Ultimate Tournament

Yesterday I competed for 5 1/2 hours in an Ultimate Tournament along with Clara, Sage, Jamie, Jonathan, and Adam. It was hot and sunny. The sweat just poured off us. The breeze was nice addition to the heat, but it made throwing the frisbee rather difficult. We placed 2nd out of 9 teams. Looking forward to next years tournament.

Summer Time Good Times

This summer has flown by. And I mean flown. I have made so many good memories this summer. I don't want it to end. One of the best memories made was my 18th birthday. First it was an awesome Sunday morning service. Then we had a potluck with Leona who was sharing her stories from China. What a wonderful servant of God. Then we ate the ice cream sandwich cake I made. EPIC!!!!! Loved it. Wonder how I somehow made my own birthday cake. Hahahaha. Anyways. After church Ben, Mary, Jonathan, John, and I went to TwinkleTown to play mini golf. Let's just say I came in a solid last place. Oh well. It was fun. That was most of the afternoon. Family time at the lake afterwards. To top everything off I got a phone call from my roommate!!!! July 10, 2011 was the best day of my summer. :)

TOMS Commercial

It's a PIANO in a SHOE commercial!!! Can it get any better than this!!!

Colts and Fillies Horse Show

My favorite sister and her horse Oliver at Colts and Fillies Horse Show this past weekend! Congratulations on almost winning Pleasure! Hahaha. Love you! Shout out to all the other girlies who showed too! You girls were fantastic!

Graduation!!!

She is officially graduated from high school!!!!!!!!!! The trip to FL was amazing! I love the beach and the warm sun!!! My skin didn't. The graduation ceremony was perfect. We practiced lining up and sitting down more than 5 times. The most memorable part of going to FL for graduation was meeting students from all over the country and world who were in the same class as me. Wow!!! My graduating class was over 1700 students!! That is just amazing. And to think somewhere out there they were sitting at their desk in their pj's doing the same calculus problems I was, reading the same poem I was, even sharpening their pencils like I was. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that you aren't the only one who did this and benefitted from this. Shout out to Mr. McBride!!!

Harmony Addict

K so I watched this music video on TV while in FL and boy these two are amazing. Their voices blend together beautifully. I wish I was that good. Check it out.

So. I watched a bunch of music videos while in FL. We don't have TV at our house, so when I found a channel just for music videos, I was thrilled. The second one here is "Give A Little" by Hanson. Wicked funny music video. Really cute song.

Hope you enjoyed them. I did. =)

Cootie Shot

I learned how to give a Cootie Shot!!! Sadly, I learned it from the Big Bang Theory. But that's beside the point. Ok, so basically you take the persons arm. You draw an imaginary circle twice, then make two dots. During this you say - circle, circle, dot, dot, now you've got a cootie shot. Hahahaha. That was hilarious. Love it!!!! Don't worry I was innoculated in first grade. I will never have to suffer with Cooties. Hahahahaha.

First Ultimate Game

Tonight I played my first official game of Ultimate. It was a yucky day. The rain was pouring out of the sky and the grass was soaked. Thunder and lightning, waving and twisting trees. It was wild. It was Thursday and we had planned to play Ultimate like usual. Because of the weather I wasn't sure if we were actually going to get to play, but fortunately we had a break in the rain, the sun poked through, and we organized a game. It was fun. Micah and his friend Chris, Tyler, Jake (who BTW is an amazing catch and runner this year), my dad, Lydia, Maddy, and me. Adam showed up just at the end. Bummer. It was great fun. Erik wimped out. Too bad, he missed a great game.

I made this quick catch from Tyler, then without any hesitation, I threw a quick, fast, low one to Jake in the endzone. OOooooooo..... I didn't think he would catch it but..... that little guy caught it by a quick finger. Ohhhhhhhh shes good shes good. hes awesome hes awesome. oh yeah. it was a great game!!!!

Teen Conferece

On Wednesday, April 13, I had my interview for teen conference (Basically, NH's version of National Congress). It went well. I was interviewed by Andrea, Julia, and Laura. People I already knew. So no pressure. I answered the questions without hesitation. (Everyone was freaking out in the lobby because they had answers prepared, but they didn't know what the questions would be). I have done enough interviews to know. DON"T FREAK OUT!!! They are really simple. It is a conversation between you and the interviewer(s). My Conference interview became a conversation between Andera, Julia, and I. I really enjoy the interview process.

Today in the mail, I received my scholarship from UNHCE-Cheshire for Teen Conference. Yipee!!! They gave me a full scholarship!!! $230!!! Clara, Sage, and I are all very excited to go spend four days with youth from New England at UNH for New Hampshire's best kept 4-H secret - TEEN CONFERENCE.

