1001 Spokanian Nights

Again, I am pictureless... but hello either way! I hope this finds you all well and ready for THANKSGIVING! I know, usually you don't need to prepare for a break, but holidays are the exception to the rule :) but it's worth it, because you get to spend time with the people you love. I can't wait to see my family! And if you haven't guessed, I'm home right now... smelly and tired and oh-so content! I think my parents are excited to smell my stench again :)

The last few weeks have been pretty fun-filled and action packed. Classes have been tuggin' along, getting ready for finals week in about three weeks. Oy... but I'm catching my revitalizing break now, even though I brought more homework and textbooks than clothes this time around. Also, the play I'm in is blocked, rehearsed and... well, over-rehearsed really... we open December 10, so fingers crossed that I make a good hooker! At least I have an alternative after I graduate if teaching doesn't work out :) juuuuuuust kidding! Also, choir is getting ready for its Christmas tour to the Westside. Funny news, my peers in the choir nominated me for choir office (I'm moving into the Choir White House next week...) so I actually am the choir's Social Coordinator for the year. I'm very excited, this means I get to plan social events for the choir during tour and throughout the year to build the community and whatnot (hmm... sounds awfully RA-miliar, right?!) and it starts with coordinating Secret Santa. So what did I do?! I dressed up as economy Santa for choir that day. By economy Santa, I mean I went to the dollar store, picked up some mop heads to fashion a beard and hair, a Santa hat and some glasses, and then I stuffed my belly with the clothes I changed out of. Ya know, the red shirt, white trim, black pants and brown/blue Nike's :) the choir thought it was pretty hysterical apparently, and I even wore my beard for a whole 20 minutes after I spoke in front of everyone! I started getting overheated at that point... that and the choir director couldn't stop giggling when he saw Santa singing hollily and jollily :)

Everything else is going great. I recovered from Feminight and my cold is slowly subsiding as my brain is slowly making an exodus out my nose... No big, it's not like I need it. And my Sudanese family are doing great; Sarah, the daughter, just turned 10 this past week. WOW! She's growing up so fast, and for the first time I saw her with her hair down. It was culturally appropriate for girls to have their hair back most of the time, so she was very excited at something so simple as wearing her hair down. And the baby is doing well :) It's funny, whenever these events happen with this family, they invade this one very VERY large Middle Eastern man (who wears tons of cologne and a nice suit at all times) who apparently is looking to wed. Always awkward, always fun to deal with. It's great having a 40-year-old man forced upon you! Don't worry, we always claim the "my boyfriend couldn't make it" and that usually solves the problem.

So Steph and I saw The Lion King on Sunday, and it was aMAzing! The music was beautiful, Mufasa's voice was b-e-a-Utiful, the set and costumes were beautiful... it was all beautiful! As a theatre techie, I was having a small panic attack from the glory that was their facilities. If you have the opportunity, please see it. Granted, it followed the movie exactly so was a little bit artistically stale, but it was TOTALLY worth sitting in the second to last row made in the theatre.

Quick prayer request: Coleson, the boy mentioned before, has been going through his chemo and is having a pretty hard time. He has a feeding tube, continually gets sick and is having MRI's in the next few days to see if the malignant tumor in his thigh will need radiation before it is surgically removed. He will already need radiation for the spots in his lungs, so we really hope he can have it just removed surgically. He also has been very sick with some sort of flu, so it's been a rougher few weeks for him than we hoped. If you could keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers, I'm sure they would appreciate it and feel your support :)

And finally, I have some pretty exciting news. For the past few years, the past few months especially, I have been feeling called to do mission work outside the country but didn't know when, where or how it would happen. Well, I know some may not believe in this, but I feel as though I got the call from God that answered those questions. So, this June I will be traveling to the Dominican Republic with the Foundation for Children in Need to work with orphans for a week! Everything has been wonderfully falling into place, and I really got a good feeling about this organization and this place, so I was officially accepted to the trip about a week and a half ago. Ever since I got the Call, I can't stop thinking about it. Every time I remember, I get very emotional. I can't wait to meet these kiddos and build relationships with them. Any prayers you could send my way as I prepare for this journey would be greatly appreciated!

Okay, I'm done blabbering my mouth for a while. I truly hope you all enjoy your Thanksgivings, spend it with those people you are most thankful to have in your life, and travel safe!

