Potholes

Long Time Coming

2007-06-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

I know its been a way long time coming. I'm so sorry for my delinquency- Schools been way way WAY hectic. Well Here's whats happened while i haven't been here doing my blogging duties.

We got a new puppy! His name is Oreo because he has these spots that make an oreo like shape. He can be really sweet when he wants to be, but then there is also his puppy side and he bites and CHEWS CHEWS CHEWS.

In the middle of the Lacrosse Season- Here is the story-
OK so the class officers were going to go out to a celebratory lunch for the end of the year. And so everyone was piling into cars so i got into Cassie's car ( i call her Family) along with Pam and Jon. So i had a lacrosse game after and so i wore my jersey which was number 13 by the way. And we were on 90th and 13 around 1:13 PM ( and NO i am NOT joking about the time part either!) We got into a car accident. We had the right away and this guy came cruising out of the parking lot next to our street and he hit us. He was going so fast too! I was bent down tying my shoe on the time of impact so it jolted me forward and then i swung around and back again. it crunched in the door and glass went flying everywhere! By the way- this was Cassies NEW car... yeah i know way bad luck!. Her car was a 06' Corolla and we got hit by a 89' Ford F-150. the car door was so crushed in that we had to pull Pam out of the window. I was the most injured everyone else only had cuts and bruises, and i only had a bruised spine- i was just glad that everyone else was OK. I only have to go to about 2-3 more rounds of physical therapy to go! Wahoo!

I also got elected to be Junior Class Historian!! How exciting!!!! Well actually i didn't really get elected.... no one wanted to run against me- but still way exciting!!

The end of the year has come school wise. And to be honest i really hate it. I know at the beginning i was ready for it to come. But you just ave to warm up to everyone and get to know them. I have made some way good friends and its way hard to see them leave and graduate. With some of them i made a sort of family. We are a tight knit group- we did everything together. Pam and Cassie in particularly- we call each other family and now they graduate. The graduate tomorrow. And that makes me so sad. I have been way sad to see them go but i am so happy for their accomplishments. As Ive said before i am not good with change. And this is going to be a really big change- not looking forward to not seeing Pam and saying hello to her all the time.... i have to stop talking bout that now.

Oh yeah back to lacrosse. Th girls teams record was 5-5. Five wins five losses. And that is excellent! Well i didn't get to play as much as i hoped- because of my back i was out for 3 games. And i didn't get to play in the other games after for more than 5 minutes a game because coach didn't want me to overdue it. But i think we did fantastic and i cant wait until next year.

Only 2 more things for now-

I am doing summer nanny again. I know i said that i wasn't going to do it. But i put my foot down and said that i would do it as long as i was paid at an hourly rate of at least 5 an hour. They accepted that and i start working in the first week of July and then i work about 4 weeks towards the end of the summer.

On a way happy note- Me and my friend Megan are going to go to Kadesh leadership camp!! I cant wait its going to be so fun! And so we are going to fly first class ( the airline would only let unaccompanied minors on this way) and we are staying for a week and 2 days! Its gonna be so fun!

Thanks for staying tuned!

Saturn

2007-03-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

When i was six years old, we got a puppy. He came from Idaho to his sisters house where we picked him up. I remember when my dad came home with him and he was toddling all over the place. I remember his smallness ( even to a six year old) and calling his tongue "Ham- HAM!". Naming him was a grueling process. I wanted to name this toddling dog Pongo, because i was in LOVE with 101 Dalmatians. So i went to take a bath and in all the excitement of the dog, they named him while i was in the tub. You see, he had this ring around his tail, a perfect little ring of black. It was only fitting that his name would be Saturn. I loved the unusual quirky ness of his name, everyone thought it was weird, which i thought was cool.

He was the smartest dog you would ever meet. Im not kiddin- THE SMARTEST. He was the best dog you could ask for. He would come and sit by you, snuggle up on your lap, bark at the unruly Mail Man, and play for hours on end in the backyard. Spunk would be the way to describe him. Even when he was 12 and an "old man" he was spry. He started sleeping on my bed to keep me "safe". He started sleeping with me when i was barely 9. I loved having his little curled up body near me at night. It actually made me feel safe.

But in December we noticed this bump starting to grow on his leg. But he didnt let it get to him, and went on with his crazy wild side. But then he started hobbling on it. So we took him to the vet. The diagnosis- Bone Cancer. It literally made me sick. I couldn't believe that MY dog, had bone cancer. They said they could amputate the leg, but there was no guarantee that it would work. He was living in pain from day to day and it was getting worse and worse. It broke my heart seeing him so sad lying around, yet you could tell his mind was still sharp. But the pain he was living in was unbearable. We had to put him down.

After school on Thursday before he had to go to the vet to be "put down" i gave him about 7 dog treats. I had to go to a haircut, so i had to make my goodbye. I hugged him and said that i would miss him. It was the HARDEST thing i have ever had to do. He was the only dog i had ever known, best playmate, confidant, and a great friend.

I remember when i was 7 i asked my dad if Sazzy (Saturn) would get to go to heaven. He said that dogs didnt have souls, so he wouldnt go to heaven. And that made me wonder what happened to dogs when they died. But now its hard to imagine that his life just ended- nothing more to his life. Now when i look on it i hope that Saturn is in heaven, chasing the pesky cat, and soaking up some rays.

Heres to you Saz- You get that Mail Man, there must be plenty in heaven to choose from.

A New Kinda Chili in My Chili Bowl

2007-02-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

One week ago after school I was hangin out with some of my buddies. This gang consisted of Hollianne, Angela, Cameron, Davey, Laura and some others. We got to talking about religion. Because the Friday before Cameron said something and the others were shocked that he would say that to me. It was more offensive to them I think- He said that I wasn’t the “right religion”. That ticked some of the other kids off, and they are Cameron’s religion. Now, being in the so called “minority” I grow up used to this. You just have to roll with what other give you. Sure their will be some comments here and there, you just have to know how to deal with it. So Cameron said “Have you ever been to a ward?” I said no that I hadn’t, and that I would make them all a “deal”.

“If I go to your guys’ church for a Sunday, then you have to come to mine the next Sunday. Does that sound fair?”

They were all game for it. But because I am the teacher of my little Sunday kids, we decided to go until March. Daveys ward on the 4th and my Church on the 11th. Now I realize there are some things about my church that I don’t necessarily like, but it’s not a bad place to worship! The people are friendly and I think that they’ll have a good experience. All 10-20 of them. That’s right 10-20! After we made the bet word got around to some of my other friends (mutual friends with the previous after school hangout kids). So the twins Liz and Sarah wanted in on the action. This led to Cassie wanting to come, and possibly Malia and Jen. Angie wants to come, so that means Riley will probably come. I told some of my friends in computer Tech what was goin on, and they wanted to come too. If those girls were able to come, that would be Morgan, Halie, Kalie- (pronounced Callie), and many others that want in.

I realize that I will have to go get some new clothes to go to church probably. They wear really nice church clothes; the boys wear suits and the girl’s dresses. I do wear dresses, although I really don’t like it. (And I don’t think that God really cares what we wear over our butts anyways, there’s more important things to worry about...)When I told the others they could just wear Jeans and T-shirts, or whatever they wanted. It blew their minds! They went nuts! Davey was all ‘Dude mad Fo’ Reals?!”

I think it’s going to be a very good experience, a new kind of chili in my chili bowl.

Life, Legs, LaCrosse, and Love...

2007-02-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

Life- Life for me is going pretty good i guess. I have been loaded with homework. And i got my schedule changed because of Mid-Term. The only class that i had to have changed was Comp-Tech in place of P.E. Some of my Gym pals came along with me to Comp-Tech. These were my good pals- Morgan, Kelli and Eden! I sure do love my peeps, and I'm glad that i have them with me.

Legs/ Lacrosse- Conditioning is in full swing! And boy do i HURT! Not just sore- PAIN PAIN PAIN. But i hear it gets better after about a million hours of Conditioning. But the funny thing is, i LOVE it. I LOVE going to practice.... Not necessarily the pain but i love the practice. We start out with a lap around the school. ( We are actually in the school) Then we do about a bazillion stretches to loosen up. Then we do Indian Runs. Indian runs are when we all get in a big line then the person from the back has to run all the way to the front while everyone is running. This is about 3-5 laps around the school. After that we do stairs- run up the left side set, down the middle set, back around up through the right set of staires, down the middle then left. That's only one set, we do about 6 sets when you run up, you have to run through the hallway to the middle, so its not just staires the whole time its the whole Shabang. After that Bunny Hops, then Ladders, Lunges, "Fairy Pickers", skips, and then a cool down lap, another set of stretches then we go home. This takes about 2 hours to do. After this my legs feel like Jello and i am TIRED. But by the time Practice is over i have enough time to come home, Eat, do 2-4 hours of homework, check email, then i am off to bed. Not much time for a life outside of this really, but i have met some awesome people, and some not so awesome people.

We voted for captains for the Team. I voted for Hilary ( a girl in my chemistry class) and the two chelseas. The Captains were- Hilary, Chelsea, Julianne, and Jennifer. Hilary and Julianne are really nice, and i love them to death. Chelsea is nice but she can be pushy, when i am doin ladders and believe me i am going as fast as i can go and she is yellin "Come on I KNOW you can go faster than that! Come on go go go!" Folks, i put 100000 percent into anything i do, and man i was going as fast as i can go. Jennifer ( better known as Jenny) pulled me aside after practice and said this " Dude, you put in an awesome effort today, don't listen to the other girls that tell you to go faster, your doing your best, and that's all anyone can ask. So screw them, your doing fine." That's my kind of captain, taking their own time to talk to you and encourage you. My kinda Captain.

Love- HAHAHAHAHA i bet you read the title and wanted to know what that was all about. Well it was a good teaser hahahaha you wasted all your time waiting to her about "Love". At least it got you to read the post eh'!

It's Time

2007-02-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Why do some children go forgotten-

like they dont even exist.

What the world needs now...

Is Someone to Care......

So please, Care about the kids around the world. Its time for a change. Make the world a better place, one child at a time.

Musings of a Pre-School Teacher

2007-02-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

For the past 10 weeks, I have been the Sunday school teacher for the Pre-school class. I knew I would enjoy it, but it has surpassed my expectations. I LOVE it. We are supposed to have about 7 kids but I usually only have about 3 or 4 every Sunday. Its hit and miss with most kids. Sarah, Cory, Megan, and Jake are my regulars. Mechel is hit and miss because of her parents custody agreements, and Sam is the same way, and Madisons family doesn't come to class. Me and Abbey ( Co-Teacher) trade off Sundays between snacks and lesson. We start off with songs and a prayer, read the story, do a coloring page and if we feel adventurous we do a craft. (We have gotten more adventurous every week).

I can tell when Cory and Jake both come, its going to be an interesting day. More like hilarious. Jake is one of my "little brothers" so when he comes into class he usually days something like- "Hello Mrs. "fruit frun" head!" When he sees cory "Hello squash face!". I cant help it its too funny. Sarah is genuinely a quiet girl and doesn't say much. Prayer requests for her usually go along the lines of "Ummmmm. My kitty Simba!"

Here are some of my favorite sayings from the kids-

Jake- " I didn' paint a boat! I painted a Machine, and its going to attack Sarah and Cory! Argahsjhakjsf"
Me- Jake we are all friends"
Jake- "Naw I just killed em' were not friends no more!" ( he get sa mischievous grin then says, 'Sowwy' Sarah.)

Me- "so guys what was the lesson about today?" ( Good Samaritan)
Cory- "it was about Sungwasses... definatwy sungwasses!"
Me- No, close it was The good Samaratin."
Cory- " Oh yeah wight. The Samerafind! But couldn't Bat-Man save dem?"

Me- "So Mechel how old are you?"
Mechel- "I am 65!"
Jake- "Oh yeah Mechel I am 40!"
Cory- " Well I am 36ty BILLION!"
Sarah-( flips hair) "I'm almost 5, beat that"

One of my favorites of all times-
Me- "one day we will get to go to heaven and be with Jesus too!"
Sam-" No we wont! How can we get to heaven if theres no wope from da sky!?"

I cant help it I love these kids! I would teach them all year if I could. These kids are a hoot and I love them. The most rewarding part is hearing them tell their parents the 'Cool awsomest painting EVER!" and how they cant wait to come back next week. It makes all the work worth it.

Different Ability

2007-01-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

Last Monday sense I didn't have school, I went to the School at our church and volunteered for the day. I have done this on everyday I have had off for basically my whole life. I cant help myself- I have to stay busy, and I love these kids. I always help in the kidergarten- its my favorite age. So recess time comes around, and its going to be an "IN DAY". So Mrs. S comes into the kindergarten room with Katie and McLane, the "special needs" kids. They both have Autism. For some reason I am drawn to McLane. Not like physically ( gross hes like 4!) So he wants to play Candy Land so I got it out of the cupboard so we could play. Of course we played his version which consisted of saying the colors, picking out your own card ( face up) and going straight to the Candy Kings Castle. You could tell he had Autism, by the way he interacted with the other kids, swayed back and forth, and didn't like to make very much eye contact. He was a way cool kid, and I loved every second of playing with him. Arlene asked me while we were playing " isn't that what you want to do when you get older, be a Disabled Special Ed. Teacher". I said " Maybe one day, I Would love to work with Different Abled children" Then Mrs. S went into the speil of how much patience it takes blah blah blah, to work with Disabled kids.

I hate that term "Disabled" I always say ( or try to say) Different Abled. Because they aren't Disabled- sure compared to me and you, yes they may look "disabled". But I have noticed that "disabled" people are the most abled.

For those who are blind, they cant see the clothes you wear, they cant judge by clothes. Black and white are just words to them. They cant judge by skin color. I saw this boy on Oprah, who was born with no eyes, and he was remarkable- he stated the things above. He even said " Oprah, I am in no means disabled. In fact I am the most abled, I may not see the clothes you wear, the color of your skin, I will never know what moon light is. But I get to see what most people cannot. I see the love people have. And that's more to me that sight. In fact, I feel bad for those with sight, so don't feel sorry for thost that are different, its you that you need to feel sorry for."

It couldn't be said any better. So from now on, if people ask me if I want to work with Disabled kids, the answer is no- I want to work with Different Abled kids. For those are the people that have taught me the most about love, those who are the best seeing it.

My top 7 life-long Goals

2007-01-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

(In no particular order)

1. Go on an LST mission trip to Africa for the summer.

2. Build an orphanage/School in Darfur Region.

3. Set up a college foundation for children in Africa.

4.Set up a foundation to help support Children with life threatening diseases financially.

5. Adopt a baby girl from Vietnam/China

6. Become a foster Parent.

7. Make a difference in the world- hopefully I'm well on my way. But who knows

Merry Christmas Happy New Year! And all that Jazz

2007-01-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hey yall, sorry its been awhile- things were a little crazy these past few weeks.

