why?

I realized today how easy it is to just throw your life away with one stupid choice. I realized today that people do that all the time. And that's why people never really make it out of their teen years. One stupid mistake and the girl who had an exciting basketball future at UCLA lined up for her, gets pregnant, and it's all over. A young man who was tired of fighting the endless battles in life on his own, and puts a gun in his mouth. A girl who decides that she knows better than everyone else and decides to try life on her own. Throwing away her high school career and destined to work at some fast food place for the rest of her life. What I learned today was how easy it is to make those mistakes. They're everywhere. They're in like almost every choice you make. Why is it so easy to completely destroy your life, and can do it in like 3 seconds. But then almost impossible to undo that damage? Life is completely unfair, if you ask me.

Melting Days

Do you ever feel like the days just mesh and melt into other days. Like, the days aren't much different, but somewhere along the lines they have to change into new days because before you know it, you realize a whole month is gone? You know? I kind of have been feeling that way for whatever reason. Like, everyday is the same day over and over and over and over again. Not that it's always bad. Some moments are better than others. But for the most part you just feel like your life is just kind of one big blur and you're just sitting there, waiting for someday to have a goal, have a plan and make sense of it all. I was walking around East Linn yesterday afternoon and I came to realize how much I feel excruciatingly insignificant. You know? Like, is there really a purpose for us all? Is it going to matter, in ten or fifteen or twenty years, that I, Christina Barreto, walked through East Linn campus, and the school meant something to me. You know? Mrs. Gillson was telling me about how she had a realization today that Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were actual people. They walked and talked and breathed and had the same struggles as everyone else around. And they, to the world, seem so much more significant. You know? I told Mrs. Grove about that feeling of absolute insignificance, and she was all talking about how that's how we SHOULD feel, and we should be so humble as to say that we are so insignificant. Ha! All I could do was laugh. Doesn't she know me well enough by now? I never been humble once before in my life--why would I start now? Okay, that was a joke. Anyway. That's kind of been on my mind lately. Like, why does it matter that I, Christina Barreto am going to be a part of the graduating class of 2010 at East Linn Christian Academy. That only means anything to me. You know? Like, even next year, who is going to care??? Not that I'm trying to say that I don't matter and that I'm emo and everything, that's not my point. I just find it very strange to think of how often I think of myself and I am always looking out for myself. I make plans for myself, I have dreams, goals, desires, and what does it all matter? I mean, beyond what it matters to me.... does that make any sense??? Anyway. Just a thought.

Today, I got a form from NNU for trying out for a music scholarship. I'm so stressed out. Like, first of all, which instrument do I audition or record? Aaaaand, what if I would rather just sing? Or just play the piano?? I mean, after all, it's not like I'm REALLY all that great at anything I do... it's just I do A LOT of different instruments and I have a lot of ability, but I'm not like AMAZING... so it's kind of stressful. Aaaaand, if I try say that I'm an alto- am I really? Not that it'll make all that much of a difference, it's just that I've been singing Alto since like 8th grade because I read music and because I can harmonize and basically learn it myself and I don't have to have a lot of extra help so, I can teach others, while Mrs. Grove teaches the Sopranos the melody. Not that I'm saying I'm so good that I don't ever need help, that's not true, it's just that I know enough about music that usually I can pick it up pretty easily, and I don't have to work very hard to do it, and then the other humans in my section can learn it faster. Sooooo..... I'm not an actual Alto. Like I don't have Megan Knox or Coleen Rydholm's true Alto voice, but I do okay.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just stressing too much about this. I talked to Kimi Kruesi about college and she was a great comfort. I found that I'm not the only human in the world freaking about college and she said that it's totally normal. Which was really nice to hear, considering I have no idea where I really want to go, and what I really want to do. Like, I want to do something with music, and English and writing and maybe possibly like theater, but who knows. Just so many things to think about. I wish someone would just tell me.

Rylee and Friends

Megan, Shelley and I were sold in the bondservant auction this year. We took a bunch of pictures for a slide show that was a failure, but at least the pics were fun to take. This picture was so much fun to take! Megan and Shelley decided to use my dollar-tree sward as a baton for their little race as i cheered on the side line! Lol. This was like take 105. Lol.

This picture was fun because Megan and Shelley were both really really really scared to jump off. But I told them it was going to be fun! Shelley barely jumped and basically just hopped down. And Megan... I don't know what she was doing.
I'm about a week late announcing my nephew's birthday. He tuned ONE YEAR OLD last Friday. It's hard to believe that it's already been a year. He is turning into one beautiful boy. It's been sooo exciting to watch him grow. Just look how cute he is!!!!! He's finally kind of walking and he's not really saying anything except for "BABA" which is soooo cute. Because he will just say it back and forth with you. He also does a lot of random jibber-jabber which is soooo cute! He apparently can say dog sometimes, but I've never seen it done. He'll soon be saying "Aunt Christina" which is going to be amazing! I love this little guy so much!

When I recorded this video he decided to stop talking.. so I'm sorry. But at least you kind of get the idea. Once he starts saying me name, I'll let you know. :)

Senior Pics!

So these guys were some of my favorites... but Mrs. Van Essen did a SUPER fabulous job! Obviously. Anyway, let me know what you think! I'm pretty sure you will be able to see them bigger if you click on them, btw. Oh, and some things you didn't know about these pics... umm.. the first one was my genie idea after we were pretty much done and I was just messing around. The third one, where I am laying on the ground with the microphone, was SUUUUUPPER awkward because I was trying to smile and look up without a double chin-- it took some serious skills! The next one after that is basically my favorite because of the cross in the background which I didn't know was going to be in the pic, and it worked out GREAT! The next one is the one where I am being serious, and it's pretty decent I suppose, but I think I'm about to start laughing. Goodness, it's hard to do those sober pics with your best friend there and someone taking a picture! Ummm... the one where I'm wearing the white shirt is actually me in a Johnny Depp shirt, but you can't tell, which sucks... oh and that is the same tree Logan used for his senior pic for the yearbook...you can draw your own conclusions on that one.... :) lol. The last one was just fun, obviously. But suuuper cute. And please ignore the bad words written in orange over it. It didn't always say that, but just when we took the pic.... but it wasn't us, I promise. :) Hahaha.

Anyway, she did a GREAT job and I'm very happy. :) If you care to see the slide show, well you CAN!

Misty Edwards is the Bomb!

Sooooo... I put this link to "You Wont Relent" on here becasue it's awesome and I think it's a great reminder to me that God wants all of us. Every last part, and He wont relent until he has it all. Anyway, I fell in love with Misty Edwards' music this past summer, and I highly recommend listening to her if you haven't yet! It's soooo great and I love love love her voice!

You Wont Relent (Seal) - Misty Edwards

New Song

So, in Viva Voce we are going to try to sing this song, because it would be a freaking blast. It's called Trashin' the Camp, by N'sync and it's from Tarzan... it's the first song in the sidebar, and I hope you all LOVE it, because it's going to be freaking awesome!

