rice, rice, baby

n always loved rice. when she was little -- 2-3 years old -- there were times when it's all she wanted to eat. she even created a rice motto: "rice. plain rice. nothing on top -- nothing on the side."

fast forward to late march 2010. little n, now a 17 year old high school senior finishing up at bellevue college, is waiting to hear from university admissions departments. she is actually visiting b in nyc when she gets the news -- and breaks it to us (over the phone, of course) with a group of columbia students cheering in the background. she's been admitted to rice university in houston -- one of her top two choices. within days, pitzer college, her other top choice, notifies her with a bright orange mailing that says 'congratulations!' all over it. the financial package from pitzer is good. but the package from rice, including a $16,000/year merit scholarship, is over the top. after doing a bit more research, she makes her choice -- rice! so starting in august, n will be an owl! at this point, she is hoping to study kinesiology.

in nyc, n and b celebrated with a night on the town. when she returned home, we went to the cheesecake factory, where n dove into a huge plate of chicken bellagio, and m ordered her chocolate coconut cream cheesecake before dinner (to make sure she had room for it, of course!) -- these ladies know how to celebrate!

fuller seminary leadership theorist bobby clinton notes that the seeds of our destiny are often found in our personal history. we've found this to be true for both our girls -- even in the trivial (but beyond coincidence) cases of their choice of university; it's as if Someone had the whole thing planned. hmm...

félicitations, rice baby. eat 'em up!