moments to remember...

Well, we haven't posted in a while, so I (Anna) am going to take a few minutes here to let you know how things are going out here in the good life :) Last time we posted all we could see was snow on the ground, but now, we have green grass and flowers blooming! The weather the past few days has been amazing... mostly high 70s! Tanning (and burning) weather for sure :) So, because of the changing of the seasons, I thought it was appropriate to change the colors and homepage of the blog :) Enjoy reading...

Amy and I have been a little homesick lately... While we are at school we miss our family and friends from home, but when we are home we miss all our college friends... too bad you can't be in two places at once! Our final days of freshman year are approaching... can you believe we only have 5 weeks left? Summer approaching is definitely bitter sweet. We got news that some of our friends won't be coming to Concordia next year :( We'll miss them, but I know we'll stay in touch... that's why I love this quote :) 

These are some fun pictures we took on valentine's day :)

Happy Birthday Isaiah! Isaiah's mom ordered him a cake from DQ so we ate that while watching the Laker game on his birthday :)

Latest addition to the dorm room, KOBE!

Nice pic of Jen and Anna at the Night of Hope Phil Wickham Concert during Spring Break at Concordia-Irvine.

dogs are pretty smart...  Jesse wasn't too excited when we started packing. I think she knew something was up :( Miss ya pooch!

No Frills in Papillion! haha

This past Saturday, Amanda, Amy, and I explored Omaha... had to make a visit at UNO - what a beautiful campus! While we were in Omaha, we also visited Old Town and we each bought a "One Line a Day" 5 year memory journal. Each day, we write down a line or two to sum up the day... we are so excited to have this which will contain memories from the rest of our college years, and the beginnings of life on our own :)

We had lunch at Paradise Bakery... yum! Our family would always stop here when we'd fly in and out of Omaha when we came to visit Jon at CUNE. The cookies are so good!

Saturday night, Amanda, Amy, and I went to Trader Joe's and made one of our favorite meals: pesto pizza, salad, and breadsticks! 

Anna, Brittany, and Amy on Sunday Afternoon... sun dresses are a must for this 70 degree weather!

Amy and Britt (future sophomore roomies!) :)

Anna and Amanda <3

the girls!

Classes have been going well. Right before Spring Break we were loaded with papers, projects, and lots of assignments, but things seem to be slowing down now. We are trying to soak up as much time with our friends as we can... 5 more weekends isn't a lot! 

Amy and I just finished mapping our four year plans (or in my case, 4-1/2 year plan). It took us a while to figure out all the classes we need to take, and then find out which semesters those classes are offered. But it's nice to know that we have that all figured out (thanks for your help Amanda!). Our next step is to meet with our advisors and make sure we didn't miss anything. Right now it looks like Amy is double majoring with a minor, and I am a secondary ed LTD major, with math and theology concentrations. It's crazy, but it is impossible for me to graduate in four years... that's alright, though. Jon always says that college was the best, and that we should stay in there as long as we can ;)

I finished reading the Hunger Games last week... really good! Can't wait to see the movie. Right now I am reading The Guardian and Amy is reading The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks. We are suckers for a good love story :) haha.

Good news, I am going to be an RA next year. Concordia has a great team of RAs lined up for next year (including 3 other girls from my hall, and some other friends too). I am going to be in David again, this time SE wing, first floor (which will be renovated this summer - yay!), with upperclassmen! Good news especially for mom and dad, as I'll be getting free housing :)

A big congrats goes out to sister Jen who just accepted her call to teach at a Lutheran School in Michigan! We are so excited and happy for her! It is weird to think about how far we all will be from each other next year... California, Nevada, Michigan, and Nebraska! Next year Mom and Dad will be true empty nesters :(

Right now I'm in second place in my hall's NCAA March Madness Bracket... I had Michigan St going all the way, but obviously that's not going to happen haha, but I might still win :)

Yesterday Morning our choir, Women's Chorale, sang at Our Redeemer Lutheran, in Staplehurst. It was nice visiting another church, and we really enjoyed singing for them. Then, in the afternoon, Amy and I went to the A Cappella Concert at St. John. A Cap just got back from their 2012 Texas Tour. They did amazing, as usual. My favorite piece they sang was sung in Russian, "Svete tihiy." It is so fun to see and listen to our friends sing, especially Molly! Amy and I are looking forward to the day that we'll be in A Cappella :) 

Sara's birthday is on Wednesday so we are going to Lincoln to celebrate! Happy Birthday hun!

That's all for now... talk to you soon.

