Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Well, even though its break I guess I shouldn't get out of the habit of writing. I hope you've had a very wonderful enjoyable Christmas! Its been so nice to just "relax" for a while, even though its relaxing in Ebeling terms. That means I'm been busy doing innumerable things, but they're fun. Aside from the traditional Christmas activates (shepherd's meal on the floor on Christmas Eve, singing carols, Christmas dinner etc) I've been shopping several times, ice skating, touring Longwood gardens and caroling in the pouring rain; I've read several novels, seen several movies, seen the Renoir exhibit at the art museum and the Wanamaker organ (one of the largest in the world) in Macy's. I've eaten some Chinese food, fed a meal to the homeless at the homeless shelter, gotten my final grade for physics (which I was ECSTATIC about) ... and the list could go on.

Yet, there are so many things I still haven't gotten around to, like preparing some German lessons, reading some German literature to prepare for my Goethe class, seeing old high school friends, making an apple pie... and this list could go on forever as well. I'll just make the best of the time I have left and enjoy every minute of it!

Hope to hear from you soon!!!!!

Merry Christmas and a happy 2008!!

Love,

Margaret

FINALS WEEK IS OVER!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

So I was stuck in the Baltimore airport for 4 hours and decided to write my weekly email. Good thing I did, because I haven't had much time to catch up here at home. Right after I got picked up from the airport on Saturday afternoon we went to Longwood Gardens with my cousins, so I was up for over 24 hours. Today after church (and a short nap for me), we went caroling in
the pouring rain. I was went from my waist down despite the umbrella. To cheer us all up we went to the ward social at the Hinkley's house which was great, but I'm still tired. Anyway, here's the email:

So I’m sitting at the Baltimore airport, and I’ll be here for a few more hours since my flight from LA to Baltimore was delayed (apparently someone got sick on the plane and it took them an hour to clean everything up). I suppose it’s the perfect opportunity to write my weekly letter and remind myself of the many blessings I’ve received throughout this week. It was finals week. Need I say more?? Monday I took German and student development. The student development final took me about five minutes and the German final took me only an hour. It was the first multiple choice final I have taken so far in college, and proved to be a nice way to start
off finals week by boosting my confidence. Tuesday night I had my calculus final, and I spent all day going over my notes, paging through the text book, looking over previous final exams and
praying hard. I’m sure I haven’t failed to mention that my calculus professor wasn’t very good, despite his ten years of math education research. My professor wrote a third of our final, and the other 2/3 were a department final. 7pm the tests were handed out. It wasn’t quite as bad as I
thought it would be, but I really have no idea. I could have bombed it or done alright, and I won’t find out till Jan. 4th.
Wednesday morning I got up at 5am to go to the temple with Erin and Cami like we always do. We were the first ones there, so we were done in half an hour, record time for the Provo temple. I had decided to take physics in the late afternoon. It wasn’t a scheduled exam, so I could decide when I was ready to take it. I studied what Professor Turley recommended that we study
(the old exams and homework problems) all morning and half the afternoon
before I gathered up my courage to go take the test. This one wasn’t half as bad as I expected – the problems were taken almost directly from the material I had just studied with minor alterations. Although it took me 3 hours, I felt really good about it. It was such a
relief to have my 2 worst finals over with. After dinner I got together with some of the girls in freshman academy to study for our Book of Mormon final. My confidence began to wane a bit as I reviewed for the third time or so the massive packets we were given to study, but eventually I could barely keep my eyes open. Despite my thorough exhaustion I couldn’t sleep, which didn’t help matters much.
Early Thursday morning I did some more studying with Natalie before we went to take the final, which was scheduled for 11am. The stack of finals was alarmingly large. Professor Terry assured us it wouldn’t take us the whole three hours we were given to take the exam. With that comforting assurance we were allowed to begin. Much to my surprise I was one of the last to hand in the exam which had taken me only an hour to complete. Shaking Professor Terry’s hand, I left the classroom and felt my soul escape the bonds of anxiety and fly to taste sweet freedom.
Natalie had some Christmas shopping to do, so I accompanied her to several stores and looked for some gifts myself. That evening to celebrate, we watched a movie, built a snow man, made snow angels, and exchanged gifts a 3am. My roommates were so kind to me – I got an Aeropostale gift card, a gift card for a nice shoe store (it hadn’t come yet, so I can’t remember
which store it was for), a necklace with a mustard seed and an inscription about faith, and one of Erin’s beautiful warm hats.

Friday I walked my classes for next semester, stopped by the bookstore to get my German books to read on the plane, and a few other things. Erin drove her cousin and me to the airport. While I was waiting some random guy comes up and talks to me. Apparently he spent the last 1 1/2 years in rehab in Utah and was going home. He told me, among other things, I looked like a
good girl, but that I should never do drugs and alcohol like he did. Admittedly after over an hour of this it got slightly uncomfortable, so I was glad to escape.
On the plane I sat next to a freshman girl who also lived in Helaman halls and did a freshman academy program. What a coincidence, right? In LA my plane was delayed an hour because someone had apparently gotten sick all over. It took the crew an hour to clean everything up. Sadly, that one hour delay was just enough to make me miss my flight in Baltimore by about 5
minutes. The next flight that wasn't completely full was in four hours. I was so so so dead tired during that time; it seemed like one of the longest waits of my life. Finally I did get to Philadelphia and met my sister. My luggage had been misplaced somehow, so we had to go find it. Miraculously we were able to find it and go spend the rest of the day in
Longwood Gardens. I have no idea why I didn't fall over from exhaustion, but somehow I was okay. My bed was the softest thing in the world after the dorm beds, so I enjoyed that.

Anyway, I'm home now safe and sound,
Love and miss you all!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Margaret

Finals week is coming...

I think I'll try and keep this brief, since it is finals week and I'm really tired and stressed out.
Let's just stick to the highlights:
Monday we had the dance final which went alright, although not as well as I hoped. After some ballroom games we got to learn some new swing steps. Refreshments were provided, and everyone enjoyed my chocolate caramel brownies. It was kind of sad - the first of my classes that was over forever.
Wednesday was one of the most hectic days ever. It was the last day of German. After class I asked Professor Kelling if I could come up and talk to him quickly. The only time he could fit me into his schedule was 11:30, the same time as my voice lesson ended. Not seeing any other option I agreed. Leaving voice 5 minutes early I literally ran with a bulging back pack all the way across campus to the dorms, grabbed my stuff and ran all the way back. Lillian was waiting for me. Completely out of breath we stopped in the hall so Lillian could sign the card I had made. Plate of home made muffins and brownies in hand we knocked on Professor Kelling's door, sang "Stille Nacht" and gave him the baked goods with the card on top. The spirit of Christmas was almost palpable in the room as he accepted our gift and thanked us. I was so happy.
Wednesday afternoon Erin and I went dress shopping. Erin was looking for something for the Helaman halls winter invitational that was going to be Thursday. I came along and had fun trying on tons of dresses, but didn't find anything. Erin, on the other hand, found a blue dress with black polka dots that was absolutely adorable. Thursday evening came. I didn't have a date and wasn't going to go, but Erin persuaded me to come. I borrowed one of her dresses which I had to pin in the back, but it was still pretty. It wasn't to bad. The whole ceiling of the cannon center was covered in lights, there was a cookie frosting booth and a refreshment table with a huge chocolate fountain. We got in line for carriage rides, but they stopped just as it was our turn. We took some fun pictures, talked and danced.
The rest of my life right now has been studying since finals are this week. I CAN'T WAIT FOR FRIDAY TO COME AROUND WHEN FINALS WILL BE OVER AND I'LL BE FLYING HOME!! For those of you in Philadelphia, we've got to hang out soon when I come back!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Love,
Margaret

I CAN'T WAIT TILL CHRISTMAS!!

