My Weekend!

I had a great weekend with my sweet family and my dear friend Susan (previously mentioned on this blog). Here are a few pictures of me and my older sister, Rebecca and youngest brother, Robert decorating a gingerbread house. isn't he the cutest thing? And yes, I have a 24 year old sister and a 5 year old brother. Same parents. :)

I'M DONE!!!

Hey y'all! I'm done! WAaa-hooo!! I finally finished my last final at 10:30 yesterday morning. It feels soo good to be through but I'll still be a little nervous until I get my grades back.

More news:
I am very sick. Its yucky to be sick but at least I don't have any tests to worry about. My throat is really hurting and I'm very tired. Hopefully I'll get better quickly soo...

I can see my new little niece!!! Yes! Heather had her baby! Yippie! Annabelle Grace was born very early on Dec. 9 and she weighed 7lbs. 12oz. and is 20 in. long. I really want to go see her but I won't if I still have a sore throat, I'll have to wait until after Christmas to meet her. I'll post a picture of the little darling soon. She is sooo beautiful!

Merry Christmas!

The finals week that would never end!

I live in North Texas so whenever it gets really cold and freezes everyone freaks out and shuts everything down. UTA shut down at 1:30 today (Wed) and won't open back up until noon on Thursday. Which is great except I had a final scheduled for 8am Thursday. So that final is going to be moved to Tuesday of next week. And it stinks because I am so ready to be done! Now my last week has to drag on until next Tuesday. Ah well, maybe I'll do a little more review...Yeah right! I'm going down to Magnolia and Houston this weekend to visit my family and some friends. I'll take my binder but I doubt I'll get anything done.
My other three finals went okay. I got an A in Latin but I don't know about Logic or Government. I'm pretty sure I did quite badly on the Logic final but we'll see. Oh well, I'm just ready to be done!

Thanksgiving!!

Todd is on the left and wouldn't smile but Seth did so I posted this anyway.
Bethanie, Stephanie, and Rebecca at Heather's Baby Shower



I finally decided to post some pictures of my Thanksgiving. Hope y'all enjoy!

Daddy's little fatty

Somebody loves her peanuts!!






Here's some updated pictures of Libby. Yes, she eats a lot, she's very healthy. :)

Crunch time

Yes, it is final week so that means a week of junk food (get the title now? Crunch, as in the chocolate bar. har har). Tim and I went to the grocery store and loaded up on piazzas that were only $3 each! That makes for a filling and cheap meal so of course we bought four of them. When we came home we realized that one wasn't properly sealed and being the lazy couple we are decided to go ahead and eat it because hey, it had been frozen! That doesn't matter for pizza tho and it was kinda yucky and we ended up throwing it away. The moral to the story is: buy lots of frozen piazzas so you can pull out another one if one is spoiled!
Anywho, yes, I have four finals this week: Critical Thinking and Gov't on Tuesday, Latin 2 on Wednesday and World Civ. on Thursday. I'm not sure which one I'm most worried about but I would have to go with Latin and World Civ. My Latin teacher is awesome and tries not to make the tests too difficult but there is just sooo much information. My Civ teacher didn't get the be-nice-to-your-students-because-they're-taking-more-than-one-final memo and she makes up for his (Latin prof.) mercy. We have to write two essays, one of the questions she already gave us and the other we can pick out of three she's giving us from the 6 on the review. Also there will be 5 short answers taken from the 156 (!!!!) that were given on the reviews. Oh, and did I mention there's a map portion of ten world-wide locations from about 75 on the review. I think I'm going to cry. It sounds much worse when its written out. Thankfully I made friends with a very generous and smart lady in my class and we are sharing the 6 essays and the ID's. So I'm actually almost done studying for that one. But I really want to do well in those two classes especially because I love Latin and I'm a History major, so I should do well in the Civ class. I'll just never take that teacher again! Bitter feminists don't always make the best teachers.
Okay, I feel better now, back to outlining "the role of the post classic nomadic empires in the development of a great Eurasian sphere." Those nomads! They're always popping up somewhere.
Cherrio and good luck to all of you with finals this week!

**Breaking News!! Latin ladies update!**

Well, I am pleased to note that the infamous Latin Ladies have reconciled their differences after half of a semester of evil looks and sulky behavior. On Friday the two actually sat in their original spots but with Lady B sitting at her prized desk. I overheard them visiting about their children and how crazy their lives are so at this time I can report that the two have official put their differences behind them and moved on to much more important issues. The rest of the class is very greatful because we have another whole semester with all of these people! If there are any more changes, however, I shall let you know!

