Merry Christmas!

So I have about 4 million christmas posts bouncing around in my head.

One is a list of presents.

One is about my travels.

One is about our Christmas traditions.

One is growing up and the economy.

One is about the christmas eve sermon.

I'll probably post a lot of those tomorrow or the next few days.  For now,

Merry Christmas! 

Grand Canyon Adventure

Hello from Arizona!

While my hometown back east is experiencing a blizzard, here I am sitting in Sedona, Arizona with 70 degree weather in Phoenix!

My aunt got married yesterday, so we came out here for the wedding, of course!  This morining we left Phonix and went to a little town called Jerome, which is just lovely and if you're ever in the Sedona/ Flagstaff area, I highly recommend it. My cousin Beth and I are making some youtube videos so I'll probably put those on here when we edit them.

Faith has a job!

Well, hello lovelies.  It's been a while since I posted something.  I feel like such a slacker.

I really need to stop posting when I'm angry.  I start swearing and that's not something I should do. It's bad. Don't swear.

Anyhow, I am SUPER BUSY and SUPER excited!  I started work on Sundays at a bargan retail store that's like a Sam's Club and that's going well so far, even though I've only had my orientation and worked one day.  My job is called recovery, and I walk around the store and make sure everything looks neat.  We have some REALLY weird customers.  I also bring carts back into the store- that's the worst part. I hate that.  Of course, while I was doing that, I got a christian- kid guilt trip.  Don't you hate that sometimes?  I was bringing in carts and thinking about how much I hate it and how it's the worst part of the job, and then suddenly, I think, "Instead of thinking about how much I hate this, maybe I should be thinking about how I can serve God in this..."  While that's true, it's also annoying.

Cheerleading has started and we had our first home game today! It was really intense- the other team won by 3 and the score differed by one point for most of the game.  I can barely talk because I was yelling so much!

On Friday, my family is leaving for Arizona because my Aunt is getting married.  It's exciting! We're spending Christmas in AZ and over New Years my school choir is going to Disney World!!

So that's my life.  How's yours?

Faith

So my past few posts have been rants. Sorry about that. I've also had hiatuses between them, so apparantly blogging keeps me sane now.
I'm writing this on my cell phone, so this will most likely have an abundance of gramatical and spelling errors. Hopefully not many gramatical ones, though. I like grammar.
I failed at NaNoWriMo. I was all gung-ho and excited for it, and then the second week hit, and.... Epic fail. Sukyness. I'm going to try to finish it during December, though, and I'll most likely post an exerpt from it here. NaNo was good for me, though. It rekindled my love of writing fiction, and it gave me new ideas for stories, many of whitch I incorperated into my story, and I'll probably continue with some of them after I finish my current one.

Sometimes I just need to rant. [If you know me in real life, don't read this.]

Disclaimer: Sorry for the swearing.  I was mad. And there aren't any other words that fit what I mean.


I am so mad right now.

I feel like everything is fucking my fault in this family and I'm sick of it. Honestly, I'm just sick of my family. I am SOOOO ready to just be out of this stupid little town in the god damned suburbs and be at college in the city.  I hate it.  I'm always the one that gets made fun of, teased, the butt of every frickin' joke, and when I tried to retaliate I get yelled at.  Really? It's like everyone else's feelings are considered except my own.  Who cares if my feelings are hurt? It's just fun to make fun of me!!

And everything we do is planned around weather or not I do my chores well enough. I want to hang out with Yearin who's visiting from college? I have to clean my room otherwise I can't. The entire family wants to decorate for christmas? Ok, but Faith has to sweep first.  So we can't decorate for christmas because I didn't sweep or clean the fucking bathroom.

UGH!!! I am so fucking sick of my family!!! I'll just go back to russia next summer, because Lena is obviously the perfect daughter, and I'm not good enough.  My parents would obviously have Lena as their daughter instead of me.

Yea, dad actually said I could go to Russia instead of Lena because Lena's mom did such a good job of raising her.  And it was all because I want my ears pierced again and Lena doesn't like piercings.

Speaking of which, Why the HELL did Miley Cyrus get her nose pierced?

Life in All Caps.

Life is a roller coaster.   I've been having ups and downs lately.

Up- School is going OK. I have good grades, I'm getting bored in English (I want to switch to AP), and I actually slightly understand Chemistry.

Down- My dad is annoying me.  I'm not a big fan of parentals right now.  Apparantly, I'm going to lose my job because I haven't turned my work permit into the school district yet. I'M SORRY I TRY TO RELAX AND BE A TEENAGER ONCE IN A WHILE! I'M SORRY I'M NOT CONSTANTLY THINKING ABOUT RESPONSIBLILITYS! SORRY FOR NOT BEING ONE GIANT FUCKING BUNDLE OF STRESS!!! Sorry for venting. But that really felt good.
!
Up- I went to King of Prussia mall last week with Lily, Lena, and Mom! It was so much fun! And Hot Topic is now my friend with benefits! (It's their reward points program thing.  I like it.  I got 15% discount.)

Down- School is a giant bundle of sucky stressfulness.  I HATE THE GUYS IN MY CLASS!!!! THEY ARE SO STUPID! They never pay attention in class and  then wonder why they don't understand what's going on.  They lie and make excuses to try to put of tests and crap and to do as little work as possible. And then they wonder why they get bad grades.  I HATE THEM. I WANT TO STRANGLE THEM AND KILL THEM AND CASTRATE THEM AND KILL MYSELF.

And to top it off, my parents are arguing, dad is never pleased with my best, I'm never doing good enough! I feel like I'm being held to a standard that I can't reach and being punished for not reaching it! Why can't people just accept that maybe I'm not as smart as they think I am? I'm 12th in my class, for crying out loud. I'M AVERAGE. I'M SORRY I'M NOT A FREAKING GENIOUS! I'M SORRY I DON'T TAKE MATH CLASSES FOR FUN! SORRY FOR BEING A MUSICIAN!

gj aehi y8nug raeo[imiyraewodsoau gfiaso[fmijdaso[ jiaewom jifo! I hate life right now. Why can't Christ come back already?  I just want to grow up and get out of here.  And I want to get my frikkin lisense!

And Lily is going through some hard times, and it hurts me to see my best friend going up and down like a see saw. It makes me feel depressed. (If that's the right adjective.)

I just need to scream and fast and be alone with hot chocolate, God, and screamo music.

And I'm majorly jealous of Becoming the Archetype's pianist. WHY IS HE SO TALENTED?!
But yea, I'm pretty much obsessed with BTA right now.  And my friend Luke has talked to Seth from BTA a few times. It's awesome. (Luke is practically a BTA fanboy. It's hilarious.)

But yes, if you like metal, BTA is awesome. They're all classically trained musicians, and in a metal band. IT'S AMAZINGNESS! And they're so blatant about their faith- I love it! They're not ashamed to be Christians.  Their cover of How Great Thou Art is awesome, as well as Self Existant.

I Use CAPS too Much and NaNoWriMo on All Hallow's Eve.

