GOC Spring Banquet 2013 // Great is Thy Faithfulness

Spring Banquet. The annual GOC event that signifies the school year is truly coming to a close.

The senior class always hosts Banquet as a thanks to GOC for four years of fellowship, teaching, and discipleship.

This year, we couldn't hold Banquet in the gym where it normally occurs. The church is remodeling the area this summer and right now, it's undergoing demolition. Not the best atmosphere to have a Spring Banquet. Not the safest either...

So we made do. Outdoor patio near the fountain it was. It had its perks, but there were definitely some cons, too. Perk: it's pretty. Con: the kitchen where we prepped all the food was across campus. Definitely a night where function came before form in terms of the senior girls' footwear.

Hosting Banquet is a totally different ballgame than attending it. I loved both, but I am very glad I had the chance to experience it several times before hosting. That way, I didn't feel too bad about missing most of ours due to hiding in the kitchen {hiding = prep} and didn't feel the need to get a bajillion pictures with everyone.

I do kind of wish I'd turned on flash for my camera that night. I thought it'd be better and easier to edit if I didn't have flash... that was a lie. Live and learn. {My night pics are all pretty useless. Sad}.

If you look at the past few years {2011, 2012 Pt1, 2012 Pt2}, my dresses have been decently simple. This year... still pretty simple in terms of cut and look. But ha. It's so not me and I love it. Evelyn helped persuade me to get it when we saw it in the store, so I knew she approved. I still had a mini panic right before Banquet started that it was too loud for GOC. Turns out, it wasn't. Love that dress. (:

 

One of my favorite parts of this year's Banquet was the way our class drew together in order to get everything done in time and on schedule. When you can rely on the people you're working with... it's the best feeling. Striving to do our best in order to serve others? Adore our class. GOC seniors, class of 2013, you're the bestest.

If that didn't repeat "best" often enough, I apologize. Bestbestbest.

 

The food was pretty amazing. The main course is always catered by Grace Catering {the church's own catering... small perk of a big church? I can't decide if that's bad to say. It is true, though}. Seniors take care of the appetizer and dessert.

Menu:
Appetizer: a twist on the traditional deviled egg. Instead of just egg yolk and whatever in the middle of the hard-boiled egg, we used a mixture of avocado, egg yolk, and spices. Each person got a small plate with a bed of spinach and three halves of deviled eggs.

Entree: that plate above. Salad with raspberry vinaigrette, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, chicken, and tri-tip.

Dessert: I'm not sure if it had a name, but it was basically a graham cracker base with a layers of hardened chocolate, vanilla pudding, and fruit {strawberries, blueberries, & raspberries-- hand washed and sorted by seniors} on top. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream next to it.

Drinks: Strawberry Mint Water and Rainbow Sherbet Floats

 

The night before Banquet, we did A TON of food prep. All. Those. Hard-boiled. Eggs. and baking trays upon trays of graham cracker and chocolate bases for the dessert. *head spinning from the amount of eggs and graham crackers we went through*

We were apparently a little too zealous in our graham cracker smashing though. TEN EXTRA GALLON-SIZED BAGS OF GRAHAM CRACKER DUST. Oy. Over-estimated that one just a smidge.

Mabel & I forgot to warn our third roomie {who isn't in GOC and isn't a senior} that our apt was going to be basecamp for all the prep. Poor girl banished herself to our walk-in closet cause we told her we'd be done by midnight or 1 AM latest... Oops. Didn't finish until 3:30 AM. Girl fell asleep in the closet. We asked her the next morning if she was okay and she said she was fine... didn't even notice when everyone left. The ability to fall and stay asleep anywhere is a talent few have.

Seriously. All my night pictures are useless. These three are probably as good as it's going to get and this is after MAJOR photo editing. Sad day.Love these kids though. Favorites.Sidenote: that dress. Ha. If you can't tell, there's sequins ALL OVER THE FRONT. It's amazing. 

All in all, I'm so thankful that I got the chance to help out behind the scenes for Spring Banquet. I had a blast and if the last quarter has taught me anything, it's that it is never too late to solidify as a class. We may not have been the closest group GOC has ever seen in previous years, but this spring quarter, man. Not super nostalgic. Just very, very grateful.

Thanks, dears, for an amazing four years. So many memories. So much love. <3