For starters Christmas went well. Although I got my Christmas present from Santa and myself last week. ( "Wii" just couldn't get our hands on one!) If that didn't make sense to you, I got a Wii for Christmas. But don't worry I paid for more than half if it :)

My grandparents from Texas came to visit. And because of the snow storm they were stuck here for an extra 4 days. Now I love my grandparents very much, but there comes a time when you need your space back.They got there a day before I went on break, and they left the day I went back to school. So I got no down time to myself, but that's the way the ball rolls I guess.

For News years my church had a Lock in for the teens. That's when you stayed up ALL NIGHT and you never go to sleep. Yeah fun. We played so many games it wasn't even funny here are some just to name a few- Have you NEVER, have you EVER, take a hike, chair spaces, If you, Experience, Mafia, Hide and go seek, murder in the dark, DDR, Apples to Apples, Headline, and a bunch of Umpromtu theater games.

I invited my friend Ashley. She was also the one I took to camp with me. So she was used to many of the people there. Speaking of Ashley- she has missed a lot of school. She missed half of the year last year due to a very extremely bad case of Mono. She was getting better but she has missed half of the year so far, and the doctors just don't know what's wrong with her. But they finally diagnosed my good friend with Fibromayalgia. Pain of the muscles and Bones. I love my dear friend, and it makes me sad not to get to see her as often as I want to. I share a locker with her and its sad not to get to see her every class period like everybody else and their buddies. I just hope and pray she doesn't have much pain. Its hard to see someone you love and care about so much have pain that makes them not be able to get out of bed. It breaks my heart.

Snip Snip... (Written December 1st)

2006-12-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

Today was the day. The day all my hair was wacked off my head in about 30 seconds. Well this is how it pretty much went down.

All girls went down to the Gym before the assembly to fill our donation papers, then we measured 10 inches ( or however much they were donating) and tied that into pony tails. We were able to pick the person that was going to cut. But sense my hair is really thick ( and I mean THICK) I picked two people. The first one was Hannah R. Shies been my friend sense 7th grade. And the other one was going to be Carrie but she was cutting Kim's ( Her sister) so I picked my buddy Kasey. And then I had my two other good friends that just wanted to be there with me. Toni was my hand holder and Ashley was my moral support I guess. ( She didn't wasn't to sit and watch from the bleachers. They ran out of scissors so I had to wait. Wich meant I watched half of the girls before it was my turn. Most of them cried ( which is understandable) but the girl next to me was Screaming. Not just teary- screaming. And it was my original plan to have both my ponytails cut at the same time, so I didn't hold one then the other one was getting cut. So then it was my turn.

Now al lthe people in the audience were staring and cheering and standing. When I looked to see if their were any other girls left their were only 3 left then me. And we were only given one pair of scissors. This was going to be painful. So Hannah took the pair of scissors and she started to cut. I held tonis hand, but then I started to cry- the assembly is very emotional. Then when she was done she handed Kasey the scissors. But I made the mistake and reached up to feel my hair- It felt like it was all gone! Then Kasey started to cut and when she was done she gave me the biggest hug ever- she was crying then too. All the while Toni was holding my hand and saying "Oh Bee don't worry you look beautiful!" Which was a lie but she was trying to make me feel better. While Kasey was cutting Carrie ( the one that was supposed to cut it) came over and was "Oh Bee! Youre the last one here dude!" But then the deed was done, my hair was cut.

I went back to where we were getting the hair styled and I amazingly found a lady who wasn't doing anyone's hair yet. I sat down and showed her the clip of the style I wanted. Then I said " Can you do this?" and she said "Baby, I can do anything!" After she was done cutting it the power went out! So her and her people stood around me and were lighting my head with cell phones so that she could finish styling it ( our blow dryer was working!) Then she was done. So the girls that were done went out and showed off our new "Doos". I have to say I was quite pleased with it.

Walk the Walk

2006-11-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

I guess I really didn't realize how bad I was at keeping this thing up to date! Its been a whole month!! Sorry about that!I have been soooooo busy! Busy with school, busy with everything! Ive got to catch you up on soooo much, ill try to recap as much as I can.

Well We had our MORP dance, and it all went as planned, which was good because well, lets say us Soph. Officers were divided right in the middle, and it wasn't pretty.

We had thanksgiving at our good friends the Osborns, shared a meal with some other families and had a fun time hanging out as a family!

Our football team really sucks, so we had pretty much a loosing season,but hey its all about school spirit right?!

I took a leap of faith, and I joined my schools girls LaCrosse club! (aka LaX). I wanted to play a sport this year to get me ready for the soccer season! I am gonna be geared up to play LaX and then move right into the Soccer season!! I CANT wait!

I am now the official 2006-2007 winter Quarter Preschool teacher! They didnt have anyone to teach the little ones for Bible class, so Me and my buddy Abbey are spreading our wings, leaving our own classes and heading into the unknown! Although I have to say, Half of those kids in there I babysit, so I pretty much have it under control :)

Thats most of whats been going on, I know bring you a regular post.

For the past couple weeks, I have just really felt like I am on top of the world. Its mine to take. No im not gonna take over the world literally, I just really feet like I have been living my life! If that makes any sense. Now normally, I wouldn't think much of it, but i really have been taking what life hands me and doing something with it! I have met more people at my school, then I ever could have immagined! I cant walk down a hallway without saying "Hi" to at least 10 people. Most people which I probably wouldn't have given the time all almost seniors. ( I am in no way trying ot make this sound like a popularity contest- im just saying) I have been well pleased with my efforts and my grades- taking what crap the teachers throw at me, and making a musical out of it! When the government people start planning something, I throw all that I have into it! I just get so into things like that! We are doing a fundraiser for Cancer research, and I signed up to sit at the table for 10 lunches for the month of December.

And the Locks of love hair assembly is TOMORROW! I am donating a grand total of ten inches!! Now when you think of 1o inches, it doesnt seem like a lot. But when you have been growing it out for this long,you really feel like 10 is a lot! I am way nervous and excited to see it go- I have never in my whole life had hair this long, but I have never had that short of hair either- so its going to be a way interesting experience!! There are 5 people on government cutting there hair. The SBO\'s doing it are Kim ( she did it last year too!!what a trooper!) and Michelle. The Government are Pam, Cassie and me!The other girls are all seniors, im the only Soph. We had a grand total of 51 girls sign up! That is double what they had last year!That is at least 510 inches of hair AT LEAST! That converts to 51 ponytails which will make up to 10 wigs!! I am super stoked for this, as you can tell!

I just really feel like I am living out my life the best I ever have,I hope I can continue to feel like I am making a difference, and not waisting one moment. I hope I can touch peoples lives by the way I live out my actions, and my faith. I really truly hope so.",

Overwhelmed

2006-10-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Alright, I decided that I needed to make a post, because well, I haven't for a while. And the reason for that is because I have been overwhelmed with the upcoming projects. Because I am on student council, the Sophomore Officers are in charge of Soph. Week, the Soph Assembly, AND MORP. MORP by the way is the schools Halloween dance. And they are all the same week. So basically 2 of the officers have been complete butts and haven't dona a thing. I have made the tickets, sent them to the coppiers, taken a butt load of pictures and I also get to make all the pictures from everybody into a slide show by Thursday. And during the class time that we have I have made 3 banners and done everything that the other girls have asked me to do. I even cleaned up all there paint messes that they left and stained my favorite shirt in the whole world. Its my blue lLife is Good Shirt. Yep black paint. And one of the other girls is doing just as much as I am, the other 2 well, lets just say no one is on good terms with them right now. But on Friday when the other girls were cutting out the tickets, I finished the banner, got all the supplies and a new banner paper. All the seniors weren't working on there projects ( because they don't have any yet) were by the hall talking. When they saw me start to paint, Pam says " Bee don't you dare pick up that brush!" then she comes and grabs the brush right out of my hands. And then Cassie chimes in " Bee you do EVERYTHING! Let me help!" She grabs the other brush and starts helping Pam. Then the other 2 Eric and Danny said "Hey I wanna Paint!" So they helped me finish they banner and even the other banner I had to make for the Price is Right game that we are playing at the assembly. Then when they finished the blue banner they came over and helped me with the other one.

It felt so good that they were willing to help. They even deemed me an "Honorary Senior Officer". So basically, by Thursday I have to make a 10 min slide show, and finish up the other banner, By like 500 cookies for the dance, and do all my end of the quarter homework by Friday. I just really want Sophomore week to be Over! And I really wish Julie and Kirsten would do something to help.

TP-ing

2006-10-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday one of the SBO's Sammy had a Student Government party at her house. There was a Choir concert that night so a lot of people were going to show up at about 10. I got there about 9 and so far it was just Pam, me and Sammy. We sat around her kitchen table and ate doritos and Capri suns, and talked and goofed off. At about 10 we had a lot more people. It was now Me, Pam, Sammy, Rylie, Erica, Kim, Angie, and Cassie was just pulling into the driveway when all of a sudden we hear Cassie yell from outside "Hey get back here!" So we all rushed to the door to find two people book it down the block, and there was the beginnings of a TP-ing. Ah interesting caught right in the middle, not even the middle they were just starting their heinous crime. Although they did have enough time to cake all the cars with silly string. But they left all their supplies on the yard. Yep folks but that's only one of the stupidest things they did. The toilet rolls they left consisted of 7 rolls of toilet paper. And the best part- they left their car unlocked. So we got all the silly string from the cars and we shredded it and sprinkled it everywhere. When we got all the toilet paper from the yard and the rolls and we had a hay day. Me, Angie, Rylie, and Kim were left to do the deed. So Me and Angie got to do the front and Rylie and Kim the back. We wrapped the brakes and the steering whell now resembled an air bag, the glove compartment was covered with tiny shreds and I opened all the CD cases and put shredds in the CD's. I even shredded some and stuck it in the visors so when they pull it down it snows toilet paper. Pam came out to the car and noticed one of the culprits had left their cell phone. Ah a bargaining chip.
So we locked the doors and proceeded to the inside. It wasn't even 5 minutes when we got a call from the phone. We all just lost it we were all laughing hysterically!! So Cassie said gimme the phone got an idea.
Cassie ( pretending she had a heavy Asian accent)Helloah Ah yes Cellula phone. No my cellulah phone. Ahh you confused Bah Bah now.
The phone rings once again and this time Rylie gets to continue the Asian accent. Rylie- Helloah! No dis is my cellulah phone. Ah you prank callah a prank callah! No you cant have celluluah phone dis is mine! Have a nice dah ohakay?
It was hilarious! Sammy noticed that the phone had a camera and that it has a film mode. So we took pictures of us all laughing and havin fun and a video of us joking around with them getting caught and how we hoped they liked their cars new makeover. Just fun stuff.
Then their was a loud boom boom boom at the door, so we thought that it was the TPers and were all like go away you cant have your phone back! Then this voice, Sammy its me Alex I am here for your party! So we opened the blinds the find good ol Alex, so we decided to let him in and then we locked the doors.
I have to tell you it was a blast. I have never had this much fun in a long time and I am soooo happy I am on student government. They are cool cats and they are sooo fun to hang out with. They are good friends.

Weird

2006-10-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have failed to blog in a while. I have been so busy with school and everything. We had our homecoming game this Friday and it was interesting. It was raining the WHOLE time!! It was fun because I took the night off from band and it was the most fun I have ever had at a football game that I have ever had in a long time! I hung out with the Class Officers and the SBO's and we goofed off and had a blast in the rain. The homecoming royalty was surprise! A football player and a cheerleader. Ha who knew?! We got clobbered! We lost so bad, but hey we've got spirit and that's all that matters.

Also another thing that has come to my attention that has been really interesting is my dreams and my sleeping patterns. I have never had really weird dreams ALL the time. You know the occasional dreams here and there but not every night for the past 3 weeks!! I am not talking just a little strange some are like holy cow that was WEIRD! And you see I am an interactive sleeper, Sometimes I cry, yell, talk, walk, and yes I have woken up laughing. So sometimes when I wake up in the morning instead of feeling rejuvenate I feel drained. I don't know what has come over me. Not all the dreams are bad, some have been scary, some may have meaning behind it, some have just been down right horrific. One of my dreams I had a baby and I got kicked out of my house and I walked to Colorado. What the heck! I don't plan on having a kid anytime in the near future. Let alone walk all the way to Colorado?! So I was wondering if any of you have had weird or interesting dreams lately. If so if you wish, you can share.

Busy Busy Busy

2006-09-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

This past week has been one of the most singlehandedly busiest weeks of my life. Not joke it has been GO GO GO. We had parent teacher conferences this week. Ouch. I am a straight A student, i like to think myself as a people pleaser. But this year grades aren't coming that easy any more. Lets just say I had a C+ and a D+. The C+ was is math which is very understandable because I am not good at math. But the D+ my friends was in BAND!! Now this is the explanation, I didn't turn in a worksheet, and that is the only reason. But still a D+. Lets just say my parents were anything but happy with me. So sense we had PTC's we didn't have school on Friday. So the sophomore class officers had a sleepover on Thursday to plan activities we did some planning and then we watched Red Eye in Julies home theater. I had to leave early from the sleepover to help at the churches school like I always do when I don't have school. But when I got to the church I realized all the kids were wearing their field trip red shirts. Oh great a field trip. As if I wasn't already running on low fuel, throw me in bus with over 100 kids and make me chase after them. Awesome. It was nutso. But I lived throughout it. So when I got back to the church we ran and picked up some taco bell then Arlene took Hannah and me to the circus. It was pretty fun. I love the circus. Then after that we grabbed some dinner. And then I got to go HOME!!! Now I hadn't been home been over 24 hours. Yeah tell me about it I was so excited to go HOME! So as you can see its been really busy, I just hope that I can find that peace feeling again.

May your family have peace this week.

I am NOT a monster!

2006-09-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

The CORE team at my church held a meeting for the Teens and their parents to tell what is gonna be happening in the next few months sense we are now Youth Ministerless. I thought this meeting was a brainstorming meeting so the teens could put their two cents in. But it wasn't. They went on saying how the teens want this and the teens need this and such and such. Ha that's funny- they didn't talk to any teens. So I raised my hand and I said something along the lines of this- "Sense this meeting is about what the teens "want and need" how about we get a little say". So they said OK and we said how we wanted to have some teens on the CORE team so that we would know what is going on and stuff. They said "We've tried it in the past, it doenst work" Everything that we said they retorted too and got defensive. Then Kelli asked me a question and I gave her a response that I guess didn't please my parents to much.

So when I got home with my parents they were MAD. I didn't get it, I didn't do anything wrong. They said that my response to Kelli's question had a little attitude in it. I was about to say, if someone's not listening to you and stuff, your response isn't going to sound exactly like a hallmark card. It wasn't entirely my fault. But I agreed to write her a letter of apology, even if I didn't think I need to. But I want to set her feeling right with me.

Not just 10 minutes ago, my dad asked me if I had one written. "Yah". Then my mom said "What about Geri's?" Huh Geri? I didn't even talk to Geri. So my dad said that Kelli said that I talked to Geri after the meeting and made her cry because of something I said. And that someone came up to me and told me that that was rude. WHAT?! I didn't say anything like that to Geri. I wouldn't make anyone cry like that. STUPID. He said "Are you sure?" YES!! Why would my own parents think I would do that! I am NOT a monster!