Good evening, everyone.

It is currently 10:30 PM and in an hour and a half, I will be writing furiously along with many other people in the world as a part of NaNoWriMo.  So I figured I should update before November starts. 

Wait... you don't know about NaNo?  Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellll, basically, you go insane for a month and attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in the course of a month.  It's fun and I highly recomend it.  Well, I think it's fun.  This is technically my second year, but last year I failed epicaly with a total of 67 words.  BUT I SHALL WIN THIS TIME BECAUSE I AM A STRONG AND POWERFULL WOMAN.

My story is about a girl in rehab for anorexia. She falls in love with the kid she HATED in elementary school, but she has a boyfriend who is planning proposing to her when she finishes with rehab.  HOWEVER, he cheats on her.

It's very cliched but that should make it easier to write.  I REALLY hate cliches though. REALLY.  I'm surprised I liked Twilight for so long, honestly.  I think it's because it's written in a way that makes you fall in love with Edward along with Bella. 

Anyway, today is halloween.  I'm too old to Trick or Treating, unfortunately.  I really like Trick or Treating. Sadness.  Lena and I went on a walk while the youngins were out collecting candy.  It made me so nostalgic... GOSH I sound old!

Then we came home and dad took us to the grocery store to buy discounted halloween candy.  We got snickers, Peeps, and candy corn.  I love peeps.  We also watched the Corpse Bride which is epically awesome +50.

Tim Burton + Johnny Depp + Helena Bonham Carter = Epically Awesome.

+50 awesome points (which is a lot of awesome points) for it being a musical.

I watched Edward Scissorhands today for the first time.  It was so sad!

Lily is doing NaNoWriMo as well, and I think we're having a race, but I'm not sure... I hope not, because Lily is an amazing writer, and I have a tendency to exctreme writers block.  That's how I failed last year.

I need to go finish outlining at least the first few chapters and probably come up with a character sketch for the main characters... And research sociopathy. The male main character is a sociopath in rehab for suicide, so I should figure out how he's suposed act.  I suppose he'll tell me sometime, though... Anyway, only one hour and 10 minutes left! EEEEEP I'm so excited!!! I think this is proof of my saninty.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! And happy Nanoing to anyone doing it out there!

Faith.

Forrest Gump was wrong. Life isn't like a box of chololates; it's like a standardized exam. People expect you to know everything about something you know nothing about, yet when it comes to something simple, such as writing your name, you are treated like an idiot who knows nothing.

PSATs were today, thus the inspiration for this post.

He paints the morning sky with miracles in mind.

So um.. apparently some of my friends read my blog...  Hi guys!

This weekend was fun and full of philosophical thoughts.  (Sort of...)

We went to Inner Harbor in Baltimore and toured the USS Constitution and the USS Torsk. 

On the way home we saw the most AMAZING sunset I have ever seen.  And it got me thinking...


You know who the most amazing artist in the world is?  It's not Van Gogh, Monet, or Degas. It's God.  There's a song that I LOVE that I thought of on the drive home... "You paint the morning sky/ with miracles in mind." It's so true- God paints the sky, and when you see it you can't help but think of miracles.  In fact, it's a miracle that we're even here!  How can someone look at a sunset and think that this is all an accident?  I really don't get it.

Anyway.

Today was youth Sunday at my church, so I had to play my flute and sing.  Then I went to my friend Michelle's birthday party. It was fun! Other than that nothing much else happened this weekend...

How was your weekend?

I'm going home, to a place where I belong.

Junior year sucks.

Just sayin'.

But really, there's so much work! And then there's PSATs, SATs, College, AP classes, UGH!  The first week of school people were asking me where I wanted to go to college.

But before I start to complain more, homecoming was last year! My school was sacriligious this year and had...

DANCING!!! Oh em gee.

It was actually fun this year, unlike last year, which was kinda lame.

So this is basically a random post.  I did have a point, but I forgot...

RIGHT! So homecoming had a lot of rap.  For those of you who don't know, I listen to metal.  I DO NOT LIKE RAP.  Lily, a Sophmore named Taylor, and I requested a bunch of AWESOME songs that never got played.  Sucky.  We requested:

Reptar, King of the Ozone by The Devil Wears Prada, I'm So Sick, Cassie, and Red Sam by Flyleaf, Taylor requested an Underoath song, but I dont know which one.  We also requested We Will Rock You by Queen which did get played.

I think it's time for some Queen.



Funny story: (At least to me) 
The DJ played Soulja boy.  As soon as Lily and I heard "OOOOH! Soulja boy... "  We screamed an ran out of the room and stayed in the bathroom for the remainder of the song.  When we came back, they were playing Metallica! It was pretty awesome.  Then they played Shake It.  I love that song.

Anyway... That was my weekend...

So.... It's been a while since I've blogged.  

The organization that I went to Ukraine this past summer has an alumni only invitational leadership team, and I was invited to go on that trip!  So, hopefully this summer I will spend 9 weeks in Israel and Eastern Europe! I'm so excited!!!

Last Friday Lily, Lena, two other girls, and I saw 9 and looked at homecoming dresses.  While we didn't actually get dresses, I did get two tee shirts from Pac Sun.  The movie was... ish.  I enjoyed it and I was entertained, but it wasn't the best movie in the Universe.

ummm... yea... I don't really know what else to post...

bye!

Hi! School. (Just pray, please.)

So the past few days have been bittersweet.  I've had ups and downs, I've been hurt, I've had fun,  I've had struggles with personal issues, I've had victories.  

Thursday and Friday my school had our High School retreat. Thursday night we had the opportunity to get braclets that say "be strong, be bold" on them, to remind ourselves and each other accountable.  We had to ask a friend to put them on us, so they would hold us accountable.  Of course, I asked my friend (I don't want to say her real name. She'll be Zoe for now.) to put on mine, and she handed me hers and said she had to talk to me later.

The past year or so I've had some friendship troubles with two of my friends.  (We'll call them Zoe and Amy.)  I constantly felt left out and ignored, especially by Amy.  There's more to that story, but not that I want to put on the internet.

Zoe explained a lot of what happened, and told me some other things that were hard to hear.  It was good though, because now I understand her better and she can be more honest with me.  But it was still scary and hard to hear.

Lately I've been feeling depressed for no reason and I've really had to force myself to do things.  It's been hard being away from my Ukraine family and I just want to feel whole again.  You know how when you're really hurt or upset there seems to be an emptiness inside you?  Well, I've felt like that for a long time.  When I was in Ukraine, I didn't feel that- I felt complete.  And I just want to feel like that again.

Saturday, my mom had a bit of a meltdown.  She has depression, and it's hard to deal with sometimes.  Saturday and Monday were hard for her and as a result hard for dad and I.

Monday, however, was great! We went to Hershey park with Lily and a chinese exchange student named Michelle!  I had a lot of fun and rode a lot of roller coasters.  It was good, I needed fun. 

