we had another ice storm today, and the sidewalks were slippery. i almost fell a few times.

finals start tomorrow. i have one at 8 am, one at 4 pm, and one at 7 pm. then on tuesday i have one at 8 am and i am done until january term! i'm ready to go home, but i haven't started packing at all.

Ice Storm

like grandma and grandpa, messiah is experiencing freezing rain as well. tree branches are bent down to the ground because of the extra weight and fences, benches, signs and railings are covered in ice.

in other news, i took a test in math that counts for 75% of my final and i got a 94% on it...i take that as a good sign.

classes are wrapping up and i only have 3 more classes before the end of the semester

today i got comics in the mail from mom. the envelope said "a week's worth for you," but i read them all today. i set up a "comics corner" on the bulletin board by our window, so any time i need a little chuckle i can read them. my church at home also sent me a gift card to starbucks to wish me luck on my finals.

the rest of this week and the beginning of next week will be very busy, as the semester is coming to a close and final exams start on monday. hopefully i can do well

Like many other posts, Messiah has also been snowed on. It snowed all day yesterday, and in the morning it was very slippery and I saw a lot of people slip and fall.

All the residence halls also participated in "Deck the Halls," which is a competition to see which floor in all residence halls has the best decorations. There were Candyland floors, dance party floors, etc. Our floor's theme was "Christmas past, present and future" and we decorated the front of the hall as the nativity scene, the lounge as a modern living room with a fireplace, tree, and cookies in the oven, and the other end as a futuristic Christmas, complete with robot Santa. We didn't win, but we had a lot of fun decorating.

Thanksgiving

When I woke up Monday morning at Messiah, I realized we had had some snow the night before. However, most of it was melted by the time I started walking to my classes. Monday afternoon, Henry came to pick me up from school and brought me home. We went to Petsmart and bought a betta fish...who is STILL alive (a record, I do believe). We went shopping again on Tuesday, and Wednesday we went out to dinner and to a movie. Yesterday, we had Thanksgiving lunch here with my parents and brothers at noon, then at 4 we went to Henry's uncle's house where I met Henry's mom's side of the family (very small compared to our family!). Today Henry and I are boldly going where so many before us have gone...shopping on Black Friday. We are also going to get our Christmas tree today, whenever Dad decides we should. Then I am going to Henry's house to have yet another Thanksgiving dinner with some of our high school friends, and tomorrow we are leaving for Grandma and Grandpa's house before going back to school on Sunday afternoon.

Packages and Pictures

Today in the mail I received a long-overdue picture from Aunt Debbie (you both look wonderful, just so you know) and a package from Aunt Lois. In the package was a container of Tootsie Rolls (which are already gone) and a t-shirt that says "they can send me to college, but they can't make me think." I found it rather amusing.

Also, happy belated birthday to Sarah. I didn't find an urgent need to update because the birthday girl herself hasn't updated since September, so I didn't think she would miss my lack of birthday wishes. Seems like just yesterday I had my own sweet sixteen...these have been happy years :-)

My wall:



Kinley's wall:



needless to say, you all have been doing very well

so on saturday mom came up and we went on a wal-mart shopping spree, to dinner at a diner that had its dessert menu written on notebook paper in pencil attached to a clipboard, and to see the movie "martian child."

when mom got here she gave me a surprise: a beta fish. so i got him on saturday and when i woke up this morning, he was dead. what is it with me and fish?!

silly uncle jason...though it did hold some delicious hot chocolate today

as usual, nothing much has happened since my last post. it's not raining anymore, but it is still cold outside with a temperature of 31 degrees as i walk to my earliest class. however, all the leaves changing colors and falling makes for a particularly beautiful sight.

i received a new wireless keyboard for my computer and it is SO nice to be able to lay on my bed and type instead of being hunched over my laptop. i aced a sociology test today and now i'm preparing to go to communications class. tonight i am going to the adult hospital to visit my resident, lois. however, the owners of the hospital decided to sell and we will only get to visit the residents until thanksgiving. i hope everyone can find a place to stay, and they were all very upset about having to leave.

also: thanks to my facetious uncle j for sending me a mug with his picture and "the world's greatest uncle" on it...now i can enjoy my hot chocolate :-)

the past three days have been very rainy over here at messiah. i had to buy an umbrella from the campus store and carry it with me everywhere because you just never know when a downpour is going to happen. i also bought myself a new sweatshirt and sweatpants because the rain is making it very cold outside. i have looked forward to drinking the hot chocolate aunt phebe sent me, but i unfortunately don't have a mug and every time i remember to buy a mug, the campus store is closed. hopefully i'll remember to buy one tomorrow because that hot chocolate sure is calling to me...