What's in a date?

I thought this was interesting! I'll post on the end what Tim and I were. I want to hear what all y'all were. Let me know!

Your birth date describes who we are, what we are good at and what our
inborn abilities. It also points to what we have to learn and the
challenges we are facing.

To figure out your birth number, add all the numbers in the birth date
together, like the example below, until there is only one digit.

A birth number does not prevent you from being anything you what to be,
it will just color your choice differently and give you a little
insight.

Example: March 20, 1950

3 + 20 + 1950 = 1973

1 + 9 + 7 + 3 = 20

2 + 0 = 2

Keep going until you end up with a single digit number. 2 is the birth
number to read for the birth date in the example. Find your number and
then read on.

#1 The Originator
#2 The Peacemaker
#3 The Life Of The Party
#4 The Conservative
#5 The Nonconformist
#6 The Romantic
#7 The Intellectual
#8 The Big Shot
#9 The Performer

# 1 - The Originator
1's are originals. Coming up with new ideas and executing them is
natural. Having things their own way is another trait that gets
them
as being stubborn and arrogant. 1's are extremely honest and do well
to
learn some diplomacy skills. They like to take the initiative and are
often leaders or bosses, as they like to be the best. Being
self-employed is definitely helpful for them. Lesson to! learn:
Others'
ideas might be just as good or better and to stay open minded.

Famous 1's are Don Kotula,Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Hulk Hogan, Carol
Burnett, Wynonna Judd, Nancy Reagan, Raquel Welch.

#2 - The Peacemaker
2's are the born diplomats. They are aware of others' needs and moods
and often think of others before themselves. Naturally analytical
and very intuitive they don't like to be alone. Friendship and
companionship are very important and can lead them to be successful in
life, but on the other hand, they'd rather be alone than in an
uncomfortable relationship. Being naturally shy, they should learn to
boost their self-esteem and express themselves freely and seize the
moment and not put things off.

Famous 2's are President Bill Clinton, Madonna, Whoopee Goldberg,
Thomas
Edison, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

#3 - The Life Of The Party
3's are idealists. They are very creative, social, charming, romantic,
and easygoing. They start many things, but don't always see them
through. They like others to be happy and go to great lengths to
achieve it. They are very popular and idealistic. They should learn
to
see the world from more realistic point of view.

Famous 3's are Alan Alda, Ann Landers, Bill Cosby, Melanie Griffith,
Salvador Dali, Jodi Foster.

#4 - The Conservative
4's are sensible and traditional. They like order and routine. They
only
act when they fully understand what they are expected to do. They like
getting their hands dirty and working hard. They are attracted to the
outdoors and feel an affinity with nature. They are prepared to wait
and
can be stubborn and persistent. They should learn to be more flexible
and
to be nice to themselves.

Famous 4's are Neil Diamond, Margaret Thatcher, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Tina Turner, Paul Hogan, Oprah Winfrey.

#5 - The Nonconformist
5's are the explorers. Their natural curiosity, risk taking, and
enthusiasm often land them in hot water. They need diversity, and
don't
like to be stuck in a rut. The whole world is their school and they
see
a learning possibility in every situation. The questions never stop.
They are well advised to look before they take action and make sure
they
have all the facts before jumping to conclusions.

Famous 5's are Abraham Lincoln, Charlotte Bronte, Jessica Walter,
Vincent Van Gough, Bette Midler, Helen Keller, and Mark Hail.

#6 - The Romantic
6's are idealistic and need to feel useful to be happy. A strong family
connection is important to them. Their actions influence their
decisions. They have a strong urge to take care of others and to
help.
They are very loyal and make great teachers. They like art or music.
They
make loyal friends who take friendship seriously. 6's should learn to
differentiate between what they can change and what they cannot.

Famous 6's are Albert Einstein, Jane Seymour, John Denver, Meryl
Streep,
Christopher Columbus, and Goldie Hawn.

#7 - The Intellectual
7's are the searchers. Always probing for hidden information, they find
it difficult to accept things at face value. Emotions don't sway their
decisions. Questioning everything in life, they don't like to be
questioned themselves. They're never off to a fast start, and their
motto is, "Slow and Steady Wins the Race. They come across as
philosophical and being very knowledgeable, and sometimes as loners.
They
are technically inclined and make great researchers uncovering
information. They love to uncover secrets. They live in their own quiet
world and could do a better job of learning what is acceptable in the
world at large.

