Lost in Translation

It's been a while.

2010-08-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Oh, hey, I have a blogger!

I didn't forget- I just got lazy, then I went to Israel.

Buttt... I have a new blog, on tumblr. I switched because it's easier to keep up with people I know irl, and yea... idk. I just like having the newist shiniest thing on the interwebs. Idk.

So I'm packing up and moving, if you wish to follow me.

It is: sunshineseason.tumblr.com

I'll talk a bit about israel on there, and upload pictures, and spill my guts and yea... This is awkward.

Goodbye, ramblings/lost. I still love you, and you served me well. It's not you, it's me.

Faith

Well, this is awkward.

2010-06-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well.

It's been quite a while.

Does anyone even read this anymore?

So, um. Hi.

School is out for the summer! YAY! I AM A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR! and stuff.

kthxbai.

2010-02-04T20:44:00.001-08:00

If you have OCD, get medicine.
If you have depression, get medicine.
If you have ADD, get medicine.
Trust me, it makes life a lot easier. Especially if your entire family has this.

2010-02-01T20:02:00.001-08:00

I hate my family. I hate life. I hate school, I hate my peers. I hate this world. I hate the government. Jesus, come back soon!

Declaration of Liberation

2010-01-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today I was facebook stalking some people, as usual, while procrastinating on my homework. (Which for once is odd, because it's on one of my favorite periods of history. ) Anyway, I came across a note written by a senior in my Creative Writing class and thought it was good, so I decided to put it here, since I'm too lazy to write an original post of my own.

So, without further adieu,

"Declaration of Liberation"

By Anderson Lake

intresting realization: in 20 years someone our age will be president, in 20 years 35% of us will be dead, in 10 years 46% of us will be married and most of that percent will ahve children, in 10 years most of us will be starting careers that will take up over 70% of our lives, in 5 years most of us will no longer be considered teenagers, Today were considered to be amere part of a percentage made by biased "Adults" who think they know whats best for the world, look where their solutions have landed us, I say this year we screw the percintiles and we make a stand to change the world, to be unbiased and actually give a damn about other people, instead of writing others off because we might not like them. This is our Generation, This is our world, This is our century. Its time to eradicate the old ways and establish the new, a system that doesn't call itself a system, change that isn't hidden under stacks of paperwork. We've been told whats right and wrong by a generation who supports abortion, gay marriage, and racism for long enough. We need to get back to the foundations of morality, WHATS RIGHT IS RIGHT and whats WRONG IS WRONG! THere is no grey area. I'm tired of my elders glaring at me and crossing to the other side of the road because all they see is a statistic, not a person, not the future, just a number. If we're messed up then their to blame, the enviroment they created for us left some of our generation to be neglected or abused which in turn will create a new generation which is worse then ourselves to which we will throw in a statistic and judge. I say that the world as is, is dying and falling a part because no one cares, I say that everyone is to selfish to look for a solution that works for anyone but themselves, I say its time to overthrow this way of life, shed ourselves of these materilistic and pompous views, I say we take a stand for what is right, and when the older generation meets us with violent oppression because we are disturbing the way they want it we will meet them with a force so undeniable, so unstoppable they will have no choice but to lay down their weapons of biggotry and "tradition" that they will have no choice but to allow this change to take place, a change that will help heal the world, that will allow the world to mend its broken ties, no longer will countries be at war, for those imbittered enemies of our grandparent and parent's generations will be no more, in their place will be those who seek peace and prosperity, no longer will we neglect the needs of others, no longer will the cries of hungry children go unanswered, no longer will the people be forced to accept what the news stands are selling, when we live in a world ruled by morality and hope, injustice and depravity will starve. There will always be those who will fight against this, those in our own generation, and those who will be in the next, but we will not stop their voice, we will not be as our parents who shun the voice of those who question, silence those they beleive to be radical. One day it is my hope that all will see the light of this new world and the blessings it can bring to us all. I say these things not to hide my agenda with flowery words, I have no agenda, only hope. Hope that the world can be once again at peace, would it be possible to turn the tide of that which is prophecied in the revelation? As abraham begged God to stop the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah if he could find but 50 men of God, now imagine what would happen if the entire world follwed the will of God, if the entire World no longer wished to stray from the flock. I am not saying that this will ever happen nor that we can work against God's perfect will, only that I would hope for a world at peace. Thank you.

Personally, I thought this was rather profound, especially for a high school senior, and especially where I live. My town is a bunch of red neck wannabe's, so, I thought this was cool. It really is a good thing to show to the government and written at a great time, with the Massachusetts senate election and what not.

2010-01-10T20:51:00.001-08:00

On the way home from my school's trip to Disney World, I got the idea for a story title, but no plot to go with it. So, if anyone has an idea for me, that would be wonderful. I'm not trying to steal ideas or anything, I'm just asking for ideas. Anyway, the title is "They Dyed the Sky a Crimson Red." I don't know why, but I think that would be a good story title!

2010-01-08T22:01:00.001-08:00

(I'm sick. )I'm sick of feeling like I don't belong.

I'm sick of feeling empty.

I'm sick of feeling like an outcast.

I'm sick of feeling uneeded.
I'm sick of feeling like everyone else is held to a different standard than I am.

I'm sick of feeling replaced.
I'm sick of feeling like a hypocryte.

I'm sick of feeling unadequite.

I'm sicke of feeling unapreciated.

I'm sick of being treated like a kid by my own peers.

I'm sick of life in general.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-15T18:38:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-30T19:47:00.001-08:00

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.]

2009-11-29T18:53:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-10-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-14T19:42:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-10-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

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.)

2009-09-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-08-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-01T22:09:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-06-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-17T19:53:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-06-05T16:02:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-05-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-24T04:08:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-30T16:59:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-04-08T18:01:00.001-07:00

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?

2009-04-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-04-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

I is Back

2009-03-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-02-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

'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!

2009-01-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-01-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-01-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

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...

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T07:26:00.000-08:00

In 2008, I:

Traveled through seven different countries in 3 months

Made friends that live all over the world/country

Started Cheerleading

Was in my schools first musical

Started blogging

In 2009, I will:

Spend 5 weeks in Ukraine

Cheerlead- again

Turn 16!

Get my learners permit

Get my drivers license

Celebrate my first year of blogging.

Whacha Get?

2008-12-30T07:24:00.000-08:00

So, yea, this post is just a little late.... Mainly because my computer crashed and so now I have to use my moms computer, and I don't like blogging when my parents are in the room and I just remembered my parents read this but I'm too lazy to take that out and this is a really long run on sentence and hopefully people can read it cuz I find run on sentences impossible to read.

Wow.

So anyway, this is what I got for Christmas:

An iPod (4g purple nano)

Two books (Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris, and I forget the name of the other one....)

A Vera Bradly purse

clothes ( a jacket, two rocker tees, and a sweater)

money ($250, but $130 is for travel)

gift cards (to target...)

nail polish

hair dye

So what did you get?

***

My family had the dinner for my extended family at my house this year, which I honestly didn't mind. However, all my cousins are three or more years younger than me, and we got rid of all my toys. So with nothing to do, my cousins decided to play pretend. The story? They were kids home alone one night, and they get robbed, but defeat the robber by beating her up. The robber? Yea, that was me. Fuuuuuuuuuun....

The Other Side

2008-12-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

(This is another assignment for school. The assignment was "If you could create an ulterior persona, what would that person be?")

There was a flurry of activity going on around me. The Prop and Set crews were running around on stage, making sure everything was in place. Makeup artists were putting the final touches on the actors and actresses. Everything had to be perfect for opening night!

If I could create an ulterior persona, it would defiantly be a Broadway actress.... or a concert flutist.... or a singer in a rock band.... or... so many to chose from! I'd probably go with the acting, though.