Ahhh I love weekends!!!

Yesterday was a pretty full day. I woke up pretty early and kind of just layed around, but then the creative writing club went to the Saturday market in Eugene and had a BLAST!! I was kind of cold and wet, but it was fun. I saw a lot of things that I wanted, but I don't think I ended up going back to get them. I kind of forgot about them when there was a bit of drama and trauma among the group. I tried some weird tasting foods, almost bought an amazingly beautiful skirt that I wanted sooooo bad but didn't fit me. The lady gave me her card, so I may give her a jingle so I can have her make one for me. :) Aaaaand, there was a lady there who made these cool mirror things with different cartoons of movie pics on the front. They were sooo cool. And she had a bunch of flasks. It's sooo weird that those are coming back, by the way. So yes, she also gave me her card and I'm going to have her make me a Buffy. Devon bought one that was a bunch of women superheros and there was one of Buffy, but it wasn't enough Buffy for me. Then I also saw this cool guy playing the Chinese flutes that were really pretty and pretty sounding. I played around with one for a moment, but wasn't any good. I wish I could learn every instrument in the world and then just sit on the corner of the street or on a park bench or whatever and just play. That guy was my favorite. He was really sweet and really informative. He told me all about the history of the flutes and about all the different keys they are in. I'm pretty sure if I bought one, it would be in C major/Am. So yeah, the market was really fun.

When we got back to the school, East Linn was playing in the tournament still, and they were kicking butt, so I watched for a while. Taylor and I played "The Most Addictive Game" on his ipod touch. I basically sucked at it. His best time was like 25 seconds and mine was 17.96 (Which means I'm average) Haha. Then I went to Mrs. Van Essen's office and looked at the senior pics she took of me. They turned out great! I was really excited. Then it was off to Haley's 17th birthday party/dance. It was a blast. A LOT of dancing. I'm getting too old for this. I didn't know this but apparently I'm a good dancer. According to Katie Latimer and Jayden Bontrager and other random people I'm very "smooth" whatever that means.What can I say, my hips don't lie. Hahahahaha. It made for a crazy fun ending to an super great day!!!

I'm sooooo glad it's friday!!!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday! I guess I have been really negative lately. I found out today that something a friend and I had been "joking" about tuned out to be really hurtful to that person. I felt awful. I never meant any harm and it was "only a joke", or at least I thought. Karla Pearson told me one time that there is some truth to every joke, and up until now, I didn't really agree with her. I always thought that as long as YOU knew you were joking that automatically they would know. And as long as things were being said in the context of a "joke" then it was okay to say. I guess my sarcasm can get me in just as much trouble as my non sarcasm. I will definitely try to work on this, and I'm sorry my last two posts have been so down.

My apologies to Danae Cowan. I always forget that you and Kyle are cousins, and I'm sorry for ripping him apart yesterday. You are just both so different it's crazy no one would have ever guessed you are related.

So, today we took care of the scheduling issue. Although we worked out a compromise, I'm still not as happy as I would like to be. Instead of doing PE, I'm doing weight lifting, 6th period, which is JUST the class I barely got out of last year. :( So yeah, now I'm doing that, but because Miss Reister told me one thing about PE requirements in the beginning, they are letting me only do one semester of Weight lifting, and then counting my basketball years as my other semester. Which, okay, clearly, that is better than having to drop choir, and it's also better than having to lose one of my other electives for the entire year. Yes, that does mean that I am no longer doing that speech class, which, just yesterday I started to enjoy. But whatever. I guess we can't have everything in life. Right? I tried to go back and argue it today after school, but I knew I wasn't getting anywhere and just gave up. Oh well. One more year of high school. That's all I have. I can do it! Although, the more I think about that, the more I just want to burst into tears. It's soooooo sad!! :(

Anyway. Yes, I am glad that I don't have to take an entire year of that stupid class, and I CAN do choir. So, I suppose we should all be happy.

I WILL NOT!!

So today was the last day to change out class schedules at school. I thought I would go and ask the new academic adviser if I was going to be able to be qualified to graduate in about nine months. According to him, everything was ship shape. This was until I realized that my friend Taylor couldn't be in choir due to PE that he never took. I realized that I haven't done it in high school either. But, I was told my freshman year by the old academic adviser that if I played a varsity sport, and I was instead doing choir that it was totally cool, and they would count my sports as PE classes. That is why I didn't worry about it all of high school. Last year when I had the extra class period, I used it to assist the music teacher in both her junior high band and choir.

Anyway, I went back to the office. I wanted to talk to the old academic advisor and reiterate what she had told me three years ago. But noooooo the school secretaries sat there and refused to let me speak to her, because apparently she has no control of scheduling or anything like that anymore and if we need to talk to some one, we HAD to talk to the new advisor! Ah Hah! I was like "watch me!" okay, I didn't say that, but I definitely thought it. Anyway, I sat there calmly and waited for my turn to talk to the new one. FINALLY I talked to him, and I asked him about . He is totally aggravating me here, and I hope he could tell. I wanted to punch him is his crap lousy face!

Sooo....Am I going to have to take PE at all? I ask with a hint of hope in my voice.

Oh, you haven't taken it in high school?

Um... well, no, I've been doing choir. (As you would have known, had you ACTUALLY looked at my schedule and credit history like you said you did )

Ohhh you're one of THOSE, he says, as if I was of an entirely new breed of students.

Drop dead, I think, smiling politely not to piss him off.

Well, you're going to have to have a credit of PE this year.

Okay, what does that mean? I ask calmly because I know he EXPECTED me to fly off the handle and start freaking out as "old christina" would have.

What do you have 7th period?

Choir. DUH.

Yeah, you're going to have to drop that class.

NO. FREAKING. WAY. Um.... I ask, calmly again, well, what about high school sports, I was told in the beginning, that if I played a varsity sport, it could be considered part of my PE credits?

well.... not any more.

I was pissed. I wanted to pick him up and throw him out the window. If I were Buffy, I would have driven a wooden stake into his heart. But instead I made an appointment to figure this out tomorrow (because he had a meeting to go to), then I got up, left the room, and waited to be safely in Devon's class room to freak out.

Then in ensemble, after the meeting, I told my choir director what was going on. She flipped out, and had a conversation with the "old academic adviser", which is really the one I wanted to talk to. The new one is completely clueless apparently. While she was there, I talked Mr. Hill, because I like him SOOOO much more than the other guy. Anyway, he was totally on my side, and realized that they told me this because they didn't have the gym yet when I was a freshmen, so they hadn't made those requirements. So, I SHOULD be exempt from these rules. However, my choir director now has a meeting with the new and the old academic advisers and the athletic director tomorrow. I'm stressed out, but I keep telling myself it's going to be okay. Although, I really don't trust this new guy, so who knows. I don't understand why they would go and change this on me, and not let me know. The old adviser's words were "if you are helping to further the music department then we will allow you to use your sports as credits" this was the year when Jenni Grove was there for her first entire year, and the music program was the focus. Anyway. It just makes me mad. It better be sorted out tomorrow, or I really will stake that guy. Okay. Maybe not, but I will probably continue to have homicidal thoughts about him.