Hope you're doing well and having a great pre-Christmas season! Here's the weekly update:

Monday was one of the greatest days ever, even though it was a Monday. After German Professor Kelling came up to talk to me. He explained he was teaching 2 seminar courses next semester and wasn't going to take a German 330 section, but that the department had decided to add an extra section because the demand for the course was so high. He had agreed to take the additional German 330 section if he could have help. To my utter astonishment he asked me if I would like to be that help - and not just grading help. I would even be teaching some of the time!!!! I'm so excited! I accepted of course. This means I'll have an EXTREMELY busy schedule next semester, but I can't pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity! In math we got our tests back for the second time (they had to be regraded because the graders didn't grade them the same) and I got bumped up 15 points, a whole letter grade!! Later in dance class we learned the polka, which is hysterically fun. During dance I got to dance with our ward choir director and he asked if I would like to sing a solo for choir! I don't think I've ever had such a good Monday.

Tuesday we had our usual German study group, after which I went to take the exam. I felt really good about it, and hopefully I'll get it back tomorrow and find out for sure. In the evening I went to see the first half of Rachel's orchestra concert, which was amazing. Although I was barely on time I was able to meet Robyn, Granny and the kids and watch. It was simply beautiful, and I left uplifted and ready to conquer the mountain of homework that was waiting for me.

We got really lucky and the Physics exam got pushed back 2 days because the Professor hadn't been able to finish writing it in time. After physics Kelsey, Cami, Natalie and I went to ask Professor Turley some questions. While we were talking Natalie slipped on one of the stairs in the classroom, fell and started sobbing. She said her foot hurt really bad and she couldn't get up or stop crying. Professor Turley called the EMTs and Kelsey and I went to the vending machine to get some ice cream sandwiches to put on it (that's the closest thing to ice we could get to). The EMTs came, wrapped the foot in ice, and helped her down the stairs. Her brother came to pick her up and take her to the student health center while Kelsey, Cami and I carried her things and finished the physics lab that was due; we were all scared her foot was broken. Hours later I opened the door to find Natalie there on crutches with a foot brace. We wouldn't know for sure weather it was broken until the radiologist looked at the x-rays, but it probably wasn't. Turned out it was just a bad sprain, but they said it would take as long for it to heal as a break. It was really painful for her too.

Professor Turley said Natalie shouldn't worry about taking the exam yet if she couldn't. We were going to take the calculus test the next day though since Professor Speiser said if Natalie's foot wasn't broken or fractured she'd have to take it before Friday. Getting up to the testing center wasn't as bad as it could have been; Conner drove us up to campus, but even the fairly short walk from the car to the testing center was really painful. She got bruises on her hands from the crutches, despite her gloves. It was pouring rain when the test was over. Somehow she was able to hobble down to a street where her brother could pick her up. All I could do was try and encourage her, watching her struggle. We made it down somehow; she went to a piano concert with her family and I watched a movie with Cami before I started studying for physics which I was planning to take as soon as the testing center opened on Saturday morning.

I got that awful physics test done (finally), and then it was time to have fun. Our whole ward was getting in 2 huge buses to see temple square and the Joseph Smith movie in Salt Lake City. Erin was going to go to a concert afterwards with her parents, so she needed to take her own car. Chris and I decided to keep her company. The movie was great as always, and we took some fun pictures in the Joseph Smith building before we left.

Temple square is beautiful when it is covered in snow, and the spirit of Christmas was exuding from everything. We gazed at the life sized nativity scene, explored the conference center and tabernacle as far as we were able and walked around the temple itself. The beauty of it all was magnified twenty times when the lights turned on. My camera stayed out the rest of the time trying to capture the beauty of it all. Naturally it was insufficient, but I have some poor impressions that I can put up on the blog if you'd like. After narrowly avoiding getting stuck, we did get back safely with the bus. Back at the dorms Kelsey Cami and I made sugar cookies and watched a movie - so much good plain fun!

Anyway, finals are not this week but the next week, which I can hardly believe. Can't wait to see you all at Christmas (hopefully!!).
Love,
Margaret

Thanksgiving is amazing

Tuesday finally came, and the last class was over. Firmly resolved, I started on some homework that wouldn't be due in a while but that I wanted to get out of the way. Long term stuff like a couple of religion papers and German papers. After some good hard work I packed my few things and headed across campus. Lillian had told me she would meet me at the duck pond, and I had never been there before. Luckily I had no trouble finding it, and I think its become one of my favorite spots on campus. There was a thin layer of ice on the pond, which surprised me.

Lillian picked me up and we made some chocolate caramel brownies and watched Sissi, the movie about the Austrian Empress, in German. As if that wasn't enough, we decided to go with a few of Lillian's friends to see Bourne Ultimatum in the dollar theater. I loved handing the lady at the desk a dollar and getting a quarter and a ticket to a movie in return... it was great! Slightly dizzy from the shaky camera work in the movie and from sitting pretty close to the front, we squeezed back into the mini van and decided to watch another chick flick when we got home. In short, everything was pretty much amazing. The brownies with vanilla ice cream were absolutely superb! Finally after a long talk, we both fell asleep.

Wednesday morning came quickly but cheerfully with homemade French toast. After a final hug I walked back across campus so I could pack my bags and be ready for Aunt Robyn when she came to pick me up. I was just plain happy the whole way there, and Granny and my cousins Felicia, Nathaniel and Robert had lunch all ready when we arrived. You never learn to appreciate homemade food till you are deprived of it for a long period of time. Everything was delicious, but the sleepover was catching up to me. I got to take a nap, which was great. It probably went to long, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Spaghetti and meat balls with garlic bread for dinner - need I say more? Quite satisfied, Rachel and I practiced "For the Beauty of the Earth", the John Rutter version, which we were preparing to sing in church with Heather and her family. For some reason I was tired early, and retired to a warm cozy bed and a good book. I LOVE BREAKS!!!

My alarm woke me, and groaning slightly I put on some warm clothes and headed upstairs. Robyn, Rachel, Nathaniel, his scooter and I piled into the car. There was coldness. Earliness. Brightness. There were People. A very long straight road. Yes, before I knew it we had all started Draper UT's annual 5k race. There was a layer of ice on the water cups that were set up on tables on the side of the road, but soon it wasn't noticeable since we were running. All stages of life were represented. There were strollers with crying children, energetic five and six year olds, teens, young adults, and middle aged folks, even a few who were over the hill. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought, and I knew it would help me appreciate Thanksgiving dinner.

Dressed in Sunday best with slightly growling stomachs we all arrived at Danny and Esther's house (an older couple, good friends of Aunt Robyn's), arms laden with at least half the feast. What a feast it was! Turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, green bean casserole, corn, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and fresh homemade rolls. HOMEMADE EVERYTHING!!!(Can you tell I'm obsessed?)!!!!

The magnificent feast was followed by music (a sing-along of old Broadway favorites, a number by Rachel on her violin, and a short song from me), which was followed by the most intense game of PIG in the history of mankind. PIG is a lot like spoons, except you have pennies to grab instead of spoons. The pennies are in the middle of the table, and each person has 4 cards. At the dealers signal everyone takes a card and passes it in one direction to their neighbor. This continues until one person gets four of a kind; when they do they take a penny. As soon as the first penny is touched, everyone tries to get a penny. Sadly, there is always one person who doesn't get a penny. That poor penniless person gets a letter, first P then I then G. The second they're a PIG they're out and must be ignored by the other players. If the other players respond to them in any way they get a letter.

