Rinny Pin Rinnathin

The day is August 14, 2010. 

College move-in day. 

Armed with my fish (R.I.P. Kenani) and an armful of bedding, 

I lead the way to the dorm room I will be inhabiting for the rest of the year. 

I walked onto my hall, and passed the first door on my left.

((can I get a HOLLA for people who can't pass open doors without looking in??!))

Inside, I see a family of four...

two girls, one with the coolest dreads in her hair

and one with very very short reddish brown hair. 

Twins. 

((I'm obsessed with twins))

I judged them (correctly) as super cool girls. 

I later met the reddish brown shorty-haired girl...

in the bathroom. 

There's a story for that. 

And later found out that she was in my Torrey group. 

Which meant I'd be spending about six hours a week

in class with her for the next four years.

That's when it all started. 

Erin Whitlow became one of the closest friends my life has been known by. 

It's been a while since I've called her Erin though, 

she's just always been Rinny to me. 

((or Pinny, or Rin-a-pin, etc.))

{Isn't she lovely? Oh yeah, she's blond now}

And what a Rinny she has been!

From late night stress-fests to 

tearful prayers to

silly poems about boys to 

accountabilidicing to 

fits of giggles at four in the morning...

this.girl.is.epic. 

{posing for pictures are fake metal horses is harder than it looks}

Oh yeah...

I forgot to mention...

she's my roommate this year.

!!!!

I know, how lucky am I?!!!!

((friended and encouraged is this Maddy heart))

.Rest.FULL.of.JOY.

Last weekend I went on a retreat with the girls from my floor. 

It was a wonderfully restful and joyful 24 hours. 

It was a time for us to get away from school and get to know each other better.

We drove a snatch away to Oak Glen

where there are many beautiful apple farms.

We all caravaned in different cars...

but our caravan broke apart and the area

 we went to didn't get very good cell service.

So it took a few hours to get everyone together. 

Here are some snatches of what we did:

One of my R.A.'s Winnie and my dear friend Georgey.

Several of the girls that make life in Alpha so sweet.

Classic napkin head impersonation from The Holiday.

We did a lot of eating, too.

Los Rios Rancho is a lovely little store...

but it's so much more than just a store!

We tried yummy apple samples 

and tasted several variations of apple butters

and fresh baked bread...

mmmm so delicious!

This is Georgey. I'm her Lenny.

We're going to open up a fitness center for 

senior citizens someday.

((She blogs here.))

The pinkies matter. 

But mostly not really.

Playing some old school four square at the Christian 

Conference Center we stayed at.

It was like a summer camp but we were the only ones there!

Awesome roommate pic. 

Rinny is the one who usually takes all the pictures.

So I try to sneg moments with her in FRONT of the camera every now and then. 

((Posing on fake ponies is hard business.))

My other epic R.A. and good friend, Ruth

There was an old truck on the conference center campus. 

It was nice being the only ones there.

Needless to say it got pretty exciting!

I think this moment involved the suggestion, 

"Pretend you're about to get hit by a car!"

We keep it real classy.

Also, there was an old school one of these bad boys.

I'm pretty sure they've been outlawed like

everywhere. 

It was pretty sketchy...

and by that I mean amazing.

This is my lovely Lou friend. 

She is gorgeous.

Rinny captured her gorgeousity well.

It was an amazing golden hour.

Bah I love all of the girls that I got to spend 

those few hours with. 

We laughed often and talked even more often. 

Sporadic Disney songs and talk about boys 

rang loudly through the gorgeous trees. 

I delighted in SEEING the stars for the first time since Hume.

I felt RESTED in my quiet times with the Lord.

I sat with great CONTENT under a tree eating a fresh Jonagold apple.

I felt my HEART SMILE when I saw a leaf that had truly changed color.

We rang in the Autumn season well. 

((so thankful for these girls is this Maddy heart))

A Time for Laughter

Today was a day for loving Jesus more. 

Today was a day for loving Jesus more by spending time with dear people. 

Today was a day for loving Jesus more by spending time 

with dear people in deep moments of laughter.

Today was a good day. 

There were moments of quiet and conversation 

with my dear roomy and friend, Rinny. 

{Just before we "embarked" on the journey of building our couch. Ha, that was good.}

Simple words exchanged. 

Serious words exchanged.

Many silly giggley smiles. 

Nearly four hours were spent in catchy-uppy conversation with sweet Hilary.

{Our day of adventurous statue hunting.}

Hearing about her trip to Argentina 

and sharing about my experience at Hume 

were high on the list of verbal priorities. 

It was such a joy to strive to slow our words to

keep up with the joy in our hearts.

The evening involved so many silly moments with my girl Melanie. 

Adventuring to a boy's room with the expectation of

 seeing its fantastical setup

surprised us...

when there was no boy to be found in the room. 

Rather there were nearly ten girls watching Tangled together. 

Awkward...but followed by oh so much laughter. 

The capstone of this joyous day was a skypefest with Melanie and Jax. 

{This was taken on a trip down from Hume Lake to Cat Haven. 

I demanded a 'stache picture since they were dragging me down to a cat zoo.}

These pretty ladies were my close friends all summer long.

It was a grand time of story-telling and life-sharing.

Our laughter echoed throughout the hall of my dorm. 

I'm so thankful for friends like all of these, 

and so many others. 

Sweet souls that make my heart giggle. 

I can't help but think that God must have been smiling from heaven. 

I wonder if His laugh is ever a solo...

(which I'm sure would be killer to hear)

or maybe his laugh is heard in the melodic harmonies

 of the joy-overwhelmed bellows of his children. 

In that case, I very much enjoyed the 

laughter-chorus 

I worshipped Him with today. 

(( giggle-FULL is this happy heart))

Accountabilidice

This upcoming school year I get the joyful privilege of rooming with an amazing young woman.

Her name is Erin Whitlow. 

 I call her Rinny.

She is in my Torrey group at Biola and became one of my first (and dearest) friends this last year. 

I am SO EXCITED to live with her.

I get really slap happy giddy dancey joyful every time I think about it!

I'm stoked to get to know her heart better and learn how to encourage

her and love others better because of our friendship.

A few months ago I was trying to figure out ways for the two of us to stay connected

 in the midst of the craziness of our semesters. 

I was falling asleep one night ((this is the time that I become brilliant))

and I came up with the idea of the accountabilidice. 

Dice are hard to paint!!!!

Basically, you roll the di and the number corresponds to an accountability question.

These questions ask things like, "How did you love someone well today?" or

 "What fruit of the spirit 'themed' your day?" 

There are some lighter questions as well, like "What was the theme song of your day?"

We'll switch out questions when we feel like it to keep it fresh and interesting.

These little dice will sit in a jar/bowl on our coffee table (my trunk) in our room.

They will remind the two of us to challenge and encourage each other daily.

They will cause us to intentionally sit together and examine our hearts, minds, and souls. 

On days when we won't have time to sit and do this, the dice will be

 reminders to us to examine our hearts on our own. 

I'm so thankful that God has placed a friend in my life whom I can be held accountable to...

even with a silly thing like painted blocks. 

((so stoked to grow is this Maddy))