Bittersweet

So, yesterday was my last day of working out on the farm. It was really hard. I didn't know how to feel. I spent soooo much of my summer out there. I brought donuts for them in the morning to make things a little easier on them. I just know how hard it must have been on them. :) Haha. I had a good day though. I just know I'm going to miss all he hours of measure plants this year, and when I'm having a bad day I will look back on all the good times I had this summer. These are my favorite 10 memories from the farm:
10.)digging up potatoes with Erin and Lindsey A.
9.) Lindsey B. teaching me how to drive the Toro
8.)Listening to books on CD with the Lindseys
7.)Killing the bees
6.)teaching Lindsey B. "vocabulary" words such as: melancholy, mundane, methodical and monopoly. Hahaha. Good times. "That's rude!"
5.)Hight notes with the Lindseys
4.)Cleaning out Virginia's office and finding out that the air freshener makes noises! Haha. That was soooo freaking funny!
3.)Washing the poatriv. with the Lindseys
2.)Going to Wing Ming for the PVP celebration!And naming the dutch bros. Guy
"The Big Yellow one is The Sun" and having all our little picnics in the shade.
1.)Collecting seed from the Annual Rye grass the time when Ross' dog came over and LindseyB. chased after her and had to pick her up and carry her all the way back and dump her over the fence. Then Lindsey B. jumping the fence to get raspberries. :) mmm... those were delicious!

Wow, I hate making those kinds of lists, because there were soooo0 many great days. I will never forget the time when I thought I was going to be fired because I asked Erin a question and Virgina made a joke back to me and I didn't know it was a joke and I almost wet my pants. I will never forget all the times where we were suuuuper tired and random things came out of our mouths that we still laugh about to this day. Haha. Like" I hate it when people says things wrong" Haha. Nice. Pride comes before a fall, right? I will never forget all the drama and trauma that Lindsey B. told us complete with all the hilarious dialogue. Or her inability to use any other words besides "That's rude" haha. Or they all made fun of how many times in a sentence I say the word "like" that was soooo annoying. Good times. I also enjoyed many times having discussions with Lindsey A. about Jesus Christ, and asking her questions about her mission trip to South America. I learned a lot from her, she is very wise.

Although I am talking about all the good times, know that there were some very boring days. The first few weeks were very boring. I brought my ipod and listened to sermons, so that was good. I learned a lot from being by myself for a long time. I learned how to appreciate small things. :) My prayer life increased quite a bit, and I was able to spend a lot of time with God. Not that it all ended when the Lindseys got out of school, but I AM glad I had that time to myself. I did grow quite a bit. But there were days where it was just sooo boring. I was literally falling asleep while listening to a book on CD with a narrator with a monotone voice, while counting clovers. Or cleaning seed or measuring PVP stuff. Wow, there were some bad days, but it's the good days that I want to remember and that will bring me back there on Christmas break and spring break.

This is not to say that I'm not excited for school. I really am. I think God has great things in store for this year. I know he has been moving in a lot of lives this summer, mine included, and I'm excited to see what He has planned. I realize that for many reasons, this year is going to be the most difficult for me. But I know that there is nothing that I cannot do with God as my strength.

Student Orientation/Picture Day

Today, I knew I was going to be stressed. So I took the day off work. I was of course, happy to do this, but now I kind of wish I would have just gone to work. Because now instead of being at work and being worried about my senior pics, I have to be at home, trying to focus on my online classes and am distracted and worried. I knew it would happen. I went to bed late last night, so I could sleep in. But instead, I woke up at the same time and just pretended to be asleep. I hate that. Then finally around nine I went to student orientation. I hate that part of school. It's like the day that you know that summer is over. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about school, I do actually like school. I know, I'm a nerd, and I have always said that I hate it, but the truth is, I can't imagine what life will be like when I don't get to go to school. Right now, my life is sooooo easy. I live at home, I am fed, I don't have any bills, and basically I get to run my life. Now, in about 10 years, I hope to be married, have kids and be a teacher. But, who knows, right? Anyway, orientation was actually decent today. CJ, Taylor, Megan, Haley and I sang our rendition of the Journey song, Don't Stop Believing. It totally drives me crazy that SOME people insist on waiting til the last second for EVERYTHING. I am a perfectionist when it comes to music, even when it's just supposed to be "for fun". I hate it when you lose a basketball game or whatever and people are like "Well, did you have fun??" Seriously, nobody goes and plays basketball to "have fun" if you're totally passionate about it. You CAN have fun, but usually the fun comes when you win, or when you knew you played as hard as you could and it was enjoyable. "Well, if you had fun, then that's all that matters" BA HAHAHA! Yeah right! Never in life are you going to WANT to lose. Everyone plays to win, weather they admit it or not. Now, I realize that the song we performed was just "for fun" but even in a pick-up game of basketball, nobody is out there walking around just goofing off (for the most part) they are still in it to win. I just don't understand how people who are so "passionate" about music be so lazy. It just doesn't make sense to me. It seems to me, that even when it is "just for fun" you would still try your hardest so that you feel good about it, and then it IS fun. But hey, what do I know?

Okay, so I'm leaving in about an hour to go and get my pics done. I am soooo nervous, but I know it's ridiculous. It's JUST senior pictures. It's not a HUGE deal, but for some reason, it is for me. I know I shouldn't be freaked. Mrs. Van Essen is doing them and she's a genie. Or, as her daughter put it, "My mom can make ANYONE look good" haha. Thanks. Well, I'm off to do my hair and make up. Pray for me!! :)

Last Monday of Work!!!

Today felt great! I was sooo happy that I don't have another Monday ever again this summer!!! Wooo hoo! It was also probably the most fun I've had at work. It seemed like it took forever to get over because we were outside all day in the "hot" sun for the first time ever, but I just reminded myself that I wasn't going to have to work another Monday again this summer, and that cheered me up. Buuuut, it was fun because both Lindseys and I worked together all day. Well, that's not true. I actually didn't start outside until after the first break, after I finished the seed I was cleaning. We were sorting the six and twelve packs of grass into their different species, and cutting the roots off the bottoms of the trays and trimming, so they could come out easily when they went to plant them in the feild, blah blah. Anyway, it was really fun. I was sitting there quoting Dumb an Dumber like nonstop, Lindsey Bellinger was upset because she didn't want to be there, so she wasn't concentrating and often did something hallarious or just dumb, which equaled hallarious. :) And Lindsey Aitkin was trying to calm down the circus and make us focus and do something right. Haha. Ooooh, and while we were working, we were getting attacked by wasps, which I think made it that much more fun! haha. Anyway, I descovered that my calling in life is to chop up bees with scissors. I don't mean to brag or anything, but I freaking rock at it! :) Yup, and then we also killed them with RAID, and that was also really fun. Oh, and we went to Dutch Brothers again at lunch, we go, like two or three times a week, and this time the guy we nick-named "The Big Yellow One is the Sun" didn't ask us if we were on our way to the lake to soak up the sun.

Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure I mentioned that. We always go there, and the guy ALWAYS asks if we are going to the lake, blah blah. He has GOT to have figured it out by now. No, we come on our lunch break, and we go back to work after lunch. DUH. Like we do EVERY FREAKING TIME, and tell him EVERY FREAKING TIME. :) Clearly Dutch Bros. isn't hiring people for their IQ.

T.G.I.F.

Today, at work there were some important visitors from Meridian Idaho. My boss was freaking out and we had to totally clean everything up for them. The cleaning started yesterday, and this morning was funny. When I trim the little plants, I always have a bucket there to let the trimmings drop into, but this time, we had to sweep everything up after that too. Aaaaand, I got to do the honors of sweeping the entire big greenhouse. It SUCKED. Today, while the visitors were in Virginia's office, we had to be really quiet. I had to tip-toe upstairs and down, and I took off my shoes when I got upstairs, careful to not make any noise, Lindsey Aitkin and I were totally bummed that this meant that we had to cancel our tap dancing routine for the day. Haha. No, it was really not too bad. Buuuut the worse part, is at our 10:00 break, when Virginia joined us for break. She said the visitors were from Meridian, and she didn't know where that was, and did any of us know where it was? I almost burst into tears, because I AM SUPPOSED TO BE THERE RIGHT NOW!!! My family was supposed to travel to Boise, well, Meridian to where my aunt lives, and stay for about a week, while checking out future colleges for me, and school shopping and just hanging out. Buuuut, there were some issues that came up that thwarted that. So, much to my dismay, I had to work all week, and then those humans showed up from Meridian and I wanted to punch them. All though, I did feel really bad for them, because I know how long of a drive that is, and they got there around like 8:30, which means they must have left there a little after midnight. Wow, that sucks.

In other news, I have my senior pictures on Thursday, and I'm totally stressed about them because I always look like poop in important pictures. I just know something BAD is going to happen, like I'm going to break a nail or something, so I'm going to look like a loser in the piano ones. Or, I'm accidentally going to catch my hair on fire the night before, and end up having to cut it, and wear my hair suuuper short for pics. I had a dream about that one.

I was sooooo happy it rained today. Because, not only did it smell suuuuper yummy, but I didn't have to ride my bike to the shop to meet my dad! :) yey! Well it's mostly a "yey" after yesterday's fiasco, with a crazy half way drunk guy on a bike chasing after me. Seriously, it freaked me out. I thought I was going to die. Fortunately, I had Devon's words locked away in my brain, that trying to capture me would be like trying to grab onto a tornado. And, now that I think about that, that may have been rude, but I thought she meant because of my cat-like reflexes and because I would be suuuper fast and he wouldn't be able to hold onto me. My dad always joked about how if I got kidnapped, it wouldn't matter, because they would probably have me for like 30 seconds and then bring me straight back. Wow, now that I think of THAT, that was RUDE too! Jeeeezzzz!

Senior year starts in like 10-ish days. Good grief. I am soooo not ready to not be at East Linn. That place is home to me. I know I have griped and complained about it, but really. I don't know where I would be without that place. Everyone there is forgiving and loving, and especially the faculty. Someday, I will give back to East Linn, and thank them for everything they've done for me. Someday, I will do something to make up for all the crap I gave them. I looked online for my tentative schedule this year, and I think this year's going to be very interesting. I haven't decided what I am doing for my other elective, besides choir, obviously. Right now I am signed up for the speech/drama class but who knows. I am kind of rethinking that. I would also like to have a free period where I could have study hall or be a TA or something.

Wow, I'm so glad it's Friday. It has been a very long week, and I'm sooo ready for this weekend. I think I'm going to the zoo tomorrow with some friends, but who knows. With Megan, you never know what's really going to happen. And that's exactly why I love that girl!! :)

Shoulda Coulda Woulda :(

So, as the summer is coming to a close, I will sadly go over the things that I didn't get to do this summer that I was FOR SURE going to do this summer:
1.) Ride the train to Washington to visit Mogie Pogie
2.) Jump off Larwood Bridge with Mogie
3.) Go with KP to Seattle for a shopping trip.... who knows... there is still time... :)
4.) Eat ice cream upside down on monkey bars
5.) Finally suck it up and get my license haha, that's not happening soon!
6.) Try out for a musical at ACT (albany civic theater)
7.) Get voice lessons
8.) Read Jane Ayer
9.) Help out with the soup kitchen
10.) Go to Prince Edward Island and meet Anne of Green Gables and walk with her through "Lovers Lane" and the "White Way of Delight" and swim with her in "The Lake of Shining Waters" ...ah well... next summer.

Just a note...

Just a little note for my little Danae-Nay, so she knows I'm still alive:
I love you Danae! Thanks for always reading! :) I've been praying for you, and I hope this post makes you smile! :) Have a FANTASTIC day! Keep Smiling!

The Crew!!!

So here is a picture of all the cool people I get to hang out with every day at work... well, chelsie, the second girl in just left us recently. She went to grad. school, I believe in Colorado somewhere. And her brother, Brad, who is standing directly behind her, is leaving on Friday for the University of Idaho. He will be a sophomore this year. Good luck to him! :) I suppose since I introduced those two, I will introduce the rest of the crew. Erin, is on the end. She's sweet and spunky and one of the most intelligent people I have ever met in my entire existence. She is pretty funny when you get her one-on-one. I just love her. Next is Chelsie. She's pretty cool, also very smart. Then Brad is behind her, he's also very smart. He's going to school to be a engineer and is going to make bank. :) Then in front of him to the right is Lindsey Aitkin. She's also freaking funny and a joy to be around. I just love her. She is inspirational and is just an all around great girl. She will be traveling to Chile to be with her Chilian boyfriend in September, and hopefully come home engaged :) She's soooo much fun!Then behind her to her right is Virginia. This woman is officially THE MOST INTELLIGENT woman I have ever met. She's sooooo smart, and I just look up to her and respect that about her soooo much! She is super nice, and has a big heart. The only downfall is that she LOVES cats, and owns 4 of them at the farm. But I am very honored to work for this woman. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to work for. Then in front of her is Lindsey Bellinger. This girl, I have had the honor of knowing all my life. She is HYSTERICAL. I'm sure you have all heard stories about this one. She's is just a joy to be around. She makes it very interesting out on the farm. She is constantly our comic relief. She's got a GREAT sense of humor. I just LOVE this girl, and she is the reason that we don't go insane around there :) haha. Next, is obviously me, and behind me is Antonio. He is very quiet but very nice. He speaks very little English, so things get very interesting. Like, the other day when he was trying to get my attention, and I had my headphones on, he was like jumping up and down making noises flailing his arms about. It was soooo cute :) hahaha. I just love this picture of all of us girls. We had such a great time when we were doing all the measuring (aka PVP) we just had a blast! I don't know why Lindsey B likes seed cleaning so much. I just loved hanging out with these three all day long. It was a BLAST!!!!!!It's crazy to think that all of this will be over in a couple of weeks. At the beginning of the summer it seemed like forever, but really it's gone by soooo quickly. I have enjoyed it very much. This is definitely and experience that I will want to have again. I cannot wait for PVP next summer! I know that sounds nerdy, and if Lindsey B is reading this, I'm sure she's puking, but really, it was a blast!!!!

