tell this is a 5 generation picture. From youngest to oldest: Elijah VanZoest (15 months), Emily Terpstra (22), Jon Terpstra (46), Joan Terpstra (69), Daniel Koppenol (95). This is a very special picture to me. I don't know alot of people who can honestly say they have 5 generations still alive. Not only are they still alive but they're all still married with the exception of my Great-grandpa as my Great-grandma passed away in 2004. My generation in the family is the first to have a children outside of marriage. I believe there are at least 3 of these situations between myself and my cousins.

Okay, Okay back to wedding stuff. I was in the wedding, obviously, as a bridesmaid. I looked good in my dress, which is a good thing considering how much it cost. Everyone looked amazing.

This is one of the coolest wedding things I've ever seen. Kim (Evan's wife) won the use of a photo booth at a bridal show. Normally this would cost about $1,500 everything included. They got it free with 2 operators, 2 copies of each photo (1 for the guest and one for the bride and groom), they make a scrapbook with all of the pictures and a little piece of black cardstock that you can write a little message on with a silver sharpie ( the scrapbook left with the bride and groom at the end of the night), and digital copies of all of the pictures. Way cool, Eh?

Below are a few more pics from the reception...

...I love this one!

-Emilie