Acting is one of my first loves, one of the few I'm somewhat nerdy about. I love every thing about it- learning my blocking, memorizing my lines. even the last week of 24/7 rehearsal before opening night. It's stressful, but I love it.

***

The assignment ended there, but I have one more thing to say: PSAT results.

For those of you who don't know what that is, the PSAT is the test you take that prepares you for the SAT, the test you take to get into college. I did OK, I guess...

Christmas Memories

2008-12-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

I wrote this for school today, and thought it would make a good blog, so I decided to post it here! Don't you feel special?

I woke up feeling euphoric in my special Barbie Christmas pajamas to the sound of eggs cooking on the stove and the smell of cinnamon rolls in the oven. At six years old, I had been waiting for this day all year, and couldn't believe it was finally here! I umped out of bed and ran to the stairs, then stopped, remembering that I had to wait for my parents to check and make sure Santa had come.

"Mommy!" I cried. "Daddy! Did Santa come?" My dad walked to the stairs a few minutes later, carrying a steaming mug of tea.

The calming sent drifted up the stairs, as he said "He came. Do you want to open presents or eat breakfast first?

I ran down the stairs, sounding like a stampede of six children. Half an hour later, I was euphoric once again. I had gotten all I wanted and more!

The Closet

2008-12-01T19:18:00.000-08:00

I figure it's about time for me to come out of the closet.

NO not the sexuality closet! Two other closets: the political closet and.... the cheerleading closet.

So, yes. I'm a republican. Now, NO MORE POLITICS ON THIS BLOG.

.... And.... I'm a cheerleader. They finally convinced me. I joined the squad mainly because it gets me a gym credit so I don't have to take gym class. I normally play soccer, but It's at the same time as my school's musical, and it's too stressful to do both. I'm finding I somewhat like cheerleading, though.

Honestly, it's not cheerleading that I hate, it's the stereotype of cheerleaders that I hate. "Girls, in short skirts, sitting on the sidelines telling boys to do their best. Chosen for their beauty." And it's not a REAL sport.

I do not concur. That statement is completely false, but I guess cheerleaders deserve it. A lot of girls don't take it seriously, but it really is athletic, with the dancing and all. My squad does between 20 and 40 push ups (man push ups) and between 90 and 150 crunches.

And besides, cheerleaders can spell and count to 8!

AirBlog

2008-11-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Oh. Hello, blog.

I suppose you’re wondering where Faith has been lately. Well, Faith was at her grandparents house in Arizona with no Internet access for a week. No worries, though. Faith is on her way home!

OK, I’m going to stop talking about myself in the third person right now. It’s bothersome.

So much to catch up on!

I’m currently applying to a five week trip to Ukraine next summer. YAY!
Thanksgiving was great- I have the obligatory “what I’m thankful for” post coming up.
Rolling around, serving it up/ bringing us a Cadillac phunque! Sorry, I’m listening to Family Force Five right now. They’re AWESOME!
STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW AND GO SEE TWILIGHT. IT IS MADE OF AWESOME. IT IS NOT CHEESY AND SUCKISH LIKE I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. GO. NOW. ACTUALLY, WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE DONE READING THIS POST, THEN GO SEE IT.
While in Arizona, we went to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. When I get the pictures I’ll post them. I’m actually writing this is Microsoft Word on my flight home, so I don’t have them with me.
I failed at NaNoWriMo. About three days into it, I got massive writers block and never got past 248 words. Epic Fail. L. OMG I just used a smiley. EPIC FAIL.
I believe that’s it. This didn’t keep me as occupied as I thought it would. Anything else? Oh, yes. I forgot. PAPER TOWNS. (Honestly, how could I forget that?)
Ever hear of John Green? You have now. He’s a writer and one of the founders of nerdfightaria. He recently published a new book (he’s written three) called Paper Towns and it is made of Awesome. In fact, I do believe it RADIATES Awesome. You have to have special Awesome- viewing glasses to see it though.
I passed out on the plane to Arizona. Not fun.

That’s about it. I’ll see you later!

~faith

Life

2008-11-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

I feel like my life is bipolar. Seriously. One minute, my family is ripping each other's throats out, then we're crying, then we're laughing and joking like one big happy family!

Today my dad came back from a five- day trip to Romania. My mom was stressing out all day, because the house was a tad messy and she didn't want to make him mad. On Tuesdays, I have cheer leading practice until 5:30, then my flute lesson on the other side of town at 6:00. Not great to get to. After clearing up mixed signals about which lock on the door was actually locked, we were finally in the car on my way to my lesson. Mom had missed a call while trying to figure out why me and my sister went in through the front door and not the back, and she tried to call him back. Well, the third time she called, he picked up the phone, and she didn't realize it; nor did she realize that she hadn't actually hung up the phone. So she goes off on to some rant about HOW STRESSED she is and HOW DIRTY the house is and how NO ONE picks up the phone when she calls and yadda, yadda, YADDA.

Yea, dad heard all that.

So he comes home and their at each others throats. I didn't hear all of their argument because I took a shower to block it all out, but it sounded pretty bad. Then dad lectures me because apparently I didn't do ANYTHING to help out around the house while he was gone and I blow my parents off and I might not be allowed to go to Spain this spring and I have too minutes to clean my room which even though he hasn't seen it AT ALL since he's been home apparently it's to messy...

Then we start having this serious conversation about my mom's anger issues and how he heard her rant and a bunch of other stuff that's private to my family. And then he says that he might not go to my Grandparents house for thanksgiving with the rest of my family. (My grandparents live in a different state and we'll be there for a while.) And I start crying. And he starts crying. He says he won't leave my mom because he made a vow between her, him and God. But I'm still scared. What if mom decides to leave him? Please pray for my family.

Stuff I hafta do...

2008-11-14T16:40:00.000-08:00

This was ruthlessly ripped off of my friend Abby, who stole it from her friend Meow. Both of them have awesome blogs and you all should go read them NOW! THIS VERY INSTANT! BUT READ THE REST OF MY BLOG FIRST!!

KK. So here is my to- do list.

~ Buy more books in the Blue Bloods series
~Finish NaNoWriMo
~Finish my application for the Ukraine trip
~Do my homework (eww...)
~Email Luke
~Study Japanese...
~Study for my Biology test (again, EW)
~Convince my parents to let me see Twilight while in AZ.
~Buy Taylor Swifts new CD (I hate country music, but I love Taylor!)
~Email Abby and Leash
~SLEEP!!

As I said, go read Abby and Meow!

national anthem

2008-11-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

I've noticed something- the national anthem of a country always embodies a part of the culture. Take the US national anthem, for example. It speaks of a time in our country while battling Great Brittan for freedom. How, even in one of the darkest times, the flag still stands- both figuratively and literally. As a child, and even as a tween/ teen, I often wondered why that was our national anthem. Why not the song that so proudly proclaims "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free! And I won't forget the ones who died; who gave their life for me!" Then I realized, The Star- Spangled Banner is our national anthem for two very important reasons:
1. Proud to be an American was not written at the time,

2. The song embodies how we got our freedom- and we should never forget it.

Now, lets talk the Chinese national anthem. I had the pleasure of befriending a Chinese exchange student last year, and she sang the Chinese national anthem, and explained to me that it is encouraging young men to join the army and fight!- Something very important to the Chinese.

The Canadian national anthem? 20+ verses talking about how much they love their country!

I don't know the national anthem of any other countries, but I'm sure they have two things- national pride, and an embodiment of an issue important to the citizens.

2008-10-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

I finally got fed up with feed burner today, so I'm in the middle of transferring all of my rss subscriptions into google reader.