When God Speaks

Isn't it crazy how God speaks to us when in way that we least expect it?The past month or so, God has really been speaking to me. I was at a point where I didn't think that I was able to be used for Him and that He was just not interested in me. He soon pointed out to me that it was ME that wasn't interested, and ME that was running from him. I began to read the Word and to just be in constant prayer and realized how much God can use you, and begin to change you from within.I have realized how important it is to read the Word. I have had countless times in the past month or so, where I have had the right verse in my head at the right time, and it's be FANTASTIC!!

I have also been convicted of many things. One of these things has been realizing what I put into my mind. I have for so long just read whatever seemed interesting to me. I realized that it's true, what you put INTO your mind is what comes out. That has been my conviction, and I have really been praying about what it is I read. And even the music that I listen to. As everyone who knows me, knows that I am totally and irrevocably passionate about music. And so many times I find myself singing songs that would not be glorifying to the Lord, so I have been trying to not do that as part of my obedience to the Lord. I love the songs "Beloved" and "By Your Side" both of which are by Tenth Avenue North. They bring me to tears, every time I hear these songs. If you haven't heard these songs, you totally NEED TO ... I put them on my sidebar for you all to hear... PLEASE listen to them. And I'm going to make it very easy for you all and write the lyrics to these songs here:

Beloved

Love of my life, look deep in my eyes

There you will find what you need

Give me your life, the lust and the lies

The past you're afraid I might see

You've been running away from me

You're my beloved, lover I'm yours

Death shall not part us, it's you I died for

For better or worse, forever we'll be

Our Love it unites us; and it binds you to me

It's a mystery

Love of my life, look deep in my eyes

There you will find what you need

I'm the giver of life, I'll clothe you in white

My immaculate bride you will be

Oh come running home to me

You're my beloved, lover I'm yours

Death shall not part us, it's you I died for

For better or worse, forever we'll be

Our love unites us, and it binds you to me

Well you've been a mistress, my wife

Chasing lovers, it won't satisfy

Won't you let me make you my bride

You will drink of my lips and you'll taste new life

You're my beloved, lover I'm yours

Death shall not part us, it's you I died for

For better or worse, forever we'll be

Our love it unites us and it binds you t me

It's a mystery

It's a mystery

Megan and I were just talking this morning about how our relationship with God is a marriage, and I LOVE this picture. It makes me feel so loved, so desired and just so wanted. It's great.

By Your Side

Why are you striving these days?

Why are you trying to earn grace?

Why are you crying? Let me lift up your face

Just don’t turn away

Why are you looking for love?

Why are you still searching as if I’m not enough

To where will you go, child?

Tell me where will you run?

To where will you run?

Cause I'll be by your side wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you

Yeah my hands are holding you

Look at these hands, and My side

They swallowed the grave on that night

When I drank the world's sin so I could carry you in

And give you life, I wanna give you life

Cause I'll be by your side, wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight, these hand that are holding you

My hands are holding you.

Cause I, I love you

I want you to know

That I, I love you

I'll never let you go

Cause I'll be by your side wherever you fall

In the dead of night whenever you call

And please don't fight these hands that are holding you

Yeah My hands are holding you.

God's love is so amazing. I have experienced His grace this summer in ways that I cannot even explain. So many times throughout my life, I have tried to fill that God-shaped hole with different things,different people and finally I think I'm doing it right by giving HIM my all. It's been really hard, because I'm someone who always wants to be in control. I have been convicted day after day about this, because He wants me to allow Him to be in control, and that's hard. Because it means that I am weak, and I have recently just realized how true that is. I AM WEAK!!! But with Christ, I can do all things, because HIS grace is sufficient. But, that's not to say, that all my problems have been solved. I still struggle. I've realized that it's about DAILY and often times MOMENTARILY making that commitment to obey him, and to confess and repent when I screw up. I look in the mirror in the morning, and realize that I can at any point in the day screw up royally. I can make a decision so bad that even my grandchildren or maybe even their grandchildren could suffer for my decision. So I have to ask God constantly "God, give me wisdom"and "God, keep me humble."

Catching Up

Okay, It's been a while. I totally suck at being a friend right now because I owe Danae one blog post, two poems and a letter. My goodness. I better get on those right away.

Things have been going well at work. I actually find myself enjoying it quite a bit. I have made friends with my co-workers and it's been great fun. Some days it seems that we actually laugh harder than we work, and that's what makes it all worthwhile. AND I have some GREAT exciting news! I found a FOUR LEAF CLOVER!!! I know- I could hardly believe it! But it's true. It was super duper exciting, and I'm not even like very into the whole "good luck- bad luck karma" thing, but I did offer up my thanksgiving to God! I was psyched! Anyway, about work, I don't mind the hours, it's nice when I have time after work to go to the Library to hang out before I have to meet my dad. There is this really sweet librarian that I just love seeing every time I go in there, and she's just the sweetest lady ever. She helped me find a bunch of new authors that would be good for me to read as well as fun to read. I told her that I was a Jodi Picoult fan, and she tried to help me find some cleaner Christian authors that might have the same kinds of stuff that I may enjoy as well. Which I thought was very nice of her. So far, I am really enjoying the one by Terri Blackstock called Double Minds. I like the writing style and how it just was so easy to get into, but I don't think I like the main character very much. She is so dramatic in an UN-Anne (Anne of Green Gables of course) way, and it annoys me. There was a murder and she was like "aaaaaahhhh!!! a murder!!!" Like, that wasn't the whole point of the book or something. Idk.

