He is not here: for HE IS RISEN!

Happy Easter! What wonderful news it is: HE IS RISEN! Jesus conquered the grave and now lives in Heaven on the right hand of our Lord! Not only did He she shed His innocent blood and give His life so we could be forgiven, but He fulfilled his promise to rise again on the third day to have the final victory over sin and death. All this so WE could be saved and have the hope of eternal life with Him in Heaven some day! Such a loving, gracious God we serve!

"And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." (Matthew 28:5-6)

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:18-20)

We had a nice weekend to spend together as a family...never a dull moment at our house! Between Minute to Win It, Easter egg hunts, coloring eggs, Insanity, and lots of eating, we kept quite busy. We all got so much candy this morning that we were hardly hungry for supper! But it was good time spent together and for that we are thankful!

Everyone is ready for their egg hunt...though Johnny must not be too pleased about it! :) The three oldest kids hid half the eggs for the younger three, and then vice versa. 

This took talent!

OTHER PICTURES:

Dad's birthday was Thursday...he graduated to the age where you only get one candle. The Oreo cupcakes were yummy!

Yes...the beautiful, delicious cupcakes. 

This is what the boys did all last week. They don't have a sister around to keep them from wrestling. Apparently this is considered "fun." ;)  

Hope you all had a blessed Easter and have a wonderful week!

By His Stripes

Isaiah 53:3-7

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." 

The Seven Words of Jesus on the Cross (ZH#89)

Out onto Calvary's hill,

Where Jesus died I'll go,

To hear the words He speaks,

To see Him in his woe.

How great the pains, O Lord,

Afflict Thee on this day;

"My God, my God,"He calls, 

"Forsake Me not, I pray."

No vengeance fills His heart; 

For them I hear Him plead; 

"They know not what they do;

Forgive them for this deed."

Now Mary weeps for Him;

In love He soothes her lot;

"See, mother, thine own son!"

"Thou friend, forsake her not!"

The theif in penitence

Is pardoned ere he dies: 

"Today shalt thou yet be,

With Me in Paradise."

"I thirst," He cries in pain,
For there is no distress,
Which Christ, the Friend of Man,
Endured not at His death.

He bows His head and cries,

"'Tis finished, all is done,

O God, receive my soul."

Life's victory is won.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

Back to School

Hello from Iowa City's Old Capitol hill! Though break was wonderful, it's great to be back! :) I was welcomed to Iowa City by a fun snowstorm to drive through Sunday night. It was a toasty 40 degrees today, but with the wind it is still pretty cold. According to the forecasts, it's just supposed to get warmer until it tops out at true springtime weather...let's hope they're right!

For anyone who wants to be amazed like me, that is the awesome Old Capital Building of Iowa (and museum) that I get to walk past every day! It looks more majestic from the other side because it is on top of a big hill. To the right is McBride Hall, where they have the Museum of Natural History that we all went to in Kindergarten. I walk through the building every Tuesday and Thursday to get to class, and I wait for the bus in there and learn about animals. It makes college much more entertaining when you get to be around such landmarks all the time! The other less-famed buildings are fun too. I walked through the winding stairwell and massive hallway on the top floor of Schaeffer Hall (to the left of the picture) two weeks ago and felt like I was in a grand palace! 

Today there were a lot of high school students touring campus and I hope they all came here and said, "Ah, yes. This is the place for me!" This is probably my favorite campus I've ever visited. It's also probably the only one I've ever visited. But it's a great place to be! Lovely location, nice people, wonderful faculty, safe and friendly atmosphere, and even a great education to top it off.

I'm being ultra-optimistically-positive right now because I don't usually sit here thinking about what an amazing place I have to give me an education. But sometimes I really do get excited butterflies in my stomach when I walk down the sidewalk and behold this city!

Nobody knows what it really means to be a Hawkeye unless they come and experience it for themselves. All that stuff you see in the news and on TV is only part of this whole array of the place. In reality, there's a great campus here with a lot of depth for students of any kind. Sometimes I just can't help but think, It's great to be a Hawkeye! ;)

Happy Tuesday!

