PEF Barn Dance!

[Sorry about the long posting silence... It's been a busy few weeks, and we've got a very busy few weeks coming up!  I'm back-dating some of these posts, just because I'm a little ashamed at how long it's taken me to blog about these fun events...]

I remember now why I didn't end up blogging about the PEF barn dance last year... It happens in November, right on the cusp of the crazy busy holiday season.  And it's about the most difficult setting for decent photos -- dim lighting plus lots of fast movement equals difficulty getting the shots.  Especially if you're basically shooting in auto mode, which I was last year.  (Still annoyed about that, by the way... I can't believe how long I was in Program mode!)  Usually, the barn dance is held in the Rocky Common Room, which is a beautiful old hall -- with dim lights and really high ceilings so you can't bounce a flash effectively.  So last year, I made do without a flash or with attempts to bounce my flash off a wall, and then painstakingly went through hundreds of photos trying to find a few keepers... and never got around to blogging about it.

This year, though, the barn dance was held in the Wilson black box theater.  I was all excited, thinking I'd have a nice low ceiling for decent bounce flash, and looking forward to what I could get this year now that I actually know how to work some of the dials and buttons and doohickeys on my camera.  :)  And yes, there were low ceilings -- but they were black.  As were the walls.  And the floor.  Which makes sense, given that it's a "black box" theater... But they ATE my flash.  Literally zero light bouncing back!  So -- I had a crash course in trying out my new Demb Flip-It bounce card.  Which I think has a much steeper learning curve than I was expecting... I still haven't quite figured out how to make the bounce card work better than just plain old direct flash would work (i.e., not very well at all).  But I had fun playing around with it, and now have a whole new thing to learn and (hopefully) master!

But enough techy photography talk.  There's a mighty fine shindig to blog about!

The barn dance is always so much fun -- it's so different from your typical college night out!  There's square dancing, called by our very own Bill, a pie-eating contest, limbo... All manner of down-home country fun.  :)  And everyone really gets into it, coming dressed for a country dance -- who knew Princeton students had country dance clothing in their preppy closets?  ;)

Square dancing fun...








The end of the pie-eating contest:




And some good old-fashioned limbo competitiveness!








We had to leave early to relieve our babysitter (thanks again, Andrea, for staying with our little boy!), but this was a super fun way to spend a rare date night.  :)  Looking forward to the next big PEF shindig!

What's been keeping us busy: PEF events

Sorry for the long radio silence!  We've made it past the first few weeks of the school year, which means we now have a little bit of room to breathe... It's been hectic, but a lot of fun.  David is always so energized at the beginning of the school year -- which is good, because there's a TON to do!  I've posted a bunch of these photos on Facebook already, but since this blog serves as our family chronicle, we figured we should at least mention some of what's been going on in our lives these last few weeks.

So!  The afternoon we got back from the beach retreat, we had the interfellowship welcome -- all of the Christian fellowships on campus got together on Murray-Dodge lawn to welcome the freshmen and reconnect with the old-timers.  It was a beautifully sunny day, and while David met some of the freshmen guys, Joshua and I wandered about and charmed all and sundry.  :)






Then later that week, we had the PEF open house.  This year, for the first time, we had our open house on an afternoon during freshman week (instead of late in the evening, competing with a ton of other events -- that's right, students' schedules are a lot freer at 1pm than at 11pm...).  And we actually had a great turnout of freshmen!  It's always so exciting to meet the latest influx of eager and zealous Princetonians.  :)






And as a final frosh week welcome event, there was a game day out on Poe Field.  We were only there for the soccer part of the afternoon, but it looked like a ton of people showed up and had a blast out on the field.  (When did PEF become so athletic??)






And some portraits and little kid fun off on the sidelines.  :)










Gotta love the beginning of the school year.  :)

Catch-up post: PEF reading period events!

Now that the school year is officially over (just have Reunions and graduation to get through!), it's high time that I finally blog all the photos and events from the last few weeks... Warning: this post will be very photo-heavy!

Three weeks ago was Princeton's reading period, the week and a half between the last day of classes and the first day of exams.  Reading period is usually spent writing papers and cramming for exams -- but since there's no scheduled academic activity, the students also have time to hang out and throw fun events.  Over the last few years, PEF has developed several reading period traditions -- it's a fun way to kick off the end of the school year!

First up was the PEF talent show, held on Thursday night (5/6).  There's always such an interesting mix of actual talent (instrumental pieces, operatic arias), class skits (the seniors reprised their "Monks of the Saint Bill Boyce" skit from their freshman year!), and, um, varieties...




Perhaps my favorite skit this year was the role reversal by David L. and Ian F.  Both of these guys have very strong personalities -- David is one of the most exuberantly ebullient people I know, while Ian is very strait-laced and proper.  So their role reversal was BRILLIANT.  It was hilarious seeing them walk out in the other's clothing, and it just got funnier from there!



The day after the talent show (5/7) was PEF's spring picnic, right before our normal Friday Night Fellowship.  Tons of good food, fun and games -- and a chance to get candid portraits of people before they graduate and/or leave for the summer.




And finally, that Saturday (5/8) we held the PEF Olympics out on Poe Field. It was a beautifully sunny day -- perfect weather for relay races, soccer games, and other outdoor shenanigans.






It's always such a joy to hang out with PEFers, but especially so when the burdens of work aren't quite as palpable. :)