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.