Two in a Day--You Should Be Excited!

Either that or really annoyed, because you now feel the obligation to scroll through two complete posts of my babbling...if you're one of those, I'm freeing you of that feeling right now. After all, I can't see how much you read--I only see hits on my blog, so I could care less if you actually read it =)

Yes, that was a joke. I like people to read it...it makes me happy inside. As my friend would say, "It makes me giggle." It's a good thing.

I'm tired...can you tell I had a midterm today? Plus Latin class...plus work...now I'm at Wegmans, completely not motivated to study any more. I have basically no classes tomorrow, so I feel justified in taking a break.

Anyway, the point of this post (yes, there actually was one) was to put up the pictures from our hoedown last Saturday night =) Just a warning: we have this dance in a barn. A barn with absolutely NO overhead lighting. So they're not great pictures. But they're fun, and they show you a) that I did, in fact, go to the hoedown, and b) that I do, in fact, still take pictures =) So here goes:

 There was a community potluck or something like that going on when we got there, so we couldn't start the dancing right away...so we decided to take advantage of this standing-around time to take pictures =)

There was also an adorable puppy running around, making us all happy...

Then we got to dance! We listened to country music for like three hours straight...it was wonderful =) 

Some people danced, some...stood around watching (i.e. being lame)...

And some people are just incredible dancers...every time Megan and her brother dance, I want to teach my brother. And then I remember that he's 14 and would probably rebel...But in the absence of a satisfactory brother to dance with, can I  mention how handy other people's flashes can be? My only real light was from the source you can see in the top left of the next photo...not much for a huge barn =P (Also, because it's annoying me right now, may I say how troublesome blogspot can be at times? It's a wonderful tool...but it doesn't work perfectly with a pleasing arrangement of photos =P)

Oh, and if you hadn't gotten this...there was a lot of plaid =) PHCers actually look good in plaid...this is one dance we have no problem dressing up for =) 

Awesome girls =) Can you guess which one's my RA? (I'll give you a hint...she's having fun with the picture...got it now?)

We ended the evening with live music from our band (christened by some "Tater and the Tots") and singing...it was wonderful =) I don't have pictures of some of the most fun dances, like the Virginia Reel...cause I was dancing them...I also learned to cha-cha--it was a very exciting and altogether enjoyable evening =)

REILLY!

As the closing event of homecoming, the campus chapter of the International Justice Mission put together a benefit concert, featuring Michelle Carrillo (our student body president's incredibly talented sister) and the band Reilly. It was an awesome night, as we all enjoyed hearing the bands...and not having to drive anywhere to do it =) In addition, Wayne Barnard, a prominent figure in IJM leadership, came to speak between the acts about the work of IJM, freeing slaves and working to provide justice around the world, and how we could be involved beyond the concert itself. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Michelle singing...I was still out in the lobby selling tickets for most of her songs. However, she does have a website (where you can both see what she looks like and hear her music).

After the IJM presentation, we welcomed Reilly...students flooded down from the bleachers onto the gym floor to crowd around the stage and jump up and down to the music and even crowd-surf a freshman...I watched safely from above =)

John Reilly, lead singer, opening the show =)  

They are so talented...one of the coolest parts of the show is the dueling violins: two members of the band (who happen to be married) are incredibly skilled violinists, and they go from piano and guitar to their strings (and often back again) in the middle of songs...it's amazing to watch them, and they have a lot of fun with it =)

I took all these pictures without moving from the same spot...I'm kind of proud of that fact, despite the laziness it implies =)

The lighting was sooo cool...my camera was happy (and therefore I was happy, too...)

They had an "air violin" girls vs. guys competition...which Megan won =) 

Their beautiful song Yahweh...they do a wonderful job of mixing in both powerful messages and strong rock music =)

Ah, there are the violins I mentioned...I wasn't sure if I had a picture or not...it's impossible to quite capture the energy (mostly because the pictures are blurry =P ) But here is proof that they do, in fact, play the violin =)

Anyway...there's a few representative pictures...Gabrielle Ryan was the official photographer and has much better ones, if you're interested...

This is the second year in a row we've had a concert on campus for homecoming...but this one raised more than $2000 for IJM! God really blessed our work...it was amazing to see =)

Homecoming! Sophomores (Want to) Rule =)

So homecoming happened a few weeks ago...and it was awesome! Sophomores (my amazing class) beat the juniors to come in second...Events ranged from a tug-of-war to a dodgeball tournament to costume competitions to a final amazing concert (photos of which will come soon, in another post)...we had a ton of fun.

The festivities started with our banner-decorating competition...

My beautiful (and entertaining) friends Miciah and Claire =)

Seniors working on their banner...

Our banner--we were the nerds for homecoming, so we put the word "hello" on it, in extremely nerdy languages: Elvish, Greek, Na'vi (from the movie "Avatar"), Latin, Klingon, and a couple others. And we put a bunch of pictures from nerdy things...the Ring from Lord of the Rings, the Golden Snitch from Harry Potter, the lantern from Narnia, Pokemon symbols, Star Wars spaceships...it was pretty darn nerdy.

Can you tell we had fun?

We also had cotton candy...sugar made everything better...

After the banners, we decorated people's heads. As cakes. Frosting, sprinkles, everything...it was pretty epic. Slightly disgusting, but definitely epic.

Megan, one of the homecoming committee members who made everything happen =)

The senior "cake"...it was the only one that actually looked like a cake. Props to Ardee for volunteering to be the head they used =)

Members of the junior class, obviously having a good time...

The next night we had a dodgeball tournament (which the sophomores really should have won--really). It was an intense competition--the audience had almost as much fun as the players, I think...

The freshman class preparing for a battle...

The sophomore heroes, who kept us alive despite the upperclassmen trying to destroy us--several games in a row =)

See, there's the audience... cheering for the sophomores and their awesomeness, I might add...

Intense competition, as I mentioned...

Sophomores starting off (probably for one of our several wins...about which I was extremely happy. I actually lost my voice that night, cheering...it was totally worth it.)

Annnnnd VICTORY (in that game, anyway) for the SOPHOMORES! It was an awesome night, and a great weekend...and I'm running out of positive adjectives to use here =) Anyway, concert photos and the photos from our hoedown last night will be here as soon as possible--I've got a midterm this week to study for, so it might be a couple days. But I'm working on it!