in virginia

it snowed last night. chad's boss had heard about the storm yesterday morning and gave chad the next two days off saying that we had to leave asap if we were planning on ever getting here. we arrived at the saleckers at about 10:30 last night after a 6 hr drive that usually would be 3 hours if it weren't for the adverse conditions.

during the drive we saw the occasional emergency flashers on the side of the road reminding us of the risk of traveling in such weather. we spotted at least 25 cars that had spun of the road into the ditches. the first 2 hours we made really good time and had gotten within 60 miles of our destination. the last hours were spent driving in the dark at snail speed against the blowing snow. it was a real life blizzard. as i write this i'm listening aimee talk to her friend about this and she just mentioned something pretty spectacular. chad heard that a midshipman left annapolis two hours after us heading for virginia and got stuck somewhere in between. we had pretty good timing i'd say. the last stretch to chad's home was a hill and we got stuck on it a couple times and had to get out and push. aimee stefan and i had to walk the last 1/4 mile to their house because chad used the momentum we created by pushing to keep the car moving and we couldn't keep up. all three of us were inadequately dressed and walking in a foot and a half of snow uphill. needless to say i enjoyed it after sitting in the car for 6 hrs. while we were walking santa tackled stefan.
outside it's about 3 ft and still coming down. i just came in from shoveling the driveway with chad and richard. i checked of yet another thing on my to do list for things to work on for the CF games. shoveling was on the list along with swinging the sledge, hacking brush and chopping wood. sweet.

i was really sad when classes were over on thursday. i don't think i can really explain how much i got out of them and enjoyed the people and the conversations. after the last seminar i hung out with a few of aimee's friends (known as the nerd herd on humphrey's first... lol) on the first floor of her dorm building. we were just loitering, chatting, wishing everyone who passed a merry christmas. students were saying their goodbyes for the three weeks of break and giving hugs and talking about all those things that college kids talk about. i thought to myself wow i'm really enjoying this. i was surprised. i had only known these people for less than a week and i was going to miss them. hanging out with the students in the dorm along with going dancing and to a christmas party at the fanning's (tyler and meghan) really made me realize how hungry i've been for people's company.

tuesday was the sjc's winter collegium which is basically a talent show of just music and singing. there are a lot of very talented musicians at st john's and i thoroughly enjoyed the performances. i lost track of time during the show but after it the whole room broke out carolling until about ten thirty. i remember thinking how thankful that i was in a large group of people with everyone singing at the top of their lungs so that my little voice, unsure of whether it wanted to sing tenor or alto, would be covered up. after collegium there was a waltz party. acacia aimee and i ran frantically to get dressed up as to miss as little of the dancing as possible. i'd never been to a dance party so i was really excited to learn the basics of the ballroom. acacia taught me the basic steps of the swing and i learned the rest of how to follow etc. from my various partners throughout the night. i also learned to waltz a little but the swing is by far my favorite. beside seminar ,dancing at the waltz party has been my favorite part of this trip thus far. it was the first time in a long time i immersed myself into a large group of people and enjoyed it, so that was a big deal for me.

wednesday acacia laurel chad and i went to tyler and meghans' for a christmas party. aimee was helping someone at the college make a feast so she couldn't come. there were various johnnies there, mostly seniors. i had a great conversation with sean donahue who saw acacia and i snuggling on the couch asked me what it was like to have siblings. i was really touched by this because i have always taken having sisters for granted. i had never really considered not having siblings so it was tough to compare it to anything. in the end i compared siblinghood to friendship and it seemed to answer his questions very well. i was fascinated by this. he asked me then what my aspirations for my future were. i answered simply: to go to school and explore the world.

these experiences over this last week have made me so happy, i cannot even express. i just think about going to school and meeting new people and learning about life and it makes me excited to just live.

we will be at the saleckers till wednesday, and be celebrating christmas on the 22nd because that's when the whole salecker family will be here. please pray that everyone will arrive safely. i am confident that the Lord will bless this time here.

merry christmas to all my family and friends. praying and thinking of you all.

