The Relocated Remnant Report

It is from afar that this blog is written (see below). Our travels have brought us to the far corners of Canada, where temperatures swing from accumulative snow to eighty degrees Fahrenheit within a matter of days. (That's right, after four years of American education we can successfully convert Fahrenheit to Celsius.) In other words, we are re-acquainting ourselves with our motherland.

With all the news of the gathering of the remnant in Iowa, we thought that the right room roommates of SV 306 should also reunite. Although Sara is in this city, we have not yet made contact. However, she is with us in spirit, just as she always was in pillow talk. It should be noted that tonight in pillow talk you will all be present in Lethbridge, Alberta, whether that be for the good or the bad ;)

Tomorrow promises many adventures and traveling experiences, whether it be to Tim Horton's down the road (a true cultural experience!) or day trip to another country... the USA! We hear Glacier National Park has free admission, but unforeseen travel problems such as volcanic eruptions or delayed transportation or simple indecisiveness have made the plans indefinite.

Love and miss you all!
Monique and Cherylyn

Lunch is but a fleeting moment...

Hey everyone! Dani here. Sorry that there haven't been any posts lately. It's been a whirlwind. I don't feel right writing (heh) this all by myself, either. (sigh) But, here we go -- I have a few minutes left on lunch break, so forgive the disjointedness and spelling mistakes.

Life is good! I'm in Sioux Falls. I have a room of my own at home. I have work -- at Midwest Metal Works, my dad's shop. I have some friends left here. I'm going camping soon. I've been garage saling nonstop since summer began. What more could I ask for?

Ok, that's all for now. Love you all!

-D.

A battle between ignorance and naivete

This week brought forth a series of tiny events which culminated in an all-out war between the left and right bedrooms of SV306. On Friday night, Dani came home to find that all of her roommates hadn't done anything all evening. She was ecstatic to find them there, and the giggling began. The girls were on a sugar high from Sara's amazing cinnamon rolls, but they soon crashed and decided to go bed early (11:00) aka normal time. Pillow talk ensued in both rooms (the right bedroom was experienced in this habit, but the left bedroom had some more practicing to do with only one session previously). Suddenly, there was a knock on the window of the left bedroom. Betsy screamed, being the closest to the window (see previous entries for pictures of the room configuration). The girls started shrieking with laughter and fear as Betsy jumped into Dani's bed for comfort. What was at the window?, you may ask. It was the end of the broom, with Cherylyn's hand and head sticking out of the right bedroom window holding on to it. There came a great clash of thunder, which nearly made her drop the broom. However, they would not be deterred in this great prank. Next, the retaliation: The left bedroom waited until things settled down and turned on the lights of the right bedroom, to which Sara and Monique replied, "Cherylyn! Can you get that?" The other room took preventative measures by shoving their bookcase in front of their door. Cherylyn outwitted them by having just thin enough hands to reach through the crack in the door and turn on their lights. Betsy got up and turned them off. At this point, the girls were all tuckered out from their exciting night. The battle may be over (no apparent winner), but the war has just begun. ;)

On Saturday night, five roommates collaborated and surprised the wits out of Sara with a bridal shower. The snacks were "discretely" made, the gifts hidden "well", the logistics of people arriving went "smoothly." She had no idea. The evening brought lots of fun and laughter. In preparation, Dani showered for the event, but was met with two douses of freezing cold water. A good time was had by all.

Today we took a trip down memory lane to the Commons Tuesdays and had a BLT day of our own. Stephanie cooked delicious bacon (B), lettuce (L), and tomatoes (T). Y.U.M. (That's "yum," as an acronym.)

We hope that your weeks have been as eventful as ours. To the broads abroad, see you soooooooooooon!!!

P.S. What's the difference between being "a broad" and being "abroad"? We're just curious. Seems like the same thing to us.

Another week of adventure, intrigue, and excitement

Last week went out with a blast -- a bon fire blast, that is. We all ventured on over to Sandy Hollow and met up with about 30 other seniors for roasted marshmallows and laughs.