Certain I wouldn't last long (the only time I had played spoons before was at HE and I was out within the first round) I snatched my pennies and minded my own business. Players had to be ignored eventually. Before I knew it it was down to the old PIG champion Danny and little inexperienced me. Shaking with anticipation I played 4 rounds.... and by some miracle..... I tricked him....... and won the game. Toffee squares and cherry pie are good rewards for a game well played. Admittedly, I was a little sad there was no apple pie (that's my favorite), but everything was still delicious.

Beautiful smells accosted me as I entered the kitchen on Friday morning. Golden, HOMEMADE, WARM pancakes were just screaming to be eaten. Enthusiastically, I obliged. After a nice chat with my family at home, I set out to give Granny a quick tutorial on how to use the computer. It probably would have gone better if I hadn't been constantly interrupted by Nathanial's interjections, but in the end I was able to show her how to change the font, the font color, how to use the copy and paste functions and other useful things.

Black Friday = shopping day. Nathaniel persuaded his mom to let us go, so we went to Best Buy and Barnes and Nobles. Didn't really find anything, which is always a little depressing, but we had a wonderful dinner of Thanksgiving leftovers to make up for it. Rachel lent me one of her C.S. Lewis books to read, called "Till We Have Faces", which is pretty graphic, but extremely well written and just plain amazing literature.

Granny, Robyn, Rachel and I talked a lot about politics after dinner, and I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies. There is definitely an art to it. They must be just golden brown, soft and chewy. Constant regulation is necessary to obtain the pinnacle of perfection. They were enjoyed with some milk, especially by the children.

Laundry is one of those things that just never goes away. After putting in a few loads I packed my scattered belongings. Soon we all hustled into the car to go see a Christmas barbershop music concert. There was a huge barbershop choir, then a few quartets, one of which had placed 12th in the international barbershop competition (yes, there is such a thing). They were all good. As soon as we left the theater Nathaniel ran up to us and yelled "BYU WON! BYU WON!" Granny was so excited, still wiping tears from her eyes from the concert.

Hugs goodbye, then a long drive to Aunt Heather's house where we unloaded our laundry baskets and suitcases and rehearsed "For the Beauty of the Earth" with the pianist. I just love that song; I could feel its power seeping through the room, especially when I stood right next to the piano. After rehearsal we preformed it once for an older man who had come to visit from Heather's ward. Each of my cousins preformed a talent, and Rachel and I were persuaded to do likewise. To top it all off, there was a warm carrot cake with cinnamon syrup and vanilla ice cream waiting for us.

Sunday morning bright and early we went to church to sing one last time. The song went well, and now I'm back in the dorms, waiting for Monday to start....

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

Love,

Margaret

Thanksgiving is almost here!

Tuesday we had a devotional by President Monson, which I saw in person at the Marriott center, which I naturally enjoyed very much. Later in the day I went with Lillian to watch the movie Sophie Scholl. It was in German of course, and had me crying at the end. It was a touching, inspiring film about Sophie and her brother Hans, who are part of the resistance organization "the white rose" and get caught distributing anti-Nazism pamphlets at the university. They are sentenced to death, but are willing to die bravely for their country. I think so often we just see the horrible things that people in Germany have done, like Hitler and his devastation, and forget about the real heroes that arose as a result of his oppression. Although it was an excellent movie, it left me about 30 min. to finish my physics homework. Luckily Natalie helped me, and I was able to hand it in on time.
Wednesday morning Natalie and I got up at 5:00am to get ready to go to the temple. This is a new weekly thing that we're doing as a ward: 2 temple trips a week, one at 5:30am on Wednesday mornings, one on Thursday afternoons. It was freezing cold, so I was glad we were all able to fit in Erin's car. There were more people there than I expected, but we were able to get through in about an hours time. It was a great boost to my day to have the spirit of the temple in it, and I hope I will be able to keep it up as the semester goes on. Later I had an awesome voice lesson... my teacher thinks I'm really making progress, which is always a good thing. Around 7:15 Kelsey and I went to go see BYU's production of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (we got free tickets through Freshmen Academy). I had learned about the play in AP English last year, so when I saw it preformed it helped me pull everything together and appreciate it better. There is some amazing symbolism in the play, but it's rather depressing, not the best choice for when you're feeling down. It discusses the life of an artist and how it differs from the lives around it; I was able to draw some parallels to my German class because we've been discussing Goethe and other great German authors, and they had a lot of the same ideas that Chekhov portrays.
Thursday I was able to accomplish a lot homework wise, and then at 12pm I registered for classes for next semester. I still don't have everything I want/need to take on my schedule, but I hope if I check back often enough I'll be able to get in.
Friday was a relief. Erin, Carly (a friend of Erin's from home) and I went to see the Mr. Heritage competition in the evening which was very amusing. There was everything from ribbon dancing to fiddling, magic tricks and singing. We went to visit another friend of Erin's and Carly's who lives at Heritage, and finally we left, got a pizza, watched a movie and talked for a long time.
Saturday was amazing. First we had this video scavenger hunt floor date with another guys' floor. I had a camera with video capabilities, so I became one of the group leaders. We ran all around campus trying to complete all of the tasks within an hour. It involved being a PDA police, proposing to a complete stranger, a wheelbarrow race, singing "I'm a little Teapot" in the middle of Brigham square, starting a fight and other fun things like that. I have all of our videos on facebook if you're curious: http://hs.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=7321641018, some of them are quite hilarious. That evening I went with Kara and Johnathan Northrup and another friend of Kara's on a date to see the musical "Once on this Island". It was really well done, except for the fact that the main character gets turned into a tree at the end. The music and everything else was great, and so was the Costa Vida taco I had afterwards. To put the cherry on top I watched Star Wars VI with Kelsey and Cami before I went to bed.

Yep, that's pretty much my life right now, hope you're doing well and that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love,