Honestly, I'm surprised I lasted this long without subcumming to the mindless pull of another google Internet feature. Oh, and I've realized that google is the Wal-Mart of the Internet.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to transfer 38 feeds? It's so time consuming! I've only transferred 16, and it's taken me about 20 minutes! On the upside, I've realized that some people haven't updated their sites in forever because their sites are down, so I stopped reading them, or I added their new sites.

I'm tired.

I'm sorry I suddenly stopped commenting on peoples blogs. I'm really tired, and I have a lot of homework, so I just go through and read, then go on to the next blog. That's also why I haven't posted anything. (that, and the fact that I just haven't felt like it.)

Okay, I have nothing more to say, So I'll post when I can.

~Faith

CORNY MUSIC JOKES!!!!

2008-10-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for Corny jokes.

Why? They're not funny?

That's why I love them- They're so stupid, they're funny!

So, I now present a plethora of...

CORNY MUSIC LIGHT BULB JOKES!!!!!

1. How many flutes does it take to change a light bulb?
One- She holds the light bulb and the whole world revolves around her.
I like that one!

2. How many clarinets does it take to change a light bulb?
One to change the light bulb and five flutes to pull the chair out from under her.
how rude!

3. How many saxophones does it take to change a light bulb?
Never mind the changes- we'll just fake it!
So. Freakin'. True!

4. How many trumpets does it take to change a light bulb?
One to change the bulb and four to talk about how they could of done it better.
See my comment about the saxophones. (Sorry dad, but it's true! I'm sorry, that was rather disrespectful. I would send myself to my room with no supper, but I just ate so I cant do that...)

5. How many french horns does it take to change a light bulb?
Just one- but he's got to spend two hours checking the light bulb for alignments and leaks.
I don't know any french horn players, so I have no commentary.

6. How many trombones does it take to change a light bulb?
Trombones don't change light bulbs, they just walk around in the dark and bang their shins!
The trombone player I know would be more like the trumpets...

7. How many euphoniums does it take to change a light bulb?
One to change the light bulb and one to say "isn't that a little high for you?
what's a eupnonium?

8. How many tubas does it take to change a light bulb?
One... four... five... one... four... five... one...
I don't get it...

9. How many percussionists does it take to change a light bulb?
Are you kidding? They haven't seen a light bulb in years!
Haha, that one was actually kind of funny!

10. How many sopranos does it take to change a light bulb?
Sopranos don't need light bulbs- they give off a glow.
... it might be a glow, but it's a glow that kills your eardrums. I'm sorry, that was mean. My ears don't die when I hear sopranos.

11. How many altos does it take to change a light bulb?
Altos can't change light bulbs- they can't reach that high.
... is that something against short people? (I sing alto, and I'm short. It is kind of funny, though.)

12, How many tenors does it take to change a light bulb?
What's change?
I don't get it.
13. How many basses does it take to change a light bulb?
They won't change the light bulb, they'll just sit it the dark and wait for a tenor to do it for them.
Still don't get it. The tenors at my school will be more like the trumpets.

14. How many conductors does it take to change a light bulb?
Who cares? No one's even watching the conductor anyway!
I have to agree with this one!

Yea, that's about it. I hope you enjoyed!

kthxbai.

NaNoWriMo

2008-10-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

National Novel Writing Month. AKA: The night of endless All- Nighters.

Basically, members of NaNoWriMo (or Wrimos) write 50K word novel during November, but some are setting personal goals of 100k. Since this is my first time, I'm just going to do 50k. Is anyone else doing it? I think it sounds fun!

Under the Stars...

2008-10-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

... Homecoming '08.

So... last night was my schools homecoming! Compared to last year, it was a tad disappointing. Last years theme was Old Hollywood (or something like that...) and was held at a fancy banquet hall at one of the nicest country clubs in my town, and catered. This years theme was "Night Under the Stars" and was held in the school gym, with deserts. (There was a chocolate fountain, though. It was heaven in a silver dish!) SO. PICTURES.

(I'm the one in the purple.)

I don't care, though. It wasn't that bad. OMG LILY'S (The girl next to me in the first picture) DATE (The only guy in the second picture) WAS SOOOO POLITE! HE KNOWS HOW TO TREAT A LADY! Seriously! At dinner he offered to serve my salad, and all night, whenever we went any were, he always said "Ladies first!" (He's pretty good looking, too!) (Dad, you didn't read that...)

And now I sleep.

Ahhh- mahzing.

2008-10-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

James Houston re- created "Nude" by Radiohead using old technology. (Sorry if I made anyone feel old...) All of the audio is actually from the machines that were filmed- it's amazing, and a wonderful piece of art. Even if you're not an artist, it's still amazing, and you should still watch it!

The Life of A High School Student.

2008-10-01T17:37:00.001-07:00

Wakes up at a ridiculously early hour, just so they can feel like they got some extra sleep, because it takes at least half an hour to wake up. Proceeds to get dressed, brush teeth, do hair, while simultaneously boiling water for an instant oatmeal breakfast, otherwise breakfast will be a rice crispy treat eaten at the bus stop. Applies makeup after doing hair on a good day. Normally makeup is done outside while waiting for bus and/or in the girls restroom at school before homeroom.

Proceeds to be tortured for the next four hours in school, generally in freezing classrooms while dead tired.

Lunch- the one bright spot in a day of darkness and dis pare...

Band, then spends the next 2 classes thinking "three more classes... two more classes... last class"

Rides bus home, blasting music and wistfully thinking of that glorious day she will get her license....

Gets home, picks up mail, gets on laptop and checks email and other sites, does chores, eats dinner, than does her homework. Goes to bed at 11pm thinking "I need to get to sleep earlier," and the whole process starts again.

Gosh, I can't wait until I graduate! School's going so slow this year.

Pon and Zi

2008-09-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Pon and Zi (pronounced 'z') are two of the most adorable creatures ever! The blue one is the girl and the yellow one is the boy; I don't know which one is Pon and which one is Zi, though.

Falling for you.

Bible In a Minute

2008-09-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Flyleaf

2008-09-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bands EVER is Flyleaf. I really like their song "I'm So Sick," because it's just so fun to blast, and Lacy is an amazing singer and one of the few girls I've heard that can pull off screaming, but my favorite is "Cassie." The song is about a girl who died during Columbine, and it is an amazing story. When the gunmen started shooting, Cassie Bernall hid in a trashcan, but was found. She was asked to deny Christ and she didn't. I'm always amazed hearing stories like this, where people are told to deny God or die. I pray that if I'm ever in a situation like that, that I will have the courage to do the same.

"I'm So Sick"

"Cassie"

This is the link to a slideshow with pictures of Cassie and another girl who was also killed for her faith set to "Cassie"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwJIW-6bTt0

I also like their song "All Around Me." Honestly, If I could, I would just post all of their songs. All of you should just go and buy their CD, 'cuz it's amazing.

My Balloons

2008-09-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

So basically the entire point of this post is to move my previous post down. Don't get me wrong; I like that post, I just think it's been sitting at the top for too long and I need to write a new post.

I'm very happy, because the teachers have been assigning less homework ( YAY FOR COMPLAINING!), and I actually got it done (and started...) before 8:00 tonight.

My school has decided on a musical for this spring, and we are doing Annie Get Your Gun. I added it to our netflix que and it should be coming soon.

I'm... so... tired....

Children 18:3 is made of awesome. :)

Song: All My Balloons

I downloaded a ton of music today because I have two free download cards. Be jealous.

"The words I wrote are a broken chain/ Keeping me from the criminally insane/ But it's gone and there's no stopping/ The words I wrote and the songs I sane/ Keep this ship from sinking to It's grave/ But it's gone and there's no stopping/ All my balloons are popping"

I.