21 Things to do on Spring Break

1. Go to Church. Yep, that was the best thing to do-and I even got to be in Mediapolis for Wednesday night services this week!
2. Work. I worked Saturday in the kitchen at Cafe Olde World. 'Twas good to be back!
3. Plan a Meal. The single group is having a parents supper on Sunday and I'm on the committee, so it gave me something to do this week.
4. Make Cookies. ...for your brothers before they come home from school. Nice of me, huh? Yeah, only they're all into this health kick where they won't eat anything. A 9x13 pan of bars lasted two days! (To put that into perspective, twice that amount used to last two hours.)
5. Give Blood. I gave blood yesterday because I was overdue for an appointment. Hopefully someone can use it.

6. Draw Pictures. Special prize goes to the first one to guess the meanings of these amazing Dry-Erase drawings:

Guess who?

Recognize this man? I'll give you a hint: He's famous.

This is the most embarrassing...if you can guess who it is I'll feel happy. :) 

This one doesn't have remote resemblance to the person it's supposed to portray. 

I hope I don't need more detail than this for you to figure this one out. Hint: Jesse has had a small obsession with this woman for a couple days now. 

One of Jesse's unfinished paintings...an angel. He messed up and was waiting for the paint to dry so he could fix it. But it still looks just like this and it's been a week. 

Jesse's masterpiece: A painting of himself painting a picture of himself. 

7. Wake Up Early. Monday morning at 8am.
8. Sleep In. Every other morning.
9. Go Out to Eat. I went out to eat with a friend in Kalona on Wednesday...the exciting part of my week! :)
10. Make Supper. Monday evening I made a meal. I think I'm going to do it tonight too.
11. Do Laundry. Monday...seems to be a pattern here with the Monday thing.
12. Go Grocery Shopping. Tuesday I went to town with my mom and filled up my cart with groceries for the parents supper. I've never before felt like such a prized customer at Fareway.
13. Do Homework. Failure...
14. Boil Dry Ice. We got a package in the mail with dry ice yesterday when nobody was home. So I added water to it and watched it steam for fifteen minutes. Later I showed Johnny the trick with the remnants.
15. Play the Piano. I miss the piano when I'm gone at college. But now I'm to the point where I play it for lack of anything better to do.
16. World Relief. Tonight with the single group!
17. Exercise. Or tell your brothers you want to get up and do INSANITY with them and then at 6:00am roll over in bed, turn off the alarm, and sleep in till nine. NOTE: AFTER A WEEK OF THIS, I FINALLY DID INSANITY THIS MORNING AFTER EVERYONE LEFT.
18. Update Google Maps. Find an incorrect location on Google Maps and send in the changes.
19. Sing. Friday night, Sunday night, tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday. Yay! :)
20. Eat. Parents supper Sunday night!
21. Go Back to College. And we'll be over the hill! Only eight weeks left!

In response to Mom's post on Tuesday, Insanity is simply driving me insane. I went to college and came back to find not only my Mom and Dad, but my brothers on this crazy health kick. Everything we eat needs to be completely analyzed for calorie, protein, and sugar content and then reconciled with MyFitnessPal before letting it go. I can eat anything I want now without being concerned about everyone else wanting it too. I eat my cookies in silence. I scoop up a bowl of ice cream with nothing said. Such a crazy thing for this house. Food has gone from a fun, relaxing thing to a strategic game. They're strange.

Travis adds a salad to his My Fitness Pal account. He's just adding a salad to look good for the picture because he did NOT eat a salad that day.

Justin had to make sure he got in enough calories for the day by eating a bag of extra-cheesy microwave popcorn late Monday night. Kiddo, just save it up for a rainy day!

But it's great that they're trying to be healthy, so I hope I don't discourage them. As Mom said, "Let the INSANITY continue!" I've got some tasty Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream waiting to console me back at the apartment, so I'll survive until then.

Aside from their Insanity, the boys have been keeping busy. Justin had National History Day on Tuesday, Jonathan had Mock Trial on Wednesday, the boys went to the musical last night, and today Mom took Justin to Des Moines for State Math Counts. Dad had to give up his rental car and has been driving my Alero this week to get it prepped to go back to college with me. Billy will be going to the Ronald McDonald House with the National Honor Society tonight.

Jonathan's mock trial team

Jonathan the lawyer

Mom rewinds

Spring break has been great. Fairly boring, but relaxing. I'll definitely be ready to go back to school in a couple days, but it was nice to have a break.

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Insanity!!?!

