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Meritas
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Name: Meredith
Country: United States
State: Minnesota
Gender: Female
Interests: Coffee and conversation
Expertise: Overpacking
Occupation: Daughter
Industry: Homemaking
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
10/10/2004
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| [steady as she goes] 
[the road to the hake retreat in Northern Pennsylvania] Patrick Henry is comfortable now. Like a well worn sneaker. Not that I generally wear sneakers, but you know, if I did. There's always a few rough spots along the way. It's sort of like living with family. They drive you crazy, but you love them all the while. You know, I think I've finally caught my stride here. I'm feeling pretty settled in Political Theory major—the switch was a good decision I'm not the sharpest tool in the philosophical shed, but I feel like I've found a niche. I planned our Theory Retreat this year, which was an adventure. We finally did make it though. Three locations and one car accident later. It was the most wonderful, relaxing weekend of the whole semester. But then, good company and fresh country air are always a pleasure, aren't they?
The Boy 
[Andrew and I in Old Leesburg]
Andrew and I celebrated our one-year anniversary on November 10th. January will mark two years since we first met. Where did the time go? Seems like last week we were planning the Freshman Social, writing FIHRRs, and laughing at all those well-meaning matchmakers. Apparently they were all right and we we're the last to know. Nowadays you can find us hiding upstairs at Blackberry's, sipping mugs of Black and Tan and studying—or not studying, as the case may be. After all, good coffee and conversation are just a few of my favorite things. And with my favorite person? Just the best ever.
It's a Wing Thing—You Wouldn't Understand 
[me and the wing at the freshman social]
I love being an RA. Is this actually supposed to be a job? You know what they say, love what you do and never work a day in your life. I love having girls knock on my door at all hours of the day...and night. Whether it's to talk for an hour, or just to get the key to the supply closet. For a girl who never had sisters, having these girls is a absolute treat. I came into this wanting to be a blessing to them, but they have blessed me seven times over. Thank you girls!
_______________________________________________________ Bundt Cake for Beginners:
 The day I discovered the bundt cake I knew I would never return to the frustrating world of pies again. Easy, but elegant, the bundt cake is omni-appropriate—the little black dress in your pastry closet. Effortlessly beautiful, she’s that lip-gloss-and-go girl who waltzes into your 8 am logic class with nothing more than powdered sugar and a smile and puts your artfully frosted layer cake to shame. Dear hearts, why do battle with pastry tips and pretense, marzipan and masquerade? Give the bundt cake a chance, and you won’t be let down. This moist cinnamon pecan recipe comes from my Aunt Nancy and was my first foray into the world of bundts. It became an instant hit everywhere I took it, so now I always keep the ingredients on hand for last minute potlucks and surprise visitors. Cinnamon Pecan Swirl: Cake: 1 box yellow cake mix 1 box instant vanilla pudding Four eggs ¾ cup oil ¾ cup water 1 tsp vanilla Nut filling: ½ cup chopped pecans ½ cup brown sugar 2 tsp cinnamon Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar 3 tbs milk ½ tsp vanilla Instructions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray the Bundt pan with Pam. Beat all of the cake ingredients together at high speed, adding the eggs one at a time. Mix together the nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Pour half of the cake batter into the pan, then sprinkle the filling evenly over all. Pour the rest of the batter over the filling and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the pan cool for 10 minutes, and then flip it onto a nice platter. Decoration is up to you. Use this glaze recipe to create a Pollock-eque spackle job, or just sprinkle on some powdered sugar. Garnishing with a houseplant ala My Big Fat Greek Wedding is appropriate, but entirely optional. To mix things up a bit you can replace the vanilla pudding with lemon, coconut, pistachio, or just about anything you can think of. Pecans are my favorite, but really any nut will do. For a denser cake that can handle fruit, chocolate, and just about anything else you can throw at it, ask for my Marshall Field's Sour Cream Bundt recipe. Enjoy!
