Check out these pictures that were taken by a local photographer of the tornado damage in Nappanee. It's still amazing to me that no one was hurt...or worse.

http://www.bryanpalmerphoto.com/tornado.htm

Yesterday afternoon after classes I headed out with a couple people from NMC to work with the Red Cross to hand out food and water to families in need around town. We headed to Short Street - a part of town that I had not seen yet since the tornado hit. (I just heard from a police officer that the tornado has been upgraded to an F4.) As I walked through the distruction, I couldn't help but stop and talk to some families standing outside. I talked to a couple guys that despite the fact that they have lost everything, they were so grateful that they still had their family by their side. It's truly a blessing that no one was hurt or killed. At first I was finding myself a little frustrated with God for all the destruction and loss that occurred Thursday night. But after talking with some families I realize how grateful I should be, and I saw just a few of God's blessings through this. Praise Him! If you want to see more pictures, a video, and a slideshow - check out Derry Prenkert's blog. He does a great job at keeping everyone up to date!! http://www.derryprenkert.blogspot.com/

I feel like all anyone is talking about is the tornado - Which is understandable. But besides that, everything is going well. Two jobs plus school is keeping me busier than I would like to be, but Amish Acres is only open for another couple of months, then I'll get a break. Kenya is a mere two months away and I feel like I haven't been able to focus on the preparations very much!! But I'm sure as time gets closer, that will be all I can think about! Mike's sister gets married in ten weeks, and the countdown is on in the Marshall household!! Mike can't wait for her to move out, and his mom is feeling the stress of planning a wedding. Pray for them as they prepare for this joyous event!

Well, the dishwasher repairmen are here and need to know where the fuse box is, so I guess I should go see if they need anything else.

Have a great week!

I don't even know where to start - The past few days have been surreal. Driving around town has been devastating, heartbreaking, and humbling. As most of you already know - Nappanee was hit by a F3 tornado Thursday night around 10:30. The tornado went across a twenty mile path damaging homes and businesses along the way.

Thursday night I was babysitting with Mike for two little girls south of Nappanee. Just before the tornado hit, the girls were in bed, and Mike and I were sitting in the living room watching the weather outside the window. My mom had called earlier to report that bad weather was headed our way and to just watch the news and be alert. As the wind started to blow harder and the porch swing was banging up against the house more often, the power went off, I looked at Mike and said "Maybe we should get the girls..." Just as I said that we saw the tree in the front yard bend (it was a smaller tree) to a 90 degree angle. At that moment Mike grabbed my hand and said "grab Karli - I'll get Kelsi". We got the girls out of bed and ran down into the basement. I could hear the howling outside and just started praying. I still have no idea how we escaped harm and damage. We were right in the path of the tornado and it was as if it just skipped over the house we were at.

However, others were not so lucky. The east side of Nappanee has been destroyed. Dairy Queen and Taco Bell are basically no more. Friends of our family and my boss and her husband lost their homes. It's been an emotional few days as we have helped them clean up, gather their personal belongings (what we could find) and begin the process of basically starting over.

Nappanee will rebuild. We came together yesterday plus 3,000 others to help this community gain back what we lost. We will overcome this, and I praise God for the blessings we have seen through this. There were only minor injuries and we are blessed with so many great friends that will continue to help.

As I'm writing this I'm wondering why - I'm so tired and just need sleep, but here I sit. My eyes a little zombied (I know it's not a word). It's been a crazy couple of days! This weekend I went to Indy to spend some time with Jamie and Sheena. It turned out to be just what I needed to get away for the weekend. We had so much fun just catching up and hanging out. I didn't get enough sleep by any means. It was great to see them again though.

Last night Mike, Ashley, Andy and I all made a roadtrip to Cleveland to see Colbie Caillat in concert at the house of blues. I had been counting down the days til this concert, so I was so excited that it was finally here!! We had a great time, and it was an even better concert. I can't wait to see her again. She was amazing. I wish I had pictures to show, but they are all on my phone, because they wouldn't allow cameras in the venue.

So to say the least I'm dragging after too many nights of not enough sleep!! But, my week just keeps going and it's going to get even busier as I have picked up some extra hours at Amish Acres.

I guess being busy is good? That's what they say right???

After an endless amount of advisors, 5 years, 3 changes of my major, 3 different colleges, 2 transfers, and finally one good meeting at IUSB - I learned that....

I'M GRADUATING IN AUGUST!!!!!

Chicago

The last few days have been rough. I've been overly emotional for the last few weeks. I have no idea why, but it all came to ahead this weekend. Friday night specifically some things occurred that just made me lose it (all for good reason, but still.) Things are ok now, but I just had one of those starts to the weekend that I thought, "I would like to crawl into bed and sleep my way through the weekend and just pretend none of this has happened." But yesterday Mike and I went with Ken and Ashley to Chicago for the day. We took the South Shore and just enjoyed ourselves walking around the city, enjoying Navy Pier and Millennium Park, and a lot of window shopping in stores we couldn't afford. Also, it was an added bonus that the Cubs were playing in town so we enjoyed the excitement of the game that evening (too bad they couldn't pull it off).

It was good for my spirit though to get away and enjoy time with Mike and my friends. We decided we need to do it more often. So as the train rolled on back towards South Bend, I thought - so what if I had a bad start to my weekend? I looked around at three of my best friends and realized that I'm blessed. Regardless of my bad days. I guess this time it took a day in Chicago and a dirty, tiring train ride to remind me.

October! Where did the time go? I feel like the older I get, the faster the time goes for some reason. I welcome this month though. There's so many things going on that I'm looking forward to. None of them involve school I might add. (Yes, I'm still bitter/frustrated/down/pissed about school and the fact that I'm still in it. I just choose not to talk about it anymore and push on.

This afternoon I took Mike lunch during my break, and I was waiting on him I was sitting on his porch watching the leaves fall and spin in the road as the cars drove by. Fall is my favorite season by far. It never lasts long, but I so enjoy the time while it's here. The leaves are beginning to fall, all of a sudden I might add, and it won't be long until we'll have to break the rakes out. My favorite part of fall is driving down a country road where there are trees on both sides, with my windows down, breathing in the warm air and smelling that unmistakable smell of burning leaves.

Fall always reminds us of change. Today as I was sitting on Mike's porch I was thinking of all the changes that need to take place in my heart. I need to be more positive about school and my time spent there (obviously I'm not there yet), I need to change the way I appreciate my time with some people, I need to not take things for granted. While these remind me of New Year's resolutions, they aren't just a quick fix, they involve more a life change. I love the change in colors that the leaves bring this time of year, but I love the change in me that this time brings even more.

Happy October!