Margaret

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....
 I'm still alive, which I consider quite an accomplishment for this
week... tis a tale of thrilling adventure, miracles and other such things,
so lend me your ears!
Monday was our last dance class before Dancesport, so we practiced a lot of
cha cha, but we also learned a little waltz which was fun. I talked to Jon
and we decided to meet Tuesday evening at the social dance club meeting to
practice for the competition. Tuesday evening after a Book of Mormon review
session with Cami, Kelsy and Natalie I headed up to the WSC to meet Jon.
Practice went pretty well, and we decided to meet one more time on Thursday
to practice. When I got back from practice I decided to do some more
studying just to make sure I really knew what I was doing. It was 1:30 am
when I finally shut my notebook on Tuesday night to get some sleep before
the ordeal.
 Wed morning was the BOM test...  I think it went alright; didn't go as
well as my last one though. After German I was talking to Lillian when I
realized that I had voice lessons and was already a few minutes late.
Panting I arrived and we had a nice lesson... my favorite piece right now is
"Romance"; the music is gorgeous (Debussy is pretty much the best composer
ever). After our usual two hour session of calculus I sat through an extra
hour of review by Dr. Speiser for the test. It wasn't particularly helpful,
but it could have been worse. That evening Erin persuaded me to take a
studying break to go see the Mr. Helaman Halls competition... it was amusing
to see some guys make idiots of themselves on stage and I had needed a
sanity break.
  Thursday right after Physics I met for a German study group in the
library. It was definitely a tender mercy of the Lord that our physics
homework wasn't due till Friday instead of the usual Thursday, because I
wouldn't have had time to do it. Johnathan asked if he could join Lillian
and I in our review session and we agreed. Well, he's a really fun guy but
he gets sidetracked a lot. It took us four hours to review 2 chapters, and
we didn't go into the usual depth that Lillian and I are accustomed.
Johnathan hasn't ever lived in Germany and doesn't have enough vocabulary to
understand everything in the text perfectly, although he can get the general
gist of it all, so we had to spend lots of time explaining what certain
words meant. I thought I was about to go crazy when I was done, but I had to
take the test right then so that I would be done it time to meet Jon at
7:30.
 Sadly, I'm pretty sure this test was the worst one so far for German,
probably because our review wasn't that great and I was kind of under stress
to get it done. Needless to say, the questions were much more particular
this time than they have been in the past, so all I can do now is hope and
pray. As soon as I left the testing center I power walked to the dorms (on
the opposite side of campus), grabbed a PBJ and left for the WSC. There
weren't any empty rooms for us to use, so we went to the basement of his
dorm to practice. It was trickier without music, but we still did pretty
well and I thought we would at least be able to make it past the first round
of the competition.
 Friday after German I had a good talk with Lillian, probably much longer
then it should have been, and we decided to get together on the Tuesday
before Thanksgiving break, have a sleepover and watch Sissi, my favorite
German movie of all time and high on my favorite movies in general list, and
lots of good things to eat and time to talk. I'm so excited!! Mentally
psyching myself I went to meet Natalie in the ESC (Eyring Science Center) to
work on physics with her. The problems were pretty tricky, but I think we
figured out the first two. Professor Turley saw us and stopped by to tell us
the homework wouldn't be due till Monday, another tender mercy because we
needed time to study for calculus.
 We sat there reviewing derivative formulas and all of the other formulas,
then at 2pm we went to the WSC to meet our TA Sara for a review session.
Well, she never showed up, so we studied on our own as best we could, went
to the math lab and asked some questions, then went to the testing center to
take the test. It really could have gone either way. I'm pretty sure I
completely messed up on one problem and the problems are worth 20 points
each. I'll get partial credit, but I'm not sure how much. Anyway, I was just
so relieved to get out of the testing center and be done with tests for a
little while. Sipping a cup of hot coco I watched a movie and went to bed.
 6:00am is early... I don't understand how I got up at 5am every morning
before. Trying to be as quiet as possible so I didn't wake Natalie up I put
on my red dress and a little make up, found my shoes and straightened my
hair, grabbed a cinnamon roll from the vending machine and headed up to
campus. No one is really around that early in the morning on Saturdays I've
discovered. Jon was a little late, apparently he heard his alarm then turned
it off and went back to sleep, only to wake up and see he had about 8
minutes to get ready. We practiced one last time. I found out that 250
couples were competing in the 180 cha cha competition, and started to worry.
We were near the end of the line - number 703. Finally after waiting in line
for what seemed like forever our heat took the floor.
 "Exude confidence and happiness" I reminded myself. We both smiled a lot
and danced and had fun. The judges would walk around writing things on their
clip boards. We made sure to do our best moves - cross body leads and the
chase for example. At the end, we both took a light bow and joined the crowd
of tightly packed people waiting for the results. The waiting was the worst
part. The sheet got put up. Jon, taller than almost everyone else in the
crowd read it. The magic words came: "We made it!!" I gave a little shriek
of joy and we got in line again. We danced a second time. Again we waited.
We made it to the next round. The shriek of joy was louder this time. After
the fourth call back I was ecstatic. Finally, we were dancing for the 6th
time There were about 50 other couples. If we made the cut, we would be in
the quarter finals. But we didn't. We were so close! I was pretty
disappointed. It had been our goal to make it to the quarter finals, but at
least we got really close and I had sooooo much fun in the process. It just
made me want to go and start practicing some more.
 It was probably a good thing we didn't make it to the quarter finals
though, because I had sooooo much homework to do. I worked from about 12
till 8:30pm, lots of German and some physics and calculus. Lauren, the girl
from across the hall, went with me to see the last parts of dancesport: the
Latin junior competition, a professionals showcase and the adult's final
competition with a mix of Latin and standard. Everyone was incredible, but
the junior competitors impressed me the most. They were kids about 10-12
years old, and I found their performance more compelling than the adults'.
The vibes of their dance radiated throughout the room. Every move was
precise, perfectly in rhythm, and beautiful. I could hardly take my eyes off
of them. I have a few short video clips of them that are pretty much
amazing.
Anyway, that would bring you up to date.
Miss and love you all so much, and thank you for your letters and support!
Margaret

Hello!!!!!!!!!
This has been a poor letter week, and I'm hoping this coming week will be
different, because I'm going to need some encouraging letters... I've got
three tests in three days and I'm pretty sure I'm going to die (figuratively
speaking!) with calculus, German and Book of Mormon to study for.
It was an okay week... Halloween was pretty fun. Tuesday evening we had a
ward social where all the Home Evening groups did lip sinks. I dressed in
brown and made myself a hershey kiss hat out of tin foil to complete my
costume. Erin, Chris, Kelsy and I went and got pizza afterwards which tasted
really good.
It was so cute to have the little trick-or-treaters come by our door to get
some candy... I miss kids! I didn't really like my chocolate costume, and
was inspired Wed. evening by one of the kid's costumes I saw in the cannon
center. I borrowed some white jeans and a white downy jacket from Natalie
and put my hair into two side buns to achieve the Princess Leah look. The
Halloween social dance lab was okay (I didn't get to dance much), but the
team's performances completely made up for that. The dances were
indescribably fascinating.
Thursday in the physics lab I was with Natalie, Kelsy and Weston submitting
physics homework and I happened to look across the room. Sitting at a table
not to far away was someone I could have sworn looked just like an Elder
from Wuppertal. After a few more seconds of staring at him his name popped
into my head: Elder De Francis. I wasn't completely sure, but knew it was
either him or his brother or something. He caught my eye, and as he was
leaving I mouthed "I know you". He smiled, nodded and  came over to talk to
me. It was so cool to see this face from the past... now I know him as Zack.
The weekend was surprisingly quiet, the highlight was a girls trip (Natalie,
Erin and I) to Fudruckers on Saturday evening for some of their amazing
burgers. I enjoyed my chocolate shake thoroughly.
Well, that's all from my side, can't wait to hear from you all!!
Love,
Margaret

PICTURES

After the date w/Rory

Mission Reunion - Brother and Sis. Stewart

Erin

Laura Coalwell

PHYSICS EXAM

Hello Everyone!

This has been a very very busy week (as always). It started off very nicely on Monday... after my last class was over (7pm), the Miller family (Uncle Brett and Aunt Heather and cousins) came to pick me up for a family home evening lesson and some homemade food. It was pretty cold outside, so we just drove down to the RB (Richards Building - where all the sports have practices and stuff), pulled some benches together in a deserted hall and had a wonderful lesson about Paul and his teachings about trials of our faith.

Tuesday was review day in physics... I was getting really nervous and felt pretty unprepared for the exam that we were reviewing for (not a normal feeling for me before a test). Wednesday afforded no chances to study (it's one of the busiest days in my week), and calculus was especially torturous as always. Thursday I committed to study for physics all day... what a bleak prospect! The Lord knew I needed a little reassurance and I did get a little sunshine in my day! My German professor emailed me, congratulated me on participating so well in his class and being prepared, and finally on my exam - according to him I had written by far the best exam of the class! I got up and screamed for joy!!! I could do college! I would survive, no matter what happened in physics or calculus. If things got really bad, I'd just major in German and have fun (which I have been seriously considering by the way).

FRIDAY came. Exam day. Surprisingly, I wasn't too nervous... it didn't really matter if I failed, all I had to do was my best. Tender mercy of the Lord: the test was easier than I expected, and although I'm sure didn't get 100, I didn't fail (I find out sometime this week). Friday evening to celebrate, Erin and I went to play volleyball and some football (2 hand touch) which was really fun.

