What to do on the weekends?

Hello Everyone! Here is a basic run down of my weekend filled with a variety of activities.

Friday: I started off my Friday afternoon with long run and then played tennis in the DeWitt Tennis center for two hours. After, I showered and went to Starbucks to finish off some homework that was due at midnight. Then my friend Grace and I watched the Phelps boys play in the Student Activities (SAC) dodge ball tournament, and they won! From there, we attended the Phelps hall social event, which consisted of eating pancakes at an upper classmen cottage. The pancakes were delicious, and we all danced after we finished eating. I had to hurry back to my room after the pancake event so my roommate and I could finish decorating our door before midnight. Some people hung out in our room while we were decorating, and then I finished off the night by hanging out in my friend Marga’s room. We stayed up so late hanging out with people, so I ended up just spending the night.

Some of the girls at the Phelps Pancake Event

Dance Marathon Christmas Party for the Dance Marathon children and their families. I hung out with Volunteer Service’s family, which had two little girls named Ella and Libby. I decorated cookies with them, built gingerbread houses, and made fun Christmas crafts.

Grace and I at the Dance Marathon Christmas Party 

On Saturday afternoon, I watched online the Wheaton Women’s soccer team play in the NCAA tournament. I also made some crafts with a bunch of girls and decorated a glass bottle to give to my mom for Christmas =] My evening consisted of trying a new restaurant in Grand Rapids. The restaurant had a definite El Salvador culture, and the food was so delicious. After we ate, some of us went downtown to eat some ice cream at ColdStone. Then we played some racket ball in the Dow to try and burn off our ice cream.

Sunday basically consisted of church and homework. I worked ahead in some of my classes, which helped me feel a lot better. I love the feeling of working ahead in school. I feel a lot less stressed now, because I accomplished quite a bit of work on Sunday. This week is going to keep me very busy with all of the holiday celebrations. I’ll be writing again soon =]

Until Next Time,

CoLLeeN

Let the Christmas Countdown begin!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Can you believe it? Christmas is in only 23 days! I honestly do not know where the time went this semester. I feel like it flew by twice as fast as last year. I really have enjoyed my classes this semester and feel rather sad they are coming to an end. However, I have not had a whole lot of time to think about the end of the semester approaching. Instead, I have been busy preparing for the Christmas season. My roommate and I decked out our dorm with decorations, and tonight we are decorating our dorm for the annual Gilmore Hall dorm room door-decorating contest. I’ll let you know how the results turn out.

Since it is the Christmas season, last night Grace, Amy, and I drove to Kalamazoo to watch A Christmas Carol play in a small theatre.  The play blew me away. I really enjoyed it, and I had never seen A Christmas Carol before last night. The actors performed very well, and I enjoyed the Christmas carol singing as well. The play really helped put me in the Christmas spirit. 

Before the play, we ate dinner with Grace’s family at my favorite restaurant in Kalamazoo called Sushi-ya. They have the best sushi, and Grace’s dad ordered a sushi boat with a variety of unique sushi options. I know sushi is not normally associated with holiday meals, but sitting around the table with Grace’s family made feel like I was at a Christmas family dinner.

On the car ride to Kalamazoo we blasted Justin Beiber’s Christmas album, and on the way home we had some really great conversations. When I arrived back to Hope, I talked with my parents about our Christmas break plans, and then I was really excited. So by the end of the night, I felt like I was really in the Christmas spirit. I am looking forward to spending time with my friends and family in a few short weeks. However in the meantime, I am enjoying the preparation for Christmas. 

Here are some of our family’s annual Christmas pictures for this year

Sinterklaas! – Who Knew?

At the beginning of this week, Holland hosted the Parade of Lights! It was a small parade that processed down 8th Street in downtown Holland. They had reindeer and floats, lots of lights, and all spoke of a curious man that looked like Santa Claus, but most certainly was not. Who were they talking about? SINTERKLAAS. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I hadn’t! I had to do a bit of research to learn all the components of SinterKlaas. Let me enlighten you to a well-known Dutch tradition that is essential cultural knowledge when attending Hope College:

Sinterklaas, essentially, is the Dutch Santa Claus. However, research has shown that Sinterklaas and his assistant, Zwarte Pieten, were actually the precursor to Santa Claus and his elves.

