I think I have deprived all of you of the wonderful tales of my life for long enough! There is so much to tell, I just hope I remember it all!
I survived exams. Unfortunately, that was also the week that I had the head cold that has been going around. I am sure no one appreciated my constant sniffling during our two hundred forty question history exam! Along with passing all my classes, I got new ones! First trimester of biology and English! Also, I have gym again this trimester-and guess what! We are going bowling Mondays and Tuesdays! I have styles this tri too. We are sewing an apron, pillow, and pajama pants. That should be fun.
Happy late Thanksgiving! My family and I went to my Mom's parents on Saturday of last week. It would have been a nice ride if it weren't for the fact that Gavin rode his pretend motorcycle the WHOLE WAY THERE. Yes, all I heard was "VRRROOOOOOMMMM, SCREECH! VRRROOOOMM. BEEEP BEEEP" the whole ride. On Thursday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma always has the works for Thanksgiving dinner-turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, buttercup squash, and our own individual pumpkin pies! Well, my brothers and I get our own mini individual pies, but not the adults. My dad and uncle still grumble about that fact even though she has been doing it for years. We stayed for two days, playing Yahtzee and cribbage and doing 1000 piece puzzles for hours.
I think everyone was out shopping on Black Friday. EVERYONE. My mom, Alex, and I all went shopping at five am. We went to Walmart, Kohl's, the mall, Target, and McDonald's. Even McDonald's was crowded! I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done though! Except for Alex......
Today we woke up bright and early (at ten) to go get our Christmas tree. For as long as I can remember, we have always gotten a real blue spruce. This year we got a fir tree! I still am in shock about that.....But anyway, we are decorating the house for Mom's first ever annual open house on Tuesday.
On Wednesday I have my sports banquet. I have only gone to my old school's banquet where skirts were required. Here, I had no idea what to wear! So, my mom helped pick out a shirt for me at Kohl's. Hope it works. And wish me good luck!

Wonderful Weekend

Wow what a great weekend! So many great things, good stories, hilarious memories!

Ever since volleyball started, I have had a pre-paid cell phone from Virgin Mobile. Don't ever get a cell from there! Ever! It is horrible. I guess they recycle their phone numbers after thirty days, and I was getting calls from Washington, California, South Dakota, and all over the U.S. I was even getting some sales calls. I switched my phone number, thinking it would help, but it didn't. So, on Friday, my mom went to a Verizon store-AND I GOT A NEW PURPLE PHONE!!! Mom has the same one, but that is ok!

I also have to tell you a story about the Verizon store- and its customers! It was kind of crowded that day, so there was a wait to see a floor rep person. Our rep was in the back getting our new phones when Mom happened to hear another sales guy behind us talking to a lady about our soon-to-be purple phone. He said something about getting additional money off, and Mom turned around to ask him about it. The lady that he was originally talking to huffed(yes, HUFFED) and turned her back on Mom, rolling her eyes. Mom was shocked and embarrassed and apologized for interrupting. The lady turned back around, really upset by now, and said "I had to wait for quite a while to talk to this guy, and you can't just barge in on our time! You have to be fair in public; you didn't wait to talk to him, I did!" Mom, in disbelief, said "OK, lady, just have a good time talking to him then," and walked back towards me. I could hear the lady say to the guy, "That was very rude of her!" and continue talking as if nothing had ever happened. Mom and I just could not believe that this lady had freaked out about something like that, and it was kind of a relief when after the lady left, the sales guy came and told Mom sorry for her behavior. It was just a little weird....

AND THEN, we went to see Madagascar 2 yesterday. As most of you know, yesterday was opening day for gun hunting deer season. My dad is big into hunting, as is most of my relatives on his side. So, my uncle, grandpa, and my dad spent a large amount of this past weekend in the woods behind our house. (To the horror of our poor dog who would huddle in her doghouse, whining with ears laid back flat on her head every time she heard a gun shot.) My brothers, Mom, and I got a little bored; we decided to go shopping and to a movie. The movie was soooooo cute! My favorite part was Moto Moto. Adorable. In this movie, the animals make it to a reserve where Alex finds his parents, and the other animals find their own kind. And they once again meet their arch-nemesis, the Granny. You should just go see it!