2008-09-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

I'm really bored.

I like sprite.

I'm tired.

I'm not liking 10th grade right now.

I have waaaaaaaaay to much homework- over 3 hours a night!

I have no idea why I'm writing this.

I'm on youtube.

I just ate dinner.

I actually don't have any homework due tomorrow, aside from studying for an English quiz.

I want books.

I want my band music.

I want to sleep.

I'm on twitter.

I want to write.

I want to make a youtube movie.

I'm creatively dry right now.

I want homecoming not to be in my school gym and still cost $40, the same price as last year which was held at a country club ballroom.

I want to be able to think of good endings for blog posts.

They Know Where You Sleep...

2008-09-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

Who is they? They is Google.

I just found this article on the Comcast homepage. It's rather creepy...

Have any of you heard of the recently released google app. Chrome? Me neither, until I read the article. Basically, it logs where you have been one the internet, and if you want to search for something, all you have to do is start typing into the nav bar and links for related websites come into the bar.

Sounds good, right? It's intended to make web searches easier, but it can do more that that...

One story referenced in the article is about a man who searched online banking. Chrome accessed a website and found out account numbers, passwords, everything! As a teen growing up in a quickly digitilized world, I'm a bit scared. When I'm an adult, most thinks will probably be digitilized, and I'll barely have to step out of my house! I personally don't want chrome getting any of my personal information, for any website at all.

The writer of the article is much more fluent than I am, so just go read the article!

Harry Potter

2008-08-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

I picked this up while reading Kaley's archives and decided to do it and save it in my drafts in case I ever needed to post something and had nothing to post. [ Edit: I later decided to post this when the next Harry Potter movie came out, but then they moved the release date to June...) Number your 12 favourite Harry Potter characters, in no particular order, and answer the questions below the cut! No peeking.
1. Luna Lovegood.
2. Fred Weasley.
3. George Weasley.
4. Hermione Granger.
5. Harry Potter.
6. Ronald Weasley.
7. Sirius Black.
8. Remus Lupin.
9. James Potter.
10. Lily Potter.
11. Ginny Weasley.
12. Nymphadora Tonks.
1) Have you ever read a Six/Eleven fanfic before?[Ron/Ginny]
I hope not! 2

) Do you think Four is hot? How hot?[ Hermione]
Ew. I'm straight.

3) What would happen if Twelve got Eight pregnant?[Tonks/Lupin]
Thats Kind of twisted... But not... Cuz they do end up together.... I'M CONFUZZLED!

4) Do you recall any fics about Nine?[James]
yes, but they're all WAY out of character.

5) Would Two and Six make a good couple?[Fred/Ron]
8 -0. EEEEW!!

6) Five/Nine or Five/Ten?[Harry/James][Harry/Lily]
8 -l. No. Impossible, cuz a) They're his parents, and b) they're dead.

7) What would happen if Seven walked in on Two and Twelve having sex?[Sirius] [Fred/Tonks] Were he living, he probably beat up Fred, were he living, for having sex with his BFFL’s woman.

8) Make up a summary of a Three/Ten Fanfic.[George/Lily]
While grieving the loss of his twin, George finds a time turner and *tries* to go back in time to stop his death. Unfortunately, never being taught how to use a time turner, he goes back to far… I really hope that never happens...

9) Is there any such thing as a One/Eight fluff?[Luna/Lupin]
Sure Hope not. 10) Suggest a title for a Seven/Twelve Hurt/Comfort fic.[Sirius/Tonks] "Teddy's Daddy" I don't know...

11) What kind of plot would you use if you wanted Four to de-flower One?[Hermione/Luna] .... What kind of twisted person would write/read about that? 1

2) Does anyone on your friends list read Three het?[George]
What's that? Yes I'm sheltered.

13) Does anyone on your friends list write or draw Eleven?[Ginny]
Yes! We all love her!

14) Would anyone on your friends list write Two/Four/Five?[Fred/Hermione/Harry]
No. We're all Hermione/Ron and Ginny/Harry shippers.

15) What might ten scream at a moment of great passion?[Lily]
... I don't know.

16) If you wrote a song-fic about Eight, what song would you choose?[Lupin]
"Everything You Ever Wanted" By Hawk Nelson

17) If you wrote a One/Six/Twelve fic, what would the warning be?[Luna/Ron/Tonks]
Why would I need a warning? I never write about adult material.

18) What might be a good pick-up line for Ten to use on Two?[Lily/Fred]
.... well considering she's dead, I'm sure it would be something complimenting him on his uncanny ability to make a time-turner... though that wouldn't really be a pick-up line...

Something is Wrong.

2008-08-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Very wrong. This is the fourth day of my sophomore year, and we already have to write SAT level essays! Seriously! We also have to take PSAT's this year. My parents didn't have to take PSATs until they were juniors!

In other news, my parents are going to a football game today, so Rinny (My sister) and I are making dinner! Or, to be more accurate, I am making dinner. Rinny's the one taking foods class! I really don't care though. We're making stir fry! Yummy! It's nice hosting an exchange student though, because she really is like my sister, but we're friends as well, so there really is so sibling rivalry. I think she's really cool, and we have a lot of the same interests, as well.

Okey-doke. I don't have anything more to say right now, so I shall see you later!

My Sister's Back!

2008-08-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

So my "sister" (actually an exchange student who's been living with us the past few years) came back from Korea today! YAY! Me and Lily asked her to get us some socks, because Korean socks are SO cute! She got A TON. We're each allowed five, and these are my five:

Aren't they adorable!

Last year she got me these slippers:

and Lily stole and wore them every time she came to my house, so I asked her to get a pair for Lily so Lily wouldn't steal mine. These are Lilys:

And she got me these ones, too!

I'm really excited to have Yearin ("Rinny") back. I'd take her picture, but she won't let me because she has zits. (They're barely noticeable!)

Lily-time!

2008-08-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

Friday morning I woke up to my father shouting "Faith, Lily's here!"

Thinking it was a ruse to get me out of bed, I rolled over and shouted back "No, she's not!"

"Yes, she is!"

That's when I heard her, rambling about some bug on my sidewalk.

Once I finally got out of bed, dressed, and ate, we listened to Jonas Brothers on the 30- minute drive to my grandparents house, where we enjoyed a morning of swimming and critiquing each others dives and perfecting our own. After a lunch of pizza, we swam for another hour, then drove back home and took Lily to Field hockey practice.

While Lily was learning how to hit a ball with a stick, dad took me to Old Navy to buy some back- to- school clothes.

We went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner where we were served by a hot Japanese waiter with hackin' awesome shoes.

We stayed up late, and at midnight (literally- it was 12:00 on the nose!) we ate ramen and hot chocolate while watching Ella Enchanted.

After waking up at 11:30 today, we went shopping! We went to Aeropostale, PacSun, Journeys, Hot Topic, Victoria's Secret, and American Eagle, but we didn't buy stuff from all of those places.

I saw a lot of stuff I want, but I can't afford them right now, because I have no job. I got shoelaces at hot topic for my converse, and a shirt at American Eagle.

Tomorrow is my last day of freedom.

I Caved to Peer Pressure.

2008-08-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

My heart is pounding.

I can't believe I did what I just did.

Everyone else was doing it, I thought it would be fine.

It wasn't. I became addicted.

It started out innocent, posting an update once a day.

But that once a day update soon turned into posting something almost every time I went online.

I'm sorry. I joined twitter.

www.titter.com/dreamincolor93

Ignore the warnings. Come to the dark side. (We have cookies! :D)

Countdown to school: 2 DAYS!!

I Hate Physco- Analyzing Books.

2008-08-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

I really do.