Saturday I woke up early to go to a study group for Book of Mormon (I have an exam coming up this week for that), and I'm a little nervous because there are sooooooo many things to remember. Right after that I listened to 30 min. of Handel's Water Music for German, came back to the dorms and started to write my paper about it. Erin and I went to lunch, then got ready to go to World of Dance. It was pretty much absolutely amazing. The cougarettes, the ballroom dancers, the theater ballet, the stompers, the cloggers... everything!! All of these people moving in perfect unison in brilliant costumes with awesome music... it was inspirational. I came back and continued work on my music paper for German, but within a few minutes it was time to leave for the Relief Society broadcast in the Merriot center. Erin was so kind as to drive us all up... it was a freezing cold wet night... the mountains were covered in snow. When we got back I did homework till midnight, and I still have some things to do for Monday (I made significant progress though!).

Today in like 15 min. I'm going to a Relief Society training meeting... always something going on!!!!!!

Love you all and love to hear from you!!

Margaret

Last Week's letter

Hello Everyone!
I've survived another week... I think every week that I do survive is a major accomplishment. Still got little scraps of my cold hanging on, but luckily I've gotten rid of most of it. The week has been pretty uneventful, except for the fact that I took my first exam (German) in the testing center. There were 12 essay questions to answer and I spent 3 1/2 hrs writing for all I was worth. By the end my hand was aching and I had about 6 pages single spaced double sided to hand in. I felt good about it. I knew what to say for every question, although I know I probably forgot to write some things.

Later that day I also went to see the Homecoming Spectacular, which definitely lived up to its name. The ballroom dance team preformed, as well as the young ambassadors (the theatrical group), the living legends, the symphony from Temple Square and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was just what my spirit needed to recover from that grueling test!!

Today I was called to be the Relief Society chorister... I went to a stake meeting at 7:45am to learn about it.

Next week survival is going to be tough - I've got my first Physics exam, and I don't feel ready at all. Pray for me please!

Love you all, can't wait to hear from you!
Margaret

Hanging on the edge

Hello!
Yeah, I'm still alive. College is tough. Still floundering in calculus, although I think it might be getting a little better. German isn't going to be as easy as I thought, that's for sure. I spent at least 3 hours yesterday listening to German music, writing a report about it, answering at least 20 end of chapter questions, and the fun actually begins this week: an additional two page paper three times a week! AHHHHH!

New adventure of the week: finding voice lessons. I have 10 min in between classes, and I had no idea where I was supposed to go. As soon as German was over I was ready to rush out the door when one of the guys in the class asked me when I had been in Wupertal. Turns out he served in Wuppertal just after we left. Didn't really have time to discuss it, I had to find voice lessons.
I power walked across campus, got lost somehow, asked directions, and finally found the KMB. I walked in the first door I came to (I was definitely late) and was greeted by complete and utter silence. Taking out my schedule I reconfirmed that I was supposed to be in the KMB, and saw I had written room number 34. Looking up I saw the number on the door next to me: 329. Worried I had written the number down wrong or something I walked all around the building. Everything was empty. I started trying random doors, and everything was locked. Nothing was stirring. Desperate, I said a silent prayer, then called as loud as I dared "Hello? Is anyone here?" No answer. I felt like such a freshman and continued to try doors, hoping the noise would bring someone to my aid. Just as I was about to give up a door opened, and an old man walked out. "Sir, could you help me please? I'm lost." I blurted out. He chuckled. "Yes, I bet you are. What are you trying to find?" After a quick explanation from me, he chuckled again and explained that the building was divided into 2 halves, and that you couldn't get from one half to the other half without going outside. A few directions later I walked out the door and found the other door he described. I found room 34 too, except it was locked. The door next to it was open, so I decided to go ask for help there. I had to wait another 5 minutes as the lady at the desk finished her conversation with a young man, then finally I was able to tell my story. The secretary smiled, and took me to a different room where I finally found my voice teacher. She's really nice - even though I was 20 min. late she offered to do the whole 1/2 hr anyway since she didn't have anyone after me.

Thursday morning I woke up with a soar throat and a stuffy nose. I'm pretty sure I got it from Natalie... I'm really glad I got it after voice lessons at least.

Friday I went shopping with Erin (the girl who lives next door and shares a bathroom with Natalie and I), got some school supplies, a music book for voice, some soar throat/cough drops, some salt for a salt water gargle and such. That evening we had our first ward social: an 80's / Hawaiian night (don't ask me how they came up with that combination). The food was excellent. The turn out for the girls was definitely better than for the guys. We were each introduced to our family home evening groups, then the music got turned on. The dance wasn't long, but it was fun. I was exhausted, my throat felt a little better though since I had been sucking on those drops, so I went to bed.

Saturday I studied all day. At 11:30 pm I decided it was time for a break, so I went outside with Erin and she taught me how to throw a football. It was fun... I'm definitely going to need some practice, but for a first try it was pretty good I think. Afterwards we watched Swan Princess (such a cute movie) and crashed for a couple of hours...

That would bring you up to date. I'm still kind of sick... my voice is really croaky and my nose is kind of stuffy. Sorry I haven't really been taking many pictures, I'll try to do better next time so they can be on the blog.
CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR FROM Y'ALL!!

1st week of school - BYU

Dear Everyone,
This has been a challenging week - classes have started and it's intense. Some of my biggest challenges: my last math class was pre-calc, and 95% of the other people in my class have taken calculus, most of them AP calculus, before. I didn't really get anything that was happening during the lesson, but sat down with the TA and sort of figured it out afterwards (I think). The concepts in physics aren't new yet, but we're using some calculus equations that I don't understand. Both calculus and physics are a lot of reading, and you really have to understand the material on your own. My favorite professors so far are my physics and German professors. German isn't to bad yet, but beginning next week I'll be writing a 2 page paper 3 times a week, in addition to a chapter of reading. Once a month or so I have a music report that I have to do - I'm supposed to pick a piece that is at least 30 min. long, listen to it and write a 1-2 page report on it. I'm enjoying my Religion class, again a really good professor, and student development isn't too bad (I've only been there once and we took a personality test to see what our learning style is). I ended up dropping one of my ballroom dance classes (it was just a little much). Voice lessons will start on Wed.
I was glad for the weekend - Friday I went to the temple with Rachel (my cousin), then went to a dance later on. Saturday I studied most of the day, watched 1/2 of a BYU football game, studied a little more, then played 3 hours of volleyball.
Today my room mate Natalie was sustained as relief society president and was at church for most of the day. She's a little overwhelmed. After she got back we went straight to a fireside at the Marriot center... and that would just about bring you all up to date.
I'd luv to hear from y'all!
Margaret

1st few days at BYU

Hello people that I know...
I'm here at BYU (second day on campus), the place of my dreams, sitting and my desk, and I'm thoroughly exhausted already. Yes, there is a reason for this... my first day here I was awake for a full 24 hours. I got up at 4am to leave for the airport by five with my parents. When we finally got here we went to Granny's house for a delicious bowel of lentle soup and a few slices of apple bread, then drove down to campus to set up camp. ID was first on my list of to dos, I met a girl from Hawaii while I was waiting to get my picture taken, then we went to find my dorm. While exiting the cannon center (the closest cafeteria to the dorms) I saw a girl who looked very familiar. I stopped to stare at her for a second, then ran to hug her. It was my room mate Nathalie and two of her friends: Jamie and Shannon.