He always comes to town on December 6th and the town welcomes him in! This year, he’s actually coming to Holland on December 2nd. He will be entering on his white horse with his assistant by his side. Even the Mayor of Holland will welcome him! On the night of December 5th, he will ride over the houses of our community and all of the children will put their Dutch wooden shoes out on the porch filled with carrots for Sinterklaas’ horses. If you’ve been a good child, he’ll fill your shoes with coins and candy! But… if you’ve been BAD, he’ll fill your shoes with COAL. Sound familiar? 

Sinterklaas comes to town?!!!! I’m SO EXCITED. Maybe I’ll set out my shoes. I wonder if he stops by Dykstra…

Time to get Merry!

The Christmas season is now among us! Christmas music sounded throughout the Quick household the day after Thanksgiving. While enjoying a marvelous and relaxing break, I helped prepare my family’s house for the Christmas season. We decorated our tree, put up lights, hung garland, and completely covered our house with a variety of Christmas decorations. Snowmen are my mom’s favorite Christmas decoration so they are the major theme at my house. I love the holiday season and the joy Christmas brings out in people. My roommate and I are eagerly waiting to decorate our room from head to toe in festive holiday decorations. My mom sent me back to school with a bag full of decorations for our room.

While I was home, I enjoyed some quality time with my friends and family. I caught up on some sleep and worked on schoolwork. Of course during break I enjoyed every bit of food that was placed in front of me. I went out for sushi four times, which really satisfied my appetite. On Thanksgiving Day, I chowed down on some of my dad’s homemade Italian shells. I helped cook the food with my dad while watching the Packers play the Lions, and the Packers won!!!! It was definitely a good day.

I enjoyed a typical Thanksgiving meal on Saturday evening with my family and good family friends. We also had an exchange student from Juarez, Mexico eat with us for her first American Thanksgiving.

I really enjoyed being home and cannot wait for Christmas break where we have almost a whole month off. However, when I returned to Hope last night, everyone was excited to see everyone and laughter and screams filled the Gilmore hallways.

Well, now I am off to start my loads of homework for the coming weeks. Have a great day! 

Our dining room table on Thanksgiving 

Decorated Poinsettias in our home

The family Christmas Tree

Thankful to be at Hope =]

In honor of Thanksgiving I thought I would write about what I am most thankful for at Hope.

  • Friends- The people I have met here are seriously amazing. I have been here only a little over a year, but I already feel like I have made some life long friends. I am grateful I get to sleep, study, play, eat, and grow with my friends here.
  • Chapel/The Gathering– Since I have come to college I have been able to grow in my faith. I am so thankful for the chapel services every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I also enjoy worshipping among such Godly people at the Gathering.
  • Professors– My professors here have been so kind, understanding, and helpful. I have not had a teacher I did not like, and I am so thankful for the time they have invested in me.
  • Dorm Life– Gilmore Hall has been an amazing place to live. The girls are always very encouraging, positive, and upbeat. Whenever I am having a bad day; it does not take long before some one there is able to help cheer me up.
  • Beautiful town– Holland is a wonderful place to live. The people here are very excepting and make the town small and charming. I love living so close to beaches, and I love running throughout the scenic nature. 
  • Food– Always plenty of food to go around along with several options. I enjoy eating in Phelps everyday and having a variety of different delicious dishes.
  • Opportunities for involvement– I am so glad I have been able to get plugged in here with different activities including: student congress, volunteer services, LdOut3, ASI consulting, and of course blogging 🙂
  • Community– Probably the best part of Hope is the friendly and welcoming people. I honestly have never met such nice and genuine people. Hope is not a cutthroat environment, and people generally help each other out so every one can exceed.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and truly take time to be thankful for all of you blessings. Have a great day!

Sunset at the beach

State Park beach in Holland

Love the Gilmore Girls

Learning to Relax

Last week was definitely a very stressful week. I had a lot of homework to catch up on from being gone during the weekend. It seemed like my tests, quizzes, papers, and projects all piled up over night. It was just one of those weeks where I always felt like I needed to work on homework. Even in the midst of this busy jammed pack week, I took some time to relax. I seriously do not know how my week fills up so fast, but I feel like I never have time to just sit back and relax. During this crazy week Grace, Amy, and I treated ourselves with manicures and pedicures for Amy’s birthday. I felt so relaxed the entire time. Grace and I definitely needed a pedicure after our run, and Amy deserved one for all of her hard work.           