This is how I look after an hour of trying to write my report on Of Mice and Men:

Family Force Five is helping, though.

Four

2008-08-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Okeydoke.

Part One: Enjoy the many posts you shall get this week, because next week I lose my freedom for the next few months. Why? Three words: Back. To. School.

Part Two: I get to enjoy a weekend of Lily before we go back to school! (Even though we go to the same school and are in the same homeroom and are pretty much in the same classes, at least I think, and our lockers are usually next to each othe) Tonight is back to school night and so we'll see each other there, then tomorrow we're going swimming in the morning, and after her field hockey practice she's spending the night, and on Saturday we're going shopping!

Part Three: Self Defense. Person A. told Person B. who told Lily who told me about this video, and know I must tell someone about it, so I'm telling you guys, and you must pass on this video! (JK. You don't have to. If you really want to break a tradition you can...)

AVOID BEING MUGGED AND FOLLOW HIS ADVICE.

Part Four: Merry Christmas!

His name is Brad Stine and he is very funny!
Countdown to school: FOUR DAYS. :(

Ukraine in Pictures

2008-08-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Our compartment on the train to Odessa.

"Mother Russia" and Vladimir Lennon... or Joseph Stalin...

Random Animals from the villages...

Mom and Dad chilling out...

Downtown Kyiv

Chornoybl Museum:

This says "Dedicated to the * This is a message from*

memory of our deceased *firefighters in NY. I'm *

brothers/ from the * not sure what it says...*

firefighters

of the United States of America"

Me is bo- red.

2008-08-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

And Me wants to write a blog post.

Since my last two posts were pretty serious, I thought I would do a lighter post today, and tell you how I'm spending my last week of freedom.

GUESS WHAT! I GOT BREAKING DAWN! I like it, but apparently a lot of people didn't... I don't think that more people disliked it, I just think that the people who didn't like it are being more vocal in their opinions. It's not my favorite of the series, but I like it.

On Friday my dad is taking me and my best friend Lily to my grandparents pool to swim, and Lily will probably spend the night at my house. That means pictures and a blog post! (If Lily lets me; I will respect her privacy!)

I recently got a blue tooth! I'm actually talking on it right now! It's actually my mom's old one, she never used it so she and dad gave it to me.

Talk about multi- tasking- I'm making brownies, talking on the phone, and typing at the same time!

Sometime between today and Friday, I'm going back to school shopping. My school has a new dress code this year, and we're not allowed to wear jeans. Since I only have three pairs of pants that aren't jeans, and I'm not the biggest fan of skirts, I need some new clothes! I also need some new school supplies because most of mine from last year are worn out.

Okey- doke. I don't know how to end this so I'll just end it here.

Adios!

~Faith

Ukraine Follow-up

2008-08-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Well, sort of. I'm actually writing this somewhere over the Atlantic ocean on a Boeing 757 on my way home from Amsterdam! Nim's Island just finished showing; the credits are playing now.

The trip was really good, though there wasn't much for me to do. One of the things we did was take a tour of downtown Odessa (Oдeca) and the underground catacombs, where the resistance to the Nazi's lived/fought for three years!

Downtown Odessa has beautiful architecture.

This just looks like a false facade, but the building is actually triangularly built! I thought it was kind of interesting...

Facade... ... actual building!

Odessa's port:

and the street behind it...

(I'm not quite sure who that's a statue of...)

The Catacombs:

Their kitchen...

Their motivation...

This says "blood for blood, death for death"

Their "firewall" (I forget the actual term...)

The infirmary...

The memorial to them...

I've gained a lot from my "Summer of Chaos"; including the "courage" to call it what it really is- A summer of missions and outreach. At first I was embarrassed to call it Summer of Missions, because I know non-Christians read this blog and I thought it would hurt my readership. Now, I don't really care. This blog isn't for them- it's for me! Yea, it's nice to have readers/comments, and yea, I might not be overt about my faith, but I still want to reach out to people and I realize I shouldn't chance things around just to try to get more readers. If someone doesn't want to read my blog because I'm a christian, so be it.

After traveling to poorer countries this summer, I feel like a spoiled brat, to put it lightly. These people have so little! I wouldn't go so far as to say "They're so happy!" because, one, that's to cliché for me, and two, it's not true! These people are searching for something, but they haven't found it!

I don't know where exactly I was going with this, but let me end with this:

Go on a missions/international trip at least once in your life. You will be touched forever by what you see- I know I have. After my first trip three years ago to Costa Rica, I wanted to stay forever!

Bottom line is, seeing poverty on TV is nothing like seeing it first hand, and I'm so glad I've had the opportunities I've had.

The Blasphemy Challenge

2008-08-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

I was going to write a post about my time in Ukraine, but them I saw this:

and I realized I had to do something. Since my camera is acting up, I decided to write a blog post. This video breaks my heart, and I just want to say one thing.

I do not deny God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ. I am a Christian, and I am proud of it.

1, 529 people have made video responses, joking about this and acting like hell is going to be greatist place on earth. It's not. Hell is fire. Hell is death. Hell is eternal seperation from God, and hell is painful. It will never end. I kills me to see that almost 2000 people have turned their backs on God because He's "not logical." Actually, over 2000 people have; but I'm focusing on this group on Youtube.

God is logical. He created Logic. There is scientific evidence that He exists and the Bible is true; so much that I can't post them all! There have been countless books written by people who tried to scientifically deny his existance, and couldn't. These books include The Case For Christ and Evidence that Demands a Verdic.

Back to the people on Youtube. After even just watching that video, how can you want to deny God? That video itself says that Hell is horrible! How can one want to go to hell? It's not going to be a party. It's going to be eternal seperation from God. It's going to be lonely. It's going to be eternity in the lake of fire. It's going to be painful. How can you choose that over heaven? Heaven is forever with God! Heaven is fellowship with God forever! Heaven is Paradise! Heaven is Perfect! How can one not want to go there? Yea, being a christian on earth may ne hard. It may cause you persicution. But the rewards are great!

God is real. And I believe it.

Faith has internet!

2008-08-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

So, yea. Internet's back! Tomorrow is our last day of ministry; we'll be in a village called Kubanka. Fortunetly it's close to Odesa! After that, we're going to a missionarys house for dinner, then they're taking us to another missionaries house for a desert night with all the missionaries from their organization in Odesa. If that was hard to understand, I'm sorry!

Friday morning we leave for Kyiv, and we're spending the day there. On Saturday, we leave for the US via Amsterdam! We get back LATE that night. I'll have a week of some MUCH NEEDED R&R, then school starts the 25th! I can't believe how fast this summer has gone! Well, actually I can, since by this time Suday I'll have been in 7 different countries counting the US and Airports!

I FINNALLY finished Of Mice and Men! (I've been working on it since Peru!) It's... interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it. We had a layover in Philly, and I left my copy of it on the plane, so when we got to London (Layover only; dad tried to work a few day's in there, but it was to exspensive. :( ), I had to buy a new copy! It was about ten euros, so about $20!

I love Ukraine, but I can't wait to get back to the States, and sleep in my own bed, and eat chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter and real butter (they only have margerine here) and Kraft macaroni and cheese and drink hot chololate and cold soda and read Breaking Dawn and most of all be back in my own time zone!

We have a long day tomorrow, but I'm ready!

~Faith

PS: The spellchecker on blogger isn't working, so sorry if words are spelled wrong.

[insert snappy- sounding title here.]

2008-08-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

Guess where I'm typing this. No, really, guess.

Got it?

I'M IN UKRIAINE! Thats, right folks, I have internet access!! My parents are on their way to the village (I have know idea what the name is, and we go to different ones every day, and their weird names.) and I'm staying back with one of the missionaries. They were kind enough to let me use their computer to check their email! [ THANK YOU!] We have internet in our appartment, but it's not working. I'm able to check blogs here, but not youtube. Oh, well.

