sarah, rock climber chick: level 0

This is the climbing gym downtown that Michelle took us to.

I went with Michelle, Katie, and my R.A., Bianca.

I'd been rock climbing before, at the rec center and on 'real' rock, outside. But I'd never been to a gym like this before!

Even the atmosphere was intense!

Check out them legs!! (I got 'em from my Mama).


I did pretty good. We just bouldered, which apparently is a lot harder than top roping anyway.


Wish I had a picture of the AWESOME blisters I have on my hands now. I actually ripped my biggest one on this climb right here - it was nearing the end of the night. I literally felt the skin rip off of my right hand.

Bianca and I are going to be Hot Climber Chicks by the end of this year.

As you can see, we are studying the art of rock climbing very intently.

the local wildlife.

I would like to introduce you to the 2217B beta fish, the newest additions to our family.

The one on the left is yet to be named, but we've decided he's our nerdy Asian. Personality traits yet to be discovered.

The one on the right, however, his name is Cash, short for Cashmere. He's a hippie... well, he's the older sibling that nobody really talks about.

From the kitchen: "Saraahhhhh! We need your NOSE!"

Uhhhh, okay.

So yes.

That is my nose.

That's the butterfly that landed on Sylvia's butt.




And stayed there.




For quite awhile.

This particular creature we found in Couer D'Alene, in the middle of the sidewalk.

I have to say, I've never seen mice as adorable as these ones. They were just different than the ones we normally find at home, in the irrigation pipe.

And finally, this is the cat that we found wandering into our house this past evening. He was lonely, we think. Either that or he had his eye on our new resident beta fishes.

Because he kept meowing at our front door after we kicked him outside.

And then he went around and somehow managed to get over the wall to our back porch, at which point he sat meowing at our back sliding doors. And staring at us ruefully.

Katie picked him up and put him back out front, and he yowled in the courtyard for the rest of the night.

You know what they say.

If you give a cat a cookie...

"cliff diving" at couer d'alene

More like watching Katie and Sylvia and the Addison House Moody boys cliff dive at Couer D'Alene.

A few of us are sitting and watching the brave souls. I hear this particular jump was about twenty-five feet? Maybe twenty.

They may have been exaggerating? I would, if I had actually done it.

"Yeah, I jumped off a fifty-foot cliff today. You know, the usual."

Some actual cliff diving going on here. I got to see this jump (executed by my friend Forrest) from above instead of from this angle...

I wish I would have snapped a picture soon enough! (I was holding Katie's Nikon). It was awesome.

This one I actually took. I'm rather proud of it.

Katie's in front, and the white mass behind her is our friend Rob. He's pretty hilarious.

This picture was beautiful! Taken by the talented Katie, of course!


The gorgeous Couer D'Alene lake.

There's a path that goes all the way around the lake. It's a really pretty hike. We hiked to several different areas that people jump off at.

We also hiked around just to take pictures and such.

We ran into another giant Moody group! Like-minded, we are.

There was a cool peninsula-like landform that extended into the lake, followed by a few small islands.

We waded out to one of them, because it had a tower with a hawk's nest on it! And the hawk was actually there.

Oh, that's Rob in the water. He slipped. Twice.

This is quite a good picture, if I do say so myself. My hair was awesome that day.

I wanted to just hold my skirt up so that it wouldn't get wet, but I thought that would be scandalous, or would at least have the appearance of being so - I was wearing my swimsuit underneath, but that's not what it would have looked like!

And no scandals for Sarah! Because she's a Moody student now.

Katie and I. The little island you just saw would be in front of us, and there's the peninsula behind us.

The Couer D'Alene boardwalk was one of the destinations we can visit for credit for our Introduction to Ministry class. (For an activity called 'Building Community'). We thought we'd hit it up while we were there.

That's Katie's angry face. We can always count on Katie to make me and Sylvia look real pretty... ;o)

Left to right: Sylvia, Katie, me, Alexandra, May.

Three out of the four Addison House boys, riding the bronze moose...

...the bronze moose that I later kissed.

The Student Life Guide says we should limit public displays of affection to holding hands and hugging, but it was just a peck! I promise.

we're a family now. really.

Emily was dubbed Daddy because she's always cooking, and if she's not cooking, she's at work. She's the breadwinner.

I'm Mommy because I'm always cleaning. And cooking as well.

The twins are just cute. They're always giggling and being funny.

Rebecca's the rebel daughter because she's got a boyfriend that also goes to Moody. She's always disappearing with him, if he's not over.

Katie's the dog. Because she's always eating everybody else's food. She can also be part of the twins, which would make them triplets...

Random picture, also courtesy of Katie.