They went down to get their student sport passes, I went with my parents to unpack my 3 suitcases and get settled. Anyway, after stuff got spread around my parents left and I spent the evening with Nathalie and her friends, and a bunch of other random people who joined us as we played ultimate frisbee on the lawn outside the cannon center. When the sprinklers came on we all ran through them (I decided not to get completely soaked, unlike some others), and tried to make "water angles" by laying on the dry pavement to leave a mark. Long story short, didn't get to bed till 1:30am UT time, which is even later PA time.
Today was orientation... the first meeting in the merriot center was cool... I saw the other 5000 students in my class all assembled at once and we had the university president speak and stuff. The cougar band and cougarettes did a little show to welcome us (reminded me of a high school pep rally on a very large scale). We did the cougar walk in the BLAZING sunshine, which didn't help me and made me quite sure I will never find my way around campus it's so big. I hope the rest of the 30,000 students going here will be able to tell me where I'm going. Went to a presentation about the honors program, then crashed for an hour and a half... now I'm heading to the tradition of honor presentation, so we'll see how that goes...
I've met at least 50 people in 2 days (at least it seems like that), and they're all really nice so far!!
I REALLY WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL!! PLEASE SEND FEEDBACK/NEWS of your own!!
Got to move!
Margaret

Hawk Mountain #4

Friday had come: the day of the plays, perhaps the day of doom. Surprisingly, I was less stressed about the play than I had been before… I couldn’t fix much in this last run through; I had done all I could and now it was up to them. Most of the actors consented to put on their costumes (with one or two exceptions), which was a good sign. Sadly, the rehearsal was one of the worst ones I had ever seen. It seemed like the little kids had all taken an overdose of silly pills for breakfast and the older ones weren’t putting their heart into acting at all. The play dragged on into what seemed like infinity...

Concentrating on forgetting our horrible dress rehearsal, I enjoyed a light lunch and settled down with my cousins to watch our parent’s production of “Marry Poppins.” It was staged in the common room; at scene change my mom (in her constable guise) would come out, announce the next scene and its location, adding a basket of flowers to the table to represent outside, or a sign to represent the bank, or taking both away to give the audience a peek into the Banks family’s home.

A great success – Aunt Albertina’s laugh was absolutely hysterical, as was the constable’s kind English drawl and Katie Nanna’s clipped accents.

George Banks proved to be the picture of an Englishman with his stern orders and stiff manner, his dulcet wife Winnefred at his side (a secret supporter of women’s rights).

Bert (who also played the old Banker) was full of fun, Jane and Michael presented lively childish children, and then of course Mary Poppins: practical, firm, kind and respectable.

As soon as bows had been made, all of my actors decided it was time for a dip. Warning them they would have to get out in ½ an hour I busied myself gathering props and making a master script for the narrator, whose job it was to be sure everything was on stage before the scene began. With much grumbling and annoyance the cast left their wet cool amusement and began to dry off and dress for the play. The audience gathered, and all of the actors were confined to the porch room unless they were required onstage. As director of the play, I introduced the play (Ella Enchanted), then the cast, and blabbed a little about what they were about to see.

For those who are not familiar with the story, I will summarize: the book is a children’s novel based on the Cinderella story but with an odd twist: when Ella (Cinderella) is born she is given a “gift” by the fairy Lucinda: the gift of obedience.

Whenever she is given an order, she must obey it, even if it means hopping on one foot all day or killing someone.

Ella’s mother dies, and her Father remarries;

Dame Olga and her Daughters Hattie and Olive find out about Ella’s “gift” and use it to drive her into submission, working her to the bone and preventing her from seeing her childhood friend Prince Charmont.

When the prince writes her, asking her to marry him, she must refuse, because in marrying him she would put him and the entire country in jeopardy. The Prince’s parents decide it is time for their son to marry, so they hold a ball inviting all the maidens in the land to come and meet the prince.

Ella goes to the ball, disguised with a mask, to say a silent goodbye to her prince; her resolution to remain unnoticed gives way and she dances with Char, who does not recognize her. Hattie, jealous of the attention that Ella is receiving, contrives to pull off her mask, exposing her to the prince. “Marry me Ella” is his plea (an order), which becomes the spark that sets off an inner battle in Ella who finally manages to break the curse. She marries the prince and they live happily ever after.

Well, it was a lot shorter than I thought it would be (I based my guesses off of the rehearsal time) which wasn’t a bad thing at all. Everything went smoothly, and you could even hear the little kids!! We had some wonderful acting!! It was great!

The older cousins discussed the plays, then we went for a quick game of volleyball before dinner. After dinner we were surprised by the Moulder family who came to visit again, this time with 2 luscious chocolate cakes. Let me just remind you, it was Friday evening, and the premiere night for High School Musical 2. Most of us gathered in the screen porch to watch it (I can’t believe I actually did this). My verdict: very weak, but better than the first one. The only disturbance during the movie was a bat flying around the ceiling… after initial screams we just ignored it. For some reason, the parents thought it was too late for night games, so Rachel and I talked for hours instead.

Sunshine on Sat. morning… flurry of packing, pictures, and a video survey of favorite parts of the family reunion. The cars were packed, the keys were found (one at the bottom of the trash can) and returned, and our journey home began. Only 1 ½ weeks left at home, then the REAL adventure would begin…

Blog Title

Hello Everyone!! I hope you have all seen my blog (comments are extremely welcome), and I want advice from you all: What should I call it? Story of My Life is plain and boring... please send me suggestions!!!!

Hawk Mountain #3

Sitting in the saddle I felt Tucker shift slightly beneath me… I thought back to all the horse books I had read at the age of ten, and tried to sit up straight keeping my heels pointed outward. Golden sunlight caressed us softly as we all trailed after our guide, crossing the road and nudging our horses forward to meet the first hill. My first concern became the simple task of keeping Tucker on the move. The second my attentions wandered, Tucker’s head would reach down to snatch a mouthful of tasty grass. The trick is to pull their heads back up before they get that first taste, because once they’ve had it on their tongues it is much harder to pull them back up and persuade them to continue. This meant I was constantly jerking the reigns upwards. My second concern was to avoid groundhog holes pointed out to us by our guide; although sparse, they presented a viable hazard to both horse and rider.
Despite Tucker’s determination to eat, I glimpsed a Hawk (significant on Hawk Mountain) and wondered at a mother deer with her two fawns as they stared fixedly in our direction. As we closed in, the family bolted, one fawn with its mother, and one in the opposite direction. We were very close – within ten feet or so of the lone fawn which was obviously frantic to return to its mother. Our guide brought us to a complete stop, allowing the fawn to dart directly in front of her horse and into the brush to rejoin its sibling and parent. Leaning back slightly we finished going down the first hill, and began to climb the next one which was covered in queens lace. “When we get to the rock at the top, we’ll take a break” our guide informed us. At the crest of the hill and the aforementioned rock, I knew this was what we had come for. The curving contours of the land touched and melted into the darkening sky; a quiet hush of peace was blowing on the breeze that gently shook the trees and whispered through each waving stalk of grain and grass. Promptly I reached for my camera, even though I felt it would be impossible to capture the real beauty of the place.


A few snapshots later we began our decent down the hill towards the Harry Potter woods. When I talked to my cousins after the ride I found out why it was called the Harry Potter woods: aside from the fact that the forest has many tall old trees in it, the farm had 2 visitors come from NY one year. The lady was clothed in the latest fashion with long painted fingernails and lots of makeup; she was accompanied by her boyfriend, who resembled her in the fact that his dress did not indicate he was going to visit a farm to ride a horse. Halfway through the forest, the lady stopped her horse dead, and refusing to move any further she claimed: “That tree just reached out to touch me.” The guide hastened to assure her that this was impossible, but she was immediately backed up by her boyfriend: “No, if she says she saw a tree reach out to touch her, then it really did happen.” How they actually did reach the end of the trail I don’t know, but ever since the forest became the Harry Potter woods.
The trail was extremely narrow and steep, and the light was dim. I leaned backwards as far as I could to make the decent easier on Tucker. Once or twice Tucker broke into a trot, which I thoroughly enjoyed. All to soon the trees thinned and we broke out onto a meadow. The path was lined with bushes that the horses thought were absolutely delicious. In passing they would chomp down on a stem of the bush and pull on it till it broke, allowing them to enjoy it without interference. All to soon the farm came into sight and we were crossing the road and dismounting our steeds. Back at the B&B we munched oreos dipped in milk and discussed our adventures with the others.