Big news: Monique has completed a Dordt College rite of passage this week... a DORDT WALK! A good time was had by both parties, but the second party shall remain anonymous here. Contact Monique for more information. Cherylyn will be next to accomplish this feat. Any male readers out there... hint, hint, nudge, nudge.

Two little letters defined Dani and Monique's existence this week. They were "F" and "E." Imagine this: 8 hours in a gymnasium filled with about 10 girls and 150 boys.... the future engineers of America. Intense brain power radiating all around you in complete silence as you fill in little circles, one by one. This was Monique and Dani's Saturday. They left on Friday night night with a bus full of engineers after a week of intense preparation. They arrived home on Saturday night, completely and 100% exhausted. Needless to say, they are glad to be done.

While Monique and Dani were stretching their brainpower, Cherylyn, Betsy, and Sara tried their hand at garage saling and busting some new moves at the retro dance. Stephanie, meanwhile, was exploring every square of North America at the Kuyper conference at Princeton, in New Jersey! That was a great travel opportunity!!

The frisbee, floor hockey, and ROOK adventures continue in SV 306... some ventures are more successful than others. Monique and Erica have advanced to the semi-finals of the Rook tournament, but their next competitors are going to prove to be a challenge.

In wedding news... October 8 is the date! Don't be late, and come celebrate!!

In this upcoming week, sleep shall take on a new meaning, as sleep deprivation takes its toll. Have a good week, all! Thanks for being a faithful follower :)

An engaging week

The mood of our week was set on Monday evening, when we heard screams from across the hall. Giggles and high-pitched noises signified that our neighbor was engaged. We laughed about their giddiness, and we thought of our own engaged-less room and were sad.

THEN, Wednesday night. Something big happened. There was a knock at our door at around 9:30pm. Cherylyn and Dani shouted "What do you want!" and "Get away!" at the closed door. Laughing, the said, "Come in!" and were shocked to see Jevin Vyn peeking in. He asked where Sara was, and, with sincere disappointment, they informed him that she had gone horseback riding and had not yet returned. Little did they know, they were to be pitied and not Jevin. With great shouts of glee, Sara entered the door, with a HUGE ROCK on her left-hand ring finger. We all imitated the shouts of joy that we had heard two nights previously. Stephanie joined the fray, and we emailed Monique to "Come home now! It's important!" It was so much fun. We are all filled with euphoria over the event. For more details on the actual proposal, see Sara Soodsma (soon to be Vyn).

The next day, in a state of celebration, Cherylyn and Dani went on an mission to find some bridal magazines in the great wedding metropolis of Sioux Center. They checked out Fareway, Hallmark, Petals and Perks and even Floral Expressions. Not to be deterred, they went to Roelof's Fabric Store and the Kum&Go gas station. At Lewis Drug Store, they found a card that would result in a semi-successful mission. Wal-mart was out of striking distance, as they were on bicycles. Defeated, they returned home. Then they thought, "What about some used magazines?" They visited a currently engaged room and found not one, not two, but FIVE bridal magazines. SUCCESS! The happy couple responded with giant smiles when presented with this gift.

The adventures of our week were far from over, as Friday saw a long trip to Sioux Falls. There we shopped til we dropped, and felt like we should go to HuHot. But which one? We were to meet Laurissa and Laura, but were a tad late to the tenth street HuHot, only to discover, after multiple phone calls, that they were at the other location. A half hour later, they drove up to meet us. We ordered pops and waited for Summer Hubers, who also had gone to the other location. Dani and Monique both downed five pops before the food arrived (free refills, anyone?). The lack of sustenance caused Stephanie to enter a state of giddiness. The food was great, but the company was better. The fueled up until we had to untie the top buttons of our pants, a trick we learned from the Boman family. ;) The rest of the evening was spent at Laura's place, asking questions that were loaded and laughing.

We took a night car back to Sioux Center. It was uncomfortable and difficult to sleep, but cheap. The trip and sights that we saw, not to mention the people that we met, were well worth it.

Another big event of the week, in addition to the engagement, was discovering that we COUNT. The US government now knows that we exist, our ages, and that we are white. Two words: Census 2010.