But now I know that someone is spreading rumors that it was me. Great. At a church thing too. The same adults that say talk it out with the person before you tell some else, is doing exactly what they tell us NOT to do. And on top of that others think that I am a monster. I am NOT a monster. I have the best intentions. Now when I go to church, I wonder what people are gonna think of me. And I am in Kelli and Geri's daughter's class, I hope someone else's mistake doesn't cost me my friends.

The Foreign Peace

2006-09-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

Written Thursday-

Its a funny thing this peace feeling. A feeling I haven't felt in quite awhile. For the past couple days my life has literally revolved around work. When I get home, I watch my Dr.Phil espisode to unwind for a little bit, watch someone else have problems. Then I rummage through my backpack and find 3 pages of math, 2 World Civ journals to do, a report on Homer ( no NOT Simpson), and study 70 vocab words for Spanish.Just looking at it literally drains me. Literally. I sit and stare and I don't want to do it. Why do homework. When I am dead is it really gonna matter how many pages I wrote and how many math problems. Yah, I didn't think so. But I have to stay in the honors student position and do it. By the time I am done I check my email and go to bed. And when I get to bed, I just Zonk out. I am gone.

Then I get up at 6:30 in the morning and when I get home I do it all over again. I haven't had a day of school when I didn't have any homework, or babysitting, or driving with my Drivers ED teacher. But tonight at 6 when I went to my backpack after I did my math I found out that I had NO HOMEWORK! Huzzah!

But the problem- I didn't know what to do. Literally I didn't know what to do, because I had no homework, I haven't just gotten to "chill" for a while. So then I watched a GREAT show, survivor. Then I grabbed a book and plugged un my Ipod which probably thought I was dead and turned it to the MULAN soundtrack. Great sound track by the way. I set the volume on low and read some Velvet Elvis. Pretty good book by the way. Then after an hour, I went to bed.

But its sad, how the peaceful feeling has become so foreign to me. Kinda scary. Because or world revolves around how busy we are and how much we can do in a day. Maybe the real focus should be on how peaceful we are and how good we feel on the inside, Spirituality wise and stuff. Ah Peace sweet peace, how I love thee.

Developing an Allergy

2006-09-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

I have many many allergies. Because I have very sensitive skin. I cant use certain lotions and brands of makeup. Perfume, and shampoos, They make my skin itch and my skin gets red and blotchy. I have never in my whole life been allergic to an animal. My mom is allergic to cats. I never have been, but I hate cats. While I was babysitting last night and Emily and Andrews I got acquainted with their pets. They have a hamster Crystal,a bird Paula, and a cat Baylee. Baylee is the fattest cat that you will EVER meet. Her tummy was literally dragging on the ground. So, Emily and Andrew said that their cat never comes to strangers, so when I was upstairs' that cat comes to me and starts rubbing against me. I tried not to get to close because my mom is really allergic, and she washes the clothes. When the cat left I touched my face to get hair out of my face. My eyes immediately itched like no tomorrow, and they HURT. Sooooo bad. They started tearing up and they itched. I came home and my eyes were blood shot and they itched still. My friends, I am developing an allergy to Cats. Great something else to add to my list.

Go ahead and stare, it doesn't bother me

2006-09-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

When my sister came down to visit for the summer because she is a college kid, home is always open. So she came down and well, lets just say we definitely have our differences, fight about all sorts of things. Just like sisters do I guess. But at the end of summer when she was trying to figure out a way to get her to go back to college, she suggested instead of having my dad drive ack with her then he could fly back, that her boyfriend would fly down and drive back with her to OC. I didn't think that was a good idea. But of course he came down. Now this guy is a graduated senior and he is studying to become a Youth Minister. So one night my dad told me to pick up the movies laying down on the floor, and I said no in a very sarcastic way so he would know that I was joking. Nathan, looks at me with a very serious expression and says " Bee, the bible says to honor your father and your mother" Now alright, don't pull bible crap with me. Because I can guarantee that I can throw something right back at you, if that's what you want . Now I wasn't in the mood to be looked down apon by this creature. So then I had to put on the most serious look on my face so i wouldn't start laughing. Then I said " Well the bible says not to trim your beard, and you've obviously done a lot of that huh" I was lauging so hysterically on the inside it was hard to contain it. Then he saidoesn'the OT doesn't count! The OT doesn't count! Yeah right! If the OT doesnt count, then why are the 10 Commandments in the OT, so those don't count either??

Now this is a perfet example of the thing I referred to as Pot-Luck religion. He used it to benefit what he thought he was going to point out to prove his point. Well, I pulled something right back. See what we have created! But I noticed he just stared at me. I am used to people staring at me when I say something that they don't expect me to say, and stuff. I know what he was thinking, He was trying to figure out what was goin on in my brain.

Yeah buddy, I maybe small, but I am feisty. You point out something to me, I may point something out to you. But hey you can go ahead and stare at me. I know what I believe may be far out there for others, but I am used to it and you can stare all you want. It doesn't bother me.

To be or not to be

2006-09-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

For some reason, for the past couple days I have been thinking a lot about my future. I am not going to graduate early or anything. I have just been thinking really hard. REALLY hard. Because there are so many things that I want to do. And I know I cant do them all, and I cant please everybody... I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. It recently changed to maybe a Special Education teacher. Then I decided that maybe instead of going to colledge for along time, I would take a break and join peace corps, then go back. Yeah I would love to go and help people, but I want to do soo many other things. Today in band we filled out this form, and it said what kind of colledge do you want to go to, and what do you want to major in and stuff like that. Something I have contemplated for awhile is getting a bible degree, and going into Ministry. Not necessecairly a Minister, I would love to do something in the lines of Ministry. But what?

One of the biggest things that I worry about, about my future. Is disappointment. I don't want to disappoint my parents with what I choose to do, but I also want to follow my heart and do what I want to do. Because let me tell you, the biggest thing I fear is disappointment. When you can tell someone is disappointed in you, and especially when that is your parents. Kids worry about that the most. I think, I cant do that, they will be soooo disappointed. Because when you know disappointment lies behind those eyes, its a scary thing.

But I really would LOVE to go into Ministry. And be a teacher if that is possible. I just don't know what I would be really good at doing. And I don't want people to think I am a copycat, or that I am doing it for the wrong reasons. I just want to have people happy with what I am doing, I want to be happy with what I am doing. I don't want doubts or people saying that I cant do something. You might be thinking its your life do what you want with it. But here's the thing. Put yourself in a parents position.

If you didn't think Women should be ministers and your daughter, came up and told you that she wanted to be a minister, how would you feel about that? How would you respond? No doubt you would still love her, but how would you treat her at that very moment?

If you were a diehard Pacifist, or you just hate violence of any kind, and your child came up and told you that they wanted to sign up for the reserves, how would you feel? How would you respond?

So when you tell your kids, "You cant be whatever you want to be" I hope you really genuinely mean that. And remember when you tell your kids that- because you better mean it.

So for what I should be when I "grow up" I don't know, I don't want disappointment. I just want to be me. Free to be me.

So what I'm a LOSER

2006-09-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

I thought High School was going to be like my 9th grade year at middle school. I loved middle school um, except for 7th grade. I loved how I saw my friends in the hall ways every time I walked through them. I was in classes with most of them everyday, some times even 5 times a day! I knew everyone in my classes by name on the first day of school because everyone hung out with each other. I was pretty low on peoples radar. By that meaning I wasn't really hated. Sure I was hated by some. But no one is liked by everyone. People knew me by name and said hello. I was nerdy but hey I got by alright. I had my fair share of friends and everything was going good for me. I had my posse of friends I could count on in case I needed the days assignment or something. But now, everythings different. I find myself as odd man out kind of. Now don't get me wrong I still I have friends. But my friends from middle school, have seemed to break away. The are on the sports teams and have oodles of friends the see in the hall way. I walk around before school aimlessly by myself trying to hook up with friends. I find myself not knowing barely any one and feel hopeless because at my old school I knew tons of people. I was familiar. In my classes, I am sometimes by myself. And I swear if I eat lunch by myself again, I might as well post LOSER on my back. Most of my friends have A lunch on both days. And I Have B lunch. I have a great group to eat with on B days most of the time. But A days, I have no one. I ate on the steps, with people I knew from school but never really hung out with. It makes me sad. This in kinda turning out to be a whole lot like 7th grade. Bottom of the pile, not knowing hardly any one. I know it gets better when you get to know people. But right now, I just need some friends.

Meeting the President

2006-09-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Well I wouldn't call it meeting the president. I would call seeing him from a far. But it was still an awesome experience. When I watch the s[speeches on the TV I could really care less about what he is sayin. But this time I was actually there, hearing the actual person talk. Now I am not a major fan of the president. But I don't hate his guts either. He is just a man doing what he thinks is best. I am not in the mood to argue about anything to do with anything political, so don't bash me alright. But before the president came to my state, their was massive protests. Even one of the formal mayors came out and led a protest, and led a bashing speech against the Pres. It was heart breaking to see everyone behaving like wild savages. It was really sad to see signs that said, God hates Bush, and End this war or you're going to hell. I hate you bush. It was sad. Because I put myself in his position, if anywhere I went their were signs putting all the bad things I did into my face. Or if someone disagreed with me telling me iw as doomed to hell. Sad. I would hate to be the president of the United States. But on the bus ride home, I kept thinking. Now if you haven't guessed thinking is something that I do quite often. As hard as I try not to, I cant turn my brain off. I was thinking on how we treat the President of the United States like God. Yes you heard me right, like God. We cheer for him when he enters the room and hang on every word he says and clap and praise him for his poetic words. We think hes the coolest man alive to get to be in the same room as him. We hang on his every being and his every word, awaiting pres conferences and when he does something good the nation cheers. But when he does something bad, well he gets signs telling him to go to hell, and how wrong he is. Well that's EXACTLY the way we treat God. We praise him and hang on every fiber of our faith. We go to church on Sunday and hang on the words of the speakers and the elders and so on. And when something in our lives happens, that hurts us, or we quite frankly don't like, its automatically Gods fault. In times like these we curse God and waves signs in our minds telling god how wrong he ( She/ it) is and how He can hitch the next train outta here.

Its sad and I think God deserves to be treated as our Creator and our Peace, rather the President.

I wanna be like my Jesus!

2006-09-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

This is another song post. I really like most of this song, but my absolute drop dead favorite part I will put in bolded for you. Because I think it is such a true statement. Especially for me, and maybe you too. But there is one part that I don't rally like, but its not that big of a deal. Alrighty here it goes. This song is By Todd Agnew and its Called, My Jesus.

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Why do you look so much like the world?

Chorus:
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?
Blessed are the poor in spirit, do we pray to be blessed with the
Wealth of this land Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Chorus:
And who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes, curly brown hair and a clear complexion ( I don't think he looked like this, but ok.)
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him

Chorus:
Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He'd prefer Beal St. to the stained glass crowd
But I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus
Can I be like You
I want to be like my Jesus

love the part when it says, Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church. I love that. No, I LOVE that. Because to me that is soo true. My Jesus wouldn't even make it past the front door of my church building. Because my Jesus is a loving compassionate Jesus. Now I am not saying my church isn't kind and loving, but its not in the way that I see Jesus, and every church is different, but in a way the same. My Jesus loves questions. He loves ALL people, and can relate to everyone. He wouldn't ever turn his back on me or tell me that I cant do certain things. He would love me and embrace my differences, and see how much that I love him. And he loves me just the way I am. And I'm glad he's my Jesus.

High School

2006-08-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

Alrighty folks, now that I have officially been to every class that I have in my schedule, I can tell you about my not so lovely experiences, and some that weren't bad at all.

1st per. Eng. Alrighty this class was really fun. Why? Because it was the first one and the teacher was nice. We filled out a paper about ourselves like whets your fav. TV show, and what do you want to do when you grow up? Then we went around the class saying one thing from our list. I chose the what do you want to do one. I said ( Now my "What do you wan to do's when you grow up change frequently, but today I was in this type of mood) "I would like to become a Special Educations Teacher then Join The Peace Corps ( Something that I really do want to do by the way) then we played this game and then it was time to go.

2nd- World Civ. This class was OK. The teacher was really interesting. He talked about many things other than anything that had to do with History. He was telling us about how we shouldn't have sex until we were married, and not to smoke pot, then he went back to sex, and so on. The he said how many of you young ladies want to have a kid by the time you are out of High School. I was so tempted to raise my hand and say " Yeah I do! Donchta know! Sixteen with a kid, man I am so living the dream now!" Now I don't have a kid, but I thought it would have been funny.

3rd- PE. Its gym what more can you say, no worries.

4th- Class officers. Now this class was fun because its not really a class, you don't get a grade you just plan activities that you are going to do through the year. Now my teacher/ Advisor Mrs.White told us something that was pretty cool. That on Thursday the class officers and the SBO's are going to go on a little field trip. Now not just any field trip. We are going to meet the President of the United Sates! Now I may not be the biggest fan of the Pres. But hey its pretty cool.

That comiled of my A day. Lets move on to B day.

5th- Chem. H Or is it?? That's what I thought. Now when I came in the class room there were several, lets say, bigger students. Now I thought that I had the wrong room. But nope I didn't because my friends that had this class with me were inside. When the bell rang. Mrs. L said "As some of you know this isn't just an Honors Chem class. But also the Chemistry AP class. And because there are AP kids in here, all you Honors kids will be getting the AP work and the AP labs." WHAT I CANT DO AP CHEMISTRY!! And because I am just a Sophomore I wont be getting the AP credit. Retarded huh!

6th- Math. It was good nothing to interesting to report.

7th- Band. Besides by going to lunch then going to this class, nothin exciting. I went to the wrong lunch, so I got to go to both lunches. But it wasn't my fault the poster said my class had A lunch, so it was entirely not my fault!

8th. Span, I yi yi! When the class started the teacher started talkin 50 miles per hour in Spanish and he told us to write a 5oo word essay in Spanish on what we did over the summer. In FIVE MINUTES. yeah not one person could do it. So he said if we cant to that, we cant pass his class. He was the meanest man in the whole world. This is supposed to be a class where he teaches us in English to speak Spanish, not all in Spanish. Then he pointed out this Hispanic student and asked her to talk to him. She of course was fluent. She told him that she was raised there. He told the class that we should be on her level. Yeah right pal, get real.

So as you can tell, I wasn't very happy today at all. It was the worst school day I have ever had in my whole life this year so far. Between finding out I am goin to be in an AP class against my will and going to the wrong lunch and getting the meanest teacher in the world. I can tell my plate is already full!

Egg Beater

2006-08-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I have no clue what this post is going to turn out to be, because I have no clue what I am going to write. I find writing, is very therapeutic. I am able to express what I think and feel easier writing them then I am at saying them. During the day a thousand ideas run through my brain on what I could write about, a thousand ideas run through my brain on what I believe. Yes that especially. And I don't know why, a ton of kids could write paragraph after paragraph, on shoes and their favorite singers and brands of clothing. People could write novels about girls chasing boys and having boyfriends and skipping class and smoking pot, and all sorts of things.