Famous 7's are William Shakespeare, Lucille Ball, Michael Jackson, Joan
Baez, and Princess Diana.

#8 - The Big Shot
8's are the Problem Solvers. They are professional, blunt and to the
point, have good judgment and are decisive. They have grand plans and
like to live the good life. They take charge of people. They view
people
objectively. They let you know in no uncertain terms that they are
the
boss. They should learn to exude their decisions on their own needs
rather than what others want.

Famous 8's are Edgar Cayce, Barbara Streisand, George Harrison, Jane
Fonda, Pablo Picasso, Aretha Franklyn, and Nostradamus.

#9 - The Performer
9's are natural entertainers. They are very caring and generous,
giving
away their last dollar to help. With their charm they have no problem
making friends and nobody is a stranger to them. They have so many
different personalities that people around them have a hard time
understanding them. They are like chameleons, ever changing and
blending
in. They have tremendous blessings, but also can suffer from extreme
in
fortune and mood. To be successful, they need to build a loving
foundation.

Famous 9's are Albert Schweitzer, Shirley MacLaine, Harrison ford,
Jimmy
Carter, Elvis Presley.

I was a #5 and Tim was a #2. We both thought they were pretty
close to our personalities. With some adjustment, of course! ;)

Arbonne!

Hey Guys! Well, I’ve starting working for Arbonne as a consultant. They’ve been around for 25 years but have only gained recognition in the past few years. Their sales numbers went from 25 million in 2001 to over 200 million in 2004. The company is doing so well because of how terrific their products are. All of their products are botanically based and free of all animal by-products and mineral oil (which comes from crude oil!). And they combine that with great anti-aging ingredients. People are becoming more and more concerned with what they put on and in their bodies as well as the concern with premature aging. It’s really exciting and I’ve enjoyed experimenting with the different items and telling people about the products and the company.
Please let me know if you’re interested in hearing more about the company or trying out some products. If you’re in my area then I can drop some off for you to try or if you’re out of town then I would be happy to mail some to you. You can also check out their website here and browse through the catalogue. And if you are interested in ordering something then I can pass on my discount to you, which is 35%!
I look forward to answering your questions or sharing some of their great products with you.

More family and fun pics

This is one of my favorites, from left to right, Robert, Amy, and Stephanie Shenk and Kathleen Henderson. Kathleen is Tim's cousin and she and Amy are best friends. Us Shenk kids grew up with the Hendersons and they are our family's closest friends. That's how I met Tim too!

This is of Amy and Kathleen with our younger brother Tim in the background.

Here is Steph, Seth, and Amy.

And I just had to put one of my older sister from a while back. I'll write a post about Rebecca soon, there's a lot I can say about her! :)

I'm sitting here watching "You've Got Mail" with Libby because Tim is up at his lab working on the finishing touches for his thesis. Libby is keeping me entertained by running around on top of and behind the couches and chewing on my papers and notecards. She also has tried chewing on my favorite pen, the phone, tv remote and the wall. Yeah, I know, she's crazy. Hopefully its just a stage she's going through. Ha! I feel like a mom! And what a cute little hairy baby I have.

Well, since the last post I put up here was so overwhelmingly popular, I am going to post some more pictures of my beeeutiful family. Tim's brother Seth recently went and visited them for the girls' birthdays and he sent me some great pictures.

Okay, well, I hope y'all enjoyed these pictures. Have a great weekend and a good rest of the month.

My Family

Today I thought I would write a little bit about my family. I've been thinking about them a lot because Monday (the 17th) was my little sister's birthday and tomorrow is my other younger sister's birthday. So I guess today I'll focus this blog on them.

Stephanie will be twenty tomorrow and she's the sister right under me. She's going to the community college by our house (Go Tomball!!) and is doing extremely well, hey, what else would you expect from a Shenk? She's involved in the leadership at Tomball and even works there as well. Poor Steph, she's up there waaay too much. :) Steph is going to major in Education/English and she wants to be a high school English teacher. I think she'll do very well in that and will be very popular. Stephanie also has a wonderful boyfriend named Robbie who is in the Air Force and all of our family loves him, he's really a great guy. Lessee, what else...she loves to read and loves bright colors and looks cute wearing them. I'm sure there's much more I could write about her but I will keep it at this, I don't want to embarrass her too much. :) But I love her very much and I'm so proud of all that she's accomplished. Happy Birthday!!!!

