Post Graduation

It's weird to say that I am now an ELCA Graduate. Crazy. I don't think I've blogged since Pendleton, which was a good time. But there were many more great times this year. My senior year started out pretty rocky, and I thought I would never make it, but I totally did. I had a TON of growing and maturing to do, but God was good to me. He let me make my stupid choices, and then picked me up when I fell. He put people into my life that helped me, encouraged me, and let me be me.

I will never forget this year. I made friends with people I never thought I would make friends with, and I lost some that I never thought I would lose. But I also grew more than anything to love and respect the people at ELCA and the people who make ELCA possible. That place is a wonderful home and my class was my family. I love each person soooo much! The senior trip was when I realized that everyone was leaving and we would cease to exist as a family. I love each of them so much. It was crazy. I was reminded at Graduation that I could look to my right or left and I know their first, middle and last names, what sports they play, how many siblings they have, if their parents are divorced, their siblings and parents by name and what their favorite colors are. I'm going to miss these people.

Not Exactly Broadway

Okay, I don't want to make it sound like I'm not having fun, because that would be a total lie. I AM having fun. Really. Aside from all the basketball games where we are having to constantly stand and cheer in the student section, and the constant throbbing in my head from the sound of basketballs on the court, everything is perfect. :) haha. I guess basketball just isn't my passion, which, if any of you reading this didn't already know this, then I probably don't know you. But I love people who are passionate, and seeing all the girls on my team totally come alive and show their dedication and heart towards this game, has been really fun. I just feel so honored to be included in this excitement. Hannah Jo and I woke up early today and went with Mr. Cowan and Alex to see Scio play. It was actually pretty fun. Hannah and I totally gave Joe and Alex a hard time. I don't know, it's actually been a really good experience. Lots of basketball. And I'm not too annoyed with basketball at this point. I think i can go another two days. I have to admit, I'm kind of bitter that this fell on this week, because I got free tickets to NNU's production of Oklahoma which I'm pretty sure would have been the bomb-digitty to attend, but whatever. This is fun too. Not exactly Broadway, but it'll do. :) Pray for us as we take on St. Mary's tomorrow!! Go Eagles!

Hannah wanted me to mention to all of you that I tried to actually make it Broadway at Burger King today. I decided, after not thinking it through of course, that I should dance and sing "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof. Things did not end well. I went to do my finale, and i threw my hands back, but as I was doing that, a lady decided that she would try to "sneak" by me with a full cup of soda. I ended up red-faced, cleaning up a HUGE mess as the team laughed hysterically. Wow. Looks like maybe Broadway isn't such a great idea. haha.

P-Town Bound!!!

Okay, I know it's been a long time. Eventually I will go back and talk about the past few months, but for now I want to be excited for this week!! OMW!! For the first time in 9 years, East Linn Lady Eagles are headed to Pendleton!! Wow!!! I'm so stoked!! I remember the feeling, when we were at Pilot Rock and I realized that we were going to win the game, it was the greatest feeling in the world. I suddenly felt so at peace about not going to state in choir (momentarily) haha. Hannah Jo and I made a pact that we would be the first people that we would hug when we won. So the minute the buzzer rang, we sprinted at each other, and they started playing "chariots of fire" (just kidding) and we collided. Ha- it was not graceful in any shape or form. We seriously hit really really hard. It was really painful, but I didn't care because I was soooooooo happy! Anyway, I'm so stoked about this week. It's gonna be a great week. Stressful as crap, but fun.

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!!!!