I really do think I have depression, though.  I get upset for no reason and over the littlest things.  I find that a lot of times I have to push myself to get anything accomplished- I just want to stay in my room with my lights off  crying or moping or sleeping.    Monday Lena, Lily, and Michelle all got caricature sketches, and I didn't because we didn't have time- I almost started crying and got really mad at my dad. Over a caricature sketch!  I took a test online (an actual legit test on a medical website, not just a stupid facebook quiz), and it said I have mild depression. 

I'm also struggling with self image and eating disorders.  I don't have one, but sometimes after eating dinner and sometimes even lunch, I just want to throw up.  My appetite fluctuates- sometimes I eat a lot and sometimes I'm not even hungry.  Occasionally, I don't even want to eat.

I don't know.  I'm just worried and scared and all in all, it wasn't the best weekend ever.  (Except for yesterday.  That was fun.  But today... not so great.)

My cat thinks my bed is her bed.

Random post title... I was trying to think of one and my cat jumps on my bed and stretches out like its hers.  Oh, the diva. 

Sooo... I changed my blog title... I like this one better because a) I'm a bit of a linguistics nerd, (I'm one of 5 Spanish three students this year and plan to take Spanish 4 next year PLUS Russian at a local college and I'm actually upset that my school won't offer AP Spanish until after I graduate) b) I like how poetic it sounds, and c) It fits me better now- I've realised a lot of my posts centre around me trying to figure out stuff. (because that's so poetic...)
 
In other news, school is OK, I guess.  We have a bunch of new rules that I think are kind of dumb, like if we miss more than 10 classes a year we cant pass the class we missed unless we have a valid reason, and family trips aren't a valid reason.  I'm a bit pissed at this because of reasons previously explained. (Please take a moment to read this post if not done so... I don't feel like re- explaining myself.)   So going down to AZ is going to give me 6 days of already if we want to be there the day before the wedding, which will probably happen because my mom is reading scripture at the wedding and therefore we'll probably need to be there for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  If my aunts wedding and my grandmothers 70th birthday aren't valid reasons, I don't know what is other than Cholera or some other terminal illness.  Never have I been so thankful to have a doctor dad and a nurse mom- I never missed school for sickness unless I was throwing up or worse... 

Little Faith: Mom... I don't feel good....

Mom:  Here's an alive, now get ready for school and talk to me if you still feel sick later. 

It's things like those that strengthened my immune system, and now I rarely get sick!  (Although I do get migraines occasionally, which kinda suck.)

Ohh... I might have to wait more to get my wisdom teeth out... I like that... (Just so, you know, I don't miss more than 10 days of class while in horrendous pain from major dental surgery and can graduate on time.  [ my wisdom teeth haven't developed roots or started coming it yet, but they're compacting my front teeth, so my orthodontist said that I would have to get them out at the end of the summer weather they've come in or not, but I was in Ukraine this summer, so I didn't get them out, so I don't know when I'll get them out... whoa, run- on sentence!])

Anyway, I still have to finish my online health course, so I'll go work on that now... Oh crap, I have to pack my lunch still! 

Adios!

Days left of school: 178

Health lessons left:3

We don't need no education, we don't need no mind controll.

In less than 12 hours, I will officially begin my Junior year of high school. I will be an upperclassman, and I will have started the hardest and the most important year of school. STRESS CITY. I have mixed feelings about this. For one, I can't wait to see my friends again and to have structure in my life, and not spend all day melting my brain on the computer. (*cough facebook cough*) But this also means SATs, PSATs, College, getting good grades, figuring what the heck it is I want to be when I grow up, what I want to study in college, finding a job, studying, studying, studying. Oh, and I can't forget to enjoy my youth and high school experience because there is nothing else like it! :-D. That's hard to remember when your brain is LITERALLY hurting during standardized exams.

In case any of you care, heeeeere's my schedule!

Period 1: Bible

Period 2: English

Period 3: Alg 2

Period 4: Band

Period 5: Chemistry

Period 6: Choir

Period 7: Spanish

Period 8: Creative writing.

I don't know if those are the actual periods or not, but those are my classes...


Days until school starts: NONE. >3. <---- You know how < 3 (lessthanthree) makes a heart? Well, that is morethanthree- a non- heart!! el oh el I'm so funny!


Good bye.

From my heart...

I feel like such a spoiled little bitch! I'm not used to being told about budget matters, or being told I can't do something because my family doesn't have enough money. But today Lily texted me and asked if my family wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant, and I asked my mom and she said sure. Since my dad was working it was just mom, Lena (our exchange student from Russia) and me.

My dad has a job where he works late, and he calls when he leaves work and is on his way home. He asked what we did and I told him about going out to dinner with Lily. Dad said that he would have to re-work the budget because of that.

Now, I don't know if we really didn't have the money, or if dad was just being a tightwad, but I felt so SPOILED! I'm so used to just going out to eat when I ask and going on nice vacations all the time, I never think about money unless it's my own. I'm not the type of girl that gets everything she wants when ever she asks, but I'm not used to hearing "we didn't have the money for that..." I felt like such a spoiled rotten bitch that is used to getting everything she wants from daddy!

I know I'm not. I hardly ever get new clothes unless I pay for them myself, and I have to pay for my trips myself. Three years ago my dad changed jobs and took a pay cut. Not a large one, but it made an impact. And of course, three years ago the economy started going downhill.

I hate that I have so much stuff! And I hate that I never use a lot of it. But hearing about the budget made me realise that I'm growing up- and with growing up comes responsibility. I'm going to have to learn to manage money and a budget, pay for EVERYTHING myself, pay off student loans, rent, insurance, mortgage, all of that! I'm so excited to grow up and be on my own, but I never think about all the responsibility that comes with it.

I'm not ready for it. And I'm seriously scared out of my mind!

PS: Sorry for the swearing... I was upset when I wrote this. But It's how I feel...

Can I have a child?

So here's the thing- I REALLY want to sponsor a child. Specifically a Child in eastern Europe/ a former Soviet country. Unfortunately Compassion International, a really great christian organisation, does not sponsor children from Europe.

When many people think of sponsoring a child, they think of Africa and Latin America. And while children there are living in extreme poverty and need help, there are also many children in Europe who need the same love and compassion. There are many children living in orphanages that are HIV+ or abandoned by their parents because they do not have enough money to care for them. In Ukraine, for instance, the orphanages are filled with children like this and it is becoming increasingly harder to adopt from there. It is also highly filled with human trafficking- in fact, when I was in Ukraine, we think that our compound was across the street from a brothel.

Europe is generally thought of as one of the "richer" and "more developed" areas of the world, while western Europe is highly developed and has more money, eastern Europe tends to have more poverty, especially the former USSR. But that is where my heart is- and that is where I want to take the gospel and share God's love. I'm in high school, and I can only travel during my summer holidays. But even though I have to stay in America during the school year, I can still share His love internationally from my own home by sponsoring a child. So I'm asking you all- Do you know of any credible, christian organisations that I can sponsor a European child through?

This is Marsha, a Russian Girl who I met and love.