GOBBLE GOBBLE! (That's turkey-talk for "Love you!")
Chels

Public Service Announcement :)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Whitworth choirs to present 2009 Christmas Festival Concert, "Ye Shall Have a Song"
The 2009 Whitworth University Christmas Festival Concert, "Ye Shall Have a Song," will take place in Bellevue, Seattle and Spokane, featuring the Whitworth Choir, the Whitworth Women's Choir, and, for the first time, the Whitworth Men’s Chorus. The production, built around themes of pilgrimage and song, will involve 110 student singers, accompanists and instrumentalists. For more information, please call (509) 777-3280.

The concert will include its title piece, Randall Thompson’s “Ye Shall Have a Song,” from The Peaceable Kingdom. The Whitworth Choir will sing the featured work of the program, John Rutter’s “Gloria,” which is accompanied by brass, organ, timpani and percussion. Other concert selections include “Cantate Domino,” by Jackson Berkey, Healey Willan’s “The Three Kings,” “Pilgrims’ Hymn,” by Stephen Paulus, Peter Louis Van Dijk’s, “Susa Ninna,” and “There is No Rose of Such Virtue,” a setting of the 15th-century English text composed specifically for the Whitworth Men’s Chorus and the 2009 Festival Concerts by Marc A. Hafso.

The Whitworth Choir and the Whitworth Men’s Chorus will perform under the direction of Marc A. Hafso, professor of music and director of choral activities. The Whitworth Women's Choir will perform under the direction of Debbie Hansen, associate director of choral activities and chair of the music department. Diana Trotter, professor of theatre, will serve as narrator, and Bonnie Robinson will serve as organist.Following is concert and ticket information for each performance location:

Bellevue

When: Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m.

Where: First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue, 1717 Bellevue Way NE

Seattle

When: Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m.

Where: First Presbyterian Church of Seattle, 1013 8th Ave.

Spokane

When: Friday, Dec. 11, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 12, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Where: First Presbyterian Church of Spokane, 318 S. Cedar St.

Tickets: $18 general admission, $15 for students and seniors 62 and older. Tickets may be purchased by calling (800) 532-4668, online at www.whitworth.edu/musictickets or at the information desk in the Hixson Union Building at Whitworth. A limited number of tickets may also be available for purchase at the door prior to each concert.

Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The university, which has an enrollment of 2,700 students, offers 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Contacts:
Marc A. Hafso, professor of music and director of choral activities, Whitworth University

Joan Lack or Loree Swegle, music department program assistants, Whitworth University
Emily Proffitt, public information officer, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703

This message was sent by Whitworth University 300 W. Hawthorne Road, Spokane, WA 99251Campus Telephone: 509.777.1000

A Quick One

Hi there! I'm very sorry, this little witty ditty is going to be short and has no pictures, but I promise a more in depth one is to come in the upcoming weeks.

Been pretty busy around here. Between schoolwork, choir, the play, volunteering with the refugees, spending time with a child with cerebral palsy, a social life and planning a campus-wide womens retreat again, I have been fairly preoccupied. All are going very very well! I just got back from Feminight this afternoon (woot! I live! AGAIN!) and am about to pass out right... about... NOW!........... Just kidding, I guess I've got a little bit more wind in me. It was breathtaking at Camp Reed, and don't worry plenty went wrong. You know, like giving all the girls the wrong directions on how to get there (not my doing... and if I hear one more "well, if this were a MEN's retreat..." I may just crawl into a hidey-hole) and starting a small fire in the downstairs floor of the lodge (by the way, Camp Reed really needs to change out its fire detectors... we caught it as it happened but it was still pretty smokey and no alarm sounded). But besides that it was incredible :) Our speaker was phenomenal, the planned events were great, the dance party was HOPPIN' (I was the dj... my only stipulation to do it again :) ), the food was great (I had fun working in the kitchen the time I wasn't dancing) and we had over 100 girls go this time. It was such a blessing, I can't even begin. And I could talk forever but I won't because I know it's not the small details that makes it good. Just know that it was a wonderful time :)

To top off the wonderful time, I got a really bad burn on my finger (I was making like 6 grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch at Feminight for the vegetarians and... well, digit met grill...) and have a really bad head cold including runny nose and scratchy man voice that made it difficult to yell out announcements during the event. That on top of extreme fatigue from a busy weekend with one 10-minute break other than sleep equals me going to bed in approximately 7 minutes. I will hopefully be posting again soon with more stories (I'm so tired I can't think of anything right now...) so until then I love you all and have a fantastic week :)

With love,
Chels