Well now I am broke from all that shopping, and not ready to go back to school after my four day weekend! This week is exam week, so I don't know how much I will be posting. Most likely, I will be cramming each night. But, on the bright side, Thursday and Friday are half days!!! And Friday will be busy because Mom just for some reason thinks I should go to the dentist at least once a year(weird, I know!), and so I have to go to the dentist Friday. Also, the highschool play is Friday. I'm excited to see "When Our Hearts Were Young and Gay." lol

Where Do I Start?

So much to write, where do I start? Well, as some of you may know, this past weekend I was at a retreat with Liz's youth group. Wow. So many memories and funny stories and experiences happened! I guess I will start with the puppy chow story. Jamie, bless her heart, made a huge bowl of puppy chow. All of the girls decided to keep the bowl in the girls' dorm where we could have a late-night snack if we wanted it. As it turned out, we did end up eating almost half of it the first night. When we finally had had our fill, we put the lid on and put it at the end of Jamie's bunk bed for the next night. The next day, Liz, Kara, Sam, and I sneaked away from everyone else to have just a tiny bit of it. After shoving a few handfuls in our faces, we put back where we found it. No one would know........Then I had the BRILLIANT idea to demonstrate a "dance routine" that Mackenzie and I had thought up. It involved jumping and was not supposed to involved the puppy chow, although somehow the two got mixed, and........Let me just try to explain the situation. White powder everywhere-hair, clothes, floor, bunk beds, bags, did I mention everywhere?! Clumps of delicious puppy chow lay on the ground, getting smashed underfoot as we tried not to smash puppy chow. Everyone was looking at everyone else in horror. I think a tear even fell down my face, fearing they would kick me off the retreat. Liz, being the wonderful person she is, declared that no one would kick me out and grab washcloths, we were going to clean! Frantically, we grabbed random washcloths(still am not sure whose we used......oops) and started scrubbing the powder. Sadly, as I was on my knees with a washcloth scrubbing away, I began to sing, "It's a hard-knock life for us, It's a hard-knock life for us. Steada treated, we get tricked...." and so on. Well we were half way through cleaning the awful mess up when I hear the horrible creaking of the dorm room. Oh snap! I thought, Here comes Janis or Stacy to escort me out now. Turns out it was only another girl who PROMISED she would not tell a single soul. The floor eventually turned out quite clean. I did find some puppy chow in my boot later on in the day......

We also played Foosball 24/7 it seems. I got quite good at it by the end, though. I stopped scoring on myself and actually won a few games! There was also Wheel of Fortune, a really super really a lot hard obstacle course, huge scavenger hunt that included me having to put my own sock in my mouth. So many games and good food and good preaching. The theme was "Temptation." Brian showed us a video on Ted Bundy. I hadn't heard of him before, but I was almost crying.

That Friday, before the retreat, my Mom took me to Fashion Bug, and I got some wicked awesome boots. They are those furryish kind that aren't REAL boots, just fashion boots. The kind that isn't made to be worn in the mud and snow and slush. Guess where I wore them? In the mud and snow and slush. It was on Sunday when it half snowed. You see, we had just gotten back to Liz's church, and I really really wanted to go swing on her swings. When I got over there, I realized the seats were wet from the slush that was coming down! Oh well, easily fixed! I just stood on my feet. Drew was pushing me (which was fine too, made less work for me!) when all of a sudden me feet just flew out from underneath me. I think that they might have even gone in Drew's face! I have no idea what really happened, because I think I must have done some sort of flippy thingy. But, I landed on my feet-my NEW boots. In the mud. And slush. And snow. GRRRRRRRRR. RUINED!!! I just knew it! I think I even cried. Guess what-boots can be washed. My mom told me. And it even works. Well after I scrubbed my beautiful boots, my mom found some sealant-lovely stuff! Safe stuff.

Well, I think I am going to go watch a movie with popcorn. Yum. Better get all the relaxation before exams next week. Even though I have the next four days off!!!