One oh One and a Purple Door

So remember last week when I told y'all about Day Zero Project? Well, here's a short update.

We're a week into the project and I already have two goals completed and a bunch in progress! Goals number 1 and 37 are completed! Goal #1 was to dye my hair, and as you can see with the previous blog post, that one is now completed! Goal #37 was to buy a belt from Hot Topic, and that is now completed with my brand new piano seat belt! I would show you a picture from the website, but I can't find it... :-( Just immagine this but with a piano design.


Goal #10, Go to Purple Door, is about to be completed! Purple Door is a big music festival in PA, and I'm going with some of my friends. It has a lot of Scream-o and heavy metal music. :D I like scream-o. ;-)

GAHH! What is with all the emoticons in this blog post??? UGHH, I hate it!

This weekend my friend Luke, who I haven''t seen in a year is visiting me and going with me to Purple Door. I can't wait! I met him last year when my family went to Ukraine and we've remained in touch and have become good friends. His parents are missionaries in Ukraine but they had to come back to the states because of visa issues; and now they have to stay longer because they need to raise more support.

Our exchange student arrived from Russia! YAY! Her name is Lena so I'm sure you'll be hearing about her a lot this upcoming year. She's 16- only a few weeks older than me- and has the same homeroom teacher as me. She's registering for school and signing up for classes tomorrow, so I guess we'll see if we have any other classes together, although we won't know for sure until the first day of school when we get our schedules.

Days left until school: 11
Days until Purple Door: 1!!!

My Hair Is Dead.

On Friday Lily came over to my house and we died my hair turquoise. Yes, turquoise. Not all of it; just the tips. It's amazingly epic and I love it. So here are pictures.



Lily slept over friday night and on Saturday we saw Julie& Julia. I loved it!

Days until school: 14
Days Until Lena: 2
Days until purple door: 5

Random.

So I'm bored. And I don't have anything to do. Well, I suppose I could sleep, but I really don't feel like it. And I suppose I could work on health class or summer reading, but I don't feel like doing that either. Junior year is fast approaching, and I don't want to dragged into it before I have too. But on the other hand, I should get it done soon so I'm not stressed right before school starts.


I went to a local baseball game today with some girls from my cheer squad. It was fun but the game was really slow.

So sometimes when I'm in bed or in the car or something I'll think of stories or something to write, so I write it in a text message on my phone. I was going through my drafts the other day trying to clear space, and I found this:

"I love you. Three words, seven letters. But why are they so hard to say? Are we afraid that they won't say those words back; that they won't feel the same way? That's why I don't say it. (That and the fact that many seem to feel that I'm MUCH to young for love. Whatever.) Why are we so scared? The worst that can happen is thta they won't say 'I love you' back. And while that may sound horrible, when you think about it, that's basically the same as neer hearing those three little words."

I forget if that was supposed to be a story or essay or what, but I thought I'd share it here with you.

On the 11th, our new exchange student gets here. Her name is Lena and she is from Siberia. I'm excited!

On the 14th and 15th I'm going to a hard rock/ metal music festival near where I live. It's going to be amazing and I can't wait.

That is what I am up to and I don't think I have anything more to write about so I believe I shall end this post here.

Oh wait, I lied. I'm probably gonna dye part of my hair turquoise today, just cos I feel like it. I don't know weather to dye my tips, the underneath, or two strips at the front.

TIPS:
~Pros: looks cool, easy to get rid of if dye doesn't come out before school starts.
~Cons: Hard to do.

UNDERNEATH:
~Pros: easy to do, looks cool.
~Cons: If it doesn't come out before school, it's hard to get rid of.

STRIPS:
~Pros:looks cool, easy to do.
~Cons: hard to get rid of if dye doesn't come out before school.

So what do you think? What should I do?

U-U-Ukraine!

I've been struggleing for a while (and by a while, I mean a few days) about how to organise this post. This trip is unlike any other I've taken. For one, it's a bit longer- five weeks as compared to 2, and way more intense. It's five weeks of constant discipleship and ministry in a culture completely different from my own preparing me to be a missionary in my hometown. The other trips were either with my church and led by my father, or a "pep rally for Jesus" type thing.

I came to the conclusion that I should write this post in three parts, doing a general anylisis of each part and highlighting the areas that stuck out to me followed by a summary. Yes, I am OCD.

So here we go.

Part One- Training Camp:
Wow. Training camp was... Intense. There are lots of things I can't share with you, mainly because Royal Servants wants to keep a lot of things secret. Not secret as in a cultish- brainwashing way, but secret as in everything they do is done for a purpose and used in teachings and discipleship and they want students to expierience everything for themselves, because it means more that way. I'll just say that they do a very good job of preparing you for oversees.

We spent much of our time in either worship, quiet time, or teachings. We would also spend 3 hours a day doing what's called "skill groups", which are our tools for evangilism. There was Dance, Drama, and Puppets. Select teams also had other groups, such as my team, which had basketball since that was our main tool of ministry, and Costa Rica, which had Soccer, since that was their main form of ministry.

I have to say that Training Camp was the hardest and most intense part of the trip, but it was also fun because it brought me closer to my team and we were going through it together. I also spent a lot of the week bonding with my team and discipleship group, which was good and fun.

Part Two- Ministry:
This part was the longest part of my trip, and in reality, it all blended together. After almost 2 hours of quiet time, we would eat lunch, then either have a teaching or go out and survey people and share Christ that way. Sometimes we would go to the beach and do ministry there. In the evenings, we would play pick up basketball, or if it was a weekend, host a basketball tournament.

I think I'll just share my favourite experience that happened to me. It was our last tournament, and I had been praying for someone to talk to and really connect to. I was also praying that they would approach me, because I'm shy. So on Friday I was talking to one of our translators, and this little 9 year old girl named Marsha walks up to me and started talking to me. She asked me questions about our team, and told me about her family. She told me about her older sister who was 15, and it turns out we had a lot in common!

After our dance and drama performance, she introduced me to her sister (Alonya), and we really hit it off! The next two days we hung out the entire time, and each day she heard the message of Christ. She didn't accept Christ into her life that I know of, but it was great getting to know her. She taught me the Russian alphabet and drew a picture of me!

Part Three: Debriefing!
The last five days of the trip were dedicated to two things: 1)fun, and 2) Preparing us mentally to go home. Our time was spent in quiet time, teachings, and going to touristy spots. We spent the day on the black sea, went to a mid evil castle, and chilled in downtown Odessa. This part was fun and full of random dance parties, but it was also the most bittersweet. I was excited to go home, but I also didn't want to leave Ukraine. I was comfortable in the work God had for me and I had made so many friendships and I was sad to leave my friends.

I thank God for facebook and texting- I can still keep in touch with my Ukrainian family!

The List: Officially!