_______________________________________________________ From Snowy St. Cloud Minnesota,
Over the river and through the woods, To wherever you may be This is the Savvy Socialite, Wishing you a Happy New Year
Meredith Footfalls echo in the memory, down the passage which we did not take
towards the door we never opened, into the rose-garden. My words echo,
Thus, in your mind. -Burnt Norton, T.S. Eliot | | |
| [summer] spain 
[Leila and I in Avila]
What to say about six weeks in Spain? A good experience, but I am ever so glad to be home. Michael Buble says it so well, "May be surrounded by, a million people I, feel all alone, just wanna go home." If not for Leila, Andrew, Dad, and all those people praying for me back home, those six weeks would have felt like six years. Did I make friends? Many. Did I see lots of pretty sites? Enough catherdals make my heart sing. Did I study hard and learn a lot? Passed the exams with flying colors. Did I eat, drink, and be merry? Enough postrees y cafe for three people. But Dorothy has the last word on this one. "There's no place like home." Guatemala Still 
[Becky, Kelsey, and I at the Guatemala Picnic]
The Guatemala weekend is ever the highlight of my summer. Steve came from Dallas, Becky and Megan from Guatemala, and everyone else from their corners of Minnesota. It was an entire weekend of festivities--the picnic, the reception, the golf tournament. It was so much fun to catch up with my staff girls--chat in campo spanish, crack inside jokes, and laugh about times gone by. There's sort of a missionary syndrome that every staff member gets--a sort culture shock--seeing and experiencing things that you'll never be able to explain to the folks stateside. However different the paths we may take, these girls are my kindred spirits. Who know where "pulmones" really are. Who are eternally thankful for hot showers. Who will never eat another Pringle or PB&J again. And who carry the weight of a thousand blessings of crinkly old grandmothers on their most capable shoulders. Que les vaya bien, chicas. The Oregon Trai l 
[Dad and I on the Oregon Coast]
Dad and I spent a week in Oregon with Uncle Mel and Aunt Karen. A rolling apple orchard in the Willamette Valley, the land of milk and honey for a fruit-starved midwesterner. Blueberries so thick, I could pick them by the handful. Fruit smoothies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Honey for homebaked bread, scraped right off the comb. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We had a lovely time, roaming berry fields, walking the beach, and playing with the cousins. And of course, Dad and Uncle Mel golfed everyday. 63 holes in four days. Which is precisely 63 more than Uncle Mel had golfed in the preceeding four days. A relaxing trip altogether, and the perfect way to end a perfect summer.
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VIRGINIA This Thursday I head back to PHC for RA training. Then Freshman Orientation, and then a new semester once again. Back to chapel cards, chicken salad, and charting my course--wherever that may be. This time of year is always bittersweet. Leaving a home you love--but reuninting with friends much missed. The college student lives two lives. Thankfully I have people who care about me in both of them. And as long as we're on the subject, this one is picking me up at the airport. 
[the boy, at GG's in Leesburg]
Junior year. Can it really be my junior year? My stars, how time flies...
___________________________________________________________ And that's the Savvy Socialite
Signing out from St. Cloud, Minnesota
Until our next broadcast from Purcellville, Virginia
Wishing you sunsets and sweet dreams,
And God bless you too Meredith     
All summer long, we sang a song, and strolled on golden sand... | | |
| [two years later] 
Two years gone by. Two years of Patrick Henry College. Two years of midterms I thought would kill me and papers finished just in the knick of time. Two years of mistakes made and lessons learned. Two years of friends just a few doors down, and family a thousand miles away. Of kindred spirits in unexpected places and blessings entirely undeserved. Of bridges over troubled waters--burnt, built, crossed, and otherwise. Two years of laughter and late nights. Of chicken salad, and chapel cards, and childhood way far gone. Two years gone, two to go. Halfway there. Where did the time go?
___________________________________ [sophomore spring] Friends my best girls, leila and samantha, of course. laughter, tears, long walks, long talks. last minute runs to market street and minutes always well spent. 
my wonderful roomie, miss lisa. bearer of country music and perrine terms and wise words for hard days. my parting gift to the graduate: and iron and a hug whenever needed. 
and then this one guy. who walked into my life over a year ago. and has been there ever since. the "boy", my boy, Mr. Andrew John Tyrrell. [I miss him a ton!] 