It was growing dark outside, but I was desperate to fit another play practice in. Clearing the stage and calling the cousins I assumed my chair at the foot of the stage to direct and criticize. Well, the run through was complete but not particularly satisfactory. The scene changes took ages, and lines were a problem still for some of the children. The other two major issues were volume and never turning your back to the audience. For the last half of the play we used our only flashlight to dimly illuminate the stage.
When practice was over, I joined in the night games; mission impossible was a universal favorite. I never got caught, but I never won either. The person who was “it” counted to 10 while we all rushed to touch some of the bases and hide. At the end of 10 the counter opened their eyes and named people they saw and their hiding place, which meant they were out and had to wait until the next round to play again. When the person who was “it” had named everyone they could see, the counting would begin again and we would all race to touch some more of the specified bases. Often I was sprawled on the ground because I would either slip on the dewy grass or throw myself down to avoid detection. As soon as you had touched all the bases you had to touch the person who was it to win (all of this without being detected). All to soon Mom came out and told us to come inside… it was apparently “getting late”…
As it is now... I'm headed to a goodbye party for myself...
Love you all, PLEASE WRITE TO ME!!!
Margaret

Hawk Mountain 2

Tuesday morning dawned, adventure was in the air, and so was the lovely aroma of pancakes and bacon. Dishes were washed, cars were packed, and we all zoomed down the road to visit the graves of my grandfather and his family. Instinctively upon arrival we all bent down to clear the graves of 4 years worth of weeds, allowing the day- and tiger lilies that were planted there room to grow. Granny told us about our great-great-grandmother Edna Pearl Murphy, who married Charles Love only after he had signed the pledge never to drink alcohol again. When Edna was pregnant with her third child she found that Charles had been drinking again, and she sent him away, telling him never to come back. He died a few years later, alone in Al Paso, TX.

Returning to the cars I encouraged everyone to study their scripts; when we finally set off I helped the children in my car to do that very thing… it seemed the younger they were, the more enthusiastic they were about rehearsing their lines. It was definitely lunch time when we got to the Amazing Maize Maze, and after a long debate about lunch we decided to grab a snack at the farm before we became hopelessly lost for hours. I thoroughly took advantage of the free popcorn and fudge samples first… the fudge was especially good – peanut butter explosion is like eating a solidified sweet dream.

Uncle Eric divided us into teams; Mari, Rachel, Ellie and I were grouped together, then we had a seniors group, a little kids group, and 2 other teenage groups. The maze was cut for a wild west theme – a cowboy on a horse with a cactus and stuff. After the usual debriefing, each team selected a flag. The one with the scarecrow and pumpkins spoke to me. Stamping the time on our empty map, we began our search for the 12 mailboxes that would provide us with pieces to our map and finally lead us out of the maze. At first, instinct must be your guide and luck must be on your side until you stumble upon a few mailboxes. When a few pieces are in place, you need a good map reader to help you find a route to the rest of the missing map pieces. Our team was quite blessed in this respect – Mari proved to be an excellent map reader; I was a part-time flag holder along with Rachel, and Ellie was the water carrier. We’d bump into the other teams all the time, which was always annoying.

Just as we only had about 3 pieces to go, an announcement was made: Daniel’s team had found the exit to the maze and were going in to find the rest of the pieces. To our dismay, the only way to find the rest of the puzzle pieces was to walk halfway around the maze. Mari drew out our intended course and we set off at a brisk pace. It was extremely hot and humid, the scant shade provided by the tall stalks of corn was far from sufficient to shield us from the blaze. We found the last mailbox, then were forced to navigate back to the other side of the maze to find the exit, which wasn’t as easy as we had hoped… the last puzzle piece was at the exit gate, so it was all guesswork as to where the exit could be. After several failed attempts we did reach the exit, coming in second place with 2hrs 15min. The boys had finished an hour before us and hadn’t even bothered to announce it. The petting zoo, tube slide, cart racing, slingshot range and trampoline provided amusement while we waited for the others. The senior group had gotten to the exit at about the same time as we had, but without completing the entire map, and the kids group followed about ½ hour after that, leaving one teen group still in the maze. A long time and several announcements later, the last group triumphantly left the maze with a completed map.

Well, with all that hunting and wandering, everyone had worked up an appetite. The Shady Maple smorgasbord sounded like just the thing. My favorite part of that was the dessert – ice cream with a million mouthwatering toppings to choose from… by the time I dropped into bed I was already half asleep.

Wednesday was more like a real vacation day… we had the option of going to Leesport auction, or just hanging out at the B&B. I chose to stay because I hoped to get a play practice in, but some of the kids went to the auction and I didn’t have the heart to do anything with only ½ a cast. Costumes took priority, and Rachel, Laura, Cara (my assistant director) and I sorted through the 3 large costume bags to figure out who would be wearing what. Felicia and Sarah immediately tried on their costumes and every other female costume we had set out, eagerly anticipating a dress rehearsal. I spent the rest of the good old day being lazy… lying in the hammock, sketching, talking… doing things I don’t always take time for. Finally the Leesport crew came back and we had our first full run through for the play. Man, it’s hard to keep 17 children within earshot but quiet enough to hear the actors onstage (the stage was a deck coming right off of the side of the pool). Often the actors would come onstage sopping wet from the pool, and push each other into the water before, during, and after their scene was done, regardless if their fellow actors were wearing swimming suits or not.

Thursday was a day of agency…we were allowed to choose from a variety of activities: laser tag, horseback riding, crystal cave or Kempton railroad. Well, there was certainly no question in my mind what I wanted to do… I hadn’t been on the back of a horse for at least 7 years, and I love riding horses. The ride was scheduled for 7pm so we could go up the mountain and watch the sun set. Incredibly I managed to fit a play practice in between all of these activates; didn’t go much better than the first one and I was slowly despairing of the play ever coming together… Daniel backed out several times and made me pretty mad in the process. Most of my day was again spent on talking, enjoying the cool pool water and my beautiful surroundings.

I got into the drivers seat and glanced at the 6 other eager girls in the back. Following my Dad I navigated the back country roads, hoping I wasn’t speeding to much in order to keep up with him. Kindred Spirits Farm came into view, and we were directed to the stables. Nine horses stood tied to the wall, lipping the last few kernels of grain in their buckets, shifting their weight and looking at us. Release papers were signed and helmets donned. One of our 2 guides gave us a quick review on how to mount and manage the horses: left foot up in the stirrup, right hand on the back of the saddle, left hand on the horn. To start, kick the horse in the stomach (most of them were over 20 and therefore dead sided); to stop pull the reigns towards your sternum. To prevent them from stopping to eat grass, give the reigns a quick jerk upwards, otherwise, hold them lose on the horse’s neck. Lastly, we all assumed new names: Mari became Sundance, I became Tucker, Laura became Jessie, Felecia became Mist, Sarah became Skip, Cara became Scout, and Rachel was dubbed Lace.