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Here's my list:

1. Dye my hair purple.
2. Go hang- gliding.
3. Learn to Drink Tea without a ton a sugar.
4. Go to a Broncos/ Redskins game with Arielle
5. Go on another Royal Servants trip
6. Get a bookshelf big enough to fit all my books on it
7. Catalog my “library” (bookshelf… only one…)
8. Read the Circle trilogy by Ted Dekker
9. Go to London
10. Go to Purple Door
11. Blog every day for a month
12. Finish a book I started
13. Sing a Solo
14. Keep my room clean for a month
15. Read the entire Harry Potter series in 7 days
16. Read one book a day for a month.
17. Scrapbook- and actually finish the book myself.
18. Reread my American Girl books
19. Go on a road trip with my best friends
20. Get a pedicure
21. Go six months without soda
22. Go a week without caffeine.
23. Learn to play guitar.
24. Have a “Spa Day”
25. Become a full vegetarian for either lent or one month
26. Make distinguished honour roll.
27. Learn British spelling.
28. Learn another language.
29. Get another piercing.
30. Go on a media fast for a week
31. Keep in touch with friends who don’t live near me.
32. Write a poem that’s actually good.
33. Go water skiing
34. take the SATS
35. Get my license. (Permit first)
36. finish health class
37. use my library card for something other than online research
38. get a belt from Hot Topic
39. Journal
40. Read the entire Bible
41. Reread my favourite childhood books.
42. Finish a colouring book.
43. Do my summer reading at the beginning of the summer.
44. Figure out what I want to be when I grow up
45. Take voice lessons
46. Go to Scotland
47. Apply for College
48. Find a college I want to go to.
49. Relearn Piano
50. Relive family memories. (e.g. go to places we went to a lot when I was younger)
51. Complete at least one item on my bucket list.
52. Fly in a Hot Air balloon
53. Get a henna tattoo.
54. Eat healthy for a week
55. Do a 30 hour famine
56. Have a lead role in a musical.
57. Watch all the superman and batman movies
58. See Titanic
59. Drink an entire cup of black coffee.
60. Go Whitewater rafting
61. Have a Disney cartoon movie marathon
62. Get my teeth whitened.
63. Watch a sport event live at the Olympics.
64. Memorise my mom’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.
65. Read 50 books in a year.
66. Play with a parachute like you did in kindergarten.
67. Take pictures in a photo booth with either my best friends or a boyfriend. (If I even have one in the next 3 years)
68. Do 50 sit ups a day for a month
69. Mail a secret to Post Secret
70. Do a random act of kindness; preferably anonymously.
71. Visit the museum of natural history in NYC
72. Go to wal-mart and do a bunch of random things with my friends and film it. (such as the ones from the “Random things to do in Wal-Mart facebook group)
73. Run a mile everyday for a week
74. Lead a bible study/small group
75. Buy the actual CD of all the borrowed music on my ipod.
76. Keep my locker clean for three consecutive months.
77. Find a cause I’m passionate about.
78. Buy an Abort 73 shirt
79. Buy a To Write Love on Her Arms shirt.
80. Improve my spelling
81. Improve my grammar.
82. Be less hypocritical.
83. Go two weeks without adding salt to food. (meaning putting it on top of food)
84. Go to a coffee shop and get coffee and not a mocha or frozen coffee drink.
85. Drink caffeine and not get addicted.
86. Floss my teeth everyday for a month.
87. Give up chocolate for 10 days
88. Go to IKEA and buy something.
89. Plant a garden and take care of it.
90. Participate in “Secret Santa’s”
91. Become a less picky eater: Try five new food items. (0/5)
92. Reread and finish 2 manga series. (0/2)
93. Take one picture a day for a year. 0/365)
94. Give presents to my family and friends just because.
95. Go to Mall of America.
96. Make a duct tape bag.
97. Go to the great lakes.
98. Visit the west coast.
99. Fix my bottom teeth
100. Find something I’m passionate about.
101. Complete this list!

1001 days

So I figure I should write my Ukraine post before I write anything else, but a) coherency is not one of my gifts, b) I'm the worlds biggest procrastinator, and c) I saw this and wanted to blog about it before I forgot.

So here we go.

So there's this project called "Day Zero" which I found out about on Alyson's blog. Basically you write a list of 101 things you want to do, and you give your self 1001 days to do them- or three years. And I want to do that. The problem is that I have problems finishing goals like that. Remember NaNoWriMo? Or BEDA? Yea... those were not my proudest moments... But I want to do this one. And I will. In fact, I think that will be on my list of goals.

Now, most people do this starting on New Years, but I think I'll start my 101 now, mainly because if I wait until New Years to do it, I'll forget by then. That, and New Years Resolutions are notorious for not actually getting done... you know what I mean. And, they have this handy little tool to help you figure out when you'll be done plus a countdown meter for your site. So I think I can do this! All I have to do now is figure out my list and add it to my blog.

... And now I'm home!

If you can't tell by the title, I'M HOME FROM UKRAINE!!! I miss it, but I'm glad to be home. Honestly, I'm SUPER tired and don't feel like writing a post right now, so I'll write a post about my trip when I can gather my thoughts and write coherently.

But yes, I'm alive.

Faith

And So I Go....

In five hours I will be leaving to go to the Airport. I will get on a plane to Chicago, and upon landing proceed to be driven 4 hours to training camp for my trip to Ukraine. Yup, I'm going to Ukraine again! This time, of my own accord and I'm actually excited for it.

I have a week of training camp, then off to Ukraine for FIVE WEEKS. So, I won't be commenting or anything during those five weeks, cos I'll have limited Internet access. So I apologise in advance.

So, what will I do in Ukraine? Well.... It's a basketball trip, and I don't play basketball, so I think I'll be working with kids and doing drama stuff. I'm not sure. I'll let you all know once I get there. For now, here's the link to the website: www.royalservants.org.

Byebyebyebyebye!

Faith

The woes of private education.

So most of you know that I go to a privet school somewhere in the northeast US. This has it's pros and cons. Today we are focusing on the Cons.

Although really it's not just a privet school thing- this could happen at any type of school with the exception of homeschooling. It's more about the administration and the ways they try to get school to end earlier- shorter breaks.

This year during the holidays, three VERY IMPORTANT EVENTS are happening. These events are as follows:
1. My grandmother on my mom's side turns 70. Her birthday wish? To spend it with her two daughters and only granddaughter- me. Her location? Arizona

2. My mom's sister, my aunt, who is 45 (I think), is getting married for the first time in her life. Where is this wedding? Arizona. What is the date? December 19th. (Seeing a pattern?)

3. My school choir is going to Disney World to participate in a massive choir with schools from all over the country that will sing in a candlelight concert that takes place after Christmas. We will also get to do concerts in Disney by ourselves, and so will the audition choir, of which I am a founding member of. I have also been in choir since 9th grade. (AND we get to take private vocal workshops. FROM PROFESSIONAL DISNEY PERFORMERS. Yea, the Disney Channel stars tend not to be the best in that area aside from a select few, but the performers at Disney word who do the shows there- You have to admit they're pretty freaking amazing.) When do we leave? December 26.

