an overdue update

WOW I haven't been on here in forever.

(I'm in college... I'm busy.)

But college is absolutely AMAZING.

Seriously, I don't think I have ever been this constantly happy in my life. It's great.

And since I don't have the time or space to write and you probably don't have the attention span to read about everything I've been up to, here are a few highlights.

I moved in to this wonderful place on August 28th,

and met my roommate for the first time. 

She's wonderful and we love each other a lot.

Our room is an explosion of pink and it's all sorts of wonderful.

The next big event was homecoming.

Bethel won and it was a beautiful day for a game!

We also had the Homecoming banquet,

Which would NOT have been possible without the Banquet and Dances committee that I'm a part of.

 (I know, we rock)

We also had the cheer competition that my dorm got 3rd place in!

(Getscha getscha getscha head in the game)

Then, my aunt gave me FREE tickets that she won to the Ed Sheeran concert. I brought my best friend since birth, Adam.

Turns out one of my friends and her boyfriend had tickets too, so we all went together!

Ed Sheeran was amazing and we all had a great time. 

(This is usually how me and Tiana can be found. We love each other, a lot.)

We did our annual Out of the Darkness walk in September to honor my cousin Nicholas' life. I love getting to see my family! Being three and a half hours away means that I don't get to see them very often.

My cousin had a baby in September. I got to meet baby in late September, and I also got to spend fall break with them!

I went home for a weekend in the end of October.

On the way home, I took a little side trip one night to surprise my best friends at their college. They were completely surprised and we had a great time together!

Then I went home to watch my little brother get confirmed. 

He's the best little brother ever.

HALLOWEEN! 

(my friend Mara and I went as the Man in the Yellow Suit and Curious George. 100 creative points go to us.) 

Gadkin was in November.

(look out, we are dangerous.) 

My high school's volleyball team made it to state and took SECOND PLACE in the whole state (way to go ladies!) and I got to go and watch them play, and I also got to see a few of my friends from high school. It was a mini high school reunion!

Then, last Friday we had "Friendsgiving" at my friend Meckenna's house. Her mom was so kind and made us a whole meal that consisted of food that all of us requested. How sweet, and what a blessing it is to have a friend whose home is so close that we can do stuff like this! 

After Friendsgiving, I went to my first hockey game EVER! I had so much fun! (does this mean that I am officially a Minnesotan after 18 years?)

(This is a face of pure excitement)

And what better way to watch a hockey game than with my best friends?

(The Royals didn't win, but that's okay. It was still blast.)

I live on the best floor ever. Here's a few photos of the fun things we've done together:

And, I have seriously made the best friends that I ever could have asked for here at Bethel. I have never felt such a sense of belonging than I do with my friends here. These ladies encourage and inspire me daily. I'm blessed!

So, that's what I have been up to in the past few months.

College has been all sorts of wonderful and challenging all at the same time.

God has been SO good to me, and Bethel has been the fresh start that I needed.

All in all, life is good here.

Until next time! 

xoxo Ellie 

2014

2014.

Happy New Year!

a few days late. 

I'm very excited to see what this year will have in store for me.

I already know it's going to be a BIG year.

I'm going to Spain in March,

I graduate in May, 

I turn 18 in July (I'm a baby),

And

I go to college in August!! 

So many exciting things happening for me, and I know that God will sprinkle in many, many more AWESOME things.

Because he's super cool like that. 

And there probably will be some icky stuff in there too, but that's okay because God is good, all the time.

Moving on.

I'm usually not one for new years resolutions.

I feel like they're made to last for 3 weeks, and then you revert back to your old habits. 
So I chose just three that I feel I can achieve over the course of the year.
1) Get closer to God.
(This is a lifelong journey, but in 2014 I hope to rely on and trust God more than ever before.)
2) Learn to be patient.
I used to be a very patient person. Some events in 2013 hardened my heart and  caused me to lose that, and this year I want it back. 
3) Read 25 books this year.
I love reading, and I feel like I never have time to. Then I realized that the reason for that is I use technology too much. Less technology, more reading!

So, Happy New Year! 
What are your resolutions? I'd love to hear. Leave me a comment!
(Actually, I'd love to know who reads my blog. My page views keep going up but I have no idea who is brave enough to read my crazy thoughts! Do me a favor and tell me who you are!)

giving thanks

My blog has been completely neglected.

  I'm sorry, blog.

But I've been busy.

My Thanksgiving was GREAT! I drove up by myself to the Kruschke Thanksgiving in Belle Plaine while my family stayed home and went to Hansen Thanksgiving. I had a grand time, ate great food and connected with some family members I didn't know very well previously (I have a large family.)

For the rest of the weekend, I'll be in the cities with my cousin, her husband & babies! My cousin's baby daughter is my goddaughter!

This morning I went Black Friday shopping with my aunt. I scored some cute cute cute boots that were originally $100 for $25! I also bought some Isotoner mittens for only $15. Talk about a deal!