Yes...Insanity is happening at the Massner household.  Although I would be fibbing if I said this word was never used to describe me (Mom), this time it is not me but the boys.  Just when things look like they might slow down, we jump into another 'new' schedule.  This time it involves the boys but I believe it is for a GOOD cause and I will be interested to see how long it lasts.  A few weeks back they ordered a workout DVD called "INSANITY"  and I believe that the name pretty much describes the workout involved.  It is a lot of different cardio and body strengthening exercises that are both intense and vigorous.  I have been exercising now for well over a year and had yet to arrive back home to more than one person awake.  Last week, every morning I came home to 3-4-5 boys all showered, dressed & ready for school, eating a 'healthy' breakfast to tide them over until I could make them a 'real breakfast'.  Yes...they have been getting up bright and cheery(?) at 5 or 6:00am to do their Insanity workout!  So far they have all agreed that they feel much more revived in the morning after the workout and are able to fall asleep faster at night - hmmmm...wonder if the ease of sleep has to do with the early mornings?!? :-)

I have enjoyed the earlier bedtimes as we are now all on the same page when 9:00 or 10:00pm rolls around....Everyone is getting up early so everyone has to get to bed!  Ahhhh...I must say this is the one time when I have welcomed INSANITY into my home with a smile and calm.  It is maybe just a craze or a short phase but I am going to support this cause until it fizzles out...maybe it won't and they will all be exercise buffs.  I'm just glad they are all up and moving more and eating (or trying to) better.

We should have more to report on their progress in a few months...until then, let the INSANITY continue!

Viaje Vendoso: Chicago Spanish Trip

I guess since Stephanie already mentioned that I might reveal some details about my Spanish trip, I probably should write about it. The Mediapolis Spanish IV Class, consisting of nearly 30 high school seniors, went to Chicago on Thursday and Friday, and it was a great experience for most if not all. They were two very long, eventful days.

Group picture in the hotel lobby.
L-R, Front: Aubrey, Rory, Allegra, Mrs. Delzell, Emily, Allison, Ally, and Kensley; Back: Brody, Jade, Caleb, Becca, Patrick, Ben (the reflective jacket), Myself, Jared, Andrew, Kortni, Nick, Jessica, Blake, Sarah, Haley, and Lincoln.

First, I woke up at the nice hour of 4:30 in the morning on Thursday to get to the school by 5:30, which was the scheduled departure time. We took a school bus to Galesburg, IL, where we boarded a train that dropped us off right at Union Station in downtown Chicago. That was the first time within my memory that I rode a train, so it was definitely a fun experience.

Playing cards in the dining car of the train.

Then, we all flagged down taxi cabs that took us to our Double Tree Hilton Hotel. We checked in at about 10:00, then had about 30 minutes of downtime before we walked to Ed Debevic's for lunch. It's a restaurant where the waiters try to be rude, so it is not like your normal eatery with the waiters trying to butter you up to get good tips.

Eating out at Ed Debevic's.
L-R: Jared, Ben, Me, Patrick (hidden), Caleb, Blake, Brody, and Nick

Then the waitresses/waiter danced for us a little bit before we headed out and walked to a dance studio, where we learned how to salsa dance. At first, it was hard to do all the fancy movements that our dance instructor was doing, but after spending an hour practicing, I think we all got it down. Actually, some of the students were so excited about the salsa dance that they danced in the hotel lobby. Anyway, after dancing, we walked back to our hotel where we relaxed and prepared for our evening activities.

In the evening, we ate out at Emilio's Tapas, a Hispanic restaurant with great food. While we were eating, some flamenco dancers entertained us, and they really got everyone in the Spanish culture mood.

The flamenco dancers in the foreground and the singer/guitar player in the background

Some class members enjoy the food and the flamenco dancers at Emilio's Tapas.
L-R: Brody (face turned), Kortni, Haley, Rory, and half of Andrew

The incredible paella at Emilio's Tapas.

After supper, we all went to the Cadillac Theater for the musical Jekyll & Hyde, a tragedy with lots of details that are hard to explain in a short time (maybe that's why the musical took 3 hours...). Although it was a sad ending, the theater looked great and the music and acting were great, too. After the musical, we took a subway to the John Hancock Observatory Tower, but we were too late, so we didn't get to go up to the top at night. But, we did get our cheesecake at the bottom of the tower from the Cheesecake Factory, so all was not lost. Then we went back to our hotel, ate our cheesecake, and went to our rooms to sleep. Most fell asleep around midnight.