Now normally this wouldn't be a problem. HOWEVER, when is Christmas break this year? DECEMBER 24th. When is the Christmas concert? December 17th. SO, I have to spend the day before my aunts wedding/ Grandma's birthday in a plane for FIVE FREAKING HOURS. I spend the day before Christmas eve flying back home, and spending Christmas doing laundry. I also miss Christmas with my mom's side of the family, which I haven't had since 7th grade (almost 5 years) and that wasn't even with everyone, which this year would be because of the wedding, obviously. Fortunately I got to see them because my cousin got married last week, but still, we're already missing my other cousin's 10 year vow renewals because of my Ukraine trip, (I leave this Saturday!!!!) and It'd be nice to spend Christmas with them for once.

See why this is a problem?

I am seriously pissed right now. Especially since we get shorter breaks in general this year- yea, we get out WAY earlier, but school just drags on after a while and a break here and there is nice!

But seriously, does it have to be THIS YEAR? UGH.

School's Out, Let's Rock & Roll.

School ended yesterday. I'm no longer a wise fool; a sophomore. I'm a Junior. An upperclassmen. I now have to start thinking about what the heck it is that I want to do with my life. That's scary- I have to be more responsible; I have to care about school; I have to stop being so apathetic. I have to look for colleges, do well on PSAT's so I can get scholarships; I have to take SAT's; I have to apply for colleges; ugh, just thinking about it stresses me out!

Oh dear. Summer's here; I can relax. I slept until about 12:30 today!

Rinny left for Korea to day. Sad.

Yesterday afternoon Lily and I went shopping. It was a lot of fun and I got the coolest nailpolish ever! I got bright lime green polish from Hot Topic, and pink, purple, and blue polish from Charlotte Ruse. The three colours were actually together in one bottle. That's why it's so cool!

I I have to go wright thank- you notes now. ugh.


See ya soon!

Faith

I iz 16, yo!

Today was my sweet sixteen! WOOHOO!!! Unfortunately for me, that does not mean driving, for two very important reasons.

1) Where I live, you can't get your learners permit until you are 16. Frikin' government.
2) I'm going to Ukraine this summer and I would not get driving hours in anyway.

So today my friends threw me a surprise party! I thought just my best friends, Lily and Jess L. were coming over and we would eat sushi and then go to Red Lobster. (My favourite restaurant) So when my dad and I went to pick up the sushi, the doorbell rang. I looked out my window and saw Jess B. being chased by my dog (Tica) through the flower beds! While slightly confused, I figured Lily's mom was just taking her home, and they decided to ding-dong ditch me since it was my birthday.

So then dad and I got home from picking up the sushi and I see WAY more than two people in the kitchen.. they all shout "surprise" and well, yea. I got a surprise party! It was a lot of fun. We had sushi and Chinese takeout from a great local place, and hung out and went to the park down the street from my house.


From Lily: "The Silver Chord" by The Classic Crime

From Jess L. : three headbands; two tubes of lip gloss; four sets of clip- in hair extensions (green, purple, orange, and blue); hairspray; double ended eyeliner (purple and blue); sparkly eyeshadow (palette of blue, black, yellow, purple and two shades each of green , pink, and orange); a green skater cap; and nail polish (pink, green, orange, blue sparkles, and silver sparkly.)

From Justine: She's not finished making my gift, so an IOU slip.

From Jess B. :Borders gift card (yay! :-D) and a notebook.

From Belen and Sarah: A fuzzy pillow and a picture frame.

From Yearin and her mom: A Korean pencil case with pens and white- out tape; three pairs of earrings; bath crystals; money; and Rinny made me a gift card to her "store." (She's trying to sell a bunch of her clothes before she goes back to Korea and to college)

From my parents: A necklace. No, not a car. :*-(

*****

Tomorrow is Graduation, and I'm playing in the band; the only flautist playing the first part. Yay? I don't know if I should be happy or not. I'm going to a party for Rinny's and my friend Laura afterwords. (She's the valedictorian. I'm friends with the valedictorian and sister to the Saludictorian! [Rinny's the saludictorian.])

*****

Sunday is my family and I don't know if it's my friends party or not; cuz all my friends who were gonna go to that party came to the surprise party...

But anyway, it's Rinny's graduation party and my family birtday party. I have a lot of party's this weekend... Good thing the drinking age isn't 16. I'd have a bad Monday if it was...

JK!!! I don't drink. I doubt I'll even drink when I turn 21....


So anywayze, That's about it. Rinny took a lot of pictures tonight so when she puts them on facebook I'll download them and put them on here. I promise, I really will. I'll also probably take pictures of my gifts and put them on here too.



Days left of being a wise fool: 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Days until I'm 17: 364
Days until Ukraine: 21

Adios, amigos!

Exchange Mania!

OMG TWO BLOGS IN 4 DAYS! NO IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!!
('Cos, you know, I can't seem to write two posts within two months, much less in one week... ize feelz proud of mes-self. )

Haha, I think I was finally able to think of a relevant, quirky title. yay! I love the word quirky... I've been using it a lot lately.

Anyhows...

So our current exchange student is getting ready to graduate, and her mom (who doesn't speak English) came for a few days. Her mom is so nice! She brought me winter bedsheets, socks, a cell phone charm/key chain that looks like a converse shoe, gave me some sort of candy, and even helps clean the house!
[See, she came into my room and started making the motions of sweeping something up with the dustpan, and I though "Oh, there must be a bunch of dog hair or something on the floor of Yearin's room and she just wants to sweep it up." So I showed here where the dustpan was and she takes it and the broom and starts sweeping. So then I say "I'll sweep" and I take the broom from her (politely) and start sweeping. She says something in Korean and takes the broom back, and we just kinda stand there blank- faced and trying to figure out how to say that we can each sweep or whatever it was we were trying to say, and she finally motions for me to keep walking, so I grab my shoes off the floor and go upstairs, and I just let her sweep cos it seemed like she wanted to and was fine doing so.]

I love the fact that even though they don't speak the same language, Yearin's mom and my mom have found a way to communicate. I came downstairs this morning, and they were in the kitchen making cookies together! As you may know, the Prime minister of South Korea committed suicide a few days ago, and mom showed Yearin's mom (that's what Rinny told me to call her, since that's what she is in Korea (either that or "boss's wife"- Apparently that's cultural and polite)) and mom even expressed her condolences.

In other exchange student news, we are officially hosting a student from Russia (Siberia to be exact) next year, and we have been emailing and getting to know each other on facebook.

I would love to be an exchange student. I've been researching it, and it looks awesome. Unfortunately, not many agencies send students from the US because a lot of students don't want to miss a year or a summer of high school. One reason is summer sports practices- some coaches wont start or even wont play you if you miss practices, even if your sick or your family is on vacation.

Also, I don't want to miss a full year of high school, but I want to study and not just hang out and tour the country or whatever, so I'm thinking about taking a year off before college or just studying abroad in college.

