root beer, marshmallows, and fire.

There is a house on campus that is occupied by 13 guys.
They are Campus Safety's favorite people.
That is a false statement.

Tonight, they had their annual Benton House Root Beer Keg Party.
Yep, you read that correctly. A real keg filled with root beer.
"What? It's not real beer? Why even stay?"
For the fun. Duh.

I have been invited every year that I've been at Bethel, but haven't gone.
Until this year. I figured it was about time to have some fun.
So, after we beat Grace in soccer (holla!), Casey and I headed over to the party.
Good life choice.

It was like any college party, I suppose.
Except for the total lack of alcohol.
And it was super fun.

After a while, we went up to the roof, which was a terrifying process for me as I have zero fence climbing skills.
Those on the ground chose that time to begin a marshmallow war.
We were defenseless and without ammo, so we caught what we could and threw them back.
Straight up chaos.

After the madness had died down a bit, we climbed down and sat around the fire pits.
A lot of people had left by this time, and about half of those who were still there lived in the house.
Stuff was burned, including a couple hands.

It got to be 12:15 and I realized that I was the only female still around.
And water balloons were starting to be thrown.
So I left.

But I had a fantastic evening.
I finally felt like I was doing something that upperclassmen do.

And I now really wish I had attempted a keg stand, even though it probably would have been a completely humiliating experience.

Dinner Party

On Saturday I got up around 10:00.
I took a shower and then jumped right into making dinner.

After several requests for food, I decided that I was going to make a big dinner this weekend.
I invited a bunch of people, but not all of them came.
That ended up being a very good thing, because we would have completely run out of food.

I decided on a menu of BBQ chicken pizza, salad, and a dessert.
I made a wild decision to make lemon bars. I had never made them before and didn't know how they'd be received. I'll get back to that.

This morning started with the filling for the bars (I made the crust the night before).
While they were in the oven, I made pizza dough.
A real project, that was. I figured I needed enough to feed 15 people, so I made the recipe in two separate bowls at the same time but could only bake one at a time.
I stacked them and left them for the afternoon.

By this time it was 2:00.

Brok was visiting Luke and Kevin and they were in the Acorn.
So I went over there to finally eat lunch and hang out.
We went to the first half of the soccer game and then decided to go get bubble tea.
Pineapple-Green Tea with tapioca pearls and jellies. I recommend it.

When we got back to campus, Casey (whose new nickname is Queso) needed to get stuff from Brok's truck, and Brok wanted to see our house (specifically the crawlspace).
While we were standing the the Oakwood/Slater parking lot, Keelan joined us.
Queso was giving Brok a tour of the house and Kevin, Keelan and I were talking about dinner.
I told them that I had made lemon bars
WHAT!?!
Lemon bars are Keelan and Kevin's favorite dessert. That fact was enough to make my day.
YES! They'd be well-received!
And to make me really nervous. Like I said before, I had never tried to make lemon bars before, so I didn't know how they'd turned out.
It was my Great-Grammy Swanson's recipe, doubled.
The ended up being pretty delicious, albeit not very lemony.
I'll adjust that next time.

Anywho, we got back a little before 6:00, so I had an hour to put the pizzas together, cut the lemon bars, prep the salad, change, and do a quick-clean of the living room and my desk.

I looked very cute for my very first dinner party.
And we had a great time.
But I need a new pizza crust recipe.

I am so thankful for new and old friends and for food and for laughter and for living in a house with a full kitchen and for my Great-Grammy Swanson and for Ben Rector and for soccer games and for bubble tea and for busy Saturdays that I can now look back on and smile.

Oh yeah, and I am now Auntie Hope. Like, AWHN-tee.
Yeah. I'm thankful for that, too.

"boys might be coming over."

That announcement is made almost every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in our house.

Two weeks and two days ago, I visited Oakwood to find my friends Luke and Kevin.
I ended up meeting their friends Keelan and Christian, among others.
I had made cupcakes and I invited them over.
They didn't come that night.
I made more cupcakes on Saturday and they all came over on Sunday.

Boy, did they get more than cupcakes.
We had them move our entertainment center, beast of a thing, and wedge our TV into it.
And then Kevin discovered a trapdoor in one of our hall closets.

So Casey, Melisa, Keelan, and I explored.
The door leads to a crawlspace that goes under our entire house, North and South sides.
It's all sand and spider webs and probably the skunk that hangs out around the house.
We had a great time down there, tormenting our neighbors by pounding on their floor, taking pictures, and just sitting in the dark and dirtiness.
We also found some old newspapers and books and other assorted junk.
A song was written about this adventure.
If we're facebook friends, or you're friends with Casey, you can check it out.

I don't think any boys came over last weekend, because it was a weird weekend of most of us being gone.

But there were guys here every night this weekend.

Friday, after the soccer game, Luke, Christian, and a guy named Jeremy came over and we and Casey watched 'Transformers."
It was the first time I'd seen it.
And I didn't really pay attention, so I don't get it at all.

Last night, I went to dinner with a group of friends that included to guys.
We came back here for a brownie-marshmallow dessert that I had made.
(That's part of the reason why the guys came over on Friday, too.)

And tonight Kevin, Keelan, Christian, and Sean came over for the mocha cupcakes I made this afternoon.

It's just fun to have boys over, especially these ones.
They're smart, they're funny, no one's trying to impress anyone else.
It's just a good time for all of us.
And it includes baked goods, so everyone's happy.

But I have a tip jar now, in order to fund my habit. :-)

Next weekend, I'm making dinner.

Labor Day Weekend.

I was sitting at a wedding a week ago.
It was the only reason I went home for Labor Day.
I came back on Sunday, not taking advantage of an extra day to spend with my friends and family.

I had a couple hours with a few of my friends from home.
I had some time with my parents.
It was a good weekend.

On Sunday, the International Student Fellowship had a cook-out to kick off the school year.
No, I am not an international student. But the ISF welcomes other students so that we can all teach each other about our various cultures.
We had a great time.
I don't remember what else I did on Sunday.
Homework, maybe?
I went to Shupe and watched about half of "The Princess and the Frog."
And slept on our couch, but I'm not sure why.

Monday was a delight.
I slept until at least 10:00, lounged around for a couple hours, made tacos for my lunch, and then came over to SG.
(That's where I am right now, of course.)
Melisa and I talked and did homework and watched people work at the store next door for a couple hours.
Back to the house, then to the Acorn, then to downtown South Bend with Casey.
The three of us wanted to go to the South Bend Chocolate Cafe.
It was closed, because it was Labor Day. Duh.
So we wandered around taking pictures. It was a bit ridiculous. And incredibly fun.

Grocery store, movie night, more homework, sleep.

It was a fantastic and refreshing weekend.