I could write about one sentence about clothes and how much I care about what I wear. I could write you one word about how much makeup I use in the mornings ( none). I could write you several sentences on some of my friends from school, or the church I go to ( Well probably more than that!). I could write you a couple sentences on the music I listen too. But when it comes to something I am really passionate about, I could write you a novel. When I am really into something I could go on and on about it. Like there was no tomorrow.

I could write you tons about religion. But many people don't ask teens in particular about religious things, and I don't know why. I think its because people don't think that we are that capable of thinking deeply about religion. And that makes me mad, because I think if you sit down with a teen, and talk, really talk about things, you would be very surprised by how much we really think and feel about religious stuff. I am tired of the religious boundaries we have, I am sick and tired of being told what to think. I am tired of people being scared about what they believe will be persecuted.

I am in no means trying to make me look like a saint, please don't think I am trying to make myself look good. I am just saying, and I am trying not to be negative- just because we are teens, does not mean we don't have feelings. It doesn't mean that we cant feel the weight of religion, and it doesn't mean that we don't take Jesus as seriously as the old man next to us in the pews. I am saying, we do feel the pain of the religious society, or at least I do. I want to be able to do all things at my church, I want to pass the communion trays and stand in front and give a blessing over the communion and read scripture. By not being able to it hurts, it really does. Because I am worth of value, I am just as good as a teen boy. I am a child of God.

Alex

2006-08-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought of God. Like really really though about Him- no wait see that's my point, how do we know that God is a Him. Maybe Gods a Her, of hey maybe Gods not either!

This is the other conversation we had in the car on the way up to camp. I am big into the whole women's roles in the church- why you may ask? Well that's a whole nother conversation then huh. Well Ok. So we were driving aimlessly somewhere in the middle of Idaho. And I came up with a question. See, the thing about me is, if I like you and I trust you, I am going to ask you questions about a lot of things, and not just what brand of toothpaste do you use. You see, Cody doesn't mind when I ask him stuff, well at least I don't think he doesn't mind. So I asked him " What does God look like?" Now I know Cody wouldn't know the exact answer because nobody really knows, nobody's met God that I know of, there all dead. Then we just talked about what we thought God looked like. And we came to the conclusion that we don't know what God looks like, God could be a girl for all we know! I liked the thought of God being a girl, maybe that's because I AM a girl, but hey when you think about it, you never know. And I know some of you are saying, but man was created in Gods image. Well maybe it was an image in his Head, huh! Ya never know. And God didn't write Genesis, so there. Maybe its just a story to explain things. I'm not God so I wouldn't know.

Then we decided we should come up with a name for both a girl and a boy, sense we don't know if God is a girl or a boy. We thought for a while then Megan said. "Alex!" So then Alex was born. Personally I love it. Its gives you a fresh look into who "Alex/God" really is. Now, some of you are thinkin, man you are crazy! But it makes sense to me, not picking a gender and leaving it as Alex. Its simple. And we never really know until we die if "Alex/God" is a boy or a girl. And hey maybe "Alex/God" ( man its hard not to just say "he") doesn't resemble a human, maybe "it" looks like a feeling, invisible, Love.

And I think we like to think that we have created God, and that we know who God is and "its" very being. But the truth is we don't know. Only "God/Alex" knows. That's one of the mysteries in life, and for a thinker its very hard to grasp that I'll never know. But for now I think I am just going to leave it as "Alex". Because I think that's the way its meant to be. Not male nor female, just Love.

Tish

2006-08-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

If you have never heard of Tish before, your probably saying to yourself, silly you Tish isn't a real word. Well sure it may not be in the dictionary, but thanks to Long car rides with the Youth Group tish has been born. Now I don't know how we quite got onto this subject in the car, we were talking about swearing. Now swearing to some people is really bad. Like to my parents. But to me- its just a bunch of words that society has turned into ugly things. If you think about it, its silly to think they are cursed words never to be used. Because quite frankly I don't think they are all that bad, I don't use them all the time. Only when I am mad and angry- they are good ways to show emotions. And I also don't think God really cares. I think he could care less if we swore or not. Ok so back to the story- So me and my friend Megan decided to come up with other words for cusses, while using the letters in the cuss to create the new one. So we began to think, I chose S**t for the word that I would come up with. I didn't even think about it for 30 seconds when I popped out and said it, Tish was born. Hahah Tish, great. It was so funny. And so eventually we got everyone in the car participating in finding new ones for cusses. We made out list or beautiful un-cussing cuss words. I was really impressed by the list and our creativity.

But the best one by far was Tish. We had Mcdonalds for lunch that day, and in our Happy Meals we got pirate Treasure chests. Ah nice, so when we got to the car we locked our sacred words in the treasure chest. Immature, maybe. But hey it was fun coming up with ways to make fun of cussing, and the people who think its bad or satanic. Heck, we were making fun of society and the silly rules we have created within our world. Hah, whenever something would happen, you could hear people saying Oh "Tish". And I have to tell you, Tish is the funniest thing in the world, and its legacy will live on forever. As for the list of words, They are still in the McDonalds Treasure Chest , safely hidden away.

I wish they would stop shoving it in my face.

2006-08-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today ( this was written on Sunday) was really hard for me. Its hard for me to admit that. But it has just been rough. It hit me right in the face, that next Sunday was going to be Cody and Jeannies last Sunday. I have been trying to reassure myself and trying to trick myself into thinking that they weren't leaving, just to make myself feel better. So all day I have just been trying to feel better. Well it went down the crapper al my efforts. I decided to go to the newcomers Ice Cream social that my church has for all of the newcomers. So I went with my family. My friend Libby and me were talking about how different the Youth Group is going to be and we went down to Codys office to talk and stuff. Well I decided to go up stair's and see if my parents were ready to leave because I was getting really bored of being at the church. So my parents were still talking so I went to leave and Molly ( Not real Name) came up to me and said how much she liked my contacts. And that I have beautiful eyes and so on and so on. The she said, I bet your really sad about Cody and Jeannie. Geeze thanks for that. Its ok if I bring it up because I am trying to make myself feel better or trying to get over those feelings by talking, but right now I wasn't in the mood. I was feeling vulnerable so I tried to back out. So I gave her a simple nod and turned my head, Hoping that she would get the hint and stop shoving it in my face.
Molly- Drew ( not real name also) and I plan on getting very involved doing things al the time with you guys teaching classes planning activities and so on. So don't worry well do stuff.
Me- Yeah cool.. Turn head again.
Molly- You and them were really close huh.
about now I think she should have backed off. Of COURSE they were close to me and I think she should have stopped right then, I wasn't in the mood for this.
Me- Yeah we were ( getting that awful chocked up sounding voice, on the verge of tears)
Molly- How do you feel about them leaving?
About this time I figured my best bet was to just walk away, so I did. She followed me! Not even kidding you followed me! If she had any intelligence she would have gotten the hint that I was NOT in the mood!
Molly- Are you sad or mad?
Me- Yeah I am, but that's how everyone feels when I really close friend moves away. I am glad they are doing what they want to do, And I am happy they are going to finish up their college degrees, they are going to do great things.
Molly- Yeah but its going to be ok, you can still stay in touch with them.
Me- Yeah I know.

Now while she was forcing me to have a conversation with her, one of my contacts popped out while I was rubbing my eyes trying not to cry. Because when I cry my face gets REALLY red and my eyes are really bloodshot, from not even crying very long. But obviously she didn't care if I wanted to talk to her or not.

So I basically wish people would stop calling me and telling me how sorry they are, I am tired of people telling me that its going to be ok and that I should stop crying. I can cry if I want too!! I am sorry of people telling me how close we were. Because I think I know how close I was to them. I would know how good of friends we were. I don't need someone to shove it in my face.

But I do appreciate the people who are there when I want to talk, and for those who don't tell me that its going to be ok, and tell me that its ok to be sad. Because its ok. And I know we'll still stay in touch. But for now, I really want people to stop shoving it in my face, because if I wanted to talk to them, I would initiate the conversation, or some other way, but not by shoving.

I am driving on the highway tomorrow, I am terrified.

What do you say......

2006-08-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

What do you say when someone is dying. Like literally. My family went to go see this woman in our Congregation who was just told she had 2 weeks to live at the most. She is really old and ahs always been skinny and shes just the sweetest lady you have ever met. Now, my sister really wanted to go see her before she left for college, so we went to see her. I just planned on sitting in the car, pretty selfish huh. But I cant handle seeing someone who I know is in pain and is going to die. I don't Handel situations like that well, and I tend to cry because their pain, literally causes me pain. I hate to see someone suffering like that, and if I could take the pain away from them I would do it in a heart beat. No jokes, if you knew me you would know I would. So we went to see her, and oh my word, she just looked awful bless her heart. She is well I think shes around 70-80 and she had lost 40 lbs. And let me tell you she just didn't have 40 lbs. To loose!! Her pants we all baggy and her shirt was really loose on her and she was lying on the couch. We all went up to her and she wanted to shake all of our hands and wanted us to sit and chat. She was the cutest little thing, talking about how she was feeling and how she always wanted to go see Alaska, and telling us all how cute we were, and just talking up a storm. Bless her heart. She really seems at peace with dying, and isn't scared. Let me tell you she is an incredible woman. At the end we all gave her hugs. When I went to give her a hug I told her that I loved her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. For someone who is about to die, they sure do let the light of Christ shine right through no matter what. And all I hope for, is for me to be like that even when things aren't looking good. God bless you Margaret.

Potluck Religion

2006-08-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well bloggers, it seems for now I am stuck on doing religious posts. I didn't intend for it to turn that way for as long at it has been. Maybe its because I find religion fascinating, and I am passionate about what I believe and how I life my life. Now I do not mean to offend anybody on their belief system here- and if you disagree with me that's ok with me. I do not want to in any way force my ideas on anybody. And I want you to still feel free to come and read what I write. If I Offend you I am deeply sorry.

Today me and my friend were talking about what church would really be like if we followed all of the "Rules" that are in the bible. There are some that we take VERY seriously. Like women should learn in scilence and in submission, and shouldn't be in a higher position over a man. And we also take the markings on the body seriously- well depending on who you are. And it seems that if someone breaks those, we freak out. Like something isn't right in the world. But its funny when people say well its in the bible. Well there are a LOT of things in the bible. Like-
No Braids in hair ( Women)
No immodest clothing.
No gold.
No expensive clothes.
No trimming of the beard.
Wear a veil for prayer.
Doing sacrifices.
Loving our neighbor as ourselves- Including, Homosexuals, Prostitutes, Sluts, Homeless people, etc.

If we took all these things seriously to the max then this is what would happen. Churches could have a guard at the door, and if you have braids, you would take them out. If you are wearing some immodest clothing you cannot come in. If they notice youre wearing expensive clothes you can't come in. If your beard is trimmed you can't come in. A collector would collect all of the gold jewelry and hold it until after. Veils would be worn during prayer. And we would make offerings and sacrifices. We would love and welcome ALL people, yes including Homosexuals, and Prostitutes.

Now I am not saying that we should make church like that. Not at all. I just think we shouldn't treat the bible as a potluck and pick and choose which things that we would follow and take seriously and just ignore the rest. But one that I would love us to take seriously is loving our neighbor's as ourselves. We would get past so much if we would just stop and love others. If you think about it, if Jesus came to the world today, he would probably not hang out with people like me. But instead reach out to the forgotten, the cursed, the unclean, impure, and the beaten, starving. He would be downtown having a chat with the homeless man down the street. He would probably go to the local pub and talk with drunkards and have dinner with Prostitutes. He would love everybody. Nobody would go forgotten. And I think sometimes we forget those. We forget to love one another. And it has torn us apart. We love the ones already loved, thinking some one else will have time for the "Unclean". And it doesn't matter if its not morally right. It matters that people feel loved and have a relationship with God and not forgotten and that nobody cares. Because life is so much easier when you know some one cares. And sometimes I think it seems like Jesus is the only one.

Please lets stop treating religion as a "Potluck".

Broken, but to God its Beautiful

2006-08-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

On my way through glorious Wyoming I heard a song on the radio that really struck me. Now my family listens to Klove and we managed to find the station in Wyoming. I was sitting in the back seat doing my Sudoku puzzles and reading a great book- Searching for God knows what. When this song came on the radio that stuck me- not by the rhythm or the beat or the tune, but the words. It turns out its a new song by Mark Shultz and its called Broken and Beautiful. I really liked it because it was more a song that was spoken, then the chorus was song like but here are the words-

There's a businessman
There's a widowed wife
A smiling face with a shattered life
A teenage girl with a choice to make
It's crowded here in church today

And the preacher says as the sermon end
sPlease close your eyes
Bow your heads
Is there anyone in need of prayer
Oh Jesus wants to meet you here

'Cuz we all fall short and we all have sinned
But where you left,
God's grace begins

(Chorus)
It's beautiful
Beautiful
Come as you are surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

Well, he'd never been to church before
but he came today as a last resort
His world was crashing in
and he was suffocating in his sin

but tears rolled down as hope rushed in
He closed his eyes Raised his hand
Worshipping the God who can bring him back to life again and

(Chorus)
It's beautiful
Beautiful
Come as you are surrender your hear
tBroken and beautiful
Beautiful
Come as you are surrender your heart

'Cuz there's nothing more beautiful than God
and when his sons and daughters come broken
Broken and beautiful

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
come as you are
Hallelujah Hallelujah
Come as you are Broken and beautiful
Beautiful
Come as you are Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful
Beautiful
Come as you are S
surrender your hear
tBroken and beautiful
Come as you are
Broken and beautiful
(Hallelujah)Beautiful (Hallelujah)
Come as you are Surrender your heart
Broken and beautifu
lBroken and beautiful
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
Beautiful

I liked this song because, when we are broken I don't think we think that God sees us as beautiful, but instead as an ugly repulsive little creature. But to Gods eyes, no matter what struggle we have, or what we are going through to God we are beautiful. No matter what we've done or all that we could ever do, to God we are his ( he she or it, whoever God is) beautiful children, and threes nothing better than coming to Him with a broken heart.

Broken, but still oh so Beautiful.

Down the Crapper

2006-08-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

Well a couple nights ago I was ending my Alaskan adventure. We were staying our last night in an Anchorage hotel. My sister and my Cousin and I were sharing a room. The room was pretty big but it was really weird. Alright I am getting sidetracked back to the story. So I decided to take a shower, when I went to set my glasses down I realized that the sink was in the hall way- woops to late for that. So I didn't want to set them on the floor because without my glasses I am blind as a bat, and I didn't want to step on them. The only other spot to put them was on the back of the toilet. I went to put the cover down, and their wasn't a cover. What kind of toilet doesn't have a cover!? But I had no choice. So I put them their. I took my shower and I came out grabbed a towel and flushed the toilet came out of the shower and though oh no where are my glasses. I couldn't find them anywhere. My Aunt and Uncle came in and they couldn't find them either. There was only one place they could have gone- yep folks that right. The toilet. So we all took turns trying to get them out. We used shopping bags as gloves but we couldn't find them. So the next morning we had the maitenence man come and see if he could get them. He put a snake thingy in the toilet and managed to find half of my glasses broken and twisted with no lenses. Crap. I am so blind without them. So for the past three days I have been going around blind, we are finally home and I have an eye appointment tomorrow. Finally I can see again!