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Classes Hard, but good--like the whole semester really. Just 12 credits since I had to stay under 36 to study abroad this summer. Freedom's Foundations II (Mitchell): DeTocqueville's Democracy in America + C.S. Lewis's Abolition of Man = incredible. Dr. Mitchell is amazing. Such a way with words. Wrote a paper at the end about women and mores--so much fun. I've never been so happy to be a Theory major. Christian Political Theory (Walker): First upper level theory class...and Dr. Walker's first class period. I liked his teaching style--very meticuclous. And the final exam was application based, which I liked. The final project almost killed me...18 pages on Christianity and Capitalism...which very well might be complete garbage. We'll see. :D History of the Western World II (Moger): It was a Moger class. What else can I say? He's definitely batting for the students...which I appreciate. Who else would storm the registrar's office on behalf of students mired in administrative bureaucracy? History of Modern Russia (Aikman): So I ended up in this class as a fluke after getting bumped out of Music Appreciation right before classes started. Random elective, and no interest in Russia whatsoever. But Dr. Aikman is unbelievable. A British gentleman and foreign correspondent for Time Magazine, he's been the fly on the wall for every major world event this half of the 20th century. Lectures peppered with first hand anecdotes of Boris Yelstin's drunken escapades in the US and personal interviews with Alexander Solzhenitsyn--all in a British accent. Simply smashing.
___________________________________ This and That: Made up for a light class load with all of this and that... Bookstore: 10 hours a week behind the counter. Hours of fun. You learn a lot about yourself in part-time employment. For instance, that I love talking to people, but can't count pennies accurately to save my soul. Glaser/Nichols: Student Body President elections in a school of type A policy wonks. A microcosm of equally cutthroat national politics. I'll have nothing to do with polticking, but Holly and I threw a fantastic kick-off event for Will and Jayce. A "garden party at twilight" theme, with citrus accents, gerber daisies floating in water, ivy, and white lights. For refreshments, lemon cream puffs, dark chocolate cake, and blueberry coffee cake, all homemade, with lemonade-ice tea punch and coffee to drink. Biggest accomplishment: making the D1 lounge look classy. If we can do that, we can do anything. And oh yes, we won. :D Tour Guide Barbie: So, even more than throwing parties, I love giving campus tours. It's especially fun if the family is talkative and excited about the school...otherwise it can get a little awkward. And the past few weeks, I've been working with admissions and a few other students to launch a Student Ambassador program at PHC. Basically, a team to help current student reach out of prospective students. Can't wait to get t he ball rolling! The Box Office: And randomly on the side I sold tickets for the Winter Classic skating event at Reston town center and, of course, the Liberty Ball. Never had so many people looking for me before. :D Always fun. ___________________________________ a holiday in spain So tomorrow morning, I leave for six weeks in Spain. I'll be in Salamanca, in the Castilla and Leon region, studying, of all things, Spanish. Miss Leila Grace is coming with me, which means two-thirds of the unholy trinity will be at large in Europe. Our dearest Samantha will be interning at a local newspaper in Ohio. Also a very exotic summer destinion. Pray for health, safety, etc...as well as Leila's prompt arrival. Passports...what a hassle those things can be. Still packing, still packing...and I know I'm going to forget something.
___________________________________ And then there's this... A haircut. Six or so inches. Like? 
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Love and goodnight.
And farewell to the US of A.
But only for a little while... Miss Meredith   
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| [one fine day] Maybe we were both born this fine day so that when we found each other we would know it was meant to be. 
It is, if nothing else, a delightful coincidence. Andrew Tyrrell, May 1, 1983
Meredith Schultz, May 1, 1987 [happy our birthday!] | | |
| [surprise] Right now my Dad thinks I am on spring break in Naples, Florida with Samantha and Leila. 
I'm actually at home. The Florida plans fell through about three weeks ago. Enter Travelocity. Three weeks later I'm making potroast waiting for Dad to get back from Dallas. 
He'll be surprised I think. If he doesn't have a heart attack first. That could be problematic. Oh. And as long as we're on the subject. This one kind of caught me by surprise. But pleasantly so. 
love and goodnight, meredith | | |
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