Christmas Extravaganza!

So if you know me at all you know that I LOVE Christmas! This leads me to do insane things like suggest that we have a semi-formal brother/sister dorm Christmas party. Now you may be saying that this sounds reasonable for the season, which you would be right, the insane part is that I decided to put myself, and Leah, in charge of food and decorating for 150 people. Mind you that I am a full time student and serve as an RA on top of this and perhaps you can see why this was not such a great plan.

My mom actually helped me bake over Thanksgiving break. We made banana bread, and pumpkin bread, as well as gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, and chocolate peanut butter bars. Thanks to friends off campus and to my RD Christina Cooper, I was able to make a variety of cakes cookies and brownies. In addition we bought pies and had a chocolate fountain. Because most of these things had to be made ahead of time our room was overflowing with food. It got to the point where we had to lay down our futon in order to have some place to hold the food. One night I was feeling so overwhelmed and claustrophobic in the room that I made guys from the brother dorm come over and get some of the food to store at their dorm until the party.

The party was a huge success overall. I couldn't have asked for it to go any smoother. The guys were a great help with getting things set up and they really did most of the clean up. Thanks to Charlie, Nick, and Johnny we had a good sound system that didn't cost us anything. The games that Zach and others came up with were fun and light hearted. The room looked beautiful with huge snowflakes that my leadership team made. Jess and Tia were a huge help setting the tables and center pieces. Everything just fell into place and turned out so great!

At the end I was so exhausted that I came back to the room and had an emotional break down. I started to cry just thinking about doing all the dishes. I ended up delegating them to a variety of girls on the hall. So note to self, next time delegate more, stress less and relax because in the end it all worked out perfectly.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Christmas Calandar

So with only two weeks in the semester left it is a sprint marathon to the end. Let me explain. Wednesday was student night for the Virginia Christmas Spatular, aka the Living Christmas Tree at Thomas Road. Sunday I am heading to Richmond with friends for a Bethlehem Christmas walk. Monday night is our RA group Christmas party. Tuesday night is Christmas / whit glove hall meeting. This coming Wednesday is our awesome brother/sister dorm Christmas party and my friends Meghan and Regina's Christmas party. On Thursday is reading day which also means Christmas Convo and open dorms. Friday is the RA Christmas banquet and Christmas Coffeehouse. Saturday is Meghan's graduation and dinner and Sunday is Christmas at the columns. Finally on Monday night we have our leadership Christmas party. The rest of the week is filled with finals, assignments, and white glove check outs.

Whew, with only two weeks to go it looks like it is going to be very busy, but that is better then sitting and twiddling my thumbs waiting to go home!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

New Baby!

So this year was the first year that I got to go home for Thanksgiving since being at college. Usually it is just too close to Christmas break to make the long and kind of expensive trip home. But this year I decided that I wanted to spend time with my family and that since there was a little bit longer of a time gap between Christmas and Thanksgiving it was worth it.

It was so nice to see my family, especially my extended family whom I don't get to see very often. And even better was that there was a surprise new member of our family this year. My cousin Chad and his girlfriend Samantha just had their third baby 7 days before Thanksgiving. Little Khloe is a cute little bundle of joy with dark hair and really chubby cheeks. It was such a blessing to get to be able to see her and all of my family and I am so thankful for each of them.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Another Day Another Adventure

So a couple of weeks ago I told you about my experience working in the nursery, well last night I was working in the infants room and as usual with babies it was an adventure. The night started off great. There was one little girl who was sleepy and just wanted to be held which I was happy to do. I gave her a bottle and after a little bit she fell asleep. Unfortunately, she got woke up by the noise that was going on in the room and was quite cranky. This did not make me smile. In the midst of her being upset she decided to spit up. Luckily it was only a little bit and didn't really get on anything. Learning from my previous experience I decided to get prepared for another attack. I got a very large burp rag out and covered my self. Guess what, it didn't work. She did spit up again and she missed the rag and it went all down the sleeve of my sweater, on my pants, my shoe and the floor! It was pretty much disgusting. My friend Taylor thought I was very funny as she always manages to get the babies who fall asleep and I get the ones who make a mess. That is ok though because one day she will have kids of her own and have to deal with all the stuff that I am getting practice with now. And then I will be the one laughing at her.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Day with out nap is crap