I was planning on coming on here and announcing a hiatus. I was planning to say that I didn't have time to blog. I was planning to quit blogging over the summer and starting again when I got back from Ukraine. (Yes, I'm going there for a month this year! YAY!)

I love reading blogs- I don't know why. There's something about seeing into the mind of someone who lives thousands of miles away that absolutely fascinates me! Wow, that sounded really creepy...

But I decided against that. I love this blog, I really do. I can come on here and just speak my mind, and I don't get judged. I could say that I was a Nazi and you wouldn't hate me. OK, maybe that's a bit extreme... What I meant was that you would give loving, caring responses, telling me of the error of my ways and trying to convince me that Nazism, Facisim, and Anti- Semitism are wrong.

So I don't actually know that for sure, but it sounded awfully good.

All in all, I'm not quitting.

OMG ICE CREAM TRUCK! IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD! Ugh, too close to dinner...

This is the first summer my neighborhood has had an ice cream truck, and I'm SO. FREAKING. EXCITED.

Anyway, I went to the doctors office after school today to follow up on my ADD (which, in case you haven't already noticed, I have.) and to see if I need to increase my medicine dosage. My doctor gave me a routine checkup, and found out that I have an asymmetrical thyroid- my right thyroid is bigger than my left.

It's nothing to worry about; thyroid issues run in my family, but I have to get blood work and a thyroid ultra- sound just in case. Fun.
3
So anyway, with no more Japanese classes, (I quit), No more musical (YAY! It was awesome, but I'm glad to have my life back.), and my term paper completed and turned in, I have three less things to stress about and much more time to blog. Woo- Hoo!

Days of school left: 9
Days until I turn 16: 7
Days until Ukraine: 30

Bye!

Faith

Hey, remember me? You know, that girl that blogs? Yea... I've kinda been on a hiatus. Freaking musical. 10 days and I'll have my life back. YAY. Now to do homework that I'm supposed to have done....

sorry for the short post, but I just wanted you to know that I am, in fact, alive.

Screw BEDA.

Sorry to those of you who read this unfinished- I hit the wrong button after writing the title- it's not what it seems!

So anyhow, I can't do this- it's unnecessary stress. Sure, it sounds fun. But April's a bad month. April comes with research papers, standardized testing, AP applications, and all of the wonderful end of year stress that comes with high school. Yay.

So maybe I can do a modified version of BEDA. Blog Every Week in April? Blog Every Other Day in April? Maybe I can just challenge myself to blog more often in general- but about a subject, not just "hey, this is my day. my life is boring... what should i write about...???" Cuz I'm sure you're all sick and tired of that!

Some people have the ability to create a great post on one topic, and have it be of substantial length. I can't do that- in order for me to write something of good length, I have to hop from subject to subject- I don't know why. I hate that I can never write anything long without putting in lots of big spaces.

*sigh.*

In other news, I have Easter break next week, so my family is going on vacation next week. It should be fun! I also have my Easter dress, finally. I love it!

I have homework...

bye.

Ideas, anyone?

To be honest, I don't feel like blogging today. I want to make some hot chocolate and popcorn, go upstairs, snuggle up comfortably in my bed, and watch The Notebook. I have yet to see that movie, and I really, really want to. I've read the book, and it is amazing. Not only is it a great love story, but the imagery and writing are So. Freaking. Good!

But I've made a commitment, and I will follow through with it.


But really, I need something to write about.

It's too late to upload pictures from Spain; my laptop battery is almost dead. (22 % remaining.)


Wow, it suddenly got a lot darker...

I'm so sorry my posts are so short. I've been stressed with musical and school, and I honestly have not gotten a lot of sleep the past few days. I think I'm going to get some ice cream and start on homework...

best wishes!

Faith

Evenin', y'all. wassup?


Today is Palm Sunday, the day Christ rode into Jerusalem on a Donkey, and the Jews took palm branches and laid them down on for Christ to walk on. This marks the beginning of the last week of Jesus' life.

I wrote thank- you notes to the people who are paying my way- I mean graciously donating to my trip to Ukraine this summer :-D - then went to choir and youth group.

This upcoming week: two more days of state testing, one and 1/2 days of school, then SPRING FREAKING BREAK!!! w00t w00t!


Yea, that was dumb.


*sigh.*

My life is so boring. I need to find something to write about.

I forgot about BEDA again....

SO. Today I went shopping for an Easter dress. I found two really cute ones that I like, and I'm going back this week to buy them.

I also had musical practice. My school is weird... we're a very Conservative small school, and two of the dances I'm in feel like p*rn (so I don't get weirdos, I took out the "o") and a cult dance. lol. Oh, gosh. I just used lol in a blog post...

Anyhows, I don't have anything to talk about. I really need to find things to talk about...

It's amazing how blogging can come so easily to some people. How do they do it? I've already written a blog post about this, a while ago when I first started blogging. It always bothers me about how I can never write a blog of substantial length. I guess I'm more of a twitter/texting person. Two bad I'm not allowed to twitter.

*sigh* I need something to write about. Ideas, anyone? I have six followers!!

Oh, and in response to a question about the meaning of discombobulated, it basically means confused.

otay byebye!

The Nick of Time

Phew! I made it. I was driving home after dropping Jess off, and I realized I had yet to write a blog post today.

You know, time is such a funny thing. It seems to go so slowly, but when you look back at things, you realize how fast it's gone. It seems like yesterday I was walking through the halls of my school with my dad the day before I started first grade to meet my teacher. During this school year, I felt like things were going by slowly, but two days ago I realized I only had forty days until becoming a Junior!


I saw Knowing today. It was.... interesting. It's good, but it's not the best and not worth the $7. I would wait until it's available on netflix.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, and the beginning of Holy Week in the Christian church. Wow! It seems like forever since Christmas!

ttyl,

Faith

For lack of better title, BEDA day 2

So I had this epic blog post planned yesterday, where I would go about my school day while writing a blog, then I would type it up here when I got home.


That obviously didn't work.


So I have to think of something to write....


....




....



....


I got nothin'. Remind me again why I decided to do this? Oh, yea. Because I have no life. And I thought it would be fun. Boy was I wrong!


Today in Spanish class we finished our textbook! YAY! We've had the same book for two years. It's about time we finished! To celebrate, we're going to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. And then we get a new book. See, the books we use only have two books for four years- one for Spanish 1&2, and one for Spanish 3&4. We just finished the Spanish 1/2 book, and so we're starting on the 3/4 book. Yippity- do- dah.

Tomorrow we have achievement tests for half the day. Yay. we have them on half days for tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday.

Also, tomorrow my friend Lily and I are gonna see Knowing. I've heard it's bad, but I want to see it anyway! Hopefully my friend Jess can go to, but I haven't been able to get a hold of her... sad. :(

Saturday I have musical practice for 4 hours, and the director wants us to have all of the dancing finished and learned in the next two practices. I highly doubt that will happen, since we have two big dances to learn that we haven't even started, plus we have to finish a lot of the smaller dances, too.