...has questions

acacia's precept on calvin and the church was fascinating this evening. it really touched on many of my personal concerns with attending church and understanding the church as a whole. they talked of the visible church which means the small community that you play a part in and the invisible church which is the full body of christ that only god can fathom. (?) they talked of the essentials and that which makes the church what it is. what is a person's role in the body of christ? what does it mean to live in solitude and be separate from a visible church? does this mean you are not part of christ's flock or body? what is the role of the church in recieving salvation?

seminar just seems to be a series of questions posed one after another meant to challenge the other to look deeper into the meaning of the text and the meaning of the reality. it seems that the asking of questions never creates more confusion but gives one a larger sense of the topic.

"i really want to go here" i tell acacia. "no way!" she says. she's pretending to be surprised. in aimee's dorm after seminar we had a good discussion about what would come after st. john's. papa really wanted me to consider this question before deciding where to go to school. what comes after 4 years immersed in philosophy and exploring the ideas of the universe? what can i take away from an undergraduate degree in liberal arts? what should i study in graduate school? acacia said st. john's is where someone goes when they are not exactly sure what to pursue in life and really want to get a little sample of everything. she promised papa she would help me research colleges while i'm here and i think we're off to a good start. once school is out for winter break we will begin a more focused exploration.

i played with sculpey today. it's like clay but it doesn't harden or dry out until you bake it. it's so much fun to create things with my hands. i wonder if god enjoyed making me.

...hasn't been worrying about time.

i haven't been very good at going to bed early as you may suspect from the last two posts. they were both published past midnight. it's just that it took a while for me to adjust to the east coast times. my body was still so much awake at 11 pm here. i've started to get a little sick because i've averaged 6 hrs of sleep every night. i'm going to bed earlier tonight so i'll be fresh for the week.

saturday we went to washington dc. i was functioning off of very few hours of sleep because a few of us girls had stayed up till 2 watching twilight at the kaisers. a friend, catherine, drove us in her car which was very nice. we first went to a book store in dupont circle where we stayed for over an hour i think, intoxicated by the wide variety of low priced books lining the shelves. i ended up buying 8 books for 20 bucks. it was a very successful excursion. i bought the 2nd and 3rd books of the lord of the rings series and dune series, a journal, "the secret life of bees", and a book of short stories by kipling. very successful indeed. the rest of the trip was spent sitting in starbucks chatting about life, eating lunch, and napping in the car with acacia while the rest of the troop went into the hirshorn art museum. on arriving home i went to acacia's house, ate some chicken, went to see sjc's production of the twelfth night for the second time, and watched pride and prejudice (Mr. Darcy!) with aimee, acacia, and her roomates christine and valerie.

i slept well last night and went to church this morning. the church they attend is a branch of a little house church community held in chad's boss's home above kilwins where he works. it was very refreshing to be around christians again. i met daniel who laurel said "is one the most influential people in her current life" and who also teaches an mma class on that stefan and aimee are consistently involved in. i'm thinking of giving it a shot. i'm generally not too fond of hitting people but as a crossfitter i'm obliged to "learn to play new sports etc." and it may be fun.

the rest of today i spent at laurels work with acacia drinking coffee and tea, reading, journaling and taking turns reading our journals. i just finished cleaning laurel's kitchen while we sang hymns and she cut the pictures out a van gogh book she got at the book sale in dc.

tuesday is the last day of tutorials so things will be less stressful for the johnnies. acacia thought i'd get bored while i'm here but that hasn't happened yet! i'm really having a good time and learning a lot about the dynamics of college life. i'm really just trying to take it one day at a time and enjoy every moment. i think that is really the theme and goal of my life right now, just live in the moment and enjoy it.

i'm sure that these times i've spent with my siblings here will be times that i will cherish forever.

so here i am again at 11 pm reflecting on the events of the day.

i feel that i am beginning to get into the swing of things here in naptown (as acacia calls it). i'm liking the little college town feel at this point and it's nice to not have people drive me places. everything here is so close together and i don't have to worry about carry a cellphone around with me everywhere i go. it's hard to get into trouble when there is no traffic or confusing streets to get lost in. the unfortunate thing is that even if i needed to use my cellphone i can't because i forgot my charger at home (the only thing i forgot, mind you) so if my seattle family wants to contact me, email is best or my siblings' phones (i'm with one or the other constantly through out the day so you'll have to guess). i need to save the battery for more important things like maneuvering the airports on the way home.