On the 26th of November, my sweet great grandpa Leo turned 96 YEARS OLD! Isn't that amazing? He still lives on his own and is totally with it. He amazes me & I hope I was blessed with his genes! 96 years- imagine all of the changes he's seen!

I love you so much, grandpa Leo!

This Thanksgiving, I'm especially thankful for God's healing in my grandma. She was diagnosed with both lymphoma and rectal cancer. The lymphoma is now cured, and the rectal cancer is on the right path to being cured. I'm so thankful that I got to spend another Thanksgiving with my grandma (& grandpa) and I hope we have many more Thanksgivings together!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, enter his courts with praise. Bless his name, his holy name." Psalm 100:4

I'm thankful for my faith, my youth group, my amazing family, my friends (both old and new), my school, my job, my home and the fact that I PICKED A COLLEGE FOR NEXT FALL!!!

God has been doing such great things in my life lately! He is so good.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To whoever is reading this: I'm thankful for you!

cross country

After seven

LONG

challenging

rewarding

amazing

fun

quick

years, 

my career as a TMB Panther Cross Country member is over.

And I am

happy

and 

sad

at the same time.

Cross country has taught me so many things,

determination

hard work

ambition

winning isn't everything

and I am really going to miss it.

Especially the

bus rides

races

stretching times

camaraderie with the team

inside jokes

and most importantly,

the memories

I am forever thankful 

for the time that I spent on this team

that I was voted captain my senior year

for the people who encouraged me along the way

the fact that I stuck with it for seven years

and that God gave me the ability to run.

This is another sad last that comes with being a senior.

But this doesn't mean that I am done running forever.

In fact, I've just begun.

(half marathon? marathon? various 5k's? we shall see.)

Photo credit: Deveraux Photography

trout lake 2013

After weeks and weeks of waiting, Trout Lake has finally come! 

(and now gone. sad.)

I had such a great weekend at Trout Lake with a great group of people! 

My youth group! :)

The theme verse this weekend was Ephesians 6:10

"Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power."

What a great verse! No matter where we go or what we do in this life, if we trust the Lord and his power, He will give us STRENGTH! Our strength comes from Him!

The speaker, Duffy, was really great. 

He talked about things like righteousness, 

God's amazing love for us, and how we encounter "Jerichoes" in our every day life. He definitely made me think of things in a new way, which is always a good thing. 

The lesson that stuck with me the most was the lesson on righteousness. He explained to us that righteousness has two meanings,

right usefulness: Correctly using the gifts that God gave you to bring Him glory

right relatedness: Having the right kind of relationship with God & fellow Christians.

Then, he had us rate people: Adolf Hitler, Mother Theresa, the average person and Jesus Christ on a scale of completely unrighteous to completely righteous. Once everyone was put in their places, (Adolf on the farrr left and Jesus as far right as you can be), the speaker explained to us that because Jesus died a death that an UNRIGHTEOUS person deserves, we all die a death that a RIGHTEOUS person deserves.

Which isn't fair.

At all.

But that is the amazing thing called grace, and we are so lucky to receive that grace.

The band, Acquire the Fire Live, was AWESOME! They were all so talented and were entertaining. Singing is my absolute favorite way to praise the Lord, so a good band is always important to me, and I would definitely give that band an A+.

Here are some more pictures from this weekend: 

(photo credits go to my homegirls Morgie and Anniiiiika. My camera is on the fritz.)

The annual HUGE fire on Saturday night. So awesome, so hot. They do not mess around!

Absolutely love each of these girls. They are such blessings <3

BOBCATS! The best Trout cabin ever :) Staying up until 2:00 AM giggling about... things, saying "goodnight" a billion times before bed, praying together, being silly together, so many fun things happened in that cabin!

Trout Lake has a HUGE zipline and it was one of the highlights of my weekend! What a rush!

I am so thankful that I got to go on this weekend retreat to Trout! I grew closer to the members of my youth group and had a ton of fun with them, but most importantly, I grew even closer to GOD. <3

Ellie approves of Trout Lake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy birthday today to TWO of my great friends,

Annika and Morgan!

 I am truly thankful that I am friends with these two beautiful girls. They are both so sweet and such great friends! 

Annika and I have known each other through dance team since junior high. Crazy to think that loud, obnoxious me became such good friends with quiet, reserved Annika!

Annika is so sweet. And I've found that she's not always quiet ;) In fact, she's hilarious! She makes me laugh all the time!

Happy Birthday, Annika!

Morgan and I have always known each other but have become closer over the past year. Morgan has such a kind heart and she is so creative! She takes awesome pictures (check out her blog!) and has such a unique personality! 

Happy Birthday, Morgan!

The most admirable thing about Morgan and Annika is their LOVE for the Lord. It is so inspiring! They're the kind of people that you can tell are Christians, just by the way they live their lives. 

And to me, that is the most amazing quality one can have!

Happy Birthday Girls! I'm so blessed to have each of you in my life and I love you both dearly! Thanks for being such great friends.

:) Ellie