Love, Anna

Snuffleball

Ever since winter has begun,
It's been hard to find things to do for fun.
Friends all sit around,
And wait for the snow to melt off the ground.
It is obvious winter isn't the best time for an outdoor sport,
But sometimes it gets boring only being on an indoor court.
Think about home and how the sun is still shining,
But don't let that start up any of your whining!
39 degrees actually feels nice,
Even though the ground is covered in ice.
Today's weather is definitely a hit,
Beautiful day for snuffleball, ain't it?
♥
by Amanda Abbott
snuffleball = snow football :)

7 weeks down, 3 months left of school, 1 month until spring break

Brittany, Trey, Amy, and Anna

Montana and Anna ready to go tubing behind Trey's truck

Montana, Adam, Anna, and Britt

Anna and Brittany making snow angels :) Anna's first time!

Trey and Theo... nice pic of the guys

Adam, Amy, and Armani :)

Britt, our born and bred snow girl :)

Trey on the snowboard... watch out, pro style

Amy, looking cute as ever in her purple beanie :)

Armani!

such a fun day with the group... thanks for taking the pic Theo!

the twins :)

Anna and Britt <3

Adam

ready, set, go! 

Britt and Aim :)

thanks for everything, TREY!

piling up in Trey's car 

driving out to the back roads of Seward :)

a pretty awesome day

beautiful sunset just before the snow hit Nebraska

Valentine's Day decorations from Jen <3

Theo and his yogurt drenched waffles... gross haha 

Amy and Britt in our 1st snow since before Christmas!

8 inches of snow

Valentine Cookies, thanks for the mix Jen!

truth or dare? honey in your face!

snow frosted tree against the dark sky

our walk to class :)

Howdy from Anna

Well, for the past couple of days we have been experiencing California-like winter temperatures. 70 degrees was the record for Monday, and for yesterday and today it has been in the 60s... enjoy it while we can, right? Some people have asked us if we are sad that there isn't much snow... haha! um, no. Amy and I are loving this weather, but I'm sure we'll get another cold spell before we know it.

This past weekend our men's and women's basketball teams were announced champions of the Concordia, CIT tournament! That's right, we're proud of it... go bulldogs!! It's pretty legit, and we are even more excited to defend our CIT title for next year because CUNE is going to host the tournament - home turf, that's what's up!

Right now our hall is doing a Bible Study on the book of Hosea. Each night we are assigned 2 chapters, and at the end of the week we'll meet to talk about it together. Another neat thing our hall is doing this semester is praying for a specific person... at our hall meetings we write down some prayer requests for ourselves and then we pass them around in a circle; after a few passes, we take that sheet and pray for that girl for the week... there's a comfort we've come to feel knowing that there is someone specifically praying for us.

Apparently all of my teachers thought it would be fun to assign research papers/assignments at the same time. Well, not all of them I guess, just my ED201, EDPS, ENG102, and NT professors... I guess 4 research assignments will be enough for now... goodness gracious!!! I feel like I am always doing homework and Amy has barely any (not even lying). I'm managing my time well though, even with my job in admissions, it is all working out... btw, got my first paycheck last week! Wahoo!!

My teacher aiding at St. Vincent's has been going really well. Usually I am grading papers or teaching a small group while my cooperating teacher is working with another group. Today I did individual student math assessments. Part of the assessment included counting by 3's, 4's, 7's, 25's, and perfect squares... I don't remember having to do that in 3rd grade, but they seemed to be doing pretty well. This week is Catholic Schools Week so they are doing lots of fun activities... reminds me of all the fun stuff we did at Bethany for Lutheran Schools Week :)

Concordia's Chamber Choir is touring the West Coast next week and will be making a stop at Bethany! We have some friends in that choir, so all you CA readers, come out and support! On Sat, Feb 11th there will be a concert at 7pm, and on Sun, Feb 12th they will be helping to lead worship at all 3 morning services. They'd appreciate the support, and I'm sure they'd love to meet you!

Super Bowl Sunday... just thought I'd throw out there that our friend Amanda will be there cheering on The Patriots in person. Even though I'm not much of a Patriot fan, I'm jealous :) haha

Co-ed intramural basketball starts in a couple weeks, and we are pretty excited for that...

This semester you will pretty much find Amy and I doing homework, running, in Janzow (dining hall), working, in class, or spending time with friends... it's a pretty good thing we've got going on here, and we love it.