As far as my trip to Ukraine goes, I have almost $800 raised!! I'm soooo excited. Now I have to write thank- you notes to everyone. I should probably do that now... adios!


FAITH

BEDA Day one

Dang, this is gonna be HARD. It's day one, and I have NO FREAKING IDEA what to blog about.

soooooo.... Well, today I went to school and then musical practice. Not much interesting stuff...

Today is April Fools day, and I didn't do any pranks, as usual. I haven't really done any since fifth grade.

This is a blog... I guess this can be my first BEDA blog!

I have a works cited due tommorrow for my research paper, along with 20 notecards about my subject. FUN. I should probably go do those now.

BEDA

So there's this author named Maureen Johnson, and she has a blog of which I read. However, Maureen has this teeny- tiny problem of not getting herself to blog that often. So she decided to write a blog every day and called it Blog Every Day April. She told her fans, and they thought it was a real thing- well, it is a real thing, but they thought it was a big, official event. And now it is, and I'm doing it! Well, trying to do it. Keyword being try...

So starting tomorrow, I will be posting a blog every day for 31 days. I guess I should start with my Spain Pictures...

Oh, and if youtube is more your thing, there's also Vlog Every Day April. Feel free to join the fun! Maureen has set up a website for participants at ning.com

From Facebook. = D

I got tagged in this on facebook, but I'm posting it here instead...

[Using only song titles from one artist, answer the questions given.]
Artist/Band: Jonas Brothers (They have a lot of songs to choose from, OK?! Don't judge me...)

1. Are you male or female?
"Mandy"
2. Describe yourself:
"I Am What I Am"
"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!" (I just had to...)
3. What are you NOT?
"Underdog"
3. How do you feel about yourself:
"Kids of the Future"

4. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend:
----
5. Describe your current boy/girl situation:
"Just Friends"

6. Describe your current location:
"Australia" (psshhh... I wish!)

7. Describe where you want to be:
"Australia"
8. Your best friends are:
"That's Just the Way We Roll"
"We Rock"

9. Your favorite color is:
"You Just Don't Know It"

10. You know that:
"We're the 'Kid's of the Future', oh-oh!"

11. If your life was a television show what would it be called:
"Time for Me to Fly"
"One Man Show"
"Yo ho (a pirates life for me)"

12. What is life to you:
"Games"

13. What is the best advice you have to give:
"Live to Party"

14. If you could change your name what would you change it to:
"You just don't know it"

Fotographias de Espana

I is Back

I got home from Spain on Thursday. I know I promised pictures... but I took over 300 and honestly don't really feel like uploading them again... I've already put them on facebook. (Not that any of you will see my facebook... but still, that was 5 albums worth of pictures.) Maybe in a few day's I'll get motivated and upload some of the highlights...


Great, I had a change of mind in the middle of a post. I'll upload some pictures for y'all. (Oh, gosh. I just said y'all. That's horrible grammar, and no one in my town says y'all, so where did I pick that up?)

Oh, and before I forget, I got my ears pierced again in Spain! Yay! I can't believe my dad actually let me... So now I have two holes.

I think I'll upload the pictures in parts, probably somewhere between 15-30 per post, 'cuz I took A TON of pictures. So here we go!

Wait a minute... I just remembered there's a "blog this" option on Picasa.... Sorry, I'm so discombobulated... You'll see pictures somehow, someway, I promise!

I'm gonna go make up my mind now....

Here I Am!

Guess where I am?


No really, guess.


Give up?



I´M IN SPAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just thought I´d tell y´all...


Don´t worry, I´ll post pictures.


Byebye!

Sorry I didn´t give many deatails, I just don´t wanna get stalked and kidnapped or whatever. That would really ruin the trip...

Red Envelope Day

I was going to post a facebook meme, but then I saw this. Red Envelope day. On this day, March 21st, people will send empty red envelopes to President Obama that protest abortion.

I am 100 % against abortion, but I'm good at organizing my thoughts coherently. So; I am leaving that to the hands of those more fluent than I.










Isn't it sad that people get all worked up about the 6 million people that died in the Holocaust, but yet kill 50 million children in the US alone without thinking anything about it?


A person is a person no matter how small.

'Sup everyone?

I know, I know, I haven't posted in FOREVER! Once again, I must use the excuse of school. I've had a lot of homework, and cheerleading didn't help...

Speaking of cheerleading, my school went to league championships, but they lost to our biggest rivals. It kind of sucked...

I really don't have much to say, really.

I just got back from a meeting to possibly go to England and Scotland next year; I really want to go! I'm also going to be in Spain in a few weeks- I'm really excited for that! Lots of pictures, I promise!

That's about it, not much is going on here...

Bye!

Musical practice started today. YAY! I'm happy- I love musical season. We were supposed to dance, but the choreographer couldn't make it, so we just learned some songs.

My school's basketball team had their first defeat last night. At least, the first defeat that counted. I wasn't surprised; the team they played was HUGE (meaning the height of the guys) and were also undefeated. It was a stressful game- but was a lot of fun. The game determined which school would be first in our league.

I've had a small breakout on my face. Ew. And they're all the stupid kind of zits that are under your skin and so your skin just looks like the surface of Mars close up. I've also been eating a lot. Like, not at meals, but it seems like I'm eating little things constantly. I blame hormones.

The darling Abby posted about Covenant College over on her blog- and I think I might like it. As of right now, there is only one other college I'm looking at, but I'm a sophomore and I have time. It fits all of my first- glance requirements, (Christan College but doesn't say "Christian" or "Bible" or anything like that in the name and out of state) plus its closer to home than the other college I'm looking at. (Seattle Pacific University) It has a variety of Undergrad programs, including English Communications, Journalism, and even English Theatre. I think I might like it...

Wait. Actually, as I read their website more, I don't think I want to be an English Major there.... All of their sentences are one- thought sentences, and a lot of their sentences start with "and"... hmm. Well, it seemed good at first.... I'll probably still look at it, but it won't be my first choice.

As I look around the SPU website, the more I think I'll like it. The English department looks tough, and an English major has to be proficient in a foreign language, but it seems good. The writing on the website is pretty good, too. No major grammar errors that I'm aware of!

Oh, dear blog, I bet you feel rejected and lonely, don't you! I is sorry.

High school is so stressful. I'm only in tenth grade, and my dad is already making me look at colleges so he can plan vacations around college visits! It sucks. The closer I get to having to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life, the less I'm sure what it is I want to do! *sigh...*

Finals are this week, and all of my teachers gave more tests on top of that. Apparently they'll help us study... Yea, the same stuff we've been studying for the past three weeks! It's not going to help us study, it just adds to the stress level!

Sorry for venting.... life sucks. Well, not really, but life during finals does. I want chocolate.

My family doesn't really have any snack foods in the house, and after church my mom went to the grocery store, so Yearin and I looked for some. THERE ARE SO MANY TYPES OF POPTARTS!! Yes, that was random. I'm a random person.

I'm hyper today. I don't know why, I just am... So I think I'll end this post with a hamster on a piano...