Forty-nine More Days Until Christmas

I made this card! I was super, unimaginably bored last night, and I made the mistake of telling my mom that. She calmly told me that she could put me to work cleaning any of the toilets. My face must have shown my enthusiasm, or my lack of, because she changed her mind and told me to go stamp a card. Unlimited access to her supplies-yes, that's right, unlimited-my favorite word! Anyway, I ran down to the basement and just stood in front of her stamping nook, my mouth watering and my eyes enlarging by the minute. All of this was at my disposal! I cut, and stamped, and pondered, and scrutinized, and punched, and used more than enough adhesive(just kidding Mom!) until I came out with the finished product. Tadaaaa!

My Freshman Academy teacher had laryngitis today, so we watched the Brady Bunch. Wow-let me just say that while it was cute and funny most of the time, they had a strange sense of style!

Well, as you all know, we now have a new President. Also, both proposals passed. I think that stem cell research could be very helpful-even good-just why do they have to get it from aborted babies?! That's the part that bothers me. But, what can I do about it?

Yesterday we had a pizza party after school for the freshman volleyball team. We were supposed to give our jerseys back and pick out team awards for the banquet. Man was that hard. I bet I sat there for no less than ten minutes trying to figure out six awards. Pretty soon I felt like giving up and just putting my own name down for all of them. I didn't. Thought it might be a little suspicious......

Best Day Ever!!!!

Quick overview of the past exciting days.....

Saturday(two weeks ago)- Hannah, Mackenzie, and I went to see HSM3 after winning our last tourney of the season. I thought that it would be a cheesy movie, but it was actually kind of cute. The memories made were better than the movie though. It's no crime to laugh and giggle in a movie theater-right?-and that is what we were doing. It might have been a little loud, but it wasn't to the point of distraction. Should not have been a problem, but it was for the couple in front of us. They turned around and said very rudely "Do you MIND? You are being very rude." We were traumatized, but after the initial shock of being spoken to like that, Mackenzie had an idea. I gave her the last of my popcorn. Just as the lights were coming on and the credits were rolling, she stood up, "tripped", and "accidentally" spilled the popcorn on the couple. Oops. I know, looking back, it's horrible, but it was sooo funny at the time......

Wednesday-We won our last game! Sniff sniff. I can't believe that the season is already over. One of the girls' mom brought red roses for us all. I had brought my camera, and we had a bittersweet time taking pics of the team.....

Friday- Halloween. Surprisingly, school was fun. Freshman Academy was game day, so we played Disney Trivia. We made caramel apples in Foods, and P.E. we went outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather. At church, we had a Fall Festival with a dunk tank, booths, and candy.

Today!- I had no school today. Hallelujah! My mom and I headed into GR to a wonderful day of shopping at Rivertown Crossings and lunch at Red Robin. I was going to be brave today. I was going to choose something DIFFERENT for lunch. Our waiter seated us, asked for drinks, then asked if we were ready to order. Of course, Mom was still getting the usual Whiskey Burger, so she was ready. After she ordered, she and the waiter began to stare at me, waiting to hear what I wanted. I frantically scanned the page, looking for anything to stand out-something new. Sweat began to form on my forehead, and my eyes kept darting back to the Whiskey Burger. "It's safe," a voice in my head seemed to say "it's normal and safe getting the Whiskey Burger. No one will blame you! Just get it! You are running out of time...." With horror, I found myself opening my mouth and beginning to say "I'll have the same thing as her." Luckily, Mom saved me by saying "Are you sure? Do you want more time?" "YES!" I wanted to shout. Proudly, I can say I got the Red Robin Bacon Cheeseburger, something totally different. The only damper on my wonderful day was going to be my piano lesson. Guess what-yep!-no lesson!!!!! Tragically, the high school had an unexpected after school play practice in the auditorium. Where the piano is. So sad. I almost cried......

Looking ahead-The t.v. show Made is coming to my school tomorrow to interview kids for the show. Kinda exciting. Out of the four school days I have this week, we are cooking three times in Foods-brownies, muffins, and cookies. Yay. Also, next week is the end of the trimester, and I have no school Thursday and Friday!!