Anyhoos, I don't have anything left to typ--

OH YES I DO. (I really need to stop typing in caps...)
The weirdist thing happened last night. I had just finished the second chapter of Desecration (from the Left Behind series) and I decided to read my Bible. I opened my Bible and just as I was saying "God, what do you want me to read today?" The power went out! I lit some candles and read Psalms 5 and Revelation 5, and then prayed. As soon as I said Amen, the lights came back on! I really don't know what to make of that!

That's all I have to say. As soon as we get internet in our appartment, (hopefully tomorrow)I'll probably be back to posting regular updates and posts, as well as keeping up with my subscriptions better!

~Faith

Because I'm To Lazy To Type Anything...

2008-07-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

...and I'm going to Ukraine tomorrow and wanted to get a post in.

...and I'm to lazy to do a proper VLog, I decided to do a You Tube cliché and record my reaction to a video. Which video, you ask? I recorded my reaction to....

[ Drumroll, please!]

THE HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF- BLOOD PRINCE TEASER TRAILER!!!!!

omgomgomgomgomgomgomg!!!!

In case you haven't guessed, I'm a BIG Harry Potter fan, and it's more exciting for me beacause HBP is my favorite HP book. Now, normally, I view the books and movies as separate entities entirely, and let the movie sink in before tearing apart minute differences and comparing, but this time (and when the Twilight movie comes out) I'm going to be sitting in the theater reading along. Actually, I'll probably just treat it like I normally do, and not read along, but, still,.... I don't know where I was going with that train of thought....

Anyhoos, my reaction!

Yes, I was exaggerating for the camera. Doesn't everyone?

Also, as I've said many times before (I think) I'm going to Ukraine tomorrow! Since hearing the time of my flight (6:30 PM) I've decided that I think I like flying to Europe! Of course, I'll probably get horrible jet lag because I don't do overnight flights to well, but still, I don't have to get up at some obscene, ungodly hour in the morning! We have a layover in London (YAY! *squeel*) and then we're in Ukraine! The only things I'm not really looking forward to are a)I'm going to be playing with kids in a skirt (culture) and primitive outhouses. (COMMUNISM!)

Of course, I'll take lots of pictures and share them with you! (I'm not making any promises, sorry.)

On a lighter note, my dad took me to Old Navy and practically begged me to spend his money! (music to a teen girls ears! LOL.) I just wanted a pair of skinny jeans, and he bought me two pairs, and two skirts! I'd take pictures and show you, but they're in the wash right now. I also got a haircut and a long overdue lip wax. The haircut was long overdue, too. I could actually tuck my bangs behind my ears and put my hair into two pigtails and the bangs would go into the pigtails and not fall out! I got layers and my bangs trimmed, and it looks so good!

Well, I'll see you in two weeks, maybe sooner! We're staying in an apartment, and I don't know if we'll have Internet access or not. I'm pretty sure we will, because the woman whose apartment we're staying in has a weblog, so I'll see. I want to take my laptop, but I don't know if my dad will let me. Hopefully he will!

~Faith

My First Award!

2008-07-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Territerri ( of Terri Terri Quite Contrary) gave me this wondrous award:

IZE FEELZ LOVED!

So. The rules. [ DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!]

1) Put the Logo on your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3) Nominate at least seven other blogs and add their links to your post.

The first two rules- check! However, the third one presents a bit of a problem... I don't have that big of a readership base, and therefore, I don't know if the people I give the award to will read it. I SHALL PRESENT THEM WITH IT ANYWAY!!!

As a blogging nerdfighter (clickyclick here to learn about nerdfighting) I feel the need to give this award to Kayley, one of the two nerdfighters that I read. However, I'm not sure how she would react to it... Somehow I get the feeling she wouldn't like it that much... TWO BAD SHE GETS IT ANYWAY CUZ SHE HAS A BRILLIANT WEB BLOG!! ( I really need to stop using CAPS in this post...) I discovered Kayley on one of her Youtube accounts, fiveawesomegirls, and started watching her personal channel, owlssayhooot. I found out about her fashion blog, and started reading, even though she didn't post much. As soon as I found out about her other blog, I started reading. I don't know why I love reading her so much, I just do! Her blog is Quixotic Idealist.

The second person I recently discovered thanks to Hank Green, one of the two brothers who invented nerdfighting. ( <----- Link to their channel!) That person is Marion, also a nerdfighter. I love reading her blog, and she's only a year older than me! I really love reading/watching teen blogs/vlogs, cuz it's nice to know there are people like me out there who are my age! Wow, that's cheesy. Anyways, Marion's blog is Octoberist Pensieve.

Thirdly, I give this award to.... JEN AT HUCKDOLL'S HOOD! Jen was the second person I started reading in this wonderful world of blogging! She's hilarious, down- to - earth and real, and isn't afraid to say what she thinks! I wish I could be like that.... STUPID PEER PRESSURE!!!Not really- well, kind of... I suppose I'll have to do a post on that later.

Number Four! And the first of the two Authors I shall give this to!! As you know (or may not know...) I'm an aspiring author, and a reading fanatic. Therefore, with my teeny-tiny blog roll, (15 blogs, some of which are just websites in blog format), I feel compelled to give this award to the two author blogs I read. The first is Libba Bray, YA author. Libba Bray is the author of one of my favorite trilogys, A Great And Terrible Beauty. Mrs. Bray is so funny! I love her blog, just like I love her books!

Almost there... FIVE! The next blog is that of a Nerdfighting YA author! APPLAUSE APPLAUSE! The blogger? Maureen Johnson! I haven't actually read any of her books yet, but that's just cuz I can't find Suite Scarlett ANYWHERE! It's CRAZY!!! Anyway, The minute I go to a borders or a target, I will purchase one of her books! Anyway, Maureen is so funny and sarcastic, and I love her blog!

SIX! The next person is.... Charlie at charlieissocoollike! Charlie is also a nerdfighter, and Tuesday on fiveawesomeguys, which is how I found him! His vlogs are HILARIOUS, and I just found out about his website/blog.

Finally, seven: KALEB NATION!!! Kaleb is also known as the Twilight Guy, the first guy to publicly read Twilight, and now he's on to New Moon. I found him as TG, and found his other site/blog, Kaleb Nation. Kaleb is an author, and his first book comes out in 2009. I cant wait!

So, those are my seven people who get this award! Next award:

The Share The Love Award:

The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. Please include a link to this post and ask the recipient to do the same.

Miss Terri (Sorry, I feel like I should call her miss...) Gave this award to all of her readers, and I shall do the same!! (You have NO Idea how hard it was to come up with seven people for that last one! )

Well, I'm going to comment on on the blogs I gave the brilliant blog award to so they know they got the award!

~Faith

No More Peru...

2008-07-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

For some reason, posting my journal entries has become a bit of a chore. I used to love sharing them with you, and it was hard not to post them all at once. But now, I just don't feel like it. Maybe I'll post them later, but for now, I won't be posting them. When I go to Ukraine, I'll journal, but I don't know If I'll post them.

So anyway, since it's summer, and I don't do much but sit around, I don't really have anything to post. I think I'm going to run a bit, actually.

~Faith

PS: Is there anyway I can scan my...

OMG!!! MY MOM JUST SAID GAS IS 3:68! HOLY CRAP! (It's sad that we find that cheap...)

So anyway, is there any way I can scan my signature to use on my blog?

The Peru Choronicles, Parts

2008-07-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Notes:

1) I found my Travel Journal, as you can see by the title of this post. Guess where it was? Under my bed. Since I'm leaving for Ukraine on Friday, I'll be posting multiple entries so I can get it done.