I realized how much I take eye sight for granted, and believe me I wont ever do that again. But out of all the advice you hear, let this be the most important one you remember- don't ever flush your glasses down the crapper!

Back to Basics

2006-08-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

This has been bothering me for the past couple of days.
I went to a resteraunt with my family in Anchorage and we were all very very hungry. We ordered over an hour ago and our food still had not yet come. We began the process of going around the table and saying how starving we were. After I said it, I instantly felt remorse. No I am not starving, all the people in Africa with no food are starving, all the kids in orphanages that don't take care of the kids very well, are starving. Not me What I have is a simple hanger pain to them. It bothers me how e instantly think that we have it al bad, when we in fact are the most well off in the whole world!! I realized that we need to step it up, and get involved. Its time we stopped complaining, when were not the ones who should be complaining. Our country complains about many things that others would love to have-

Oil Prices. Hey at least we even have a car that runs!
When we don't get food when we want it, we are automatically starving, no we are not starving.
We worry about many things are aren't even that that important that we argue about all the time like the roles of women in church and how much money to put into the plate, how we are going to afford a new church building, why we have to do things that other people don't have to.
Maybe its time we stop worrying about ourselves, but take care of others worries.

I say its time we get back to Basics.

Back to Jesus.

Briefing up camp

2006-08-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Camp,

Well admist all that has been happening I forgot to share some camp stuff. Alright so here it goes. The camp go to is called Camp Ivydale and its near Boise. So my Youth Group has to go drive for about 6-8 hours depending on how many "Potty Stops" we have to make. When someone has to go we atarted saying Bono ( Bon-yo) on the top of our lungs, but only for awhile it was very short lived. I decided to trek it up to camp n the church van with Cody as the driver Me, Megan, My friend Ashley from school that I brought along, Jessa, Zac, Christopher, Jamie, Dalton, and Jamies friend Eric. So we were all very cozy. When we got to camp, to tell you the truth it didn't feel like camp, I dunno it didn't have that feel, it felt like something was missing, but I didn't know what, So I went to get our cabin assignments and Hurray I was in Cabin 4. Now cabin four is like the camps Hilton Hotel- It has Bunks not prison beds and is square not A frame. Not a whole ot of a difference but hey to a summer camp its a big difference. And my Counselors were Amy and Elizabeth. Now I knew Amy from lat year and she was way cool, and Elizabeth was new but I loved her too.

Now this year camp had some changes and I didn't like some of them here they are-

For small groups or "Meadow Moments" we usually combine it with boys and girls from all the different cabins, so we aren't with the same people ALL the time. But nope not this year, we were with the girls in our cabins- yeah not cool. But sense cabin four has like 23 girls in it we split it in half. But still, I didn't like this whole thing. In my group we had this girl who sways back and forth all the time- it drives me crazy. Ahhh. And whenever someone would ask a question she always ALWAYS answered first. And she gave the average answers- the ones every body gives. But at least she answered. I applaud her for that. Oh yeah and we were studying 1st timothy ( More on that later, oh LOTS more)

Second of all- No skits after night lesson. We ALWAYS have skits after lesson ALWAYS. And my cabin came up with some great Ideas for skits, But his year they decided not to do them, and I love skits. So it didn't feel the same. But we did have skits the first night and they were like so stupid. Cain one and Cabin tent did them, and they really sucked. I am not kidding they stunk.

Ok enough with changed lets get on to soemf un stuff

We always give out awards on the last night after the talent show. The talent show was great and a girl in my cabin named Tiffany sung acapella from a song in Phantom of the Opera and man she is good. I guess there is a reason why she is going to go to Music Collegde. She hopes to be on Broadway one of these days and I have no doubt that she will make it.

Awards are given to the people who best represent the awards that we always give out every year ( duh) ok so this year the Newbie award went to Jessica Wilson from my church and it was cool. And another girl from my church Jamie got the Paul-timothy award, for the person who has been the most mentoring. And I got the Spirit Award! Its for the person with the most camp Spirit obviously! And the big Kahuna of all awards is given to the person who represents all the awards and my god friend Kate Conder ( the girl I was Counselors with at pre teen) got it for the girls. I knew she was going to get it. But for the boys ( Ok I have a funny story) sorry its too good I have to tell it- Haley this counselor at camp is a major skank- she dresses very immondesly and is ALL about the boys- she gave aout dating advice to the 7th graders and found a camper to be her boyfriend- ,mind you she is a counselor. And she came up to the microphone and she was giving out the boy award she came to the from and said "now I have the boy" and then I said "As always!" now I dint mean to say it as loud as I did, but it gave people some good laughs.

But I have to say the Kingdom Walk was Awesome this year. The Kingdom Walk is what we do on the last night of camp, and we did the stations thingy like we did at the Easter retreat. And this time it was we went around with groups of ten and we wrote in our books and we would say a prayer about the thing at the station. It was AWESOME. Everyone loved it and once again it made a lot of people cry. We all enjoyed it.

Well I have many more camp stories to tell you, but I am not able to tell them all right now, heres something to look forward to- the car ride chats, ah those are very awesome not average awesome.

Well I also have some Alaska posts that I have to do but I have to do those later.

Peace

Cody and Jeannie.......

2006-07-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

I knew it would happen eventually, just not so soon. I swear my Youth Group has a 2 year curse. Dave the YM before Cody and Jeannie stayed 2 years then they left. I thought that we would have one for at least 3 years this time. I am sorry to say that is not the case.

Cody and Jeannie asked if I would come down to Cody’s office before 1st service so that they could tell me something. I knew deep down in the pit of my stomach that they were going to tell me that they were moving. I had a feeling when they told me they went to Denver, that they were going to move their. But I had to hold on to what little faith I had. Even though I knew they were going to leave. So when I got to the office we all sat down, then they told me. I was and I still am devastated. I haven’t cried this hard in a long time much. They stayed down in the office with me for the whole first service, while I cried and blubbered on. I felt like an idiot. Not for trusting them, but for crying so hard. They told me they both are going back to school. It’s been a dream of theirs.

I am proud of them for following their dreams, and doing what they feel is best for their family at this time. Even if it does piss me off. You see, they were way more than just Youth Ministers to me, WAY MORE. They were an Open Heart, Confidants, and most of all best friends. They were there for me when I needed to talk, or to vent my feelings. They answered all the many questions I had, and gave me what they felt in their hearts was right also.

It’s so hard for me to let them leave. Even if they are just going to Denver and it’s (I think) about 8 hours from where I live. I cant wrap my mind around all the changes- The car rides, the inside jokes that we all made, sitting with them at service, seeing them every week at the coffee shop, playing mow and golf and scum ( card games), chatting on the internet, and much more. I can’t fully wrap my mind around it, its too much.

I don’t want to get e new YM because I know that no one could ever replace Cody and Jeannie, No-one could be a better best friend to me than they have. The new one just won’t get me. I know it. It’s too hard.

So after 1st service, we went to get coffee then they were going to announce it to the class. They combined the 2 individual classes and then told us. I knew what they reaction for some was going to be, my friend Megan took it exactly like me, and so did Candice. Oh how I love Candice. She isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. And I love that about her. She took the news pretty hard too. We went down to Cody’s office after class and just stared at the wall, all the things he did to it, and we stared at the coveted door. He has put every little drawing, picture and reminiscent that we gave him on that door. And now its going to be gone. We all just cried. It was a rough day. And it’s going to be a rough rest of the month. They leave around September 1st. Before the little “Chalupa” is born.

I am going to stop writing this soon because its still a little too much to wrap around at this point. I know that Jeannie and Cody and I will stay in touch and talk and they’ll come to visit and I’ll come to visit, but it just isn’t going to be the same not getting to see them every week. It’s just not going to be the same.

I just don’t think I can start over, and be as close to the new YM as I am with the two best Youth Ministers that anyone will ever have in the whole world. There is just no comparison.

And I am sick of everyone telling me that its going to be ok. Several people have called me this morning and told me it’s going to be ok. NO ITS NOT. At least not right now. I am sick of people telling me that we’ll get a new one. I don’t want a new one, I want Cody and Jeannie. I don’t think people realize how much they meant to me, and the Youth Group. I wish people would stop telling me how to feel, and that were going to get a new one. Because they can’t be replaced.

I probably won’t post for awhile because I am going to go to Alaska for 2 weeks, so posts will be at a minimum.

God bless.

Nanny for them No More?

2006-07-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Alright, I am sorry in advance if this sounds really negative. I am not in the best of moods, and you’ll see why.

Ok so today was the long awaited done with being a nanny day! And also time to get my paycheck. Now I love these girls and usually when I am just a babysitter, I don’t really care how much I get paid. But this is different, this is a Nanny JOB. Last year I got 5 an hour, which was an alright pay, not bad not the best. Erin was 1 and was in diapers and Carissa was 4 and was very hyper. The same thing stands today. Erin now 2 still in diapers and way more mobile and she destroys everything, and Carissa who is now 5 and cant sit still for more than 2 seconds. So normally one would think the pay would be the same or a little higher. Nope WRONG. Now when I got my last paycheck something was very wrong, I had worked for 23 hours and I got 8o dollars. Well if I was still getting 5 an hour I wasn’t being paid for 7 hours. I hesitated to bring that up because I didn’t want to seem greedy or selfish. But I was doing a lot more work this time around, so I decided to ask Jay when he got home. So when he was writing the check I asked him- “Now the rate is still 5 an hour right?” Now folks this took all the courage I had to ask him this. And this is what he said, and I cant believe he said this- “No Bee actually its not. Joanna and I decided to change it to 30 a day this time around. That should be fine with you.” Um actually NO. I worked some TEN HOUR DAYS. I worked so hard for your kids, I fed them, I dressed them, followed your TV rule ( ONLY 2 SHOWS) for the most part, AND I changed over 30 diapers for your kid, AND on top of all this he had said the rate was the same prior to working. He didn’t tell me the pay was different.

I am sorry that it sounds like I am a mean person, or greedy but it makes me mad. I was promised one thing and got another. And the family I work for, they are not stressed for money, pretty well off. And when my mom came to pick me up, I just started to cry. I couldn’t help it. I worked over 43 hours this week, and I got 150. All in all I worked a grand total of 66 hours for 230 dollars when I should have gotten 330. Now one hundred dollars to a 15 year old is a lot. Especially when I was promised the old rate of 5 dollars an hour. My parents told me not to Nanny for them any more. I said that’s kind of selfish. And they said, not when they have high Maintenance kids and take advantage of you, its not fair to you. And with the money I got I was going to spend it at Alaska on our vaca my grandma is taking us on. I should have just gotten a job as a bagger at a grocery store.
So tell me, what would you do, if you were in this situation?

On a good note, I am going to Teen Camp on Sunday, so pray that we get there safe. And my birthday is this Wednesday. My Sweet Sixteen!!

Thanks for listening.

And E-mail to Remember

2006-07-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

All I have to say is wow. I just got an email from the “Small Talk in Spanish Girl” if you guys remember her. She gave me an email through the My-Space thing ( don’t worry I am very careful) and she was telling me happy b-day and that she hopes I have a good week at summer camp. She really wanted to go to camp with me, but she is going out of town to see some relatives. She was bummed out. But then she said how much she missed me. ( Hm she actually missed me!) And she said that she misses our little talks and how whenever she talked to me she felt better. She said she wanted me to know how much I helped her in this past year. And that she’d like my phone number so we could talk some more.

You see, she isn’t going to go to my High School next year. She is supposed to, but because of the swimming team she is on, she has to go to the other one. S o I never expected to hear from her again. I was shocked. The happy Kind of shocked though, I am going to miss her too. Very much. I am happy that she feels like she can talk to me. And hopefully she will for years to come.

That is one of the best Birthday Presents that I’ll ever get.

Bee

Ah Home Sweet Home

2006-07-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally returned home!! And yes I am alive! I was in Cabin One with the other counselor Kate. We had 13 very energetic Jesus loving 8-11 year olds. We had one 8 year old and the oldest was supposed to be in cabin 2 but they had no more room. But I loved each and every one of them. The first day I met them they kept following me around, even when I had to go to the bathroom. They still followed me throughout the week and I had many little shadows all around me! I never expected that! This little girl named Nicole was extremely attached to me. She was a tiny little thing too- she was forty six pounds and was adorable. All the girls in my cabin always asked to sit by my and wanted me to sit with them at camp fire. They amazed me. And when I got home I didn't know what to do with myself, I had so much free time and it was weird to sleep in a really quiet room, no whispers and giggles from under the covers or a good night "I love you Bee!" from one of my girls. I never thought I would have missed it so much!

It was then I realized, Maybe I planted some awesome seeds in those kids' hearts. Some of those girls I will never see again, some I will see year after year. But all I can hope is that they find Jesus in their hearts and will live by the awesome example that we have received.

More on Camp later- I am exhausted and we are preparing for our churches annual VBS!

Peace and Love Guide you in all you do.

Super Nanny and Pre-Teen

2006-07-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well folks, I have just completed 23 hours of being a nanny. Ug, I am so tired. I get their around 7:25 in the morning and I don't get to leave until 5:35. Now that is quite a long time if I do say so myself. So for now I have had all the DoodleBops, Wiggles, Lazy Town, JoJo's Circus,Dora and Diego that I can take. Now you see I "Nanny" for 2 girls. Carissa is 5 and Erin just turned 2. Yes the terrible terrible 2's. So Carissa was sitting on the couch so Erin decided she wanted Carissa to sit on the floor. She came over and pulled her off. I asked Erin to tell Carissa she was sorry. ( You see, a sorry is a BIG deal to five year olds!) Erin being this cute little innocent looking 2 year old. Says NO!! Then I thought, Is a time out really necessary for this crime? Yes ,yes it is. So I said Erin your just going to have to go sit in the naughty chair if you cant tell her you are sorry. ( Something I happened to pick up while watching Super Nanny) So she says " Hey, No no no no naughty chair" but after asking again,she still refused to say sorry. So we went to the Naughty Chair. I have never had to put either of them their in a long time, so I could tell today was going to be a rough day. Erin cried and cried. So I when to there and said-" If you tell Carissa your sorry you can come out of the Naughty chair." Now things were looking hopefull when she said ok, but she didn't, this just to get out walk to Carissa and say nothing. So I wasn't about to give up and cave, this girl was going to learn to say she was sorry. We went back and fourth for ALMOST 2 HOURS! Yeah I am not even kidding you. When she finally did say sorry we clapped and cheered "Yay for you Erin!!" But this happened again the next day. She only had to sit their for one hour this time. Now you tell me, was this a little rough of a punishment for a 2 year old?

But on the upside Carissa did keep telling me how cool I was, and that I was the "Superest Baby-Sitter in da whole wide-est world!!!" Look out Super Nanny you might be out of a job soon!