I Heart San Diego.... A Personal Narrative I wrote for ENG 102: Experiences in Writing class :)

I Heart San Diego

I heart San Diego is what frames the beautiful, blue ocean surrounding four best friends. Anna stands smiling in her beautiful paisley patterned dress while her wrist, wearing hope, holds tight to Jon’s arm. Jon’s clean cut, white dress shirt draws attention to his funny face aiming for laughs from the photographer, and my dramatic pose; an open smile with one arm resting on Jon’s shoulder and the other wrapped around Jen’s neck, drawing her colorful dress closer and bringing attention to her eyes looking about.

Picking up this photo from the corner Walgreens, we three girls fight to see the developed pictures first. Of course, the pictures are from my camera, so I have ultimate authority over them. We get in the car and when I am done looking at one picture I pass it along to Anna. Then Anna and Jen do the same, and before you know it, we have an assembly line going. Then, all of a sudden, I get to this silly picture of my siblings and I, and I scream, “I look great in this picture! Look at my tan line!” Anna immediately grabs the photo from my hands and says, “You would say that, Amy. The one picture that everyone is being silly in, I am the dork ball who is smiling.” Then Anna passes the photo along to Jen and Jen says, “Anna, that’s so you though, you hate taking silly pictures! You probably knew it was a silly picture and you decided to smile anyways.” While Jen is saying this to Anna, she starts laughing and then I knew exactly what frame I was going to put this picture in…I heart San Diego. The frame does not match or compliment the picture perfectly, but it does remind me of where the picture was taken and the memories of that weekend in California before everyone had to return to their normal, day-to-day, grown up lives.

Taking this picture the summer right before I began my college journey only makes this more special—being at home from now on is merely temporary. Going to college is amazing and I never imagined it to be as great as it is. I am in love with Concordia University and all of the wonderful friends I have made here. I know I am growing as a person and am also being spiritually filled on a daily basis. Just because I love where I am and this stage in my life however, does not mean I have forgotten my friends back home; it does not mean I have forgotten about my church; it does not mean I have forgotten how amazing California’s weather is; and it definitely does not mean I have forgotten what it is like to have the whole family together—and to have that emptiness eat you up inside when we are not.

Walking back to my dorm after a long day of classes, feeling really tired and a little depressed I get to see this. The tiredness is probably because I did not go to bed at a decent time the night before, and the depressed part is probably a mixture of not having friends close by that know everything about me, you know—the ones who feel like family. It is probably a little from not having a boyfriend like all the other girls, and a lot of it is because I am missing my siblings and my parents. I drop my keys and water bottle on my dresser and instead pick up this picture. Tearing up with the yearn to be in that moment with them, I smile, remember taking the picture and just cling to the frame knowing I will get to see them all soon. Then hearing my next-door neighbor’s dorm door slam, I put the frame down and hope it is Anna & not someone else. I go inside and it is Anna. She knows how I am feeling; she is my twin. She gives me a hug and quietly holds on tight.

I heart my Savior. I heart my family. I heart my three best friends. I heart San Diego.

amy here!

Yesterday morning it was 40 degrees & we walked to church in dresses and flip flops...then
last night we walked to Janzow (the cafeteria) and it was somewhere in the 20s and snowing! CRAZY weather I'll tell you!

me posing for a picture to text to Jon :)

Walking to dinner

Friday night Anna and I went to Cafe on the Square with Jillian, Alex, Claire, Brittany, & Amanda. That was fun :) As Anna put it, "a night of good convos, good food, and great girls :)."
Then afterwards, we watched Invincible with Adam, Armani, Amanda, Trey, Brittany, and Theo in Theo's room... Him and Colin's room is very cozy... they have lots of room & a futon :)

Then Saturday we spent most of the day in the gym watching 3 basketball victories and cheering on the Bulldogs with the new Bulldog dance :)
Then, we went to Lincoln with Amanda, Montana, Adam, Armani, Trey, Brittany, and Theo and went to Starbucks and the movies. Adam, Armani, Anna and I saw Red Tails and Amanda, Montana, Trey, Brittany, and Theo saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. We loved Red Tails... but our friends gave Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close mixed reviews.

Yesterday afternoon the whole family got to Google+... that was great :) We are going to have to do that more often. MISS YOU & LOVE guys so much!!

Welp, I just finished with First Aid & CPR class and now I am off to World Civ II.

This morning, on the way to CPR, my friend Molly said to me, "I am not sure if this is just wishful thinking, but I have a feeling that it is going to be a really good week!" and I would have to say, I am feeling that too, Molly! :)

Miss you bunches Cali!!
xoxo,
AMY