G.O.S.P.E.L.

Hey, Ya'll check this out!!!

Deadlines!!!

"Procrastinators Unite!!! - Tomorrow!!!"

Because I am a natural procrastinator, I have dreaded deciding which college I will attend in the fall. It has been a battle in my mind for weeks now. Well I have FINALLY come to a decision. I am going to Findlay in the Fall. Whew! I said it. And I mean it. I think. No I mean it. :) That decided now I can relax and write more essays for scholarships. Urghh. After awhile of writing essay after essay, the brain and the hand get tired. Now I can concentrate on finishing high school and writing essays. Yipee!!!!

Bowling Queen

The worship team went out to lunch at .... Applebee's this afternoon. We were joined by the visiting worship team who were amazing in service. I sat at the guys table. How that happened.... I don't know. It's nothing foreign to me though because I was the only girl at the guys table at ESE and the only girl in Sunday School. Needless to say, I am used to it.

Bowling proved to be a challenge. My team was Clara, Scott, and Kenny. Kenny obviously was gonna win. He is just plain old good at bowling for some reason. The first game I came 2nd to Kenny, but ...... I beat Scott!!! Apparently his only goal was to beat me. Well he got the chance only once. UNO. ONE. I won 2 games out of 3. He was hard to beat. But the 14 pound ball is harsh on a tired forearm. I made 5 strikes and a bunch of 9 pins. John, Cris and I decided to create a 9 Pins Club. John was the president of course. HAHAHAHA!!!! I the last game I broke a 100 and ended the game with 102 points. This is the first time I ever broke 100. WHOA it felt so good to beat Scott. TWICE!!!! Yeah. I am the Bowling Queen. :)

LIFE AND DEATH

OMGoodness!!! What is a girl to do? I have to decide by May 1 which college I will be committing the next 4 years of my life to. Because Cornell graciously didn't accept me, I am stumped with the options of UNH or Findlay. Ohhh. What is a girl to do? I have been in prayer asking God for wisdom. And boy oh boy. Prayer eases things for a little bit, but I need an answer. I know God is the author of all things and has a plan for my college education.

OOOO!!!! Shout out to Clara! Happy 15th Birthday!!!!

The Donut-Man

Who doesn't love the donut man? I will admit that I used to fear him because, come on, wasn't he a little to peppy and creepy? Well today in service we had the apperance of the donut man. Mark was preaching strong today and man O man he was hitting on some sacred cows. MOOOOOO (we were having a BBQ after church). As always he is full of stories and silly stuff, but today was different. The energy he had was being preached in his message "The Goodies of the Gospel of Grace". Ya know there is nothing we can DO to get closer to God. It's not about works. The Bible says that. To bad the Pharasies didn't get it.

So the donut man..... Before the message began (actually Mark set us his illustration in service) anways, he set a step ladder on the left and a lazy boy recliner on the right side of the sanctuary. Then...... he took 2 donuts. Took a big bite out of one and set it on top of the step ladder. The other one he put on the arm of the recliner. The props sat there for the entire message. In the conclusion of his message on grace and the finished work Mark climbs the ladder. He is struggling and groaning (pretending to do good works to reach the donut on top of the ladder) So after all that WORK he finally gets to the top only to find the donut had been half eaten. Since when is the goodness of God only half good?  To illustrate what God's goodness IS like, Mark called Matt J. up to sit in the recliner and eat the donut. The look on Matt's face when he tasted the "Goodies of the Gospel of Grace" was epic. He bit into that donut and there was complete satisfaction and happiness on his face. HAHAHAHAHA. Then to top it all (Mark is still on the ladder btw) Matt says he wants ANOTHER donut!!!! Talk about demanding the Goodness of God!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Mark takes the half eaten donut and throws it across the front of the sanctuary to Matt. The best part is that Matt just nonchalantly put his hand up and the donut miraculously FELL into his hand. Talk about grace, goodness, and mercy!!!!!!!

It was a wonderful, releasing, freeing, and dancing kinda Sunday. Wouldn't have missed it for the world!!!

4-H Day and Spring

4-H Day: Ok so 4-H Day was successful. Molly did a table top, Clara and Sage were adorable with "Get Your Polo On", Therese and Rachel were very good cooks, and Hannah and Deanna did an excellent job with their demo. Clara and Sage were room winners. I won my division bc I was the only one in my division. I don't know what it is, but I seem to have this hold over the "cow boys". Either they are awed by my beauty or just starstruck my intellect. Either way they try to hit on me. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! SO funny. DENIED!!! The try so hard only to be let down. Hard.