An anxious crowd awaits the "decadent" cheesecake.
Front to Back, Left to Right: Jared, Becca, Allison, Jade, Emily, Aubrey, Sarah, Brody, Patrick 

The next day, we left the hotel nice and early again at 6:30 and walked to XOCO's, where we enjoyed some authentic hot chocolate and churros. They were kind enough to open their doors 30 minutes early so we could come in, eat our churros, drink our hot chocolate, and still stay on our tight schedule, so we were very thankful for that. The first sip of the hot chocolate was great! The second sip was good. The next sip was alright. Then, it was so filling that it got harder to sip with every drink. It was really thick chocolate, so none of us were very used to it. But, I did enjoy the authenticity of it. Also, the churros were amazing and I don't believe there was a single crumb left on anybody's plate by the time we were finished.

The churros and hot chocolate at XOCO's.

After that, we went to the Pilsen village, a Hispanic community, where we got a tour of some of the many murals in the town and enjoyed the atmosphere of a Hispanic place. There was an art museum in the community that we went to after the tour, so we were able to view Hispanic artwork.

Our tour guide explains the symbolism of this massive mural of a big guy. 

A cool-looking thing at the art museum.

Next, we hopped on a bus that took us to De Colores, another authentic Spanish restaurant, for lunch. The food there was great, and I enjoyed it all!

My half-eaten meal at De Colores...I was hungry so I forgot to take a picture of my food before eating. 

Then we took another bus to downtown Chicago (Michigan Avenue) for two hours of shopping/sight-seeing. Since we didn't get to go to the top of the John Hancock Tower the night before, we decided to do that during our shopping time. It was a beautiful view of the city of Chicago alongside Lake Michigan. We also got to ride on the world's fastest elevator.

A view of "The Windy City" from the top of the John Hancock Observatory Tower. 

Ben and Jared think hard about all the buildings.

They asked some of us to help wash windows at the top of the  John Hancock Tower... 

They regretted it later.

For the next hour and a half, we split into groups and did our own things. My group went to Hershey's, where we saw a 5-lb. Hershey's Bar, and the Ghirardelli chocolate store across the street, then bought some T-shirts at a shirt store and grabbed supper on-the-go at Jimmy John's. We also went into Microsoft and got to preview the new Microsoft Surface. That was pretty neat.

The 5-lb. Hershey's Chocolate Bar.

After that, we all re-collected at the hotel lobby at 4:20 pm and took taxis to Union Station. It was during rush hour, so we all got to experience the craziness of Chicago and taxi drivers during rush hour. We boarded another train back to Galesburg, where we got back on a school bus and came home. We got back at about 10:30 pm.

Once again, it was a great trip and I think everyone enjoyed it. Many thanks to the chaperones and Mrs. Delzell, our Spanish teacher, for all their hard work and efforts to make this trip a success!

The Chicago River, a Chicago Skyline, and the Amazing Javier all in one picture. 

My Small Corner

Jesus Bids Us Shine

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,

Like a little candle burning in the night;

In the world is darkness, so we must shine,

You in your small corner and I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine first of all for Him,

Well He sees and knows it if our light is dim; 

He looks down from heaven, sees us shine,

You in your small corner and I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine then for all around, 

Many kinds of darkness in the world are found;

Sin and want and sorrow-so we must shine,

You in your small corner and I in mine!

Jesus didn't command that I change the world, He simply called me to shine in my small corner. God calls us to different places because there are so many dark corners in the world that need light! Let us shine with the light He placed inside us...you in your small corner and I in mine.

In my small corner in Iowa City, I sometimes become discouraged because I don't see what God is doing with me. I feel like anything I do is so insignificant that it won't make a difference. But I need to trust that He is using me for a greater work than I can see on my own. So as I shine in this dark corner, I need to let God make my light "clearer" and "purer" every day because He cannot work through me if my light grows dim! :)


School is going well. The three previous weeks were pretty busy, but this week has kind of been a cool-down before spring break. I had an accounting club meeting last night and am planning to help them at the Ronald McDonald House on Thursday night. Tonight the single group is coming up to visit so we are super excited for that!

I haven't heard any news from home. My car is supposed to be getting fixed and might be ready to drive when I get home on Friday. In the meantime, Dad has been driving a bright red 2013 Toyota Camry rental car around and might have difficulty giving it up when he has to return it.

Billy is planning to go with the Spanish Club to Chicago tomorrow and Friday, so maybe he'll share some of those details when he gets back. I really enjoyed my trip last year so I hope he does too! He is on his SCC spring break this week so as far as I know he's been taking it easy.