Saturday morning brings a clean bathroom and newly-filled soap dispensers to our room (just for you, Melodie!). We are excited about this new development and welcome any visitors to our humble abode.

Betsy has been missing in action (MIA) this week. She is soaking up the sun in California. We eagerly anticipate her return.

Have a good week! Thanks for being a faithful follower. :)

Week 2

Tonight, the remnant of the remnant remain. Sara and Cherylyn have ventured off, leaving the four of us to fend for ourselves. We decided to take up Italian and order some pizza. We experienced Pizza "Fresco," which is the Italian word for "Fresh, delicious pizza piled high with spinach and mock garlic cloves." Our biggest trip of the week brought us to Wal-Mart, where an anonymous member of our group purchased "Emotional-Responsive" deodorant. We are looking forward to seeing how this (persp)trans-pires. We were very disappointed that Wal-Mart did not have Cadburry mini-eggs in stock. Their low prices don't make up for their lack of product. Stephanie brought home a bag of mini-eggs from Minneapolis. Apparently, Sioux Center is going through a mini-egg drought.

In other news, this week brought about the start of many new things, including, but not limited to, our first ultimate frisbee victory! After a well-matched game of diving, snatching, grass stains, endurance, flying discs and flying disc-iples, our team prevailed. We hope to experience many more of these morale-boosters.

The Rook tournament has also started. Tonight will be the showdown of the century, Monique and her kin vs. Betsy and Dani. We hope we're all still friends at the end of the night. Stephanie will act as mediator.

A furniture rearrangement has spiced up the life of the left bedroom here in SV306. This change brings a whole new outlook to our lives. If we had to describe this experience in one word, it would be "eye-opening."

Monique has disappeared from our room. Rumors have it that she can be found on the floor hockey court, playing for one of her three teams. Her bruises seem to line up with the story, so for now, we believe it.

Tomorrow, we look forward to celebrating the professions of faith of Danielle Kelderman and Jason Wyenberg. In order to help us celebrate this momentous occasion, Eric and Hilda Wyenberg have ventured down to Sioux Center, dodging floods and enduring sickness in order to be here. Cake will be eaten, and we will all sing the following refrain:

"I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God..."

That's all for this week. Have a blessed Easter!

Exciting Happenings

March has brought new and exciting adventures to the girls of SV 306. Here are some highlights from our lives this week:

We made a trip to CULVERS and got MEDIUM size concrete mixers with a TWO FOR ONE deal!!! wow. It was awesome.

Today we eagerly anticipate a trip to Fareway to restock our provisions. Pictures of this event will follow. Stay tuned.

The sun peaked out for a few minutes today, causing extreme euphoria in our room. This event enlightened us to write a blog. This is the most exciting thing that's happened to us in a while.

There have been a few close calls with regards to the plumbing situation here is SV 306, but nothing of significance to report. There have been no expulsions of water, but again, stay tuned: Numerous noises and close calls have been alerting us to the possibility of future volcanic eruptions.

In other news, we enjoyed a game of capture the flag in the dark yesterday in the president's backyard. Monique wanted to hide the flag in his living room, but others disagreed. Cherylyn wanted to wear the flag; again, disagreement. Sara played vicious defense and stuck to the rules. Danielle did basically nothing. She walked around with her hood up and no one ever knew which team she was on.

A naked statue was seen on Dordt's campus for about ten minutes, before being removed by concerned admissions staff. This brief glimpse of culture was eye-opening and inspiring, especially for Betsy, who is currently in sculpture class.

In short, our week was filled with adventure and new experiences. We've learned a lot about ourselves and our surroundings. This culture is truly something to be experienced. We will update you next week. Here is a sneak preview: Our bike will be released from captivity on Tuesday. This will open up great traveling opportunities for us. We anticipate the start of frisbee and floor hockey seasons. I bet your weeks won't top this excitement!

Note: we've found it difficult to keep up with faithfully emailing everyone who we don't see, so this will be your new form of contact in lieu of personal emails. ;)