Okay, what else has happened... GIRL SCOUT CAMP!!! Oh my goodness, I can't believe I forgot to post about that!!! Well, the good news is that I think I still rank somewhere in the top favorite "PA"/ Adult there!! Aaaand the bad new is that I'm not sure If I will be returning to that particular camp. I had a blast with the girls this year. Even the ones my age were a ton of fun. We camped all week at one of the leaders' house (because there was so much bickering going on with all the leaders and the adults that set the camp up, so we stayed away)-- and for the most part, it was very calm and drama and trauma-free. Well, until two little girls decided to be little brats, but they got sent home, so that was over fast. Not that it was that easy to send two campers home, but you do what you have to do right? Especially after you lay down the rules before hand and they know that they are to abide by them, then the cross the line and cross the line and suddenly find themselves in a heap of trouble.. hmmm that sounds vaguely familiar. :) As you might remember last year was not pleasant because I almost got my eyeballs sucked out by a moth flying around in my camper. NOPE! Not this year. This year, because we were staying at the house, all the girls had tents in the back yard, but I slept in a bed!!! I got to shower whenever I liked, I had FLUSHING toilets. (No stupid best pots!) Aaand I got to wash and dry my clothes if I wanted to. It was awesome!




This one was my favorite Daisies. Her name was Lexie. SOOO Cute! She was waaay the sweetest girl in like the whole world!


Over to the left is Sharon, who has the blond hair, Rose-with the red hair, and then Lexie and I again. :)



This was the group(minus a few)that I spent my week with. The girl on the other side, her name was Katie Beth, and then the lady behind me was the camp program lady named Alma Gene.


And this is when I turned Brandy into a vampire! It was sooo much fun! It's so stupid that Edward didn't really turn out to be the bad guy and then kill Bella. That was what I was rooting for!!

Any way, camp was a blast, well with the girls. But the adults were the annoying ones this year. I'm going to have to give it some serious prayer before I go back next year. So yeah. I will have to blog more some other time, when I'm not so tired and when my tummy doesn't hurt so much!

I'm so glad it's friday!

Oh my goodness. I got a bee stuck in my hair today. It was sooo scary. I thought it was going to sting my entire head. I was out in the field gathering samples of grass to measure. It was nice and warm, but windy, but beautiful, so I was of course, singing to myself. I think I was actually singing "If I Were A Rich Man" from Fiddler on The Roof. Anyway, I was just minding my own business and then a bee just rammed right into my head. It was very rude. Then, he got himself stuck into my bun in my hair. And I was freaking out trying to get him out, and he was freaking out trying to get him out. It was crazy. I was so scared he was going to gobble me up. And every time I would go to brush him out, he would scream. Then I would scream. Finally after about an entire 2 minutes of this I took a deep breath and picked up my glove that I had thrown in a brief moment of terror and put it back on. As I was doing this, the bee was also taking a deep breath and trying to figure out what to do (I know, because I could feel him moving around up there), then I reached up and felt around and ripped him out-- forgetting that he was attached to my hair, which WAS attached to my head, and not I think I may be bald in that spot. Anyway, I threw him, I decided to spare his life, because I figured he was just as scared as I was. But nooooo, he came back for more. He was very angry and came back at my face, but I deflected him at the last second, as he was rocketing at my face at a million miles per hour. I hit him hard and he fell to the ground. It was very dramatic. I squished him and he was gone. Phew.

Why did God make Mondays?

Eh. Today was not a good day. Well, it got better, but it started out bad. First I slept in like 10 minutes, which only giving myself 1/2 hour to get ready is not a good idea when this happens. Then I got to work, and everything seemed fine. Then I realized I didn't have to water all the plants the big green house. Lovely. (But now I have to tomorrow, yuck.) So anyway, I realized this and was happy for a moment. Then I remember that I left early Friday, not having finished the Perennial Rye grass, which is not good. Eh, last week, I started working on that, and after a day I realized I had some major allergies. My eyes got red and I sneezed like 90 thousand times and my nose bled it was awful. Erin told me that it was due to the PR was pollinating, so that was what was going on. Blah. So anyway, I had to start right away on that, which wasn't good because then the freshly picked leaves from last week were no longer fresh. They were nasty and hard and yucky. But that didn't matter, I had to go through two rows of that anyway. It was horrid and I broke so many different ends. It was miserable. Then Erin came and asked me to help Chelsie in the green house. My heart stopped. Literally, just kidding, I was so angry because I was so happy to not have to do that earlier. So I was on my way out there whistling, which happened to be "If I Only Had A Brain" from The Wizard of Oz, and I was ready to do some watering. I grabbed my ipod out of my locker and was on my way. It was a great surprise when I found out that in fact, I wasn't watering, I was clipping! Which, now that I have found the perfect pair of scissors, isn't too bad. So I was happy. I found that clipping is only of my favorite jobs. It's not too boring, as everything else is, and at least I feel destructive. I began clipping happily, and singing along with my ipod. It was great. I was singing "If I only had a...snip..[insert explicit language here] I just cut the wire from my head phones. I was soooo mad. I was livid, but it was my own fault, and it was kind of funny. I just had to laugh. And I don't know why. Out of anger and out of frustration, out of shock and just because I didn't know what else to do. But then it hit. I was going to have to face the rest of the day and it was only about 8:30... I still had a long 7 hours ahead of me. I was soooo mad.

Then the strawberries that I had for lunch were all over my lunch bag. Somehow, I didn't fully close the container that they were in when I left for work, so everything tasted like strawberries. GGGGGRRRR. Oh-- and I am completely sore from yesterday. My family went to Corvallis to an extended family gathering, and a bunch of us went to play softball at a local elementary school. Mom always said that it's fun until someone gets hurt. And I always retorted, yeah then it hilarious... unless that "someone" is me. I got hit in the shoulder with a line drive from my cousin who is probably 26, and it was clear out in left field. It hurts soooo bad every time I move it, but I can't figure out why there is no bruise. Everyone thought I was just being a wimp, but REALLY, it hurts. Not a good day. But here's the good news. Monday's almost over, and then it will be Tuesday!

Does it ever get better?

Okay, So as most of you probably know, I started work this week. It was crazy. My summer is officially over. I go to bed early, and I get up early. I have no time for fun anymore. I have always made fun of Devon for wanting to be in bed every night at 8:00-8:30, but now I totally understand. Last year, I must have had more energy or something because this year, it's hard to roll myself out of bed. During the school year, everything that goes on isn't actually exhausting, maybe for you scholars it's mentally exhausting, but for the most part, that's about it. I come home everyday wanting to sleep and only sleep, and this weekend, nothing sounded better than just being at home. I don't want this, of course, I want the money, but do I want to ruin my summer? Is this what life is like for all the adults? This sucks.

I haven't really done anything all that intersting, worth talking about. I have mainly been doing random things for now. I guess once harvest officially begins, it will be different, but for now, I have planted and transplanted, and cleaned, and watered, and clipped all sorts of different grasses. It will get better, but the good news is that I am allowed to have my handy dandy ipod-- for now. I hear that once we are in the field, they aren't allowed, so that should be interesting. I don't know how much I will be able to handle this. I will probably go crazy.

GLEE!!!

Holy Cow! I am soooo excited for this fall when this show finally starts. I can't wait. I think our school should definitely have a Glee Club. The other day in Choir, we watched some of the random scenes that were on YouTube... here's the extended trailer and, my favorite, their song!It's going to be the bomb-digitty. I can't wait!