Last weekend we had our first three baptisms in the Oakville-Mediapolis church and it was a very encouraging weekend. It is such a miracle to see each soul come to know their Savior!

It has been a good week because God has been with me. As we finish the week, let us remember to shine for Jesus-you in your small corner, and I in mine! :)

Have a good week!

Week by Week

Spring Break, Don't Be Late

(Adapted from "The Chipmunk Song" by Alvin & the Chipmunks)

Springbreak, Springbreak time is near,

Time for rest and time for cheer,

I've worked hard, but I can't last,

Hurry Springbreak, hurry fast!

Want a week to run and play

Me, I'll bid the books "Good-day!"

I can hardly stand the wait,

Please Springbreak, don't be late!

School is going well, but right now I really want a breather. Tonight I'm staying up here to catch one more proverbial breath to get me through next week. And then...Spring Break! :) When I come back we'll be over the hill and on our way out and...OH BOY. I shouldn't even allow the thought of summer break to cross my mind. Summer is the chocolate dessert at the end of the meal that motivates me to eat all my spinach now. On that note, it must be past my lunchtime (and I will not be eating spinach).

But I'm learning to take one week at a time. School seems to bog me down and I often wonder if the weekend will ever come. I continue to remind myself to be thankful for this moment today because I will never have it back again!

Of course, spring break will still be nice! :)

Have a good weekend!

How to Eat a Carrot (...and other things you learn at college)

Well, another week is ending and a new month begins! Welcome to March, my friend. It's been snowing lightly all week, but I suppose it's more cheerful than having a constant drizzle of rain! In the words of my Intro to Management professor, "Looks like January finally decided to make an appearance."

I figured out how to take the pictures off my phone now so I thought I'd share some of them (the first one is not from my phone).

More Things I've Learned Since College Started

1. How to Eat a Carrot. My newest revelation taught me how to eat a raw carrot in a quiet and peaceable manner. You know how when you bite into a carrot, it makes a really obnoxious crack that alerts the entire room that STEPHANIE IS EATING A CARROT!!?  I've found a solution so that nobody has to know anymore.

Do you bite it like a hot dog, taking off cylindrical bites (as pictured above)? Try thinking abstractly: put it in your mouth so it is in line with your molars and bite (slowly and deliberately) the long way. Don't break a tooth. From here you can chew the pieces normally and nobody will hear. It's quite simple. In the time it took you to read this description, you could have eaten three carrot sticks.

And I bet nobody rushed over to beg for carrots. I told you it would work.

2. Ice is undrinkable water. I took a picture of a student's water bottle before class. My question is, why would you fill a perfectly useful water bottle with ice just so you can put three tablespoons of water in to drink? It makes a great ice pack, but what if you happen to get thirsty?

The same thing happens at the drive-thru. If you ask them for a glass of water, they fill it up with ice. It's water. But it's frozen. I'm thirsty. I can't drink frozen water. Moral of the story: If you are thirsty, ask for your water "without ice" because then you'll get real water. It is still cold because it comes out of the cool dispenser, but it is thawed water that you can drink. 

3. Ice is beautiful. While we're on the topic of ice, I'd like to point out that ice is quite interesting when you don't have to drink it. I found this beautiful artwork on the ground (Yes, I was looking at the ground again. As much as they tell you to keep your head up, there is still a lot to see when you're looking down.)

Besides that leaf in the picture, there weren't any to be seen and I can't decide if there is a physical explanation for the amazing design (or am I just imagining an amazing design?). It is ice on the ground from the frost, and I thought it was wonderfully pretty!

4. It is possible for ketchup bottles to balance on one another. Just ask Billy. My concern is whether it was worth salvaging the tablespoon of ketchup.

5. I need to stop giving lotion as a gift. When I cleaned out my bathroom, I found 12 bottles of lotion. I also have a small bottle in each purse and another 2 containers up at college. It's always been a great gift, but it just accumulates because I can't use it fast enough! In an effort to use it up, I'm about ready to turn into a woman of many scents and very moist hands.

6. Business students are supposed to like Dilbert.

Today's lesson: When it's Friday afternoon and you're tired of studying, JUST GO HOME.

That said, it's time for me to take the knowledge I've acquired, pack up my belongings, and make my way home to Mediapolis.

Have a good weekend!