one more before outreach?

so, another event that i forgot to mention was our costume party in which we had to dress like each other. i thought at first that it would be difficult & briar & i didn’t know what to do until the last minute. we just decided to be each other. she wore my flowered blouse, grey cardigan, denim jacket, brown pants, & oxfords. & we did her makeup like mine. & braided her hair to the side. she looked awesome, if i do say so myself… we all met in the conference hall & just played games. it was so funny to see people & know exactly who they were dressed as. i think we managed at least one picture.

that next thursday, i was walking back to my room late & i managed to trip or something & i jammed my toe hardcore. i thought i had broken it. {this was the same day i slipped on the ice} it was so bad. the next day, briar, diane, amanda, rachel, victoria, & i we went to lancaster where I limped around all day. we all wanted to see the vow. have you seen the trailers for that movie? heart-breaking. well, we arrived at the cinema to find that it wasn’t even showing there yet. even more heart-breaking. we saw warhorse instead. it was great & we all cried. we got out of the movie around seven to find the streets of lancaster completely silent. they close up early around here. the taxi that picked us up didn’t even know where capernwray is so we basically had to direct him back.

that night, there was a dodgeball game. again, i did not participate. but afterwards, there was a dance-off in the ping-pong room. now this was no ordinary dance-off. these men were competing for a girl’s hand in marriage. obviously it was a joke, but they took it very seriously. dances were choreographed. outfits were coordinated. there was a dj. there was a strobe light. she chose the winner in the end. he turned her down. it was dramatic. we all danced. we danced until lockup. this is a bad idea when you have a foot injury. basically, my entire foot was swollen. & i could hardly walk. i was sitting on briar’s bed & she accidentally sat on it. i screamed bloody murder & proceeded to cry & laugh hysterically all at once. i knew it wasn’t broken, so i just iced it a few times & it’s all better now. i don’t know how i injure myself so much here.

on tuesday last week {valentine’s day}, my friend jason asked if he could borrow my bowtie. i was confused. i do have a bowtie. it’s a clip-on that i use as a headband. but i had no idea how he knew i had one. apparently i had told him at one point. i do not remember this. so, i gave him a bowtie not knowing why he needed it. well, he showed up to tea in a white shirt, black pants, & the bowtie. as people walked in, he escorted them to tables, set their places, & pulled out chairs. i know this sounds like a nice, gentlemanly thing to do, & it was, but it was mostly just funny. he’s just one of those people.

that night, all the {two} capernwray couples were doing romantic things, taking walks around the loop… that’s pretty much the only thing to do around here. well, we were fascinated. & bored. so, briar, courtney, eliana, & i went for a walk. the only other people we really saw were people like us, trying to creep on the couples. one couple, however, let off paper lanterns & it was beautiful. kudos to that boy for being romantic. we got to the pond & we jumped in. there was ice. i thought my head was going to fall off. we were in & out in less than a minute. just makin’ memories.

also, briar bought me flowers. she went to town & jokingly told her to buy me something pretty. she did. it was nice.

our lecturer last week was a man called jim wright. he is a business man from north carolina who has a passion for greek grammar. it sounds boring, but the fact that he was downright giddy about it got us excited. i’m a big grammar person, so i was fascinated. he was teaching on the church. he has gone through most of the new testament & colour coded every verb to specify which tense it is. i think that makes sense. if not, i’ll show you the booklet when i get back. it was amazing. he sees the bible in a different light because he knows the original greek. i was blown away. he has spent years of his life studying the bible & has basically made his business a ministry. he will be coming back in spring school to teach about solomon & he will teach an optional course on greek. i’m so there it’s insane.

thursday was prayer day. we were  all together for part of the morning & the rest of the day was for quiet time with God & prayer. it was a relaxing & peaceful day.

last saturday, we competed in little competition called the capern race. if you’ve ever watched the show called the amazing race you’ll get the general idea. our teams were our interactive groups. all over the grounds were challenges that we had to complete in less than ten minutes. as i’m sure you can guess, this entailed A LOT of running. yeah. i’m not a runner. but i did it. i was proud. the events were mental & physical. i had a good team. we finished first but we didn’t have enough points to win. the top three teams had to compete in one last challenge in the pool & after that was over, everyone started jumping in the pool. briar & eliana jumped in fully clothed. i thought there was no way i was going in. more girls started jumping in. the boys started chanting “RE-SPECT! RE-SPECT!” what did i care if i had their respect or not? but they kept chanting & it looked so fun… i took off my boots & made my way to the deep end of the pool. we all held hands & jumped in together. it was the best. the pool closed after ten minutes of swimming but it was fun while it lasted. spontaneity is key, friends.

sunday was the most beautiful day. it wasn’t warm, but it was sunny. we were all dressed up for church so brittany, courtney, briar, & i went outside & had a photoshoot. some of them are posted , so go ahead & take a gander. after lunch, my family group went to the zoo. the petting zoo, that is. there was delightful array of common farm animals. the climax of the day occurred when we were in the play area. there was a big slide & a swing made out of tires in the general shape of a horse. my sister hailey wanted a ride on this swing & brother orion was kindly pushing her. said swing was attached to the rafters with a dangerously small amount of rope, so when orion tried to jump on with little hailey, they found themselves still on the swing but decidedly closer to the ground. meaning, on the ground. i’m pretty sure we were all in tears from laughing so hard. now, my brother daniel is always filming everything we do in family group on his ipad. but it just so happened that this incident occurred during the thirty seconds in which he had stopped filming. what are the odds? when we had finished petting the animals, we ate at the café & went back home. i have the greatest capernwray family ever.

i passed another paper & i think we’re just waiting on our last one now. i did end up failing that test though. 31 out of 44 points were required to pass… i got 30. so. close. i retook it today & i’m pretty confident that i passed this time around.

i called home last night to talk to my sister… mom answered & said that she thought i arranged to call on monday night. sister wasn’t even home. we definitely did agree on monday. i just forgot. i really need to write things down.  i was glad i got to talk to my momma though. J & my daddy has been mailing me letters.  it makes me so happy when i get mail.

i feel it is my duty to tell you, there is a popular british boy band over here with whom i have fallen in love. i don’t know if they’ve made it to the states, but they are called one direction & they are the most played in our room. it’s like five british justin biebers in one group. look up ‘what makes you beautiful’. it is grand.

i think that is it this time around. i’m not sure i’ll manage another post before outreach, so just remember us in your prayers. we will be leaving on friday for ten days. it’ll be an experience!

i do believe this post is even longer than the last. you are welcome.