Beach at Lake Michigan- So relaxing

It is incredible to me how different I perceive time in college than what I did in high school. In high school, I did not really have any control over my schedule. My regular routine schedule in high school was: school 8 am-3 pm, 3:30pm- 5:30 pm soccer practice 6pm-7pm dinner 7pm-10pm homework. 

In college, my classes are much more spread out, and I choose which activities I want to commit my time. I also have learned the importance of time management and working ahead in classes. Nothing is worse than the feeling of being behind in classes. I encourage all freshmen to walk into college knowing you will need to set aside more time for school work. College classes demand more time and require close attention to details. My calendar on my phone and laptop help me stay organized and on top off all of my obligations. I also recommend writing down homework as soon as it is assigned. I have learned that if I do not write it down right away it is quite possible I will forget.  

Since I always have a lot on my plate to keep me busy; I have learned the importance of taking time to relax and rejuvenate. I am more than ready to leave for Thanksgiving break so I can catch up on sleep and spend time relaxing.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”   – Matthew 11:28-30       

Miracle Mile Light Celebration in the City!

These past couple weeks have been pretty stressful due to exams and crunch time for Thanksgiving and the end of the term. My cluster girls and I were getting pretty high-strung and we decided we needed a VACATION! What a great idea, right?! One of my roommates lives in Bolingbrook, IL, which is fairly close to Chicago, so we decided to pack up last weekend and head over to the Windy City! It was also our clustermate’s birthday so it was perfect for a big celebration! Chicago was also putting on the Miracle Mile Lighting Celebration which included a Disney parade and fireworks! Obviously, we had to go. 🙂 It was really crazy! 

We drove to Bolingbrook Saturday morning and arrived around 10:30 AM (they’re one hour behind Holland and it is only about a 2.5 hour drive). And then, THE BEST PART CAME: We took the train into the city! I had never been on a train or even seen a passenger train in real life, so it was REALLY COOL. 🙂 I guess it’s pretty much the same as a subway, but above ground. It was definitely a neat experience.

Jenn and I preparing for our FIRST TRAIN RIDE at the station!

Bucca di Beppo‘s, an Italian restaurant with family-sized portions, to celebrate Hannah’s birthday. We even got a huge dessert served in a big martini glass with about a quart of icecream and 12 brownies. It was awesome and we were extra full.

Hannah blowing out her candles, with the Chocolate Dessert waiting for us to dig in!

After dinner, we hung out around Michigan Ave. for the parade. We saw Santa, Disney stars, and even Rudolph! There were millions of people and we learned to navigate the streets fairly adequately.

Betsy takes in the parade, confetti, lights, and the crowd!

We took the train back to Shannon’s house in Bolingbrook around 9pm, where her mom graciously made us pizza and we had yet ANOTHER cake. Stomachs full of sugar and our feet tired from walking all day, we crashed pretty hard.

It was an excellent weekend and a perfect adventure, not to mention the bonding time we experienced. I love my Dykstra 3-5 girls!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

-A

Yes, College Students still go skating!

Hello Everyone!

I hope your week is going well. I enjoyed a wonderful weekend. On Friday it was my friend Monique’s 20th birthday. We celebrated by eating at Jonny Carino’s, one of my favorite restaurants in Holland. After dinner we attended the Hope Orchestra Concert to support Monique and watch her play the cello. She looked fabulous up on stage; I felt like a proud mom.

Delicious Salmon Salad

After Monique’s birthday celebration, there was a roller skating event with the all guys dorm, Durfee, and the all girls dorm, Gilmore, The two dorms rented out the roller rink, and a lot of people from the two dorms attended. I loved the event, and everyone had a lot of fun skating! We skated from 9 to 12 in the morning, and I felt exhausted afterwards.

We got our picture taken with Santa!!!!

After walking around downtown, some friends came over to my room. We basically chilled the rest of the evening and enjoyed some great conversations and laughs.

Today, I attended church with my friends and then played tennis with Matheus, Matthias, and Amy. Matheus and I took the victory over Amy and Matthias. We were pretty excited after our big win. The rest of the today consisted of studying and grocery shopping. I am excited to only have 3 days of school this week. Thanksgiving break is SO close!

Yes Man & Danse Macabre!

Have you ever seen the movie Yes Man starring Jim Carrey? It’s fairly comical and leaves you thinking after the main character decides to answer every opportunity with, “Yes!” Well, here’s the thing:

I have a problem with saying Yes. 