Ok so I am going to warn you their aren't going to be any posts this week because I am going to be at summer camp!! I am going to be a Counselor at our Pre-Teen camp in Idaho. So the other teens in my YG that are going to be counselors are leaving at 6 on Monday morning because the drive is almost 6 -7 hours. I am excited because I am finally going to get to be a counselor!! The only downside is I have no clue what I am going to eat when I am their. My teeth still hurt so we are just going to see how this works out. Another reason I am so excited is I am going to be the one that the kids look up to, and say I wanna be just like her when I get older- and that's cool. I hope that I am able to set a good spiritual example for these kids and to show them what it means to be a Christian, not just how to be one. I want to show them. Jesus is awesome, and can do great things with your life, and I hope that I can convey that to their hearts and open them up to Jesus. Its going to be a great week.

Please have a good week, and pray that I can be the Best example to these kids.
I'll have some stories to share with you no doubt when I get back!.

May peace and Love guide your hearts.

Brace yourself

2006-07-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well I have just begun the rode that many people have traveled. Yup that's right today I got the misfortune of getting metal placed in my mouth. Ugh. I went in this morning before I had to go to work as a nanny. I got braces on both the top and the bottom. Well if that wasn't enough, both the girls that were sitting next to me were getting theirs off the same time I was getting mine on! Then I noticed almost all the kids that were their were only getting like 4 brackets on. Yeah try getting metal in your whole mouth kids, that what pain really is. And to make me feel a little better during the whole ordeal, the lady that was doing my teeth, kept saying, "Dang Faulty equipment". Well that makes me comfortable sitting here. Although I know she was joking, I don't think she wants to say that anymore .

I got green and blue. Green is my FAVORITE. I love it so much. I got a green ortho shirt too. Then for lunch I got a Jamba Juice, although my teeth hurt like crazy I managed to drink it all. Then I came home for dinner, and you'll never guess what my mom cooked for dinner-- HAMBURGERS!!! Now there is no way after getting braces anyone can eat a hamburger 6 hours later. So I cooked myself a nice looking bowel of spaghetti O'S. But it gets better. These had meatballs in them. So I tried to chew a meatball, and I ended up crying because it hurt so bad. Yes I cried over spaghetti O'S. Pathetic. But the frapuccino I am drikning right now, is making me feel a little better. And I know that the reward at the end with be straight teeth, so I guess I could hang in there for about 17 months and 30 days.

The YG Girls

2006-06-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well ok I haven't had much to say, really my summer has been quite boring. Although I did get my learners permit, which is very exciting. And I am done with going to summer school! YAY ME!!!

Ok so its tradition in my church for the summer quarter that the teens are separated by gender. Yes Boys and Girls Classes. The boys always meet inside and the girls go outside. We sit in this circle outside and eat fruit. Well I have to say this is definitely not my favorite thing in the whole world. The girls in my YG are nice-don't get me wrong. Its just their isn't much I have in common with a lot of them. I get along more when were all in a bigger group, I feel closer that way. Whenever the teacher asks us questions its like dead silent, I answer ALL the time in regular class so I feel like the other girls should get a chance. And sometimes adult women come to our class and tell us how special we are and how we have the resources to get together and bond and that we need to do that as Women. I'm like OK. So we planned for us to all get together and meet at the Olive Garden. We seriously haven't had a "Girls Day" in over two years. Do I find it necessary, no but who knows this could be fun. I have a post I want to do about Youth Groups so be looking for that. And if you happen to not be in a youth group but your church has one, I have an idea for you. I would like you to get to know the youth in your church, and make them feel like they can make a difference and that they are welcome. I can guarantee you might find some remarkable children of God, and who knows maybe you will become friends.

Its better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

Give some Hugs and Happy Summer!

2006-06-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well the end of school is now here! My last day of school was yesterday and instead of sitting in desks we all sat in roller coasters!! It's traditions at my school to go to the local theme park (45 minutes away) and all the 9th grades get to go and spend the day together. It was fun but it was HOT. I had a blast!

Summer is in full swing for me. And being the mother that I have she scheduled me for an orthodontist appointment for today. My SBO Class officership business is going great and I am pumped to start doing stuff.

I got my yearbook yesterday and for the first time ever I ran out of room for people to sign! I had to let people sign on the All About me page. I never use it anyway. Its always so fun to look back and see what people wrote about you, mostly people use the words your awesome and your so cool. But I got a lot of your So Nices and your the best. I love when people say that because it just lets ya know how people feel about ya.

I start my nanny job in a couple weeks, and DRIVERS ED!!!! I start drivers ed on Monday so pray that goes well!

I also just got a call saying that I am going to be a junior counselor at Preteen Camp! So that is going to be very exciting.

Ok here is some bad news. (I am writing this as of Sat. This happened the day I started to write this post on Wed)

My good friend Taylor graduated from HS on Tuesday. And her Grandparents from Oklahoma came down to visit. And her granddad didn't feel to good. So they decided to take him to the hospital. ( Taylor was at an all night party with her friends at the rec center) When her dad was taking him to the car he passed out! They called an ambulance and they said he was dead, but they did CPR and he came back. They had to put him on a machine and whenever they took him off he flatlined. So he died. And it was Taylors dad's Brithday too! So basically his dad died on his birthday. Taylors birthday is on Sat (well basically today) Taylor had to come home to ambulances in her driveway and her grandpa dead. The funeral is on Monday so please please pray for my friend Taylor. Also for her dad and mom ( they have been friends of the family for forever. They go to our church too) And for her sister Savannah ( older) and her brother Troy who is like one of my best friends.

Give your family a big hug and tell them that you love them. Because you never know when you wont have that chance again. Go hug your mom or your dad or your spouse or your kids, and tell them how much you love them. Come on what are you waiting for!

Keep praying and go with God.

My Goodness

2006-05-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hey all you out there I have some really cool news to share with all of you!

I was on My middle School's Student Council this year, and my Advisor wasn't the best but I had apretty good time. But now that I am going into highshool I wanted to know how much more different it would be if I was on the Highschool student Council, and I thought I would give it ago. The principal that does the morning announcements said that their were applications in his office, and in one week we would have elections. And the bad news was that only 2 would go on to serve on the Student Council for 06-07 School year. Now my F.R.O.G. (Student Advisory class, Fully Realizing Our Greatness) class is all of the SBO's in the Middle school. And elections are always a popularity contest, and believe me I am not popular ( I am considered a Band Geek and a Nerd, but hey it doesn't bother me too much And this really popular Boy is in my FROG class, his name is Owen. He was all " We know Who's gonna wing huh, Sarah". Sarah is the other girl who was running, She is also VERY popular. So I thought, I might as well not even run, I'm not gonna win. But I decided that I should run anyway and that there was no harm in running.

So we had to get thirty signatures to be able to run, so I asked some of my friends to sign and they said I would win hands down. I thought they were just trying to make me feel better. Now I am not popular at all, but I do have some friends who are and so I though no harm is asking everybody. They all were like " Duh Bee we'll vote for you, your like the coolest ever!" I was all " Um no not really but I would appreciate it if ya voted for me." It was a done deal I asked EVERYBODY. I asked the kids with no friends all my band friends, EVERYONE. So next came election day. After the Elecections a lot of people said they voted for me. But we would just have to wait and see.

So then I got a call, a boy that served on this years student council at the HS told me that I won the election!!! I was FREAKING OUT!!! I asked who else had won, and he said it was Me and Julie L. I was FREAKING OUT. So I called my friend and I said " Oh my gosh Ashley I am Freaking out can you believe I won! I actually won!" This is what she said,

"Um, actually I can believe you won, That is so Coooool!" I said- "I know but can you believe I beat Owen and Sarah! They are the most popular people in the whole school." And this is what she said- "Bee, you are popular, you are nice to everyone! That's why you won, because your nice to everyone and practically everybody's friend they all like, you! Your not the snobby popular, you the everybody likes you because you are YOU . I am soo happy for you!"

My parents are thrilled as well. I am so excited the I get to be on the Student Council! I cant wait, and everybody the next day was shocked that I had won and Owen didn't, but I still got a lot of high fives and congrats, and everybody was like "Yeah I voted for you!"

And I just have to say, this old saying goes,

Nice guys don't always finish last!!

I guess I failed to tell you.

2006-05-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well I think I was a little negligent in my blogging, for that I am truly sorry. I think I failed to mention about my new math teacher.

Her name is ( well.....Was ,we'll get to that later) Mrs.Cook. She was physco crazy. She laughed at everything we did and basically called us stupid and that we couldn't learn anything, so she started to teach us by going over the things we already knew. And she made assignments worth nothing then on tests one question that was the hardest one would be worth 20 points and the other ones would be 1/2 a point. So we would all fail. On top of all of this, our state testing to pass on to the next level was coming up....And we hadn't learned a thing. Soooo, some girls went to the office and complained to the principal. The principal looked at all of our grades wich by the way were like C's and D's ( not our fault though....And I o nly had an A- so it was ok) So the principal promptly took Mrs. Cook in her office and fired her. So with only 3 weeks left in the school year, teacher number 3!! So our sub hopefully for real this time is a man by the name of Mr. Buskirk. Funny name huh! Hes pretty laid back, but I don't expect to be learning anything for the rest of the year. Boy a good education really sounds nice right bout now!

And on a happier note, I Want to say Happy Mothers day to all you Mothers out there!!!

Paint Job

2006-04-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers, I hope you have had a fairly good week! I know I have!

I have wanted to paint my room for a really long time! Almost 3 years now. I have wanted to paint it lime green. Green is my absolute favorite color. My parents have painted my older sisters (only one older siter not multiple older sisters. I am in the middle of three girls) room 2 times now, so I figure, it MY turn. I have begged and pleaded and still my mom would always say that her room gets painted first. So Sears was having a paint sale and my mom found some she liked for her, so I asked if they could buy me some paint. My mom said that we were NOT painting my room, end of discussion. But my dad said if I bought my own paint, primer, rollers, and tarp I could paint my room. So I went to my bank. AKA family bank ( they always come to me when they need money. HA) I had about 82 dollars not counting the money my parents owed me for mowing and allowance. (Now I know, mowing?! Yes I mow my family's yard every Saturday. We have no boys besides my dad and he cant be in the sun for very long because of his skin cancer on his neck, so I get the lovely pleasure of waking up early on Saturday mornings and working up a descent sweat. )
Now Sears didn't have the right color that I wanted, so we went to Walmart, they had 2 pretty good colors that I liked and my mom told me I had to get a fairly light one. So I ended up having to compromise, but hey its way better than nothing. So I bought the paint "Green Tomato". Well actually with the money my parents owed me I didn't have to pay a cent! So we are painting my moms and dads room this weekend and we are painting mine in 1-2 weeks! Cant wait! I have waited long enough. But we have to take my paint back and get a new one because they gave us Semi-Gloss instead of Satin. But hey it'll all work out. And I am thrilled that I finally get to paint my room. Its gonna be sooo great!

Just Give me a Quote

2006-04-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

"Lord I do not ask that you bless me or my life, for you have already done that by being with me everyday. But what I do ask is that you give me the ability to bless others and show them the way, just as you have with me. "

I thought of this just as I was falling asleep last night. I thought I would share it with you. Its not the best quote in the world, but hey its alright!!

Phew

2006-04-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well fellow bloggers I did it! Yep I did get Baptized on Sunday! And I tell you I have never been soo nervous in my whole entire life. I couldn't sleep and I couldn't eat very much, I have high anxiety and boy this was a big choice to make and I was nervous! I bet we all are about that at some point in our life. But I reassured myself that by heart is in the right place, this is the right thing to do, Jesus will be pleased. I told myself that over and over.

So finally Sunday came and it was time. I got their and 2 of the families I had invited were at the church waiting in the parking Lot. I only invited 18 people total. The next People to arrive were Cody and Jeannie. Jeannie was smiling and I couldn't help but smile back. But I was still nervous. I was determined not to wear one of those baptism suites and so I wore my swim trunks and a blue tee shirt. When everybody got their my dad asked for my Confession. ( Even though I don't really think I had all that big of sins that I needed to repent) And we went in for Jeannie to Baptize me. The water was HOT! I am not even kidding it was really hot. And so then she baptized me! I was shaking so hard though, I was SOOO nervous and everything. Right as I was getting out more people started coming to church. So I did it at a good time.

No I am not a big attention seeker so I did not want the prayer blessing during the service. However it was announced and I got TONS of hugs. Even that was too much attention for me. Here are some of the numerous things that I was told( The ones I don't like)

- FINALLY!! ( That was my least favorite,because I feel that you heart makes you the Christian, and not the water. Getting Dunked into water doesnt mean a thing if your heart isn't where it should be)

I was told several times " Boy I am really disappointed I didn't get to see you". Well I figure they can buck up.

After my baptism Jeannie Gave me a really pretty necklace that I love. And she also gave me a pocket stone, something she carried in her pocket and it gave her peace when she needed it. Anxiety is a big issue with me, so this made my day. I have put it in my pocket every day so far, and I love touching it and it really does give you peace. It is a shiny Stone/ metal patty and it has a cross on it. I love Jeannie and I love Cody too. This just made the icing on the cake. I had a pretty good day and I look forward to seeing other people come to Jesus by seeing my faith in God. And I hope I do a good job.

Walk Humbly with your God, and have Peace.

My birthday.... April 23rd

2006-04-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hello, and no tomorrow is not my birthday. Just hang on and you'll hear the story.

Ok so I have contemplated baptism for forever. I wanted to make sure that I was really ready for it. And if you read my thing before on baptism this will make more sense to you.

Ok I was thinking on Thursday night while I was in the shower ( I know weird huh) "What if I got baptized on Sunday". Out of the blue! And I thought and thought, then I went to bed and thought of how I would tell my dad .I decided the hit and run tactic. So on our way to school here is how the conversation went-

Me-" He dad, I want to get Baptized on Sunday, and not to become a Christian because I feel to some extent I believe I already am, My heart is in the right place and I believe that God looks at the heart I am doing it to become part of my faith Community and along with everything else OK.

Dad- O.K. Uhhh--

Me- And I want Jeannie to do it ok. Love you dad bye!

Just so you know, Jeannie is the coolest person ever! She is their for when I need her, we email a lot, we talk and I really look up to her. She is a really REALLY BIG spiritual influence on my life, she is my friend and I love her dearly. And so I only thought it makes sense if she does it. Its not like I wanted to hurt my dad, but it felt right to have her do it. She is just to let you know, my Youth Ministers Wife, although i look at her as a Youth Minister herself. She is also a Chaplain at a hospital. And on top of all that she is going to have a baby in September. She is ASWESOME!! So I thought ok that was easier than I thought it was going to be, wrong. My dad was a little disappointed he wasn't going to do it.

So I am getting Baptized tomorrow at 7:45 in the morning before first service. I don't want a lot of people to be their. So I invited all of my closer friends, and my new "birthday" is going to be April 23rd!

And Jeannie will baptize me, an honor at that. I am really nervous.

What are some of your Spiritual Birthdays.

Go in Love and Go in Peace, And keep me in your Prayers on this April 23rd and all the rest to come, And I will do the same for you. I love the way God works!

Peace and Love throughout all of your days.