today i went for my second lifting workout at the naval academy. beside being an olympian, natalie is a very sweet person and has a great coaching eye. it was such an honor to see her lift and receive encouragement and coaching tips. she urged me on as i set PRs in the snatch and clean at 54 and 65 respectively (i missed the jerk on the last attempt). i had a little trouble getting onto the campus with my homeschooling student id because "i'm sixteen and supposed to show a driver's license." whatever. i just went around to a different gate and they let me in, i'm not sure if it had anything to do with the fact i had acacia with me on the second attempt. mr. woolfolk made some calls to make sure that wouldn't happen again. i really appreciated his kindness.

this morning i sat in on acacia's math tutorial. they were talking liebniz. i could understand most of it and am now intrigued to go back to my calculus book and review. they go so deep into simple concepts and look at them from different angles and i feel that i would have to go back to the beginning of the beginning of calculus to really absorb and apply the ideas. at least i could wrap my head around it and that made me proud. this evening i went to aimee's seminar where they were discussing the peloponnesian war. i feel like i really began to grasp the merits of discussion, the articulation and exchange of ideas, and it really inspired me. in life discussion may seem like such an natural and simple thing for most people but it is something i have never really felt comfortable doing for many different reasons. i'm sure i need to just give in to my natural abilities as a human being to reason and stop thinking so much about every little thing. i am inspired to keep stretching my mind and challenging myself.

it's only day two and i have already learned so much. i did a little still life pencil sketch with laurel and stefan today which is something i haven't felt motivated to do for a long time. i'll being doing a little reading and essay writing while i'm here too and i'm hoping to learn some stuff from the essay writing champions of the world (i'm referring to all my johnny siblings).

thinking about things make me feel so alive.

goodnight.

La bonne gracae...

The sisters say that the second to last week of school before break is really hectic. Arriving here last night and being bombarded with kisses at the airport and settling into aimee's dorm has all been extremely overwhelming but exhilerating. the flight was way to long but every joy in life has a price, and being with siblings every minute of the day is very rewarding. it's 11 pm here but my body says it's 8 and that is why i'm still awake.

This morning I went to acacia's french tutorial then to the freshman chorus concert where aimee sang tenor, worked out in the naval academy weight room where I met natalie burgener(I'm going to workout with her tomorrow!!!) and her dad who is the head strength and conditioning coach, shot some hoops and did some flips, ate an icecream cone and then read a speech by abe lincoln. that's basically how my day went. at this rate I have a feeling these 3 weeks are going to last a year. we'll see. It may be over before I know it.

So far I've enjoyed every minute.

Thanksgiving in Sequim and other stuff

Our hosts John and Lynn, and Oksana and Papa

DDR

SPOONS!

Seattle is frostbitten, but sunny. My house has poor insulation so the comfort of the heater is intermittent. The cold is refreshing and has become synonymous to new beginnings for me. The holidays always make me feel like that. In spite of the frost I feel warm knowing that its a special time for family and giving and the new year bringing new things. Papa was off on the ice in Bozeman this last week. It got a little lonely with out him but I'm really glad that he's away and getting time off to have fun.

I got a big dose of the holiday flurry when Bethany took me out to the movies on Black Friday. Mi Suk had warned to not even try to go downtown but we did it anyway. it was sister's night. We went to see Boondocks Saint II and then snuck into New Moon. Seeing both of the movies together was barely worth the $10.50 we paid for one ticket. Stupid movie prices. BS II was hilarious but once again proved that the sequels are never as good. I really have nothing to say about New Moon. Bethany cried, and I laughed at her crying. I'm so mean, but you get the point.

Last Sunday we went to see the Bodies Exhibit in downtown. It was incredible. They had real human bodies on display where some are placed in athletic positions with the superficial layers stripped revealing muscle and skeleton. Most of the displays are just parts of the system. The most fascinating part of the exhibit was where they showed the steps of development of the fetus. It was pretty bomb.

I'm leaving Tuesday for Annapolis! These last few weeks went by so quickly in anticipation for my visit. I have to keep reminding myself to embrace every moment because I know it will be over fast.