[Literally] Old School: Mission 3rd Krauss

First and foremost: a huge thanks for offered words of advise and encouragement lately. This girl's heart needed it. We all need that extra bit of love sometimes. And I'm grateful for those who have been willing to give it.

Day 5: A Picture Of Your Favorite Memory

I'm not a fan of having to pick one favorite anything. Ask anyone who knows me well, and they will tell you that 1) I am indecisive and 2) any question of a favorite will end in a list (oh, how I love lists) of subcategories of favorites because my favorite one day will not be my favorite the next; it changes with my mood.

To that end, then, I present you with one of my favorite memories, sub-categorized under "CUC Days". Ladies and gents, I give you a scene from one of the first few weeks of freshman year while living on ye ol' 3rd Krauss, the Mouse House. We called this the evening of Mission 3rd Krauss. I now give you the 10 steps necessary for said Mission:

Step 1: Get bored on a weekend.

Step 2: Decide to decorate the hall.

Step 3: Realize need for big sheets of paper.

Step 4: Plan how to get big sheets of paper from the community center across campus.

Step 5: Make a detailed plan on how to sneak from Point A (3rd Krauss) to Point B ( the KCC). Include strict instructions to make James Bond-esque rolls along the way.

Step 6: Dress accordingly with the "mission" mindset. (I don't think this is what Concordia had in mind when they encouraged "missions".)

Step 7: Dart across campus, roll a few times for good measure here and there, duck behind bushes, and do this all with minimal talking and giggling. Ignore any and all people who look and/or ask, "What's going on?" Just run and secure the goods.

Step 8: When goods are secured, repeat process of getting to KCC, but in reverse. And, for the sake of the preservation of the paper, with less James Bond-style rolling.

Step 9: Return to 3rd Krauss with the sweet, sweet taste of victory...and a lot of paper.

Step 10: Proceed in hanging up paper to decorate the hall. Make masking tape outlines of friends on the floor in the hallway.

Oh, that and so many other memories make that my favorite floor to have lived on in college. Remind me to tell you sometime about the time our floor was quarantined. Future post?

~"A college education should equip one to entertain three things: a friend, an idea, and oneself." [-Thomas Ehrlich]~

"Grace Like Rain"

I had the opportunity to sit in on a Bible study with the Salem staff yesterday, and they were discussing the concept of truly knowing grace before sharing grace.

And this song crept into my head. We sang it my very first weekend as a college student at CUC's New Student Camp (a trip to a camp about an hour or so away from campus), and I sang it many, many more times before leaving CUC. I haven't gotten too many opportunities to sing it since then so it always makes me nostalgic -- especially for those few nights around the campfire in the last of the summer heat singing along to the guitars with a bunch of other new students. We were all just as anxious and excited as we faced a seemingly endless journey through college.

It was beautiful.

Chicago & Friends

I think the city of Chicago is absolutely beautiful. It's one of my favorite places to explore when I can.

Sometimes you just have to take the time to be silly and spontaneous. I think my college friends will always be some of the best people to be silly with.

Today I got the chance to meet up with a group of people from CUC. It was the first time (most) of us were together since 3 years ago. And where did we spend most of our time together in downtown Chicago? Macy's.

And it was the best few hours we could've had. We explored mysterious places, took lots silly pictures, and laughed like crazy. We talked, caught up, and forgot that we're grown ups for a while.

~"A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are." [-Unknown]~