Ah Dear Gordon.

2006-04-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

As you know about my teacher history....She's back!!! I know I would normally dread going to History and know that Mrs.Buler would be their with her gripy voice and annoying songs.But not this week! Ah I am finally out of "Kindergarten" with Ms.Sams and back into doing real work! I know I am actually looking forward to work!! So my music teacher was going on vaca. Or was sick and we were supposed to get a sub for like 2 days. So on my way to my locker out of the corner of my eye I see Mr.GORDON!!!! ( He was the way cool sub for History I was telling you about) He said he was going to be the music sub!! I was so estatic and was really happy to get to see him again! I thought I never would. He brought cool games for us to play on Friday and was a hoot to have around, although I have to say he makes a way better history teacher than a music teacher.

Boy doesn't God work in Mysterious ways!!

Easter Break

2006-04-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Yall! Sorry for my negligence. This Easter was a very different Easter from all the rest. For one my Youth Group planned a Youth Retreat for the weekend and 2 other Youth Groups joined us. We went into the mountains and camped at a Vacant Summer Camp. Sense my Youth Group lives only 45 minutes away we had to go and set up early. So we sledded ( In April!!!! I know!) And we played hours of cards and hung out. Then The other Youth Groups came around 7:30. We ate dinner and had out lessons. There was 8 feet of snow- super cold showers, and an awesome group of Young Christians spending time together. Here is how the Saturday Panned Out.

Breakfast- Cereal and muffins.

Devo- Garrett did an Awesome class. He did the " Mall of Questions." And it was about how life is more than just life. Life is a Journey and will never end. And how Jesus died- not for our sins- but to live through each and every one of us- He experiences everything we go through, he died for that.

Free Time- Ah glorious free time, but what do you do when their is 8 feet of snow out side? Well you hang out in the Chapel ( The boys sleep in the Chapel, and the girls had to sleep in the Lodge, the only 2 rooms wee used in the whole camp. Besides the bathroom) Me and my friend Megan played cards with Nate, Peter and Andrew. We played about an hour of Scum ( card game) and Mow ( yet another card game) Then we had a Yummy Lunch of Sandwiches. Then more card games with my Homies.

Sledding- We made an awesome hill and it was fun but I fell on my head over 4 times and went to go take a shower when I learned that we had to go snowshoeing. I hate it soo much. Don't go unless you really like to walk with funny shoes on in the snow for 2 hours. When we got back we had about 30 min. Of card playing then dinner. We had Fajitas.

Showering was a funny story and if you want to hear it then I will tell you about it.

Stations of the Cross- I LOVE THIS CLASS!!! We went into the chapel and visited thirteen station of the cross. Each station portrayed a different person and a different emotion. And at the end of Each station you said a prayer to God asking for Strength to be able to have the strength to carry our Crosses and live for Jesus Dailey. By the end I took my seat and was holding back tears because the story of Jesus was way more than a story is was an experience and I looked around and noticed a lot of Boys and Girls were crying. It was a really good experience and I will never forget that Easter.

I love rallies and Retreats with my fellow Youth Groupers here and in Idaho. God is great, and I love that.

On a better NOTE, and summer plans

2006-04-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

A few posts ago I told ya'll that I had a try-out to make Wind symphony at my high school for next year. If you don't know what Wind Symphony is I'll tell you. Wind Symphony is the highest band that you could possibly be in at my High School that I will be going to next year. And you have to tryout to make it. And the likely hood of sophomores making it aren't very big. So I have been waiting for forever to find out if I made it. So today I found out...I MADE IT!!!! I am sooooo excited. My friend Alyson also made it too! So we will be in the same class. And I am thrilled to get to be in it. So I am very happy and proud of myself. I am proud of myself because I have only been playing the trumpet for a year and a half and most people who are in their have been playing for like 4 years or even more, so that makes me feel really good. Wahoo!!

Ok so my summer plans are basically in the concrete as of Sunday. Sense I am taking Drivers Ed. I cant go on my Youth Groups mission trip to Juarez, Mexico ( and my mom doesn't want me too). And I am going to go to bible camp with my Youth Group along with 2 other youth groups from Idaho. VBS is always a big hit. I love helping with the little kids, the 3 yr. olds. They are sooo cute. My fake little brother ( I don't have one so I adopted 2 little brothers from my church to be my brothers) is in that group and its soo sute to see the little kids sing about Jesus. They are adorable. After Camp my family is going on an Alaskan Cruise ( Thanks to my Grandma! She paid for my family to go) for about 8 days. Then when I get back its about week until my first day of High School. So their isn't really any room for a real job. A job like at a Snow Cone Shak, or a job at Maceys and a grocery bagger, or Hot Dog On A Stick. So last year I was a nanny for about a week and a half to two sweet little girls at my Church. And it pays pretty well, although I have to say I got a really good inside look on how being a mom felt like, and boy it was hard. So Mr.G thought I did a great job with his little girls and wanted to get me again. So I will be a nanny again for about 2 weeks and a little more. You see I do quite a lot of babysitting so people like to tell me a couple months in advance if they need me for a awhile. He also wants be one night a week during the summer so he and his wife and go on a date. And one afternoon every school week so they can go golfing. I love babysitting, and I love little kids. And its a really good job for me to do because its cool to see how much little kids will love you and look up to you and cant wait to give you a hug every Sunday and ask " Whens are you gonna gets to come play with us?" And when you are at their house they want to color with you and want you to read to you. You pull out all the games in the closet play Candy Land for hours( or until Erin runs away with the blue piece, or when she needs a diaper change) and you let them watch movies with ice pops and blow bubbles on the portch. But sometimes babysitting can be really hard. I will be a nanny Mon- Fri from 7:30 in the morning until 5:30 or 6 in the afternoon. And let me tell you, and you probably already know this, but chasing after a 2 year old and a 4 year old can be really tough. Especially when you don't have a lot of that mommy instinct. But for now I will be the best nanny to those little girls and show them all the love and mommy-ness that I have. And I will enjoy being able to whatch the little kids that I babysit now in about 10 years when they are showing other little kids how great life can be.

I think little kids are Gods way of showing us how much he loves us. And I can tell you right now, summer will be fun but interesting once again as a nanny. I guess I will have to keep you posted huh.

Can I Get a Break?!

2006-04-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have this math teacher. Well she is my Geometry teacher. Her name is Mrs. Roundy. Which is really funny because cirlces are round and she teaches Geometry. hahah. I think its funny. She is one of the most carefree and fun teachers that we have at our school. She isn't really strict and she always laughs at our jokes and makes some herself. She is like a kid herself, yet she knows hen its time to get down to business. She isn't strict if assignments aren't in when they are supposed to as long as we get them done and understand them, she wants us to succeed. No I know she is probably a parents worst nitemare for a kid. But it doesn't take a strict mean teacher to get accrost to us. Some times all we need is more of a friend-teacher than a teacher-teacher( mean and strict and down to business) And its not like she doesn't give any homework, because we get a ton. So today when class was starting she looks at us, not the usual smile and a joke but with wettened eyes and a frown. She says
" Kids things aren't going to well at home right now, some things aren't right, and I need to be a mom to my kids right now. Mommy duty before my career. So today will be my last day." Can you believe that!!! I love this lady! I cried a little and she said that she would miss us. Everyday I come into her class room I say " Heidi Ho Lynn Longleaf!" ( really LONG story) and now I cant do that anymore. But I do respect her for being a mom to her kids.

So this year I have had half of my teachers leave. Here they are in order of their " Release"

In my Biology Class we got a student teacher, So Monson isn't technically are teacher anymore. So Mrs. Shauerhammer ( I know its really long it is pronounced shower-hammer) has been here sense the beginning of like the second quarter or a little before that. So that is Number one.

Ok now most of you know my history with my History teachers. My real teacher that I have had sense the beginning of school to Thanksgiving went in for back sugery and hasn't come back. So I have had Mr.Gordon, than I have had Mr. Dunne. Now Mrs. Sams. ( Boy do I have more stories to tell you about her!)

And now my wonderful math teacher. What have we done to deserve that? My class ( the whole ninth grade) has gone through so much in the past year.

We have ad 3 girls O.C.D. at my school. Well actually they came back to school drunk and they had overdosed on dog depressant medication. A girl in my classes dad died. And a girl in my classes mom died in a car crash the day before Thanksgiving. And now we are going through teachers like a roll of toilet paper. But we really do have good school, so don't think that my school is terrible we just have had rotten luck. And all this time all I can think is, What have we done to deserve any of this. Then I regret saying it.

And after she tells us the news and all this goes through my brain. And I look to the ceiling and say- God thank you again that you will never leave me, But I think I already learned that lesson. Alls I want is a teacher that will stay with us until the end.

Small Talk in Spanish

2006-04-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have to say I LOVE Spanish class. The teacher is so nice and treats us like human beings. She rocks. We get a seating change every new quarter and midterm ( middle of the quarter) and I got the seat in the corner back of the room in front of Emma ( not real name). Emma and I have a pretty interesting relationship. I am not one of her close friends, I am not in her crowd, but she finds that it is very easy to talk to me about stuff. She told me today " When I am talking to you I feel like you listen, and that I am not just blabbing on an on. Thanks" Well a compliment like that is very cool to get. I have been told I am like a sponge when I want to be- I soak up everything. And we got to the subject of religion- I invited her to Wednesday Night coffee Shop that we do, she wanted to come but her Aunt is in Town. We talked about summer camp and how she wanted to come- but she cant She is going to be in Europe that week. ( With family) And she asked me, "You're not baptized are you, and what is your definition of a Christian" . This is my reply.

" Well our Church believes that baptism is a main requirement for being considered a Christian. Personally I don't. I believe that what is in your heart and your actions will truly show that you are a Christian. And your personal relationship with God. But personally baptism to me, doesn't make you a Christian, its what is in your heart. Water to me makes no difference."

She says " Oh my gosh that's exactly what I think, but nobody else has ever said that. And personally to me Christianity isn't a religion its what you believe in."

But I was very very very happy that we had this discussion. And who knows maybe one day she will come to camp or Wednesday Night Connection. But for now Small talk in Spanish is a step in the right direction.

3 Down 1 to Go

2006-04-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hey Yall out there I just finished my 3rd quarter of school! That means one more to go! Not to mention I get to take summer Drivers Ed!! Wahooo. The only bad thing is that my class starts at.......Drum Roll Please..... SEVEN IN THE MORNING!!!!! Yeah I know ay too early. But at least I will be able to get my license and be able to drive when school starts. Then its off to the high-school. But I have to admit I will miss my school. I will miss all my routines. I love routine, but I also love to be spontaneous. But in the long run routine works best for me. Seeing the same faces in my same classes that I have everyday, makes me feel good. And people actually know who I am and take the time to talk to me. I walk the same halls in the same order and do the same things everyday. I know it probably sounds really lame, but I love routine. And sometimes the prospect of a new school and my school will merge with other schools and people might make new friends and then we will have to get used to the new groups, boy that's a lot of change to handle.

Its a good thing that God will always be there, he's one part of my routine that will never have to change. And that is one big relief.

Festival

2006-04-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

On Thursday the top band at my school (Symphonic Band) oh yeah did I mention I am in that band? Oh well back to the story. So once a year all the Top bands from the middle schools in our region get together at one middle school and play three songs. We had like 5 or 6 bands at this thing. So while we were "listening" to the other bands me and my friend Emily Played tic-tac-toe, the dot game, and our favorite hangman. We played about 10 games of hangman to say the least. Well this was my first time at festival and the judges seemed really picky especially about articulation and dynamics. ( boy I really sound like a band geek don't I. oh well I am what I am. And God loves me the same) So my teacher this is his first year with our band, and his first Festival. So basically we were hoping for a good score. We got out there and played our hardest. And the judges seems to like our performance and we were all pumped up and thought we did our best, especially Alison ( the one with the poster) she had to do a solo in the middle of a song and she ACED it. We were happy for her because she was really nervous and was worried she was going o mess up, but she didn't. So here is the grading scale from best to worst,
1, 1-, 2, 2-, 3, 3-, 4, 4-, 5, 5-. So 1 is the very best and five minus is the worst. After festival was over our teacher went to get out score. So we all loaded onto the buss and Mr.W told us our score. We got a ONE MINUS! Which is very good I might add! Everybody was really excited, then the bus started moving and West Jordan Middles buss was ahead of ours and all the boys in the front of our bus started flipping the kids off from W.J.M. off and saying "F You!" to the other bus. It put a damper on the mood. But words are just words, but it was a little unnecessary and we found out today that West Jordan got a 1.

Boy, don't things keep getting better for me.

Heartbroken

2006-03-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

I was watching the news so I could hear one story and one story only. The Woman in Tennessee who killed her husband. I thought nothing of it at first. Then I gave her a good look. She's doesn't look like that kind of person. She looked normal. She was a mother, a wife ( not to mention a preachers wife) and she looked like any other person you would see in your everyday life and not give a second thought to. But then they said that she was a regular Church goer. I got to thinking. That could be anybody. Anybody at all. But it makes me deeply sad that this had to happen. She had three adorable little girls. I thought about these girls for the rest of the afternoon. I felt so heartbroken for them. They would have to grow up with out a mom or a dad. They would have to grow up knowing that their mommy killed their daddy. They may not know it for awhile but they will eventually.

That got me thinking about my own family. We are pretty private about our personal feelings. But I don't think that any of us would go to such extremes as these. My dad is a preacher, so there fore my mom is a preachers wife. And my family also has three kids in it. Not to mention three girls like this family. It is kinda scary the resemblance. My dad is also a preacher for the C of C, just like this family was. It was really sad to see those kid's future and lives change forever it was really sad. Her kids are Patricia (8) Mary Alice (6) and Breana (1). So young, SO young!!

Then after a read Erin's Blog it got me thinking. What if somebody in MY church was feeling those same things right now? Would I know that? Could I help them in anyway? Well I would never know this because many people are very private about their personal feelings. It is sad that people feel this was, I have even felt this way!! Numerous times. It feels like a bottle is about to explode. But now I have somebody to talk to. She is a Godsend. God knew I needed her. And I am thankful he gave her to me. She is a blessing to everybody that meets her.

So if you are at home and your kids are awake. Tell them that you love them and give them a HUGDE hug. And tell them if they ever feel horrible and just want to talk that you will be there for them forever, and listen to whatever they have to say. Let me tell you as a kid that would be Awesome for you to do. Give your kids their trust and they will be your friends for life.

But tonight say a prayer for the whole Winkler family. Espessically, Patricia, Mary Alice, and Breana.

God bless theses kids and wrap your loving hands around them. Tell them you love them and will never desert them. ~Amen

Irreplaceable

2006-03-25T09:31:00.000-08:00

Ok this will really blow yall's minds. This is another school story I am afraid. So just hang in there.

This story is about Sub number three. Her name is Ms. Sams as I am sure you know. Shes the one I like to call Mrs. Kindergarten because she says boys and girls a lot and she treats us like babies. Shes the worst sub anyone could ask for. But I have learned to grin and bear it, until now -this is not even funny.