SPRING: Ok so spring is almost here for REAL!!! the snow is slowy melting and the roads are loosing their natural speed bumps (here in NH we have terrible frost heaves). I rode both Julio and Humor on Tuesday. Julio was wicked hairy and a really good boy. We were practicing simple lead changes and leg yields at the canter. He was such a good boy. Oh I remember why I <3 him. :) Humor was just silly. He was jiggy and then bouncy, then FORWARD. hahahahaha. He was focused then ADD. I guess it's just a TB thing. Hahaha.

Song of the Day, Week, Month, Year?

The VC worship team and I litterally haven't stopped listening to "Be Lifted High" by Bethel Music in like a month. It only came out in Feb. and we are still obscessed with the music and worship on the album. We have already managed to sing 5 of the songs from the album. WHoooo. Scott (the leader) intends to sing all of them just for kicks and giggles. This one particular song stood out to me. The overall theme of this album is Christ's love for us and his church. And right now that seems what the congregations is needing. Watching the people engage in personal, intimate worship with the Father is a beautiful sight to behold. I want to share with you one of my fav. song. We haven't done it yet. Perhaps this Sunday morning.

A Hairy Situation

I have suffered with long straight thick and plain boring hair for most of my life. So I decided to try something different. However, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. Scrunching is a technique that incorporates gell and lots of hair spray. Basically you scrunch your hair up creating waves and curls and continue to scrunch until you get the desired beachy messy wave. So it kinda worked. My hair was definately wavy and very goopy. I didn't like the goopiness. I look kinda poofy. Not as bad as I did on Christmas Eve. (I curled my hair with a straightener, WOW I looked like a poodle). This morning I am taking a shower to rid myself of that sticky, stringy, wavy mess.

Super Duper Annoying Pooper Scoopers

I created a blog for all my horsey friends at the barn, in my 4-H club, and across the state. So far we have had great posts and comments. However, I am frustrated with the people who will post more than twice a day about nothing important or horsey. That was the point of the blog! Urghhh. I have to find a way to "explain" that to some blog addicts.

Winter is Back!

After so many beautiful Spring-like days, old man winter is back. As I type, there are bigg snowflakes blanketing my yard. Ughh. And I really truly thought Spring was on it's way! :(

Shopping

It started out as shopping for towels - our pastor delegate my mom to go purchase towels for next weeks baptisms. It's weird how God can work in odd ways when you least expect it. Anyways, we headed to TJMaxx. That store is riduculous because nothing is order. An OCD person like me cannot handle the disfuntion. Towel shopping turned into shoe shopping, and shoe shopping turned into dress shopping. It was well worth the time spent searching a very discombobulated store like TJMaxx. I found this very elegant black and white dress for graduation. A Beka has a very strict policy for what students can wear for graduation. This dress was modest, knee length, and black - triple wamy. The stinky thing is, I would have looked killer at National 4-H Conference in the dress. But instead I get to judge Jr. Effort Problems at the NH State Hippology/Horse Judging Contest. I won't be wearing that dress of course, probably some jeans and cowboy boots. The dress pictured is the same brand and style of the one I bought, except the neckline is different and there is less white.

To anyone who loves vintage and 50's inspired clothing check out http://www.modcloth.com/. I love their clothing. It reminds me of a clean and fresh NY style with a twist of San Fransisco. Lemon on the side.

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

I have a wonderfully springy bed. It is old and metal with a lumpy mattress. I love it. But this morning, I went to jump/sit on my bed and I bounced into the window frame. Litterally my back smashed into the window and man it hurt wicked bad! Guess that's one of the reasons Mom said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

What If?

I have known for a long time that I wanted to be a equine vet. However, now that I am headed off to college to study Animal Science, I don't have peace in my heart. Ya know that feeling you get when something is right? I don't have that YET!!! And it is frustrating me. I keep worrying. Silly me. I have been in constant prayer, seeking God's heart and his will for my life. How is it that I know his will for part of my life, just not this part?

Proverbs 3:6 says "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Well my path is straight! or at least I thought it was. I have an idea of what I want to do! But there is no peace. Ughhhh. Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I remember one Sunday, my friends Kenny and Derek finally got why His burden was light - because there was no burden of sin on Him. Haha

I get that I have to trust God with my life and lean not on my own understanding, but I need some sort of "confirmation" that this is my path! Maybe I am in a slump and I need to get up out of the dirt, brush myself off, and march onward. I hate pity parties.