AND grandma and grandpa are still the only ones that have sent me a picture of themselves. i'm not quite sure why no one else has... >:-

(...that's supposed to be an angry face...)

I just wanted to send out my MANY MANY thanks to the Bowser family. Snacks and munchies are always appreciated, and today I received a package filled with 100 calorie packs, propel water mix (which is excellent because I am almost out of propel) and hot chocolate WITH MARSHMALLOWS which is perfect for days like today; cold and rainy and....wet...

that's all I have for now :-)

this past weekend was a VERY good weekend, and very busy, too!





it was homecoming weekend at messiah and henry came up on friday to stay until today (sunday). on friday night was the homecoming dance:














on saturday i had my powderpuff game (i did receive a minor injury...a girl's head hit my mouth and i have a deep cut on the inside of my mouth):
















we also went to the men's soccer game:








and my hip hop team performed, but i don't have a picture of it because henry said everytime he tried to take a picture, we moved. then last night henry and i stayed up late to watch the meteor shower. it was SO amazing to see and i'm glad i got the chance, though i was very tired from going to bed at 2:30 am! now i have a lot of homework to do, so i better get to it!

i figured i should update since i haven't in awhile.

this past weekend (starting wednesday) was fall break and i went home. it was a very uneventful weekend, and i somehow managed to get some of my homework done. that saturday we (as in mom, dad, blake and i) went to a little dinner theater at a church in fallston. it was a nice time.

yesterday i came back up and spent much of the day unpacking everything. today when i went to the mailbox, i was greeted with two envelopes and two packages! it was very exciting. the package from grandma contained enough chocolate to satisfy my sweet tooth for awhile, and the package from henry also contained chocolate. phebe sent me original artwork from up and coming artists emma and rachel, and grandma sent me a picture of her and grandpa (this should serve as a reminder to all of you who HAVEN'T sent me pictures yet to do so :-)).

i now am preparing for my final class of the day which will be followed by writing a paper, powderpuff practice, chapel and a lecture. busy busy busy.

as i said, last night i had powderpuff practice. because i'm on the line, i get hit every play. i emerged with multiple bruises on my arms, wrists, chest, neck and legs. luckily my face is still pretty as ever ;-)

i tried to take pictures, but they don't show up so well, but here they are anyway:

today my little mailbox was happy again because it held a package from aunt lois and a card from my mom. aunt lois sent me socks that brought a smile to my face as they said "sorry, but one of us has to be cutest"

i also have realized i have no pictures whatsoever of my dear family, but i would like some. if any of you have a picture you would be willing to send me of you, spouses, children, etc i would greatly appreciate it and i would put it up on my wall.

tonight i have practice for powder puff; i hope i'm not going to be too sore tomorrow!

henry the fish died today. i've decided i should maybe get guppies since they just keep reproducing so my fish tank won't be empty. it's something to think about.....



....i have no luck with fish...

Yesterday I received a very delicious package with donuts from the grandparents (though I do believe Julie helped with the preparation. Most of them are already gone! The girls on this floor sure like sweets, let me tell you. And, my little mailbox was SO happy to have mail for me.

In other news, yesterday I bought a pair of Messiah sweatpants and I think they are SO cute and SO comfy and I was SO excited that I decided to wear them despite the forecast of 86 degrees...and it was very hot...but the pants are wonderful regardless...nothing else has really happened.

if you can't tell, it's pretty boring up here sometimes.

A Tragic Tale

just a little picture-story of something i do everyday:




YAY! time to go check the mail!





What could be inside?!





what?




it's empty...again???



it's sad...i know...poor little lonely mailbox with no letters for whitney :-(

apparently because aunt barb now ahas a working computer, i must update my blog.

nothing much has happened since the last post...it's pretty boring now. right now i'm at penn state visiting henry and it's been really nice to see him again. i go back to messiah tomorrow and then i go home for the weekend on the 28th.

oh my goodness henry feels sick...i better see what's wrong

colonel mustard has died. it is a sad day in witmer b405. i personally think there was foul play on henry's part...suspicious

i found the fitness center. it's in a basement. and it's creepy. and we aren't going there anymore. creepy creepy creepy.

i know it's blurry, but the black one with the crazy eyes is henry. he eats a lot. the little yellow one is colonel mustard, who is very camera shy.

just for the record, i don't believe a word of kristen's "i slept through august" story...mmmmmmmhmm

not much has happened since i last posted. things are still the same. classes are still decent. the walk from my dorm to anywhere is still long. the showers are still not good (except the second stall which has AMAZING water pressure).