When Sub number two was here we made country report posters on trifolds or posterboards. So me and my friend Ashley made an awesome poster on Sweden. It took us over four hours to get everything right. We even matted everything on Card Stock that my mom gave us and added a packet of Swedish Fish'n friends to our poster to add some pizzaz. But my other friend Alyson made this AWESOME poster on Uganda. You see, her brother went to Africa on his Mission ( I know, I know, I live in a place where that is not uncommon, Utah)And so she had a little rug thing on it, a doll made out of banana fibers, and some little pottery things. Everything on her poster was from Uganda that her mom let her use.

So of course naturally Ms. Sams as to ruin everything. She didn't even tell us she wa going to do this. So yesterday Ms. Sams said " Boys and girls! I noticed that there was a bunch of posters over here and I decided to throw them away. If you wanted your posters oh well that's too bad unless you want to go Dumpster Diving. I took the Liberty to throw them out." What the Heck was she thinking!!! She didn't even tell us that she was going to throw them away! She didn't even give us the chance to get our posters back from her! But then I remembered Alysons poster. All those things that were on it! So then Alyson yelled out " Ms. Sams! My moms gonna KILL me because of that! Can I go get it right now please?" And of course Ms. Sams being the toot she is says this " No you may NOT Alyson. Its your fault you didn't get it sooner. If you want your poster you will have to get it during the 5 minute break." Ok so as if 5 minutes if barely enough to get to our other classes she makes her wait to see if her poster is ruined and make her late to another class. Boy doesn't she really care about her students.

Luckily for me Alyson is in my 4th period class also. So I could find out what happened to her poster. She came in a couple minutes latter. Not a good sign. She was crying soooo hard. And exclaimed " It's ALL ruined every last thing on that poster. RUINED!!! My moms gonna kill me! Everything is broken!" I have never felt so bad for someone than I did at that moment. She had an awesome poster, and not it was diminished into a pile of rubble.

Ms. Sams gave Alyson a note for her parents that said-

I am very sorry for what happened to Alysons poster. I know the items were Irreplaceable.

Boy was that heart felt. Those Items were Irreplaceable, she'll never get them back thanks to one persons acts. The least she could have done was tell us she was going to throw them away, so we could have the chance to get them. I am not so mad about my poster, even though I did spend 4 hours on that puppy. But I felt really bad for Alyson.Those items meant lot to her.

Thanks Ms. Sams, We love you too.

Lesson I will never forget

2006-03-23T14:18:00.000-08:00

Ok this is the most unforgettable lesson ever. I know it sounds like a wack jobed lesson but let me tell you- I will NEVER forget it!

OK, so my class was sitting down to what we thought was going to be a "normal" School day in Mr. Gordons class. He usually did a discussion on "Hot Topics From Around The World" or a Power Point Presentation or Europe or something. He always had something planned, he was the most Organized and funnest teacher I ever had. So when we all finally got quiet and were ready to start the day. He asked us if any of us had watched CNN news this morning. Well most of us don't have cable including me. So we just said "No". He said that we better pay attention because what he was about to tell us was going to change our "Forever". Oh no I thought he is serious this time. He told us that about 3,000 Afgani children Refugees were coming to Utah, but they were supposed to go to Texas but couldn't any more because of the Hurricane Katrina. "Cool" we were going to have the experience of a lifetime! He said that we we going to have to take in quite a lot of students because their was going to be 3,000 of them. "OK I thought is is for REAL!" Then he went on with all of the changes that we were going to have to make to accommodate them. Here are some to name a few.

1. We would have to change the mascot because they cant have live things as mascots so we were going to have to change our mascot. Then all of a sudden Tyler starts busting out in this chant for the High School were going to next year.

"Go West Jordan Soup bowels! Fight! Fight! Fight!" It was pretty hilarious.

2. No Meat or silverware in the cafeteria.

3. Girls have to eat on the other side of the cafeteria, away from the boys- boys also served fist in the cafeteria.

4. School days are now cut in Half so the school can fit all the students. The first Shift at 6-12 and the 2nd shift 1-7.

5. Girls have to wear the traditional Dress for Muslim girls because the boys from Afghanistan think that skin is basically Porn.

6. Girls and boys have to have separate classes. Because the boys cant associate with the girls in Afgani Culture.

OK I know by this time your probably thinking " You were way stupid to believe all of this Crap" But let me tell you, if you were there you would have believed it too! I mean this man deserved an Oscar! His face didn't smile once and he even got the Vice Principal involed! She came in and said that everything was true and that they were making arrangements right now to accommodate the new students. And let me tell you my whole class was in Hysterics especially all of the Girls in my class who play sports because the girls couldn't anymore because of the new rules.But this is why I was in Hysterics-

7. Summer is canceled because now we have to participate in the holy month of Ramadan ( October) Sense we get time off of school to celebrate Christmas, They get the month of October off to celebrate Ramadan. We would have to go to school in the Summer!

At this point I started to Cry! I was going to have to give up Summer camp! Not just any summer camp. This is a Christian Summer camp for a whole week. My youth group gets to go to Idaho and spend the week with other Teen Christians and learn about God and Jesus obviously! I was sooo bummed and I was Crying.

There were tons of other "rules" he gave us, but too many to list. But then before the bell rang he said. " Class on Monday ( Martin Luther King Day) you will be able to understand how being segregated feels like and will understand the true importance of Unity and the need for it. So I want you to think and reflect on this. OK class!"

It was all one big funny sick Joke! I couldn't believe this! He was a phenomenal actor. He came up to me after class and said he was sorry if he hurt my feelings. Sure I was mad and upset. I was thinking the whole time about how I was going to have to miss Summer camp! I was soo upset.

But you know I will NEVER forget this lesson. At the time I was really mad And was sure that I was never going to believe him again. But I am soo glad that I can say that I really know the Importance of all the tings he talked about. And ya know, what I Will never forget it! I just wished I had Mr. Gordon back. Even thought the lesson was kind of mean. He was the best teacher I ever had. And he sure had a way of teaching us and making us understand things that I never would have learned if he just talked about it. It is all about the experience. And boy I sure got one!

Sub Problems

2006-03-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

I am going to apologize in advance for all of my school stories. If they get boring tell me and I will try to do some new things. Just tell me so I know.

So I used to have this teacher. She was like the kind you would see in a movie- not in a good way. She well, she likes to drone on. She had this weird grumpy voice. She had a song for ever city. (She was my Geography (H) teacher.) When ever somebody or whenever she would say "Philadelphia" she would bust out singing "Philadelphia freedom Shine on meeeee" It was really annoying. She always ALWAYS complained that her back hurt and she was a harsh grader. An A was hard to come by. Then she told us she was going to go in for back Surgery and would be back in about 2 months. Great!!! Well atleast at the time it sounded great. So we got this Sub. He was soo Cool! His name was Mr.Gordon. He taught us sooo much. He brought us up to speed on where we should have been. We even got to play games and he made cool power points about the guillotine and on Vlad. Then one Friday when we walked in he was crying. And we all noticed all of his Chess boards we gone. You see this guy LOVES chess. He taught us all how to play. He was even in the World Chess Championships. The one thing about Mr.Gordon was that he taught us really important lessons in a way that I will never forget. One of those I would like to share with you. But I will use that lesson/story for my next post because it would take forever. So Mr.Gordon told us that the District had him "fired" or "released. The whole school went Nutso! So then we continued on with substitute Number 2.

Sub number 2 was Mr.Dunne. ( as in Done) And he was ok but man he was way strict. He did a whole day on just explaining us the school rules. Come on! I think a bunch of 9th Graders are smart enough to know that we cant chew Gum and we are only allowed to use the Hall Pass 2 times per quarter, unless of an emergency. But obviously he felt the need to explain that to us. He was from Ireland and had a wacky accent. But it was fun to listen to him talk. He taught us some. But not a lot. He said OK after every word. No joke. But he was nice to us. After a grand total of being with is for about 2-3 weeks he got a permanent teaching position. He failed to tell us and were shocked to find out the following Monday. Now by this time Mrs.Buhler was supposed to have been back already. She lefted before Thanksgiving and now its Almost Easter. So now we are continuing with sub number 3.

So when I came into the class and Mr.Dunne wasn't there I just figured he was sick and he would be back the next day. This new "permanent Sub" ( yeah right the other 2 were supposed to be "permanent" also) addressed her self as Ms.Sams. I thought she was going to be an OK sub but oh no no she is the worst ever. She treats us like we are in kindergarten and finishes ever sentence with " Boys and Girls" we have gotten the privilege of using " Art to help our brains". She said she would only be here for about a week. Good I thought cuz I cant stand any more of this. But on Friday she told us that she was going to be staying for the end of the School year. Crap. Normally I would have been pleased to find out that Buhler wasn't coming back. It would have been great if Mr.Gordon was the permanent sub. But no we are stuck with Ms. Kindergarten ( did I fail to mention she used to be a kindergarten teacher!) for the rest of the school year. I am learning absolutely nothing and I am really sick of hearing "Boys and Girls" every second for 45 minutes every day. I am very sorry if this sounsd like I am complaining. But I went from Good teacher to OK to bad and now I am stuck in bad teacher mode for the rest of the year. I call it the Foster Teacher System. It doesn't work , nobody wants to teach a bunch of 9th graders.

This got me thinking about God. Boy am I glad he doesn't desert me and leave me in the "Foster Care System"!!No matter how rough of times I am having I will always know he is there. I may forget how much he loves me, and I may forget that he is there for me- but the truth is He WILL ALWAYS be there for me. I may have to change teachers every week but God is FOREVER and His love will NEVER fail matter how many times that I will for get this, God will ALWAYS be there for me.

Things I'll never be able to do

2006-03-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

According to some people some of my dreams are a little un-realistic or they just don't think that I have the will power of the drive to accomplish them. Well some of these are things people never thought I would be able to do.

You will never be on the student Council only popular kids make it anyways- Well then how come I am on it then huh'.

You will never be able to maintain a straight 4.0 GPA for more than a year- Oh yeah! Well I kept my 4.0 for 9 quarters in a row. Now its gone but at least I lasted 2 whole years and one quarter. And Hey a 3.976 isn't that bad at all!

I will never be able to play the trumpet after quitting the Piano- Well that theory didn't last very long! I bought my own at a garage sale and learned how to play! Now I am in the Highest band at my Junior High school and I have only been playing for a year and a half! ( 9th grade is still in the Junior High building)

You see there are tons of things that people say that I cant do. But by telling me that I cant do them only pushes me harder to do them. I feel this need to prove people wrong and that I CAN to anything I set my mind on. For example.

I have always wanted to donate my hair to Locks-Of-Love ever sense I was a very little girl. But continuous tears after trying to brush out my hair always led me to have to get a hair cut. But now that I am older I told myself I WILL grow my hair out long enough. So I went to the Website I learned that I need to have a minimum of 10 inches of hair in one ponytail to donate. I straightened out my hair and I only need about 3 more inches! I have grown my hair of for almost 6 months. I told my mom that I was going to do this she looked doubtful and told me that it would take a long time and even if I did have enough my hair it would be really short ( to my chin) after cutting it. I told her this " Mom these kids have NO hair what so ever. The least I can do is give them mine! Besides my hair will grow back, theirs wont." Sure ill miss it but hair is hair no matter how you put it. And besides its something I have always wanted to do. I am just one of those people who like to do service stuff. I think its a disease a good one at that.

One of my other life long goals is something really big. When I was about 8 years old I told everybody that I was Going to adopt a baby. The yjust looked at me like a crazy person and just figured that it was a phase I was going through. But I never grew out of this one. When I was 10 I told everybody that I wanted to adopt a baby from every country of the world. Than I learned that was over 80 countries! But I have never let go of my adopting dream. My parents tape every episode and story they find on adoption, every magazine clipping about adoption I have read and I continue this desire to adopt. Sense the 3rd grade I have always known of one place at the least that I was going to adopt from. I have decided on an Asian country China in particular. I don't know why I have always wanted to adopt but I have. Maybe god has planted this desire in my heart. Until Last year I added nother country Africa ( well I guess that is counted as a continent). I want to adopt a little girl form China and Africa. People in my class call me crazy and ask me " Well what happens if your husband says No. And adoption is really expensive ya know". My response to them is. Well I hope and know that I will hopefully find a husband that will support me and have the same aspiration that I do. And yes I know that adoption is very expensive and hopefully if this is in Gods plan he will help us financially. Ill work it out." And maybe I will never get married. Only God knows for sure. But people also call me crazy when I tell them what I want to name them. I like interesting and names not many people have. I have decided that I would like to name my little Girls Kenderayah ( Asian girl) and Adella ( African girl). But I know that over time that may change. But what I do know is that my love and passion for what I do and what I want to do will never change. And I hope to prove people wrong on this one. I have a want and desire to help people in anyways that I can! I will keep you posted on this. And I hope you all have a great rest of the week and remember Anything is possible with Jesus. It just might take a little longer than we would like.
Peace bloggers, go in peace.

Way Worth the Trouble

2006-03-16T14:03:00.000-08:00

So today I was sitting in my biology class and somehow me and this Kid got talking about my religion. He was really interested but was a little disappointed when I said that I didn't actually live in the Steeple of my Church- My dad is a Minister and he thought since he was a Minister that I actually lived in the church!!!! I was a little frustrated but calmed down after he started asking me questions. You see not many people at my School are my religion. I am used to all the questions so it didn't bother me. He seemed thrilled at the aspect that we got to pick when we got baptized! It seemed like a pretty simple idea but to him it was the World! He asked me if I was. And I just said " No I am not. I still believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he is a gracious and Mericiful to us. I just really think the best thing for me right now is to Just talk to God. Get to know him and feel right with my decision. I want to know more. OK?"- I have felt the pressures of Baptism over and over again. People ask me ALL the time why not. And sometimes the pressure is unbearable. I just want to cry sometimes. It feels like all that anybody wants for me is to be a baptized person. I don't believe that just Baptism saves you and is a ticket to heaven. Its trusting him and having a relationship with him and being faithfully is a good start. But others wont see it that way and think I am a heathen and a sinner if I am not immersed. Its Ok not to be baptized right at this moment, I still believe I just want to know him more, that's OK right?

Ok well back to the story in Bio class. So then the teacher comes over to me. ( We were supposed to working on this packet due tomorrow but I figured it was ok to be talking about this. Jesus is more important anyways.) So when I asked her a question she flipped out on me. She told me that she wasn't a walking talking Dictionary/ Text book and that I should figure it out on my own. And then she said that she noticed that Zac and I were talking a lot so she told me to go sit at this table all by myself- well technically. It was right next to my other table.

Now usually I would have probably blushed and turned red then feel remorseful for the rest of the day, but not today. I was expressing my faith to another student who wanted to hear about my faith. It was well worth the trouble.

Potholes

2006-03-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

Life is not perfect. It is full of what I like to call potholes. Life might ot turn out perfect or how we want it to. Being spiritual or emotional is not always accepted. Being a teenager is not as easy as people think it is. And Quesitoning things is ok. Push yourself and discover new things. Well thats it for now bloggers. Peace throught your day.