2) I talked with my dad about the job at the pizza place. He agrees it's a good idea to ask about a job there. It's actually a pizza buffet (those are pretty common in my area, and they're a great idea- all you can eat pizza, salad, and drinks for under $5! And it's not just normal types of pizza either- they have mac&cheese, taco, BLT, plus dessert pizzas- apple/cheery strusle (sp?), death by chocolate, chocolate chip, m&m, etc!), so I'll probably be mainly busing tables, but it's a job. If I don't get the job, I'll apply for the job at the deli, or I'll search around. However, no matter how desperate I get, I am NOT working at a fast food restaurant. NEVER.

And with that...

Saturday, July 5

( d a y s i x )

1) We did our drama in 3 different places today. The last stop was completely random, and 35 people got saved, which was more than the other two stops combined! In the past two days, over 1000 people got saved!

2) I'm kind of getting lazy on my journal entries, because I'm so tired, so sorry!

4) Tom morrow instead of working, we're going to different seminars. I'm going to one about Brio magazine, and another called Go Into All the World.

5) Tomorrow there's going to be a talent show called "Talent Only a Mother Could Be Proud Of) One girl on my team is going to be whistling through her teeth, and anther is going to be blowing up a balloon with her eye. Gross!

I don't know about you, but I'm REALLY want some sleep. Good Night!

~Faith

Sunday, July 6th
( d a y s e v e n )

1) Today we got to sleep in! WOO- HOO! Since it's Sunday, instead of working, we had E.I.E.I.O.K. seminars, or Everything I ever Intended On Knowing.

2) We had a morning FUAGNEM today, and it was AMAZING! Susie seriously needs to come speak at my church sometime! She spoke on being a bond slave for Christ, and we were all given the chance to. Everyone who did got a necklace, as well. I did, so now I'm a bond slave for Christ!

3)Tonight we had the talent show. None of the acts could be described in words!

Listing the day in words works really well, I don't know why I didn't think of this before!

Good night!

~Faith

What's up?

2008-07-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

ummmm.... I kind of lost my travel notebook when my Best Friends slept over, so I can't really update my trip... and I kind of go to Ukrain on Friday....

OMG FRIDAY! I CANT BELIEVE IT! I'M NOT READY!!! *hyperventalates* omgomgomg. (cue panic attack)

So yea, I guess I'll blog on what's been happening to me this summer.

...

uhhhhh... I've been online al ot? Seriously, I'm SO freakin' glad I have Summer of Chaos to keep me occupied, otherwise I'd probably need a vacation from my vacation. I'm so tired though! Normally when I have insomnia, I get so much creative inspiration, but I'm just creatively dry! I think the best thing for me is to just sit down and write. Get my notebook, or open Microsoft Word, and write!

Last night my youth group had a Girls Slumber Party and a Guys Night Out. The guys saw The Dark Night, went paint balling, and I think went swimming. The girls went swimming, made jewelry, and watched chick flicks. It was actually pretty fun, though. We watched She's the Man and The Wedding Planner. They were so funny! Cue the quotes:

WP: The Wedding Planner

STM: She's the Man

"Buddy buddy friend!"- WP

"Steve. The One"- WP

"Duke: Why do you have tampons?
Viola/Sebastian: uhh... I use them for nosebleeds...??"- STM

There were a lot of funny quotes from both movies, but I'm too tired to remember them all. I strongly recommend both movies, even if you don't like chick flicks; STM isn't even a chick flick!

Also, I'm hoping to apply for a job at a local deli in my area. I really do need a job, with me being 15 and the whole "teenage girl= loves shopping, but has no money/ Teenager = broke" thing. However, it says on the application "are you 16 or older?" then has two boxes to check: "yes" or "no." I'm not sure if that's just saying "you must be 16 to work here" or if it's just something that will help determine your position/hours. I would love to work there, and if I just ask for minimum wage and work 1 1/2- 2 1/2 days a week (Sat. all day and Wed. evenings/ Wed. evenings, Sat. all day and Sun. afternoons) that's about $65- $70 a week! (rounding up; minimum wage is $6.55) I know that's not a lot, but in teenager land that's almost a fortune, especially the price of clothes these days! ( If you wear name brand clothes, which I generally don't because I cant afford it...)

However, there is a local Pizza place near my house that I could walk to if I worked there. There is nothing about a job opening posted, but I will look into it. It would be really nice to work there, because I can't drive yet, so days when both my parents are working, I can just walk to work, and with the price of gas these days, it's just easier to walk so my parents can save money on gas.

Tomorrow I'm speaking at church about my trip to Peru. I really don't want to; I suck at public speaking, but I feel like I should.

So that's what's going on in my life; how bout you? You don't have to answer that, it just sounded good.

Adios, readers!

~Faith

PS: Please visit territerri; she just donated a kidney to her father yesterday. Leave her a nice message! She has a great blog and was literally the first blog I started reading. Also, please pray for her post- op, it's going to be hard on her!

The Peru Choronicles, Parts Four & Five

2008-07-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 3, 2008
( d a y f o u r )

Hola de Mexico! Hello from Mexico! I'm sitting in the Mexico City airport, and I'm finally caught up on journal entries! We have a seven-hour layover here, and it sucks. We have about four hours left.

When we went through customs after getting off the plane, I passed our! I'm thinking that it was because I was hungry, I havn't been getting enought sleep, and I was sick last week.

We left the holtel and 4AM and our plan left at around 8. Our flight fonight leaes at around 9, so we get in to Limia at about 2AM. Happy Fourth of July to us! We were the second team to leave this morning, and we're one of the last to get in.

I'm gonna try to sleep now, so I'll se you after work tomorrow!

~Faith

Friday July 4, 2008
( d a y f i v e )

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Today was our first work day. We played with the kids, washed their hair & did our drama, We led 72 people to Chirst! WOO- HOO!!

I'm to tired/lazy to write anymore that that, because I got 3 hours of sleep last night. Soo... yea.

Good night!

~Faith

The Peru Choronicles, Parts Two & Three

2008-07-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Notes:
1) Today my family went to a Russian speaking church. While we were there, the pastor called us up to the front and introduced us and said we were going to Ukraine, and that's why were there. He noticed I had been singing with the congregation during the songs, and asked if I spoke Russian! See, I didn't know the customs of the church, and I didn't want to be rude, so I pretended I knew what I was doing, and lip-synced the songs!

2) If you read my blog, could you comment? I just want to know how many people actually read my blog. I really don't have any way of knowing, and I'm curious.

With that...

Tuesday, July First
( d a y t w o )

Today we started drama training. The play we're doing is called Spellbound: Toymaker & Son, and it basically describes Creation to the Resurrection. It starts with the Toymaker & his Son creating a place called Toy land, with special toys. (The Prince and Princess.)
They are tricked by the Evil Magician, and toy land is spellbound. The Toymaker sends his son to break the barrier that had formed when the Prince was tricked by the Magician. (NOTE: I'll post a better version of this. I was half- asleep when I wrote this!)

We also had language training, and we learned things like "Me llamo es..." and "Donde esta es el bano?"

Time to sleep!

~Faith

PS: HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Wednesday, July 2,2008.
( d a y t h r e e )
Drama training. Again. All. Freakin'. Day. There really isn't much to report about that, we just practiced our drama over and over and over and over...

I promise, these will get more interesting, but while we're training\, we have early mornings, long days, and late nights.

Tomorrow we travel!

~Faith

The Peru Choronicles, Part One.

2008-07-19T09:48:00.001-07:00

Notes:
1)Obviously, I'm back! I've actually been back for a few days, but I was catching up on some much needed R&R.