Amy was sixteen on Monday and I simply cannot believe that! She's the baby girl of our family and will always be our little puke (SP? It means "bellybutton" in Maori). HAhhaha, poor Ames, she'll never grow out of that one!! Amy is excelling in her classes this year and is developing an interest in kineseology which is what she'll probably pursue in college. She's a great driver and will probably get her license soon. Amy has also been saving for more than a year to buy her own horse and she has very nearly accomplished that! Hopefully she will be able to gain ownership of a tall, dark, and handsome horse named Dan. She loves to ride barrels and is really getting very good at that. Well, once again, there's more I could write but I don't want to go on too much. :) Amy i is now about an inch and a half taller than me and calls me "little brown monkey" but she will always be my little pet. I love you girlie, Happy Birthday!!!

I'll write more about all the rest of my family. As I have one other sister and three brothers this blog would take on immense proportions if I wrote about everyone one of them. That will just have to wait. For now you will have to settle with the little bios of these two sweet girls and a couple of pictures.

Libby

After many requests, I am finally going to post some pictures of our new little darling. Her full name is Libertas and we got her about a week and a half ago. Tim's sister works at a vet clinic and someone brought her in after finding her. Mindy generously gave her to Tim, who's always wanted a pet squirrel. I don't know how long we'll have her as she could become pretty wild. We're hoping to have her for a few months at least. Okay, enough verbage, here is Libby!!!

Day of rest

Today has been a day of rest and relaxation. I had Yoga and Latin this morning but after lunch I slept for 2 1/2 hours! It felt so wonderful! I also have not done a lick of school work today! I had my Latin I final on Friday and my History mid-term yesterday. So needless to say, I've been psycho busy studying and cramming my poor little brain with all sorts of interesting facts.

So today I have not done anything useful and have watched "Freddie", the Astros game, and now Jay Leno. More TV in one day than the whole semester! As usual, Leno is making fun of Bush but not in the spiteful way as I hear so often. Anyway, don't want to get onto that tangent...

School is going good, I think that's what primarily on my mind these days. I finished Latin one on Friday and am half way through with the rest of my classes.

Hope everyone has a terrific day and a great weekend!!

Cats!

Finally, I am writing again. I was trying to go to sleep but I've been staying up so late recently that I cannot go to sleep at a decent hour! Plus, Tim is studying with a friend in the livingroom and that is one very thin wall away from our bedroom.

Anyway, I just thought I would write a post on our cats: Sniper and Sammy. They are two of the neatest, cutest, and funnest cats I know. Sniper is Tim's cat and he can be pretty mischievous. He climbs onto our tall armoire and swats the back of your head as you walk by. He also climbs up there and wines and complains in the morning when he doesn't have any food. Sammy is my cat and he's a very sweet and mellow kitty. He loooves to have his neck scratched, especially in the morning and late at night. He's always been chunkier than Sniper and maybe because of that he has no jumping abilities at all. He used to try but I think he's all but given up hope. Like they say, gray cats can't jump!

Here's some pictures of our darlings, Sammy is the chunky gray cat and Sniper is the black one. I think these pictures will be pretty telling of their personalities.

I have so many more pictures and I might post some more later. Hope you enjoy!

Latin translations

I've translated some interesting sentences this semester while learning Latin and I thought I would share some of them with y'all.

Me philosophiae do.
I give myself to philosophy.

Philosophia est ars vitae.
Philosophy is the art of life.

Immodica ira creat insaniam.
Excessive anger creates insanity. <- I like this one. :)

Fortuna viros magnos amat.
Fortune loves great men (heros).

These are just some short ones that we've translated for homework. We've also translated some old myths such as: Pandora's Box, The Tragic Story of Phaethon, The Curse of Atreus, and Cleobis and Biton. Of course they've been simplified but its still fun to actually read stories in Latin. :)

We're using Wheelocks Latin and 38 Latin Stories in our class and I would really reccomend those to anyone who would even like to learn a little about Latin. If you take some time to work on it, I think you can learn at least the basic grammar rules and a whole lot of vocabulary on your own just using this book. I found a hardback copy on Amazon for $19.

