New PR!

I had my third cross country meet this morning at Willamette University. There were about 300 runners, so it was a pretty big race. The exciting part of this race was that I got a new personal record! I ran it in 22:32 (that's my approximation...i don't know the exact time) and my prior record was 22:45. It was about a minute faster than my last time too! Even though that's not super fast for college, I was excited! Plus, I got to see Lauren, which made my morning even better. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the race :(

You should also know about the adventure I went on last night with my roommate and a couple other girls from our floor. It was a little after 7:00, getting dark, and we started driving with no real plan...first we went to Safeway. Then we found a pet cemetery (kinda creepy), then we drove 15 minutes to McMinnville, and took pictures at an airplane museum. It was closed, so we just took pictures outside. There were two suspicious cars ahead of us that drove around the parking lot then left... Then we drove back to Newberg and went to McDonald's for Dana. We went back to George Fox and wrote our RA notes in her room. It was quite eventful!

Prince Gilbert

Today my roommate, Dana, and I finally bought a beta fish! He is so pretty, and we decided to call him Gilbert. We also have three other fish that are kinda like translucent fish. Two orange ones and a smaller blue one, and I have a funny story about them: We originally bought four fish (two blue instead of one), and we decided to name them Adam and Eve (the orange ones), and Cain and Abel (the blue ones). We were joking that night about how Cain was going to kill Abel, because that's what happens in the Bible story. Well, we wake up the next morning, and guess who's dead...ABEL!!! Haha! We had a funeral for him in the bathroom. Here are a few pictures of our little family :)

Casting Crowns and a Day with Lauren

So on Friday night, Dana's mom bought me a ticket to go see Casting Crowns with Dana, Jonny (Dana's boyfriend), Lauren (Dana's sister), and her. She also bought me dinner at P.F. Cheng's, which was very tasty! That's where Dana and I are in the picture. I was a little skeptical because I don't like the concept of a Christian concert since it is glorfying toward the band, but they were so humble and I loved how much the leader encouraged the church rather than pointing out all the wrong things. It was really fun too! And, today I got to see Lauren! We met at the Woodburn outlet mall and got sweaters at the Quicksilver outlet. In the picture it's Kate (Lauren's roommate), Lauren then me. After that, we went to a Starbucks and did some homework. I have my first Anatomy lab practicum on Tuesday so I am stuffing my brain with information this weekend! Hopefully I will retain it all :) (Also, side note, tonight I played extreme spoons with some people from the dorm and actually met some of the guys from my "brother floor"! Haha, I haven't been very good about that, but it was really fun! We had to jump over couches to get to the spoons! There aren't any pictures from that though.)

(Above) In our new sweater's!

At P.F. Cheng's before the concert.

Goodbye Piccolo

I have already made a post about this, but here is a poem I wrote about Piccolo when he got the tumor on his leg. Tomorrow my dad is taking him in to be put down and buried at deep creek. It's actually pretty sad thinking that he won't be there when I go home for Christmas. Well, here's the poem/ode

A Tribute to Piccolo
By Monica Hartzell

A small black Shih Tzu with a mighty strong voice
Sits staring aimlessly into the dark cool night.
His owners have left him on his own,
With not much, only one eye for sight.

Seemingly indestructible, this dog has been.
One lost eye, a rare blood disease, and a little overweight.
And this just in, a malignant tumor on one back leg
Has caused him much hate.

He once was a playful, friendly fellow,
Who danced for a treat and chased his tail.
With a family like his, his life was desirable,
Except that his blatter sent him out with a wail.

Although he lives in jealousy
Of his fellow Shih Tzu’s who, in China are royal,
He enjoys his home
And his family who is loyal.

But if only he were one of them
With so much power and so much attention,
His plan to take over the world,
Would put the humans into recession.

From the viewpoint of an owner
He is a dog to behold.
So faithful all these years,
Fighting to survive in hot and cold.

We give tribute to our lazy little dog
Who loves to bark and loves to get treats.
He has lived a life of honor and courage
And has persevered through all the heat.

Piccolo will be greatly honored,
By all who have met him,
For they know that besides him,
No other humor could produce such a grin.

XC Meet #2

So, I finished in 23:37 (we ran a 5K) and I felt really good about how I did. It was a pretty tough course, so everyone's times were slower than normal, which means that my time will be faster when we do an easier course! I thought it was a fun course, even though some of the others didn't really like it. It was at Willamette University, which is in Salem, and the park was really beautiful!


As for school, it's been going pretty good. I have my first Anatomy exam on Monday, so I will be spending the whole weekend studying. I can't believe I've been in classes for three weeks already! Time has been going by so fast. I could be really overwhelmed right now, but it's really been amazing how much peace the Lord gives me when I make time for him every day. It's the most important part of my day! I am starting to feel like this is a home away from home, but I do have bursts of time where I really miss home. At least I know that Jesus is always with me!