2)Tommorow my family is visiting a Slovic church in our area so we can get a feel for what it's like for when we're in Ukrain.

Monday, June 30/ Day One:

Today we travled. WOO HOO. Fortunetly I wasn't traveling completely alone, two other girls, Hannah and Caitlyn flew out of the same airport as me, and we met a bunch of other people when we had our layover.

When we got to Miami, we met up with one of the LITS and a group from Canada and we went to the hotel, where we checked in with the Leaders. They gave us our devotional books, our name tags, our room keys, and they took our passports.

After that we went to lunch. We were allowed to go to any of the surrounding resturaunts as long as we were in groups of at least four. Hannah, Caitlyn and I went to KFC with some other kids we met there. After lunch, Caitlyn and I went back to our room and we hung out with our roomates.

Tonight, we had our first FUAGNEM (Fired Up And Going Nuts Every Minute) service. B.J. Harris, an Illusionist performed and talked about how easy it is to be decieved, especially in our christian life.

After that, we met with our teams and had drama placement. I'm a mime in our drama! Lights out is literally right now, so See ya tomorrow!

~Faith

My Last Journal Entry!

2008-06-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Notes:

1) There were actually two days more than this on my trip. One was our "tourist day" and the other we traveled back to the states. HOWEVER, I was too lazy to actually write anything those days, so I'll do a picture post in place of those days.

2) Any questions? Ask me in the comments and I'll do a post answering them when I get back from Peru!

AND NOW..... I PROUDLY PRESENT:

06. 17. 08/ Day Eight

Today we worked in a community called Guarari. There are three areas of the community: one nice-ish part; one with government housing; and the part we were in. We worked in an area called "la quenca", or "the pit" in English. We saw around 111 patients. My dad taught me how to fit people with reading glasses, which was... interesting. It was challenging, because although my dad taught me what phrases to say, he didn't prepare me for what the patients would say back. I gave out about three pairs in the morning, then in the afternoon people found out we were giving out eyeglasses; and I was busy all afternoon.

This evening we had dinner with the people who went with us to Amubri. They showed pictures and we hung out and talked for a while. Here are some pictures:

Tomorrow we're going to have more of a Tourist Day before we go back to the states. We're going to see a volcano (named Poas) and some waterfall and butterfly gardens called La Paz.

Today at dinner I was trying to change the quality of my pictures, and I accidentally formatted my card! I am SO upset. I almost cried. On Friday my mom's taking me to the camera shop to try to get the pictures back.

I can't wait to get home! Two more days!

See ya!

~Faith

Days Six and Seven!

2008-06-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Notes:
1) Replying to comments: Territerri- I post one journal entry per day, sometimes two if there's a short one. Thanks for adding me to your reader!

2) One more day 'till I leave for Peru! I can't wait! I actually am taking a break from packing to write this. I'll probably take Of Mice and Men with me.

06.15.08/Day Six

Today was our final work day. Woot. Since it's Sunday, It was a bit slower. OK, it was really slow! I mainly played ball with some little kids. Here are some pictures:

Those kids can sit there for and throw a ball back and fourth for hours and not get bored! They seriously have amazing attention spans! ADD does not exist here... LOOK! A BIRD! I have ADHD...

My mom says ADD is more common n the US because kids are overstimulated, and sometimes it can be over diagnosed.

Today we had a closing "Ceremony" with the people we ministered to. Hugo and Dana (one of our translators) put on a play for the people about a man who beats his daughter, then at the end she says that she wants to be just like him, and that makes him realize that he is mistreating her and he finds Christ.

After dinner we had a meeting just with the team, and we shared our expectations we had before the trip and something God taught us during the trip. This is what I said:

I've been on a few mission trips, and I've learned not to have very high expectations, because you're likely to be disappointed. Still, I couldn't help having a few expectations. I thought it would be like last year, [I went on a trip to this same area last year], and I thought I would have more work to do then I did. But God's taught me that it's not the work that matters as much as the relationships you build with people.

Today, at dinner, our cook made a fathers day banana cake. I didn't eat any, but I heard it was good. We finally had something other than rice - pasta! I was glad, because I am SO sick and tired of rice, and I LOVE PASTA!

Well, It's past lights out, so good night! Tomorrow, we go back to San Jose and we stop at a beach on the way! YAY. See ya!

~Faith

06.16.08/Day Seven

Today we traveled from Amubri back to San Jose. We stopped at a beach Called Cahuita on the way back. It was nice, but I got a REALLY bad sunburn. All in all, nothing really happened today.

~Faith

Day Five!

2008-06-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

NOTES:
1) You may or may not of noticed that I now have a twitter feed in my sidebar. If you have twitter, feel free to follow me!

2) I'm leaving for Peru in 3 days! WOO-HOO! I'm so excited, but also nervouse... This calls for double posting, because I have five more entries to post!

NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!!

06.14.08/Day Five

Well, for once we had water all day! YAY!

Today was a bit slow, but we had more men because it's Saturday and they're home from work all day. As usual, I helped kids with their crafts and met some more kids. I also helped check in patients, which was a disaster unless they had their insurance card.

All in all, the days are starting to get a bit repetitive. I'm still having trouble sleeping on the hard bunks, along with everyone else. I woke up with my arm hurting really bad, because I had slept on top of it all night, pressing it against the bed.

Tonight, after dinner, Hugo, (The clown from two days ago) shared his testimony. It is only by the grace of God that he is here today. I'm not going to post it here, because it doesn't feel right. I may post it later as a separate post, though.

After the daily clown show, they started showing the Jesus Film, but the DVD player wasn't working and the kids were getting restless, so the handed out balloon animals and let the kids go, and we went to dinner.

Well, it's getting late and I'm tired! Bueanas Tardes!

THE FOURTH OF MY JOURNAL ENTIRES!!

2008-06-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

I have no special notes this time, so let's get the show on the road!
LIAR! I do....

1) I met the girl I'm flying with to Peru today! She's so nice. We went shopping for last- minute stuff that we need then ate lunch. We ended up talking for a while afterwards.

2)I uploaded a Youtube video today. I'll try to put it on blogger, but a lot of it is focused on Youtube. Oh, well.

NOW we can get the show on the road!

o6.13.08/Day Four

What a day; I don't know where to start! Hmmm... I guess I'll write in chronological order today. Well...

We woke up to roosters crowing- again. I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for chicken soup right now; along with the rest of the group. My mom found out there are three of them, and she named them Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Speaking of which, our the water was out again, and our cook couldn't cook the rice, so we just had eggs & sourdough bread for breakfast. In the morning I read, helped my mom take measurements, read, and helped some of the kids in the craft portion of the lesson. Today the cut our hearts and glued them together to make butterflies.

During the lunch break we met some college students who were part of a study abroad program based in a Missouri college. They were all fluent in Spanish, and hung out with us in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, I helped kids with their crafts again. Remember the little girl from yesterday afternoon? I found out her name was Kirara. I played with her in the morning until lunch, and she came back in the afternoon for the lesson. Here are some pictures:

This afternoon after my shower when I was heading back to the Clinic, I saw some members of our team with some kids. One boy, Andre, followed my back to the clinic. He knew some English and we tried to communicate. I sat down and started reading, and he sat very close to me, put his arm around me and rested his head on my shoulder. I guess he had a little crush! Or maybe he just needed a hug... It was kind of cute, but I wasn't sure how to react- he's nine!

After the clinic closed, they showed Shrek 3. Fortunately, it had English subtitles. I don't know if I could of sat through it without them. It was so cute!

Dinner was spaghetti and banana- pineapple juice. I know it sounds weird, but it wasn't that bad. I have a stomach ache, and I'm having trouble sleeping.

See ya tomorrow! Good night!

~Faith