Julio - The Mexican from England

Clara didn't like that I gushed about Humor and didn't put anything up about Julio. He is supposedly a Cleveland Bay. He looks like one, acts like one, moves like one, and even smells like one. Explain to me why he has a Spanish name? So there he is, well his nose. He tends to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. It ended up in a porcupine once. He won't do that again. His nose is very sensitive. He loves to smell things - shampoo, candy, grain, carrots, and poop. It is a very bad habit, that I have tried to break. Unfortunately, old habits die hard. Mora has a sign that says "Beware of the Lips" (Bee Bop has a thing for grabbing things with his lips). Julio needs a sign that says "Beware of the Nose".

Japan and Its Wetness

My heart goes out to those who have been greatly affected by the major tsunami that has washed away many towns and villages in Japan. I am amazed at the peace and calmness of the people shown on TV.  These people are suffering greatly from exposure to radiation, contaminated water supplies, lack of food, and provision of health care, yet they are patient and understanding when they are told they may have to wait all day for a glass of water or food to eat. In such desperate times, the peace of God has blessed Japan's people with patience and calmness. So many are survivors, yet so many have died.

How unlike the Americans in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina damaged the gulf coast, swallowing homes, business, schools and claiming the lives of so many people, the Japanese are working together to save lives, care for the injured, and respond to emergency situations. In Lousisian, almost immediately, the victims turned and asked for government aid. FEMA only offered so much, but that wasn't enough. It became the volunteer efforts from across the country who came to Katrina victim's aid. I was pleased to see the Christian community offering their services in helping clean up the aftermath, however, I was saddened that fewer people in the immediate area did little but whine about their predicament. Now I know this was not the case for all, but there are some who just prefered to complain rather than fix their situation.

Americans have become very selfish people who, honestly, can't think and provide for themselves. We complain about government spending and programs that eat up our tax dollars, but whenever a major disaster strikes we immediately go to the goverment, to whom we do not wish to endebt ourselves for fear of heavier taxation, and ask for federal aid. A Declaration of Independance was signed in 1776 giving us freedom from England's strict rule. I am pretty sure somewhere in our Constitution there is a Freedom of Thought clause. It's kinda sad, but the goverment has us trained like monkeys. When something goes wrong, we look to Washington to fix it. Usually their idea of fixing it is to write some bill that limits our freedom just a bit more. The funny thing is, we can't even see it! No more ranting. Goverment is good. We need leaders. Leaders how put people first not the federal pocketbook.

I wonder if the survivors of this tsunami equate their stories and survival to those who survived the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The stories they will tell their grandchildren and their grandchildren. Such a painful memory and moment in history lives on in the lives of children.  In which such great loss, pain, and suffering were endured, an event like this should not become just another natural disaster story to be rememberd only as a story. It is a tragic event that will be a part of history because of its impact on not only it's victims, but also those around the world.

Prayer: Lord, all things work together for them that love you and are called according to your purpose. So, Father, I thank you for the Christian influnce that is working with the survivors of the tsunami in Japan. You have given them grace to provide and care for those in need. I ask that you would give them strength to endure the stress and pain they are surround by. Provide rest for their hearts and minds as they daily see the wreckage the waves have created in people's lives. For those who have not know you, give them the assurance that they are loved and cared for. Draw them close to you in their time of trouble. I thank you for the people you have called in to help calm the situation. They have been brought here for a time and a purpose. Give them the words to uplift and encourage the victims they are in contact with and help the show love and compassion on those people. I pray a blessing upon all of those who have lost family members, give them peace in their time of grief, and draw them ever closer to you. In JESUS name, amen.

Look Ma I'm Blogging!

I am very excited to share my passion for music, horses, school, and my Jesus with ya'll. Since I can't have Facebook, or actually haven't gathered my courage to ask my dear parents - I am currently wimping out on that situation, I decided I would write a blog. What about, I have no idea. I do know that writing on this page will envoke a creative side of me, one I don't usually vistit often.

There are several reasons why I created this blog. (1) A blog is like a little magazine. You can sit down read a little, read a little more, then say hmmm.... I have some thoughts on that subject, I would like to comment on that. It's a place where you can share your thoughts dreams and ambitions. (2) I am not a writer, whatsoever! I am a geek. That means I am the science/math/music nerd who loves anything black and white. The idea of being creative and colorful is foreign, but I am stepping out on a limb and diving in head first. and (3) I want to be a writer who has passions, not for words, but for what she writes. I am passionate about many things, probably to mnay things for my own good. This blog is a tool to unleash my potential as a creative thinker, writer, and human being.

So, YAY, I am blogging!!!! What do I say? Who reads this? Do I want them reading this? Maybe not. Since the invention of the world wide web, privacy went headlong into the ditch. Why start now? I hope you enjoy my thoughts, memories, and ambitions. Thanks.