OH but i did get two fish. mom and jo brought them up for me, and jo gave me a little aquarium as an extra gift. how sweet. their names are colonel mustard and henry. i know, they're adorable. mom refers to them as her grandchildren.

Pictures of my room

if you didn't read the post below about my initiation, you can. i just wanted to let you know it's there so you don't skip it :-)






My desk, bed, and dresser (my dresser is the one by the windows)



me and dad...yes, that is the entire room.



i don't think mom liked this picture very much



she made me smile

tonight, my residence hall (witmer) had initiation for all the women in the dorm. we had invitations on our door that said:

Dearest ladies of Witmer 4B:
You are officiallly invited to join us for the Initiation of all Witmer women tonight, September 8 at 10:00 pm. We will be meeting outside the front door of Witmer. Please wear mismatched clothing, and bring something that you can be blindfolded with.


cryptic, no? needless to say, many young women were outside the witmer building ready to be initiated. we had to blindfold ourselves and hold on to the girl in front of us as our resident assistants led us to the 'swinging bridge' on the edge of campus (it's just a bridge that...well, swings). just to make sure we were on our toes, someone grabbed at our ankles as we started to cross the bridge and numerous surprised screams were heard :-p

when we crossed the swinging bridge, we were allowed to take off our blindfolds. the 6 RAs for our building stood in front to talk to us. they told us we wore mismatched clothing to symbolize how we all come from different backgrounds and situations, but together we make up witmer, messiah college, and the body of christ. we were blindfolded to help us trust the girls in our building and symbolize that though we may not know where we are going, God does and we can rest in that (and they shared the verse "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see).

the RAs then explained to us that they were going to wash our feet as Jesus humbled himself and washed the feet of his disciples. while feet were being washed, girls with guitars and amazing singing voices led everyone in worship songs. all the girls then decided to gather around the RAs and pray for them as the year progressed. all in all, it was a very good evening.

well, today was my first day of classes here at messiah college. i only had two: intro to mathematical sciences and philosophy. my math professor seems very nice, but wasted no time in jumping into the course material and giving us our first homework assignment. my philosophy teacher, however, seems strange. nice, but strange. and i've heard things about him from other students. his class will be more difficult in that he is more vague in assignments and what he wants from them. after classes, brittany and i walked to the "fitness center" where we were expecting a nice, expansive work-out room, but what we found was endless rows of stationary bikes and treadmills. no weights? nothing for upper body strength? what is going on here?

aunt barb: you yelled at me (at near gunpoint, if you remember) for not updating, yet i have seemed to notice how your daughters rarely share stories of their daily happenings. coincidence? i think NOT

well we've certainly been busy this week here at messiah. as i said in the last post, we had a beach/pirate-y party. when we got there, they gave us all a lei and a pirate name...i was Captain Marey Keelhaul. it was fun. today we had "first year games," which is basically the three freshman dorms competing against each other in things like relays and such. in my dorm building, there are two guys who play the bagpipes so they gallantly led us onto the field donned in red (the witmer color). witmer took home the trophy by the end of the day.

later tonight, there was a "coffeehouse" where first year students just played music and stuff for everyone else. there was, of course, coffee there, but i'm not such a big coffee drinker.

hey guys...day two of whitney in college. i don't have much to update, but i thought i'd just say hey. i had to take a placement test for german today and now i have a couple minutes to kill until my next meeting. we're going to a shelter for single parents to paint and stuff. i'll try to post pictures later, now things are still in that busy "new experience" stage. it still feels like summer camp and the girls on my floor take THE longest showers known to man. i was standing in the bathroom in my towel for like 20 minutes before i got to go in. i'll have to be getting up extra early if i want to be ready in time for classes. tonight there is a beach party, but unfortunately i forgot to bring my authentic beach garb. i may update later, but there are no guarantees.

well, i am officially moved in to college. i made our van leave at 7 this morning so i'd be sure to get there early and hopefully not be forced to sleep on the bunk bed. i have two roommates, both very nice. i was the first one there and i staked my claim by making my bed and unpacking everything i had brought with me. we had three major catastrophes today, which were all miraculously resolved rather quickly.