Junior Year is OVER!

I'm not even going to try to be optimistic... THIS YEAR SUCKED. Like really, there wasn't really anything good about this school year, looking back. I really didn't accomplish anything, I didn't learn any amazing life lessons, there wasn't a whole lot that happened that was good... well, except musicale. I noticed the other day that it seems that every year progressively gets worse. But next year, I want to have the best year ever. I HAVE to, it's my senior year, and it's going to change the world. Yesterday, two sophomores, Danae and Devon and I talked about college. It was the weirdest thing, it seems like it'should be SOOOOO far off, but really it's not, and unfortunatley I know it's going to go by REALLY fast. I don't want it to. As much as I gripe and complain about East Linn, I can't imagine not being there. It's home. Don't get me wrong, I realize that college is going to rock and that high school doesn't matter after that, but I'm not ready for it not to matter. I still want to be a kid, and in no way am I ready to grow up.

I've always wanted to go to a very large college, I figure if I can not matter, and can easily evaporate into the sea of college humans, then my life will be easy. I wont be known for anything, and I won't be like super competitive and hurt when it doesn't happen the way I want it. And, i wont be like known for every little thing I do wrong. But after talking with Danae and Devon, I think I am going to consider a small school too. I don't know if I want to go to a Christian school, just because I am kind of annoyed with the way Christian schools are, but I suppose I can't just throw the baby out with the bath water and make that kind of statement after only being at East Linn. Idk, I always imagined I wanted to go a public university because I assumed that the music programs would be crazy weird and exciting. Mrs. Grove said that they are very interesting because it is such an emotional art, that you would kind of have to get in touch with all your feelings and emotions... :)But I don't know, I may also just want to get away from the stupid high school setting where there is dumb drama coming out the ying yang, and maybe that's why I don't like the small school idea. Also, Devon pointed out that at a smaller school, there would be more one-on-one time for discussion with a teacher or something, and I enjoy that kind of stuff... I guess I have quite a bit of time to think about this, and I really shouldn't worry too much about it, I just should think about my last summer as a human child and enjoy that. I guess I just don't want to be unhappy. I really want to enjoy college, after all, it is the best time of your life. :)

Late Start

I once read a post by Devon about how she loves late starts from school. She described the thrill she gets out of waking up in the morning and knowing that she can go back to sleep... I however, dislike late starts. I would much rather get school done in the morning and then have early release. Because I am already awake, I don't have THAT much more time then I normally do to get ready for school, so I just sit around and waste half of the morning that could be put to better use. I can be pretty productive in the morning, but not when I don't have a lot of time to get started on something. I know that if I start on something I will just have to stop early because I have to get ready for school. You know? Grrrrr... it's annoying to me. Not that I don't appreciate the effort, or not having to be at school for that 2 ish hours, but still, I don't understand why we can't have early release, it's soooo much easier for people like me who aren't going to sleep in.:)

Finals

So right now I am sitting in Mr. Mac's class room about to take my Jude final. We had to memorize Jude this year, which was A LOT harder to do than Obadiah last year. Or maybe I'm just getting stupider. I told Ethan, who is going right now, before me, to take a half hour to do his, because school gets out in a half hour... I don't think I'll get that lucky though. I seriously don't know if I'm going to be able to pass it, but I really don't care, because I will still pass the class, and as long as I do that, it really don't matter who I do in the test. So yeah, today has been interesting with all the finals, it seems like it's taken forever, but really it wasn't too bad. I may have to retake World Cultures next year, but I'm okay with that, it's not too bad of a class. I remember at the beginning of this year, I vowed to change everything, and from here on out get good grades and work hard and a bunch of other things, but that died off soon. I don't think I have got any A's at all this year, that haven't been all that diligent about anything. I guess I have been getting better about Algebra, and if I don't pass, I will seriously be very bummed. But I'll get over it. As long as I graduate from high school. Lol. The End.

Ice Cream!!!!!!

Okay, so this past weekend was freaking crazy. I did a whole bunch of random stuff this weekend... I went to a big huge school wide bonfire, the ensemble sang at the strawberry coronation, we also sang at a church and it was lots of fun. Taylor and I went to Wing Ming for a early dinner Saturday evening, and that evening the owners of Wing Ming's house burned down. Right after we ate there. They lived right across the street from Megan, and it was totally intense.I also watched "Taken" twice. Sunday was kind of weird, I just mainly laid around Megan's house and watched "One Tree Hill". There was a bunch of random drama that happened that night, but whatever, the weekend was still pretty good. My absolute favorite part about the whole weekend was Friday night. Not only did I watch the school play, for yet the second time, but I also had Shelby Olson's amazing ice cream! Seriously. It was the bonb-digitty. I don't think I've ever had anything as good in my entire life. It was root-beer flavored, and I almost died. It was GREAT. She rocks. She's making that at my birthday party, and my wedding, and my funeral. For sure.

Rylee's first Marimba Lesson

This was last week when he came and we did push-ups... anyway he's totally going to follow in my footsteps... mark my words. :)John also used to play marimbas... but he wasn't a fanatic like me. :)Oh, and Celia is recording this again, and she has a habit of turning the camera randomly... i hope your neck doesn't get sore!

He Loves Me Best

This weekend my most favorite guy in the whole world came over and visited me. His mom and dad came with him, but that wasn't the important part. I love this guy so much! He is going to be 7 months old on the 16th. Kendra (his mom) said the doctor told them that Rylee is 95% bigger than all the other 6 1/2 month old humans. He is one big boy now. He is wearing 12 month clothes now. He is wanting to crawl, but is unsuccessful. I love watching him grow, but I don't want him to grow too fast. Do you know what I was thinking about the other day? Isn't it funny how every time there is a baby born, the family dreams up everything that is going to happen in his or her life-- and those plans always include the baby being extremely smart, extremely talented and the most adorable human ever. They are like the captain of the varsity football team and they are like homecoming king, and they get into the most amazing school ever and they do no wrong. Nobody ever wants their baby to be the class dumby. The class klutz. The school nerd (well, I do- but that's just me). Nobody wants there kid to be the one who has to get all the swirlys and get beat up just so the other guys can have their fun. Isn't that funny? Cuz some one's gotta do it. Not everyone can be cool, not everyone can have all the looks and have all the brains and be the most attractive person in the world.

Just look at him! Look how cute he is. Btw, he is going to be the most musically inclined little boy in the entire world. His first word is going to be a word that he sings. And he is going to be crawling up onto the piano bench in his diaper and play the piano. I foresee this.

This is when I tried to teach him how to crawl... all he needs to do is get his knees up, and he'll be moving in no time at all! He's soooo cute though--- he thinks he's crawling but all he is doing in being a seal or something. I think it's really cute. We ended up doing push-ups, it was great fun. He's my favorite!

MEGGO MY EGGO!

