Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Spring Concert

Morgan, Leah, Amy, Anna, and Ciara

On Sunday we had our Spring Concert "A Festival of Lessons & Anthems: Featuring the Women's Chorale and Male Chorus" at St. Gregory The Great Seminary in Seward. We had a great crowd in attendance and it was fun to sing in a concert again :) Amongst the crowd were our good friends Theo, Amanda, Brittany, Trey, professors, students, our friends' families, and more. 


Songs we performed were: 
Ave Verum Corpus (Arr. Dr. Blersch)
Easter Anthem (Arr. Dr. Blersch)
Great Day (Arr. Howard Helvey)
Set Me As A Seal (Rene Clausen)
The Lord Bless You And Keep You (John Rutter)

Songs the Men performed were:
Cantate Domino (Nancy Hill Cobb)
Erhore Mich (Heinrich Schutz)
It Is Well With My Soul (Robert Sterling)
Veni, Sancte Spritus (Andrea Ramsey)
Bone Aba (Victor C. Johnson)

We both sang:
Voices Raised to You We Offer (Setting by Dr. Blersch)
We Praise You and Acknowledge You (Dr. Ore)
Festival Sanctus (John Leavitt)
Abide With Me (Arr. Moses Hogan)
Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal (Arr. Alice Parker)

My favorite pieces we performed were the last 3 that we did with the Men - they just sounded awesome! I miss singing in an SATB choir! My favorite hymn was "We Praise You and Acknowledge You;" the choir verse was just awesome. 

Ian, Morgan, Zach, Leah, Amy, Ciara, and Anna

Amy, Rachel, and Anna

Claire, Anna, Jillian, and Amy

Morgan, Leah, Anna, and Amy

Rachel, Erika, Morgan, Leah, Danielle, Halli, Michaela, Angela, Anna, Ciara, Amy, and Brindie

Amy and Anna twin pic :)

While we were sad that our family couldn't be there at the concert, Morgan's family, President Friedrich, The Helds, and some friends came and talked to us after the concert :) It was really nice...

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Intramural SOFTBALL!

Here are some pictures from our intramural softball team!!! It's been really fun and I love all of my teammates. A few of the guys on our team had the idea to have each one of us to have walk-up song.... Amy: "She's One in a Million"
Anna: "Eye of the Tiger"
Daniel: "Let's Go"
Alex: "I Want You Back"
Evan: "Knockout"
Jake: "Larger than Life"
Adam: "Catdaddy"
Danielle: "In Too Deep"
Brittany: "Here Comes the Boom"
Isaiah: "This is Why I'm Hot"
Ryan: "Opposite of Adult"

I love this picture!! Photos taken by Jillian :)
Team Ball Busters
Adam, Jake, Daniel, Isaiah, Ryan, Evan
Danielle, Amy, Anna, Alex, and Brittany



Coach Ben and Adam :)

Jake..."Larger than Life"

Plum Creek Park

Amy..."She's One in a Million"
Brittany, Danielle, and Isaiah

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Amy here.... Here is my spin on "The House that Built Me" :)

The House that Built Me (at Christmas time) :)

My Spin on Miranda Lambert’s “The House that Built Me”
I know they say you can’t go home again.
I just had to come back one last time.
Sir, I know you don’t know me from Anna
But these teeth marks on the windowsill are mine.

Up those stairs in the corner, right bedroom
Is where we slept and sang real loud.
And I bet you didn’t know, on that patio
It’s where the six of us sat and sipped some drinks.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it,
The homesickness inside me might start healing.
Out here it’s like I’m growing up.
I think college is helping me find myself.

If I could just fly over there, I swear
Won’t take nothing but my missed memories
From the house that built me.

You leave home, you move on
And you do the best you can.
I get scared we’ll grow apart and get lost in this big old world.

But I promise-I won’t forget Whose I am.
love you guys. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

some Easter pics... more to come :)

We dyed eggs for our cousin Easter Egg hunt :) Our little cousin, Mary, found the most eggs!




whaaala!

see those eggs with 2 colors... PRO status :)

the egg kit came with little egg stands! cute :)

Anna and I ran on this bike trail behind Grandma & Gramps' house... pretty peaceful
More pics to come!

Monday, April 9, 2012

amy's turn :)

Amy here! Anna told me it was my turn to write on the blog haha :)
We just came back to school after having a great Easter weekend! We really missed being at home and at Bethany for Easter (especially hearing mom's music!!) but it was really special being with Grandma & Gramps here, in Nebraska. They live in Western Nebraska (Seward is in Eastern Nebraska- for all you California readers) and we got to catch a ride with our friend, Derek, to Grandma and Gramps' for Easter. Hopefully we can put some pictures up from this past weekend up soon... I think our Aunt is going to email us some pictures and then we will be sure to share them with y'all ;)
It was great catching up with our cousins, Laura, Paul, James, and Mary.... and we can't even express how much our Uncle Neil reminds us of our Dad! After Easter dinner, we got to hear how Aunt Peggy and Uncle Neil met at CUNE and how Aunt Peggy had a crush on him forever- too cute...  :) 
Our cousin Laura is graduating from nursing school this semester and our cousin, Paul, is also graduating from HS this year, so we are very happy for them :) Exciting times!
Grandma and Gramps were just the best this weekend... I wish we could go there all the time! 