Hawk Mountain Reunion #1

Okay, so I’ve been kinda silent since Germany. My lame excuse for that is that I’ve not had anything reporting yet. Now this is no longer the case: I just came back from our weeklong Ebeling-Miller-Lee Family reunion on Hawk Mountain here in PA. It was wonderful, of course, but let me start at the beginning…

We all arrived, a few hours later than we had planned, at the beautiful bed and breakfast on Hawk Mountain. First thing (after hugs all around) was to unload the cars… I’m surprised they didn’t overturn considering all of the luggage we had stuffed into the trucks and piled into the car top carrier. Not only had we brought food for a couple of meals, cloths for a week and sports gear for free time, we also lugged half of our kitchen pots, pans, dishes and utensils along with us (although it was a bed and breakfast we didn’t ask for the meal service… meals were all up to us). Luckily, many hands made light work as all 26 of us (minus Andrew the baby who can’t walk yet) made several trips to the common room/kitchen. I found the facilities all to my liking; although there were only 2 burners in the kitchen and no oven, there was a large pool out back with a hammock, lawn chairs and pool toys which more than compensated for that small inconvenience. To add to its virtues, each of the 8 bedrooms were equipped with a private bathroom and a TV. Best of all, I didn’t have to sleep on the floor (which is generally the case in our family reunions); I got to share a bed with Rachel while only 10 of my younger cousins and siblings slept on the floor.

The initial excitement of exploration began to wear off, and it was time to conduct the opening ceremonies. First we had two birthday girls to recognize: Granny and Ellie. After a lusty Happy Birthday song, the winner of the writing contest was announced and awarded a lovely writing kit. Dad read his poem (a late entry and therefore not a candidate for the prize) to help inspire us to really live the theme in the coming reunion: “Rise Above It!”, and tee-shirts sporting 2 giraffes (of Granny’s design – she won the tee-shirt contest) and a “Rise Above It – Ebeling Family Reunion 2007 – Hawk Mountain” logo were distributed. The schedule was explained (wakeup time = 7:30am, followed by scripture study, with another devotional in the evening) with emphasis on the next day. Finally, we were released to relax and enjoy ourselves for the rest of the evening. Some of my braver relatives jumped into the freezing pool, but I was quite comfortable to sit at the poolside and snap pictures of their valor.

Aunt Heather and Uncle Brett put together a luscious “Tex-Mex” salad with beans, chicken, lettuce and spicy Ranch dressing which was quite good. Uncle Eric invited us to all come stargazing since it would be a very good night for it (low humidity, no moon, no clouds plus a meteor shower), so we all grabbed some sweaters, tarps and blankets, piled in the car and drove off to find a field. I was a little apprehensive when my Dad turned into a random field, and I probably had a right to be… Dad said he went to talk to the farmers just as they were getting in a truck to come down and kick us out. When they heard we just wanted to watch the stars, they said we could use the field as long as we didn’t step on the alfalfa that was growing there. Skirting the crunchy plants we made our way up the hill, spread our tarps on the ground and lay gazing at the sky. I prepared myself to be disappointed; I’m not usually lucky enough to glimpse those magic moments of light streaking across the deep blackness of the sky. Gasps, oooo’s and awww’s penetrated the darkness, and I consoled Felecia when we both missed some of the evanescent marvels. Surprisingly, luck was with me and I witnessed 7 falling stars. Just as we were all getting ready to leave we saw the best star of the night – a trail of fire ripping through the veil of night, which then disappeared as all magic must. Back in my cozy room at the B&B I had decided to wait up for Rachel my cousin who was coming after her performance in Upper Darby (she was to arrive at about midnight), but alack, at 12 she was not there, and my weary eyes closed.

Sunday morning dawned, and my brother was up bright and early (about 7:30am) to greet it. Keeping my eyes open at a bare minimum I noticed Rachel had joined me in the night. When it couldn’t be put off any longer I struggled out of bed and dressed for church. Cereal stilled my growling stomach, but during breakfast I learned of some startling accidents that had happened while I was in my blissful state of unconscious sleep. Aunt Rene’ had twisted her ankle badly as she was coming down the stairs and was now hardly able to walk. Heather had fallen down 3 stairs and had toes that were quite black and blue as well. Uncle Eric went into town for a bandage and some pain medicine; when the owner of the B&B heard of our plight he offered to lend us a pair of crutches he had in his attic. Rene’ gladly accepted, Heather was luckily still able to walk. When everyone had breakfasted and everyone was sufficiently mobile, the family (all 26 of us) assembled for a picture. This is quite a long and often painful process, so I will spare you all the details and say that, although it was extremely long and trying I believe we took a few good pictures that are worth keeping…

Hours later than planned (the actual wake-up time was scheduled to be at 7:30am and it was more like 9am) we had a light lunch, then got into the cars to go to church. Quite innocently I decided to go with Rachel in my Uncle Eric’s car. As soon as all the other cars were out of sight, my Uncle manned the wheel, and went in exactly the opposite direction as the other cars. “Bobbies, your grandfather, always used to do it this way” he explained. “He would use the back country roads to get wherever he wanted; as long as he knew the general direction of where he wanted to go, he was always able to get us there.” It made for a rather interesting trip to church. Uncle Eric would see a road, and say “this looks promising” which meant we would take it and find out. When we were lucky he said “that looks tempting,” which meant he would merely slow down a bit to consider the street before moving on. The scenic route was windy, and poor Mari began to feel sick. Time was ticking on, and when we hit a dead end, Aunt Rene’ began to voice some of her concerns. Uncle Eric simply asked us all for a little more faith. True to his word we arrived at church, although much later than the other cars and only seconds before the meeting began.

Admittedly, I was extremely tired and had trouble staying awake during each meeting. By the time the meetings were over and the building was mostly empty it was almost dinner time. Lasagnas were put into the ovens in the church kitchen, and the Ebeling Family Talent Show began. I sang a duet with Dad called “Children Blessed of the Lord” which turned out to be a disaster… we didn’t have a live accompanist, and although I had recorded our accompanist on a CD she played faster than she normally does which Dad and I weren’t ready for. We had some singers, some pianists, a violinist, an organist, a gymnast and a Tai-Kwon-Doist and by that time the glorious smell of lasagna was wafting through the building. With all possible speed tables were erected, chairs were gathered round, and lasagna was served with salad and fresh warm garlic bread. Thorough cleanup ensued, and we went back to the relief society room where we all sang along to some of Granny’s favorite old songs like “Somewhere over the rainbow” and “Climb Every Mountain” with Rachel doing an excellent job on the piano.

Well, whether by fate or coincidence I know not, but I ended up in Uncle Eric’s car again. This time, the scenic roads were robed in darkness. The glowing lights from the B&B appeared as beacons of hope. Apprehensively I went straight to the common room and asked if there were any brownies left over (I knew everyone had been home long before us and was worried they would all be gone), but luckily there were plenty left, and we all had a good share that we enjoyed with some fresh milk. Just the thing to make me slip right off to sleep… (it’s not true that chocolate gives you nightmares).

Monday proved to be an easy day – happily wakeup time was never strictly enforced, and I was usually able to sleep till about 8:30 or 9am, with the small disturbance of my brother John who would always get up at 7am. The day was hot, but I was the director of a play and knew we had to use the day for play practice. Zero motivation from the kids, who hadn’t really learned their lines yet anyway, so we only got through half of it. The pool was extremely cool and inviting, and the older cousins had some intense water battles over the 2 rafts – much fun for everyone. Towards the middle of the day the older girls drifted on the rafts or lay basking in the warm sun, talking or sleeping.

With the early evening came some visitors: representatives of the Molder family (the matron of the home with 2 of her sons, aged 11 and 19) came to call with some chocolate chip cookies. The boys were good additions to our volley ball team, and we enjoyed playing with a stable net, the one drawback to the location being that if the ball was hit too hard it fell into a creek and had to be fished out. Dad had a fire going and the kitchen helpers were called in to help make the stew. Volleyball continued as each Dutch oven full of potatoes, carrots, beef and broth was carefully covered with coals and allowed to cook.

After a wonderful dinner we were allowed to carry on a longstanding Ebeling family reunion tradition: the roasting of marshmallows and the creation of s’mores. For our family home evening we watched slide shows of family pictures and pictures from past reunions – really interesting to see how we’ve all changed.

Alright, more tomorrow, really tired now, to all good night!!

Love,

Margaret