Great Speech

Wow! Two blogs in one day! Does that mean I'm a nerd yet? :) Well, I was trying to go to sleep but wasn't succeeding so I started to look at some webpages I had bookmarked. Here's a speech that Charlton Heston gave at Harvard Law School several years ago and I couldn't pass up posting it on here. http://www.conservativenews.org/culture/archive/CUL19990316a.html there's the link. I don't know how to make it into a direct link, I'll have to get Tim to show me how. Anway, it's a great speech about the culture in America today.

Craziness!

The craziest thing happened today in my Latin class. Probably one of the craziest things that has ever happened to me at school even!
Okay guys, here's the scene: two ladies sit directly to my right one behind the other. On our last test day Lady A (around mid-30's) sat in Lady B's (around 50's) seat. Lady B asked Lady A somewhat nicely to get out of her chair and Lady B complied, I think, I don't really remember that part. It doesn't really matter though, it just sets up the scene. :)
Anywho, Lady A was missing for the next two class days after the test and during those days Lady B complained before, during, and after class about Lady A taking her seat.
Well, today was the apocalypse of the Ladies in Latin. Lady A arrived and sat in the much coveted seat. When Lady B arrived she told Lady A that she wanted her seat back and she needed to quit stealing it from her. So Lady A replies in a snooty manner, "I didn't realize we had assigned seating in this class!". After some childish bickering (that was only the beginning!) about whether or not Lady A should get up (and after her refusing) Lady A then stormed out of the room. All the rest of us looked around in amazement but that sentiment os shock was not about to end.
The teacher then arrived and made his way up to the front of the room. Within seconds Lady B stormed back in and told the teacher that "there is a problem!". She then proceeds to complain to him about Lady A and telling him that they cannot work it out. He tries to hide a smile and asks Lady A to please move back as there are plenty of seats available. Lady A then refused because she "got here first". Lady B then stomps back to the seat behind Lady A and they begin to mutter under their breaths things like "shut up!" "you shut up!" "I got here first!" and other such mature statements. Finally, in order to start the class and get some sort of semblance of peace back in the classroom, the teacher moves first Lady A to another chair and then Lady B to a chair on the other side of the room.
I could not believe their behavior! They were some of the oldest people in the classroom and they could not resolve such a simple conflict.
I wonder if that says something about how the rest of our nation is. So self-focused and immature. What are your thoughts on this, guys?
Well, I thought I would post something other than "what I did today". Hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did experiencing it. :) Tim said he wished I had had a video camera to catch the whole thing. :)

Ramblings

We were supposed to go down to Magnolia to visit my family yesterday but our plans were changed with the pending arrival of Rita. As it turns out, my family's house was barely affected with only a few small sticks scattered around the yard. We were concerned with being able to get back in time for classes on Monday so its probably better that we stayed here. Also, I have a Logic test on Thursday (HELP!) and I should be studying for that right now.

Anyway, life is good. School is screaming along at a snail's pace and work is as slow as ever. The latter is not good for my boss but good for me in that I am able to study while I work. I hope to not have to work after this semester but I may have to in the spring.

After frying my brain studying for Logic then I will probably make a trip to the grocery store, how exciting, huh? :) Oh yeah, and our apartment is pretty messy so I will be cleaning that as well. So I guess that is how my weekend is going to go. I keep wanting to write more interesting posts and I will eventually but this is all for now!

Susan!!

Today I got a call from my best friend Susan asking me if she could come see me this weekend. And of course I said YES!!!!! She will be on her way very shortly and we will have two days filled with fun and frivolity. Here's a picture of Susan...lets see how this turns out. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to seeing her. She's my best friend (after Tim of course!)

Latin

Today I had my first Latin test. I'm taking both Latin 1&2 this semester, don't ask why, that's just how they have it set up. Plus, I can be through with 14 hours of a foreign language in only 2 semesters! It also allows me to take 18 hours yet only really take 14 at a time. I will be done with Latin 1 next month and will then progress on to Latin 2. Anyway, enough about that. My teacher is incredibly interesting and makes the classes that much more enjoyable.
I am also taking Critical Thinking, History of Civilization I, State & Local Gov't, and yoga. I'll write more about those classes later.
Tonight Tim and I are going out to supper at Pappasitos. Some very sweet friends gave me a giftcard for there a few weeks ago for my birthday and I am finally using it! *Thanks, Chris and Katie!*
That's all for now. How does one sign off?
Farewell?
Until we meet again?

First post

Well, I'm finally doing it...I'm starting a blog. I guess I'll write more later when I have more to say and more time in which to say it.