Girls Night Out!! Anna, Leah, Ciara, Amy & Morgan
SO much fun!!
Some other exciting news... I got chosen to be a W.O.W. leader, here at Concordia! So I am super excited! Lots of my friends got the position too, so it will be a great experience. I will basically help the new freshman hit the ground running and hopefully help them have a smooth transition into college :) As of today... it is 136 days until the freshman come to Concordia for their Weekend of Welcome... That doesn't seem far away at all! Another crazy thought.... We have this week of school, then next week is dead week, and then it's finals week. SO basically.... this upcoming weekend is our last, final, real COLLEGE weekend. Because the last two weekend we will probably be swamped in projects and studying for finals. 
It is definitely bitter-sweet that summer is right around the corner. 
Bitter part: We live in CA and almost all of our Concordia friends do not :'( they won't be right next door, or right down the hall from us.
Sweet part: being with family, CA friends, the beach, going on the Alaska mission trip, going on a cruise to the caribbean, and the fact that we have Skype, texting, and phone calls to keep up with our out-of-state friends daily :)

So... until we get some pictures from the weekend, here are some pictures that we've taken since our last blog post :) 


 Brittany's family came out for her outdoor track meet and they took us to Valentino's for a night out in Lincoln... It was really fun having her sisters spend the night in the dorm too :) Such a great family!
Anna, Brittany, & Amy

It was so great meeting all of Brittany's family!
The weekend before last, we to Morgan's home for supper and got to celebrate her Dad's and her brother's birthday with the family. It was so great! We got a little taste of home & felt so welcomed & loved by Morgan's family. Here are some pictures...




We got to meet Morgan's nephew, KYLER!! Such a cutie patootie :)


Us girls chillin around the family campfire! Such a great night :)
Anna, Morgan & Amy <3

Morgan's beautiful backyard :)
And here is a shout out to Jordan!! Here are some pictures from our friend's birthday! It was fun...Anna made Jordan an apple pie and we got to celebrate his birthday while watching the Kansas Kentucky game :)
Jordan's birthday pie made by Anna!

Trey, Jose, Anna, Amanda, Amy, Theo, Jordan, and Brittany 





Until next time... ¡adios amigos!
Hope you all had a great Easter!

Love ya,
AMY

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Writing Group Day


Here's another paper I had to write for my english class that I thought I'd share with you. Every time we do Self-Directed Writings we break up into writing groups, and the group I was with on Wednesday was awesome... I love working with Zach, Isaiah, Kyle, and Ben. These guys always have really nice things to say and they make me feel like my writing is worth something :) Anyway, it was really cool to see what everyone wrote about because there was no prompt. The guys in my group wrote about heroes, a mom, a movie, and spring football... I chose to write about distance:
Distance
Isn’t it great how God puts things or people in your life just when you need them? Like when you are feeling really homesick and Janzow just doesn’t sound good, but it all turns out okay because you check your mail on the way inside and find a letter from Mom. Or how about when you are loaded with homework and want to cry, but then your teacher announces that your big project won’t be due for another week. Those are awesome moments. Lately, Pinterest has been doing the trick too. There always seems to be quotes and pictures reminding us that we are loved, greater than we can even imagine. Whether we are having good days or bad days, receiving good news or bad news, on the end of a surprise or scare, God’s always there. The most recent quote I’ve fallen in love with on Pinterest is: “Distance means so little when someone means so much;” it was just what I needed to hear.
I know we kids have to grow up, but for me it’s happening right now, and it is kind of scary. My older sister, Jen, just accepted her first call to teach 8th grade math at a Lutheran school in Michigan. My brother currently teaches math and coaches football at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, Amy and I go to school here in Nebraska, and my parents are at home in California. In just a couple years Amy and I will be out on our own too! We are so far away from each other, and my biggest fear is that our family will never be the same. Is it so bad that I don’t want that to happen with us? My family loves spending time together. We siblings are each other’s best friends and we rarely fight or get in each other’s faces. My Mom and her siblings aren’t very close, and it’s the same story with my Dad. Comparing my family to others’ I have come to realize how blessed we are. My Grandma told this to my Dad when he was in college, “There’ll come a day when your family back home won’t be the most important thing to you. Eventually you’ll have a family of your own, and they’ll be your number one.” Wow, she couldn’t have said it any better. The reality in all of this is that my family won’t ever be the same, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We can stay close, and I’ll make sure we do.
Another reason why this quote hit home is because our freshman year of college is coming to an end. Friends are going home for the summer, I am going back to California, people are transferring to different schools, and it is going to be a long time until I see some of my best friends again. When we left home for school back in August, I remember thinking how am I ever going to make friends better than those that I’ve got already here at home? Wow, I couldn’t have been more wrong. There’s no way I ever could have imagined how much of an impact the friends I’ve made at Concordia have had on my life. While some of my friends back home I consider to be family, the friends I’ve made here at Concordia are lifelong friends. It’s crazy that I can even say that now as a freshman. Friends who share the same beliefs, values, and morals as you are difficult to come by these days, and they are right here at Concordia; I think that’s why I feel at home here. Knowing that I will be apart from these friends for a few months makes me sad, but the good news is that because we are such good friends, I know we’ll stay in touch, and the summer months will just fly by.
“Hold on. God knows what He’s doing,” is another favorite pinterest quote of mine, and I think it goes along quite well with this theme of distance in my life. It’s easy to say “God has a plan” but usually it’s difficult to say it and really mean it. I don’t have a good answer as to overcoming this common struggle, but every once and awhile, it just clicks for me: God loves me, He cares about me, and He knows what He’s doing.
"That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail." -James 5:11b