Ok, so the first step is admitting you have a problem, right? At Hope there are millions of things to do in addition to completing your school work, making sure you’re adaquately hydrated and fed, and of course the major problem most college students face: getting enough sleep. 

For example, it’s Tuesday. Today happens to be the kick off of the Hope Basketball season, with two games at DeVos. There’s also an organ recital  at the Dimnent that I wanted to check out (I have an obsession with organ music). I have still been meaning to check out Bruce McCombs watercolor exhibit at the De Pree Art Center, which ends Nov 18 (I better hurry!). Hip Hop club is at 9pm. My roommate is also in a Movie class to fulfill one of her Art requirements and I really want to go to a movie with her sometime. Her class happens to be Tuesday’s from 7pm-9pm. 

But wait. Even if I attend each of them for a only a little while and make it to every single event, when will that leave time for me to read the 40 pages of religion articles for my Comparitive Christianity class, or study the new material for the chemistry lecture tomorrow morning when I’m assuming there will be a pop-quiz, or rewrite and organize my Religion notes for the Exam on Friday, or study for my latin exam on Monday, or write the two papers I have due on Tuesday about my phage, and the capa set due on Friday for Chem? 

Did I mention that this weekend a couple of girls and I are going to Chicago for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and staying at my roommate’s house until Sunday morning?

What to do, what to do. I have to stop saying yes, and most importantly I need to understand my limits because I’m going to stretch myself too thin and then, instead of enjoying a few really awesome events, I’m going to see (or study for) 5 minutes and not enjoy or understand what I’m doing or completely fail my tests.

So…what decisions did I make? I’ll have to catch the exhibit some other time this week and maybe I’ll go to my roommate’s movie class next week with her. Hip Hop club will have to wait, because I have so much work to do. But I did get a chance to stop by the Hope Women’s basketball game, which was awesome I might add. The entire crowd was dressed in orange to cheer on Hope Athletics. 

Raúl Prieto Ramírez performed.

 

Holy man. He is AWESOME. He taught himself the organ when he was 11 and then proceeded to devote his life to his music. It clearly shows. For his encore he performed a piece by Bach (or maybe Bach’s son -it’s unknown) with only HIS FEET. Yes. Only his feet. I was completely mystified. Oh, did I mention the concert was free? It was funded by Donia Organ Fund at Hope, created by the family & friends of Tom Donia, a Hope alumnus who had a passion for music but passed away in 1990. 

I couldn’t record at the performance, but check out another performance of one of my favorite pieces from the program:

Maybe saying yes all the time isn’t the end of the world (in moderation of course), because you really get to experience amazing things and share in great things with people of all types. 

 

-A

on the road again…day 4: race day!

My alarm went off at 5:40 am and my excitement quickly reached every part of my body as I jumped out of bed and got my race clothes on. We headed out the door around 6:30 and drove a mile to the starting line. The weather was incredible. The sun boar down as its heat gently greeted the awakening city of Nashville, as it was 48 degrees out.

It took us awhile to find parking, so we only had ten minutes to stretch before the race started at 7. The gun went off and we nervously began our trek of the longest distance we had ever run: 13.1 miles. The first mile felt great as we ran down Nashville’s Music Row and through the city. By mile 5, I was feeling the effects of all the hills and I quickly told Jesus that there would be no way I was going to finish without his help. We ran over the city’s bridge and down through a park where we were greeted by more hills and nature.

I had “I Run For Jesus” on the back of my legs and we got so much encouragement from other members of the Body of Christ.  It was awesome! We didn’t know any of these people but there is something about putting your body through such exhaustion alongside of others that brings people together in camaraderie and towards a common goal of finishing together.

Once the last 2 miles hit, I knew I could make it. The last 0.3 miles was all downhill, thank God. We sprinted towards the finish line, hand in hand, smiling from ear to ear. That feeling of accomplishment is something I have never experienced before. I have never done anything so hard in my life, but knowing that I pushed through my own screaming body to finish a goal that I had set was incredible. It taught me to lean completely and utterly on Christ, especially in the times I felt I could not take another step. It taught me how the body of Christ should look-to be unified through encouragement and work together towards a common goal. 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. -Galatians 6:9

About to start the race!

The writings on our legs

My wonderful roomie; our number one fan and supporter!