It's here because it's typical of Spokane.

Tattoos and coffee.
Jiffy Lube and coffee.
Worship service and coffee.
Funeral home and coffee.

Have you ever had bubble tea??

It's an Asian thing. Kelly's Asian. I like to point out the obvious: "Not because of ethnicity." Haha. So she educated us on bubble tea. The "bubbles" are made out of tapioca, or something like that, and they go in the bottom of your cup. You drink bubble tea with a straw big enough to slurp them up. It was delicious and interesting.

if you're not jealous, it's because you're not reading my blog.

long lake

Photos of this event, and pretty much every other, courtesy of Katie Neef. The photographer.

We (Sylvia, Katie, and I) were invited by some people that Katie knew back home to a small group for the church that they attended. Free food and water, of course we would go! The lake was BEAUTIFUL, as was their house.

I'm still not entirely sure what this is called. But I got to try it!



It was so much fun! Steering was hard, as was balancing, but I didn't fall off once!



Except for when we tried to fit all three of us on it...

They managed to do it without me. Ha. Imagine that.

That's okay, I was there to take a picture of it when they were successful.

Sylvia and I with the lake in the background.





I want a balcony looking out at a lake like that!

On the roof for the dock, there was a place where you could climb up and jump off into the lake!



The lake was FREEZING. But it was so much fun!

I think that's Katie.

That's Sylvia.




I wish I would have worn board shorts.



I was the victim of several bad wedgies upon hitting the water.

Haha! I love Sylvia's face here.


I had to plug my nose for every jump, cause it was pretty painful if you didn't.

The moon was beautiful that night, reflecting off the lake.

getting "orientated."

In addition to the Indians game, there were activities all weekend. Orientation itself was Thursday and Friday.


Saturday afternoon and evening there were games and fellowship at Mission Park, and a BBQ! With tons of delicious, free food.

Sunday there were games happening in Uhden Chapel. I helped put together a SUPER HARD PUZZLE, of which I have no pictures. :(

But then I got in on a game of Dutch Blitz. It was so much fun!

roar! spokaneosaurus!

PICTURES BY KATIE NEEF.

The Spokane Indians' mascot is not in fact an Indian, but is what they call the Spokaneosaurus. His name is Otto, and he gets mad if you put your hand in his nose.

There were lots of pre-game activities to take part in, such as free massages and... FACE PAINTING!!

A lot of other girls were walking around wearing beautiful flowers and hearts and such on their cheeks.

Katie and I got mustaches

Katie really didn't mean to get a big blue beard, but the face painter kind of just kept going. She rolled with it, cause she's cool like that.

That's Wes. We all got mustaches.

And lots of interesting comments.

They're just jealous they can't grow a Hitler-stash like me.

The Moody crowd was lively.

We were doing the wave.

Only once did it reach the other end of the stadium. Don't tell anyone that was super exited, but I think it may have been a complete coincidence (an independent wave).

Katie, to the blue man putting plastic bottles and paper in the separate bins: "Hey, way to recycle!"

He turns around.

Little did Katie know, he's RECYCLE MAN.

Katie's downing an ice cream sandwich. They were huge.


Who's that good-looking Moody student in the fedora?

this is my house.

Welcome to Berea!

It's known as "The Compound." I'm not entirely sure if this is a nickname it acquired this year, because everybody seems to know the place I'm referring to when I call it by that name.

36 girls.

6 houses.

Lots of estrogen.

Should be fun!

(No, really, it is).

Entering Berea. My house is to the left.

This is our house. The middle "B" unit 

to your left when you come into Berea.

The living room. The coffee table is different now.

The TV center, and a glimpse of the kitchen.

The hallway to the left beyond the TV is where I live. ;o)

The kitchen table. Looks pretty pitiful in this picture,

but it's actually quite spacious. I like to do homework on it.

Roommate Emily and our friend Joanna (from across the courtyard)

cooking in the kitchen.

The bathroom to the right, and beyond that, my room.

Washer and drier behind the doors on the left, and beyond that, Katie's room.

Standing in the doorway of my room.

I'm proud of my two collages.

There are pictures on my blank bulletin board now,

but weren't present at the time that I took this picture.

Magazines are one of the coolest/cheapest ways to decorate!

Note curtains.

Sponsored by Erica.

I love this desk!

It will be my best friend this year.

Decorative touch in the blank space above my desk.

Also magazines.

"Good thing there's no water around," says Mom.

$3 mirror and $5 table from thrift stores!

Closet, also sponsored by Erica.

The wooden sliding doors were a pain.

So we took them off.

My collage.

My second best friend.

Two layers of foam.