My roommate and I are both very busy people but one of the differences in our time management it the importance of naps. Leah never takes a nap. She always says that she doesn't have time. I on the other hand, can always find time for a snooze. I am a firm believer that a day with out a nap is crap. I even find that I am more productive when I have had a nap. It's funny how two people can see things so differently. She often asks me what I am going to do when I am working full time and am unable to take a nap. I have actually thought about this. My theory is that I will no longer be staying up till 1 or 2 am every night so I should be able to function just fine.

I would like to elaborate further but writing this post is now cutting into my nap time!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

Working in the Nursery

So, I am no longer working at the YMCA. I decided that after four years there and about 100 more at a community swimming pool at home, it was time for a change of pace. This semester I have been working that the Thomas Road Baptist Church nursery once a week. Working here has been great! because of the new subject matter I am studying has created new challenges and made me step out of my comfort zone but it also takes more time. Working at the nursery has allowed for me to make some money but still have time for school.

I work in the infants room with new bourns to just under a year old. They are sooooo cute! One of my favorites is Trevin. Every week he come in with his hair in a mohawk. It is pretty much the most adorable thing you have ever seen. Leiam is also a cutie! He is usually pretty good, but every once in awhile he decided that he needs some love and will start to cry. What is cute is, when you pick him up he will snuggle with you and his lion blanket for a couple of minuets and then decided that he is fine and get up and go play.

Over all the kids are really well behaved and super sweet. This past time working at the nursery was quite an experience. Besides the fact that they pretty much were all unhappy, we had an unusually high amount of spit-ups. One boy, who I was holding, had already spit up three times before I got him. The first time he spit-up with me was not very eventful. He was already wearing a bib so I just wiped him up and put a clean bib on. The second time however, it was no little mess, it was projectile. I was trying to watch some of the other children on the floor when I got a warm sensation in my hand. This didn't phase me for a moment, until I realized that it was also wet! Gross! I know that this is what mothers deal with every day and that it doesn't even make them bat and eye, but it was still gross. Mostly I think because I didn't see it coming. After a kid has already spit up several times you just expect him to be done.

Anyway, such is the adventures of working at a church nursery. Tomorrow we are having a luncheon, catered by Olive Garden, I can't wait!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy

A Day In The Life

So lately, being the last several months, I feel as though I don't have a lot to share. This may sound silly, how could there not be anything noteworthy happening for over 5 months, but really there either hasn't been anything to talk about or I have been so busy when something does come up that I can't find time to talk about it. You really shouldn't feel bad, my mom even says that she is disappointed when I call because I don't have any good stories to tell.

One of the biggest changes that has happened occurred right before school started. I decided, or God directed me would be a better phrasing, to change majors. Originally this semester I was going to study Communications with a focus in media, however, the Lord had different plans and I am not a Master's of Business Administration student. This changed not only my classes but also the format of learning. Communications is an entirely residential program here at Liberty. The MBA program, on the other hand, is entirely distance learning online. So while I am still living on campus and serving as an RA, I don't attend classes like a regular student. This has been challenging and very different for me, but it has also given me a lot of time that I can invest into the lives of the girls on my hall.

Speaking of the hall, they are great. We have only had minor problems, such as late to convocation. The girls really have a desire to grow in the Lord. Most of them come from strong Christian families but until now have not truly made their faith their own. It has been such a privilege to see the Lord work in their lives and to use the leadership on this hall to push them even further.

We are almost to the end of the semester now, which means Christmas is right around the corner. I love Christmas! I am so excited for all of the festivities to start. Liberty has lots of Christmas traditions that make finals and the pressure of classes ending seem more bearable.

I make no promises but keep checking back, maybe I will do better with keeping this page updated.

Love from Liberty,

Peggy