the first: i left my mailbox key at home. it would not have been a bad thing, but i knew i was supposed to be getting a package and i needed my key to get it. after my mom sweet talked the mailroom guy, i had my package: a penn state stuffed animal from henry. catastrophe avoided.

the second: after unpacking my clothes, my mom asked where my toiletries were. i said they were in the other suitcase. however, looking around the dorm, no other suitcase was in sight. i was very upset and dad and i walked down to the car (4 flights of stairs, mind you) and it wasn't in there. we walked back up the four flights of stairs (there aren't any elevators in my dorm building and i'm on the fourth floor, so i'm sure to get plenty of exercise) and back in the room, telling my mom my dad had to go home, get my suitcase, and come back. when we were walking out of the room with our heads down, we realized the suitcase was right outside my door the whole time. catastrophe avoided.

the third: i had to turn in my laptop to get it configured by the college and i was told i wouldn't have it until tomorrow afternoon. i got it back mere hours later after our wal mart run. catastrophe avoided.

busy day, and i'm very tired. be sure to send me mail :-)

today i went up to messiah with my neighbor (who is also attending messiah) to purchase my books before i move in on thursday. apparently the bookstore is a zoo on move-in day, so we figured a trip up there was worth it. while we were there we also got our student id cards and mailbox keys. apparently, messiah has at least two students per mailbox (which i don't think is fair, with as much as that college costs). it's hard to believe i move in on thursday!

also, i sent my college email to everyone i had email addresses for, so if you didn't get it just let me know.

yesterday was a day at the beach for myself and two of my friends, brooke and brittany. we left around 8 am and got there around 11. we went in the ocean some and then just decided to lay on the beach and tan (or in my case, burn). i ended up looking like an overdone lobster. it hurt to put makeup on this morning haha. we got home a little after midnight but i stayed up later talking to henry and some other friends. this whole college thing is coming so fast...4 days until i move in! i better start packing

Why yes, it is another update from whitney! i will really try to update more, especially since so much will be going on in the near future. i know i have made that promise before, but i really will try this time.

last night was henry's last night before he left for penn state university. he surprised me by taking me to olive garden for a delicious dinner. when we got back to my house, however, i was an emotional wreck and i just stayed in my room the rest of the night.

we got our senior year yearbooks yesterday. it's really nice; the theme was "the ride of a lifetime," so it was set up like an amusement park. pretty clever, if you ask me.

tonight i'm going to brittany's house for a farewell gathering (she and i are going to the same college, just an fyi). i'll have to start packing, but i don't leave until august 30. so much to do, so little time.

i haven't blogged in awhile (big surprise, i know) and i just thought i'd say hey to all you readers out there (like the stalker, aunt julie, who claims she checks my blog every day).







aunt barb, if you read this: i forgot your email address and i LOVE the new house! it's beautiful!







yesterday my family and henry went to the zoo. pictures?

































and p.s. i've gotten my creative juices flowing and have become quite the scrapbooker. a new scrapbooking shop/cafe opened near us and i'm fully prepared to live there, hehe. the scrapbook i made today is absolutely adorable...not to toot my own horn or anything, but i can be pretty creative sometimes. just thought i'd share my excitement.

this evening, i decided, was a good evening to open the wonderful "my sister's recipes" book and bake a delicious dessert for my lovely family. we decided on the 'deep dark chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting,' courtesy of aunt julie. i followed directions exactly, and placed the batter in 8" round cake pans as instructed. however, when i returned home with ingredients for the frosting, i was greeted by smoke and the smell of burning batter. i open the oven, and what should i see but my cake overflowing out of the cake pans onto the hot oven floor with 12 minutes left to bake. the only thing i could think of was that aunt julie meant 9" pans instead of 8". nonetheless, the cake better be good, to restore my faith in the maust baking industry.

PROM!!!

last night was my senior prom and i figured you guys would like pictures:

18!

that's right family, for those of you who missed it, i'm 18 now. lotto tickets, anyone? JUST KIDDING WE DON'T DO THAT.

we went to dinner at la tolteca and they give you a sombrero on your birthday =D

yes family, yes, it has happened. your darling little whitney was in her first real car accident today. there had been a wintry mix of snow and freezing rain all day and i was on my way home from work when i lost control of steering and went into a ditch and some trees. however, i am alright. i'm sure i'll be plenty sore tomorrow but just the fact that i missed a telephone pole by about two inches on my side of the car is just a miracle. yes, airbags were used and i'm pretty much certain that the car is totaled. *sigh* it's ok though. life goes on.