I totally called it. I told you all in the beginning that she would win. Of course I was right. I'm a genius. She totally pulled off the Whitney Huston song that I wanted her to do a LONG time ago. But I'm glad she waited until the finale because she basically kicked butt!!!! Holy freaking cow that girl is good. I don't know how they could compete with her last night. Like, she was the first act, which is always hard to be... but she totally deserved the win. Taylor got second, and the Danika girl who has a voice kind of like any Disney channel girl you want to imagine, got third. She was from Santiam Christian, and Mrs. Grove thought it was cool that the "Christian school kids" won. lol. Anyway, here are the links, if you're interested. Which I know you are. Taylor started out pretty flat and I was really worried about his choice of song for the finale. The first half wasn't very good-- but after he changed keys and hit that high E, I think it is, it was all good from there. I was the loudest voice screaming in the back ground when he hit that E, by the way. He totally pulled it off in the end and I was very proud of that man. Meggo is absolutely breathtaking as always. She is seriously way too passionate for her age. She just has a way with captivating the audience in most every song she sings. MOST every song. Anyway, she never ceases to amaze me. This girl is my best friend and I am extremely extremely proud of her. She is singing this song at my wedding. Just sayin.

Weird-ish Things

Okay, so this week has totally been strange, but whatever. There have been many things going on at school and at home and everywhere that have just been very thought provoking. Some random little surprises, some large, some small, but surprises, that have just been crazy. Like, some people at school, just randomly hooking up. Like, Kris winning American Idol. Which, I've just got to say, was totally sick. I was freaking out. I was sooooooo happy. Then today, there was a speaker at Chapel, that was totally odd, and kind of made me think quite a bit, but -- I suppose that's good- right? Idk. This evening, Jayden, Shelly-Elly, Keith, Codi and I were hanging out at Keith's house, and some pretty crazy stuff went on. Jayden jumped off a building. Jayden and Codi fought to the death-- just kidding, but it was hysterical. Shelly-Elly and I played hop-scotch and Frisbee for a long time, and then it went over a fence. So I jumped over to get it, but when I jumped into the neighbor's yard, I stepped in a hole that was also a big pile of dog crap. Lovely. I know. Anyway, so yeah, there was quite a bunch of stuff happening. Oh-- and we almost did a "Twilight Take-Two" and it was going to be great, and I was going to be Alice. I think Shell- Elly looks more like Alice, but if I would have been Bella, I may have committed suicide, so we're glad I didn't get that part. :) Anyway, I realize it's really early yet, but I think I'm going to go brush my teeth and climb into bed and read and try to sleep. It has been an interesting week, and I am exhausted. Goodnight.

Sunny with a high of 85!

I had that Relient K song stuck in my head for a while today. "And now I'm sunny with a high of 75 since you took my heavy heart and made it light and its funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive." Today has been an absolutely gorgeous day. First I woke up and got to be happy because it was warm enough that i didn't freeze when I woke up. Our ensemble had to sing at a church this morning, which was fine, but I also had to play the piano at my church, so I had to start at the choir's church for warm up, run to my church to play, and run back to sing. It was hectic, but we made it through all right. Then Devon picked me up, and we went to her house and she helped me study for my algebra test tomorrow. What a kind woman she is. I soooo would not have ever helped somebody with algebra on my sunny Sunday afternoon unless I really loved them. Or they were like Johnny Depp or someone amazingly hot. Anyway, and now I've been inside ever since she brought me home working on my dumb English paper. I hate that it's expository. I could do so much more if it were persuasive, but nobody cares about what I want. Right now I am on my break, and I'm thinking about taking a power nap, because for some reason I am extremely tired. I must have been up late the past few nights or something, because I've done nothing to make myself tired during the last few days- as far as physical exhilaration goes. But I just want to say, that for the past two-ish hours, I have been looking out the window closest to this computer and just imagining myself under the tree outside reading in the shade as the warm breeze blows my hair, smelling the lovely flowers, hearing the birds chirp and wondering why everyday can't be as lovely. So yes, I have totally been singing to myself all day. And it's sunny with a high of 85 - so I'm pretty much in Heaven.

Woop Woop!!!

Okay, so seriously, I'm so proud of God these days. He's totally pulled through for me so many times. On Monday, for the walk-a-thon, it was supposed to be awful. But it was sunny and warm and really nice. Then yesterday was the same story, it was beautiful yesterday and it wasn't supposed to be. It was soooo lovely and I was so excited. So yeah, yesterday's fine arts festival was simply fantastic-- it was so much fun. And then after the festival the senior high choir had a "victory party" that may have had dancing... :) it was lots of fun. So yeah, everything was lovely.

Rain Rain Go Away

Okay, so I realize how lame of a title for a blog post that is, but I have been singing that all day long. ALL. DAY.LONG. Seriously. Tomorrow is the Fine Arts Festival, and it would REALLY suck to have to have it inside. Especially because inside means that it can't be OUTSIDE. That will NOT be okay with me, I don't think. Also, It is so pretty when it's outside because Brenna and Logan's parents always bring really pretty flowers and plants to totally make this campus look absolutely amazing. So yeah. Also, I don't like our gym very much... it has REALLY bad acoustics as all gyms do. Anyway that's why I've been singing about the rain all day.

Celia is playing basketball and softball right now. But she's totally good at that kind of thing. I would never be able to do that. I don't think I might actually go crazy if I had to do two different sports like almost every night. I suppose that's kind of what happens in the winter with basketball and music, but at least music isn't like a sport that is as physically exhausting as what she's doing. Like, for most people softball is kind of a chill sport, but as Celia is big into pitching, that's not exactly true for her.

Okay so all my friends around me have been fighting nonstop since formal, and I am totally sick of hearing about all of it. I just want them all to apologize and let it go, but so far all of the "apologies" have been something like this:
Friend #1 : I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at it from your point of view.... but you weren't looking at my point of view either."
Friend#2: "Then you're not really sorry. I AM really sorry, but I wish you would quit being so selfish."
Friend#3: "I really don't have anything to be sorry for."
Me:"Seriously guys, SERIOUSLY?"

So tonight Megan and I are going to be practicing for her teen idol song on Friday night, so it looks like my day might possibly get better. :)

I wish I had an amazing voice.

These are some amazing people from Salem Academy. They rock, the red-head is a tenor, and he freaking rocks, he's more like a soprano. Anyway, if you have time, you should watch this... They won for the quartet group at musicale. They sang this song and "Rescue" by Rescue. They ended up singing Rescue, but I wanted them to sing this one. I love it.Quartet here.
And I also have the lovelyMegan Knox from Friday night. These are all people I totally idolize.

Formal Pictures [Logan's mom is a Genie]

I totally look obese.



I love this picture of all of us girls a lot.

He looks smart, and I look Asian.

One Big Happyish [ahem, Rylee] Family

This is the last time that we are all going to be together in about a year.

Rylee Adam- 6ish Months

Clearly I am his favorite aunt. :)